Xbox Is Shutting Four Studios, Including Arkane Austin And Tango Gameworks

Oh, that is...well, a number of words that will get this comment blocked springs to mind

Absolutely indefensible. Outrageous when considered with the recent ActiBlizz acquisition. The tone of the internal email is shockingly inconsiderate as well. I shan't be standing by Xbox any longer.

Their only Japanese studio. They finally get a studio in Japan, create an incredible stylish single-player AA game. And they close the studio and lose their only foothold in Japan.

Mind = Blown

The fact that going multi-platform didn’t save the studio….

Roundhouse isn’t shutting it is being merged with Zenimax online; which makes sense as they have been relegated to a support studio since Bethesda saved them.

Arkane Austin I can kind of understand though it’s still shutting a studio that could be contributing to your output. Not sure what the state of it has been since Redfall.

Alpha Dog is interesting since they said they wanted to increase their mobile presence. Though I guess they have their reasons.

But Tango!? They should be spinning out studios from Tango to increase their Japanese presence. What.

Wow absolutely ridiculous after spending so much money to buy them. Time to boycott and many people will loose their job it's not as if Microsoft can't afford it.

The end of Xbox is getting closer with every brain dead decision. How I wish I could turn back time and choose another box.

All Xbox players need to stick together and show this incompetent management we won't stand for it. Tango made profitable games that sold and reviewed well I really can't understand the logic.

Wow… I was not expecting that to happen…

They used so much money to buy Bethesda and got their first and only Japanese video game studio from the deal. Said Japanese studio developed a critically acclaimed game that everyone was saying was their GOTY, with the studio potentially helping Microsoft build a presence in Japan, and now they’re already closing it for whatever reason now?

Shocking and disappointing. It doesn’t make sense that they would close FOUR studios after spending so much money on acquiring Bethesda, not to mention some people are going to unfortunately be losing their jobs thanks to this very poor decision. That internal email they sent really doesn’t show any empathy to those affected. Now we have to hope they don’t go on a closing spree for their other studios…

Well, that's the end of all hopes for a Evil Within 3. Shame and hope people affected bounce back quickly.

Obviously, there’s more to this than just a headline, but this is really awful, shocking news.

Gutted for everyone at the studios hope they land on there feet soon

so it begins. p3 you can't fool me.

Even with the rough launch of Redfall, I wouldn’t have shut the studio down entirely. Was hoping for a redemption story here even if it wasn’t soon.

What’s the reason for shuttering Tango? Hi-Fi was well received and just went multi plat. Can we give The Evil Within license to another studio?

I would rather they trim down on the scale of the games than layoff or shut studios down entirely.

This generation for Xbox has been disappointment after disappointment after disappointment…

Hi-Fi Rush is the best Xbox game since Sunset Overdrive imo, the one that has received more critical acclaim by a long shot, and what does MS do? Empower the studio to encourage them to keep making great games? Nah. Remove the exclusivity, treat it like a low-tier game and close down the entire studio. F*ck this Microsoft.

But but Xbox buying them is great right

Hello there fellow gamers.
This are some really bad news. For gamers, developers and Xbox in general.
I can understand Arkane Austin to a certain degree, because one bad game, does not make the whole studio bad. They made Prey. And it´s awesome.
And then there´s Tango..... I mean REALLY? Their one and only japanese developer? Who has some pretty good games under their belt, some that could/should probably get sequels?
What a tremendous disapointing decision by the Xbox game division administration.
Hopefully, the developers that will unfortunately be laid off by this, will find either other studios to work with or start a brand new studio and continue to do their passion.
All the very best for them. Cheers

It seems all these big gaming companies are in constant competition to become the most hated

The closure of Tango Gameworks is the most shocking of all... Well, Shinji Mikami left the studio a while ago. Maybe John Johanes meant to leave as well and, without key staff, Xbox decided to close the studio altogether.

bruh, redfall is a good fun game, not the best but ..... good lord the mental distress im suffering this series x/s gen. class action lawsuit in the works for series x/s victims incoming?

Absolutely ****ing disgusting move by Microsoft. Indefensible.

Tango is a huge shock considering their output how well Hi-Fi Rush was received and how it became the poster child for Xbox on PlayStation.

