During the VGX show Telltale Games pulled a classic bait-and-switch with the announcement of Tales from the Borderlands, which everyone was expecting to be the announcement of a new Game of Thrones series. Tales from the Borderlands will take place in the world that Gearbox created; and while the trailer didn’t reveal a whole lot, there was plenty of information in the background.
This trailer starts you off looking at a Hyperion poster of Handsome Jack, meaning that it probably takes place before the mayhem of Borderlands 2. You are introduced to Fiona – a fraud, a scammer, and someone that is wanted by the authorities; which makes Fiona a perfect candidate for a Vault Hunter seeing as they are gun-toting killers. As the trailer continues you follow Fiona and her bandit friend into Marcus’ gun shop in Sanctuary. Then, she slowly places an Atlas shield in front of Marcus. If you played through the first Borderlands than you know that during that story you defeated Atlas along with their Crimson Lance private military. Because of this, Atlas products do not appear in Borderlands 2; which leads us to believe that Tales from the Borderlands does in fact take place between the two games.
One thing that is for sure is that Handsome Jack is back; as a digitized version of himself and looking as handsome as ever. Could Fiona’s one-eyed companion be Handsome Jack? But if this version of Handsome Jack is a pre-evil version, how are there already Handsome Jack posters? Even though this trailer is only 90 seconds long, it leaves us with more questions than we thought possible. We are looking forward to seeing what Telltale Games is going to do with this new addition to the Borderlands series.
While on stage with Dina Bass at The Bloomberg Technology Summit the President of Xbox, Sarah Bond, was asked about the Xbox studio closures of Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse Studios
Of course she did. She's part of the problem and will just tow the company line.
I always wondered why xbox had multiple leaders with similar titles like Phil Spencer, Matt Booty, and Sarah Bond, like, how many heads do you actually need?
Seems to me it would be more cost efficient to cut 2 of them instead of all those studios.
While many gaming layoffs are cruel, Tango Gameworks being culled after Hi-Fi Rush doesn't even make sense.
Good read. I think the point is important. Cuz the message it sends is, make a bad game? Well shut you down. Make a good game? We still might shut you down. How the fuck are you supposed to feel any sense of job security under those conditions. The level of core incompetence at play in the upper levels of this industry is staggering. This is common sense shit. You can’t chase trends on a 2 year cycle when games take fucking 6-8 years to make. Just let artists fucking art for gods sake. They don’t understand the basic principle that they’re all haggling for the same slice of fucking pie and the market will not bear it. Find a different fucking pie.
"The sudden closure of several video-game studios at Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox division was the result of a widespread cost-cutting initiative that still isn’t finished.
This week, Xbox began offering voluntary severance agreements to producers, quality assurance testers and other staff at ZeniMax, which it purchased in 2020 for $7.5 billion, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. Others across the Xbox organization have been told that more cuts are on the way.
Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said.
Game Pass has not seen the massive growth that Xbox boss Phil Spencer may have been hoping for."
"Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said"
So what you're saying is...you bought all these studios and you guys can't run them.
Jesus.
Reports are suggesting that Game Pass will be getting a price hike soon and that Call of Duty may not be added to the day one offering. I honestly have a hard time believing this but it does beg the question why exactly did GP fail? I think the answer is that it just didn't get the growth that it anticipated. Jim was right but I wish he wasn't because at the end of the day, its gamers, devs and other front-line workers who have to absorb the blow for Spencer and team's miscalculations.
For all the armchair executives who were calling for Sony to release its big-budget AAA games on PS+, the same exact thing would have happened at PlayStation. Game Pass has killed Xbox. Congrats.
If Anthony Burch and Ashly Burch aren't involved, I have zero interest in this.
From one one the greatest rpg's ever made to a qte snorefest
aren't they making an game of thrones game to?
Knowing Telltale:
Episode 1 - January 2015
Episode 2 - May 2015
Episode 3 - December 2015
Episode 4 - February 2017
Episode 5 - Half Life 3
Doesn't interest me if its in the same style ad the Walking Dead. Although I like that game, I couldn't imagine it in the borderlands universe where I am accustomed to mayhem and fast paced action...
Wait and see I guess!