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News Xbox closes Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and others.

Gaming executives watching all the current issues with the movie industry and deciding to copy it ad nauseam. I sure love endless growth for the shareholders at the expense of any creative value 🙄
 
Magic-Man said:
It's not much solace, but this is the most backlash for a studio closure or layoff I've ever seen. People across the industry are pissed. I've already seen Remedy offer to take in Tango Gameworks devs, hopefully others do the same for both Tango and Arkane.
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Little solace as well, but at least Austin is a huge game dev hub with Retro, id, Bioware, etc. Hopefully they all land on their feet.
 
After letting this ruminate for the day I'm even more annoyed, mad, and even sad.

I just can't find a way to even try and make sense of this. Like how can this benefit the brand of xbox at all? The execs who speak are speaking to deaf ears. Nobody is going to care about what they say and will just mock them. That will be the word of mouth from here on out for xbox with Spencer, Bond, and Booty. They're bullshitters. They'll say something and so many comments will be just taking the piss out of em. Maybe I'm overreacting but I think I've been one of the more optimistic and positive people here about Spencer and Xbox over the years. Still a proud gamepass subscriber but like....fuck them lmao.
 
Hocot8 said:
After letting this ruminate for the day I'm even more annoyed, mad, and even sad.

I just can't find a way to even try and make sense of this. Like how can this benefit the brand of xbox at all? The execs who speak are speaking to deaf ears. Nobody is going to care about what they say and will just mock them. That will be the word of mouth from here on out for xbox with Spencer, Bond, and Booty. They're bullshitters. They'll say something and so many comments will be just taking the piss out of em. Maybe I'm overreacting but I think I've been one of the more optimistic and positive people here about Spencer and Xbox over the years. Still a proud gamepass subscriber but like....fuck them lmao.
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Everything Xbox has done as of late just reeks of investors getting sick of Phil's shit. Which, in some respects, I can't really blame them. Xbox has been rudderless for years now, and their two big blockbuster titles that were supposed to define the Series X released to mildly positive reception that tailspun into negativity over time. There really was nothing worth getting excited over that didn't involve empty promises or low budgets. Games like Grounded, Pentiment, and Hi-Fi Rush, as cool as they are, aren't gonna change the trajectory of the brand.

Now, that doesn't excuse the counter response of shuttering anything that isn't making a AAA product derived from an existing IP. The shareholders can fuck right off for that, they can enjoy the continual swirling of the toilet bowl that Xbox has set course on. But, as painful as these closures are, I can at least kinda get it from that perspective. The current Xbox leadership set them on this path to eventual failure, it's no surprise the shareholders are doing their thing at this point unfortunately.

AAA gaming fucking blows these days.
 
Armoured_Bear said:
Why would Monolith Soft been shuttered after providing huge support to arguably the GOAT as well as a string of hit RPGs?
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Because that's exactly what happened between Tango and Arkane Austin. AA was on support studio duties in addition to Redfall, while Tango just released a critically adored cult classic.

The comparison being made is that if Microsoft had somehow been in control of Monolithsoft during the Wii U era, they'd have killed Monolithsoft after X came out.
 
9-Volt said:
Why not let them go? Just like they did with Toys for Bob? I'm pretty sure there are many potential buyers for a studio like Tango, such as Netease. But I know the answer and it's depressing: It would take time and they need to increase the profits fast.
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I’m assuming with TFB (and other examples like Bungie/Twisted Pixel), the studio heads bought their independence back from MS.

Most studios aren’t that fortunate, but this shouldn’t have happened to begin with….
 
www.ign.com

Arkane Austin Was Working on a Big Redfall Update for May Before Microsoft Ditched the Game and Closed the Studio - IGN

The now abandoned Redfall had a roadmap of support that was being actively worked on before Microsoft scrapped all development and closed its developer, IGN can reveal.
www.ign.com www.ign.com

However, the offline mode failed to materialize. IGN understands Redfall's May update would have added the ability to play offline, which in turn would have helped with keeping the game alive in the future. Unfortunately for players, it will never see the light of day.
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fucking hell
 
Armoured_Bear said:
Why?
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I’ve said it here before, but it feels like a lot of people who initially suported it did so because they wanted a clear conscience to buy their games after all the harassment/abuse reports came out.

Hate to be that cynical, but that’s how it felt.
 
Hours later, I'm still a little shocked by this. I never played an Arkane Austin game, but I know Prey was really well-regarded by those who like immersive sims and I saw cool stuff from it that made me curious.

