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Microsoft to sever all ties with KSI

"At the Xbox One launch in London last night, KSI performed a song with three other artists, which was one part of a ten-hour event featuring a main stage show, Xbox One gameplay, and a midnight launch for hundreds of our fans," said a Microsoft spokesperson. "This does not represent Microsoft's endorsement of KSI's personal views, and we are not planning on working with KSI in the future."

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xHeavYx3820d ago

If they really say they didn't know about KSI, then that's the nail in the coffin for MS PR. The amount of stuff they come up with, from using PC BF4 footage. From the French marketing director saying that the One is 4 times more powerful connected to the internet, is just too much

majiebeast3820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

Im just happy they responded quickly and severed all ties to him.

Seems like Phil Harrison was not amused at all. Now lets hope EA does the same thing.

DatNJDom813820d ago

Who is KSI? I'm serious I don't know who he is. Why is he relevant? What contribution did he make to the gaming community? I really don't know who he is.

majiebeast3820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

You really want to know?

Be prepared for scum of the earth.
http://www.youtube.com/watc...

darthv723820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

sometimes there are those who make the decision to have an individual be part of something only to find out later they didnt do their homework.

a good example is sinead o'connor on SNL. When she performed, the people at SNL thought having her perform would be a good idea as she was popular in the music media. But her actual performance came into serious question when she tore up a photo of the pope after her performance and said "fight the real enemy".

there was quite the backlash from that stunt and SNL had no prior knowledge of her intent. Now, in regards to Ms, they wanted someone who was popular with the gamers but obviously they didnt do a background check to see if this was the RIGHT person to get to be part of their event.

It happens.

pyramidshead3820d ago

Just watched that video...lol wtf?!

DatNJDom813820d ago Show
Maddens Raiders3820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

Haha what's so bad about him? He's just another shock jock like Howard Stern or Tosh 2.0, but those guys thrive and no one says a thing.

Jelly people will be jelly.

edit/: and for the record, motorboating FTMFW

FunAndGun3820d ago

@Maddens Raiders

So it is perfectly acceptable for me to go up to your wife, mom, daughter, IN A PUBLIC PLACE, and call them big tits, no tits, or if I can motorboat them?

And when you get mad, I just say "Jelly people will be jelly."

Then everything is cool?

PoSTedUP3820d ago

i would break that kids nose if i ever saw him. two wrongs dont make a right but i bet My wrong would make a lot of people happy. **** that a** h***.

MS needs to fire their PR, they can pay me less to do a Much much better job...

sincitysir13820d ago

Matt's gunna be on someone's hitlist!!

NikonSteve3820d ago

Haha, I totally just subscribed to his youtube channel! That motorboat was great stuff!

guitarded773820d ago

MS should apologize for having crappy music performances during the launch. I was hoping for a few announcements, and some good looks at some of the games, but nope. Just a wanker DJ mouse and a white guy rapping.

MiloGarret3820d ago

Of course you would PoSTed UP, of course you would.

/facepalms (plural)

PoSTedUP3820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

waddaya trying to say, MiloGarret? either doubting me or mocking me, or both :P. either way you have No idea, a real man doesnt tollerate this behvior.

XboxFun3820d ago

@Majiebeast

That was offensive? Maybe years of Howard Stern, Jackass and Ali G/Bruno (plus nay other imitator) has really made me a non-feeling beast because that youtube video was tame compared to other things I have watched.

SnotyTheRocket3820d ago

So, you put his worst rated video on here, just to sum up your views on him? He's pretty funny.
https://www.youtube.com/wat...
I'll leave this here.

PoSTedUP3820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

@xboxfun- satire in a videogame, howard stern, jackass and tosh.o is a lot different than going out in public and touching women inappropriately without their permission. i would call that sexual harassment. and specifically targeting a random women to ask her if she s**** d***? that is also sexual harassment. he deserves to get his ass beat.

@snotytherocket- he has a couple of videos of him doing this and some he was asked to remove. hes funny? ...and people saw chris brown as a good preformer...

memots3820d ago

but this is the market for Xbox.

Anon19743820d ago

Yeah, thankfully this is the first and hopefully last time I hear about this guy.

Anarki3820d ago

This guy isn't funny.

JohnnyBadfinger3820d ago

What's KSI?

Never heard of it before

BISHOP-BRASIL3820d ago

@JohnnyBadfinger

It's the squeezy part of vaginal rinsing devices. a.k.a. Douchebag.

ThanatosDMC3820d ago

No idea who the *uck this douchebag is but good thing Phil got it together to cut him off. He looks exactly like those a-holes I used to deal with on my old job.

Dee_913820d ago

dont know who he is but I just looked at his youtube
he's got some funny videos.
Lmao at all these saints in the comments. so what the dude is a douche bag. so are a million other people.whinning about in the comments sections accomplish nothing..
Lmao at Microsoft "cutting him off"
KSI YOU ARE NOT INVITED TO OUR NEXT LAUNCH PARTY IN 2025.. even though most of us wont even be working for msft by that time... but still you're CUT OFF.

indysurfn3820d ago

This man reminds me of Judge Judy. Why do people watch people insult and humilliate others? Are they
A, Sadistic,
B, Masochistic,
C, fools,
D, A and C,
E, B and C

I think D.

DragonKnight3820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

KSI is not bad at all, he can be pretty funny. That awkward video was intended to be that way, you should watch his Q&A's and gaming vids.

Here's a Q&A he did with his dad.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

One of his skits

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

And a gaming video

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Don't judge the guy by one video.

**EDIT** How the hell is it harassment when the person who should feel harassed willingly went along with what KSI was asking (motorboat at the Eurogamer Expo) them to do? There was no coercion or force of any kind, they could have said no, and yet the article says he harassed people. Gee, I guess if you're ok with something, it's still harassment anyway.

pixelsword3820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

Wait a sec; people are always complaining about other people being sensitive and being politically correct and he was neither: so why is he not funny when he was being what other people say people should be?

I don't think he's funny, but I believe all people should be comfortable and not harassed regardless of their differences.

SilentNegotiator3820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

Oh, it's THAT guy -_-
Good work not doing 3 seconds of research, MS.

"Wait a sec; people are always complaining about other people being sensitive and being politically correct and he was neither: so why is he not funny when he was being what other people say people should be? "

...there's "not being politically correct" and then there's "sexually harassing every woman in the room and expecting people to laugh"...

DragonKnight3820d ago

@SilentNegotiator: You can't call it sexual harassment unless there was a clear refusal or lack of desire. The women didn't say know, they didn't even hint at a no, therefore it's not sexual harassment. And no, they can't say yes and then later change their mind and say they were uncomfortable and only did it because of the camera, that's a cop out.

If they didn't want him to motorboat them, then they'd have said no, and for the women who didn't appreciate the comments, then yes he did sexually harass them but stop trying to lynch the guy. It's not like he publicly raped them.

Pozzle3820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

"You can't call it sexual harassment unless there was a clear refusal or lack of desire. The women didn't say know, they didn't even hint at a no, therefore it's not sexual harassment."

