310°

CD Projekt Red & Sapkowski close to a deal, hint future collabs

Andrzej Sapkowski versus CD Projekt Red saga may be coming to a favourable end for both parties soon as the former will get some compensation, although not as much as he asked for. Further cooperation was remotely hinted by the developer.

cleft51920d ago

This is good, say what you will this dude work did make CDPR Billionaires. Yes, I know it was the excellent game they made that allowed them to succeed, but you can not deny the appeal that having the Witcher world helped them to be successful. So I am glad they are coming to a deal.

rdgneoz31920d ago

They tried to cut a % when they first made a deal with him. He thought games were stupid and wanted a 1 time cash payment. He did not expect the series to do so well on PC/consoles, and then tried to bitch about his own stupidity. They tried to do right by him, but he screwed himself over in the beginning.

"They offered me a percentage of their profits. I said, 'No, there will be no profit at all - give me all my money right now! The whole amount. It was stupid. I was stupid enough to leave everything in their hands because I didn't believe in their success. But who could foresee their success? I couldn't."

Lord_Sloth1920d ago

He's also a greedy ass-hat who demanded they give him a 1 time cash settlement because he didn't give a damn about video games and was sure they would fail in a year or 2 anyways. They wanted to give him a better deal but his own close minded nature and greed lead to him losing out on a lot of money in the end and he was very openly bitter about it.

THEY did the work, he provided the lore, and it's not like his book sales haven't exploded since the games came out.

1920d ago Replies(2)
Edito1920d ago

They should send him a big f*ck off... now that the series is super popular he want's a cut tsc...

rdgneoz31920d ago

They offered him a percentage, he thought the games wouldn't succeed so he wanted cash instead. Idiot...

starchild1920d ago

Well, I think Sapkowski has been unreasonable during all of this, but I'm glad that they are reaching an agreement if it means we will get more Witcher games in the future.

King_Noctis1920d ago

Awesome to hear. A good resolution that benefit both parties only lead to good things for gamers. Can’t wait to see what will come of this.

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70°

Sarah Bond dodges questions on Xbox studio closures

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

4h ago
ApocalypseShadow1h ago

Of course she did. She's part of the problem and will just tow the company line.

XiNatsuDragnel15m ago

Yikes you don't help Sarah 😬 making a problem worse

Hofstaderman13m ago

Like a deer caught in the headlights.....

notachance2m ago

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.

240°

Xbox Studio Closures 'Eggs Broken to Make Omelet' Situation; Great Show Could Mostly Eclipse Anger

Wccftech discussed the recent Xbox news with MIDiA Research analyst Rhys Elliott, who pointed out that a strong upcoming Games Showcase could help a lot with fans.

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wccftech.com
RaidenBlack11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

I was hoping for something different from Coalition, not Gears 6 so soon.
Their expertise in UE development could've propelled them to try out other IPs using the new UE5.
But guess, given recent MS' state, Gears 6 was the 'safer' call for the studio. But still hope they venture other IPs or even other genres ... at least FPSs in future?

Alexious9h ago

Microsoft seems only interested in maximizing profits through its biggest IPs at this point.

Fishy Fingers6h ago

So soon? Its been 5 years since Gears 5, longest gap between games in the franchise.

XiNatsuDragnel11h ago

I was hoping for better but Microsoft being safe again....

MrDead7h ago

Why would people be less angry? If MS made it's own games instead of buying up what was already available then we wouldn't be in the situation that everyone is angry at.

MS is the problem.

miyoka6h ago(Edited 6h ago)

Just forget what happened and keep supporting Microsoft!

SonyStyled4h ago(Edited 4h ago)

Everybody pays for or uses MS in some form personally or professionally. If that’s considered supporting, it hasn’t been helping Xbox.

PRIMORDUS6h ago

Fuck MS and Phil. I already told that shit bag off on Twitter, if the dumb ass responds I highly doubt it, I will go off much worse. What a fucking disgrace MS and Phil are to the gaming community.

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380°

Brad Hilderbrand explains the reason behind the recent Xbox studio closures

There are two reasons why all those Bethesda studios closed, and neither of them have anything to do with Bethesda (directly)...

Game Pass and Activision.

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linkedin.com
Christopher12h ago(Edited 12h ago)

The guy confirming what we've all (well, most of us) been saying since the latest purchase.

crazyCoconuts10h ago

Remember the relatively common counter that went something like "I'm sure you arm-chair CEOs know better how to run a company than the biggest company in the world"?

I mean - there's a lot to running a company for sure, but on this topic it's hard to understand how Phil and team didn't see this coming.

