crash and spyro aren't the greatest examples as they are still decent sellers. Their publishers have been able to keep the IPs somewhat valuable despite losing AAA devs behind the originals. As i said, its about having good developers behind the games, which isn't a given, but its certainly possible. MS doesn't want control over the studios as long as they have the IPs. They cut deals to seemingly keep Bungie and Bioware making the next installments in Halo and Mass Effect respectively exclusive. Thats not a bad outcome from two developers that probably wanted to branch out and in the case of Bioware make PC and multiplatform games. As for Bizarre, as i remember it they came to MS and asked to either be bought out completely or be allowed to find a potential partner. Their last two games bombed HARD. What would you have done in that situation? Lets say they bought out Bizarre 100%. They make PGR5 and that sells below expectations (much like PGR4). They create a new game that fails to create any buzz (much like The Club). Some of the talent inside the studio proceeds leave, move on, create startups, ect.... Then you are stuck with what?
Look, im a 360 owner, and i think Bioware, Bungie and Bizarre are all talented developers. Do i wish they were all still making tons of exclusive 360 games? Sure. But you also have to look at it from a business perspective and i can understand the decisions MS made based on the direction they are going. Nintendo took a very similar approach during the last days of the Gamecube leading into the Wii. People thought they were crazy for cutting ties with Rare and SK and Left Field (okay maybe not so much). Think about what good SK and to a lesser extent Rare would do for them in the position they are in now.
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