@IOI "This generation for Xbox has been disappointment after disappointment after disappointment…"

that says it all tbh

The makers of Prey. One of the best games ever made, probably the best immersive SIM ever.
Shut down, like this.
I'm speechless.

But think of the bright side, I'm sure Phil Spencer will get a nice end of year bonus for doing such a good job!

What a mess. Xbox brand is truly at their worst. It’s almost a joke at this point.

Sucks for these guys especially tango… why tango?

At this point with all the layoffs I like to assume the reason why they are all doing this is because GTA 6 is coming out soon, not many people are going to play anyone's game but GTA so I respect them cutting costs for a little while especially at the moment because most people just play constant rewarding predatory never ending addicting garbage like Call of Duty, Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, FIFA and nothing else.

Horrible news for everyone employed by those studios, I hope they’re able to quickly transition to another source of employment.

The video game industry is on a terrible downward trajectory right now. Costs have risen hugely and nothing but the biggest hitters seem to be sustainable. Studio’s are being shuttered everywhere. Achieving critical acclaim isn’t enough of a measure to constitute success sadly. Alan wake 2 is one of the latest examples of a game yet to break even despite garnering amazing reviews and receiving a goty nomination.

I hope the industry can solve these problems soon so that the people working on the titles people love have a safer and more secure place of work.

So Tango release their best game yet that gets critical acclaim and they get closed lol...also Ghostwire was also decent

I'll be honest, I'm annoyed at this Hi Fi wad great along with The Evil Within. Redfall was ok for what it was.

But rather then shutting them down, just let them quietly make games. The people in those studios will be thinking *****... You Activision, because of you we've lost our jobs

Arkane Austin were always in the shadow of Arkane Lyon, so fair enough. Tango is a bit sad though, since they just had a hit game. ☹️

@K1LLEGAL I wonder if Tango Gameworks closure was maybe more down to the studio not being able to keep key staff due to Microsoft's little to no marketshare in Japan. As Ghostwire Tokyo's producer left not long after the Bethesda acquisition. Tango management was the only studio that never put out a positive statement after the acquisition & then Mikami left. I wonder if more have left in between or after Mikami.

But Im in shock. I was hoping they'd invest more into Tango Gameworks & expand the studio rather than close it.

Welp.

Ok, i take back all the good words I had about Xbox in recent years. The management simply sucks if they buy studios and close them after they’ve released their first game under higher management. Especially because they say they’re going to focus on their bigger games in their portfolio (Call of Duty…..).

Well, back to my Nintendo consoles then, they’re the only normally run company still standing in the gaming business.

They literally closed the only studio that created any good 1st party game for Series console (HiFi Rush if that was ever in question). WTF? That game was even nominated for GOTY if I remember correctly.

But ofc, they had to aquire ActivisionBlizzard.. yeah, I'm getting rid of my XSS as soon as my GP runs out (which is in less than 2 months) and ain't looking back!

Microsoft and Xbox can seriously go F*** themselves. They have become an absolute disgrace to the industry. Buying up studios just to close them months later. It’ll be so gratifying the day they exit from the console industry.

An absolute disgrace from Xbox and the leadership there. Tango has put nothing but at least 8/10 games out and they shut them down? Am really done with all these giant corporations....

Horrific that this keeps happening and this case in particular is no doubt a result of Microsoft being allowed to acquire Activision. Phil Spencer gets his growth from CoD/WoW/Candy Crush so everything else rots away.

Unbelievable. Hi Fi was one of my favorite games in recent years. Definitely my favorite Xbox game ever. Wasn't arkane austin one of their work horse devs too? Shameful.

Arkane Austin makes a lot of sense. But Tango?!?! Really?!!? Smh

Whilst I get the sorrow for the developers who are potentially out of a job, this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone and is 100% needed. Microsoft were never going to make huge acquisitions like the ones they've made without trimming the fat at the end of it. They'll have a clear vision of what games are in the pipeline and how to resource it. Almost all companies who are sold involve this sort of thing, it's not exclusive to gaming. Everyone just needs to chill out and look ahead to what's planned with these studios now, there's still an insane amount of studios under the Xbox banner now and I'm sure the games are going to start coming thick and fast.

Microsoft care for nobody and nothing. This is proof. Those people that somehow think they care for xbox fans are very deluded.

My series X is getting dusty anyway, I think I'm done ever buying anything from Microsoft. I'm sure the shareholders will not care a jot, but I can no longer support corporate greed on the scale that MS do it....