Tody_za9h ago(Edited 9h ago)

Phil and team knew it was coming and planned for it. It's not even a conspiracy, it's simply the business of cutting costs and superfluous studios after a major acquisition. They don't give a damn about Tango Gameworks or other small creative studios that won't recoup their losses. They don't care about investing in this industry. They have no interest in risky and expensive new IP. They are only interested in profiting off ownership of Bethesda IP, Call of Duty and Candy Crush.

I guarantee you that not one single game under their banner will improve or become bigger and better.

Welcome to the Xbox family, what a pathetic joke.

Anyone who continues to support this, enjoy your future, because this is it. Ninja Theory is next, and Perfect Dark after that.

Christopher8h ago

Especially not with the evidence of tons of existing movie streaming subs out there and how they fail to make a profit with over 100m users each quarter.

fr0sty1h ago

Xbox releases more first party studios than first party games.

Lightning777h ago

Apparently they're debating if they wanna put the new Cod on Gamepass or not.

Either grow GP with Cod or don't put it on GP and grow the revenue the traditional way while GP will suffer.

The mess that MS puts themselves in.

badz1491h ago

LOL the cheerleaders for the ABK acquisition were all cheering for CoD to be on GP day 1 and they were adamant that Jim Ryan was scared because of THAT and was fighting for the survival of the PS brand if CoD is taken away or given day 1 on GP. hahaha...now suddenly MS is unsure if they wanna put CoD on GP day 1??

isn't this false marketing? they said ALL (not some) 1st party xbox games will be released on GP day 1 and CoD is now 1st party starting last year! it's right there still on their website.

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/...

lawsuit time??

Outside_ofthe_Box1h ago(Edited 59m ago)

@badz149

People were being blind fans. Things is if you look at things objectively and logically since inception, gamepass from a business perspective was never going to be good idea unless you had hundreds of millions subscribed, which Microsoft was never going to get in a timely manner.

People kept pointing out the cons and people kept having their hands over their ears. I wonder how guys like Orchard and Septic who were rooting for the acquisition to go through like people do when their team makes it to the Superbowl are receiving this news lol

XiNatsuDragnel12h ago

I'm not surprised Microsoft guys are crock nuff said

isarai12h ago(Edited 12h ago)

Honestly i think Bethesda needs to buy themselves out of zenimax/MSs hands and do their own thing, i honestly think that would fix a lot of issues and save them from a potential closure.

Zeref12h ago

There's a reason they sold in the first place. And Bethesda is not closing anytime soon lol. As much as I hate the studio closures. They were all small studios 2 of them were mobile studios.

I think these are growing pains and Xbox will get back on track. But they're not getting any more passes.

jwillj2k410h ago(Edited 10h ago)

I’d like to see your reaction to being growing pained out of your job after the launch of a successful product.

Mr_cheese8h ago

Excuses, Excuses, excuses.

If growing pains have been happening for the best part of a decade, they're not growth.

XiNatsuDragnel8h ago

Zeref nii San
I'm sorry but xbox has been rightfully bashed due to constant incompetence

romulus238h ago

Yet you literally just gave them a pass, being "small studios" or "mobile studios" is irrelevant. There's no excsue for closing Tango, none. They praise the game, they PR talk about it's the kind of game the company needs and yet they shutter the developer, that's foul on every level.

Chevalier1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

Ah Zeref head in the sand like a idiot. Gamepass is a absolute failure like we all told you. Nothing at this point will turn this around. It's not growing pains, the growth is done. Even streaming with 100 million subscribers can't turn a profit and you think Xbox with Gamepass will turn it around? Lol.

It's not a coincidence that Xbox stopped announcing Xbox Gamepass numbers just like they stopped announcing Xbox One hardware numbers and no Series S/X numbers which are behind the Xbox One even.

Remember when we said Xbox customers don't buy games?! Lol. Well this confirmed literally everything we told Xbox fans that said Gamepass was very profitable? Sorry revenues and lack of profit suggest otherwise

Can't wait to see your reaction when their 2nd round of closures happens. Perfect Dark studio and Ninja Theory will next.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1h ago
Tacoboto8h ago

Bethesda greenlit Redfall, launched Fallout 76 in the condition it was in (and the fiasco with the bonus bag), and spent all that time on Starfield finishing it as it was with that same engine. Wolfenstein Youngblood exists because of them too, not Microsoft.

Are you *sure* leaving them alone would actually result in a better outcome, not just a different one?

isarai7h ago(Edited 7h ago)

A lot of this excessive monetization, and GAAS crap started when Zenimax decided to start looking for a buyer. Not a coincidence that there was a sudden shift in prioritizing profits above quality or even coherence at the same time. They wanted big numbers to attract buyers, now that they've been bought, MS wants exactly what they were baited with.

