Because that studio is giant experiment in games making. Big studios heavily rely on outsourcing anyway so they wanted to check how much can be outsourced. I guess it's less than they initially expected.You don't find that approach kind of odd? Why not build a traditional 350 - 450 head studio around the elite talent that you have
Lots of studios besides MS owned studios try to start with a large game first. It has nothing to do with MS "not putting in the work." I personally tend to think that a small game is a safer option like you suggested, but you see Jade Raymond's new studio, and that new Sony ex-Call of Duty studio (Deviation I think?) starting up and moving into larger games as well. Respawn did that as well.
From the outside looking in, all we can really say is that it didn't work out this time. But Sony is doing the same thing honestly. It's not like it's an inherently flawed approach. Deviation is around 100 people now I think.
Might as well shut down the initiative and buy CD
Why would square enix sell to MS? Yes they would get money in the short term, but they are losing a really good studio and this climate that sounds liek a disaster move.Might as well shut down the initiative and buy CD
Just looking at the Initiative wiki page two of the main people are from Crystal Dynamics and worked together. I have no idea where the other 70+ people previously worked, but it's not that crazy to assume other people worked together as well. All we really know about Deviation games is two people who worked together on Call of Duty that do all the press for the studio. Sounds incredibly similar to the Initiative when you read every press release on Deviation.Show me a studio that started from Scratch with no previous members who didn't work with one another?
this good studio have been giving underperforming performance for years and Avengers was the final nail for them. if it was good studio for them then wouldn't let the studio work on IP not owned by SE.Why would square enix sell to MS? Yes they would get money in the short term, but they are losing a really good studio and this climate that sounds liek a disaster move.
who knows maybe the whole SE acquisition not just CD lolThat may happen after the Activision/Blizzard deal goes through. As it sits right now MS can't do anything acquisition wise until that deal is done.
For someone approaching retirement apparently.Says the person who is in every Xbox thread trolling away tirelessly.
Since your so confident I'll post my collection up, take a perma ban bet with you. See what balls you have
It's very accurate, I was going to post the same info here in a different format
What if I told you that actually they are playing their favorite game.how do people have time to do this kind of digging, do they actually play games? I’m only speaking for myself but I would never, ever, ever look through linked in or dig through employee history to do this kind of shit. Like how many hours do people have free and why wouldn’t they be playing games instead? Crazy fans are crazy!
What if I told you that actually they are playing their favorite game.
Im pretty sure they worked out a deal with them as they were expecting a mass exodus of CD. Or they caught wind of staff getting cut and offered to step in. You need to draw people from somewhere. There are only so many dev studios in that area.I take this as The Initiative as a concept/dev team is pretty much non-existent. Perfect Dark will essentially be a Xbox exclusive developed by Crystal Dynamics. I wonder how much they paid Square Enix for this? Considering the outrageous price for Rise of Tomb Raider exclusivity I bet Square Enix are very happy.
Every single game made by western studios of Square is considered financial failure by them. At this point they really should just sell them to anyone else. Almost any other company would be better than Square.Why would square enix sell to MS? Yes they would get money in the short term, but they are losing a really good studio and this climate that sounds liek a disaster move.
Not meeting expectations doesn't equate to financial failure, they just have lofty goals albeit still making profits.Every single game made by western studios of Square is considered financial failure by them. At this point they really should just sell them to anyone else. Almost any other company would be better than Square.
It was never the plan to develop the game internally.And No, they won't sell them, that would make little sense when MS is paying them potentially big money to develop their game now that they failed to do so internally.
They say that now, initially that wasn't what they communicated publicly.It was never the plan to develop the game internally.
But third person > first.I don't hate this news. Crystal Dynamics is extremely talented. I hope that Perfect Dark will remain a first person shooter though and won't become Tomb Raider but with cooler gadgets.
That’s not what was communicated at the start. At the start this was going to be a AAAA jewel in the crown studio made to eventually compete with Naughty Dog and Santa Monica. They did want to ramp up to hundreds as the initial hires were intended to be the first of many. CD were never in the original plan.It was never the plan to develop the game internally.
If it ends up being third person, then it's honestly a win for me. They have plenty of first person games already. And if they want to actually make her into a spy, first person stealth sucks.This really makes me nervous about Microsoft's long term ambitions with so many more studios under their wing. What does it mean that their "AAAA" studio flamed out this fast?
