Didnt Microsoft spent 500 million on marketing an add on a few years ago
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Microsoft shutting down Xbox Entertainment Studios (TV studio, 200 employees)
- Thread starter Guevara
- Start date
Didnt Microsoft spent 500 million on marketing an add on a few years ago
Metallix87
Member
It's not going to be. Rare is done. They'll be relegated to mobile games very soon. Microsoft will hand the IPs to new studios as this generation goes on. It's only logical.
Windows Phone has 3% market share is basically irrelevant in the space. MS got blown away by iOS and Android and will never get another shot at dominating the mobile phone space. It's over. Biggest blown opportunity of the 21st century.
There are already hundreds and hundreds of streaming capable devices. Why would anyone care what MS comes up with? They already tried with XboxOne and failed.
mightynine
Member
Couple of questions:
Why would a Xbox Phone sell better than a Windows Phone, especially to businesses?
How would this hypothetical Xbox TV be different from a legion of competitors that would already have established user bases by the time that happens?
Metallix87
Member
1.) Businesses? Xbox Phone would be marketed towards kids and teens. Simple as that.
2.) Xbox TV will be the only option to play Halo 7, Gears of War 5, Perfect Dark 2, etc. etc.
Last generation, Sony was basically irrelevant in the console space for most of the generation. This time around, they're in the lead, and Microsoft and Nintendo are struggling to find a way to compete. Change happens.
StUnNeR H2K
Member
Sad news for the employees, but long-term its a positive for the Xbox brand and gamers.
pepone1234
Neo Member
Renaming a phone with a word known massively and for decades (windows) to start using a less recognized brand that is decaying?
I don't think so.
Metallix87
Member
Young people today don't give a damn about Windows. Most don't even know what Windows is.
matrixman92
Member
its sad people lost their jobs, but this is a great shift
mightynine
Member
1. Ok, what changes would you make to the OS of Windows Phone to attract kids and teens who are not choosing a Windows Phone right now? And why would you choose to ignore the business sector, which can make a substantial purchase of product, especially when you just bought Nokia?
2. And how much would this streaming box that can play all these sequels cost? How powerful would it be? Wouldn't it have to be as powerful as the current product?
I think some games ruin franchises, Zero was that game for this particular franchise.
Metallix87
Member
I never said they'd want an Xbox Phone over an iPhone or an Android. I said they'd want it over a Windows Phone. Microsoft needs to spend money to secure more app support to truly compete, but going with a brand that young people actually know is a good move.
Seems to me it would be more logical to get any new studios to work on something new or on IPs that are actually worth salvaging. Perfect Dark is not one of those.
exmachina64
Banned
No, there are two options and a cheap imitator in distant third place. Microsoft's market share is 3.6% in the U.S. (citation: http://bgr.com/2014/07/01/windows-phone-market-share-3/)
And yes, the global smartphone market is declining with respect to people buying new phones every year. (citation: http://www.ibtimes.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-sales-suffer-topped-apples-iphone-5s-1630468)
It's not crazy to think that we may see Microsoft scale back operations within the medium term (one to three years), if they can't pick up more market share.
I wish this division had focused on interactive original programming with a gamification approach. Aside from the obvious example of 1 vs 100 to all Windows devices. For example, partner with the producers of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy to bring those shows to lots of screens with an app snapped allowing the viewer to participate, or make new massive multiplayer game shows. It could even have leaderboards showing how you do against other people playing with prizes from corporate sponsors.
Don't games still bring in more revenue than any other form of digital entertainment?
The focus on the living room is what made it so hard to capitalize on their potential. They had the PC and mobile markets cornered years ago and squandered it all by going all out on the TV.
Nadella said he envisions there will be many different screen sizes in the future. I imagine he thinks the Xbox brand should be delivering games to as many screens as possible instead of spending the majority of resources on just one screen.
My gut reaction is that Xbox as a games brand is here to stay, but the focus will be on delivering persistent experiences you can access in different forms depending on the screen you have and social interaction (creating, sharing, playing, etc. together).
