Big shock at Xbox Game Studios. Console manufacturer Microsoft wants to save money, is closing several studios and laying off employees. A drastic step for a company that had $69 billion lying around a year ago.
Clearcutting at Xbox: These developers are history
The video game industry is not doing well. Both Microsoft and Sony have already laid off numerous employees. The But the Xbox manufacturer isn't finished yet. In a second wave of layoffs, several well-known Bethesda studios are being hit.
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Microsoft's first pawn sacrifice is Arcane Austin. The developer most recently worked on Redfall terrible flop for Xbox and PC. The vampire shooter was even missing content that fans had already paid for. These will now never appear, work on the game has stopped. A post on X (formerly Twitter) promises compensation for fans.
The developer Tango Gamesworks is also closing. The studio is responsible for The Evil Within and most recently Hi-Fi Rush, among others. The action hit was a blast absolute surprise hit. A leading employee at Microsoft announced a year ago that they were more than satisfied with the success of the game and the work of the developers (Source: X/Twitter).
As IGN reports, Microsoft first announced the closures in an internal email. Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, speaks of a “Reprioritization of titles and resources”. In addition to Arcane Austin and Tango Gameworks, developer Alpha Dog Studios is also closing its doors. Roundhouse Studios will be integrated into Zenimax Online Studios, the developer of The Elder Scrolls Online (Source: IGN).
Hi-Fi Rush is now available on PS5:
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What's wrong with you, Xbox?
The end of the affected Bethesda developers hurts. Of course, the worst hit are the employees who have now lost their jobs at a company that continues to make huge profits. But the decision seems even more incomprehensible when you consider that Microsoft was only able to raise the incredible sum of 69 billion US dollars to buy Activision-Blizzard last year.
The choice of studios also makes it clear that your favorite games are not safe. Sure, Redfall was a flop, but Bethesda was committed to continuing development. Now the shooter flies into the bin. Hi-Fi Rush, on the other hand, was an absolute fan favorite that Microsoft said it was thrilled with. Even that didn't save the developers.
Presumably, the Xbox clear-cutting makes sense from some financial perspective, so Microsoft can now show off a new record high to shareholders. However, from a customer and gamer perspective, Xbox Game Studios has such a management problem that makes it impossible to trust the company with my favorite franchises anymore.