Microsoft have completely lost it and this is utter, utter madness.
My thoughts are with all those people affected by this crazy sh*t decision.

It beggars belief that Microsoft is shuttering down the only Japanese game studio they have. No wonder some Japanese developers are treating the Xbox as some sort if plague carrier....meanwhile in the Microsoft microcosm:

• We are working super hard to bring more and more Japanese support to Xbox. F@ck off you utter sh**ers...

Edit: Let's se how will they now honour the people who paid for Redfall's characters pack.

its good im gaming on pc now i actually starting to hate xbox

Microsoft, it seems, could not let Sony hog all the negative PR this week with Helldivers…

And so we get this today.

The death of Tango Works - I’m in utter disbelief. What a fine reward for making Microsoft one its most highly rated, highly respected games in some time. What a waste of a corporate purchase, what a waste of a much needed Japanese studio.

It’s really been nothing but disappointment after disappointment for near two years solid from Xbox. Really poured all the good vibes they had in 20/21 down the drain. Very disappointing Generation indeed. In a weird place now, I’m still a big fan of my series X, but can’t say I’m really an Xbox fan anymore.

My heartfelt sympathy goes out to all those people who had their jobs and livelihoods removed by Microsoft today. I truly hope they can find new opportunities quickly.

Tango is (was apparently 🙄) an absolutely talented studio and your ONLY studio in Japan and you close it!? You know how hard it is for a western company to get ownership of a Japanese freaking studio! This is on par with Sony closing Japan Studio, no this maybe even be way more idiotic 🤦

What's going to happen to all that awesome talent? If they were restructuring / merging to form a super studio group with A / B / C departments I could understand, although that alone could cause havoc for staff logistics alone. I think we're looking at the last proper home console for Microsoft as they probably going to focus on software & distribution across multiple platforms, with a mix of streaming and releases on other store fronts (Steam, PSN etc)

@Titntin

Oh please… this can be said of every single major corporation on the planet. Same can be said of Sony, Nintendo, and the list goes on and on and on and on. I’m as bummed about Tango going down as anyone, but let’s stop with the hyperbole. Anyone who thinks big corporations care for them are beyond ignorant. This announcement changes nothing, absolutely nothing, on that front.

This put a HUGE damper on the excitement I had for the June announcements. I mean, considering the success and acclaim of games like Evil Within and Ghostwire, it's natural to wonder about this decision. It's hard to see the rationale behind it, isn't it?

@PapaGlitch Go ahead, say what you want, just change some letters to punctuation that look like the intended letters and you'll be fine.

And XBOX’s poor management and decision causes another terrible thing to happen. Great.

Sony isn’t perfect either, but man… XBOX ain’t looking good. I thought going “third-party” was supposed to help these games and XBOX as a brand, not destroy them lol

I was disappointed to read that Tango is closing down, but it's not Xbox but also Sony and others. Studios are being shut down everywhere. The talented developers always find another opportunity, fortunately. That comforts me.

If game development is not sustainable, something's not working inside the industry, because games keep selling and people keep playing. If only a few IPs, whether it's Call of Duty or the latest indie hit (Palworld), are profitable, the industry is not doing things right, overall.

If I remember well, Mikami left before the acquisition. In any case, he was not even involved in The Evil Within 2, an IP that he created. Recently, the producer of Hi-Fi Rush and Ghostwire Tokyo left the company. I wonder if the studio losing its leaders has something to do with its closure. However, I believe that Microsoft should keep or create a Japanese studio, because Japanese games are not popular in Japan only, plus they only had one Japanese developer.

Another question on my mind is why do development leaders leave companies all the time, even when they are successful and well paid. It's like they are never happy and it leads to their teams becoming stranded.

I hope someone gets all the talent from Tango Software (or they work together to become an indie developer). And then work on a a kick ass game for the ps5.

kinda like Frost Giant Studios, who is basically comprised of former blizzard employees and are about to release a RTS on their own.

My best wishes to everyone impacted by this. This is horrible news all around, though I’m most devastated by Tango. Hi-Fi Rush was one of my absolute favorite games to come out in the last decade. It reminded me so much of the 360 era. It was a high quality, entertaining, funny game with excellent gameplay and it didn’t overstay its welcome, unlike most games that have come out recently.