Don't games still bring in more revenue than any other form of digital entertainment?
The focus on the living room is what made it so hard to capitalize on their potential. They had the PC and mobile markets cornered years ago and squandered it all by going all out on the TV.
Nadella said he envisions there will be many different screen sizes in the future. I imagine he thinks the Xbox brand should be delivering games to as many screens as possible instead of spending the majority of resources on just one screen.
My gut reaction is that Xbox as a games brand is here to stay, but the focus will be on delivering persistent experiences you can access in different forms depending on the screen you have and social interaction (creating, sharing, playing, etc. together).
Now they are doing some kind of refocus on mobile and seem to be going all in on it based on all the statements. They are so desperate to not be Xbox home gaming focused it's like they are embarrassed by it and for the longest time have kept trying to be something different. I see another massive mistake incoming and or 180. Spencer has said "it's all about the games(xbox one)" but now there are all these mobile statements. They are such a confused company.
SwiftDeath
Member
Sucks for those who worked there but sounds like a reasonable business decision
KnockOneOff
Banned
Listen no one would buy it, millions of people have iPhones, iPads, anroid, Nintendo 3DS, vita
Xbox doesn't really have portable IPs that would attract the millions to move then away from there devices
The end game is Windows everywhere on many form factors.
Windows Phone will take time, a new brand won't help. Consumers know Microsoft equals Windows equals Xbox. The UI is clearly similar at a glance as well.
Lets not have Microsoft go down bad branding again, they've been at least coherent in recent years, RT and Windows Phone get merged and things will be rather simple going forward.
Brad Grenz
Member
Sure, if you have Windows 8 or a Windows Phone. You're still cutting out all the iOS, Android, Mac, Windows 7, Roku, Kindle and PlayStation users, IE: the vast majority of the market.
Platinum_D
Member
It sucks for the people loosing their jobs
TheRealTalker
Banned
So I am guessing their TV shows will be mostly third party based now
as in an outside source doing all of the main work
as in an outside source doing all of the main work
FranXico
Member
If they were more serious, they would have never started this venture in the first place. Not to mention that these changes of heart are having a real impact in many people's careers.
Sigh. I was one of the people looking forward to the TV stuff. All of this Xbox reshifting has actually been disappointing to me, since they never delivered on their promises. When they first announced XB1, with their hundreds of millions of dollars deal with the NFL and Stephen Spielberg series, I assumed I would be stream live football and high quality TV programs on this device. 9 months after launch, and all Xbox has is a soccer documentary and fantasy stats for NFL (for a fantasy service that no one in their right mind uses. Yahoo and ESPN all the way). And now it is shutting down. They literally pissed away hundreds of millions of dollars for nothing. For christs sake, they could have probably partnered with Yahoo! for fantasy stats for free.
Don't insult dumpsters like that.
This is awful for the employees involved but at least Microsoft is focusing on what they're good at now.
shacklesmcgee
Member
If the NFL GameTime rumor is true, what does the X1 still have from the reveal? Kinect, Cloud and now TV are all gone.
Alx
Member
Kinect and cloud are still there, so are many TV features.
Baron von Loathsome
Member
Killer Instinct was handed to a different studio. There's no reason that Rare has to be the one to develop Perfect Dark 3.
They had the right idea with Forward Onto Dawn by making that a digital series that premiered on Xbox Live and then went on to say Netflix and DVD/Blu-Ray so I don't know why they didn't just do that again and lead with both of the new Halo series by Spielberg and Scott.
After those they could have gone a little further with a State of Decay series and built out their content slowly rather than try to rush out and create a full on network of programming. Sucks to hear about so many people losing their jobs but I do think Microsoft could have planned this out a lot better so I hope they learn from this to take a more measured approach.
After those they could have gone a little further with a State of Decay series and built out their content slowly rather than try to rush out and create a full on network of programming. Sucks to hear about so many people losing their jobs but I do think Microsoft could have planned this out a lot better so I hope they learn from this to take a more measured approach.
digoutyoursoul
Member
Best of luck to those affected
LukasTaves
Member
That's currently an issue, but it's only a matter of bringing the services to these platforms. With Xbox Music jumping to ios and android already it wouldn't me surprise to see Xbox Video jumping soon...
