"A relatively linear single-player game without online connectivity is going to be a challenge to green-light going forward," Harrison said.
"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.
"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.
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.
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.
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!
I know a lot of you will disagree, but I don't even play online anymore. I used too, when Counter Strike was the hot thing, I failed a semester of college for that game. I played Age of Empires, just got bored with online play. That's really it. I only play Single, and Co-op games now. And I don't play online at all. I know a lot of people like that, just because it's what is hot right now, does not mean that Single player games are dead. I'm playing Digital Devil Saga II for PS2 and GTAIV PS3 and Persona 3 when I get the time. It just doesn't make since, maybe I'm a gaming dinosaur or something.
I don't mind multiplayer for the most, just to get a different experience, and some games are built around multiplayer for good old fun, but the overwhelming trend, partially fueled by the ever changing game review industry, is getting in the way of other game elements.
For instance, there are not many successful mutliplayer games that try and have a good story. I hate watered down story games that choose multiplayer over story. That's not riveting.
People often forget that multiplayer was a bonus game feature, and not a requirement. It typically was Story, gameplay, and multiplayer last. And typically it seems from reviewers that mutliplayer is either first or second in being important to making a game. However reviwers do not represent a majority of gamers, and developers should recognize this.
Bubbles for you man, I don't post a whole lot of news, just post what I care about really. But this statement bothered me. I am with you on the story. I don't want multiplayer to be a prerequisite to if a game is good or not. But another factor that I think he is speaking of is that the mass market are buying up multiplayer games at an alarming rate. I hope that Final Fantasy XIII and Fable 2, and I even have heard talk of Persona 4 coming in a few years. I just hope those games do well, that will at least show that the real gamers still care about story, gameplay, and overall playability over a strong online element.
I'm not saying that strong online is a bad thing, I'm just saying it shouldn't be the most important element of the game.
Games should have a great single player experience first and online play should be icing.
MGS4 is arriving soon.