Microsoft shuts down several studios, including Tango and Arkane Austin.

Board 8

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Board 8 » Microsoft shuts down several studios, including Tango and Arkane Austin.
Double Fine is almost certainly living on borrowed time. They haven't released anything since Psychonauts 2, and not everything they release is a huge hit.
http://i.imgur.com/k0v0z3q.gif
LightningStrikes posted...
Oh, and in addition theyre cancelling the remaining Redfall DLC and ending support of that. Sounds like it was actually getting into a good state too.

All of this is happening so they can prioritise the biggest titles more which is a story we keep seeing. Industrys in an absolutely dire state. Though I struggle to remember the last studio closure this shocking since THQ went bust a decade ago. Lionhead maybe, guess what that has in common with this, Microsoft ownership.
Yay late stage capitalism.
All posters and events depicted in this post are entirely fictitious. Any similarity to actual events or posters, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
WazzupGenius00 posted...
Double Fine is almost certainly living on borrowed time. They haven't released anything since Psychonauts 2, and not everything they release is a huge hit.
Honestly? I'd say studios are at the most risk when they've recently released something. If a studio has a game coming out in a year or two, you can justify keeping it open in the short term, but if they just released something and it's gonna be another 5 years, why bother? As in, the studios releasing games this year (Ninja Theory, Machine Games, Obsidian? (though Obsidian might have Outer Worlds 2 coming soonish)) will be in danger next year.
All the stars in the sky are waiting for you.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/36e45ee3.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/HngtYfT/20240504-020718-imageonline-co-merged-jpg.png
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD
Dishonored would actually be ok because its Lyon, right?

although Im not thrilled about the odds of success of the Blade game
I live on, THROUGH THIS SEASHELL!
VeryInsane's mobile account
Dishonored 2 was Lyon, Dishonored 1 was a split between both.
All the stars in the sky are waiting for you.
Fallout got so popular Microsoft execs told Bethesda to speed up development and cut funding every where else.
https://m.twitch.tv/sorozone/profile
Sorozone posted...
Fallout got so popular Microsoft execs told Bethesda to speed up development and cut funding every where else.

They should probably seventy-Six that plan.
Only the exceptions can be exceptional.
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/xboxs-perfect-dark-reboot-is-in-a-very-rough-state-its-claimed/?s=09

They're fucking cooked.

I don't think there's a future for AAA gaming.
https://i.ibb.co/HngtYfT/20240504-020718-imageonline-co-merged-jpg.png
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD
UshiromiyaEva posted...


I don't think there's a future for AAA gaming.

The writing's been on the wall for a while. It's simply grown too big
while you slept, the world changed
Do we not count stuff like Elden Ring and BG3 as AAA? Because if so, then yes.
"One toot on this whistle will take you to a far away land."
-Toad, SMB3
yeah i'd sooner say it's more that the giant western studios kept bloating themselves to a point that they're popping. like bethesda was always gonna be a bubble, same with microsoft when they decided to buy like half the studios out there. eventually there's gonna be things that die, get reborn, and repeat.
"Maybe it's a tentacle, molesting the planet itself. - Aschen Brodel.
Maybe it's just me, but I usually lump 'AAA' with Ubisoft, EA, 2K, Sony and Microsoft.

As for other big publishers; Nintendo is always it's own thing, Capcom and Bandai Namco don't tend to draw nearly as much ire outside of microtransaction BS.
https://m.twitch.tv/sorozone/profile
https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1788301644574105836?t=TLtdPiXNT1dkchs5GqB8cQ&s=19

It doesn't stop.

I gotta hand it to Microsoft, making everyone completely forget about the Helldivers situation takes a special kind of fuck up. Sony's backpedal timing could not have been better.
https://i.ibb.co/HngtYfT/20240504-020718-imageonline-co-merged-jpg.png
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD
you missed Activision Blizzard in that list too but yeah, that list is literally western studios and Sony, whose big dogs are western studios too. Square Enix belongs in that category as well though also doesn't get as much ire. they do put out flops too though, like Forspoken. also can't ignore CDProjekt as a new entry to that list considering they literally became bigger than Ubisoft after Cyberpunk.
"Maybe it's a tentacle, molesting the planet itself. - Aschen Brodel.
Well Activision-Blizzard is in the Microsoft umbrella now, which is in no small part what caused this.

Squeenix is weird because they'll have the most unrealistic sales goals you've ever seen but in the end it usually doesn't lead to anything drastic.
"One toot on this whistle will take you to a far away land."
-Toad, SMB3
Gotta love how the shareholders/top dogs gotta kill everything from the environment to video games.
UshiromiyaEva posted...