And it seems Ms has perceived already that it's more valuable to have someone using your service in a platform you don't own than not using your service at all, so there's even the precedent for that.
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
I believe the shutdown is a wise decision. Microsoft invested a lot into XES, including hiring Nancy Tellem (who was not cheap). Nothing has come of the service yet, and most of the internal reports suggest the place was not running well and having a hard time locking down and development projects and at this point very little was being kicked around. It's not the company's core competency, and for a company that needs to refocus around core competencies, funding it further is probably unwise.
Best of luck to the employees, who will hopefully find work elsewhere at a company more centrally focused on entertainment stuff.
Best of luck to the employees, who will hopefully find work elsewhere at a company more centrally focused on entertainment stuff.
FacelessSamurai
..but cry so much I wish I had some
Guess you didn't get the recent memo from MS CEO saying they'd re-double their efforts and focus even more on Xbox?
MS will sell enough Xbox Ones this gen to make a profit, they are on the right track right now, and next-gen I expect a killer of a console from them, especially with Phil at the helm. They are still a big player, anyone not seeing it is just crazy.
Also, disappointed by the news, really liked Every Street United and am eagerly anticipating their Atari documentary.
What would that achieve? Apple pretty much sell the same number of phones a year that the Xbox 360 sold over its lifetime.
Xbox is not an exciting brand in the phone space, in fact it would be laughable.
The playstation phone flopped hard if I remember, people just don't want that shit.
Yeah, they didn't need to go so deep, just work on the odd worthy title here and there while being the home of every other streaming service. No need to go further.
ForsakenLotus
Member
So, does anybody know if this affects Quantum Break? As I understand it, the game has live action segments interspersed and some element of a live action TV show as well. I even remember something about there being choices that are made affecting the TV and/or game?
Ok so first what the hell is Quantum Break? And second do these layoffs affect the game?
Ok so first what the hell is Quantum Break? And second do these layoffs affect the game?
rogue_nine82
Member
I always looked at the Xbox Entertainment Studio stuff as the cherry on top to owning an X1. We may get all the gaming exclusives but we will get some exclusive TV that you can't get anywhere else, it was just another feather in the hat of an X1 user and not a major selling point. Sad to see so many people losing their jobs.
Doug Heffernan
Member
Yes, yes indeed,
Naked Lunch
Member
I guess this means the Deadlands show is nixed. Glad the Halo shows are still a go.
shacklesmcgee
Member
Well, sort of. They don't seem to be using "The Cloud" anymore, the Kinect isn't integral, and TV didn't even have a chance to get the water cooler cold. I mean if you were to watch their reveal today, the product they were presenting and the one we have today are so different, it should almost be X1.5.
SolidSnakeUS
Member
Even if the Halo show is a go, isn't this basically another 180 with the Xbox One? Focusing huge on the Kinect, movies, shows, shared content and so on, and now... it's basically just a normal Xbox.
Alx
Member
They just changed their buzzwords... At E3 2014 it was all about "dedicated servers" instead of "the cloud", but in the end they were describing the same features.
It is a normal Xbox if you decide to remove all the options and not use kinect, nor hook up your TV box to HDMI in and so on. And that's dull indeed. Fortunately you can still do all of that if you chose the full-featured Xbox.
UrbanDandy
Member
The messed up part is that I didn't even know they existed until now. I hope all personnel involved find work.
Hey if that's his priority then good luck to him. I just don't see it making a dent in the top and bottom line of a $370B company.
Also, just because a CEO says something doesn't mean he will do it. They are motivational speakers and salesman first and foremost. It wouldn't exactly be smart to say "we don't care about Xbox".
Why? I don't think he had anything to do with the TV stuff.joseph staten am cry
Broadbandito
Member
What does this mean for Quantum Break!!?!?!?! Thought it was good guys (game) bad guys (show)
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