Microsoft Acquisition Allowed Us “More Resources and More Time” – Wasteland 3 Developer

The studio head says “the future is very exciting.”

[darthv72]

MS has really taken more of a hands off approach recently and that is a good thing. Let the teams have their creative freedom. I think their next step is not be as frugal with the budgets as they were.

[RazzerRedux]

It really is. Frankly, the hands-on approach hasn't worked very well in the past. I think MS knows this now and they are letting the newcomers do what they do best, but with better resources and more stability. Really interested to see the new games coming from Xbox Studios.

[SyntheticForm]

All Microsoft should do is support them from the side, and like you said, let developers do their thing. That's the best approach. They shouldn't get too involved if at all on the design side.

With that kind of support from Microsoft these studios should be capable of some really great stuff.

I'm looking forward to it too.

[NeoGamer232]

Really it is more a change in approach with first party studios then it is hands-off and hand-on. Previously first party studios had a goal to show off the platform features that MS built into the XB OS. This led to Rare becoming the Kinect Studio, Halo was for the Multi-player features, etc.

But now the approach is that first party studios are there to build games and get gamers to buy into the platform, services, and subscriptions. Therefore the first party studios have to appeal straight to gamers and are not required to show off specific platform features.

[UhOh]

I don't think it was a bad choice all the times they did it. I read somewhere that they forced the multiplayer option into the halo games. Not saying you feel otherwise. I just want them to remind their studios that a huge amount of players do want the big multiplayer, coop, and coop-campaign games.

[Obscure_Observer]

@darthv72

Phil Spencer has a much better approach with developers than any of his predecessors ever had. small and middle studios now turned into AAA studios.

Ninja Theory, Obsidian and InXile are now working on AAA games. I´m positive that InXile, Obsidian and Playground will deliver great RPGs.

I can´t wait :)

[ApocalypseShadow]

You have yet to see the fruit of their labor. As of right now, 360 had more games and more Japanese support. And maybe It's just me, but most of the near bankrupt companies they bought were not as great as the ones they closed or left like Bungie.

But I do hope they do better than than this gen. Can't get any worse than the position they put themselves in. The better they do only forces Sony to do even better. That's where I benefit.

As for the topic, fairly obvious with more money comes more resources. More freedom is just from watching their competitor's studios do a whole lot better creatively and the quest to try and duplicate it.

[Prubar]

Yeah exactly. I know allot of Xbox fans want MS to buy studios like Bethesda, 3D Projekt or other big developers. But that doesn’t really benefit anyone but MS as they probably don’t need MS and it would shut out PS and Nintendo fans. Buying AA developers and building them up seems to be the most beneficial for everyone. That combined with game pass allows them the financial freedom To explore new things without a high risk of failure and doesn’t have to worry about making a game for a niche audience. Plus with MS backing they can realize ther potential and possibly become a AAA studios. Even though not all of them need to be.

[Obscure_Observer]

@Apocalypse Shadow

"You have yet to see the fruit of their labor."

That goes for every single studio and its unreleased games. The Outer Worlds has a higher metascore than Days Gone and Death Stranding, a Hideo Kojima game. All new IPs. Which next gen sequel for saidgames will score better? No one can tell. Can you realize how silly you comment sounds?

"More freedom is just from watching their competitor's studios do a whole lot better creatively and the quest to try and duplicate it."

Lol. Xbox has more studios and a far more diversed line up of upcoming games.

[Godmars290]

@Obscure_Observer:
Outer Worlds was both something already in development, and a further development of Fallout New Vegas sans Bethesda's BS.

"Xbox has more studios and a far more diversed line up of upcoming games."

Still have yet to see what those studios will make while directly under MS much less a list of diverse titles.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Yeah Obscure. And I see Outer Worlds sold more than Death Stranding and Days Gone. Oh wait. And you used a game that was already in development before Microsoft had purchased them. That's like buying From Software while they are developing their next game and somehow giving Microsoft credit. Oh you. Lol.

But I noticed you didn't use Compulsion games with their poor reviews of We Happy Few and Undead Labs State of Decay 2's average reviews. With Inxile coming in with comparable reviews to the Sony ones you picked above.

I won't use Sony's other first party games or top VR games to obliterate you. Helping with that 100+ million in sales. That's 3 out of 4 console generation wins. Where's Microsoft again? How many have they won again?

Anyway, Microsoft doing better only makes Sony do better. And that's the only thing that c matters to me. I get better games from them because Microsoft is finally trying after 18 years of failing.

[DarXyde]

"Lol. Xbox has more studios and a far more diversed line up of upcoming games."

Uhhh, what? We actually don't know for sure if Xbox has more studios. Sony has been pretty vocal on saying they're doing acquisitions too. Even then, quantity is far less important than quality. This is why Playstation is so beloved. Plenty of studios AND they're solid games.

As for diversity, really? Okay, dude.

