As part of an in-depth Gamasutra interview posted today, Rockstar San Diego exec Alan Wasserman (Midnight Club series) has been discussing the state of game development, commenting that he "absolutely hates" the phrase next-gen as a "manufactured marketing term" - and that developers should create their own "special recipe".
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.
"The sudden closure of several video-game studios at Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox division was the result of a widespread cost-cutting initiative that still isn’t finished.
This week, Xbox began offering voluntary severance agreements to producers, quality assurance testers and other staff at ZeniMax, which it purchased in 2020 for $7.5 billion, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. Others across the Xbox organization have been told that more cuts are on the way.
Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said.
Game Pass has not seen the massive growth that Xbox boss Phil Spencer may have been hoping for."
"Speaking about the closures more broadly, Booty said that the company’s studios had been spread too thin — like “peanut butter on bread” — and that leaders across the division had felt understaffed. They decided to close these studios to free up resources elsewhere, he said"
So what you're saying is...you bought all these studios and you guys can't run them.
Jesus.
Reports are suggesting that Game Pass will be getting a price hike soon and that Call of Duty may not be added to the day one offering. I honestly have a hard time believing this but it does beg the question why exactly did GP fail? I think the answer is that it just didn't get the growth that it anticipated. Jim was right but I wish he wasn't because at the end of the day, its gamers, devs and other front-line workers who have to absorb the blow for Spencer and team's miscalculations.
For all the armchair executives who were calling for Sony to release its big-budget AAA games on PS+, the same exact thing would have happened at PlayStation. Game Pass has killed Xbox. Congrats.
"While the 20 year anniversary edition of Nordic Game, NG24 Spring's homepage on 21-24 May in Malmö, Sweden, is getting closer, the organizers announced that more than 150 speakers are now lined up for the show." - Nordic Game.
He has a point, if developers just focus on their vision games will become next-gen. Because i can't see a developer wanting to make a game with crap AI or a host of the other problems that plague games.
This "next-gen" gimmickry is becoming insulting to peoples intelligence. Just make good games.
But it's weird seeing this kind of statements coming from the Midnight Club dude. I mean, they're generic racers, and aren't likely to be "great art". Had people like the Killer 7, Shadow of the Colossus etc. said something of the like .. that would make sense .. but this like Vin Diesel criticizing the lack of drama masterpieces in Hollywood and the rise of brainless blockbusters.
Bubbles for you Alan Wasserman.
I too would give this guy bubbles if I could. "Next-gen" is the most loaded and ill-defined buzzword ever created in the gaming industry. Ppl are always arguing about what is considered "next-gen" simply because the term is so ambiguous.
Get off technology's nuts and concern yourself w/ the games already.
"It's like I'm baking a cake. I have flour, butter, eggs, and chocolate, but how I use those ingredients and how I combine them will determine whether I give you a next-gen cake, as opposed to something you'd get at Starbucks." -ouch!
Somewhere someone at the CEO: offices of Starbucks is saying "WTF"...LoL