Xbox Boss Under Fire After Studio Closures

9 May 2024 at 17:22 in Gaming News with no comments
Xbox

In the gaming industry, there have been more frequent studio closures, project cancellations, and much more lately. One reason for this is the rise of the gaming industry during the Corona pandemic, where many game developers were hired. Now, Xbox also wants to close some of their studios. You can find out all about it here.

Key Points

  • Xbox is closing 4 studios: Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, and Roundhouse.
  • Many are now upset with Xbox boss Phil Spencer.
  • The return to normalcy reduces game sales and leads to layoffs in the industry.

Xbox Wants to Close Some Studios

On Tuesday, it was announced that Xbox boss Phil Spencer wants to close some of the Xbox Studios. The first studio to be closed is Arkane Austin, which developed Redfall. Therefore, there are no more updates and DLCs for Redfall, you can read more about it here. Then, Tango Gameworks, the studio behind the rhythm hack and slash Hi-Fi Rush, is also set to be closed. Additionally, two more former Bethesda Studios, Alpha Dog and Roundhouse, are being closed.

The information from this leak came from an internal email from Matt Booty. Afterwards, it was officially confirmed by the affected studios. This is often shared by affected employees on social media.

Xbox Closing Studios

Especially the director of Arkane Lyon Studio spoke out. He criticized Microsoft’s decision, calling it a “stab in the back” for the studios. But it’s not just the employees who are horrified, many fans also express their outrage on social media towards Xbox. However, there are also some who defend Phil Spencer. For example, former Blizzard President Mike Ybarra.

Mike Ybarra Statement

Mike Ybarra wrote on X that he can naturally understand the outrage of the fans and those affected. However, this is not a decision that Phil Spencer makes for fun. Mike has known Phil for many years and knows that it is very difficult for him lately to lay off so many employees and close studios. Even though people are unhappy now, they should not attack Phil Spencer as a person, as he did not do this for fun, but because he had to.



Conclusion

Even if we often don’t want to admit it, the video game industry is also about developing good games that sell a lot. Otherwise, a company cannot make a profit and it is not worth developing games. If we look at Arkane for example. The last game they released was Redfall and it was an absolute failure. With a rating of 34.64% and less than 1000 daily players on Steam, this game was a big loss for Microsoft.

During Corona, when everyone had to stay at home, the gaming industry had a time of great profit, as almost everyone was at home and had little to do. But fortunately, that time is over and life goes on as usual. However, this means that video games are selling significantly less again. But during the time of Corona, heaps of game developers were hired to quickly develop good games. But now that the demand is no longer so high, fewer developers are needed. This has led to many layoffs at almost every major company lately.

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By Kilian Kilian

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