410°

Microsoft, You Stripped Rare Of Its Soul, Talent, and Great Developers, It's Time To Let Them Go

By: Furious Francis - Owner & Editor In Chief

A lot of you guys might be too young to remember, but at one point Rare used to be the Retro or Naughty Dog of the gaming industry. Rare made classics on the Super Nintendo like Donkey Kong Country and Killer Instinct. Innovative, moving, and graphically superior to 99% of the other SNES games. Rare defined the mid 90's for graphically enhanced Super Nintendo Games.

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playeressence.com
Blankman854215d ago

RARE stories always make it to the top here and that's why they'll keep coming.
I don't mind the articles, they keep Those We Do Not Speak Of happy and distracted.

Theyellowflash304215d ago

I loved Rare growing up, what Microsoft did to them is horrible and should be written about a million times.

Dr_Salvitor4215d ago

yeah i die a little inside every time i think about it. good thing the people who left are trying to form together and make good games like the real spiritual successor to banjo.

iamnsuperman4215d ago (Edited 4215d ago )

What happened to Rare is bad but an article about Microsoft letting rare go is dumb. Rare have/are made/making profitable games for Microsoft so why would Microsoft let them go.

4215d ago
SilentNegotiator4215d ago

Too many people blame employees leaving the studio, but Kameo proved that Rare had some of their charm and good design still around at the turn of the generation.

And BK: Nuts and Bolts probably never would have been a racer if MS had not been pushing XBL on the studio. And then they pushed Kinect on the studio and that was the end of it. The talent that showed itself in very early 360 titles was buried in gimmicks and forced multiplayer.

NewMonday4215d ago (Edited 4215d ago )

Kameo was a game by Rare with very big potential

unfortunately Kinect happened

Eyeco4215d ago

Microsoft bought Rare for 300 million have they actually made any game that was worthy of their price tag ?

Highlife4214d ago

What's the point. Rare isn't Rare anymore anyway.

wastedcells4214d ago

True, something must be wrong there.. Rare, Bungie, Bizarre and ensemble just to name a few of the top all either left, shut down or failed miserably years after Microsoft got their hands on them. wonder why?

fei-hung4214d ago

Questions for those who gave a 360:

1) would you prefer if Rare developed games like they did on the N64 as supposed to what they gave developed under MS?

2) do you hold MS or Rare accountable for a lack of quality titles that were developed by Rare on the N64?

3) do you think Rare developing titles like they did on the N64 would have performed better or worse than those now?

4) would MS and or Rare been better of with those titles or their current titles under MS?

Sitdown4214d ago

If Microsoft was the downfall of RARE, why was Nintendo okay with letting them walk? Nintendo saw the writing on the wall, and Microsoft just got stuck holding the bag.

AAACE54214d ago

Most of the good people had already left rare before ms bought them. Ms just wanted their popular games and hoped there was still some talent left who could bring them back up.

Ms will probably disband rare and hand the franchises off to a different studio within 2 years.

Y_51504214d ago

@SilentNegotiator Oh yeah! Kameo was the ONLY game ever made me oh so close on making the decision to go 360!

AzaziL4214d ago (Edited 4214d ago )

Microsoft took the "Killer Instinct" out of em, get it?

*crickets*

Nah honestly, Rare could make one of the most anticipated fighting games since MK and SF, but we all know it'll never happen, RIP.

+ Show (10) more repliesLast reply 4214d ago
Alos884215d ago

"Those We Do Not Speak Of"? That's an accurate title, since I have no idea who you are talking about.

SilentNegotiator4215d ago (Edited 4215d ago )

Because everyone with anything vaguely negative to say about the 360 is a PS3 saboteur.

I mean, how could a true 360 fan be disappointed with the direction MS took Rare?

lol

Knight_Crawler4214d ago (Edited 4214d ago )

Question to the author of these article: How do you know Rare is not happier now with MS? MS pays these guys good and MS also gave these guys a huge building with lots of toys.

People think the because your not making AAA games that developers are unhappy but developers do not think like celebs and as long as they are making games and have a steady income they are happy.

Working on AAA game sis way more stressful and time consuming that working on smaller projects...Rare are happy at MS and I do not think that they would want to go on there own and have a 50% chace on failing and loosing everything.

Go watch the making of Gears of War 1, those guys were practically living at the EPIC building - I can see why Cliffy B wanted a break.

The old Rare died before MS purchased them and MS did Rare a favour because Nintendo was ready to shut them down.

Theyellowflash304214d ago

why did all of Rare's top developers leave and second guess MS everymove if they were happy with them?

Freak of Nature4214d ago

Rare stories make it to the top because people know what they "were"...

But hope burns eternal... Rare is diversifying, they are looking for 2D and 3D artists to create art for **Win 8 Mobile and Tablet devices**...

They are looking for experienced people to run online services or Free-to-play experiences....

But in the end I wish the Stamper brothers were still there and true blue old school Banjo's and Conkers were being given this gen and Next gen reboots...

