I don’t disagree, but in fairness, most of us are responding to either this post or replies related to this post, or similar posts.
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No.
I really don’t agree with the angle which places the onus on the consumers to financially support games more. It’s not how real life works. There are basically too many games & not enough consumers to play & buy everything full price.
I had over 600 hours of game time on my Xbox last year & according to the end of year statistics, I was apparently in the top 10% of Xbox users in terms of time spent playing. But, I consider myself very, very casual & I rarely ever buy a game new. Last year I only purchased RE4 Remake for ‘full price’ (one month after release when the controls were patched on Xbox) & that was with the help of some reward points as well.
The rest was all Gamepass & some huge discounts. So no, I’m not going to spend more money on video games than I currently do - especially considering the products themselves are by & large overrated by the critics/influencers & unfinished at release.
The artsy indie stuff is also an acquired taste.
I wish more folks would acknowledge that this isn’t specifically a Microsoft problem, it’s a systemic problem. Companies are literally required by law to put shareholder interests first and those shareholders generally incentivize risk mitigation and shorter-term results. Corporations aren’t here to save us.
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It’s also because people, particularly the younger generation, are more willing to throw down $20 for a battle pass to their favorite FTP title then on a new experience.
That is the complete opposite to how most of us did things back in the day.
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When game development costs continue to skyrocket but prices don’t catch up, the alternative is that FTP models and gotcha pricing schemes become the dominant form of sustaining the market. Indie games that can scale the scope of development to prices gamers are willing to pay is the market I’d prefer if the majority of traditional AAA games can’t otherwise take creative risks because the profit margin is so small.
Whether we like it or not, game prices being fixed in the minds of many consumers is killing traditional game development. Something else will always take over, such as alternative models like FTP and indie games.
Alternatively, I suppose you could hope for a massive leap in game development efficiency, through AI tools or something like that. However, there’s not a lot of evidence that one of leap is realistic any time soon.
Difference is that they closed half of studios of a beloved publisher that they bought at the start of the generation on false premises and some really pathetic excuses (like not being able to handle 9 studios because it’s too hard). Including the studio that brought them a lot of awards and their 2nd highest-rated game after FH5 this gen.
They deserve all the screaming they get.
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So that would answer my question about without Tango, the loudness would be folded by half.
I would argue that trying to make games bigger and more realistic is killing traditional game development. They kind of have to though since that’s what people want and/or have been conditioned to want. And to your point, without raising the prices of games, publishers and studios are kind of in a catch-22.
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Yeah, but he has a point. Sony closed Japan studio, Pixel Opus and London Studio. They also have less first party studios than Xbox. People already forgot about these studios. Nobody cared that much or don’t want to blame Sony for their closure as much as Xbox.
Just to keep in mind, and what people don’t see, is that big studios hire all the time.
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It’s four studios, but let’s be real. I don’t think a soul heard about Roundhouse Studios, I can’t even remember one game by them. And I have no idea what Alpha Dog was doing but they are on ESO now iirc. Two truly beloved studios I would say.
Don’t get me wrong, I fully get the frustration, anger and disappointment, I am too.
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Roundhouse popped up every time you played Redfall. They were internal support, and are absorbed into Zenimax Online now.
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I started reading this Eurogamer article expecting it was just another Xbox hit job - and sure it hits the usual suspects like talking about the cost of Tango / Arkane making new games rather than it being the time it’ll take, and it takes all the rumours over the years at face value.
But it does have one underlying message I can’t really argue with, at least until something happens to prove them wrong - even as I do love the value proposition of Game Pass and have plenty to play - that Xbox since the end of the 360 generation has had to prioritise profit, or whatever Microsoft’s latest fad is.
Game Pass came along when Microsoft started doing Office 365 subs, now an Xbox AI chatbot as AI becomes the new fad - I get it, I’ve often thrown a technology or approach into a spec to please a manager who’s wanting to show the business they’re using the latest trend.
But also that by having to always make more money than last year, always prove themselves to their parent company, they’ve perhaps lost the focus on games and entertainment first - which Nintendo and to some degree Sony haven’t so much, as they’re entertainment companies and the segment is so important to their health.
Nintendo has had a few occasions when it’s had a dud console, and has gone back to the drawing board and come out with something fun and entertaining, while Sony did re-focus on games in the late PS3 era to start turning the narrative back in their favour.
I’m not saying they don’t have to make a profit, and there are definite signs (particularly at Sony) that they’re being forced to worry more about margins - but that Microsoft after the “growth era” of the original Xbox and 360 has demanded more from Xbox and only when it’s either acquisitions (balance sheet neutral, brings in more cash) or chasing a fad that Microsoft is hot on at the moment will they ease off a little…
I don’t really know the solution - hopefully more multi-platform releases, PC stores on Xbox (matches one Microsoft fad of being an open ecosystem) and maybe handheld consoles too, along with CoD etc brings in enough cash that the pressures come off a bit and Xbox can stop being under the microscope - obviously the gaming industry in general being healthier again may help too
There is no “solution” this is how Microsoft has always operated. You either make profit or you don’t get funding.
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This is not true, they are all out to continually grow. Constantly.
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It’s basically this and their multiplat plans. Tango closed after delivering a game with high review score.
If or when Media Molecule is closed the outrage is not even similar because this studio is hanging on a rope.
Interesting about how he is implying that we should see more Xbox layoffs in July (after the fiscal end).
I joked above that Xbox will likely step on another rake the day after the showcase but there may actually be something to it 
.
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What is the point of Xbox?
To sell Final Fantasy games.
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Aaron Greenberg tweeted something like this and we all know he is very trustworthy dude.
Regarding the Eurogamer article: There is no point in Xbox and Microsoft are realizing this at the moment.
I’m 50/50 on the possibility of new hardware, despite everything that was said during the business update. If there’s new hardware, it’s going to bomb and Microsoft is going to pull the plug shortly after launch.
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Which is sad because the story should be about developers losing job, not “losing a great profile game and I won’t play them anymore makes me sick.”
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Oh wait, yesterday someone here said there were rumors about a new Prey by Roundhouse, but they were solely support? At least they ended up in another studio. I wished that for Tango too. But sadly, it doesn’t work that way. Even being sold to another publisher would have been something, but nope, closed. 