Tango was the studio that really had my attention after Hi-Fi Rush. I can't believe Xbox closed their only Japanese studio after releasing a critical hit. I was hoping to buy Hi-Fi Rush on Switch 2 eventually. I wonder what the Japanese dev community's feelings about Xbox are right now and if Japanese fans are as shocked as what I've seen online from American/European fans.
 
kirbyfan407 said:
I never played an Arkane Austin game, but I know Prey was really well-regarded by those who like immersive sims and I saw cool stuff from it that made me curious.
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As far as I'm concerned, Prey is a must-play for fans of immersive sims. It's an absolute travesty that they (and Tango, after the cool-looking Hi Fi Rush) are getting shuttered.
 
Xbox's success has felt like a fluke to me for quite a while now and the recent goings-on have all but confirmed this.
 
Hermii said:
I mean they make good hardware. But literally everything else they do sucks.

Not that Sony has been that much better lately.
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As frustrating as Sony has been, especially under Jim Ryan, they're still miles better IMO.
Stellar Blade, Rise of Ronin, FF7 Rebirth, FF XVI, Spiderman 2, Helldivers 2, Granblue Fantasy:Relink being recent titles

​

 
I've had a Series X from the beginning, I like the hardware but the UI and lack of exclusives that interest me have always left me cold.
It's a Gamepass machine which allows me to try out things I'm unsure about and play 3rd party stuff and the very occasional exclusive cheaply, I haven't bought a single game on it.
I do feel quite tempted to sell it and no longer support MS with my wallet, I already have more than enough to play with Nintendo and Sony, the damage MS are causing now is huge.
It's as if some music behemoth bought UMG and dropped all artists except for Taylor Swift and Adele.
 
Man I hope whenever Phil and co. show up for SGF or whatever event is next they get booed off the stage
 
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Obviously fuck Microsoft.

But also fuck a system where you invest in some studios to pump the stock price and then a few years later dump a load of studios to pump the stock price.

All so some people can increase their portfolio by 0.01 %.
 
terribleidiot said:
Obviously fuck Microsoft.

But also fuck a system where you invest in some studios to pump the stock price and then a few years later dump a load of studios to pump the stock price.

All so some people can increase their portfolio by 0.01 %.
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Is the MS stock price really affected much by what the XBox division are doing?
 
Armoured_Bear said:
As frustrating as Sony has been, especially under Jim Ryan, they're still miles better IMO.
Stellar Blade, Rise of Ronin, FF7 Rebirth, FF XVI, Spiderman 2, Helldivers 2, Granblue Fantasy:Relink being recent titles

​

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I agree with that, I was referring to their recent firings. Including studios like Insomniac and Noughty Dog, which is just incomprehensible.
 
I've enjoyed my Series S as a Gamepass machine but tbh I don't know if I want to support what comes next from Xbox. Any dev not working on their flagship IPs (and maybe those who do) must be wondering what their future is right now.

Seeing more people realise that Spencer is an empty suit with a knack for 'how do you do fellow gamers' is kinda funny though.
 
Armoured_Bear said:
As frustrating as Sony has been, especially under Jim Ryan, they're still miles better IMO.
Stellar Blade, Rise of Ronin, FF7 Rebirth, FF XVI, Spiderman 2, Helldivers 2, Granblue Fantasy:Relink being recent titles

​

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And yet we're also seeing Sony make drastic job cuts, zeroing in on their existing popular IPs, chasing the magic GAAS dragon and making boneheaded decisions like the recent PSN Helldivers debacle. And of all the games you mentioned, Helldivers 2 is the only one I think you can classify as being a bona fide hit: Spidey 2 sold very well but it struggled to recoup its development costs.

Microsoft deserve all the flak they get from this, but we also have to recognise at this point that the AAA game industry and the way it is propped up is now in serious trouble. Technology has outpaced affordability, to the point only the big boys can fund the games we love, and that leaves them at the whims of investors who only care for the dollar bills in their hands, and casts the talanted developers who make these games into the ditch as they drive past to the next financial year end.
 
Galgavias said:
And yet we're also seeing Sony make drastic job cuts, zeroing in on their existing popular IPs, chasing the magic GAAS dragon and making boneheaded decisions like the recent PSN Helldivers debacle. And of all the games you mentioned, Helldivers 2 is the only one I think you can classify as being a bona fide hit: Spidey 2 sold very well but it struggled to recoup its development costs.

Microsoft deserve all the flak they get from this, but we also have to recognise at this point that the AAA game industry and the way it is propped up is now in serious trouble. Technology has outpaced affordability, to the point only the big boys can fund the games we love, and that leaves them at the whims of investors who only care for the dollar bills in their hands, and casts the talanted developers who make these games into the ditch as they drive past to the next financial year end.
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I don't disagree at all with the 2nd paragraph at all.
Sony are hopefully now pulling back a bit from the GaaS insanity but we'll see, either way, hits or not, there's a lot more stuff exclusive to PlayStation that I want to play than Xbox and that's unlikely to change.