Wtf. A woman (or man) shouldn't NEED to say "no" to stop creeps from sexually harassing them. It's common sense that making comments about a stranger's boobs or whether they want to be motorboated isn't appropriate, unless they say they're ok with it first. Nobody should be put on the spot like that.

SilentNegotiator3820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

@DragonKnight

Forget the freaking motorboat. He's going up to a bunch of women and making completely inappropriate comments, making sexual motions, and touching women with a microphone.

He doesn't need to "rape" anyone for it to be sexual harassment. It's clear that most of these women don't want the attention that he's giving them.

What if you were wearing tight shorts and I, a complete stranger, came up to you saying "Hey, small penis. Where did your penis go? Can I grab your penis? Why aren't you jerking off?" and then I started pretending to suck a dick and touched a microphone to your penis, all while you tried to work?
........could you even imagine if people did that to you in your workplace?!?

G20WLY3820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

^DragonKnight. Wow. :(

I always agree with your comments, you sure know your gaming chat.

But boy are you WAY off the mark with this one. This thread gives a good insight into people outside of gaming.

Someone above mentioned "but this is the market for Xbox", maybe he's right and they're aiming for socially irresponsible juveniles. That would be a shame, as I thought Live was trying to move away from that image.

If that's the case, MS is being as disrespectful to it's user base as this fool is to random women, as they seem to think they'd enjoy this sort of thing.

What he does is not okay and MS PR "mistake" is not okay either. They're paid to know.

DragonKnight, step away from the light son, let's get back to gaming, you're committing N4G suicide here lol :)

DragonKnight3819d ago (Edited 3819d ago )

@Silent: Like I said, the people who clearly didn't like his comments were the people he was harassing, but there were a good amount of people who didn't care either. Do they not matter?

I'm not condoning sexual harassment at all, far from it. But what he did then was then. Does he deserve to be marked by it forever even though, if you watch his more recent stuff, you can clearly see he's a different person than he was then?

@G20WLY: Are you freakin' serious? This guy makes one bad video in which half the people in it didn't have a problem with him, and it happened years ago, and you're trying to say that "that's probably the typical Xbox userbase?"

Way to generalize millions of people by what one person did years ago. Have you watched any of KSI's recent videos at all? No? I thought so. You haven't seen the videos he's done with his family? No? Didn't think so.

This isn't me condoning sexual harassment. This is me not marking a person for life for ONE misstep like the rest of you are doing. If anyone needs to get out, it'd be you.

PoSTedUP3819d ago

@dragonknight- id stop defending him if i were you. some of thoes videos are pretty recent and some date back. everyone makes mistakes, but this is how the guy protraits women all the time. and to top it all off, to have enought people complain to get him completely kicked out and banned from an expo... idc how many women you think "went along with it" because a lot of the time a women may not say anything about it bc she is afraid right at the time (especially if it happens in an instant), and then complain to staff/someone later/their boss at work etc.. so you dont really know. and for a women to truly go along with it, she clearly has no self respect. just take a look at how many people are against this, you are the clear majority for a reason, trust me you are so far away from being right its not even funny. there is more than one video And some got removed And he was banned bc of it. hes a POS with the wrong ideals and needs to get his chin checked. MS cut ties bc of it, women dont agree with him, Real men dont agree with him, he is in the wrong. peroid.

DragonKnight3819d ago (Edited 3819d ago )

@PoSTedUP: Explain please how a woman letting a man motorboat her immediately means she doesn't have any self-respect. I'd love to hear the logic behind that.

I'm so far away from being right? Dude, I'm subbed to both his channels and watch most of his videos that don't look boring. I see how the guy is more than you and the rest of these people obviously do. He works with companies like EA and IGN who, although may not be what we consider top notch companies, definitely have PR to maintain.

Real men don't agree with him? Who are you to decide what is a real man and what isn't? That's what I hate about this feminist driven society B.S. Shaming men for being men and claiming that real men wouldn't do what KSI does. That's B.S. and you know it. 99% of men, if given a free chance to motorboat a woman with a large chest free of consequence, would jump on that chance.

Let's be real here. This is about the women who complained, which is their right to and I'm not discounting that or condoning sexual harassment, it's not about KSI as a person. People seem unable to separate what is an obvious character from the actual person, they ignore everything but the one thing they have a problem with, and you're completely insulting the women who didn't have a problem with what he's doing, saying the lack self-respect.

What if they're proud of their bodies? What if they see it as a compliment? Are they immediately whores because of that? That's narrow minded and disgustingly puritanical. Let's just disregard them in favour of the women who did care about it.

And you want to talk about women who were afraid, and then went along with it anyway? Cop out. There was a college couple in Ohio that engaged in public sexual acts, even posed for photos afterward, and the girl the next day tried to accuse her boyfriend of rape because she regretted what she did. Are you saying that that's rape now too? The case was thrown out because she clearly enjoyed what was happening. But no, let's go with the rape charge because she had regrets right?

This is such B.S. You don't have to like the guy, and for the women that he offended he definitely should have apologized to, but painting the guy for life because of one Expo is prejudiced and wrong. Shameful is an understatement.

Oh, and then there's this little video. Go ahead and jump on the sexual harassment bandwagon against this now too..

http://www.simplepickup.com...

Obviously these women have no self-respect for themselves and should be offended.

itBourne3819d ago

Had no clue who he was either.. he is like KassemG. Except not funny at all and sounds a lot less intelligent.

pixelsword3819d ago (Edited 3819d ago )

@ silent:

"...there's "not being politically correct" and then there's "sexually harassing every woman in the room and expecting people to laugh"... "

Once again, I don't think he's funny, but it's impossible, by law, to call what he did "sexual harassment": he wasn't trying to employ them and they weren't clients or customers... they were people he interviewed for his blog or show or whatever he has. Unless the government agency which handles and defines these cases are wrong, he didn't harass anyone.

Sexual Harassment:

It is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or employee) because of that person’s sex. Harassment can include “sexual harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.

Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person’s sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general.

Both victim and the harasser can be either a woman or a man, and the victim and harasser can be the same sex.

Although the law doesn’t prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).

The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer.

http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/ty...

What he did was use a language that alienated a socially or economically disadvantaged group, i.e. women.

Political Correctness:

"Political correctness (adjectivally, politically correct; both forms commonly abbreviated to PC) is a term that refers to language, ideas, or policies that address perceived or actual discrimination against or alienation of politically, socially or economically disadvantaged groups. The term usually implies that these social considerations are EXCESSIVE (THE KEY WORD) or of a purely "political" nature. These groups most prominently include those defined by gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability.

Historically, the term was a colloquialism used in the early-to-mid 20th century by Communists and Socialists in political debates, referring pejoratively to the Communist "party line", which provided for "correct" positions on many matters of politics. The term was adopted in the later 20th century by the New Left, applied with a certain humour to condemn sexist or racist conduct as "not politically correct"."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

PoSTedUP3819d ago

"Explain please how a woman letting a man motorboat her immediately means she doesn't have any self-respect.

looks like you have no clue about self respect and integrity... but i didnt say she lacks self respect if that happens, but if she is ok with it... there is something call morals in society, good morals and bad morals. this would fall under bad morality.

