Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks shut down by Microsoft

[Cologno]

i'm entirely aware of how capitalism and growth works with public companies. as i said "bethesda is never getting shut down or cut even if their growth falls off a cliff".
being successful (i.e. making a small-moderate profit) and not meeting expectations is not contradictory and i never said that it did meet MS' expectations of skyrim-tier success. it didn't. it's just that i find it exceedingly unlikely that it didn't make a profit at all.

Who knows these days with corporate profit reports. Numbers of shit shipped doesn't necessarily indicate profit made per unit (or whatever digital crap is classified as) or even no profit being made.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Fallout 3 required steam when it was released. The non-GOTY edition has about 20k reviews, probably a reasonable indication of first-year sales. Starfield has about 150k reviews. Seems strange that the former would be considered a success and the latter a failure. They must have wasted massive amounts of money during development.

Vidya game budgets in times of Fallout 3 were 10x smaller, plus it was an established IP and they got to reuse Olibiion engine and shit it out quickly, whereas Starfield had to be cooked from scratch.

 

[BrainMuncher]

It's the same gamebryo frankenstein thay've been updating since Morrowind, not a new engine from scratch. Much bigger budget but much bigger sales too. Should have been profitable unless they were really inefficient. Not sure what success looks like if you get half of Fallout 4's lifetime sales in just a few months. Were they expecting to attract some big new audience with the same old formula repackaged with extra loading screens?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

(we should always remember that DEI/ESG is a socialis government creation to inject politics into capitalism by forcing institutional investment orgs to factor in DEI/ESG stuff when deciding where to put their money and other people pension funds)

I don't think many people realize this. The reason Blackrock and Vanguard have the power they do is largely because of government sponsored retirement accounts. There's roughly 22,000,000 active employees in government in the United States, and that doesn't count the military or the retired people who can retire early like policemen, firefighters, and teachers of all things. That's 22,000,000 people who are putting in some money to those accounts with the government matching a greater percentage. Meanwhile, the government decides which investment firms they use for their employees.

 

[ropetight]

(we should always remember that DEI/ESG is a socialis government creation to inject politics into capitalism by forcing institutional investment orgs to factor in DEI/ESG stuff when deciding where to put their money and other people pension funds)

I don't think many people realize this. The reason Blackrock and Vanguard have the power they do is largely because of government sponsored retirement accounts. There's roughly 22,000,000 active employees in government in the United States, and that doesn't count the military or the retired people who can retire early like policemen, firefighters, and teachers of all things. That's 22,000,000 people who are putting in some money to those accounts with the government matching a greater percentage. Meanwhile, the government decides which investment firms they use for their employees.

Retirement funds are the scourge of the stock markets in every country, and US are not the exception.
They form the price and demand on a much bigger scale than GameStop bros.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Retirement funds are the scourge of the stock markets in every country, and US are not the exception.
They form the price and demand on a much bigger scale than GameStop bros.

Retirement funds aren't bad in and of themselves, but like pretty much everything once it gets to a certain size, can be used for nefarious means. I don't think it's a coincidence that politicians know that the Social Security system is absolutely fucked and have known this for years, but refuse to do anything about it, all the while making damned sure that the government retirement funds use those two groups which push political bullshit on companies.

 

[ropetight]

Retirement funds are the scourge of the stock markets in every country, and US are not the exception.
They form the price and demand on a much bigger scale than GameStop bros.

Retirement funds aren't bad in and of themselves, but like pretty much everything once it gets to a certain size, can be used for nefarious means. I don't think it's a coincidence that politicians know that the Social Security system is absolutely fucked and have known this for years, but refuse to do anything about it, all the while making damned sure that the government retirement funds use those two groups which push political bullshit on companies.

From the days when I still traded, mayor speculation was retirement funds dumping or buying a stock.
They usually do it in volumes that shake whole market, so if you are lucky or ride insider info of their trading, you can make nice margins.
Most crooked politicians make money that way, lots of them in Congress and Senate - Paul Pelosi is more succesful trader than Warren Buffet.

 

[SharkClub]

Fallout 3 required steam when it was released.

Wrong. It was a Games for Windows Live game before it was ever on Steam, and when it came to Steam it still required GfWL until player-made workarounds came by, it actually only recently got patched (within the last year) to remove the GfWL dependency, despite GfWL not existing for ages. New Vegas required Steam when it released.

 

[Konjad]

 

[BrainMuncher]

Fallout 3 required steam when it was released.

Wrong. It was a Games for Windows Live game before it was ever on Steam, and when it came to Steam it still required GfWL until player-made workarounds came by, it actually only recently got patched (within the last year) to remove the GfWL dependency, despite GfWL not existing for ages. New Vegas required Steam when it released.