@Kooky_Geezer No need to go back in time to choose another box. Just enjoy the box/es that was/were good. That's what I do. I only game on Xbox consoles and PC and have been since day 1 and even I've pretty much decided I'm going full PC if they don't stop doing things that are detrimental to the gaming industry. I bought 2 more Series X when they were $349 for the Diablo bundle just as backups because they were gonna be my last consoles. Also because they were rumored to be the last disc based ones as well.

Seriously ? How Ironic on the day Nintendo acknowledges the Switch successor Xbox closes 4 studios. It would have been best if they shuttered the Xbox division at this point.

I understand that everything is business and all but why Gameworks? It doesn't make any sense... I thought there would be a Hi-Fi Rush 2 for sure...

Really odd that they are shutting down Tango a year after released their most critically acclaimed game…

What horrible news.

Wow, the sheer amount of hyperbole in here is pretty staggering. Most of these moves make sense to me. The only one that didn’t was Tango, but who knows what was going on behind the scenes. We know key talent had already left. I feel bad for the developers, but this is happening industry wide right now. To single out Xbox at this time is kinda comical. And I can promise you, these won’t be the last layoffs we see industry wide.

The gaming market has changed, quite dramatically in recent years. Not even Sony, who is leading by a country mile, can continue on as they have been. Their big AAA titles just aren’t making enough money.

I am bummed about Tango, and I am bummed the entire market is on a downward spiral right now as everyone is shuffling to find the new center, but life will go on. The developers laid off will get new jobs, new studios will open where old ones close. New games will be made and people will continue gaming.

If people are this fed up with gaming then take a break or quit. If they are fed up with MS, stop typing, hit GameStop and sell your Xbox. Buy another system. This is crappy news, but it’s not the end of the world. I’m gonna continue gaming on Xbox as I always have and will continue to look forward to better news, hopefully come the summer showcase. To each their own.

Such a shame. I hope all impacted find their next chapter soon. Prey, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Hi-Fi Rush are all amazing games. It would be better for all of us if those teams were together and making games for years to come.

"We are making these tough decisions to create capacity to increase investment in other parts of our portfolio and focus on our priority games."

Yeah, this is NOT the statement that makes it all better. You bought all these studios for their creative talent and various IP only to close some to focus a select few titles?!

Today is not a good day for Xbox at all.

There goes my hopes for Hi-Fi rush 2.

Brutal. Redfall was a disgrace, Arkane should have been shut down just for the reveal trailer 🤣

I’m kidding, it was bad though.

I'm wondering if Shinji Mikami's exit from Tango may have resulted in the studio losing its footing. Especially if some of his longer-term collaborators at the firm were planning on jumping ship with him.

@ZYDIO Unfortunately I have a large digital library on Xbox or I would swap. I'm now kind of stuck with it spent too much money to just leave and abandon my games now.

With the success of HIFI RUSH, how the f the closure of Tango Gameworks even come to mind???

Really devastating news... Like, Tango Gameworks man... The other 3 can go for good but Tango Gameworks? Really? WHAT THE F*CK IS PHIL SPENCER & HIS TEAM THINKING!!!!!

And to think, Sony thought they had the monopoly on pissing off its customers this week

Maybe don't close the one that makes good games?

Hi-Fi RUSH was a break out hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations. We couldn’t be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release.Said Aaron Greenberg,mind you ,he also did say all games will have 60 FPS from here on in ,with X and S .

@Kooky_Geezer Yep, me too. That's why I have multiples of each console. For digital and physical games.

Would genuinely much prefer to have studios like TG still around, trying interesting and experimental stuff like Hi-Fi even if it meant waiting around for an extra 3/4 years for the next Elder Scrolls or Fallout and I'd like to think most gamers would feel the same. Well to be honest I'd be happy to have no more ES or FO in favour of new IPs, but then I'm just not a huge fan of those games!

@RIghteousNixon
I completely disagree.
I watched through the eighties as MS stifled competition and did anything to squash any small firms who might find a living, and then saw the resultant anti trust debacle.
I consider MS to be the most abhorrent of all the corps. If you were not there and haven't read the history, then fair enough, you do you, but anyone acting surprised that they act in this way is simply uninformed.
There will always be shills for this company irrespective of what they do.

