360°

"A giant black hole sucking everything in, and spitting out bones": Devs react with anger

Devs across the industry responded to the news – which seems to have reached affected employees in confusing and disconcerting patches, assuming they were informed at all before seeing it reported elsewhere – by expressing concern for the direction of Xbox and the games industry, support for affected employees, and frustration at yet another case of workers cashing leadership's checks.

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gamesradar.com
MrDead197d ago

"Just a giant black hole sucking everything in, and spitting out bones," says Baldur's Gate 3 publishing director Michael Douse, sharing a post reporting some 9,000 layoffs across Microsoft."

I don't want to say I told you so... who am I kidding, I told you so.

The greedy piggies have control of some of the biggest IP's in gaming, f**k everyone else. MS is the worst thing to ever happen to gaming. A creatively bankrupt tech giant buying up everything and turning the industry into a homogenised grey landscape. This is how you get stagnation and kill innovation.

peppeaccardo196d ago

Stop whining, Everything is an XBOX ... even you ! /S
Jokes aside, anything MS touches starts growing purulent cancer, this happens when the drive for profits is stronger then the desire to bring real innovation in an industry which could greatly benefit from investment in the right areas of development (not kinect .. cof cof ... ). MS has recently shown that it has no interest on pleasing its fan base, too bad so much talent wasted and so many opportunities thrown to the wind. Bye Bye XBOX !

Armaggedon196d ago

Its also how you get control, hence why they are doing it, and even Sony is looking to do it.

thorstein196d ago

What in the blue fuck does this have to do with Sony?

GamerRN195d ago

If you understand that he wrote, you would know what it has to do with Sony. I mean, his sentence literally explained the connection...

DarXyde195d ago

It's a good idea to keep an eye on Sony.

For now, they seem more attuned to using AI for upscaling tech, which I don't mind. It's used in a supportive capacity, not a replacing one.

That can always change, but why are we accusing Sony right now? Need more evidence.

dveio196d ago

You've said that wonderfully!

I really wish Nintendo and Playstation just don't give a f***! Especially Playstation, since they've always been Xbox' rival and were somewhat worried about Call of Duty & Co.

I really dislike many strategies even Nintendo and Playstation are pushing currently.

But my impression is that at least at Sony they're beginning to understand some of the messages that came from the community.

Anyways.

As far as Xbox go, the powder that's been in the chamber already even before they bought Zenimax and ActivisionBlizzardKing IS now shot.

Doom, Starfield, Indiana Jones, etc. - they are all out now.

Let's see how they'll curate that massive IP catalogue they had bought now.

Acquiring an in-development Doom & Starfield is easy. But funding it from 0, risking it, supporting a sequel from Scratch is something totally different. The same as creating new IP.

Maybe it'll turn out I was wrong, but I don't see the patience and the will at Xbox to do so.

Everwild & Perfect Dark would have been such new games funded from 0. Look how it turned out.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 195d ago
M3talDiamond197d ago

Seriously what's happening with Xbox?

isarai197d ago

They wrote a check they couldn't cash, this is the consequences

PRIMORDUS196d ago

I would rather MS lose everything in the future, the hell with Windows there are other alternatives.

S2Killinit196d ago (Edited 196d ago )

They couldn't compete, so they bought a large chunk of the industry. They spent more money than they made in REVENUE in 4 generations of being in the game industry. They had no intension of continuing to deliver the things they took control of, they just wanted the ip’s. So now, they will milk those ip’s by streamlining development. They will sell very similar products with new skin. They dont need a lot of talent for that, so devs are excess to requirements.

LoveSpuds196d ago

Nothing new, MS have always operated in the same manner regardless of the area of trade they are operating in.

I simply cannot fathom how anyone is surprised by any of this.

1Victor196d ago

@m3: “ Seriously what's happening with Xbox?”
.
Shush shush shuuuuush it’s will be over soon just one more gen or less by the way the death struggles are going

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 196d ago
isarai197d ago

If only there some foresight and warning that this would happen 🙄😒

Honestly at this point their library of cancelled ganes looks way better than their library of released games. I hipe the devs find work soon, ts is ridiculous

Reaper22_196d ago

If you arent a xbox gamer or never have been please stop acting like you care about the devs or the games. Its ridiculous . Microsoft should be held accountable and then people should move on. This is nothing new. It happens throughout the industry.

S2Killinit196d ago

Lol wow good nothing to see here

lukasmain196d ago

Interesting comment, but I see that you still have your tongue on the balls of MS. You can't release it can you? LMAO

isarai196d ago (Edited 196d ago )

Why would i need to be an xbox gamer to have sympathy 🤨

Also not that it matters but i love the Xbox pre-Kinect, i still have my og xbox and play it a lot.

thorstein196d ago (Edited 196d ago )

I am not an xbox gamer anymore. Haven't been for awhile. That doesn't mean I don't have empathy for the people who lost their jobs due to greed.

