Truly terrible. 50% now who knows if more will be impacted throughout the year. What would it do to the engine I recall DF talking about why the engine couldn’t go full out and one was they had only a few working on the tech. I don’t know that AI is a suitable replacement.
AI will not do shit. Id’s tech team is one of the best and most historic in the industry, if they are affected by this it will never be the same again, and that’s a shame. Dark Ages is pure technical magic.
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Oh, I know but the delusion is strong with Microsoft.
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I still wonder how realistic the prospect of Xbox being spun off is. (like github etc)
So while it’s good news that the studios aren’t being closed, the really bad news are the massive layoffs, even for studios you wouldn’t expect like Obsidian and ID. And the argument could be made that Obsidian’s games didn’t really sell well, but does that apply to ID as well?
And what if any future games Xbox Game Studios releases don’t sell well, more layoffs? I want to say that surely Gears of War E-Day will sell well enough, but we’re not remotely close to TES VI releasing, let alone Fallout 5. What else is going to be there and from what will they get profits?
Nobody can know of course and we’ll just have to wait and if this reset is going to work at all. And what can they realistically do to make Helix appealing for people to invest in?
Well they’ve got the Sword of Damocles of 1,600 further job cuts hanging over the remaining developers to “encourage” them to put out a popular game
So it isn’t even over yet? Ffs.
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Yeah, the overall number was 3200, 1600 now, 1600 over the course of the year. We also don’t even have the full picture on every job that has been lost with the current 16000.
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So their big plan for selling a really expensive console is one exclusive game a year?
I wish I could get paid that much for coming up with that…
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Their plan is to compete with Sony and Nintendo and act like a platform holder because the alternative is killing Xbox and become a 3rd party publisher.
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One thing I never got (well I get it, microsoft likes to out source development but still) is why Microsoft hasn’t given the ID engine to halo studios. Halo games should be built in the ID tech engine IMO
Also might be mistaken but didn’t call of duty run on the ID Tech engine a whule back
Ok this is where I get confused and before I say anything I AM PRO XBOX EXCLUSIVE…but under this logic why isn’t gears multiplat. The multiplayer aspect is a big part of gears, shouldn’t that qualify it to be multiple
Also I know it was reportedly a last minute thing to make it exclusive but still its continued mixed messaging
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Act like a platform holder with one exclusive a year?
That’s about the same as PlayStation (maybe less some years) and PS advertises a LOT more, is the default choice for casuals particularly those upgrading from PS4 and has the gaming media on side and a much bigger install base to buy the games.
If they want to win market share back particularly in these times where consoles are insanely expensive they need to produce a load of big games a year (and if necessary, make all but CoD exclusive).
Instead they’ve cut a load of teams so will be reducing output, and still going multiplat for most of their games (as a lot of Xbox games have live service or multiplayer aspects).
It feels half hearted, like Xbox tends to always do - and so doomed to failure, in the same way I’m not buying a PS5 for Yotei and Wolverine, no PlayStation fan is buying a Series X for these 2 - particularly when consoles are now ridiculously expensive.
Either go for it full pelt or don’t bother, one game a year is not going to move the needle
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I am going to be real. I think the only chance xbox has of recovering is if Sony changes at least $700 for the next gen console and Microsoft takes a massive L on the next gen consoles (charging $550 or less) but I don’t know if Microsoft is willing to off set that lose anymore after Xbox has been managed so poorly for a decade and they have already invested heavily into gaming, it might be easier if Xbox can internally subsidies those loses though Mobile, Minecraft and Call of Duty but it is a big question mark.
Also having elder scrolls 6 as a launch exclsuve would help (If I was Asha I would be pulling Obsidian and Inexile to support Bethesda to try and achive this assuming their actually trying to save xbox and not being performative)
Also having a notable acquisition announced before/around the time of pre orders would also likely help but then we run into a similar question with the boards willingness but for all the bad decisions Phil and co made, announcing the acquisition of Bethesda/Zenimax just before pre orders opened was pure genius and likely lead to spike in pre orders. If it does happen now I would assume they have a notable mobile gaming component e.g. Rovio with SEGA or are just a mobile publisher e.g. Netmarble though
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When a studio goes on to say this that’s really bad.
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The situation is bad enough on its own merits without the need to misrepresent the situation. Nowhere in the Resetting Xbox memo did it say the ONLY cuts being made were management layers.
The two things are literally laid out separately:
“First we will reset our content portfolio” - followed by details of staffing cuts
“Second, we will reset our platform” - Followed by the explanations about management layers
“Third, we will reset how we operate”…etc
Again, all of this is bad and everyone caught up in all of this are completely entitled to feel rage and disappointment.
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From Bloomberg I think, they said 3200 is equal to 20% of Xbox head count, which would leave them at around 12,800 give or take. I wonder what’s the split here per studio and how many games a year they are able to do using only first party studios (so not counting possible 3rd party deals with XBOX Games Publishing.
Also, how much of that 12,800 is dedicated to Call of Duty on a yearly basis?