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Microsoft hiring for Creative Director for “new studio responsible for creating avatar experiences”
- Thread starter Rychu
- Start date
If your gonna bring up GoW at least do it under a context that makes sense, like a AAA game announcement, instead of what is essentially an updated console app.
Can a small team make full on avatar games? Or wouldn't you need a small studio for that?
80 people is not that tiny. This one should be around 20-30 or something.
We don't know how much work that encompasses though. They could be making a number of Avatar games or like a Nintendo Land type thing. In addition to supporting the Avatar system, you'd bet that would require a capable studio. Its also probably better to let a studio develop a work flow and culture than it is to have like 10 people on some project no one at the company would care about.
I loved the 360 avatars and games like 1vs100, doritos crash course and keflings. Also being able to use your avatar in games like Bomberman was great. There is a real lack of party arcade games, especially the simple cute ones we had with the 360 avatars. A game like doritos crash course was hilarious with friends. I would love to have it back this gen, with maybe a course editor so you could make your own courses and download others. Honestly a new Fuzion Frenzy with avatars would be day one buy from me!
I would actually love if they mentioned avatars at E3 and showed a short slideshow with clips from upcoming avatar games. I miss them this gen. It's one of the things that consoles do so well...
I would actually love if they mentioned avatars at E3 and showed a short slideshow with clips from upcoming avatar games. I miss them this gen. It's one of the things that consoles do so well...
Why are you trying to forge a link of an OS feature to game? I mean this does highlight your flawed perspective of MS and the industry as a whole. This isn't a response to content, it never was, that's your desperation to draw conclusions that aren't there.
There were a lot of (popular) avatar games during the 360 era.
I hope MS makes something special out of it.
I'm afraid this post contains a level of common sense that is not allowed on ERA. I ask that everyone refrain from using this line of thought and continue your knee jerk reactions with little desire to understand things.
No one is saying that they can't do both. As threads have popped up showing they are prepping talent for the future. But when you see listings that are looking for top talent in the game development industry being used for avatar creation/games it just comes off wrong. They should be not making a big deal about avatars with these types of job postings, I would rather there be info in them looking for people who can work with the creation team in avatar or be overseer/top tier development for "other" internal projects.
It's a job listing. You seem to be suggesting that they can't do both; that they can't have talent in both areas at the same time, and that making a job listing is going too far because it harms (?) hiring for other areas.
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No asking for the type of top tier talent for avatar creation and having a full studio dedicated is what I don't understand. Even if it's for more the avatar games. Would rather that high ranking talent be put on overseeing something else. I thought during the 360 days avatar stuff was done with internal people not a full blown studio?
If this is how they are approaching it I guess their plan for it is way bigger in scope than what I'm imagining.
How do you do No big deal job listings? Wait in a dark alley ? How is it s big deal with searching for talents on indeed?
Maybe they are looking for THE cream de la cream because they want to make the best shit on all fronts?
Its just a job listing man, what is the problem really?
But... they aren't making a big deal about avatars, it's literally a job posting. It's not meant to please Xbox or Sony fans, it's literally there to help filling a role, and specifying the kind of project you're working on helps finding the right candidate quicker. Avatars have been a thing for over a decade now, it makes sense they would want to look for someone who has a history working on Xbox 360 avatars, Miis, VR avatars and whatnot. And there are other job listings implying triple-A titles being worked on this very moment, including those for that Fable game. The two are really not mutual at all.
You're criticizing a job listing for asking for talented hires. You seem to find it troubling that a team working on an ongoing project would be organized in a "studio," even though the line between a team and a studio is basically rhetorical. They're hiring a lead for people working on this stuff.
It's fine if you think work around avatars is misguided use of the resources (as in, peripheral fluff vs core product development), but the specifics of how you're trying to get that across are going to make reasonable people not get what you're saying.
I'm criticizing and trying to understand why they would need a creative director and a top tier one at that for this? I can understand if the avatar games are going to have a good amount of money behind them, but did 360 go to these lengths when avatars were big? Honest question.
Having a whole studio with top talent for avatar creation/games just comes off weird to me.
You don't need fucking "avatar experiences" Microsoft, you need GAMES.