" Who are you to decide what is a real man and what isn't? That's what I hate about this feminist driven society B.S. Shaming men for being men and claiming that real men wouldn't do what KSI does. 99% of men, if given a free chance to motorboat a woman with a large chest free of consequence, would jump on that chance."

sexually harassing a women ISN'T a "FREE" CHANCE WTF, ARE YOU MENTAL? you think its ok and appropriate to go around without anyone ones permission and touch women???!! bc that is EXACTLY what he is doing. people with morals integrity and self respect ARE THE ONES WHO DECIDE WHAT A REAL MAN IS. its called ethics. so yeah Real men dont verbally and sexual harass women, sorry you are wrong. and i actually hate feminists, my coment history proves this regarding the GTA5 controversy.

" This is about the women who complained, which is their right to and I'm not discounting that or condoning sexual harassment, it's not about KSI as a person. People seem unable to separate what is an obvious character from the actual person, they ignore everything but the one thing they have a problem with, and you're completely insulting the women who didn't have a problem with what he's doing, saying the lack self-respect."

this IS about KSI as a person! it sounds like you are ok with what he did/does. and he Does this, he didn't just do it Once like you keep thinking, you say he has videos of this that dates back years ago? well he also has videos of this that dates back Months ago... i am calling the women out on their lack of morals, integrity and self respect. a stripper lets random men motorboat them in public, and its evenworse because ITS IN A PUBLIC PLACE, NOT A STRIP CLUB, its totally inappropriate on BOTH their parts (IF that women was Even ok with it, she could have complained, too, we dont know).

" What if they see it as a compliment? Are they immediately whores because of that? That's narrow minded and disgustingly puritanical. "

in what world is that a complement? what women with self respect and integrity would allow a guy to motorboat them randomly in public? this isnt a rap video, its not a movie, this world has morals and laws, this is real life and by many standards it is wrong and inappropriate. i didnt call them whores.

" And you want to talk about women who were afraid, and then went along with it anyway? Cop out. [the rest of that paragraph]

i dont see how that backs up your claim, i cant make a comparison of the two, and i agree that is wrong and not rape. many women complained in this case and he was banned from an expo.

" but painting the guy for life because of one Expo is prejudiced and wrong. Shameful is an understatement."

no one is painting him bad for One expo, this is on going, he scarred himself for Numerous videos in many different instances, which you seem to be oblivious of considering you are a subscriber.

idk where you come from DragonKnight, but we dont agree with you for a reason. what he does is wrong, his views on women is wrong (in a persons mind who was taught correctly and with morals), MS is severing ties bc he is wrong (because it will hurt their reputation because They Know as well as the Majority, that the Majority of people (most likely that they have morals) are and will be displeased with them for that very reason.

DragonKnight3819d ago (Edited 3819d ago )

@PoSTedUP: "looks like you have no clue about self respect and integrity.."

It looks like YOU'RE the one that doesn't know anything about self-respect. Self-respect doesn't have a broad definition. It literally just means respecting yourself. You can be proud of your body and sexuality and have self-respect, you can accept what some might consider lewd behaviour and have self-respect. You're now trying to say that it's immoral for a woman to be ok with a man motorboating her? You have to be a religious zealot to have that kind of view point, only religious zealots use an absence of logic like that. Morals would also mean we couldn't play any video games but Tetris afterall.

"sexually harassing a women ISN'T a "FREE" CHANCE WTF.."

Reading comprehension is your friend. I cited an hypothetical situation, not a correlation. You chose to take it out of context, that's your problem. He literally asked if he could motorboat the woman, and she said yes. Where is the sexual harassment there? And as pixel pointed out, it's not even sexual harassment anyway.

"people with morals integrity and self respect ARE THE ONES WHO DECIDE WHAT A REAL MAN IS. its called ethics."

Wrong. This is feminist bullsh*t. You claim you hate feminists and yet you're talking exactly like one. You're shaming a man for being a man, changing the definition of what a man is to suit your argument, and throwing out false sexual harassment claims in order to judge someone you don't know. That's what feminists do.

"this IS about KSI as a person!"

No it's not. Because you don't know KSI as a person. You're marking him because of his character in that one video, and then claim he did this as recently as months ago which is bull. You're being a white knight for no reason. I don't agree with inappropriate advances or touching, but half the women didn't have a problem with him, and they don't get to change their mind later just to mark a man and have people like you attack him incessantly. If someone has a problem with something, it's their responsibility to express their distaste for it immediately, not later on with excuses. That's called leading and is wrong.

"i am calling the women out on their lack of morals, integrity and self respect."

HOW THE F*CK ARE THEY LACKING IN MORALS INTEGRITY AND SELF-RESPECT JUST BECAUSE THEY LET/LIKE A GUY TOUCHING THEM?! That's that puritanical B.S. I was talking about. Just because a woman let's a guy touch her fully clothed chest in public it's wrong and "WON'T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!" Get outta hear with that farce.

DragonKnight3819d ago

"what women with self respect and integrity would allow a guy to motorboat them randomly in public?"

See? You just insulted an untold number of women because you can't conceive of not only an individual, but a society where people are free to be happy and proud of their bodies and sexuality. You insulted an untold number of women because you're in favour of repression, or what you call "morals." The thing about morality is is that everyone has different morals. You don't have the right, or the authority, to state that a woman that would like that is lacking in morals. That's an absolute statement that you can't make. What if she's not a thief? What if she's an excellent mother? What, because she isn't a prude, she suddenly is an immoral person with no self-respect? How dare you make such a claim?

As for the rest of your self-righteous comments, you need to get out more. You have a VERY limited and narrow view of the world that I would hope is due to being young, or really old with too much time on your hands. This is most definitely because of one Expo. Microsoft was most definitely shown only that one video and made their decision based on that. You can't make the claim that KSI is that kind of person when A)You have no idea what kind of person he is like in real life, and B)You choose to ignore the videos he's done with his family. You choose to ignore who he is so that you can flame him for something he did in the Past.

The amount of hypocrites in this thread is pathetic. All of you would band together if the mainstream media portrayed gamers as social outcasts prone to lethal violence based on arbitrary and vague evidence with no link to any real proof. You'd state at length that gamers can't be judged a certain way because people who already have mental issues decided to shoot a school up. And then you go and treat KSI like this for an Expo, and completely degrade and insult proud women the way you did. Absolutely hypocritical.

And nice avoidance of the Motorboat for Breast Research video bud.

PoSTedUP3819d ago (Edited 3819d ago )

"It looks like YOU'RE the one that doesn't know anything about self-respect. Self-respect doesn't have a broad definition."

its actually not just one broad definition. "a proper sense of ones integrity and dignity". is very specific.
and i didnt know he asked her first, bc of his accent i didnt understand. then there is nothing wrong with that. but touching women inappropriately with a mic and asking women if they s**** d*** is sexual harassment.

he has an awkward in public video that dates back only 4 months ago where he does this, so its not BS, actually.

false sexual harassment claims? what bc of the motorboat? no, what do you have to say about everything else that he has done/said to women? real men sexually harass women? is that your definition of a regular mans behavior?