Xbox’s new ‘AAAA’ studio rumoured to be resurrecting Perfect Dark
Microsoft’s ‘The Initiative’ is reportedly working on a third person Perfect Dark title.www.gamesradar.com
Where have you been? That's the die hard Microsoft stan's stock response to any critical conversation about Xbox. They all use the same playbook. Fake laughter, followed by a heavy dose of mod crying for bans.I love all the cheerleaders and xbox fans are giving LOL emoji's at us sane people literally having a conversation about the state of Microsoft's management on software.
DarkMage619 I see you being an a troll like always.
Thanks for adding to my ignore list.
Where have you been? That's the die hard Microsoft stan's stock response to any critical conversation about Xbox. They all use the same playbook.
If the game is good, i don't really care who made itSo this pretty much confirms The Initiative is dead. It just didn’t work like they thought it would.
That should be the real story. There are still the usual crowd ignoring the bigger story and pretending everything is fine though.
Proof?It was never the plan to develop the game internally.
60ish people all the time, while barely looking for new hires. This shows that they never really wanted to build the games themselves.Proof?
So this pretty much confirms The Initiative is dead. It just didn’t work like they thought it would.
That should be the real story. There are still the usual crowd ignoring the bigger story and pretending everything is fine though.
Probably the fact that they had hardly enough people to make people to make a mobile game.Proof?
Honestly this game should be deus ex meets perfect dark. First person mostly but third person in cover etc. And give a wide world of exploration options etc. Theres your gameIf it ends up being third person, then it's honestly a win for me. They have plenty of first person games already. And if they want to actually make her into a spy, first person stealth sucks.
I think a more relevant question is how many gamers actually care about this franchise? Perfect Dark 64 and Zero didn't even sell that many copies. So the draw isn't even big to begin with.
Show me a studio that started from Scratch with no previous members who didn't work with one another? Most new startup studios come from previous teams/studios who worked together. People who left Blizzard literally started multiple new studios housed with mostly ex Blizzard talent.
So they all had worked together. The Initiative is literally MS throwing giant checks around to grab people from Crystal, Insomniac, Rockstar, Ubisoft. None of the higher ups like Lead animation manager worked with any of these dudes. They knew their past work, but in terms of how they operate in a team, they were learning that for the first time.
It's like you didn't read the article break down of how no one was really creating a culture/Synergy with teams. Which you need to get stuff done and meet milestones.
Like all new studios that have formed recently like Haven, Deviation all have previous teams from previous studios working there. And a lot of them poach more people from the same studios the left from.
Thats how successful development happens. Rarely does a new studio work out when its all people who have never worked together are all pulled from different place and thrown in together. Only way that works is like Banjo and I said. you start on a small project and people who dont fit or work well with small project leave, and people get brought in that do work.
Takes time over projects to get to know someone, their work flows, or style.
Microsoft literally set themselves up to fail. I would have just told them to work on a small game like a F2P arcade shooter, or a indie 2D/3D plaforming title, or hell a click and point game.
I'll take anything designed from Fumito Ueda!True.
But games like Ico and Okami only sold 500k apiece. I’d still be more hyped for Ico 2 or Okami 2 over 20m+ sellers like FIFA and CoD.
The big 3 have a duty to put out more niche games that appeal to the hardcore over the mass market IMO.
But The Initiative doesn't have indie ambitions, and it's not the reason for which they were formed. They are a creative fireteam that comes up with a game idea, a vision, and then gets a partner to execute on it.
You’re contradicting yourself with these 2 paragraphs.But amidst a global pandemic, a very competitive gaming landscape, and cinematic AAA ambitions they simply don't have a large enough team to actually build the game. So you're going to want a partner.
He's pretty obviously a fanboyWhy would that matter to you? You spent a lot of time talking up the negatives of Horizon Forbidden West when you had not played it and said you had no interest in playing it. You can't have it both ways.
That may be true now, but that certainly wasn't the sentiment when the studio opened. Nobody forgets about this "we want to make AAAA games" rhetoric.But The Initiative doesn't have indie ambitions, and it's not the reason for which they were formed. They are a creative fireteam that comes up with a game idea, a vision, and then gets a partner to execute on it. I certainly wouldn't want Microsoft taking any of their other internal studios off existing projects to work on The Initiatives right now, so they went and got a top tier external partner in Crystal Dynamics who just so happens to be the best reboot developer in the business right now.
Microsoft did nothing wrong here. They brought talent together, and then gave that talent the freedom to build their team and decide what they want to work on. But amidst a global pandemic, a very competitive gaming landscape, and cinematic AAA ambitions they simply don't have a large enough team to actually build the game. So you're going to want a partner. Many roles that The Initiative in this early stage didn't have filled, Crystal Dynamics fixes all that.