That gif sums up your post perfectly.
Project manager/creative directors are key to almost any team, just in a general sense. There are people with those titles in projects small enough that it might surprise you. Rare was at the core of the NXE avatar program and a lot of those Kinect avatar games. I think that's the closest analogy for the talent focus during the 360 years, so if that team is being used elsewhere, it makes sense that they want a solid team in its stead.
You don't need fucking "avatar experiences" Microsoft, you need GAMES.
you can have both.
Oh yeah I didn't mean to imply to the exclusion of crash course.
Hopefully crash course doesn't end up being just like a mobile game or something, though in all likelihood it'll be playable on phone, PC, and Xbox.
....this is Microsoft. They can afford top for everything they do. Why wouldn't you? Things that will be so tightly identified with the Xbox brand will need to not suck. That's like, super important. Especially when they likely plan to have other games all interact with this system. It NEEDS to be solid and well built. This is the wrong place to cheap out on.
And it's not like they aren't hiring, er how would you say it, low talent? They could be hiring a few interns and things like that. But it is pretty essential to have some good main designer talent if you don't want a project that's going to integrate into your platform system-wide to really screw things up.
You're trying to desperately hold onto the idea that hiring good talent in one area some how precludes one of the richest software companies from investing good talent in another area. It full stop does not. Period. End of story. You need to let go of that idea. It's irrational.
I'm trying to rationalize their commitment to Avatars compared to what the invested during 360 era on Avatars. That's all. Like did they have a good size studio back then with similar hires? It's the question I've asked and no one seems keen on answering.
Talent and people like to focus on a variety of aspects of digital entertainment, its not hard to understand.
....so they're letting Rare use that talent to make games now and getting a dedicated team. This is literally what people asked for. Quit changing the subject.
You are going to spin this into a negative no matter what I tell you aren't you?
social games (jackbox), party mini games (fusion frenzy), rhythm games, kart games, trivia games (1 vs 100), implementation in 3rd party games (like mii fighters in smash)
lots of potentially cool things can come out it, if they know what they are doing
lots of potentially cool things can come out it, if they know what they are doing
So rare did all their avatar stuff back in 360 days? I would never take top tier people and put them on something like avatar's when that can all be done by internal teams, or a smaller team. But if what people are telling me is true and they are putting money behind it for avatar type games I guess a full dedicated studio is needed in that respect. But I feel couldn't some internal people within Microsoft studios or a small outside studio partner be the cheaper option?
They should instead look for potential employees with mediocre talent and a modicum of skills and knowledge? What the actual fuck am I reading? lol
Having Lion head studios make SOMETHING like fable heroes is a waste. Having rare work on avatar games is a waste. Sure they could have some key people from those studios over see the developers, but they don't need the full force of that studios to do avatar stuff.
Just my opinion.
Lmao I thought almost exactly this.
Looking forward to record investment in gaming-adjacent studios like they did with HoloLens. (Anyone else remember the hype when they announced that?)
In which lazy posters accuse others of being contradictory without evidence. Though I'd agree that anyone simultaneously excited for Labo and down on this might not have pure motives, I haven't seen it yet.
Maybe read previous posts without giving snark.
Someone brought up Rare who use to work on avatar stuff for MS. I said it was a waste of their talent. The same is for Lion head when they worked on kinect and xbox live titles Fable heroes.
I just don't think dedicating a whole studio to avatar creation/ games is a good use of a actual studio which from what the thread is about is my point. I feel they could get a smaller team of developers either internally, or outsource to a close partner instead of having a dedicated studio with top tier talent.
Just my opinion on the matter, and the attitude is un-needed from you and other's in this thread. I'm not the one posting dumb gifs.
I'm reading, i just refuse to believe your argument is real.
I'm still failing to see how one thing stops the other. They can have a new studio with top tier talent (for avatar/avatar related games) and another one for other projects. Or they could have neither. The two things have no relation with each other. Making avatar games won't decrease Microsoft's AAA games
Microsoft was blamed for having no ambition before, now they're wrong for going after good employees as well? How is this even logical
By the way, this (microsoft reworking the avatar system so they can push it again) is old news. So complaining about it now makes even less sense.