"half the women didn't have a problem with him"

you dont know who reported him, and its not leading, he approached them. just because a women doesn't say anything There to him doesn't mean they agree with it. women are notorious for not doing anything about sexual harassment but it doesn't mean that they dont feel degraded. it has a lot to do with their self-esteem. i dont know how you dont know about the widespread of sexual harassment cases where women are afraid to speak up, a lot of it is job-related in the working environment.

no i am marking him by his character in a bunch of his videos. not just the one, as i have said...

"HOW THE F*CK ARE THEY LACKING IN MORALS INTEGRITY AND SELF-RESPECT JUST BECAUSE THEY LET/LIKE A GUY TOUCHING THEM?!"

i guess moral is an opinion. just because i think it is wrong or inappropriate, it is clearly an opinion. and it has nothing to do with repression or any of their OTHER morals regarding their nurturing, this is about them and they way they conduct themselves in public. by the standards of society, it is inappropriate, and what can be viewed as inappropriate can be considered unmoral depending on ones prestige.

dignity: "the quality or state of being worthy, honored, or esteemed."
conducting themselves in such a way is the complete opposite, its putting themselves "lower" than the other.

integrity: "Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code."

... integrity is another definition of self respect.

just because someone does something "good" or with his family doesn't cancel out his previous behavior.

i didnt avoid that link, i didnt click on it b4. motorboating for BC. and? thats cool if they are ok with it. i dont see how it has anything to do with sexual harassment. but at the same time i can fund a "vagina rubbing for AIDS research", doesnt have anything to do with sexually harassing people, if they are ok with it.

IM talking about the other videos, i dont care what MS has seen, this whole conversations about his other videos, idc what MS as seen.

he didnt respond, he didnt apologize, he just had the video deleted bc he Knows he is wrong and hes knows it will hurt his partnerships and income. that right there also shows you what kind of a person he is.

G20WLY3819d ago (Edited 3819d ago )

^DragonKnight, you have full-on lost it here. Why are you taking this so personally? I mean you no offense by disagreeing with you.

But please don't misquote me. I said maybe MS thought that, not I do - I DON'T!

As for KSI, yes the video is years old, but I watched several others after seeing this one and he did the old "mic in the tits" act on that one too, so let's not pretend this was an isolated incident.

Finally, he's obviously proud of it, since he can have it removed anytime he chooses, but he's left it up there. Seems he's more interested in hits from idiots thinking he's cool, than he is worried about offense he caused in this old video, huh...:|

+ Show (38) more repliesLast reply 3819d ago
Godmars2903820d ago

What do you expect when they messed up as badly as they did with DRM. First letting it fester as rumor, confirming it, *then* reversing it after that conformation.

Death3820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

Never gets old when you bring this up.

In other breaking news, the PS3 has very little as far as a launch line up goes and the included Bluray drive is making it very expensive. Stay tuned next week for developing reports that Sony may have mishandled our personal data over their network.

Software_Lover3820d ago

I don't know who this guy is. Am I apart of the conspiracy also?

Bathyj3820d ago

I didnt know who is was either. Now I wish I still didnt.

Lykon3820d ago

Just some you tuber and a relatively annoying "Muh Dick". Seems to be a mixture of compulsive and learned behaviour.

Tctczach3820d ago

@ Heavy
Nail in the coffin? Too much? Sorry it's hitting you so hard. Hope you can pull through.

bryam19823820d ago

who the f**k is KSI??? i don't blame them is not like he's a famous black american artists who everyone knows

xHeavYx3820d ago

Just check the many youtube links by other users

NMEMEDIC3820d ago

How to you know that is even true? Cause you read it on n4g? hahahahaah more than half the crap on here is BS. That is just as BS as PS4 being 68% more powerful.

xHeavYx3820d ago

The French MS Marketing Director was interviewed when he said what he said that about the Xbox being more powerful, I don't know what you are talking about, because you either misread my comment or ... No, I can't think of anything else, just check the link below

http://n4g.com/news/1399058...

Ps4Console3820d ago

He was talking disgusting to gamers he has already be banned from Euro-Gamer Expo the man is an idiot & is a knob , you can't talk to fellow gamers calling them names because they like different games & are a bit eccentric .

The_Blue3820d ago

What about the Microsoft Store and MGK.

Oh but its easy to target him because he doesn't look like Nathan Drake.

macethedon3820d ago

Here is a tweet where KSI jokes about raping girls if they're not interested in you:

http://bit.ly/1eaiN1r

(he deleted it from his feed but it got cached).

Enemy3819d ago

So MS hired a rapist for the Xbox One launch event. Good going, MS.

Brute_Shot_Adam3820d ago

MS want a family friendly image now, a guy asking random girls if he can "motorboat", insult their physical appearance and just be a straight up dickhead to them isn't MS's focus at the moment.

ZodTheRipper3820d ago

I think he's a pretty well fitting metaphor what MS has been doing to their customers in the last few months.

andrewsqual3820d ago

If I were KSI, I would sever all ties with Xbox One lol.

deadie3817d ago (Edited 3817d ago )

@Dragonknight:
"You can't call it sexual harassment unless there was a clear refusal or lack of desire. The women didn't say know, they didn't even hint at a no, therefore it's not sexual harassment. And no, they can't say yes and then later change their mind and say they were uncomfortable and only did it because of the camera, that's a cop out."

WTF?

Hey dude - im also very surprised that you of all ppl take this idiot in defence.

There are no excuses for this kind of behaviour - youtuber or not.

By your reasoning there is no crime IF nobody says "no"? This is by far one of the most stupid statements ive ever heard. We have laws just to prevent stuff like this. In your world its a ok with date rape drugs since the victim never says no.

Man - you just dropped several stages in respect by your stupid reasoning in this.

*Disappointed*

+ Show (9) more repliesLast reply 3817d ago
InMyOpinion3820d ago

Was about to ask the same thing. Who is he?

Ps4Console3820d ago (Edited 3820d ago )

A loud mouth on YouTube who plays Fifa he his very immature & talks to gamers like he his a big celeb .

MightyNoX3820d ago

A YouTube Celeb with millions of followers, apparently. He got on stage in London and said terrible things about women. Just goes to show how the geniuses at MS PR department think. The guy had priors, why would you hire him?

LOL @ MS

InMyOpinion3820d ago

Yeah. They need to be replaced.

MadLad3820d ago

I didn't know who it was either.
Seems he is a rather big youtuber though. Goes to show how vast that site is as a whole.

DaGR8JIBRALTAR3820d ago

he asked could he motorboat those tittiee, she allowed him to. I swear people are so emotional and softer than baby shit these days.

Linko643820d ago

Yeah because everyone else in that video seemed cool with his actions. You mug.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3820d ago
svoulis3820d ago

Really happy they responded that quick.

Good Job Microsoft

NEXT TIME DO YOUR DAMN RESEARCH AND DON'T LOOK AT THE NUMBERS

KingDadXVI3820d ago

Well I am glad that they moved quickly on this. I honestly had never heard of the guy before. I would imagine that the people who arranged this bash are going to do well to still have their jobs at the end of the day.

cell9893820d ago

you had one job MS PR ONE JOB!!

Show all comments (165)
320°

Report Claims Xbox Is Planning More Cuts Following Studio Closures

"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."

