the same way that companies all put out the idea that you can't talk about your salary to others.
Xbox is shutting down Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and Alpha Dog Games. Roundhouse Studios absorbed by ZeniMax Online Studios.
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the same way that companies all put out the idea that you can't talk about your salary to others.
the caption. "How have we all been trained that this stuff isn't ok to talk about?"
ah, ok. yeah for sure, that was about crunch inside double fine tho, not really related to acquisitions and other stuff. the captioned moment is tim schafer talking about how amnesia fortnite is the same as before, they just needed to put stuff into paper since they are part of a bigger company now.
The problem with GP is that it makes sense if MS had more of a share of the console market. One could point out the uphill they've had since X360 where they can be much more competitive than Sony but still won't get a bigger share of the market than them. I think "first console" loyalty is a big thing for a lot of people as seen on this forum where every other post is either port-begging or concern trolling.
The reality is that the console market is losing younger gamers, which explains why the total console market size isn't growing over time. The best thing to do is pivot to PC and mobile since that's the only way for these platform holders to grow. That also gives them access to major gaming markets they ignored in East Asia and Desi countries.
Someone earlier in this thread mentioned that in the replies Jez is saying to blame Nadella and not Phil Spencer. I don't have twitter so I can't confirm that.
I mean if Phil really actually genuinely cared about developers, gamers and games wouldn't he resign in protest?
He's likely not that far off retirement anyway - 10 years max - and he is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It is absolutely no skin off his nose if he stopped working tomorrow. He will be living in the lap of luxury for his remaining days regardless (unlike the developers that lost their jobs). He could take an early retirement while also actually doing some good.
So why doesn't he resign and publicly state how opposed to MS shutting down these studios and that they are doing the wrong thing?
Does he not actually care?
But of course lol....I mean it's so on brand for these clowns.
So cringey. I love seeing all the devs side eye each other as he's talking.
dunno. there were years that it happened and we only found out way after they did, could be the case here since they are focusing on several new projects (at least 3 IIRC). since there was no mass exodus of DF talent after the acquisition, i imagine things have been pretty similar in there.
I don't follow Jez closely enough to gauge that, but given his job I'm sure there is some corporate quarterbacking.
All I'm saying is that Sarah Bond was assuredly at the table when these things were being discussed, with the opportunity to voice her perspective, but at the end of the workday it's not her line of business to manage and she can't make decisions for it. Focusing on making Matt Booty and Phil Spencer think twice about how they treat their studios is going to have a better chance of the ire being well spent. I hope they've been tuned in.
It's crazy to me that they put Bond on that Bloomberg interview without Booty or Spencer being hung out to dry beforehand.
Saw the latest Kyle Bosman vid, which is about 2 weeks old and predates the closures now, he's talking about the four games coming to Xbox (and before Spencer announces which games they are but simply says "four games are coming"). Of the four, Pentiment and HiFi Rush he says they weren't built as big huge consoles exclusives so it makes sense to port them and that it makes sense from a business standpoint to extract more value out of them also among other things to justify a sequel.
That he said that, specifically knowing one the games he knew was HiFi Rush, from a studio he knew at the time was likely to close, just highlights the complete lack of morals you have to have to be a C-Suite exec. You're just constantly lying about the future of people's jobs when in the back of your mind you know they're screwed. Just abhorrent.
That he said that, specifically knowing one the games he knew was HiFi Rush, from a studio he knew at the time was likely to close, just highlights the complete lack of morals you have to have to be a C-Suite exec. You're just constantly lying about the future of people's jobs when in the back of your mind you know they're screwed. Just abhorrent.
This whole wack-a-mole of who to blame really shows the weird levels of fondness people have for these higher ups. People defending the higher ups saying it's not them it was someone else they are on our side is frankly scary. You would think some of the people tweeting/posting/etc were family of these people.
They are all to blame in various ways in which we won't ever be privy to and trying to figure out the percentages of everyone and everything doesn't matter to all the people out of a job.
I think Phil cares. I don't think many of these higher ups wake up trying to hurt the company they are working for. Best of intentions doesn't mean a lot when you are in that position. Even if he had the best of intentions with every decision he's part of the higher ups responsible for a currently in tatters Xbox brand that has needed to close studios due to those decisions.
All the arguing about which rich person at or near the top to blame is so bizzare.
everyone calling it "Amnesia Fortnite" throwing me for a loop in this thread. I was like "when was there an Amnesia pack for Fortnite"
Watching that interview I had a strong impression they're pulling the classic tech company move of throwing female executives under the bus when shit hits the sand.
For sure she has her share of responsibility, but it shouldn't be just her face in front of bad news.
Okay, this is just sad. The look on everyone's faces.
Just got done listening to the Iron Lords show on this yesterday and boy I am not disappointed lol...if you think Jez and Ryan are bad you ain't heard nothing yet.
Never heard such delusion, copium, and bootlicking in my life.