However even under Zenimax they made enough to self publish sometimes, so i would imagine it's not too far fetched that they could pay their way into independence if they REALLY wanted to.

Also even people at Bethesda and Arkane were hoping MS would cancel the game as again, they were forced to make something they didn't want to make.

Einhander197212h ago

Ah, we can see how the Microsoft media machine works.

Every article I read now is some kind of attempt to shift the blame off Microsoft and paint them as the victims or convince people that Microsoft mistakes were just some kind unforeseeable unfortunate twist of fate.

The shills are out in full force today.

Christopher11h ago

This is not at all what this article is saying. It's saying that honest and useful studios are getting closed because of big money deals elsewhere and the faults with game pass as a model.

Einhander197211h ago

I understand what the article is about.

It's a deflection, it's a putting the cart before the horse article.

Let me tell you how this problem wouldn't have existed in the first place.

Microsoft not creating a service funded by subsidization and having the foresight to see that it would disrupt consumer spending habit to begin with. Then not buying Bethesda and undertaking costs for a service that was already failing to pay for itself because their own expectations of Game Pass having "billions" of subscribers was unobtainable from the very start.

And if you don't think that was the case go back to the article on the day Game Pass launched and read the comments from people from day one who foresaw that this would be an unsustainable model and would cause people to stop spending in the same way.

Christopher11h ago

***Microsoft not creating a service funded by subsidization and having the foresight to see that it would disrupt consumer spending habit to begin with.***

This article literally supports this opinion. He's not praising Game Pass or the ABK purchase.

Einhander197211h ago(Edited 11h ago)

This is an explanation of why it failed, there is zero blame put onto Microsoft itself.

Yes, it talks about what went wrong, but it doesn't say Microsoft shouldn't have done it. It doesn't say Phil should have foreseen this outcome and stopped before it got to this point.

"convince people that Microsoft mistakes were just some kind unforeseeable unfortunate twist of fate"

Christopher11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

***but you're seeing the impact; all those smaller studios making really interesting games are going to fall away, simply because as good as games like Hi-Fi Rush are, they're never going to make enough money to make up that $70B hole that Xbox now has to dig itself out of.***

If you see that as support or you explicitly just want people to end their argument with "and, in conclusion, Microsoft bad" then that's on you. This article does not support Microsoft's choices and highlights the faults. Nothing it says is good about these choices, even saying that putting CoD on Game Pass would be money losing for them because they've set themselves up for failure (and not putting it on there will drop subscriber numbers like crazy, meaning their Game Pass plans were shit to begin with).

No matter how you look at it, they're saying Microsoft made decisions that hurt the bottom line, force closures, and leave Game Pass in a situation where they lose no matter what they do. It's all negative.

Einhander197210h ago

Christopher, if Microsoft hadn't made Game Pass and bought a bunch of publishers would this article even need to exist?

Christopher10h ago

***Christopher, if Microsoft hadn't made Game Pass and bought a bunch of publishers would this article even need to exist? ***

How is this an argument to anything being discussed? This is just as valuable of an argument as "if fish had stayed in deeper waters, they wouldn't have evolved to tetrapods, adapted to shallow water and then to land, and we wouldn't even exist and have to worry about game pass at all."

You're bringing nothing to this argument and then complaining that other people are highlighting the issues with Game Pass and spending tens of billions on studios because what we should be discussing is what it would be like if Microsoft hadn't done any of that.

Well, they did do it. Now pull up your big boy pants and join in on the discussion of what that has meant for the industry since then and, especially right now, how that is affecting the industry and game studios under Microsoft. None of us are able to go back in time and change what was done.

Einhander19729h ago(Edited 9h ago)

Christopher, this isn't me not understanding what the article is about, it's you not understanding what I am saying.

If you want me to make excuses for Microsoft's bad decisions you're not going to get that or just agree with people who are doing that, it's not going to happen, nor are you going to convert me into thinking xbox "needs to exist".

Ya know what, maybe "Microsoft bad".... maybe their decisions ARE having a negative effect on the industry, and instead of deflecting from their actual actions and making excuses for them we stand up and say "no" "Microsoft is hurting the industry"

And maybe, just maybe, it was so obvious that this was going to be the outcome that even nobodies in comment sections on websites were able to easily predict this outcome, yet Microsoft did it anyway then kept doing and even when it became undeniable that it was having a negative impact on their business and and the industry itself, then they knowingly made even bigger purchases and caused more problems.

And the one thing you're right about is that I can't go back in time, but I CAN speak up and try to keep it from happening again...