I don't think there's a future for AAA gaming.
There is, but companies are going to have to smarter as to how they approach the development of such games. More than likely, we'll just see fewer as time goes on and/or companies opt for graphic/spec changes in development to reduce costs.

Personally, the "make games look as realistic as possible" graphics almost never hooked me and I'd rather just watch a movie/TV series version of what they're doing if they are just going to follow that narrative.

EDIT: Oh, and maybe seeing these games always fall in price over the course of 1-3 years plays a part, too. Why bother picking something up for $60+ when you can finally pick it up a play the game when it's reduced to $30 or less.
PaulG235 | Finished in the Top 2 of GotD2010's Second Chance Bracket
Sadly, there are no second chances in the Guru, azuarc doesn't need one.
paulg235 posted...
Personally, the "make games look as realistic as possible" graphics almost never hooked me and I'd rather just watch a movie/TV series version of what they're doing if they are just going to follow that narrative.


It typically makes the characters just look bad. I don't think I've ever seen a "hyper realism" game where I thought the characters looked good. They looked "real", but real things are often ugly.

Spiderman 2, as a recent example, I think was a hideous game.
https://i.ibb.co/HngtYfT/20240504-020718-imageonline-co-merged-jpg.png
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD
I mean I'm playing Cyberpunk 2077 right now and that has realistic graphics which look fantastic. That was never the issue for that game!
It's Reyn Time.
There are great looking realistic style games coming out still, but whats happened is the rate of improvement has gotten slower and slower while costs have kept going up at the same rate. To be honest if AAA gaming stayed at the level of fidelity high end console games are at now if even where they were five years ago thats enough, but the problem is publishers and quite possibly the audience are locked into a mentality where these things need to just get better and better without ever stopping.
I just decided to change this sig.
Blaaaaaaargh azuarc
It's not photorealistic games that are the problem. It's feature creep and forced online and MTX.
2 line break(s), 160 characters allowed
LightningStrikes posted...
There are great looking realistic style games coming out still, but whats happened is the rate of improvement has gotten slower and slower while costs have kept going up at the same rate. To be honest if AAA gaming stayed at the level of fidelity high end console games are at now if even where they were five years ago thats enough, but the problem is publishers and quite possibly the audience are locked into a mentality where these things need to just get better and better without ever stopping.
To piggyback on Spiderman 2 - that had triple the budget of the original and people's general response was "doesn't look better than what I remember of Spiderman 1".
It's Reyn Time.
KamikazePotato posted...
To piggyback on Spiderman 2 - that had triple the budget of the original and people's general response was "doesn't look better than what I remember of Spiderman 1".
That's cuz the money went into setpieces, plus all the little open world details.

kevwaffles posted...
Do we not count stuff like Elden Ring and BG3 as AAA? Because if so, then yes.
Elden Ring and BG3 are absolutely AAA. There are plenty of successful AAA games every year, including EA and Take Two's sports games, not to mention Nintendo's stuff like Mario Wonder.
All the stars in the sky are waiting for you.
AAA is a pie that studios can take limited slices from. It used to be that the pie kept growing but now it's not. So AA and indie will have to increasingly become more of the portfolio. Too bad the megacorps systematically destroyed all AA studios over the past 20 years.
_foolmo_
he says listen to my story this maybe are last chance
https://twitter.com/PatStaresAt/status/1788367206507765968

Holy shit

Between this and the studio misspellings, I'm starting to wonder if he shut Tango down not realizing what they actually made.
"One toot on this whistle will take you to a far away land."
-Toad, SMB3
Has ever MS Employee who used to have close ties with Giant Bomb ended up being awful?
https://i.ibb.co/HngtYfT/20240504-020718-imageonline-co-merged-jpg.png
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD
kevwaffles posted...
https://twitter.com/PatStaresAt/status/1788367206507765968

Holy shit

Between this and the studio misspellings, I'm starting to wonder if he shut Tango down not realizing what they actually made.
Hi-Fi Rush was a AAA game that took five years to make and had a team of over 100 devs.
All the stars in the sky are waiting for you.
MacArrowny posted...
Hi-Fi Rush was a AAA game that took five years to make and had a team of over 100 devs.
I've also seen people claiming the opposite! I think Ghostwire Tokyo was the main focus of Tango.
It's Reyn Time.
MacArrowny posted...
Hi-Fi Rush was a AAA game that took five years to make and had a team of over 100 devs.
OK it's not AAA.

