Richard of UltimateGameGorilla writes: The year is 2007, barely a year has passed since the Xbox 360 and PS3 rolled of the production lines. Everyone wants one of the “next generation consoles”. Some gamers just purchased both consoles but for many consumers buying both was out of the question and the deciding factor between the consoles boiled down to the game line-up. At launch the Xbox 360 had an entire year of a head start with which to build a library of launch titles. The PS3 on the other hand had no such benefit and stuttered along with very few “exclusive” titles. The PS3's strange architecture had proven to difficult a task to program and most developers opted for multiplatform games. This resulted in the majority of multiplatform games looking and performing better on the Xbox 360. Things were indeed looking up for Microsoft's console, even with the bad reputation surrounding the console as the notorious “RROD” surfaced, the console continued to dominate the PS3 by a huge...
For Xbox’s hugely expanded gaming division, anything that isn’t Call of Duty is now a failure, and that’s a problem
Honestly, If I worked presently for Microsoft's gaming division, I would update my CV and look for work elsewhere...
"Now"?
How about "ever"?
They closed so many of their dev teams during the second half of the Xbox 360 era. Have we forgotten history so quickly?
Dummy fake journalists acting so surprised over these recent closures, when this is something that's been going on for well over a decade now with MS.
"The sudden closure of several video-game studios at Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox division was the result of a widespread cost-cutting initiative that still isn’t finished.
This week, Xbox began offering voluntary severance agreements to producers, quality assurance testers and other staff at ZeniMax, which it purchased in 2020 for $7.5 billion, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. Others across the Xbox organization have been told that more cuts are on the way.
Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said.
Game Pass has not seen the massive growth that Xbox boss Phil Spencer may have been hoping for."
"Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said"
So what you're saying is...you bought all these studios and you guys can't run them.
Jesus.
Reports are suggesting that Game Pass will be getting a price hike soon and that Call of Duty may not be added to the day one offering. I honestly have a hard time believing this but it does beg the question why exactly did GP fail? I think the answer is that it just didn't get the growth that it anticipated. Jim was right but I wish he wasn't because at the end of the day, its gamers, devs and other front-line workers who have to absorb the blow for Spencer and team's miscalculations.
For all the armchair executives who were calling for Sony to release its big-budget AAA games on PS+, the same exact thing would have happened at PlayStation. Game Pass has killed Xbox. Congrats.
Twisted Voxel writes: "We've almost reached the end of the 1st half of 2024, and Xbox has had more studio closures than first party game releases in the year so far."
Hellblade 2, Indiana Jones, Avowed, Towerborne, and Call of Duty are still to be released this year. Marcus Fenix collection to be added to the list with the Xbox showcase, hopefully.
Sony doesn't have to bother fighting the next Microsoft acquisition. The massive layoff by themselves should be enough to get the next big buy blocked.
So if MS hadn't spent $80 billion consolidating the industry just think of all the games and jobs that would have saved.
MS is a drain on gaming and have been nothing but a negative.
Well written, unbiased article. I agree that fanboys overlook multiplatform titles.
The 360 doesn't need exclusives because the majority of its audience doesn't play exclusive games. Its really just that simple.
This article just said that it doesn't matter how weak the line up is and how much MS is moving toward Kinect instead of core game, you will all still buy the Xbox anyway. Is it me or is this madness? I get the 360 audience loves multiplats just as much as the rest but exclusive stand a console apart. 360 had plenty of great titles. And the States and UK are the only countries that this article really applies too.
Then what's the point of buying one if you already own a pc or ps3?