Microsoft Closing Some Beloved Studios

[pg2g]

@Doncabesa

I think the word rake is the most triggering thing in existence for me now

How about marketing

[Andodalf]

@pg2g

How about marketing

The most annoying thing by far is people saying they see no marketing for a game when they have ad blockers on lol

[Shadowgasm]

@Doncabesa

I think the word rake is the most triggering thing in existence for me now

[MaulerX]

[EPC]

@anon74828371

“F**********ck no. Its just too clear that being acquired is a stepping stone on the path to having your studio shut down for no good reason other than to meet a giant corporation’s fiscal quarter goals,” the source, who wishes to remain anonymous, told VG247. “I guess if my only other option was to shut down anyway, we might as well get acquired to delay that a bit and line my pockets. But that’s not the case right now.”

The day of easy buyout is also over for MS. They can not pretend to be the dev haven they pretended to be 5 years ago.

[Got-A-Stew-Going]

I don’t like the dude but he has some insights.

https://twitter.com/Qwik/status/1788964907482013784

For Xbox it’s either all in on Game Pass or be a publisher and drop hardware.

(I firmly believe the latter is going to happen as everything that has happened in recent months point in that way.)

[EPC]

@Andodalf

The most annoying thing by far is people saying they see no marketing for a game when they have ad blockers on lol

I am using adblock, like 99% of the targeted gamer base. I hope for them they are more ambitious than relying on internet ads.

[EPC]

@Got-A-Stew-Going

I don’t like the dude but he has some insights.

https://twitter.com/Qwik/status/1788964907482013784

For Xbox it’s either all in on Game Pass or be a publisher and drop hardware.

(I firmly believe the latter is going to happen as everything that has happened in recent months point in that way.)

Becoming a publisher - which I believe they will end up to be - does not excuse the closing of Tango.

[Staffy]

@Mort

I would lie if I said I wasn’t a little bit anxious about mine.

But you’d think such a thing can’t just happen. We spent top dollar on these games, these games are ours. But I guess that’s the big risk you do take and accept. Especially when making use of a feature where we share games.

Well, let’s hope we’re not even slightly close to this scenario.

[Got-A-Stew-Going]

@EPC

Becoming a publisher - which I believe they will end up to be - does not excuse the closing of Tango.

It does if they’re going to focus on their big core IP for mobile and PC/PlayStation and Nintendo games.

You’re not going to see Activision studios freed from the CoD mines like Spencer said publicly.

They have the numbers. CoD crunch is about to stay.

And if you look beyond CoD, only a few other IPs actually matter in Terms of MAUs or overall popularity:

• Candy Crush

• Minecraft

• The Elder Scrolls

• Fallout

• Warcraft

• Diablo

• Forza HORIZON (I don’t expect another Motorsport after the trainwreck Turn 10 just released, plus it’s a massive bomb in terms of players, Turn 10 is about to become a Horizon support studio imo)

• Sea of Thieves

Maybe:

• Gears

• Halo

Make these game available everywhere and you don’t need your console user base.

If they want to be a mega publisher they only need these and they can always buy other popular IP.

This is all that’s going to be left in the end.

[EPC]

They will just become another EA.

[Got-A-Stew-Going]

@EPC

They will just become another EA.

I truly believe this is what’s going to happen and that’s why I’m doubting any announcements regarding future hardware. Sarah Bond might work on that, as she’s the one in charge of hardware…but she’s not really in charge in the grand scheme of things.

[Thebaconlife]

@Got-A-Stew-Going

…ames. You’re not going to see Activision studios freed from the CoD mines like Spencer said publicly. They have the numbers. CoD crunch is about to stay. And if you look beyond CoD, only a few other IPs actually matter in Terms of MAUs or overall popularity:

Candy Crush

Minecraft

The Elder Scrolls

Fallout

Warcraft

Diablo

Forza HORIZON (I don’t expect another Motorsport after the trainwreck Turn 10 just released, plus it’s a massive bomb in terms of players, Turn 10 is about to become a Horizon support studio imo)

Sea of Thieves

Maybe:

Gears

Halo

Make these game available everywhere and you don’t need your console user base. If they want to be a mega publisher they only need these and they can always buy other popular IP. This is all that’s going to be left in the end.

I think all this is very likly and if its true just leave hardware and go third party. Let someone else step in to give sony competition

[EPC]

@Thebaconlife

I think all this is very likly and if its true just leave hardware and go third party. Let someone else step in to give sony competition

I doubt someone will step in. The video game console market requires heavy investment and expertise and is very risky and ROI is low compared to many other sectors. Sony is the king of the console market and its market valuation is very low at the end relatively speaking.

[EPC]

MS closing 4 studios is a bit misleading title. When you call studio any different part of Xbox then you end up having a biased opinion. Let me be clear. Alpha Dogs was 30 people and was counted as one studio, whereas Kings is several thousand people and counted as one as well. In the end, there is probably more people hiring fluctuation any day at Kings that there were people at Alhpa Dogs. Same for Roundhouse, both studios were very small entities (Roundhouse is now Bethesda).

Still, I think Tango closure was a mistake that no PR campaign can salvage.

Tango closure has probably killed any chance and prospect of MS buying a japanese studio any time in the future.

[Got-A-Stew-Going]

@EPC

I doubt someone will step in. The video game console market requires heavy investment and expertise and is very risky and ROI is low compared to many other sectors. Sony is the king of the console market and its market valuation is very low at the end relatively speaking.

Sony numbers would go up if Microsoft dropped out of hardware so in that sense, their hardware business would be fine for a while.

In terms of platforms and gaming subscriptions I wouldn’t be surprised if Netflix would end up being the Netflix of gaming. They have a deal with Microsoft regarding ad services and they keep adding new games for their subscribers. Also they have like 260 million subscribers already

Game Pass and xCloud are going to end up like most other Microsoft consumer products and services imo.

[Staffy]

I can definitely see one more Xbox console coming, well I sure hope so.

The problem with this stuff is, what are they going to say to get our “trust” back? Even if their June show will be strong, there’s gonna be lots of doubts from here on out.

[Thebaconlife]

@EPC

I doubt someone will step in. The video game console market requires heavy investment and expertise and is very risky and ROI is low compared to many other sectors. Sony is the king of the console market and its market valuation is very low at the end relatively speaking.

I remember when it was sega and nintendo and people saying playstation was dumb. I know iv been against it before but I think if tencent got into consoles they would be just as ruthless as sony and they would fight harder for our money.

[Thebaconlife]

@Staffy

I can definitely see one more Xbox console coming, well I sure hope so.

The problem with this stuff is, what are they going to say to get our “trust” back? Even if their June show will be strong, there’s gonna be lots of doubts from here on out.

oh ya every game its gonna be whens this comming to ps or will this studio be closed after this comes out. I can see the articles now.

[EPC]

@Thebaconlife

I remember when it was sega and nintendo and people saying playstation was dumb. I know iv been against it before but I think if tencent got into consoles they would be just as ruthless as sony and they would fight harder for our money.

That was a different time with lower entry point. Also, I was there, a big reason Sony entered the game space was that they got their ass kicked by Matsushita (panasonic) in the electronic segment.

Tencent will not enter the hardware space.