Read Full Story >>
purexbox.com
just_looken3h ago

Sense it seems very few remember that human's were around before 2020 the next studio to close will be bethesda based no doubt on the history of.

Fallout 76
Elder scrolls online
elder scrolls blades mobile
fallout mobile
The vr versions of old games

Then you got starfield pissing out cash nothing to cover it.

I doubt tod's team or any sub team is making m$ cash they are no doubt on the chopping block for job cuts

If you can remember before 2020 even fallout 76 was made with over 4 studios.

-Foxtrot5h ago

"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.

Inverno5h ago

Spread thin after firing over 2000 employees a few months prior. So basically they created the problem and their solution was to just fire more people. Absolute geniuses over at Xbox, of course can we even believe this to be the reason for the closures?

just_looken3h agoShowReplies(1)
Profchaos3h ago

Leaders can't run them hire more management create new roles don't shutter entire studios cause you can't figure out how to run them.

Unless the reality is this whole consolidation thing was really an excuse for IP harvesting

scareduser47m ago(Edited 46m ago)

Well just_looken is gone again

Everyone watch out crhistopher is online ready to defend his god sony

Anything remotely negative towards this company or any mention that is not praise you will be banned asap.

@Inverno

He mentioned that after the launch but also said they never took charge that is why they took the reigns now.

Well i will get banned now lates

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 47m ago
Eonjay5h ago

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.

4h ago
NotoriousWhiz4h ago

And out of the ashes something even better than Xbox will be born.

Eonjay4h ago

Honestly as long as is not a situation where the industry has to contract in order focus wealth on a few people who are already trillionaires..

Tacoboto3h ago

I think 2022 killed the Series X.

2021 was a good year for Xbox though and maybe the best in a long long time, hardware and software and as a publisher. Halo Infinite launched to popularity, Forza Horizon 5 blew everyone away, Psychonauts 2 was so well received, Flight Simulator on console, Deathloop even on PS5 & PC.

But they followed that up with next to nothing. Then 2023 with Redfall, a disappointing Forza, Starfield, and 2024 leads with closures and layoffs. And some tweets reminding us Hellblade is days away.

The only disappointment with the PS5 is not enough Sony games. Xbox followed up no games with disappointing ones.

Scissorman5h ago

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.

shinoff21834h ago

There's not many of of us clamoring for Sony to do this because most of us understand it would kill Playstation. I'm sure there's a few but I've not seen alot of it myself.

4h ago
Show all comments (46)
290°

Xbox Has Had More Studio Closures Than First Party Game Releases So Far In 2024

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."

Read Full Story >>
twistedvoxel.com
1d ago
KicksnSnares19h ago(Edited 19h ago)

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.

anast17h ago

Those are all coming to PS5 too.

Tech512h ago

"Xbox Has Had More Studio Closures Than First Party Game Releases So Far In 2024"

they kept the IPs though. they'll be making them under the MS brand i'm guessing. like minecraft all those years ago.

solideagle16h ago(Edited 16h ago)

the keyword is so Far...

on topic: Ouch!

Hedstrom14h ago

Kinda missing the forest for all the trees statement!

shinoff218314h ago(Edited 14h ago)

Bet all those don't make it though this year

romulus2313h ago(Edited 13h ago)

If we're going to talk in "still to be's" there still could be more studio closures from Microsoft this year as well.

DOMination-10h ago

How much confidence do people have in these games being good though? I hope they will be (especially Avowed) but from what we know of them so far, it's hardly a guarantee, is it?

And even if they do turn out to be good, how much of that will be down to Xbox and its leadership? Most of these games were either sequels to games made before being acquired or started development before being acquired.

And just a note on Hellblade II - it is out in two weeks and unless I'm missing something, I don't see much in the way of previews or advertising from Microsoft. Not ideal for a niche game that looks like it probably cost a lot of money to make. It genuinely feels like another game being sent out to die and then have the studio shut down.

Elda9h ago(Edited 9h ago)

To me...Avowed graphics look cheap, the game looks generic as well as boring.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 9h ago
anast17h ago

Popcorn is good. Anyone want some?

anast12h ago

I wouldn't mind a caramel and cinnamon mix actually.

dumahim12h ago

That does sound good. I have trouble just finding caramel corn.

anast8h ago

I find it interesting that people have to resort to praising how they were randomly born in a certain location to say they're not weird. But, I'm not sure this kind of stupidity can be generalized over an entire group of people, at least, I'm being optimistic here.

Eonjay16h ago(Edited 16h ago)

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.

Hofstaderman15h ago

Vindicates Jim Ryan. Don't know who didnt see this coming except those frothing pro acquisition fanboys who are not commenting here for some reason....

Tacoboto13h ago

What did happen to Obscure?

Tody_ZA13h ago

Obscure is working on his thesis on how to spin this.

Elda13h ago

Exactly. Where is the mayor & spokesperson of XB?

badz14913h ago

Obsecure where are you? Don't tell us Phil fired you too

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 13h ago
MatrixxGT11h ago

Let’s not pretend Sony is setting the world on fire with its first party either….it’s been crickets from them as well. In fact they even said not to expect any at all this year.
MS is a dumpster fire and Sony isn’t fighting anymore and it shows. I fail to see how this is a good thing.

Skuletor7h ago

Wasn't it no new existing IP entries? That would still leave room for new IPs, maybe we'll see one or more of those this year.

Sonic188111h ago

I was actually thinking about that. You beat me to it

MrDead16h ago

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.

MrCrimson14h ago

not exactly like the studios were putting out good games anyway. Industry needs to restart from the ground up; if games like battlebit or manor lords can be made by teams with 10 people - then there's something fundamentally wrong with having 500 man teams put out glitchy overmonetized crap.

shinoff218314h ago

Interesting. Prey was a good game, evil within was dope, and hi fi was the best Xbox game that Xbox has had in so many years. That's according to the base.

romulus2313h ago

HiFi Rush was a really good game actually so that's hardly the reason for shutting down Tango.

Show all comments (53)
960°

Microsoft Closes Redfall Developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush Developer Tango Gameworks, and More

Microsoft has closed a number of Bethesda studios, including Redfall maker Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, and more in devastating cuts at Bethesda, IGN can confirm.

Moegooner1d 15h ago (Edited 1d 15h ago )

Hi-Fi Rush studio??? Seriously?? Goes to show quality matters lil to MS.

Worst gen ever. All big 3 battling are for who sucks the most. They just keep one upping one another.

-Foxtrot1d 14h ago

This does feel like a “quick Sony is getting shit on for Helldivers, let’s announce it now to minimise impact”

thesoftware7301d 14h ago

That is silly. Let's say there is some weird conspiracy. This announcement would effectively take ALL the attention away from the HD2 situation, especially since there is no longer an HD2 situation. I don't think anything will minimize this impact.

Tacoboto1d 14h ago

... so they announce it on a Tuesday? 36 hours after Sony cleared up everything?

You people care more about the next conspiracy than anything else.

Nevermind that Sony followed the golden rule of minimizing impact by announcing horrible news on a Friday.