These people's lives have been destroyed. And since many of them work IN the USA, that means they just lost health insurance...for their entire families.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 196d ago
-Foxtrot197d ago

"The long time problem in the video game industry is too many people in leadership positions have been allowed to fail upwards. People that have made poor decisions with bad ideas, contributing to project cancellations, low sales, and studio closures. Good at talking and good at making friends, but not good at making great games. They keep their jobs, they keep getting promoted, and everyone else has to pay the cost"

Phil Spencer in a nutshell.

KiRBY3000196d ago

its very true and its not only video games. you can apply this to any sector.

S2Killinit196d ago

Funny enough you are describing how authoritarian governments are formed, and coincidentally how countries go to f$@k

The_Hooligan196d ago

Wait I thought Phil Spencer was the savior of Xbox! The second coming!

Now before some of you get your panties in a wad, I fill Jimbo was a clown too, trying to push gaas for Sony. And that's the reason why the first party output had been abysmal for PS5.

hollabox196d ago

Add Matt Booty, he's the guy in charge of Microsoft game development. He said he's has off with developers. Meaning, I'm a bro hire, I do nothing but speak corporate speak. Yet, he's promoted, and hasn't done a damn thing since he left Midway.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 196d ago
DaReapa196d ago

This sums up this whole fiasco quite nicely...
"While I'm excited for more games, it's important to remember that behind all the PR and hype is the simple truth that they bought portfolios, not people," Douse continues. "When you're bought, they're not buying *you*. Consolidation is bad for jobs. Bad for the industry. Bad for consumer rights. Growth shouldn't come at the expense of people, it should be for the people."

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60°

Rockstar launches official marketplace for mods

Rockstar has launched an official marketplace for "every server and every player" to buy mods: Cfx Marketplace.

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gamesindustry.biz
Christopher2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I wonder how much of this isn't just taken work of others who have modded for free.

Edit: Also, great way for R* to take popular ideas and build them into GTAVI based on demand.

fr0sty8h ago

What I see happening here is, R* is going to ban mods in GTA6 UNLESS you buy them from the marketplace and R* then gets a cut of that sale.

ActualWhiteMan10h ago

Ah, perfect timing with them taking down the Bully online fan mod. Greedy a$$ company.

Christopher8h ago

It's okay as long as they get a cut of the money.

fr0sty8h ago

Expect R* to force it on you.

Snookies122h ago

Yep, right there with you. I'll happily donate to a mod creator if it looks really cool, or if I enjoy it. But expecting payment up front? Nope, not touching it.

IanTH7h ago(Edited 7h ago)

I'm not entirely sure how to read this, as it doesn't seem exactly like an exact parallel to Bethesda's paid mods shenanigans.

Rather than single player stuff, this appears to be aimed solely on Cfx Servers. From what I've gleaned, apparently Rockstar bought the Cfx mod team several years ago, coming a few years after weird contentions led them to ban a few of their members. Ultimately, the question is if they plan to keep this contained to only online/servers.

I have to guess to a degree yes. It'd be pretty hard to "force" paid mods for single player when modding files locally on your own machine, but much easier for servers they'll control. So perhaps this is their soft launch ahead of GTA6 online and they'll clamp down more tightly on non-official servers going forward? Ever since they've become a 1 or 2 property studio, I haven't really cared much for Rockstar stuff, so I'm not entirely up on everything surrounding this. Sounds like it has the potential to be problematic further down the line, but right now fairly easy to ignore...I think lol.

50°

Kotick claims lawsuit objecting to MS-Activision deal was "tied to Embracer's desire to boost sales"

Former CEO describes lawsuit filed by Swedish pension fund as a "collateral attack" on Activision Blizzard.

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gamesindustry.biz
OpenGL1d 4h ago

Yeah, the Microsoft deal has DEFINITELY worked out for everyone.

galgor1d 1h ago

Can this mother fucker just get lost already

PRIMORDUS1d ago

He belongs in here ⚰️, hopefully sooner than later.

MrDead9h ago(Edited 9h ago)

Kotick Made $155 million from MS in the buyout, the little b*tch needs to stop whining. Thanks to this Microslop deal and massive industry consolidation thousands upon thousands of devs and other workers lost their livelihoods. This greedy piggie pervert needs shut up and f-off.

40°

An Update to Our Shared Commitment to Safer Gaming

Discover how Sony Interactive Entertainment, Nintendo, and Microsoft continue to collaborate to improve player safety across our platforms.

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sonyinteractive.com