After years of financial experts considering Microsoft a safe and stable investment, one analyst now recommends that investors jump ship as Microsoft has been too sluggish responding to attacks from Apple and Google.
"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 $7.5 billion, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. Others across the Xbox organization have been told that more cuts are on the way.
Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said.
Game Pass has not seen the massive growth that Xbox boss Phil Spencer may have been hoping for."
Sense it seems very few remember that human's were around before 2020 the next studio to close will be bethesda based no doubt on the history of.
Fallout 76
Elder scrolls online
elder scrolls blades mobile
fallout mobile
The vr versions of old games
Then you got starfield pissing out cash nothing to cover it.
I doubt tod's team or any sub team is making m$ 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.
"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.
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?
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
"While the 20 year anniversary edition of Nordic Game, NG24 Spring's homepage on 21-24 May in Malmö, Sweden, is getting closer, the organizers announced that more than 150 speakers are now lined up for the show." - Nordic Game.
The gaming industry has drifted away from offering full-fledged games to putting unfinished titles that are jam-packed with microtransactions on the market.
It's not the fault of the gaming industry. Gamers were told what was happening, were warned about where this would lead, did nothing, and now are acting like it's the fault of publishers that they kept buying these games and investing in MTX. If only those gamers at that time felt as strongly about these things as they do Helldivers 2.
I don't think MTX target the common gamer but instead predate on the so called "whales". It's gambling pure and simple.
Oh, so it's okay to buy MTX-laden games as long as you don't spend money on MTX, which has led to even more MTX-laden games with even more predatory practices where content that used to be unlocked is now behind paywalls?
C'mon now people. You gave the corporations and inch, and they kept taking and taking. Community members told people that investing in these things alone would only lead to more and more MTX and putting more and more behind paywalls. But it's only the fault of the corporations, not the people who kept supporting it with purchases as more and more was taken away?
Well exactly
People stand up for something which seems small to them and they get called whiners or negative. Then years later the shit hits the fan and they all go “why is this happening?” Like they are innocent.
The issue aswell is younger gamers who grew up with all this thinking it’s normal and we all just look like old farts yelling at clouds when we’re trying to help us all, even them.
Who woulda thought that listening to your elders could be a good idea...too late now
It all started with that damn horse armour. Back then I thought nobody was stupid to buy into that crap. How wrong I was....
I like how people move the goal-post. First it’s, f*ck any game with MTX’s, f*ck GaaS games, f*ck this game with “optional” MTX’s (Dragon’s Dogma 2), Helldivers 2 is ok because it’s fun and even though it has Battle Passes or Season Passes and MTX’s it’s ok because… you don’t need to buy them? 🤷♂️
HellDivers 2 is the best selling game this year. Just think about that, games like FF7 Rebirth sold poorly, but a continuous game that lives off recurring revenue sells extraordinarily well. Then we’ll hear everyone b*tch about a GaaS future.
I really wonder what this industry would’ve been like if we never gave into this crap, and yes I’m saying “WE” since I’m guilty of it, but man it’s literally no closing the door once it’s been opened.
This is what amazed me the most when playing hours upon hours of stellar Blade version 1.00.00 no bugs, no crashes, no sudden drops in frames, no screen tear, no falling from the world, just a complete package on a game under 50GB.
I think Korea will play a major role in gaming in the long run , because they're releasing banger after banger.
Still pretty common to find if you stay away from the AAA publishers, in the last 10yrs ive probably only bought like 3 games combined from EA/ACTIVISION/UBISOFT. Even now i still buy games that work right out the box perfectly fine. Just recently got like 6hrs into Alone in the Dark, and not a single sign of any of that bs, really enjoying my time with it.
There's such a misconception about every game needing a patch,this and that when in reality it's not even close. You nailed it isarai
It's really only AAA devs and publishers that seem to have these constant problems
And we as gamers have to accept our role in that. Constantly never being satisfied. Constantly demanding more while paying less. Constantly demanding better frame rates, better graphics, more modes and faster faster faster…. Then review bombing the product when a demand isn’t met. Meanwhile those same demands are making games more difficult, complex and more expensive to create than ever before, on shrinking timelines that burn out employees and make their lives miserable.
You wanna know why so many games get delayed? Cuz the original release dates weren’t realistic to begin with, but you can’t tell a gamer their game is further away than they want to hear. Some dev or game designer will be threatened physically. That builds even more pressure and rushing. We are officially squeezing water out of rocks and still complaining about that how hard you have to squeeze the rock be just waiting for rain. Most of the time we take it out on the developing studio, when it’s the publisher making the calls.
All you need to do is read the comments on most websites and social media to see how toxic, entitled and petty the gaming community at large is, and realize how that transforms into impossible expectations on the parts of game makers.
Nope. Some gamers are to blame. Never demanded anything you mentioned.
A fully finished and functioning product is a standard. It's not demanded. If someone sells you a tv that only works 60% of the time are you going to recommend it OR write a review calling out the obvious problem...it's not a demand...it's a standard.
A standard triple A publishers can't seem to hit consistently.
This is one battle that gamers have never won, hahaha. They were parading recently for their "win" against Sony. Where's the energy for this one, guys? LMAO!
Everyone follow AppleInsider.Com for investment advice on your Microsoft stock.
While that is hard to do, he just did. MS has been making missteps for a while. Now the company seems to have gotten it's footing again and this fool says sell. Changing from buy to sell. That's like starting to cheer when a band is sucking it, then starting to boo when they stop missing notes. What an idiot.
What is it he's seeing that others aren't. Windows 7 according to people who have tried it looks to be a success. People have been able to get it working on some really low spec machines. The Zune HD is something people seem to be looking forward to after MS has failed in the past with Zune. It looks like surface is being geared for the desktop. I believe that will be successful. Office 2010 looks like a nice upgrade and they will now be offering a ad-supported free version. And sales of the 360 are climbing steadily and the Entertainment and Devices division is turning a steady profit for a change. Natal looks like it will be well received when it's releases also.
So when MS seems to be looking at success on every front, this idiot says sell. And considering that MS is a company that consistently makes over 12 billion profit while others lose money, it already has a low stock price, it makes me wonder if this guy knows what he's doing.
You know what, I think he does. I don't invest in the stock market. It's a sham to me. Odd that it crashes every ten years. Always just after it gets the big push from the media. The thing is, just like with the sub-prime problem the house always makes a profit. No matter what. He gets a fee for every transaction. Plus if he gets the average person and the pension funds to sell just before the stock hits big(at a bargain since the price goes down as people dump it), his friends can pick up the stock on the cheap and make a huge profit. He's calling his family now. If you start to see others change to sell, if you play the stocks, buy MS. It's about to go through the roof.
If a company making such a huge percentage of profit on the amount of revenue it gets is suddenly a sell because of an OS that hasn't really been seen, the stock market is a fail. Then again it always has been a fail. People just don't get it yet.
'Jump ship'!!! ;-D
follow AppleInsider.Com for investment advice on your Microsoft stock.
I dont think MS or they stock holders are too worried.