Eonjay1d 14h ago

The constant weekly weird Sony drama is part of the industry's problem. Everyone else feels they can get away with murder. Also, what is the point of spending all that money if you just start shutting studios down. And... Redfall wasn't Arkane's fought. Microsoft new the shape the game was in but needed something for GamePass after a whole year of no releases into the service. Them taking it out on Arkane seems really disingenuous and distasteful. And WTF did Tango do? Didn't Todd just release a statement saying how he would never retire. Fire his ass.

romulus231d 14h ago

Well if that was the reason for the timing it didn't work.

darthv721d 13h ago

wow... i did not have them closing Tango and Arkane Austin on my bingo card.

Hofstaderman1d 13h ago (Edited 1d 13h ago )

Yes it does. Arkane Austin I can understand but Tango Gameworks made an excellent game in Hi Fi Rush.
On review, it want really all on Austin for Redfall and its failure, they were forced to make a multiplayer games when their expertise was always single player driven first person games.

-Foxtrot1d 13h ago

Guys I’m not being all that serious…relax

Outside_ofthe_Box1d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

"I don't think anything will minimize this impact."

It already has. Notice your comment(or lack there of) vs HD2.

On another note, I would like to see Microsoft buy more studios and do more shadows drops on subscription services like they did Hi-Fi Rush. It's great for the industry I was told by people on here.

Zeref1d 11h ago (Edited 1d 11h ago )

I'm pretty sure that's exactly how it works. Same thing with layoffs. All of a sudden everyone has layoffs around the same time

Cacabunga1d 9h ago

MS will always make it to amaze me by showing the worse version of themselves every single time..

peppeaccardo1d 9h ago

MS proving to the world that ttheir leadership cannot drive success from these new acquisitions. They have ran the numbers and they have realized that long term, without a clear direction from the motehrship, these are a loss for the company hence they need to be cut. I might be wrong but I am absolutelly sure that if these developers would have not been purchased by Microsoft they would be still on business. A shame ...

senorfartcushion20h ago

Both things have happened but N4G's commenters (90% Playstation ) will follow suit

+ Show (9) more repliesLast reply 20h ago
Einhander19721d 14h ago (Edited 1d 14h ago )

10/10 deflection, the ol' Sony too deflect...

Let's not discuss the fact that PlayStations struggles have largely been caused by the fact that game pass has reshaped how consumers spend causing them to spend less as they play what is on subscriptions and don't buy games as much because they either have become subscription gamers or they fear the game will come to a subscription so they don't buy things.

And it's not just PlayStation, the whole industry has been effected, many big studios are struggling across the board to match sales targets from pre-game pass releases which is especially apparent in things like sequels.

Heck the best example was Microsoft's own Starfield which should have easily blasted past 10m sales by the end of 2023 going by sales of similar Bethesda games yet was only able to achieve 3m which of course was almost entirely on Steam.

Moegooner1d 14h ago

Or maybe it's because Sony hasn't released multiple worthwhile SP games like they normally do each gen and the ones they did released actually sold well.

Layoffs aren't because studios are struggling, but because major publishers want to maximise profit gains.

Profchaos1d 14h ago (Edited 1d 14h ago )

Absolutely it's a service that's changed the way we view and consume games overall for the worse games have little value when they are part of a sub and become disposable doubly so if they are a day 1 freebie often it's the kiss of death for a game to be day 1 on gamepass as PlayStation players look at it like why do I have to pay 60 dollars for back 4 blood, payday 3 or outriders it'll be on PS plus soon enough and funny enough those games always fail to meet expectations sales are poor and longevity is poor.

When I see a game get a day 1 tag outside of first party my first thought is always something is wrong with it and it can't stand on its own feet so the publisher has made a deal to recoup development cost.

Even first party games have dropped in quality noticeably so since gamepass with gears 5 being the only good release I can think of since gamepass started

Petebloodyonion1d 13h ago

Wasn't aware that Gamepass is available on PlayStation.
Or are you telling us that a service from a console lacking in sales is so great that it affects the morale and buying habits of ppl lacking access to the service?

Also pretty sure that saying all of them competing for who sucks means the whole industry and not just Sony and MS.

Nitrowolf21d 14h ago (Edited 1d 14h ago )

This is what people online want. They just don't know or understand it. So many have warned about consolidation, and exactly what they have fear has been happening

This isn't the end, expect more bought out studios to be closed in the next few years

Hofstaderman1d 13h ago

Spot on. All in the name "growth" to appease investors and shareholders. Can't sustain the lie though...it will always implode as illustrated by these closures. Applies to MS and Embracer.

TiredGamer1d 7h ago (Edited 1d 7h ago )

This. ^

Publishers are slowly mitigating all development risk since every new big/medium budget game has become too big to fail. Games are too expensive to make and the profitability for titles rests on a hair’s edge. When you need to sell 5 million copies of a game to be profitable, you know that we’ve turned a new page in gaming. The real victims here are the smaller studios/games that bring so much character and variety to the industry, like with Hi-Fi Rush.

It looks to me that Hi-Fi Rush did not fulfill financial expectations for moving the GamePass needle, and the sales from the PlayStation port experiment did not measure up either. So it gets the boot.

Sad day and era for gaming.

notachance1d 4h ago

yeah smaller ABK studios like Toys For Bob are now in dangers

notachance1d 13h ago

I just don’t know how the hell a company that can spend $67b to purchase a publisher decided that it’s okay to close the studio that produces their best game last year.

Whoever the higher up there that decides this is completely out of touch of how the game industry works, the damn xbox division as a whole would’ve been closed already if they weren’t sustained by other MS divisions.

shinoff21831d 13h ago

I got in an argument with someone on reddit and they weren't haven't that Xbox isn't propped up by other divisions argument. They swore up and down that Xbox was pulling its own weight. I just stopped after a couple back and forths

TiredGamer1d 7h ago

Didn’t move the GamePass needle and the PlayStation port couldn’t save the return on investment….

SeTTriP1d 7h ago Show
dumahim1d 13h ago

So this is what happens when you're pleased with the sales and investing in the studio? Good guy Phil at it again.

Sonic18811d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

From Aaron Greenburg:

"Hi-Fi RUSH was a break out hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations. We couldn’t be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release."

😂😂😂 🤥🤥

Lightning771d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

Once again MS creates their own problems and they create their own animosity. Idc about their shitty excuse and "reasons" they're a incompetent company, plus all their Xbox fanboy influencers are dwindling I noticed. How many excuses can you make for a company like MS? Consoles are down and they're losing their own fanboy influencers also. That's all they had to cheer lead them now they're leaving them. Pretty nobody will be on MS dude no matter if they (if they ever but I doubt it) get their act together.

Trashy ass ppl and company....

If they go under eventual it's because of their own doing nobody else's.

porkChop1d 9h ago

Yeah overall this gen is pretty shit. Everyone is making horrible decisions, great devs are getting either gutted or entirely shut down regardless of quality or success, very little in the way of innovative games, etc. This industry needs to see some drastic changes.

badz14923h ago

where are all the cheerleaders for MS acquisitions amid all these?? you guys happy now? this will not be the end of it, maybe just the beginning!

OptimusDK14h ago

Maybe it has to do with this:
Hinji Mikami is leaving Tango Gameworks in the coming months.On February 23 it was reported that Mikami would be departing Tango Gameworks. Bethesda has stepped in to confirm the report of Mikami's forthcoming departure from the studio he founded over a decade ago.