Maybe if the people who were speaking up 7 years ago were listened too we wouldn't be having this discussion and Tango and Arkane would still be in business along with all the other people who have lost their jobs due to Microsoft's actions.

Do you like analogies?

What you're saying is like an alcoholic crashing their car then trying to explain it by saying it was caused by everything except the fact that they were dunk because they are an alcoholic and don't want to stop drinking.

Chevalier1h ago

Why the excuses here? Microsoft did one thing no other company can do which is subsidize Xbox with these insane purchases in hopes of suffocating the industry out in hopes to be the last one standing so they can charge whatever they want.

How are you excusing this crap even and putting your head in the sand here? It's pretty clear who is at fault here for the situation they built and put themselves in. It's them trying to push everyone around with cash that no one else can compare.

They knowingly did all that and now are trying to pretend the market is to blame? Lol. That is absolutely rich irony. That you can't see the forest for the trees here too.

TiredGamer9h ago

The article is essentially focusing the blame on MS. GamePass was a hail mary play to change the gaming paradigm and carve out a special niche for themselves, emulating the Netflix model, that might have led to MS becoming the leader in the long-term. Unfortunately, the subscriber growth isn't really there, and the model isn't really built to weather that lack of revenue. MS is now in a restructure mindset to figure out how they balance out their model in a way that can still make them money.

've always believed that GamePass was a high risk shot that had a very low chance of long-term success. But the problem with it, whether it succeeded or not, is that it accelerated the proverbial "race to zero" consumer expectation that ran its course in the mobile gaming industry in the late 2000s. When consumers start thinking that games should be "cheap" (as in through a $10/month all-you-can-eat subscription model), it turns the narrative against games being priced at realistic levels. So with the GamePass failure, they've not only sabotaged their market share, but they've impacted the entire industry and devalued the cost of game development to the average consumer. So now it's harder to develop mega-big budget games and to earn the revenue needed to pay for them.

XiNatsuDragnel8h ago

Again terrible excuses in the 1st place

Christopher8h ago

***If you want me to make excuses for Microsoft's bad decisions you're not going to get that or just agree with people who are doing that, it's not going to happen, nor are you going to convert me into thinking xbox "needs to exist". ***

No one is asking you to make excuses for Microsoft's bad decisions nor is anyone asking you to convert to anything.

***Ya know what, maybe "Microsoft bad".... maybe their decisions ARE having a negative effect on the industry, and instead of deflecting from their actual actions and making excuses for them we stand up and say "no" "Microsoft is hurting the industry" ***

Literally no one here is doing this. They're literally discussing how Microsoft's decisions have hurt the industry. Except you. You're rambling about why people aren't complaining about Microsoft when people are in fact complaining about Microsoft.

*** And the one thing you're right about is that I can't go back in time, but I CAN speak up and try to keep it from happening again... ***

Then perhaps actually add something to the conversation other than calling people shills when people are complaining about the decisions and repercussions of Microsoft's actions.

Tacoboto8h ago

Christopher, you're fighting a block wall here - Ein will continue twisting and contorting any remark to fit his self-created narrative.

Einhander19728h ago(Edited 8h ago)

"Then perhaps actually add something to the conversation other than calling people shills when people are complaining about the decisions and repercussions of Microsoft's actions."

Cristopher, in no way is the author of this article complaining, they are explaining what happened it's literally the title. They never once say that Microsoft shouldn't have bought Zenimax or Activision or that Game Pass was a bad idea to begin with. They think the problem with Game Pass is that it didn't grow fast enough, not that it was a bad idea from the get go.

BTW this is his job title.

"Public Relations and Communications Leader"

What do you think a Public Relations and Communications Leader does to make money?

Edit: I have read a dozen of these articles that just started coming out in the last 24 hours that are trying to shift the conversation away from blaming Microsoft, the shift here and in several other articles is trying to say it just didn't gain subscribers fast enough, not that it was a bad idea to begin with that was doomed to fail or placing the blame on anyone.

It was all just an unforeseeable outcome, no one should be held responsible it was just a billion dollar oopsie that's costing thousands of people their jobs and has caused a downturn in the entire industries sustainability.

Oopsie!

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 1h ago
MrDead10h ago

It's greed. MS has the IP's it wants now it's dumping the studios that it's raided, MS will still make money from Tango's games unlike the people that made them. If anyone follows MS outside of gaming you'll see this is what they do, buy companies take what they want consolidate some of the workforce and shut them down. I don't know why people are acting so surprised when this is Microsoft being Microsoft.

MS is a three trillion dollar company, if it enters a market it has no need to compete, they take what they want and with the financial influence it can bypass laws that are meant to protect the consumer and the workforce. Just look at how they are cornering the AI market right now with buyups and investments.

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