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[IbizaPocholo]

https://www.windowscentral.com/rock...m-shepherd-joins-microsofts-initiative-studio

Today we learned that Rockstar Games' Tom Shepherd is also working there as of September.

Microsoft founded The Initiative this year so that the studio could build quality Microsoft exclusives like God of War or Uncharted. It seems like the company has the team to do just that because individuals like Shepherd have worked on such games. Shepherd was previously the Technical Director at Rockstar Games.

 

[WaterAstro]

Meaningless, really. Even if it was a big name.
For example, EA picked up Amy Hennig, and that project was so bad it got canned.

We make such a big deal about individuals that it's really a mistake. Even Microsoft has the Tomb Raider reboot former Crystal Dynamics lead and positioned him as a "master storyteller".
It's the team that makes the game, and unless the Initiative had everyone from Rockstar or Naughty Dog or whatever, individual names don't mean a thing.

 

[FranXico]

Meaningless, really. Even if it was a big name.
For example, EA picked up Amy Hennig, and that project was so bad it got canned.

That's not a good example and you know it. The game she was working on could have been a truly great game, for all we know.

More to your point, Naughty Dog once hired a technical lead from the team who made Halo 4, and she left just a few months later. That hire on its own amounted to nothing of consequence on the long run.

 

[CatLady]

Nice, The Initiative really seems to be gathering top tier talent. Looking forward to seeing what they'll produce.

 

[flashfire926]

Out of all of MS's new studios, The Initiative is the one I'm most excited about. Let's see what they bring to the table.

 

[WaterAstro]

That's not a good example and you know it. The game she was working on could have been a truly great game, for all we know.

It could have, and we have no idea what went on, but all I can see is that the studio got closed despite Amy Hennig's involvement.
If the game was so good, and it was going to be an Uncharted blockbuster in space, there's no way EA would pass that up.

Just the same for this studio. If they literally mismanage everything, and the game feels shitty to play according to Microsoft, they'll can it, the studio, and all these big names will mean nothing.
Heck, they just canned Kamiya's game when it was far in development.

 

[Leonidas]

The Initiative is shaping up to be an All-Star studio

 

[FranXico]

It could have, and we have no idea what went on, but all I can see is that the studio got closed despite Amy Hennig's involvement.
If the game was so good, and it was going to be an Uncharted blockbuster in space, there's no way EA would pass that up.

Just the same for this studio. If they literally mismanage everything, and the game feels shitty to play according to Microsoft, they'll can it, the studio, and all these big names will mean nothing.
Heck, they just canned Kamiya's game when it was far in development.

EA was at the height of their microtransaction/lootbox fever back then, you can be sure they were more interested in the next FUT or the next Overwatch than the next Uncharted...

 

[Shmunter]

I get a feeling Rockstar games get brute forced quality with extremely long dev cycles and mountains of money. But thechnically, high latency controls and gunplay are way behind other AAA releases.

 

[WaterAstro]

EA was at the height of their microtransaction/lootbox fever back then, you can be sure they were more interested in the next FUT or the next Overwatch than the next Uncharted...

Yet Respawn's game is still alive? If you are right, EA would have canned both games and both studios.

Edit: oh, also, I forgot. Uncharted 4 had loot crates.

 

[Akuza89]

Soooooo can we get this now then...?

 

[Spukc]

Meaningless, really. Even if it was a big name.
For example, EA picked up Amy Hennig, and that project was so bad it got canned.

We make such a big deal about individuals that it's really a mistake. Even Microsoft has the Tomb Raider reboot former Crystal Dynamics lead and positioned him as a "master storyteller".
It's the team that makes the game, and unless the Initiative had everyone from Rockstar or Naughty Dog or whatever, individual names don't mean a thing.

Kojima says hi

 

[mad597]

Meaningless, really. Even if it was a big name.
For example, EA picked up Amy Hennig, and that project was so bad it got canned.

We make such a big deal about individuals that it's really a mistake. Even Microsoft has the Tomb Raider reboot former Crystal Dynamics lead and positioned him as a "master storyteller".
It's the team that makes the game, and unless the Initiative had everyone from Rockstar or Naughty Dog or whatever, individual names don't mean a thing.