Mikami originally founded Tango Gameworks in 2010 after departing Capcom, having lead the development of iconic games like Resident Evil and Resident Evil 4.

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 14h ago
shadowT1d 15h ago (Edited 1d 15h ago )

Tango Gameworks and Arkane?

RaidenBlack1d 14h ago

Arkane Austin (Prey developer)
Not Arkane Lyon ( Dishonored developer)

Crows901d 13h ago

Prey was fantastic. Red fall was shit because they were forced to do shit they didn't want to make.

Atkane Lyon did death loop I believe....I hated that one.

shinoff21831d 13h ago

I personally liked prey more.

RaidenBlack1d 13h ago

@shinoff2183
Because Prey was creative and different
Other than the live service Redfall, all other single-player Arkane projects have been creative and interesting

Tankbusta401d 12h ago

@Crows90

So just because people don't want to do something in life...bad quality is excused? Look what happened over that bad quality? no more studio

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1d 12h ago
MrDead1d 13h ago

Will be more soon, I've said it before I can't see MS keeping Bethesda. I think they'll strip it's IPs and slowly close everything, it's what they do.

VariantAEC1d 12h ago

No one wants to admit it, but yeah MS has a long history of pillaging other smaller corporations for IP and dispensing with everything else.

Zeref1d 11h ago

That doesn't make any sense lol. How would they make money from these IP'S with no developers?

MrDead1d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

@Zeref
"That doesn't make any sense lol. How would they make money from these IP'S with no developers?"

MS don't care about the studios, they want the IP's. They'll keep the big ones in house, the game engines they run on and licence the rest. Stacks of cash to be made from licensing IP's ...or just sit on them so no one else can use them.

blackblades1d 7h ago

@Zeref silly fool, buy them for the IP have there other studios make the games using the IP names to sell them. We all know having a popular franchise name can sell

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1d 7h ago
Einhander19721d 15h ago (Edited 1d 15h ago )

Well xbox fans you got what you asked for... and honestly deserved...

It was so easily predictable that game pass was never going to be able to support all these studios.

If Microsoft can't win they are going to burn it all to the ground...

Countdown to Phil Spencer telling us "it's better for the gamers this way" yet again.

Barlos1d 13h ago

Agree but gamers didn't ask for people to be out of work.

VenomUK1d 12h ago (Edited 1d 12h ago )

@Barlos They indirectly did. Every person who made a wish list of who Microsoft should buy next and were sending tweets to Phil Spencer and Xbox with proposed studios, played a part.

The saddest part is the studios were closed because of the underperformance of their last games, and if they had been given a chance then their next games could’ve been great and succeeded. But it is the same old Phil Spencer Microsoft problem which is not giving them a chance, and that’s why he is not able to manage game studios.

VariantAEC1d 12h ago

Yeah they did. Just because they refused to see what everyone with a brain was telling them doesn't mean they didn't know. They were told, they should've put up a fight and they didn't. This is the result. But who knows even if MS' fans weren't such boot-lickers, MS could've carried this out against their fans wishes anyway. Unfortunately, we have the hardcore MS defense bots running to deflect from any bad news and maybe, just maybe, MS felt empowered to do more damage as a result of their fans cheering this all on.

anast1d 11h ago

They sold themselves out. Once people buy you they can do what they want. None of this should have been a surprise. When companies get bought out, they eventually get dismantled.

shinoff21831d 13h ago

Xbox fans were to busy daydreaming of Ms curbstopping Sony they didn't look at the big picture.

Einhander19721d 13h ago

Not disagreeing at all.

I want to add that from the day Microsoft announced game pass, before they even started buying up studios it was obvious that game pass wasn't going to be able to support itself.

It was so dumb that they doubled down on it by spending 100B on a service they knew only existed through subsidization.

They should have realized there was no way that adding massively more costs on a subscription they were subsidizing was certain to fail. Especially after seeing how it had devastated sales across the platform as a whole.

Heck by the time this generation started during covid when the console sales were similar PlayStation was already outselling xbox on multiplatform games 8:1 yet they still doubled down on it.

1d 13h ago
Relientk771d 15h ago

This is beyond wrong. Like wtf!? Especially Tango Gameworks with Hi-Fi Rush. I've heard nothing but good things about that game. Just because Arkane Austin screwed up one game release doesn't mean you need to close them. It sounds like they were forced to do a multiplayer game when they're a single player studio. They could have made a Prey 2 or some other game next.

Just wow awful news.

Einhander19721d 14h ago

Apparently PlayStation owners didn't buy enough copies of Hi-Fi Rush...

romulus231d 14h ago

"Xbox says Hi-Fi Rush was a success "in all key measurements" amid rumors of poor sales. Following rumors that Tango Gameworks' Hi-Fish Rush didn't meet sales expectations, Xbox marketing VP Aaron Greenburg is defending the "break out hit" as a success by all metrics."

According to Aaron Greenburg it was a success so they shouldn't have even needed PlayStation owners to buy it. That being said, I bought it and really enjoyed it, it's a great game. Shame MS closed them down.

RpgSama1d 14h ago

@Romulus23

All lies by the Green Bug, that just means that a lot of people fired bullets or whatever in the game, that's the key measurements they care to share.

Tango did NOT deserve to be closed down, they have not released a single bad game.

Crows901d 13h ago

That's usually what happens when you don't release it at the same time as other platforms....same thing happened with tomb raider reboot sequel. MS got exclusivity for a year and then when it came to PlayStation it barely sold. Nobody cared anymore.

shinoff21831d 13h ago

Still waiting on the physical release pre order window

VariantAEC1d 12h ago

Well... I did my part. Hi-Fi Rush is a good game, but I don't think its MS' style. We don't really know how well it did or didn't perform by the numbers or whether it broke even. This could just be another MS blunder.

Elda1d 11h ago

Exactly. MS purchasing a 3rd party studio & keeping games off of other platforms probably hurt them in the long run, then finally putting Hi Fi Rush on PS which in turn PS fans probably didn't care to buy & support Hi Fi Rush after a year later of release. Hi Fi Rush was released on Gamepass so it probably never really made any money selling solely.

Eonjay1d 10h ago

@romulus23

Let's hope it didn't sell well because that would make this worse. Also I could have sworn I read an article about their next game in the works.

Seraphim1d 8h ago (Edited 1d 8h ago )

I was wondering if that played any part considering the timing, though, XB claimed the game to be a success last year only on XB & PC. Regardless MS f'd up there too. They shadow dropped HiFi on XB/PC last year at the perfect time. This year when they released on PS not only had the hype died, but there were so many solid games available the first 3 months of this year to play.

I almost bought it on PC last year, but now that it dropped on PS I just have far too many games to play to bother...

If MS needs PS and even Switch sales they need a better strategy. At the very least a release date where players are more inticed to buy said game. The problem is always going to be that if they want exclusives the hype for these games will be dead a year later. The exceptions might be some of their heavy hitters.... 2 cents

Angyobangyo19h ago(Edited 19h ago)

PS and PC owners probably bought more copies that Xbox owners.

