After four studios were closed, there was a lack of understanding

Studio closures and the associated ones are once again shocking Layoffs of numerous developers the gaming world. This time the trigger is Microsoft/Xbox and Bethesda, which are closing four studios, which is sometimes completely surprising.

So are Tango Gameworks (Hi-Fi Rush), Arcane Austin (Redfall) and Alpha Dog Games (Mighty Doom) affected by the closure while Roundhouse Studios will be integrated into the ZeniMax Online Studios. The industry reacts with dismay, but also criticism.

Xbox studios can apparently no longer be sure of their continued existence

Arkane's sister branch in Lyon was not affected by the layoffs, but its director, Dinga Bakaba, speaks out Warning “to all managerswho are reading this,” which can also be read as a criticism of Microsoft: “Video games are a cultural and entertainment industry and your job as a company is to take care of your artists and help them create value for you .” He continued to demand that developers not as straw men for wrong decisions should serve. “You say we’ll make you proud when we make a good video game. So make us proud when times are tough.”

This is absolutely terrible. Permission to be human : to any executive reading this, friendly reminder that video games are an entertainment/cultural industry, and your business as a corporation is to take care of your artists/entertainers and help them create value for you.
— Dinga Bakaba 451 (@DBakaba) May 7, 2024

In an email to employees wrote Xbox boss Matt Booty said on Tuesday that “these changes are necessary to prioritize high-impact titles and continue to do so in Bethesda's Invest in Blockbuster Games portfolio “to be able to”. It is currently unknown how many employees will lose their jobs as a result of this decision. But Microsoft recently reported a 17 percent increase in sales $61.9 billion recorded was something we were proud to have around two weeks ago proclaim can.

Updates were still planned for Redfall

“To everyone who loves me been annoying for years“Why we won't let a big publisher take over our studio: This is the reason,” wrote Thomas Mahler, CEO of Austrian indie developer Moon Studios (No Rest For The Wicked, Ori and the Will of the Wisps) in response to the message.

To everyone whose been pestering me for years about why we didn't allow Moon Studios to get acquired by a big publisher…
That's why.
I've lived through the 90s and saw what happened when smaller studios got acquired by EA.
Never again ðŸ¤£ðŸ˜‚ https://t.co/BHXm37PC2M
— thomasmahler (@thomasmahler) May 7, 2024

While Microsoft's closure of Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks causes incomprehension across the board, Arkane Austin's closure after the Redfall failure at least doesn't seem completely unreasonable. But it is all the more surprising that there are still updates and even one all DLC plus new characters in progress for the end of October was.

This, like the planned offline mode, will now fall flat. In any case, Redfall's servers should continue to stay onlinemeanwhile Hi-Fi Rush is currently available available as part of a Humble Bundle. However, almost no one seems to be immune to layoffs in the industry anymore. Straight Microsoft had earlier this year Around 1,900 employees have already been laid off.