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[PixelatedBeast]

Redfall about to pull a Forspoken and flop it’s way to killing its own studio

According to reports about this, the studio was dead before the game even released, as nobody knew what they were making.

 

[Banjo64]

wtf did robert trump do?

 

[Toons]

You think the demographic for ‘artist’ is straight white male? Anything outside of that is woke?

Those were literally regular people in that photo lmfao.

Some people just gonna see what they wanna see, and they reveal more about themselves than anyone they are judging.

 

[Ozriel]

Sony Is Spending $1.2 Billion To Make Sure Bungie Employees Don’t Leave

As part of Sony’s quarterly report this week, we got an additional piece of the puzzle as to why exactly Bungie cost them $3.6 billion.

www.google.com

Bethesda And 343 Employees Confirmed To Have Been Affected By Microsoft Layoffs

The company is set to lay off about 10,000 employees.

www.dualshockers.com

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/comments/nom4e8/people_are_leaving_bethesda_because_microsoft_is/&ved=2ahUKEwiY2caCpKX_AhVJlWoFHeg3AwcQFnoECA4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0FUTkyORzTj8ZvqJBfQcfJ

It's fine if you don't follow this stuff closely, but do a quick Google search before you start accusing others of making stuff up.

I see. So when pressed to provide evidence for your claims of devs in Microsoft purchased studios resigning in droves post acquisition, you provide a link to an article talking about Microsoft laying off employees?

Do you truly not know the difference between resigning vs being laid off?

Rare was almost killed by Microsoft's push to turn them into their Kinect and New Xbox Experience studio. The fact that they got to make Sea of Thieves at all is surprising but let's not forget that the game was absolute shit at launch and took almost two full years of updates to become their "best ever success". That is hardly a statement of quality, especially from a studio that once had a large stable of very popular IPs.

You have much to learn, my friend

https://www.destructoid.com/microsoft-didnt-push-for-kinect-development-rare-chose-it/

The internet narrative has always been: Microsoft bought Rare (Banjo-Kazooie,GoldenEye) in 2002, then wrecked it, most recently by way of consigning the company to Kinect development.

But in a lengthy Eurogamer retrospective on the Kinect, a former Rare designer says it was Rare management that chose to go all in on the motion-tracking peripheral. Gavin Price, who left Rare to work as creative lead on Banjo-Kazooie successor Yooka-Laylee, explained, “Phil Spencer taking the mantle of Xbox is one of the best things that could have happened for Rare. Because he’s always said to people at Rare [as general manager of Microsoft Studios], ‘Do what you want to do and we’ll back you,’ and he’s always stayed true to his word in that regard.

“It was people in Rare’s management at the time who said: ‘Well, Kinect is a great opportunity for the studio – go all in on it.’ So when executives at Microsoft see that the management team are passionate about doing that, they back them. Microsoft to their credit did that, and perhaps the story online isn’t quite reflective of the truth.”

Playground Games and Turn 10 are the only consistent performers of the bunch, and all they do are Forza games. I won't include Fable until it actually arrives. Right now, these two studios do one thing and one thing only. Turn 10 hasn't put out a game in six years. The Coalition has only made two Gears games. Obsidian has done almost nothing for Microsoft since their acquisition except for Grounded -- Obsidian's biggest/best work is still Fallout New Vegas and The Outer Worlds, with no ETA on Outer Worlds 2.

Lol @ ‘all they do are Forza games’. Some of the highest rated racing games ever, for that matter.

Coalition has released three Gears games (Gears 1 remaster, Gears 4, Gears 5), a Gears 5 expansion and worked on Gears Tactics. All in 6-7 years. Obsidian released TOW while being managed by MS, released Grounded and released Pentiment. Avowed is scheduled for release before Outer Worlds 2. You really don’t know much about the subject matter, do you?

You can play defense force as much as you want, it doesn't change reality. Microsoft has a twenty year history of mismanagement of studios (and third party exclusivity arrangements; see: Mistwalker Studios). The amount of IPs they have now is nothing compared to what they could have had if they had fostered the talent and studios they had during their OG Xbox and early Xbox 360 days. Instead, they got overly focused on Halo, Gears, Forza and trend-chasing with Kinect.

Crimson Skies, MechAssault, Shadowrun, Project Gotham Racing, Fuzion Frenzy, Quantum Redshift, Blinx, Kameo, Viva Pinata, Banjo-Kazooie... just a few IPs that were sacrificed so Xbox could focus on the dudebros and trying to copy Nintendo's success with the Wii.

Were mistakes made in the past? Yes.
Is it any relevant to whine about mistakes made in the 360 era and correlate it to today? No.

