Gaming

Redfalls team is done for sure.

which is wild, because there's clearly a lot of talent there that was just spunked up the wall trying to create a game that any idiot could see right from the outset was conceptually awful

There's a statement on this ign article that says arkane Austin will have devs go to other studios, but nothing on the tango front. They're just closing it.

https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-closes-redfall-developer-arkane-austin-hifi-rush-developer-tango-gameworks-and-more-in-devastating-cuts-at-bethesda

Microsoft has certainly made games based off IP they owned without the original developers. But the only examples of that I can think of is Halo, which I don't think was highly regarded.

Similarly (though not at Microsoft), when Shu Takumi took a break from the Ace Attorney franchise to do Ghost Trick, the quality of the franchise was widely regarded to have a dip as well (though now he has returned for the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, the quality is considered to have returned). Ghost Trick was considered to be a very high quality game as well.

While IP is valuable; as an outsider to the industry, the skilled game devs seemed infinitely more bankable. I was certain that Microsoft wanted Bethesda for its quality devs, but clearly I was wrong.

You don't sack the team responsible for your best regarded game in years, if you're concerned with making good games.

You're probably right. Microsoft is probably not worried about the quality. People will still buy their favorite IP, even with a notable quality dip

Idk id argue it is surprising. Say what you want about the performance of these games financially, but these studios were bought by one of the wealthiest companies in the world. Sure maybe the games weren't a huge hit, but like.... So? You have money. One flop and they're axed? Xbox said they want to be bigger in the Japanese market, yet they closed their only Japanese studio. A studio with a bunch of talent and training that is gone now. Xbox has a huge problem bringing studios up and getting good output. Their best exclusive (at the time) of 2023 is now without a developer. Why not eat that cost? Yes I get a lot of studios are closing right now but that shouldn't be happening at a company like Microsoft. But line must always be going up I guess

Yeah, lot of em moved on to make Weird West, as Wolf-Eye Studios.

It's a good game if an out-there im-sim is what you want.

That was rhetorical. I'm sadly aware of all the poor business decisions and practices

Honestly, if history tells us anything, this is probably actually good in the long run. We have to move into this phase where it becomes incredibly clear that corporate game studios are incapable of operating in the long term or putting out a quality product. That way the indie market or some new players can start to pick up steam.

Look at what happened in 1983. There was so much identical garbage shovelware being released by companies looking to make a buck that the game market crashed under the sheer weight of bullshit. But then what happened two years later?

We got Nintendo.

It's bad right now. Not just in gaming, but across the board. It seems like just about every industry is feeling the impact of unchecked corporate greed all at once.

But that gives us an opportunity. We can replace them.

We can do things right, for the right reasons, and then when they come knocking at the door and ask to buy us out? We say no.

We say we know what we have. We know its value, and we don't want to sell every good thing in the world to the worst of humanity so they can light it on fire to make a number go up.