I really wish we could have more mid-tier games (in terms of budget), I recently played Greedfall and warts and all, had a fantastic time with it, I wish the likes of Sony would publish and develop more and more games with that kind of budget.
 
Hermii said:
I agree with that, I was referring to their recent firings. Including studios like Insomniac and Noughty Dog, which is just incomprehensible.
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Aha, yes.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not painting Sony as the good guys at all here, just the lesser of 2 evils.

I wish Sony was still more of a Japanese company than the multinational one of today.
 
I know this might be unpopular but....blaming shareholders in this case is a bit of a scapegoat. Yes they want profit but they don't have much input on HOW the profit is made just that it happens. It's not their fault that this happens, it's purely Xbox leadership. Granted some shareholders may be in leadership positions but the vast majority aren't. There are some exceptions like when they wanted Nintendo to go mobile but in general, they don't make the choices.
 
I’m very critical of Microsoft, don’t trust them in any industry.

The people from MS paint themselves as saints and its biggest advocate for this is Bill Gates. Phil and Satya both put the “good guys” facade.

I seen Apple executives with more emotion than these MS exes.

Every business they enter its turns into crap. Thank god their phone business sucked. They would monopolised that industry too and ruined it.
 
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The issue is how they did it. They act like as if they would stand behind those studios and praise them until the last minute, but then they close everything down at the first sign of a recession.

This whole "the gaming industry is in a bad state" is a self fulfilling prophecy. No, it’s not in a bad state because companies didn’t made as much profit than the year before, it’s because of bad actors like Microsoft who think buying companies they don’t care for and laying off people when the numbers look slightly worse is a good business practice. It sickens me so much.

No one can trust them anymore (Not that it was much better before, but now you have very straight forward lies as a "proof"). Employees need to fear their jobs, consumers need to fear their favourite studios closing down and investors can look at a company acting aimlessly and seemingly without any overall vision for XBOX.

This can‘t go on well forever, even for a company as big as Microsoft.
 
I'm still mad. I hope the team behind Tango lands on their feet and can deliver great work for non-Microsoft owned platforms.
 
This was the final straw I needed to just walk away from Xbox. I have a Switch, PS5, XSX and XSS. I don't need any Xbox hardware anymore. Everything will come to PS5 and Switch 2 anyway.
 
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Microsoft is going more aggressive than Sony in shutting down studios, probably because the failure of current gen Xbox sales.
 
HockeyBird said:
Remember who is truly hurting today

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I mean I'm sure they're friends (as much as rich people can be "friends", that is) but honestly, there are times in which the best you can do is just shut up.

I'm so pissed, and sort of looking forward to an xbox-less next gen.
 
:(

just terrible, terrible news.....

I LOVED hifi rush, it was my favorite xbox game ever

I was hoping for a sequel to it one day, game has so much charm

I want to replay it on my big TV (got it on my pc, which I don't play games on much anymore, and it's upstairs)

I was waiting for a Switch 2 version to get it on another system, but I imagine a port is cancelled, so I will get it on my PS5 when I replay
 
Danny said:
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Microsoft is going more aggressive than Sony in shutting down studios, probably because the failure of current gen Xbox sales.
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Nintendo has far more studios than this graph relays.
Nintendo EPD 1-10
NST
NERD
Next Level Games
Retro Studios
1-Up
Mario Club
Monolith Soft Tokyo
Monolith Soft Kyoto
NDCube

So yeah, Nintendo has about 19 internal development studios, then their SPD arm as well, which is used to work with, and provide resources to outside sources like Mercury Steam.

Also project Sora is not a Nintendo studio, it's literally a company owned by Sakurai and his wife.

Sorry, I didn't realize context. I didn't realize this is studios closed lol.

But still the point stands. Project Sora, Nintendo never shut down. It's actually owned by Sakurai to this day.
 
Lozjam said:
Nintendo has far more studios than this graph relays.
Nintendo EPD 1-10
NST
NERD
Next Level Games
Retro Studios
1-Up
Mario Club
Monolith Soft Tokyo
Monolith Soft Kyoto
NDCube

So yeah, Nintendo has about 19 internal development studios, then their SPD arm as well, which is used to work with, and provide resources to outside sources like Mercury Steam.

Also project Sora is not a Nintendo studio, it's literally a company owned by Sakurai and his wife.
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the graph shows closures, not total studios.
 
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jariw said:
Is the MS stock price really affected much by what the XBox division are doing?
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Probably not, their biggest source of income is still their business stuff - but then again, stock prices are removed from anything but "line go up" so what do I know...

And calling "Project Sora" a "studio" is a stretch that would make a certain straw-hat pirate jealous.
 
idrk where else to ask this, but is Ghostwire Tokyo good? thinking about giving it a shot in honor of Tango.

jirou said:
Project Sora is the only studio with a 100% goat rate perhaps?
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no better time to go out than on top
 
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