It wasn't an Activision studio until Microsoft stopped working with them because they didn't want PGR competing against Forza.

Thanks for showing me you don't know shit about what you're talking about and can safely be ignored.

And now I’m convinced I’m being trolled here, because the post i reported to was centered around Microsoft mismanagement and cited Bizarre Creations as being closed by Microsoft.

Not sure how the closure of a studio owned by Activision and closed by Activision 5 years post purchase after Blur failed is now a Microsoft issue. Is everything OK?

 

[Captain Toad]

I see. So when pressed to provide evidence for your claims of devs in Microsoft purchased studios resigning in droves post acquisition, you provide a link to an article talking about Microsoft laying off employees?

Do you truly not know the difference between resigning vs being laid off?

My point was always, Sony is doing everything they can to KEEP the staff when acquiring studios, while Microsoft is doing the opposite.

It doesn't matter if they are just not creating a job environment that will retain talent or flat-out laying them off.

 

[JTCx]

Not at all comparable since Anthem was actually a good game at its core. The gameplay was very solid and fun, the problem was there was not much built around that gameplay in terms of story content and world-building. If you want to compare it to BioWare then compare it with BioWare Montreal's Mass Effect Andromeda, that's a far more accurate comparison.

Anthem sucked too.

 

[Ozriel]

My point was always, Sony is doing everything they can to KEEP the staff when acquiring studios, while Microsoft is doing the opposite.

It doesn't matter if they are just not creating a job environment that will retain talent or flat-out laying them off.

And a key point to note is that you can’t use one case as a blanket statement.

Microsoft laid off employees from Bethesda and 343, but they also expanded dev teams at InXile, Playground, Ninja Theory and a few others.

Sony’s made effort to retain talent at Bungie and grown secondary teams at Santa Monica, but they’ve also closed entire studios recently and took direct action that led to massive layoffs at Deviation games.

 

[Boss Mog]

Anthem sucked too.

 

[Umbral]

Thank you gamers for this wonderful gift. You guys ruined gaming. I dont blame MS for Arkane going downhill, I blame modern gamers for ignoring quality products. We will never have a Prey 2, nor will we ever have an immersive sim ever again. Hope you enjoy your garbage coop gaas games from now on. Dumbasses.

Thank you for saying this. Keep buying trash, people. You’ll get only trash in return.

As good as prey was, level design wise. It just doesn't seem as tightly woven as Dishonored, I haven't played the sequel but if reviews are to be believed, it's the game immersive sims should be striving for.

Dishonored 2 is masterful. Prey wins by a hair for the tone and setting.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Did you seriously fail to read the post I responded to for context?
The post that talked about FASA studios, closed in 2007? Ensemble, closed in 2009? Digital Anvil, closed down in 2006?

You cannot be serious.

Just realized the guy’s post had Bizarre Creations in it as a studio ‘mismanaged by Microsoft’. It was actually an Activision studio.
Folks are making up studios for an argument and it’s me you’re taking to task.

Fair enough, I jumped the gun and I apologize.

 

[mdkirby]

I hope a sizable chunk of that 70% all went to the same place, maybe to the weird west studio to take the spirit of what arkane was to a more suitable pasture.

 

[Draxon Gamer]

It was probably already in the late stages which is why Microsoft decided to delay the game instead of can it.

 

[mckmas8808]

Why do you guys act like you don't know what this means. It means hiring based on quotas/checkboxes rather than who's the most talented/skilled for the position.

How do you know they weren't qualified or talented?

What's delusional is thinking that quotas don't exist in this industry as they do in every industry, especially so with large companies. It affects quality and creates detrimental workplace dynamics, because instead of just looking for the best person for the job they often are looking for "the best female for the job" or "the best minority candidate for the job" instead of just selecting based on skill and fit (i.e. the best person for the job). But who cares, right? Look at that ESG score!

This is making me wonder "who" you guys tend to think are the only qualified people in this industry. Because ummmmm...........yeah.

 

[DenchDeckard]

My point was always, Sony is doing everything they can to KEEP the staff when acquiring studios, while Microsoft is doing the opposite.

It doesn't matter if they are just not creating a job environment that will retain talent or flat-out laying them off.

Don't forget Sony is forcing studios like naughty dog, the biggest and most succesful first party studio in single player games to make a service game....they are literally being zenimax here.

So it's far from roses at Sony.

Also, you do know like 70 percent of naughty dogs staff left during and after last of us 2?

 

[TheUndeadGamer]

I wonder if Arkane Austin will now become just a support studio?