I had hoped that Xbox itself would continue to be allowed its own 'autonomy', but that clearly was going to change after the acti/blizz buyout.
Only shareholders pockets count.

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2023/04/xbox-exec-responds-to-hi-fi-rush-rumour-says-the-game-was-a-break-out-hit

"Okay, maybe we could have been a little happier with it..."

@Titntin

You do realize that MS no longer exists right? The people in charge then likely don’t even work for the company anymore. And you’re entitled to your opinion. If I were you, I would literally stop typing, hit the nearest GameStop, and sell your Xbox asap. Put it in the rear view mirror. You can then continue supporting all of the other mega corporations the world over thinking you’re making a better choice. Why wait? You never have to give MS another penny ever again. If you feel that strongly about it, seems like an easy choice at this point.

I think that kind of opinion is incredibly misguided, thinking MS is soooo much worse than any of the other big companies out there. All any of them care about is stock price, shareholders, and overall revenues and profits. They don’t give a flying rats fart about any of us beyond those figures, but that’s just my opinion.

FFS... This generation I got my first Xbox system because I thought they fixed the problems of the past, game pass was The Deal and on top of backwards compatibility they were the most user friendly of the main manufacturers. Now I am pretty sure this will be my last Xbox system (even though I love it) because I don't trust anymore on its leadership and obviously mismanagement, either because they release games that are clearly undercooked or not going in the right direction and also closing studios that release good games from markets they want to get a foot on... This is just crazy.
This time I have to say it, Phill Spencer and Matt Booty are part of the problem and not the solution!!

I think the gaming industry as a whole is being destroyed from the inside out. For some reason, greed has become the priority. They seem to forget that money rolls in when you make good products. Instead, they try to cut corners to maximize profit. They don't realize our should I say, have forgotten that the best way to maximize profit is to make and sell products that people can't resist. Also, maybe the gaming industry is moving too fast. Maybe we dont need huge open worlds in 4K. Maybe just focus on 1080p or 1440p/60, make them the equivelent of being set on high or ultra and focus on content, story, gameplay. You know, the things that actually matter. We play games to engage in a story and become part of it. Graphic fidelity should not be where all of the budget is focused. I have a feeling that is where a lot of the problem is. All you have to do is look at Nintendo and the proof is there. I understand that these companies have to make money, but it seemed to be working just fine in the Xbox 360 days. Maybe they should look to back then and see what was working and do that now.

But... They're saving the industry! That's what the internet told me...

First they buy ABK, then they lay off thousands of employees and now shutting down studios, and porting games to PlayStation?

Can we stop cheering for consolidation now? Looks like we're not getting The Evil Within 3 and there goes Xbox's only chance at the Japanese market.
They don't have a clue.

@RIghteousNixon
Lol- way ahead of you dude - except I'm in the UK so I'll just sell on Ebay. Not used it since I let GP expire last september, and pretty unlikely to now... unless of course Avowed is good, its all I've been waiting for

The games didnt sell despite being good Prey was great so was evil within 2 both didnt sell even a million and were commercial failures

@Titntin

Buying Avowed is just gonna give MS more money. List it today and walk away.

Total clown show over at Xbox and Microsoft.

@Titntin mate I wouldn’t waste your time!

Everything MS will be defended!

No coming back from this. They deserve all the hate.

@cragis0001 even if you are right and there is a high staff turnover. I would have though having that stepping stone into Japan development would be worth the struggle.

Plus you could always just give the studio what it wants to keep them happy (granted I know it’s never that simple).

@RIghteousNixon

He's right, MS as a wider company have a pretty er... distinctive history that sets them apart from other businesses. Most people around here won't remember, because it goes way back to the dark ages.

I agree all corporations are pretty terrible. Basically a plague of locusts. Microsoft though... Microsoft is the bubonic plague incarnate. To see that, you have to look beyond their Xbox business though. I can't say Microsoft is any more unethical than any other corp. Just that they have the means and market position to cause the most damage, and often do.

Disgusting. Also, some of the ActiBlizz merger concerns about negatives of consolidation were proved correct - didn't MS say, don't worry, look, we essentially let Bethesda run themselves.... So disappointing. Similarly disgusted at Take2 shutting studios the other day as they continue to rake in cash from GTA5. Just makes me sad

@UnlimitedSevens
I assume you are another oldie that's seen this type of behaviour before?
You can't tell those who didnt see it, they think it's in the past and doesn't effect their behaviour now, but it clearly does. That's just young people being young
I'm not stifling anyone else's opinion, but I won't let them mute my own observations..