Way to downplay MS gathering some great talent for their 1st party. You almost sound threatened by the notion MS is ramping up 1st party. look at how many times youve already posted in this thread

 

[GTR R35_Supra RZ]

Way to downplay MS gathering some great talent for their 1st party. You almost sound threatened by the notion MS is ramping up 1st party. look at how many times youve already posted in this thread

My thoughts exactly and it only took 1st post...yea, watch another MS thread derailed and downplayed to all directions.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

I bet any money, if this was "Sony has just picked up...…" this thread would be a LOT different. Its almost like some people are 11, or something...

 

[CeeJay]

Meaningless, really. Even if it was a big name.
For example, EA picked up Amy Hennig, and that project was so bad it got canned.

We make such a big deal about individuals that it's really a mistake. Even Microsoft has the Tomb Raider reboot former Crystal Dynamics lead and positioned him as a "master storyteller".
It's the team that makes the game, and unless the Initiative had everyone from Rockstar or Naughty Dog or whatever, individual names don't mean a thing.

Teams are made up of lots of individual people though!

You gotta start somewhere and The Initiative look to have made a great start with their recruiting so far.

 

[Clear]

Creating a great studio is not easy, its about a lot more than just hiring talented staff. I applaud what MS are doing here, but I wouldn't expect to see their first project inside of 3 years (probably closer to 5), and most likely it will be their 2nd and third releases that really show the full potential coming close to being realized. That's just the way things tend to work, because you can never really tell how personalities/viewpoints are going to mesh from an interview.

Over the years the single most common augur of a studio crash in my experience has been periods of rapid expansion that diluted and/or changed company culture. Setting up a big studio is no different really.

 

[Snoopycat]

Could you imagine the mountains of sheer rage if MS bought Naughty Dog. That would be hilarious. Someone needs to get Phil Spencer on that.

 

[Bryank75]

It's great that Microsoft is investing and bulding studios like this... my one concern is that they seem to have an overbearing approach to game development and it seems to have harmed both their exclusives and relationships with developers working on their exclusives.
It's a really difficult thing to change culture at an organisation.

Still, I'm very interested to see what they produce.

 

[VAL0R]

individual names don't mean a thing.

Individual talent at the highest level doesn't mean a thing. C'mon dude, you're being silly.

 

[nowhat]

Could you imagine the mountains of sheer rage if MS bought Naughty Dog. That would be hilarious. Someone needs to get Phil Spencer on that.

Short of buying Sony altogether, I don't see why Sony would sell their crown jewel (not to mention their gaming R&D department too).

But more on topic, I think it's great MS seems to be investing in first-party titles. I just hope they give the studios (old and new) enough time and money for them to make the games they want to make - and preferably something else than Halo/Forza/Gears too.

 

[Gavon West]

Short of buying Sony altogether, I don't see why Sony would sell their crown jewel (not to mention their gaming R&D department too).

But more on topic, I think it's great MS seems to be investing in first-party titles. I just hope they give the studios (old and new) enough time and money for them to make the games they want to make - and preferably something else than Halo/Forza/Gears too.

Bro... Say wha?!? Smh.

CLEARLY........clearly, its more than Halo, Forza, Gears now, right? Jesus, we're looking at nine to ten new studios in one year alone. I can't see how you can even say something like that with all these acquisitions taking place...

 

[nowhat]

Bro... Say wha?!? Smh.

CLEARLY........clearly, its more than Halo, Forza, Gears now, right? Jesus, we're looking at nine to ten new studios in one year alone. I can't see how you can even say something like that with all these acquisitions taking place...

I know most of the studio acquisitions were announced during the E3 press - but what were the largest games announced/hinted at then? Halo, Forza and 3xGears...

 

[shark sandwich]

I bet any money, if this was "Sony has just picked up...…" this thread would be a LOT different. Its almost like some people are 11, or something...

Insert Antonio Banderas gif...

Yeah, the salt is strong in this thread.

 

[Woo-Fu]

Its almost like some people are 11, or something...

Statistically speaking some people have to be 11.

As far as the original subject goes, instead of trying to reduce this to a "whether or not it will amount to anything" which of course is a question that cannot be answered why not analyze it from the standpoint of Microsoft's investment and commitment? From that standpoint it seems pretty clear to me that Microsoft wants to make some blockbuster games to differentiate their platforms from the competition. Good!

 

[Gavon West]

I know most of the studio acquisitions were announced during the E3 press - but what were the largest games announced/hinted at then? Halo, Forza and 3xGears...