 

[Three]

Don't forget Sony is forcing studios like naughty dog, the biggest and most succesful first party studio in single player games to make a service game....they are literally being zenimax here.

So it's far from roses at Sony.

Also, you do know like 70 percent of naughty dogs staff left during and after last of us 2?

They didn't force them to do anything, and they are making a single player game too.

 

[DenchDeckard]

They didn't force them to do anything, and they are making a single player game too.

Sony didn't force then to turn factions into the mess it is now?

I think you are dreaming, man.

 

[Three]

Sony didn't force then to turn factions into the mess it is now?

What? No they didn’t. ND have always tried multiplayer and took that route themselves. They even put it on the backburner first by not releasing it with TLOU2 and when they took over development on a single player remake. I don't know where you're getting the idea that they're being forced to do something.

 

[Riky]

Sony didn't force then to turn factions into the mess it is now?

I think you are dreaming, man.

Sony are definitely forcing them in a new direction since Bungie came in and shut it down.

 

[GHG]

Also, you do know like 70 percent of naughty dogs staff left during and after last of us 2?

Got to love these false equivalences.

This was the report prior to TLOU2 coming out:

As Naughty Dog Crunches On The Last Of Us II, Developers Wonder How Much Longer This Approach Can Last

Some developers at Naughty Dog continue to ask themselves a question that has haunted the studio for years: Is it worth it?

kotaku.com

And yet despite that being reported the final product was still excellent and hit the standard everyone has come to expect from the studio.

Just like Redfall and Arkane.

 

[DenchDeckard]

What? No they didn’t. ND have always tried multiplayer and took that route themselves. They even put it on the backburner first by not releasing it with TLOU2 and when they took over development on a single player remake. I don't know where you're getting the idea that they're being forced to do something.

 

[Three]

So tales from your ass then? Where are you getting the idea that ND is being pressured to make Factions 2?

 

[BbMajor7th]

Prey, Dishonored, Deathooop... Arkane would have had way more success with these games if they'd just been third-person. Why they've clung so hard to first-person when every other major developer in the single player space has gone third-person is baffling to me.

It's so blindingly obvious - Zelda, Elden Ring, God of War, Spider-Man, RDR2 - and yet no-one wants to own it. Arkane carrying on like it's 2005 and wondering why their games don't sell.

 

[DenchDeckard]

So tales from your ass then? Where are you getting the idea that ND is being pressured to make Factions 2?

So you think Sony has nothing to do with what Naughty Dog does....who do you think signs off this stuff?

Sony are out here telling the whole world they are pushing Gaas....suddenly what was planned to just be a multiplayer mode in Last of Us 2 gets ripped from the release and turned into something much larger, from a studio that has no experience making a service game......and you think Sony has nothing to do with it?

And Sony has no say in any of this?

 

[Three]

So you think Sony has nothing to do with what Naughty Dog does....who do you think signs off this stuff?

Sony are out here telling the whole world they are pushing Gaas....suddenly what was planned to just be a multiplayer mode in Last of Us 2 gets ripped from the release and turned into something much larger, from a studio that has no experience making a service game......and you think Sony has nothing to do with it?

And Sony has no say in any of this?

I didn’t say Sony has no say, don't be silly. I said ND aren't being forced to make GaaS in place of the single player games. ND Factions 2 wasn’t "ripped from release". Even past ND games had multiplayer with mtx. The fact that TLOU2 released as a single player only game with no multiplayer should tell you nobody is being forced to do anything. If they were being forced their priority would be to make the GaaS game, they wouldn't have concentrated on the single player only TLOU2 game and then a remake and another single player project. It's clear they are free to make single player games.

 

[Captain Toad]

Don't forget Sony is forcing studios like naughty dog, the biggest and most succesful first party studio in single player games to make a service game....they are literally being zenimax here.

So it's far from roses at Sony.

Also, you do know like 70 percent of naughty dogs staff left during and after last of us 2?

Idk about forcing. They did the original Factions with TLOU, and it was popular.

This one doesn't seem to be going well, so they've already pivoted most of those people to work on their single-player game, which was also already in development.

 

[JackMcGunns]

That $7.5 billion acquisition ain't lookin so hot.

The acquisition involved a LOT more than just Arcade Studios

iD Software (Wolfenstein 3D,Doom, Quake, etc.)
Bethesda (Elder Scrolls, Fallout out, Redfall, Deathloop, Starfield)
Arkane Studios (Dishonored, Prey)
Machine Games (Wolfenstein New order, New Collosus)
Tango GameWorks (The Evil Within, HiFi Rush)
Roundhouse Studios
Alpha Dog (iOS, Android)