Just how bad news this is utterly depends on how many job losses are also involved. My initial thoughts are that this is taking a leaf out of the Activision playbook, and that Microsoft are looking to put more developers on to their top earning games such as the next Fallout and Elder Scrolls.

I think the success of the Fallout show always meant that Microsoft would look to accelerate the next game, though obviously the decision to shutter these Studios would have been made well before the series aired (or at least I would imagine it would!).

Hopefully this is the right decision in the long run and that the job losses will be at the absolute minimum...

To be fair, @endlessleep, I doubt Phil Spencer had much say in the matter. His strings are being pulled by the execs at Microsoft these days. He is now just a frontman there to impart the news (good and bad) and then take the flak...

@Titntin

Yeah, I'm crusty. Let's not be too hard on these younger people though. Indiscretions of youth and all that, it's part of the experience - you and me were probably just as clueless or worse haha.

All I can say is I read 4 years worth of comments on this website of how Phil Spencer is gonna turn things around, he cares about you, he's a "real gamer" because he wears graphic tees. Caught like raccoons in a trap reaching for the shiny thing (GamePass). We need to study the psychological aspects of assigning your self worth and identity to a company. I'm sure the corporations do and use it well. While we both shake our fist at the air.

I'm gonna roll out of here before the boomer jokes roll in. On topic, Tango hurts in particular and this news sucks. Hope they land on their feet and I suspect they will with the talent they've displayed.

There goes all my goodwill for Microsoft and Xbox- horrible stuff.

Doesn't matter if the name is different - when your only tactic is to buy things like Saber Interactive, you're gonna do the same thing.

Instead of shutting down Arkane, they should have used the talent there to re-make Prey as a side-scrolling Metroidvania.

Good to see people defend it. Sometimes when a company does something ***** they can be criticised.

I hope those affected find work as some of these guys/girls are clearly talented.

Welp, there goes Xbox, too. The whole industry is collapsing around us.

What was the point in buying all these studios only to just shut them down? And Tango's Hifi rush has been Xbox's only actual success lately.

So let's get this straight. Xbox announces they're buying a bunch of studios after not having studios because the previous boss closes their studios. Then they announce they're bringing their games to PS. Then they announce they're closing the studios that brought games to PS. So instead of tons of games for Game Pass they're back to a handful of big name IP to recycle? Xbox seems hellbent on repeating every mistake they've made in the past, and then doubling down on it, making sure to never have a good headline long and always replace it with a bad one. They've long had a terrible PR problem, and this isn't going to help them at all among fans or among the industry. I'm convinced Xbox has lost control of Xbox and is just run by Amy Hood as a piggy bank for messing with quarterlies. They really really really need to spin off Xbox as an IPO while it still has value before they kill it. Even if they keep ABK at MS for the mobile stuff and CoD.

Meanwhile PS ALSO closed all their smaller studios except their smash hit blockbuster studios, but also downsized those, and also doesn't actually have many games in the pipeline.

Meanwhile half the third parties are vanishing.

I want to say that shutting down the good studios to churn out more CoD and become New Activision makes me really dislike Xbox specifically and want to go all in on Sony, but then I remember I can't stand them either. I'm pretty much down to not liking, trusting, or not expecting to be abused by, any company in gaming. Just when one is the worst another jumps up to claim the title.

There's not a pending video game collapse, it already happened. Industry's done. See you all in Clash of Clans.

Not really much for me to add except join the chorus of people who view shutting down Tango Gameworks as an absolutely baffling move.

I’ll milk Microsoft Rewards as much as possible for the remainder of the XSX generation, but I think it’s looking increasingly likely I’ll be pivoting back to Steam and possibly getting a PlayStation too next generation. I’m not liking the direction Xbox has been heading in through 2024 so far.

Closing down Tango Studios may be one of the biggest mistakes MS could make right now… it completely undermines their supposed “commitment” to the Japanese market, and it leaves fantastic IP to die (Hi Fi Rush, Ghostwrite, Evil Within) just because the titles have not been blowout successes? It also makes Game Pass look weak… they insisted they were satisfied with the performance of those games but still shut them down… terrible look all around.

