I wonder how telling it is that Corden's apparent new directive is to big up Sarah Bond over Phil Spencer
Xbox is shutting down Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and Alpha Dog Games. Roundhouse Studios absorbed by ZeniMax Online Studios.
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Difficult to say I think. In that senario Starfield wouldn't have been day 1 on Gamepass, nor would Hi-Fi Rush. There's also Deathloop that may have sold better especially given its reception. All this would've played a factor, and I highly doubt Tango would've been shut down, but Arkane Austin probably wouldn't have survived either way.
"If you really want to run a start up, quit and go run a start up."
Yep! Sure thing Booty! I'm sure it's just that simple Booty! Whatever you say Booty!
If she has no control over anything Xbox why is she making millions of dollars a year?
And if Phil or Sarah wanted to "fight corporatism" then they can resign publicly and speak out against it! After all they're both multi-multi-millionaires, it won't even be like they would have to work another day in their lives.
Post Gears 2 is roughly when we started to see a change. Some time after Peter Moore left.
I do feel a little bad for Phil from that video. He obviously cared a lot about Xbox. But it never rebounded under him. There were so many pro consumer decisions that didn't really help. The backwards compatibility team was amazing. Play anywhere was such a cool idea. Gamepass seemed like the best deal in the world (because it is).
But backwards compatibility wasn't bringing people in. Play anywhere probably cost hardware sales. Gamepass is such a good deal that people stopped buying games on Xbox.
As nice as those pro consumer decisions were, the best move would have been to make good games. Something that Sony and Nintendo have been doing with their consoles the whole time.
this sucks.
though I keep seeing people saying Dishonored is over. No. Arkane Lyon did Dishonored 2 and Death of the Outsider. They're still around.
I feel like either we were completely wrong about Phil, or he has nothing to do with this and couldn't stop it because $$$$
though I keep seeing people saying Dishonored is over. No. Arkane Lyon did Dishonored 2 and Death of the Outsider. They're still around.
I feel like either we were completely wrong about Phil, or he has nothing to do with this and couldn't stop it because $$$$
Arkane Lyon is working on Blade for the next like 4-5 years. I would hope they do another Dishonored after that...but part of me thinks they'll just be making a 2nd Blade game. Like is Dishonored that big of a franchise for Xbox?
wasn't xbox touting the number of gamepass users who would then go on to buy the full game? what happened to that?
All you had to do was look at software sales on the system to know that was bullshit.
I've said it elsewhere, but Matt Booty is the closest thing to real life Michael Scott we'll ever get 'cept he doesn't have an ounce of Steve Carrell's charisma.
god this dude is so terrible at his job. I'll never believe Xbox is serious about supporting creatives as long as he's in the position he's in.
well Dishonored is multi plat. So, I don't know. Dishonored did well and D2 got accolades for the time level. Apparently Deathloop is set in that future universe. I imagine they can do two things at once, but who knows. 5 more years for Blade? Seems like it's going to miss the boat with the film.
Exactly! That's ultimately what the scrutiny is, and why no excuse from weird fanboys is ever going to work. At the end of the day the questions everyone will be left with are "What do you get paid to do and are you successful at it?"
old old old leak. doesn't say.
Oblivion remaster, Dishonored 3 listed in leaked Bethesda release schedule
When Microsoft bought Bethesda, it was planning Fallout and Oblivion remasters, Dishonored 3, a new Doom, and more
www.polygon.com
I don't mind blaming Phil or calling him an empty suit, he absolutely is to blame and is absolutely am empty suit, but the framing of the blame has been really weird. I don't think the guy who has an insatiable hunger to acquire developers and expand Xbox's portfolio would voluntarily want to close studios all of a sudden. There's not a doubt in my mind that the directive to cut expenditures came from above. Having said that, Xbox's current trajectory and situation is absolutely on Phil, given that the platform's vision and direction is largely his brainchild. He doesn't have much of a leg to stand on to combat calls to cut costs and squeeze out profits because of the state of the platform under his (lack of) leadership. Not that it really matters, people needlessly lost their jobs due to unneeded corporate greed at the end of the day.
They'll finish Blade and if Blade underperforms…that's it.
If Blade performs it's onto Blade 2.
Xbox was really clear about this. They're focused on big IPs. Dishonored ain't that.
Exactly. They should have resigned if they were that much opposed to those studios closures. But they didn't.
This what makes all the debate about it over the years so wild.
Unless the expectations were so low any sales were a win.
yeah. agreed.
Best of intentions by him, I think. But lack of foresight.
IT's crazy to me, both Sony & Msoft and others would rather just shut down a studio - eat the losses (Get that tax right off) rather than sell said studio. Did no one want to buy Tango? Like Capcom or Square,or whomever?
I know the reason is because they rather own IPs and keep it in their vaults, rather then sell it in studio deal. It's why Insomniac went for so cheap (They didn't have an internal successful or semi successful IPs of their own), but it's just insane to me publishers would rather just up and close studio then sell it.
Like Sony couldn't sell Studios London to someone?
I know the reason is because they rather own IPs and keep it in their vaults, rather then sell it in studio deal. It's why Insomniac went for so cheap (They didn't have an internal successful or semi successful IPs of their own), but it's just insane to me publishers would rather just up and close studio then sell it.
Like Sony couldn't sell Studios London to someone?
old old old leak. doesn't say.