There was no "before it was on steam". It was on steam from release. Maybe not required though

Store Release Date	28 October 2008 (16 years ago)
Steam Release Date	28 October 2008 – 17:00:00 UTC (16 years ago)
Original Release Date	28 October 2008 – 07:00:00 UTC (16 years ago) (1225177200)

 

[SharkClub]

Regardless, it definitely did not require Steam in any way. The dependency was always Games for Windows Live. And if you bought a physical copy (all the rage back in 2008) it would be a GfWL game.

 

[Latelistener]

Bethesda fucking Raphael over Prey's marketing campaign and its subsequent flop was the reason for Arkane's downfall.

He just took a bunch of people with him and rest have scattered to other studios.

The game was suppose to be called System Shock, but then Shreier learned about Arkane developing Prey and came to Bethesda asking for better material.

Raphael wanted to talk to him, but Bethesda didn't allow that. They blacklisted Shreier and he leaked the stuff online, ruining the negotiations with the rights owners of System Shock.

The rest is history. Microsoft need to start cleaning Zenimax.

 

[911 Jumper]

‘I have to run a sustainable business’: Xbox’s Phil Spencer discusses Tango closure

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has spoken publicly about last month’s decision to close four Bethesda studios.

In early May it was revealed that Microsoft would be closing down Redfall developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush studio Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog and Roundhouse Games.

Following the presentation of the Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday, Spencer was asked during an on-stage interview at IGN Live to explain the decision to close the studios, in particular Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks.

The Microsoft Gaming CEO said he hadn’t discussed the situation much in public because he had been focusing on the staff being made redundant.

“I haven’t been talking publicly about this because right now is a time for us to focus on the team and the individuals,” he replied.

“It’s obviously a decision that’s very hard on them, and I want to make sure through severance and other things that we’re doing the right thing for the individuals on the team. It’s not about my PR, it’s not about Xbox PR, it’s about those teams.”

Spencer went on to say that while he personally didn’t like making the decision to close down Tango, his job was ultimately to keep Xbox profitable.

“I’ve said over and over, I have to run a sustainable business inside the company, and grow,” he explained.

“And that means sometimes I have to make hard decisions that, frankly, are not decisions I love, but decisions that somebody needs to go make.

“We will continue to go forward, we will continue to invest in what we’re trying to do in Xbox, and build the best business that we can, which ensures we can continue to do shows like the one we just did.”

Source: VGC

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.eurogamer.net/matt-boot...s-closure-was-partly-due-to-leadership-change

Xbox's Matt Booty implies Tango Gameworks closure was partly due to leadership change​

"Is the team the same team that shipped something successful previously?"

Xbox's Matt Booty has spoken more on the closure of Tango Gameworks earlier this year, and, while he did not name names, it appears that a change in leadership at the Hi-Fi Rush studio was a factor in Microsoft's decision.

In conversation with Variety's Strictly Business podcast, the Xbox executive was asked about the closure of Tango Gameworks, and whether Microsoft had tried to seek another buyer for the studio.

"I won't get into the real sort of nitty gritty details on you know, what went into the decision, mostly out of respect for the people there, just because you know, there was a lot of work that went into delivering Hi-Fi Rush, which was a great game and you know did well for us," Booty began.

"I think the thing to be considered is that for us, it's as much a forward looking situation as much as it is looking back at one certain game... There are a lot of things that go into success for a game. You know, what leadership do you have? What creative leadership do you have? Is the team the same team that shipped something successful previously?

"And we have to look at all of those things together and then ask ourselves, are we set up for success going forward? And while there may have been factors and situations that previously led to success, they may not all still be in place as you look at what you're doing going forward."

Booty seemed to be referring - at least in part - to the departure of Tango Gameworks founder Shinji Mikami last year. Mikami established Tango Gameworks in 2010, with the studio going on to develop The Evil Within series and Ghostwire: Tokyo. Prior to this, he worked at Capcom on the Resident Evil series.

Booty also seemed to suggest closing down Tango Gameworks wasn't the only option Microsoft considered. He gave examples of previous Xbox-owned studios that have since gone independent, such as Toys for Bob, which now has a publishing deal in place with Microsoft.

"I think back to a studio called Twisted Pixel in Texas that we acquired and then for a sort of change in goals, it wasn't a perfect match anymore, but that studio today is still thriving," Booty continued. "We wanted to set them up for success. So we absolutely look at what the possible business options are to keep a studio open or to keep you know, perhaps have it change hands. And it's just one of the things, of course, that we look at across the board."

Booty closed: "Sometimes those things come together, sometimes they don't."

As well as Tango Gameworks, Redfall and Dishonored developer Arkane Austin and Mighty Doom studio Alpha Dog Games were also impacted by Microsoft's closures in May.

Many were quick to condemn the company's decision to shutter these studios, with Arkane Lyon boss Dinga Bakaba calling it a "fucking gut stab".