Layoffs at Microsoft hit 343 industries and Bethesda Games Studios

[Vivir]

@Searsy82

You mean critical thinking like just because it works with one doesn’t mean it works with another. That type of critical thinking?

or the kind that acknowledges the catalog of real world reporting that indicates it absolutely was an issue at 343.

[Searsy82]

@Vivir

Lol, I almost spit out my drink.

[Haven]

@Searsy82

I don’t think it is being suggested as a magic bullet that fixes all the ills of Halo Ifinite. It is brought up because until MS changes its business practices with regards contractors they will continue to have the same issues that have affected Halo Infinite and using a bespoke engine.

Reliance on contractors with 18 month employment limits makes using non-industry tools a gamble.

I personally dont want everything to be on a single ubiquitous engine. Bespoke technology is part of what makes different games interesting.

the Unreal Engine and Unity are pretty much standard cos this companies open them to the public so I don’t see why Slipspace can’t be open to the public as well. Let students in school train with it. Also doesn’t UE5 struggle with frame rates in an open world. We don’t need any 30 0r 40fps halo games in UE5.

[Haven]

With a lot of Xbox studios now partnering and co-developing with other studios. They just might reach out to Ubisoft to develop the next Halo campaign and maybe a Destiny like Halo game. The Halo infinite campaign was structured like a Ubisoft game and with Ubisoft down that massive workforce could use some extra projects to infuse cash into the company.

[MJ_INC]

@Haven

With a lot of Xbox studios now partnering and co-developing with other studios. They just might reach out to Ubisoft to develop the next Halo campaign and maybe a Destiny like Halo game. The Halo infinite campaign was structured like a Ubisoft game and with Ubisoft down that massive workforce could use some extra projects to infuse cash into the company.

ABK have a rumored destiny like game in production at infinity ward

[MJ_INC]

One of the reasons that there has been a slew of cuts at big tech companies is investor pressure. This is just the most open version of it:

Rishi Sunak's old hedge fund boss wants Alphabet to lay off more staff and...

[Haven]

@MJ_INC

ABK have a rumored destiny like game in production at infinity ward

Maybe but we don’t know what concessions could come with ABK and Activision uses all their studios for COD. Regardless Halo is going to have to evolve and 343 just does not have the workforce neither do I think Microsoft is going to hire such a force. Best thing is to work with a studio that is specialized in that line of work. Ubisoft just happens to be specialized and also in need of work. Also, it’s a way Microsoft builds and strengthen partnership. Rare just got Lucid the devs of Destruction all-stars to work on Sea of thieves.
I would certainly like to see a third person Halo destiny like game capture the idea of Anthem.

[drakel]

@Haven

Maybe but we don’t know what concessions could come with ABK and Activision uses all their studios for COD. Regardless Halo is going to have to evolve and 343 just does not have the workforce neither do I think Microsoft is going to hire such a force. Best thing is to work with a studio that is specialized in that line of work. Ubisoft just happens to be specialized and also in need of work. Also, it’s a way Microsoft builds and strengthen partnership. Rare just got Lucid the devs of Destruction all-stars to work on Sea of thieves.
I would certainly like to see a third person Halo destiny like game capture the idea of Anthem.

I know this is off topic but about anthem, how is that game not the most played live service game of the past decade? When it came out I was playing other things and paid zero attention to it, started hearing reports of it somehow bring garbage so I never gave it a second thought.

I randomly got a suggestion for an anthem gameplay video like a week ago and was shocked at how beautiful it looked and played, what the hell did they screw up so badly?

[Haven]

@drakel

I know this is off topic but about anthem, how is that game not the most played live service game of the past decade? When it came out I was playing other things and paid zero attention to it, started hearing reports of it somehow bring garbage so I never gave it a second thought.

I randomly got a suggestion for an anthem gameplay video like a week ago and was shocked at how beautiful it looked and played, what the hell did they screw up so badly?

I also like ANTHEM and enjoyed it, but I got tired of doing the same thing which I assume is the case for many. Games like this are ongoing so they need continuous story drops, locations, progression, loot and so on. Pretty much same problem plaguing Halo. The game had so much potential but too much trouble behind closed doors.

[BadMoodJones]

@Doncabesa

Unreal Engine 5 be like:

[SteadyMercury]

@drakel

I know this is off topic but about anthem, how is that game not the most played live service game of the past decade? When it came out I was playing other things and paid zero attention to it, started hearing reports of it somehow bring garbage so I never gave it a second thought.

I randomly got a suggestion for an anthem gameplay video like a week ago and was shocked at how beautiful it looked and played, what the hell did they screw up so badly?

The core gameplay loop was great. But it had A LOT of stability issues, crazy long loading screens (and lots of them) along with a general lack of content and loot to keep people coming back.

I played it in coop with a few friends and we gave up after having multiple crashes in a row right at the end of the game in the exact same place.

BioWare/EA committed to a long term plan to support, update and fix the issues. They fixed some of the stability issues and managed a few middling “content seasons.” By middling I mean the updates came so slowly that your base location (think Destiny Tower) was still decked out for Christmas in mid-February. A year later they went back on that commitment and formally abandoned it completely.

For me it’s an example of the opposite of a No Man’s Sky or Sea of Thieves situation, where a developer acknowledges issues and works with the community to fix and deliver a quality product. They basically shamelessly abandoned it to focus on ME4 and the next Dragon Age. Something which, despite BioWare being one of my favourite developers, I won’t be forgetting.

[AllianceOfficer]

@MJ_INC

One of the reasons that there has been a slew of cuts at big tech companies is investor pressure. This is just the most open version of it:

This is why employees need more protections.

[lighting_rabbit232]

not sure if anyone here listened to last week’s Xbox Two, but apparently according to Jez, Microsoft laid off the team whose job was to manage 3rd party relations?

eyeroll

[Staffy]

@lighting_rabbit232

not sure if anyone here listened to last week’s Xbox Two, but apparently according to Jez, Microsoft laid off the team whose job was to manage 3rd party relations?

eyeroll

Doubt it’s the whole team, I can’t imagine that.

[BRiT]

@lighting_rabbit232

not sure if anyone here listened to last week’s Xbox Two, but apparently according to Jez, Microsoft laid off the team whose job was to manage 3rd party relations?

Redundancies were minimized. That’s what most companies target when it comes to cost cutting measures.

Yes, its always bad for those impacted, but its the way companies have always operated.

[BRiT]

Continuing on the discussion here,

More layoff pain at Microsoft: Github, Xbox, Mixed Reality, and others hit hard

According to one report, Microsoft-owned development hosting platform Github aims to shed 10% of its workforce, which would amount to around 250~ people. Additionally, Microsoft is reportedly shuttering all of its Github offices, moving its remaining staff to a fully-remote working regime to cut costs.

On the Xbox side, it seems Microsoft is once again cutting into its publishing layer. There are fresh layoffs at the acquired ZeniMax Studios arm of its gaming operation, despite the successful launch of action game Hi-Fi Rush as recently as a couple of weeks ago. Xbox has also cut into some of its teams that handle content partnerships, marketing, and other business-oriented operations.

Microsoft has also cut into the Surface team as part of this latest round of layoffs, shutting the entire team that develops and curates business relationships for its laptop brand. Given the aggressive retreat of the PC market in recent months, this could be indicative of a wider strategy to reduce Surface’s footprint, while its OEM partners are struggling to find customers of their own.