Oblivion remaster, Dishonored 3 listed in leaked Bethesda release schedule
When Microsoft bought Bethesda, it was planning Fallout and Oblivion remasters, Dishonored 3, a new Doom, and more
If I had to guess, they didn't have the Blade license when Dishonored 3 was rumored.
Spencer made the call and convinced Nadella to let Xbox grow to the size it did. Now if he has to contend with more powerful penny pinchers that don't give a shit about the creative side of things and will demand making impossible cuts? That's still on him. His eyes were bigger than his stomach with Activision. It is his fault.
yeah and some of the key people for the Dishonored franchise are mostly gone IIRC.
Blade will have some inspirations for sure but I believe the immersive sim genre is just too niche for Xbox (or anyone given how few games there are like it from third parties) to care.
yeah and some of the key people for the Dishonored franchise are mostly gone IIRC.
Blade will have some inspirations for sure but I believe the immersive sim genre is just too niche for Xbox (or anyone given how few games there are like it from third parties) to care.
They lost/layoff all the key Immersive Sim developers, if youre a fan of those games Arkane might as well be dead 😞
Exactly.
Phil could have retired long before pushing through a single publisher acquisition, knowing full well the impact that consolidation on this scale brings. Greedy corporate execs gonna greed though - none of them are "trying to fight the system from the inside". What a load of bollocks that is.
I'd stop short of saying "best of intentions," but definitely a complete lack of foresight. Was recklessly optimistic in hindsight, and unfortunately people not responsible for the recklessness suffer the consequences.
Dishonored 2 was pretty big. Big enough to get a sequel side story, even. And 88 Metacritic. Sold well I think but I don't know if we have numbers. It was multi plat and so that helps. If they want known series to continue, that's a safe bet.
Yeah if I convince my boss to expand my department and I go on a crazy hiring spree, and in a couple of years we are losing money so we need to let go some people, I am not suddenly blameless.
These executives earn millions of dollars, they don't need us to stick up for them.
Deathloop's total earnings in that chart was added up to $105 million, and that got made. Dishonored 3 was projected as $90M just for the first year alone.
Right? It's absolutely wild, damn. But I guess Xbox did pride themselves on being the "tranparent, we're honest" type of gaming company. Even then it paints a really ugly picture
I mean whether she has control over anything or not is not relevant to this conversation, because you can have control and sway within your lane but not in others. Her description is described as:
"As per Microsoft's internal memo to announce Bond's promotion, the new Xbox leader will be responsible for working towards the tech giant's aim to "build the platform of tomorrow". As such, Bond will lead her team as "President of Xbox - bringing together Devices, Player & Creator Experiences, Platform Engineering, Strategy, Business Planning, Data & Analytics and Business Development."
In essence, Bond will oversee both the software and hardware platforms of Xbox and shape the gaming company's policy decisions, strategic direction, integration efforts, and mergers."
I don't buy that. If Dishonored was worth the continued effort, Lyon would be working on it. Marvel IP's aren't free. Even a lesser IP like Blade will cost compared to an owned IP.
Obviously they're not working on it now. Unless they split into two groups. I don't have enough knowledge of game dev to know if that's even possible.
Weren't the projections from that one document assuming the games would be fully multiplatform?
Not just the IP but getting rid of a competitor. Saw it a lot during 7th gen. They'd rather fire everyone than allow them to go someplace else and create a hit. Like Bungie for example. Or what Sony did with Onlive/Gaikai. Can't have people raising the question of "why did x create this great million selling game with y and not you?".
MS just closed the studio that was allegedly in the process of pitching Dishonored 3... think it's safe to assume that series is effectively dead for as long as they own it.
They were split into two groups. That second group pitched Dishonored 3 and was shut down.
Holy shit, I don't know how I didn't notice or forgot about this section. That whole statement/explanation from Booty is a nightmare.
phil's best intentions:
reach critical mass of subscribers
cannibalize retail
raise subscription costs
cut content acquisition and revenue sharing fees
force a hellscape of monitization as publishers need to make money elsewhere
eventually we're all paying $29.99/month to access start menus
Jesus Christ that Matt Booty clip is disgusting.
I'm really torn about Xbox. I love my XSX and I wish they'd get their shit together but I seriously doubt they will with people like that running the show.
It's appalling that they didn't learn from their past mistakes but it all makes sense with corpo nutjobs like this guy.
The part that baffled me the most is when he says "Oh that was a good idea, let's make a game out of it" -> cut to the reality where MS output is disappointing, to say the least.
I'm really torn about Xbox. I love my XSX and I wish they'd get their shit together but I seriously doubt they will with people like that running the show.
It's appalling that they didn't learn from their past mistakes but it all makes sense with corpo nutjobs like this guy.
The part that baffled me the most is when he says "Oh that was a good idea, let's make a game out of it" -> cut to the reality where MS output is disappointing, to say the least.
I read that tweet as the criticism is being misdirected. Point it towards the decision makers overseeing the studios, Matt Booty and Phil Spencer.
I'm just talking about how protective he is of Phil, Matt and Sarah in general. They are C-Suite of Xbox, and those 3 are equally responsible for all of these bad decisions.
that matt booty clip is awful but i do want to point out that they ironed things out and amnesia fortnite continued just fine inside double fine - the only things turned into double fine property were what was turned into prototypes, just like before xbox's acquisition. nothing changed there.
View: https://youtu.be/wIn4WEHNj6M?t=2593
View: https://youtu.be/wIn4WEHNj6M?t=2593