Beastforlifenoob4214d ago

Funny thing is Micro payed 375MIL to Rare, everyone here is acting like Microsoft stole the company THE COMPANY SOLD ITSELF TO MICROSOFT CORPORATION FOR 375.000.000 DOLLARS NO ONE STOLE THE COMPANY CALM DOWN!!!

fermcr4214d ago

Microsoft gave Rare a couple of chances, but they simply didn't deliver stellar games for the X360... so now they make Kinect games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4214d ago
4215d ago Replies(6)
1upgamer994215d ago

No kidding, Rare was awesome. When you bought a game and it had Rare on it you knew it was going to be AWESOME. Now look at them. I wish Nintendo would have out bid Microsoft for Rare.

KMCROC544215d ago

how can u outbid yourself
when you are saling the remaning stake in said company.

Bowzabub4215d ago

Meh, they should have made a Master Chiefs Bad Fur Day... Would've sold 12 million on day 1!!!

DasTier4215d ago

Hell, your not half wrong. If they came out with a modern Conker game which involved/mocked all of the 360 exclusives such as Halo, GOW, and even go back as far as the Kameo/PGR games. I would buy it, I bet they could easily make a great game out of that.

Belking4215d ago

Hate to disappoint people but MS is keeping Rare. MS actually brought them back to profitability. Blame nintendo for letting them go. Anyway, I'm excited to see their new games on xbox720.

NYC_Gamer4215d ago

But where are the quality Rare games?that's fine them making profit and all.

Belking4215d ago

Every game Rare has made for xbox is quality to me. Its totally subjective. They are now profiting again with MS and that's what counts. Their Kinect games have sold millions and it has been confirmed they are developing two to three titles for xbox 720 and they aren't kine t only titles.

Neonridr4215d ago

so sales = quality now? If that is the case then the Call of Duty games are the highest quality games around. Kinect Sports is cute and all, but hardly compelling stuff from the studio that brought us Goldeneye, Perfect Dark and Conker.

1upgamer994214d ago

At this point in time they can have Rare...None of the original GREAT Rare game designers are there anyway. Now Rare is just a name that was once good. No real great games in the past 10 years. So Microsoft has no big win on that anyway.

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190°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

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theverge.com
darthv7215h ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle2h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Cacabunga2h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

shinoff21831h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga10m ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

purple1014h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos4h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

XBManiac3h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad3h ago(Edited 3h ago)

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple1013h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos2h ago(Edited 2h ago)

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic1h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

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300°

Microsoft Seemingly Closes Bethesda France

As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people

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insider-gaming.com
Hereandthere1d 12h ago

Microsoft should have left them stay 3rd party

GamerRN1d 9h ago

If they are let go, they can be whatever they want. They ARE 3rd party now... 🤦

Barlos1d 6h ago

Yeah, they're also jobless.

GamerRN1d ago

They can form a company if they want, they are just as jobless as if "Microsoft had left them as 3rd party".

peppeaccardo1d 1h ago

"MIcrosoft leaves Bethesda do what they know how to do best" ... close! Oh the irony ....
(Citation from a week old article)

ChasterMies21h ago

I think Microsoft and other game publishers are letting people go because they think ai will replace them. Doesn’t matter how much profit they make. They were always going to be let go.

PassNextquestion1d 11h ago (Edited 1d 11h ago )

Bethesda France was made up of roughly 15 people... they couldn't of being doing much

Bethesda France mainly did publishing and marketing within the region

blacktiger1d 9h ago

that's a shame for you to say that, i'm sure Elite loves hearing what you just said.

Mr Logic19h ago

What a stupid thing to say. The elites give 0 fucks what we say on an obscure website in the comments section.

Crows9019h ago

You can always reach out and give them jobs at your company man. Don't wait

Profchaos1d 11h ago (Edited 1d 11h ago )

Bethesda France focused on publishing and marketing in the region. And 15 people lost their jobs as part of the closure.

I wonder if this is part of Microsoft's strategy to abandoned physical media or possibly gamepass advertising makes their roles redundant you don't need to market a game as hard when the majority of players get the game as part of a sub which already promoted upcoming games

Tacoboto1d 11h ago

It's France too, there's a high likelihood only 1-2 people on the team even had an Xbox.

Profchaos1d 10h ago

Possibly guven all the leaks we know the Xbox brand is really struggling in the region.

Yi-Long1d 7h ago

Well, if your consoles and games are barely found in any stores any more, of course you're gonna struggle finding consumers ...

XiNatsuDragnel1d 10h ago

Tbh Microsoft I think Bethesda being 3rd party same with Activision would probably more competitive than thus scenario imo

Profchaos1d 8h ago (Edited 1d 8h ago )

I think it would have been better for all parties really especially gamers

TheColbertinator1d 9h ago

The recently purchased Activision French offices might take over all the licensing and marketing for Microsoft in France from now on.

Show all comments (21)
80°

Nintendo's Massacre Of The 3DS And Wii U Is Finally Complete, Regrettably

Hanzala from eXputer: "The cruel hammer of Nintendo has fallen. Farewell, 3DS and Wii U, you surely brightened my life and many others; you won't be forgotten."