For the first time since the Series X was unveiled, my confidence on Xbox is plummeting. FAST.

Doubt I will buy another console. Pretty tired of the nonsense from both Sony and MS.

How to justify 75 Billion dollars? They're literally killing this industry.

@UnlimitedSevens

Already covered that. The MS you’re referring to doesn’t even exist anymore as the people working there during the period you’re referring to are gone. It’s only the same MS in name. That’s like saying Germans today suck because a generation ago, they followed Hitler and started WWII.

And anyone in here that doesn’t understand that every single mega corporation the planet over ONLY cares about stock price, shareholders, revenue, and profits are living in la la land.

Again, you’re entitled to your opinion. You want to think MS is the big bad wolf and all of the other mega corporations the world over are better in some way, by all means believe away. I almost always respect other people’s opinions even when I disagree with them, but that viewpoint I can’t even begin to take seriously.

I'm going to continue making this argument, Bethesda management is abysmal and has been for years. It doesn't matter if it's the developer or publisher side.
Microsoft got hosed financially with the Bethesda purchase and we are seeing the fallout.
Add on MS inability to have a streamlined publisher division that is always teetering on chaos and this is the result......

There is a reason I have not touched my Xbox in 5 months.....

The only big loss from these closed studios is Tango GameWorks, which was the only Japanese studio on XBOX with a very talented team and good games. Hi Fi Rush was the best XBOX game for 2023. I just can't understand why Microsoft closed Tango. I know that Hi Fi rush didn't meet sales expectations but the game was well received and could make more money by going multiplatform.

The games industry has been pivoting in the same direction as the film industry for several years now (less and less new ideas/creativity, more and more sequels, remakes etc) - whatever makes money, we've only got customer trends to blame. I still have no idea how gamers feel any sort of allegiance to these corporations. It must be a young person thing before you realize capitalism doesn't actually care what you think.

Even though I don't play the games Tango Gameworks made, I thought Ghostwire Tokyo was a good game. I only played like an hour and was planning on getting back to it when I had nothing else to play.

I see this as a loss to Microsoft. Hopefully the staff can find a better place to work for.

@pip_muzz or......any other corporation in the world.....?

Really hate to break it to you. But corporations (ALL of them) care about one thing, see one thing. And that is money.

I'm not sticking up for Microsoft at all. But to say you "shan't be standing by Xbox any longer" based on that decision, well...you need have thought, that stance, with EVERY other corporation in exist. If not, we'll, that is very hypocritical.

@Titntin
Long day at work and just read the news
Not gonna rant just wow.

@Seioni Because Tango....and cash.

Microsoft cares about cash.

@Blaa
They still own the IP so they will just give it to a better studio

@Balta666 Same this was my 1st as well.
Was so excited to play Halo..... that was uh, a little underwhelming. Okay, super excited about RedFall- oh my goodness....
K fine, Starfield might still be brilliant..... I think I'm starting to regret this. Well at least their point rewards system is pretty sweet... oh they are stripping that big time? Going to release games on PS and i can just keep adding to my PS .. okay maybe I'll wait and see if games i want will just come to PS. Okay, uh....... I'm just not touching my Series X until ALL the dust settles.

This tells me that we won't be seeing MS being allowed to buy anymore publishers. They can't even keep the two they have fully employed.

The fact that they would close these studios soon after the major acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and the acclaim of Hi-Fi Rush in the case of Tango to focus on "high impact games" is seriously just disgusting.

Sadly we understand very well what "high impact" means...

This is why workers everywhere need more protection, 'cause clearly companies like Microsoft couldn't care less about their own employees.

@K1LLEGAL yeah you'd think. But with what looks like a power struggle lately when it comes to decision making at Xbox. Sataya Nadella has always closed loose ends. Or parts of the business that takes larger investment or resources away from others with little success. So Arkane Austin's Redfall failure & Tango Gameworks being from a region that will never embrace Xbox. Are easy targets for the CEO & board members to cut.

It's a shame as was hoping to see an epic comeback from Redfall. With the release of new DLC, characters & complete overhaul. As for Tango Gameworks. I'd like to think that Phil Spencer is disappointed like the rest of us considering his push to get better support from Sega, Namco, Atlus & recently Square Enix. He even championed Tango Gameworks as an important purchase. So again gutted.