Yes, there are smaller games than Hi-Fi Rush. Trust me when I say that is not what he means.
"One toot on this whistle will take you to a far away land."
-Toad, SMB3
https://twitter.com/caro_irl/status/1788282737553530921
"One toot on this whistle will take you to a far away land."
-Toad, SMB3
https://twitter.com/Theswweet/status/1788309030638899265
It's Reyn Time.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/9b7b979c.jpg

....

The platforms it is today....is some very worrisome wording considering the Switch release hasn't technically been officially announced yet.
https://i.ibb.co/HngtYfT/20240504-020718-imageonline-co-merged-jpg.png
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD
I wouldn't read too much into it. Even in good times they wouldn't refer to unannounced releases of a game. The game industry loves its secrecy.
My bracket looked like random picks compared to his.
Congrats to azuarc for winning the GotD 2020 Guru Contest!
https://twitter.com/Dreamboum/status/1788372051201249656
"One toot on this whistle will take you to a far away land."
-Toad, SMB3
KamikazePotato posted...
https://twitter.com/Theswweet/status/1788309030638899265

el em ay oh
If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?
#theresafreakingghostafterus
https://twitter.com/Dansgaming/status/1788576699728212124
"One toot on this whistle will take you to a far away land."
-Toad, SMB3
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c72af060.jpg
azuarc wasn't even home. he was playing Magic the Gathering at his buddy's store, which is extremely easy to verify
https://twitter.com/IdleSloth84_/status/1788508504308810010

More in depth analysis of how the problems play off each other.
"One toot on this whistle will take you to a far away land."
-Toad, SMB3
No Xbox release for the next entry in the Halo franchise, Animal Well. How far they've fallen.
https://i.ibb.co/HngtYfT/20240504-020718-imageonline-co-merged-jpg.png
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD
Executives just see the potential revenue and engagement live service hits (Fortnite, Roblox, CoD, GTA, Minecraft, etc.) generate and demand it be chased. Unless you are a private company or specialise in huge single player hits that's where the big resources are going to get thrown, especially with costs rising and limited growth. GamePass doesn't seem like it has big growth potential (let's see how MS handle CoD).

Pretty funny to see that the big acquisitions made under Phil Spencer's leadership are resulting in real pressure to make Xbox contribute some profit. Be careful what you wish for.
We are living our lives
Abound with so much information
kevwaffles posted...
https://twitter.com/IdleSloth84_/status/1788508504308810010

More in depth analysis of how the problems play off each other.

Hmm, sounds eerily similar to Embracer group. Execs have the easiest job in the world. Get paid millions to fuck over people's livelihoods for a year or two, then escape on a golden parachute. Shit is sad.

I legit don't understand how you can run a business with no foresight, or forecasted budget surpluses' or potential deficits.
https://m.twitch.tv/sorozone/profile
https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1788705442736050597

.......
https://i.ibb.co/HngtYfT/20240504-020718-imageonline-co-merged-jpg.png
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD
Everything about that got increasingly more baffling as I read it.
"One toot on this whistle will take you to a far away land."
-Toad, SMB3
That is dumb because Hi Fi Rush was never intended to make up for 70B losses. That's not how they see Tango at all and never have. But they do expect Tango to be an immediate profit now that money is tight. If the only proposals the studio had was for risky investment (expansion, hiring, new IP) then that does not make MS happy. And so they get cut.
_foolmo_
he says listen to my story this maybe are last chance
You have to assume this means they'll REMOVE Candy Crush Saga and Minecraft from the App and Play Stores, right?

They're so.....fucking god damn stupid holy SHIT........

And then this

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0f1078d5.jpg

Legitimately I think it's over for Xbox.
https://i.ibb.co/HngtYfT/20240504-020718-imageonline-co-merged-jpg.png
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD

It's Reyn Time.
https://twitter.com/ega1002/status/1788610596713406853
Okay, I rolled a 14. What's that mean? Hsu
That you're a cheater. This is a 12-sided die. Chan
UshiromiyaEva posted...
https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1788705442736050597

.......
Game devs choosing where to launch their new game: Ah yes, Microsoft, a company that has proven trustworthy to work with,
"You're childish. What are you getting? Are you getting strawberry? Ha! That's such a childish flavor, only children eat strawberry."
Makes me feel glad Im not an Xbox guy
Board 8 » Microsoft shuts down several studios, including Tango and Arkane Austin.
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