Actually, the 3rd party and studio acquisitions were bigger announcements than Halo, Gears and FH4.

Even still, Can't count out Halo Infinite, which got enormous praise because its looking like Halo is going back to its open world roots. And Gears 5 looks to be taking risks. There's a reason why this past E3 for Microsoft was the best one in nearly a decade.

 

[Clear]

Bro... Say wha?!? Smh.

CLEARLY........clearly, its more than Halo, Forza, Gears now, right? Jesus, we're looking at nine to ten new studios in one year alone. I can't see how you can even say something like that with all these acquisitions taking place...

9 to 10? So far, afaik MS has bought Ninja Theory (good get), 2 companies that have been producing product exclusively for Xbox for years (Playground, Undead Labs) and the speculative purchase of Compulsion. Adding in the new studio and Obsidian if they close the deal makes 6, what are the other 3-4?

 

[Gavin Stevens]

I think people genuinely believe that games take a few weeks to make. Not even last gen would you find big hitters taking a year to make. Yes, this should have been done ages ago... but at least it’s being done.

This shit takes time. With any luck the next Xbox May release with a few of these titles and some may be god tier.

 

[Acidizer]

Way to downplay MS gathering some great talent for their 1st party. You almost sound threatened by the notion MS is ramping up 1st party. look at how many times youve already posted in this thread

Simply throwing money at these problems usually never works out. Fostering creativity has never been their strong suit.

It's obviously a good thing MS are "ramping up" 1st party since they've been whoring the same franchises out since birth. But we've seen this before.

What happened with Rare? Big name acquisition. No result.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

The problem with rare is self made and one that MS didn’t really see for whatever reason. Rare... are not rare. They are nothing like the rare everybody remembers. They also cocked up with some things that they cleaely
Shouldn’t have been put on.

Sea of Thieves was amazing btw, the only let down is it should have had a single player

 

[Acidizer]

The problem with rare is self made and one that MS didn’t really see for whatever reason. Rare... are not rare. They are nothing like the rare everybody remembers. They also cocked up with some things that they cleaely
Shouldn’t have been put on.

Sea of Thieves was amazing btw, the only let down is it should have had a single player

Exactly. MS wasted money on Rare, then put them in a corner.

This new hire is obviously another big name. One probably designed to stoke fan boys and headlines rather than great games without interference I would cynically bet.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

I don’t know, I think a lot of things have hurt the Xbox teams ego this generation. It can’t be fun being dead last, having the weaker console, and being well known for having barely any first party stuff, and what stuff you do have being graphically nowhere near the competition. Don’t get me wrong, some things are amazing, like Forza horizon. But you won’t find anything even remotely close to God Of War or Uncharted 4 on Xbox, first party/graphically speaking.

I’m sure... I hope... they have learned the lesson.

 

[Acidizer]

One glaring difference between them.

Sony seem to have no problem ripping up the rule book for every new console - they aren't afraid to shelf the very franchises that made the previous console a success, and give the player something new and fresh.

.... where as MS cling for dear life to past glories to their own detriment.

 

[Gavon West]

9 to 10? So far, afaik MS has bought Ninja Theory (good get), 2 companies that have been producing product exclusively for Xbox for years (Playground, Undead Labs) and the speculative purchase of Compulsion. Adding in the new studio and Obsidian if they close the deal makes 6, what are the other 3-4?

You forget The Initiative is a new studio, PGG is actually two separate teams working on two separate IP's. And we're looking at, at least two to three more acquisition announcements at X0.

 

[Gavon West]

Simply throwing money at these problems usually never works out. Fostering creativity has never been their strong suit.

It's obviously a good thing MS are "ramping up" 1st party since they've been whoring the same franchises out since birth. But we've seen this before.

What happened with Rare? Big name acquisition. No result.

Smh^^

So we've seen Microsoft going ham on buying development houses like this before, huh? When was this exactly?

And you do realize Rare is on a hiring spree as we speak, right? Rare is doing quite well.

Some of you guys try way too hard. Keep fighting the good fight, I guess...

 

[Gavon West]

Exactly. MS wasted money on Rare, then put them in a corner.

This new hire is obviously another big name. One probably designed to stoke fan boys and headlines rather than great games without interference I would cynically bet.

