funkystudent
Member
Are they at least going to finish that ET doc?
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Microsoft shutting down Xbox Entertainment Studios (TV studio, 200 employees)
- Thread starter Guevara
- Start date
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
What was Xbox Entertainment Studios? it sounds like an important division to Xbox like Sony's SCE or SCE Worldwide Studio's or something, obviously it can't be that important with only 200 employees.
Edit, never mind I know now, television, television....
Edit, never mind I know now, television, television....
Remedy, it was never part of the tv original programming
I kinda doubt they're gonna funnel the money into a new game studio or something. Just standard PR speak.
BruiserBear
Banned
I'd imagine so. That has to be pretty far along.
BabyFaceKillah
Member
and if Sonys foray into original programming succeeds then MS is gonna feel stoopid.
also there goes my future internship....FUCK!
also there goes my future internship....FUCK!
Poodlestrike
Banned
I do.
Sucks for the people losing their jobs, and I was really looking forward to some of the stuff they'd talked about.
Ah, well. At least Halo is still going forward.
Steverulez
Member
Memorabilia
Member
Well that didnt take long. I said months ago this was a predictable failure. MS continues to smartly wash themselves clean of the stench of Mattrick.
I guarantee that when Quantum Break comes out it will just be a game with some quirky Remedy style live action footage.
SEGAvangelist
Member
I thought the TV division was working on the TV show portions. Isn't that why MS owns the IP this time around?
Steverulez
Member
It possibly helped but probably more to do with MS funding it. Phil Spencer said they were looking to own more IPs they fund iirc
GuitarAtomik
Member
As long as this doesn't affect the Halo series, I'm cool with this as a consumer. Sucks about all those jobs though.
Canis lupus
Member
Yeah this venture was a remnant from the previous Xbox era under Don Mattrick when they tried to position Xbox as the one and only place for entertainment. It was just so embarrassing seeing Xbox being sold to the public by television people and the CBS lady saying Xbox was about to become the next watercooler.
Sucks for the employees, hope they're able to find a new job soon. Really hard times at Microsoft.
AndrewDean84xX
Banned
I like the new direction. Games. That's all we really want out of our XBO's.
pretty sure its just funding tv portion and game that gave them control,
Nightengale
Member
The big difference is that Sony TV/Sony Pictures are a wholly separate business division from Playstation, and that that they're a self-sustaining content business on their own terms, as opposed to Xbox ED which was meant as an additional Xbox trojan horse.
SCE can easily walk to Sony TV/Movies/Aniplex and ask for any original content partnership and it makes perfect sense because the business foundation is solid, even without SCE in the picture.
OTOH, Xbox Entertainment clearly has no business foundation of its own, and is more of a content to appeal to consumers buying into an Xbox ecosystem.
PsihoPerihelion
Member
Yeah I don't expect a new game studio but at least they are no longer wasting money on this stuff.
Ok.... I dont claim to have any insider knowledge. I just read/heard about the TV show thats in production as well
There is no reason to believe this will happen. Microsoft is simply cutting expenses.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
Such an entertaining video.
why? sony were already in the TV business in the first place.
Zen_Arcade
Banned
The division was a terrible idea in the first place, but it's a shame so many people will lose their jobs.
I did, thought it was a great idea.
FaintDeftone
Junior Member
As a company standpoint, this is a good decision. Microsoft needs to focus on getting gamers back on their side, not on original television programming.
For employee though, I feel for them. I've been laid off before and it is a terrible feeling. Hopefully they all have speedy recoveries. I know having Microsoft on your resume should be an easy ticket into another company quickly.
For employee though, I feel for them. I've been laid off before and it is a terrible feeling. Hopefully they all have speedy recoveries. I know having Microsoft on your resume should be an easy ticket into another company quickly.
I would imagine that is the positive PR spin of this news. Who knows how much of the money they spent on Entertainment is lost? How much of future spending was allocated to gaming vs how much is being put towards more profitable ventures?
I know. Remedy just likes to talk out of their ass when at the end of the day they just make games. Alan Wake had similar promises.
tfur
Member
Yeah, you may be reading it correctly.
I see contraction on edge projects here as a sign of general contraction. Also, if the Xbox global marketing is part of it, as rumored... that could be seen as a blunting of the arrow in marketing. I do not see rolling it into an external supported marketing group as a sign of strength.
Nightengale
Member
Xbox division funds more than just console games.
There is all the reasons in the world to believe this will happen. Microsoft is in no rush to cut expenses especially not if it's at the expense of their future offerings. They can and will invest a lot of money into gaming if that's the direction they're taking with the brand.
Wickerbasket
Member
They're probably just going to use the Xbox brand for their mobile products.
I don't think it'll work very well, but they probably think the brand can transition to phones.
davepoobond
you can't put a price on sparks
Uh. Not really. Shutting down a business arm that has done nothing is a cost cutting measure.
The money going into this wasn't really the issue. They are refining the unifying their strategies.
When looking at XES, they were probably thinking less about the money and more about... what are they trying to accomplish? They're funding shows and studios but don't have any proper portals to highlight the media. They don't have the rest of the division aligned to do what they were trying to do. It was a good idea but they weren't executing properly.
You can see these problems when you try to think of ways you can convince someone to "tune into Xbox"
They just weren't there. At all.
Metallix87
Member
I actually think this is a horrible mistake. Streaming video is a market that is becoming more and more important, as is providing exclusive content through your video services. It sounds like XES needed some restructuring and maybe a leadership change, but to totally shut down what could've been a very promising venture is highly disappointing, in my opinion.
This. Microsoft is only given a $1 Billion budget for gaming investment.
I don't know how much they have left for it, but they need to spend that wisely.
Ricky Ricardo
Member
No use even trying to debate Guevara.
Microsoft's E3 is all about Games, new CEO cuts fat from Xbox to focus on games.
"Focusing on games is likely not a priority for Microsoft though"
Right on schedule. You really can't make this stuff up. LOL