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 19h ago
CrashMania1d 14h ago

I can only imagine the little amount of revenue both games generated, sent straight to gamepass and excluded from the largest current gen console userbase. Not to say both games would have done well if they were on PS5 too, but you heavily damage to a games revenue when you put it on a stagnating sub service for a poorly selling console, can't really see people going out in droves to sub to GP to play this.

shinoff21831d 13h ago

Gamepass subs(most of Xbox players) don't buy games all like that so it's not sustainable. It's reality.

RaidenBlack1d 14h ago

Yea Austin made one of the most creative game of last gen with Prey and were forced to take risk with Redfall and now the whole studio is being closed.

Aphrodia1d 14h ago

Yes, that Tango gameworks/ Hi-Fi closure was an eye opener for me as well. Neither played it nor was interested in it myself but all I heard was everyone acting like it was the second coming of guitar hero or something.

I don't know what else to say other than modern gaming is an overwhelming sea of mediocrity and there's not enough voices of reason speaking up and saying that most games made these days are just not very good.

shinoff21831d 13h ago

Your playing the wrong games then. There's always been shovelware type games. Going back to wii, snes, nes, ps1 Xbox og. That's a bs blanket statement. As an older gamer since atari days I'd personally say this is a great time. If you can't find anything to play. That's on you

With all that said in no way or form am I speaking of multi-player games, gacha, or whatever. I'm strictly speaking on single player games.

Aphrodia1d 10h ago

you are hilarious. trying to validate your comment by excluding over half of the games out there today. Pathetic man.

Neonridr1d 12h ago

I'm more devastated at the loss of The Evil Within.

Chevalier1d 2h ago

Wait I was told Xbox had great engagement numbers?! Some Xbox fans said they bought games when I told them Xbox customers don't buy games?

So Xbox bought studios to keep games off other platforms and forgot they conditioned Xbox customers to not buy games. Whoops.

So anyone else think Outer World's 2 dies 🤔? I'm thinking a small game losing out on Nintendo and Playstation gamers buying will kill this IP. But it's okay Xbox fans can get more COD! Halo, Gears and Forza! Woot that's a 'win'. Yay Gamepass FTW

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 19h ago
CrashMania1d 14h ago

Can't wait to see the usual try spin and play this down. So much for the heroic MS and Phil saving these studios eh.

Eonjay1d 14h ago

By the end of the day IGN will be talking about how this is right for the industry. Don't worry, Microsoft's PR is making the call now.

RpgSama1d 14h ago

Tango did NOT deserve to be closed down, they have not released a single bad game, and I'm sure Arkhane failed just because they were both rushed and pressured into making a GaaS game they had no experience in doing and no support to get it completed out of the gate.

PrinceOfAnger1d 14h ago

Not a big deal only hi fi rush was good

Sony has closed
Manchester studio
Japan studio
Pixel opus
London studio
Ready At Dawn ...

RupeeHoarder1d 14h ago

The difference being Sony has a large group of other studios that have done something positive. Microsoft just closed the studio to the only good game they released in the past year (Hi-Fi Rush).

CrashMania1d 14h ago

They all suck as well of course. But MS spent 10s of billions on these publishers for mass consolidation, every made a song and dance about how MS would save them, using their endless Windows, 365 and Azure money to keep them open forever and how Phil was some hero.

Nothing is safe unless it makes money, even for MS.

romulus231d 14h ago

It is a big deal.

Microsoft has closed
Fasa Studios
Digital Anvil
Ensemble
Lionhead Studios
Press Play
Arkane Austin
Tango Gameworks

Einhander19721d 14h ago (Edited 1d 13h ago )

Wow how far back do you want to go back.

Lionhead Studios
Aces Game Studio
BigPark
Carbonated Game
Digital Anvil
Ensemble Studios
FASA Studio
Good Science Studio
Hired Gun
Microsoft Studios Japan
Microsoft Studios Victoria
Team Dakota
Xbox Entertainment Studios
Xbox Live Productions
Lift London
Access Software
Salt Lake Games Studio
Twisted Pixel Games
WingNut Interactive

And more before this, this was just their cuts during xbone era that Phil cut while he was at the head.

And some of those PlayStation studios were merged not closed, most of the UK studios were folded into each other.

Japan Studio was renamed to Asobi not closed, aAsobi was an internal team of Japan Studio the "closure" the press misinformed people about was more or less a name change, the studio is in the same building and when the change happened less than 5 people mostly leadership positions chose to leave the studio to form Bokeh Studio, which still works closely with Sony.

And even if your deflection stood on it's own, Microsoft spent 3 Billion 3 years ago almost to the date to buy Zenimax and has already closed 2 of it's biggest studios and decimated Zenimax's support studio structure.

It's no wonder Todd Howard was talking about "more frequent releases" and letting other studios make their IP's games. The days of big budget huge Bethesda games is over...

In fact sadly Microsoft has ushered in the end of big budget gaming as we know it with their obviously unsustainable subscription industry change.

And I feel fully confident that this isn't the end of studio closures from these recently purchased studios.

Abnor_Mal1d 14h ago

Ready At Dawn was never a Sony owned studio, and only made a few smaller God of War games and a Jax and Daxter spin off, and of course The Order1866.

They are currently owned by OcUlus Studios.

MrDead1d 13h ago

How many times has MS fired Bethesda staff since they purchased it? I think it's been three rounds so far

BehindTheRows1d 13h ago

Deflection is the finest form of delusion.

shinoff21831d 13h ago

London studio what have they made recently. Really the worst one was Japan studio. That sucked.

In reality though your deflecting. The fact of the matter is Ms just closed the studio that made their highest rated game in years. That's insane.

Hofstaderman1d 13h ago

Also many of those staff were absorbed into other studios.

VariantAEC1d 12h ago (Edited 1d 11h ago )

Ready At Dawn was never a PS first party studio.
Manchester was closed and it was proposed that London should be closed, but their website is still up with no news about it being closed on their official site anywhere. So it's possible that the proposed closure just did not happen to get fufilled. Meaning London Studio *MIGHT* still be open running lean.

Edit: Japan Studio was closed with some staff making up the new Asobi Team Studio who's first title was the PS5 pack-in game "Astro's Playroom." Pixel Opus was closed and not replaced or spun-off their only games were Entwined and Concrete Genie they also helped publish Journey according to Wikipedia.

Chevalier1d 2h ago

Man you got crap info

Sony never owned Ready at Dawn. It's now owned by Oculus.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/...

+ Show (9) more repliesLast reply 1d 2h ago
Tacoboto1d 14h ago

Phil needs to step down. What kind of usual spin do you want?

More and more people lose jobs but the people at the top stay the same. Hardware sales tank despite billions and billions spent. The math is plain and simple.

Sonic18811d 13h ago (Edited 1d 13h ago )

I'm still trying to figure out what was the real reason to acquire Bethesda for millions or Billions of dollars if you're closing down studios 🤔 What were their true intentions 🤔 I mean do Microsoft really want to be a third-party publisher? It sounds like they're confused.with their future in gaming

VariantAEC1d 11h ago

@Sonic1881
To rape each studio for their sweet succulent ultra-valuable IP. This is Microsoft's favorite past-time.

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