Lmao! So Microsoft is going to pay this veteran Dev with a ridiculous track record obscene amounts of money to just stroke fanboy egos, versus utilizing his talents for game development???

Does it hurt being this naive? It must.. Lol

 

[Gavon West]

One glaring difference between them.

Sony seem to have no problem ripping up the rule book for every new console - they aren't afraid to shelf the very franchises that made the previous console a success, and give the player something new and fresh.

.... where as MS cling for dear life to past glories to their own detriment.

How many GoW's, Uncharted's, Jax and Daxters, GT's etc have there been now? Lol.

And when you talk about "shelved franchises" do you mean Killzone (the Halo killer lol) Drive Club (the Forza killer lol) and a few others I can't remember right now?

Jesus Christ... Lol

 

[Acidizer]

How many GoW's, Uncharted's, Jax and Daxters, GT's etc have there been now? Lol.

And when you talk about "shelved franchises" do you mean Killzone (the Halo killer lol) Drive Club (the Forza killer lol) and a few others I can't remember right now?

Jesus Christ... Lol

You have your head up your ass.

MS have relied on the EXACT SAME (few) franchises since the first Xbox to sell their consoles. Where as Sony have always changed it up and taken risks.

Sony is on what? Gran Turismo 6? (since 1997)

I'll let you work out how many Forza's there has been... (since 2005)

 

[splattered]

You can't say they're only on GT6 because Sony quickly creates high quality titles yet chooses to pace their release... they're only on #6 because it takes the devs forever to make a (great!) Newer version in the franchise.

Microsoft is going full tilt here with the effort to bolster their 1st and 2nd party titles, can you really say that's a BAD thing because they've shelved a few previous projects and some of the studios didn't pan out?

You've seen the politics of Sony in coming to the table with cross play, they obviously have very stern internal political policies and realistically you have no way of knowing how many games they've started and then cancelled or studios that have been affected negatively because they're much more private about that sort of thing.

 

[Acidizer]

There's nearly TWICE the amount of Forza games to GT games, in a much shorter period of time. What does that tell you? Nothing positive...

If Microsoft owned Rockstar you'd see their franchises getting whipped to death also... and they wouldn't even blink an eye. MS is all about the short term.

If I were an Xbox fan, I'd be sick to death of Halo and Forza by now... and then what is left?? Not a lot, and that's why they are tanking. No creativity. They buy, acquire - they don't create. (see PUBG, Minecraft etc)

 

[3rdamention]

I bet any money, if this was "Sony has just picked up...…" this thread would be a LOT different. Its almost like some people are 11, or something...

There was only 1 post that could be deemed as negative or at least not wholly optimistic about this hire before you posted this. You dont need to jump the gun and immediately say that "this thread would be different if it was Sony" after a single post. How much would it be different?


You are helping foster some anti Microsoft narrative in this thread based on a single user, before it even really existed. So what would the difference be if this was a Sony acquisition? One less post you you classify as being made by an 11 year old? You were a bit too eager here to turn this into something it wasn't when you posted.

 

[Gavon West]

You have your head up your ass.

MS have relied on the EXACT SAME (few) franchises since the first Xbox to sell their consoles. Where as Sony have always changed it up and taken risks.

Sony is on what? Gran Turismo 6?
I'll let you work out how many Forza's there has been... (since 2005)

I bet you wouldn't say any of your statement if Sony had one, just ONE successful MP game that can go toe to toe with Gears, Halo or Forza. Fact is, they don't and it isn't for lack of trying. They've attempted before and failed miserably.

And I have my head up my ass because I told the truth?? How does that work, exactly? You said Sony shelves successful franchises all the time. My point was, they don't. They take chances on new IP's, certainly, but this doesn't mean they just shelve successful franchises for the sake of giving a new game the lime light. You know better than that.... Right?

Also, Microsoft has taken risks with new IP's as well. Because you refuse to see them, doesn't mean they don't exist.

Ryse
QB
Recor
S. O.
SoT
SoD 1-2
Ori
Cuphead etc..

 

[Gavon West]

There's nearly TWICE the amount of Forza games to GT games, in a much shorter period of time. What does that tell you? Nothing positive...

If Microsoft owned Rockstar you'd see their franchises getting whipped to death also... and they wouldn't even blink an eye. MS is all about the short term.