Never heard such delusion, copium, and bootlicking in my life.
I was enjoying a week-long ban when this news hit so I never really got to give my two cents. Now that it's been almost a week, I'm going to keep it short* and sweet**.
Fuck the entire Xbox C-suite, including everyone's pal in the Banjo shirt. Every suit is your enemy, always will be, always has been, and they're never working for you or in the best interest of the people under their employ. They live to serve shareholders.
Watching this whole circus from the sidelines, I've been genuinely appalled every step of the way. The idea that these studios were shut down partially because they were "gearing up for games that were years away" - you know, the thing all games entering development are - makes my blood boil. The idea that anyone is still pulling the "good guy Phil" shit is infuriating. Perhaps worst of all, the idea that anyone could still earnestly believe multi-billion dollar company acquisitions is a good thing for the industry is genuinely confounding.
Fuck these acquisitions. Fuck Microsoft. Let's call a spade a spade, they absolutely shouldn't be in the game industry anymore, and they arguably should have started pulling out once the Xbox One hit and they made it abundantly clear that they have no idea how to manage first party studios, oversee a steady cadence of high quality software releases or keep their key few productive, well-ran studios open and producing the games they need to be a competitor in the space. Claims were made that they bought Activision to help clean house and now they're treating their premiere studios the same way Activision once treated their licensed game developers - ruthlessly shuttering them to save pennies.
Fuck the streaming-first future. Fuck whatever their future vision for Xbox as a brand is. Fuck the whole lot of suits who signed off on this. If jobs need to be cut, those are the folks that should be updating their resumes, not the teams that made Hi-Fi Rush and Prey.
The industry is imploding all around us and Microsoft is every bit as guilty as the Embracer's of the world. Just because you don't have an Embracer box in your living room doesn't mean they're worthy of more derision. Stop mollycoddling these evil companies and say it like it is. They're ghouls. They've always been ghouls, but at least they used to release enough art developed by actual genuinely talented and passionate people to make putting up with their ghoulishness worth it. They don't have that luxury anymore. This is the result of frenzied corporate greed and panic laid bare for all to see. You know that phrase "when a person shows you who they are, believe them?" This is Microsoft. This is Xbox. This is Matt Booty, Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, Dave McCarthy, Satya Nadella and Brad Smith. They're telling you. Believe them.
I sincerely hope there's still a good home out there for the talent they let go. These are some of the most gifted and talented artists in the business and they deserve a stable home where they can create more and worry less about being killed for what amounts to a rounding error in Microsoft's quarterly earning reports. Wherever they wind up, I'll be spending my money and time to support them. I'll think real long and fucking hard every time I'm asked to spend a dime to support their killers.
Fuck the entire Xbox C-suite, including everyone's pal in the Banjo shirt. Every suit is your enemy, always will be, always has been, and they're never working for you or in the best interest of the people under their employ. They live to serve shareholders.
Watching this whole circus from the sidelines, I've been genuinely appalled every step of the way. The idea that these studios were shut down partially because they were "gearing up for games that were years away" - you know, the thing all games entering development are - makes my blood boil. The idea that anyone is still pulling the "good guy Phil" shit is infuriating. Perhaps worst of all, the idea that anyone could still earnestly believe multi-billion dollar company acquisitions is a good thing for the industry is genuinely confounding.
Fuck these acquisitions. Fuck Microsoft. Let's call a spade a spade, they absolutely shouldn't be in the game industry anymore, and they arguably should have started pulling out once the Xbox One hit and they made it abundantly clear that they have no idea how to manage first party studios, oversee a steady cadence of high quality software releases or keep their key few productive, well-ran studios open and producing the games they need to be a competitor in the space. Claims were made that they bought Activision to help clean house and now they're treating their premiere studios the same way Activision once treated their licensed game developers - ruthlessly shuttering them to save pennies.
Fuck the streaming-first future. Fuck whatever their future vision for Xbox as a brand is. Fuck the whole lot of suits who signed off on this. If jobs need to be cut, those are the folks that should be updating their resumes, not the teams that made Hi-Fi Rush and Prey.
The industry is imploding all around us and Microsoft is every bit as guilty as the Embracer's of the world. Just because you don't have an Embracer box in your living room doesn't mean they're worthy of more derision. Stop mollycoddling these evil companies and say it like it is. They're ghouls. They've always been ghouls, but at least they used to release enough art developed by actual genuinely talented and passionate people to make putting up with their ghoulishness worth it. They don't have that luxury anymore. This is the result of frenzied corporate greed and panic laid bare for all to see. You know that phrase "when a person shows you who they are, believe them?" This is Microsoft. This is Xbox. This is Matt Booty, Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, Dave McCarthy, Satya Nadella and Brad Smith. They're telling you. Believe them.
I sincerely hope there's still a good home out there for the talent they let go. These are some of the most gifted and talented artists in the business and they deserve a stable home where they can create more and worry less about being killed for what amounts to a rounding error in Microsoft's quarterly earning reports. Wherever they wind up, I'll be spending my money and time to support them. I'll think real long and fucking hard every time I'm asked to spend a dime to support their killers.
