No one knows exactly why these closures happened. Everyone keeps interpreting a Matt Booty quote, without context, to fit whatever narrative they want to believe. I’m going to assume that none of us know Matt Booty personally and we don’t know what meaning he generally applies to certain words. Even if we did, we’d still be missing the context behind that quote.
We can speculate all we want, but please stop acting like you have the exact answers because you do not. This news sucks, but the behavior of people both inside and out of this industry has been frustrating, depressing, but not surprising. This industry sucks, the people who cover it suck (sorry Jesse), and the fans who engage in it suck.
I think I’m at the end of my rope with all of this. The hobby I like has turned into a never-ending cesspool of disingenuous bullshit surrounded by raving lunatics eager to smash each other over the head with clubs while assholes in suits watch from afar, laughing while counting their money.
Tbh, I’m not sure if that’s good or bad - how many Gamepass users play a game on the service? I easily play less than half of the titles that get added.
Googling to see what’s coming and going this month - I reckon I’ll try Hellblade 2 and that’s it - but I am playing Dead Island 2 on Gamepass atm. So of 13 games, I’ve played 1 of them through Gamepass. So, is reaching around 10% of players bad? What’s the right percentage?
Here is the confirmed list of Xbox Game Pass games coming to consoles this May:
Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (added May 2nd, 2024)
Kona II: Brume (added May 7th, 2024)
Little Kitty, Big City (added May 9th, 2024)
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (added May 14th, 2024)
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (added May 21st, 2024)
Here are the games which left Xbox Game Pass on console in May:
It’d be spectacularly short sighted if people do go ahead and do that. A lot of the hand wringing over this will definitely will be from people who have cheered on every bad review and criticised the work of Microsoft’s studios.
It’s all “This is trash, who would play this garbage?” Until the studio is closed and then it’s “this is heartbreaking”
3 million in 7 months is better than Ori and the Will of the Wisps, A Plague Tale Requiem which both also launched on Game Pass. Both also GOTY nominees. But who cares if they’re some of the best games made? Let’s shut all those down, they didn’t do 10 millions. Thank god Asobo and Moon Studios are not owned by MS!
I do wonder though couldn’t Xbox have worked to have Tango make an anime inspired Tango or COD game. They certainly showed a really good grasp of the art and mechanics. I also think a pitch for this high caliber IPs would have secured their standing with Microsoft.
This is what happens when the people in charge (who is in charge of Xbox right now? who the fuck knows) only care about money and “numbers go up”, they simply don’t give a fuck about quality software/art and the medium in general. Sadly it’s all about the Palworlds right now, games like Hi-Fi Rush and Prey were too good for this rotten to the bone industry and apparently there is not even a small place for games like these anymore.
And yes as you said thank god studios like Asobo and Moon are not under MS right now.
It’s not just the number of players but how many continue to engage with it.
This is where Game Pass can be a blessing and a curse.
If let’s say 75% of the 3 million players played the game to completion (about 10-15 for Hi-Fi Rush), then that’s probably considered a success. If 75% turn it off after the first boss battle, that’s probably a failure.
In an a la carte situation, 3 million players that can’t return the game (unless it’s something like Steam) would be a success for many.
Just out of curiosity, I looked at my own friends list, most of which I would consider hardcore Xbox players. Out of my 38 friends, 24 played Hi-Fi Rush:
HFR was day one on Game Pass. You would think a lot of people played it, finished it and loved it. Right? Greenberg said it was a big success, didn’t he? It hasn’t been long on PS5 yet. Was MS hoping people would play it via GP AND buy it as well for Xbox? Because well, I didn’t.
I do wonder instead of all the Doom and Gloom maybe it would be nice if a petition was made to get Xbox to reverse course in light of new ideas(evidence) that would serve as a strong reason for the reversal.
I think we can assume the business update was true as he said the games had done all they could on Xbox and were using the other platforms to gauge on a decision whether there was enough interest in investing on sequels. I think studios like tango would be better of working on spin offs from big IP before trying to pitch original ideas. I really believe if they had asked to make the next Fallout maybe as an anime looking game like HI-FI they would not have been in this predicament. I’m still hopeful they got reopened or just assimilated to Xbox Japan.
The more you see things like this the more it hits home.
Given Booty’s comments about the management team being spread too thin, it sounds plausible that they canned Tango because their location and time zone was a bit inconvenient and they weren’t in the middle of developing something.
Looking at those credits, you’d think the studio would be a feather in their cap - not an inconvenience.
I sold my Xbox after beating Unicorn Overlord because I could see the Xbox I liked collapsing at record speed. And now that I see this I know there’s no reason for me to ever bother with it again.
Trust me, i do not like this at all and you have a right as a costumer to do what you want. Although i would suggest plainly to be better off with a Steam Deck or the next Switch for the next year or so.
However, i do not plan to give in just yet after some consideration, i will not say why but its gut feeling mostly.
I want to see what transpires still before making any shots. Sure i was part of the doom and gloom, however i also want to see what else happens this year still before making drastic calls.
I’ve said this earlier in this thread - this feels like the arrow being pulled back phase. It’ll launch and then we’ll see if it lands. There’s the summer showcase and the holiday season barrage of games as well as the supposed hardware announcement. All this with Hellblade and the app store, I am, albeit cautiously now, excited.
I am also a Liverpool fan so going through a roller coaster of emotions is something I grew up with.