If I were an Xbox fan, I'd be sick to death of Halo and Forza by now... and then what is left?? Not a lot, and that's why they are tanking. No creativity. They buy, acquire - they don't create. (see PUBG, Minecraft etc)

bullshit ^^

 

[joe_zazen]

There was only 1 post that could be deemed as negative or at least not wholly optimistic about this hire before you posted this. You dont need to jump the gun and immediately say that "this thread would be different if it was Sony" after a single post. How much would it be different?


You are helping foster some anti Microsoft narrative in this thread based on a single user, before it even really existed. So what would the difference be if this was a Sony acquisition? One less post you you classify as being made by an 11 year old? You were a bit too eager here to turn this into something it wasn't when you posted.

There is a world wide anti-xbox prejudice, you see it everywhere. Usually it is hidden, like in superbowl halftime shows and Christmas trees, but you'll see it if you squint real hard. Wake up dood.

The initiative is the start of MS' black hole of gaming, nothing and no one will escape the pull of their epic awesomeness.

 

[Pallas]

Meaningless, really. Even if it was a big name.
For example, EA picked up Amy Hennig, and that project was so bad it got canned.

We make such a big deal about individuals that it's really a mistake. Even Microsoft has the Tomb Raider reboot former Crystal Dynamics lead and positioned him as a "master storyteller".
It's the team that makes the game, and unless the Initiative had everyone from Rockstar or Naughty Dog or whatever, individual names don't mean a thing.

Another Microsoft thread, another negative post from yours truly.

This is another good hire by The Initiative studio, it seems like they are bringing in talent from a lot of highly rated games, from successsful studios. Granted it’s never a sure thing but I feel confident that this studio has the potential to deliver something magical in the future.

 

[D3SCHA1N]

Out of all of MS's new studios, The Initiative is the one I'm most excited about. Let's see what they bring to the table.

Agreed, they seem to be putting together a team that based on their past work could make a great game, hope that unlike most of xbox's exclusives of late, it is something I'll be interested in....

 

[mad597]

People saying MS is just buying studios in a thread about MS hiring someone for a new studio they just created from scratch?

Apparently MS is not allowed to buy studios OR hire people for new Studios they create. I guess these new studios are just supposed to have no one working for them?

Some of you are transparent as fuck and we can tell your pissed that MS doesn't just go away and die in the gaming industry.

 

[ThatOneGrunt]

There's nearly TWICE the amount of Forza games to GT games, in a much shorter period of time. What does that tell you? Nothing positive...

If Microsoft owned Rockstar you'd see their franchises getting whipped to death also... and they wouldn't even blink an eye. MS is all about the short term.

If I were an Xbox fan, I'd be sick to death of Halo and Forza by now... and then what is left?? Not a lot, and that's why they are tanking. No creativity. They buy, acquire - they don't create. (see PUBG, Minecraft etc)

The way you talk you act like the Forza games are terrible. They have consistently improved on past iterations and have always been a ton of fun to play. If you're someone who loves GT games, would you be happy that you get less GT titles?

 

[flashfire926]

*MS buys a studio*
"build your own microsoft"
*MS builds a studio from scratch*
"Doesnt mean a thing, I want to see them pick up entire studios"

Looking at you, ms. water kitty.

 

[thelastword]

Could you imagine the mountains of sheer rage if MS bought Naughty Dog. That would be hilarious. Someone needs to get Phil Spencer on that.

Well that won't happen, that's like asking Sony to buy an MS studio, yet I don't think there's any MS studio Sony would want...

As for Gallagher, Studio Head at the Initiative, he was the one who organized the 1 year ROTTR exclusive deal with MS whilst at CD. I guess he was always ponying up for a swoop, as he left CD just after ROTTR shipped.....And what do you know, here he is.....So claiming a technical guy from Rockstar is not farfetched, MS said they would be looking for some good talent to bring to Santa Monica......Looking at some of what I've been reading at RDR2's development however, it's not out of the ordinary that devs would move over, if the compensation and working environment is better or you want to work on something fresh or novel, then I imagine it would be compelling enough for someone in the field.......Thing is, it's always great when things are just starting off anyway...and MS seems invested, especially in the Initiative...

Yet, history has taught us, one man does not make a great game, a studio lead or director. You need a great team and we could at least wait to see what they deliver. At this point, these guys are far from producing a game, we don't even know if they ever will.....Let them put something on the shelves at the very least..