Outside of the shock I experienced when I first heard the news, I was immediately reminded of Clover studio all those years ago, I still hold a grudge against Capcom for that. So sad to see these studios gone.
I mean, there's a difference between hobby creation and moonlighting work that you are being paid for. Not saying I agree with their policy but it's not an example of being hypocritical.
I'm not sure if I'm understanding this correctly. If an employee creates a game in his/her own time with his/her personal computer, the idea is potentially owned by Double-Fine/Microsoft? Or is it only if it's "officially" submitted to the studio as a potential game idea?
Wow, that's insane! This is the first time I've heard of this and it's almost hard to believe! How is it legal that stuff done off-hours with personal property belongs to the company?
I'd love to read more about this if you have an something handy. So his projects are just for him and his family or something like that?
These. Nadella's primary concern is that the spreadsheets are showing a problem and he needs Xbox to fix it. It is the job of Phil and Bond and Booty and all of them to do what is necessary to fix that problem. It is their decision to kill these studios to fix that problem, with Tango and Arkane Austin being easier targets because they don't have any active projects. If Phil and buddies really were "fighting the good fight" then they'd either have better solutions or they'd all be canned and Nadella would replace them with people better equipped to "do what needs to be done" and all that.
There's no secret war against nebulous "Boards", this is all just corporate finance bullshit. Xbox is losing money and it's Phil's job to stop that or at least demonstrate recovery in-progress. And the fallout is people's jobs. That's all this fucking is.
Agreed.
He's talked about it in various interviews that he will just do some hobbyist programming in Unity at home in his free time making little games and experiments. Not with any intent to sell something or publish it.
Microsoft has enough lawyers and money to the point where legality isn't really a concern for them. They're effectively bullying their own employees to either fall in line or never go public with their off-hours work just by having Booty bringing it up in a meeting.
Talking about that video? That was some low key mob bullshit. "If you want to run a startup quit and do it"
Take a look at Matt Booty's LinkedIn and how he describes his time at Midway. He is probably good at the job Microsoft hired him to do. (Stuff like "narrow the company's product line" and "rationalize overhead spending".)
Don't forget about "reduced staffing by 30%". He's really proud of all the people he fired.
This was always included in the contracts I signed (UK). I just ignored it as they can't enforce it and if you keep it secret how are they going to know. It's a nonsense thing to have in a contract.
This is my take. People are less concerned with understanding why Xbox made a move that shot themselves in the foot with the hardcore and more interested in self righteous dunking and moral grandstanding. Every company is laying off right now, it's not anything especially evil about Microsoft doing it. And that's not important to understanding what happened here. Nobody is running a large company and on feelings, it's about money. You don't become a large company on doing what feels right. It's a waste of time looking for someone to rake over the coals or to personify capitalism at Microsoft. What's actually interesting is what they are going to do next and if it will have any impact on their market share and PR image. Shit is bad now because it just happened, but I bet with time passing the doom will recede. I'm not saying let Microsoft off the hook for stupid decisions but, burning your Xbox onesie because Tango closed might be a Little extreme. Coming in to say this is why all Xbox execs are shit, and they want to destroy the industry on purpose is lame too but opinions are free to type into the Internet.
I get irrationally angry about the usage of these corporate terms. I wish these people were forced to write "took away the livelihoods of 30% of our people" instead. Maybe then they wouldn't act so proud.
That's the part that blows my mind. He came to power, fired a bunch of people, "reduced costs", and in the process doomed Midway entirely to the point at which the entire company shut down.
It's like capitalism in a nutshell. "We killed the company, but for a blessed 5 seconds, the shareholders saw costs go down."
There's a loooong track record of this kind of thing. Like with non-compete clauses that the FTC ruled are unenforceable with very few exceptions, it's something companies just try to get away with until someone with enough time, energy, and money challenges them in court on it. Until then, whether it's legal or not is largely irrelevant so long as enough employees believe it's in force.
Honestly when she became the president in late October, my initial reaction is that they found someone to take the fall.
But we already know why Xbox closed Tango. They weren't actively working on a game. Their past performance with HFR didn't matter. And that's the crux of it. You can make a fantastic game, a new IP no less, and still not have the chance to continue.
Nobody is under the illusion that MS is particularly evil, all corporations are. But MS are acting in a way that reeks of incompetence and shortsightedness. And if people are going to assign blame to the people who have propped themselves up to be the faces of Xbox, then they are completely right to do so. If Spencer, Bond and Booty can walk out to the cheer of the fans, have articles written about them about how they are saving Xbox, then they should also face the music when they do something vastly unpopular.
Lastly, personally I don't find it interesting at all whether MS' market share/PR image changes. This move will absolutely be good for their bottom line. Doesn't make it any less tragic (and stupid imo).
