The statement comes amid persistent reports that Microsoft will release a Blu-ray drive for Xbox 360 given the discontinuation of the console's now defunct HD DVD drive.
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.
Bloomberg’s Dina Bass could barely read her scripted question without looking at her notes, whilst Sarah Bond who WAS expecting the question spoke without saying anything of substance or answering the question in any meaningful way. Clearly she’s had the same expert PR training as Phil, but this avoidance was disrespectful. In time the short-sighted decision to shut down Tango Gameworks will be seen as of the most notorious examples why Phil Spencer messed up his tenure in charge of Xbox. That’s a fully built out talented team that could’ve been put to work on any project.
Additionally, Phil Spencer should not be using Sarah Bond as a patsy for his mistakes- he should be answering that question.
I think you are all really overselling Tangos value. Hi-Fi rush was a lot of fun. Ghostwire was incredibly dull. Evil within 1 and 2 were just okay.
Evil within 2 was incredibly under rated. I thought that game was surprisingly good
She's playing her role. There's absolutely nothing any of them can say other than the truth, this is about profit margins and not quality, so they just don't answer anything and wait for gamers to forget.
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.
Frankly, I suspect she is the most competent of them. I don't mean that I like her more, I mean that she's the best at articulating herself and giving the talking points MS wants to give. The others are starting to sound more like her than her sounding like any of them.
Are any of these people "responsible" for what's happening? No. This reeks of Nadella. But that being said, I don't see any of the Xbox heads stepping down in protest.
"Don't shoot the messenger", sure, but at the same time, the messengers don't seem to take umbrage with the message. Not enough to remove themselves from it, anyway.
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.
Might be a great game but it clearly did not make enough money to justify having the team make another game (under the MS umbrella).
It's never been just about whether your game is good or bad. The industry is full of great/underrated games that have a cult following or critical acclaim, but that fail to make great sales. Sad but true. It's a high stakes game, and at the end of the day, companies have to be profitable and make profitable investments. At the very least, there has to be the expectation of a long-term profit even if not profitable today. That goes for anything, no matter if the company is gigantic or a tiny mom-and-pop. We don't have to like it, but our buying habits played a hand in creating this monster.
I will keep harping that the industry has overreached its actual market and that it will implode. That implosion is already starting.
I partially agree with what you're saying in that companies need to sell well to make it in the industry. Something I've said again and again. Sony and Nintendo understand this about gaming by selling the game for as long as you can, then drop it on a service for additional revenue. It's why you won't see Sony and Nintendo expensively developed games on a service day one. It doesn't make business sense to do so.
The thing is about Tango is that they weren't given a chance after the acquisition when their game was shadow dropped on a console where gamers are told to not buy games but to rent them on a service for pennies. That kills day one sales even for small indie like developers who have big budgets for their company size.
Microsoft destroyed them in favor of pushing their services over investing in these developers futures or their games they created.
“…make a bad game? Well shut you down. Make a good game? We still might shut you down.”
I got chills. It shouldn’t have come to this.
Interview with Stephen Russell, Actor for (Nick Valentine, Codsworth, My Handy) in Fallout 4 which is a vast open world role playing game set in the apocalyptic wastes of Boston, the Commonwealth. The career goes further with other Bethesda games from Starfield to Prey to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Cause things between them and their existing fanbase could get ugly quick, if they start trying to use it to make games with and a add-on would be a stupid idea for movie playback only.
This is getting old. REALLY old.
Article - BREAKING!! Company X is releasing this.
Next Article - First article was a lie. Thanks for spending 5 wasted minutes reading and commenting, now please comment on your comments that shouldnt have been commented in the first place because the last story was fake.
N4G FTW!
I agree, I felt silly when I posted it, but that's how the news happened too, the one that said they would be getting one near christmas, was IMMEDIATELY followed by this one. It was funny in a way, but it is a direct response to all the other articles, so still valid.. ANYHOOO, this makes a little more sense to me. They were direct competitors in the market, you would think that sony would hold on to the tech as something that only they offer for a little while longer you know? Plus do you think gates would really get in bed with sony this deep?? haha
It would be Suicide if they did such a thing. They just have to live with the fact that the ps3 is going to continue to outsell there machine. It seems that the consumers are getting smarter, because they see a better value in spending 50 more bucks for a blueray player and a game machine. Then just buying a blueray player alone which will cost about the same thing. So blueray will remain as a selling point for the ps3.
Nazisoft had "no plans" to be HUMILIATED by the PS2!
Nazisoft had "no plans" to EXCRETE such a POORLY-MADE product onto MY industry!
Nazisoft had "no plans" to create an online community filled with GUTTER-MOUTHED RATS a.k.a.- the FLOPbox fanbase!
Nazisoft had "no plans" to end up in a distant THIRD PLACE, far behind the Sony Side and Ninterrorist!
Sorry, SWINE- you're getting the Blu-Ray of Death whether you like it or not!
38 days until Judgment Days, Nazisoft!
MWAH-HA-HA-HA!!!