Bebpo said:So I don't get it. Someone explain it to me.
MS spends all this money getting these first party studios together. Assembling a lineup of quality exclusive software. Thanks to these games in part, the X360 is where it is today. Then they fire them or the team leaves or whatever.
X360 is still in a fierce software battle with PS3 for every exclusive they can get. What good does it do MS to lose these studios who could be making kickass exclusive 1st party games in many genres to battle the PS3 1st parties? It's one thing if X360 had one the generation and was so far ahead MS could fire everyone and sit back and enjoy profits, but they're in the middle of a major heated battle. This would be the dumbest time to lose 1st party titles.
What is going on?
They realized going first party is not as profitable. For maximum profits, going second party or exclusive third party is the way to go. This way you don't have to pay all those extra costs that owning a studio creates.
Also MS doesn't seem to want to keep studios that just create good games. They only seem to want studios that either create hugely profitable games or studios that can help the company in more ways than just games.