[Ceaser9857361]

"Xbox has more studios and a far more diversed line up of upcoming games"

More Studios well YES!
Far more diversity " Absolutely NO"

Unless you are an insider and have seen and played all the games before its release.

[gamer7804]

I like that they let the devs decide What they want to to, but I just can’t get into the wasteland series. Wish they were making something else.

[Obscure_Observer]

Brian Fargo confirms that InXile is working on a brand new AAA RPG. :)

https://twitter.com/BrianFa...

[Zeref]

Well not every game is for you

[gamer7804]

@obscure_oberserver. thats great to hear, I honestly loved their action coop fantasy game Hunted long ago. Kinda like gears but fantasy based.

[ChrisW]

They probably looked at EA and said, "Let's do the complete opposite of them!"

[Godmars290]

What actual signs are there that they've been "hands off"? What games have actually come out? Without evidence of something done purely in-house, versus buying a studio already working on a project which being bought gave them resources indirectly, this is just PR speak and circumstance.

[Zeref]

They could have easily killed off Grounded and Bleeding Edge if they wanted to. But they didn't.

[Godmars290]

@Zeref:
You literally said nothing.

The issue is that MS has issues with getting studios directly under their control to produce honestly outstanding much less good games. Not only was Bleeding Edge - allegedly - something already being worked on, its reviews are average at best. Meanwhile is Grounded even out?

[camel_toad]

"Let the teams have their creative freedom"

Exactly this. That's where the best stuff comes from.

[Ninver]

That's all fine and dandy but the end product is all we really care about. Less talk more show.

[sampsonon]

MS has a lot to prove. Not to the xbox gamer that will always praise them no matter what, but potential gamers. Especially the ones that went over to PS this gen.

[Obscure_Observer]

@sampsonon

"Especially the ones that went over to PS this gen."

Look around you. Pay attention and you realize that there´s quite a number of PS fans interested on the Series X, even here on N4G. And by saying "interested", I´m not saying they´ll jump ship. They just might go multi console gamming this holiday.

[Prubar]

“Less talk more show“?

Just in the last week we’ve seen Ori and Bleeding edge reviews plus Gears Tactics and Wasteland previews. And it’s just getting started. We haven’t even had a Xbox series X conference yet.

[Gamehard]

Lol saying it like that sounds as though nothing has happened on the PS front in the same time other than the "talk about hard drive speeds." Nioh 2 released with fantastic scores, persona 5 royal is coming next week and FF7 the week after.

[Chevalier]

" Clearly MS should've just held a conference to talk about hard drive speeds instead... that's way more fun than seeing games"

Weird. We're playing Persona 5 Royal, MLB 20, Dreams, Nioh 2 and even the Switch has Animal Crossing New Horizon. FF VII, Ghost of Tsushima and TLOU 2 by the middle of the year along with a bunch of other exclusives for both PS and Nintendo. While all you guys do is talk about what's to come. We get to play exclusive and the big 3rd party games while we're waiting. You guys seriously think PS and Nintendo are just sitting around not doing anything while Xbox studios get started on their stuff?

[jznrpg]

I’d hope so

[sampsonon]

funny that you don't see the resources when you look at most Xbox one games.

[ThinkThink]

What does a resource look like?

[sampsonon]

this http://www.pushsquare.com/n...

[Pickledpepper]

Funny that you do see worried fanboys in Microsoft articles.
@sampsonon

[sampsonon]

Worried? why would they be worried? I mean it's not like MS has been releasing AAA games for the last 5 yrs except one. I don't understand why what I'm saying is wrong. I say MS has to prove at the beginning of the next gen that they are committed to making high quality AAA games. Sony doesn't have anything to either prove or make up for because they, from start to finish of this gen, have created new AAA ip after new AAA ip.

The day that Sony starts to cut corners so that they can put their games straight to a cheap subscription service filled with old, A and AA games, is the day i stop buying PS.

But from the looks of it it seems Sony is doubling down on hight quality AAA games and new ip's.

People can argue with me all they want but it won't change the facts until MS "PROVES THEMSELVES" again that they are committed to AAA games, and not the drivel they've been spewing out.

The day they do that is the day i buy their console.

[timotim]

Microsoft is definitely holding up there end of the bargain. Good to see a plan coming together.

[Ricegum]

Dear oh dear.

[The_Sage]

In the past it's always worked out great for studios acquired by Microsoft. Right?

[timotim]

In the past? No. But, those were studios under different leadership and happened around 18 years ago. None of those guys that did those deals are leading the team or company now.

[The_Sage]

Rare was 18 years ago. Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't others suffered the same fate since then.

[Obscure_Observer]

@The_Sage

"Rare was 18 years ago. Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't others suffered the same fate since then."

"Same fate"? Like it or not, SoT is a very succesful new IP and Everwild made a very good impression and has that old RARE charm all around it.

[ElementX]

@Sage
Several of the big names from Rare left before MS acquired them. It helps if you read some history before you start talking about things.

[cabbitwithscissors]

Please release your games on all store platforms. Thank you very much.