Did Microsoft sacrifice first party studio Ensemble for the Xbox 360 price cut?

Microsoft recently announced the closure of Ensemble Studios. To many, the move was surprising considering how successful the Age series was. Microsoft indicated that the reason behind shutting down the studio was that of a fiscal nature. However, the real reason for closing Ensemble might run as deep as the Xbox 360 price cuts.

[NewSchoolGamer]

that was really messed up but I guess Microsoft doesn't really care that much.

Halo Wars really doesn't have the same hype it use to have so the price cut is more important than the game being good or not for them I guess.

[AAACE5]

It's not about weather MS cares or not, but rather what makes them look better in their investors eyes! We are living in a tough economical time, and people are getting scared about their money. So the logical thing to do was close the studio, retain the games, and try to get as many of the team members to work directly for MS. As long as they have some of the core part of a developer, the games can still be made well.

Almost no studio keeps the same people working on a game or games. People are always coming and going, because they get new opportunities and such.

[comm13]

ES brought profits for ms, there was very little turnover in the company and for their hard work they get the cut because they "do not fit in our future plans".

[Lord Shuhei Yoshida]

Yes,just like they will cut down Rare for a 50 dollar price drop

And how they will cut down Lionhead for 50 more dollars.

Microsoft never cared about first party unless they were flops.I can see why Banjo Kazooie 3 is getting most of their support

[angry_xbot]

DESPERATE people do desperate things, folks.

The 50 pricecut is such a desperate move. They couldnt finance it so they cut down Ensembles just like that.

Just think, Ensembles was there before Lionhead, Rare or even Bungie. MS has no loyalty whatsoever and will cut lose just like that.

To them, only one thing counts: beat Sony.
They are losing, so they become angry (20 million blackball campaign since PS3 launched), bitter (trashtalk of the last 9 months) and desperate (cutting off studios and RROD machine).

They are done for. The signs are all there. The signs of the loser.
This pricecut will only spike but like all spikes, its dying down already and when the massive PS3 triple A arrives. Its going to be like the killing fields.

Xbots will drop like flies.

[Raoh]

they have to recoup all that money used to pay for timed exclusives, dlc, breaking exclusivity deals and lawyers to oversee these deals.

it isn't cheap and can cut into profit.

[avacadosnorkel]

Game companies don't automatically love anybody except for Mr. Money.

[Time_Is_On_My_Side]

That's because it's their job at the same time not everyone who has good paying jobs are just there for the money. Someone has to get paid somewhere for their work.

[Vecta]

Oh noes Im surprised they can afford anything because they only make like 20-40 billion dollars a year....

[mfwahwah]

@2.3

The company maybe, but not the gaming division.

[dirkdady]

Xbox 360 is Bill Gates portal to get another PC into the living room, it doesn't matter how it gets in there as long as its in there.
That could mean looking at the Wii and shifting most of their development towards the casual market.

[Hububla]

yea right... in order for that to happen micro would have to stop being so cheap and put some PC functionality in their system.. like sayyy a web browser!?? or a standard hard drive... or.... not charging for user created content... and mod support.. no they are not trying to get a PC in the living room.. they are trying to get a cash cow in the living room... sell the system cheap then charge for every other little thing.. no matter how small or ridiculous! nothing is free! its amazing how many people fall for it... plus if you want a pc in ur living room.. just hook up ur PC to ur TV bam... its just that ez

[power of Black]

Well, they never had great games to begin with.

[BrianC6234]

If Microsoft is hurting that much for cash maybe they should stop paying $50 million for exclusive DLC for their versions of third party games. Did the 360 version of GTA4 ever get that DLC yet?

[thatCanadianguyisgay]

.

[pow3r of t3h c3ll]

thats right M$ keep selling off what few first party devs you have!

soon your console will have no exclusives at all!

[dale1]

ms is counting on third party dlc and timed exclusives these will not be about in the coming year,as ps3 sales grow which third partys would risk sales to be on one platform. bioshock springs to mind great reveiws,great game,how much did it cost ms to get a timed exclusive then.now how much would it cost to get it a year later 3x 4x 10x the amount paid a year ago is bioshock 2 360 timed no chance in hell.first party games are key to any platform just look at nintendo

[AAACE5]

It has become clear to me that some people need to think about what they say before they say it! Some of the people on here just voice their opinions, without knowing how stupid they look! If you don't understand the way a business operates... don't talk about it!

Please only talk about stuff that you know. Not what you feel or think you know. Because when you say something in that sense... It makes you sound really, really dumb!

"MS makes 20-40 billion dollars a year!"... are you serious? I won't bother to list the others, but think before you speak people!

[comm13]

including you

[mfwahwah]

You're asking the internet to just up and stop, just because of you? No way.

I'm gonna post about **** I don't know about, and so is everyone else online. It's inevitable.

[silverchode]

microsofts priority is to sell as many consoles as they can as fast as possible, they dont care about making great games.

[dirkdady]

Bill Gates has often said downloadable movies will be the future and Xbox 360 is part of their strategy to get to that.