All the people (commenters here included) blindly cheering for industry consolidation in the last year or two, this is what it gets you. Massive layoffs and studio closures

Wow this is a shock in a bad way! Tango especially were a good studio and made some good games! Arkane seem to have been punished a lot for Redfall. I'm not so surprised at Mighty DOOM closing but the rest of this is rubbish!

@NEStalgia The 4K Console Twins suck, dude. The sooner you switch back to PC and embrace Gaben as your Lord and Savior, the happier you'll be.

I'm wondering if Phil will "retire" soon. I expect he's pretty miserable in his new role that isn't his vision he spent a decade on at all.

@Ralizah Minus my wallet. And game sharing though. And my time maintaining the POS. IDK, the idea sounds great on paper, but it's not really a good time financially or time spent "fixing" things.

@NEStalgia You sound really traumatized by some old computer you used to own. Quite frankly, I spend as much time "maintaining" my gaming PC as I do my consoles. Install an update once in a while. I guess I do sometimes look up optimal settings for PC games, which takes all of five minutes, and it's done forever lol.

You can't play a Steam game from one account on multiple accounts at once, but you can enable a family sharing function that allows people to access your games that you aren't playing, and visa versa.

Buy a Steam Deck to go along with it, and you get a handheld that can run a gigantic chunk of the games on Steam, and the functionality is being worked on and improved constantly.

I mean, your choice, but it sounds like you're very tired of the dystopian realm the console gaming space is turning into!

Ya....I'm done with the Big M. This is the snake devouring it's own tail, at this point. Just dump the exclusives you have on Playstation and go away.

Well at the risk of getting banned, what absolute ***** ***** this is.

@Ralizah Driver's driver's driver's, bsod, reformat, driver's, oops needs a new chipset to run the new card/os time to throw it out and spend $3000 again. And my last build that blew two $450 gpus (which I thought absurdly expensive at the time) and a PSU...). But out of like 7 builds all of them gave me hardware issues. Some of it was the era but then then others with similar or worse hardware had better luck lol.

I thought steam only let you share the whole library or nothing so that if player 2 is playing a stream game player 1 has to go knit an afghan or something instead?

I never imagined console would be so bad. I left increasingly dystopian pc during the rise of steam which I despised only to end up in this.

I mean I half want to go back to pc but if that financially wise? Probably not. Is it bad for my sanity? Probably. It's it worse than console? Shrug.

Been saying Phil will tear down Xbox the just as fast as he helped it

@Phil-Spencer-Gate every Xbox game other than halo and gears should go multi platform … hi rush isn’t a big franchise that will hurt day 1 supporters of Xbox

I'm loving my Series X, I really do. I have tons of incredible games to play on it, from various generations, and I'm keeping this superb piece of hardware close to my chest and I'm never letting it go.

But I swear this is the last time I buy a Microsoft console. And I'm saying that as a proud owner of every Xbox ever released.

But this is just too much. This was the final call.

I also have the others consoles from Nintendo and Sony. And I shall continue to play only on those, from now on.

But we all know that even Star field is going to release on Playstation, so...

I'm disgusted. And tired.

@NEStalgia Dunno what to tell you. My drivers need to be updated once in a while, but otherwise, my PC doesn't give me any problems.

That's how it used to work. Within the last month, they added the Steam family group option in a beta release that allows you to share games you're not actively playing with other people in your group. Still not quite as good as game sharing on Switch, but makes sharing games on Steam much more doable!

Now, the kicker is that the developer can choose to opt out of this. So far, only the few EA and Ubisoft games I bought on Steam are excluded. No surprise there.

Ultimately, I guess, just go wherever you enjoy playing your games. For my part, I'm just too disgusted with Sony and Microsoft these days to want to play within their walled gardens. Valve has been doing so much cool stuff with their platform in the last several years: making Linux viable for gaming with their Steam Deck push; heck, putting the Steam Deck equivalent of the Switch OLED out for even more reasonable prices on the higher ends; allowing full customization for all of the major controller types, including gyro for PS and Nintendo controllers; allowing games that wouldn't be allowed on any of the other platforms; Valve's fair refund system; etc.

Read this article again and I’m still furious. This is the worst, man.

As an Xbox gamer, I cannot defend this decision. I was excited for their upcoming showcase, but it’s not going to matter how good that is. This decision to close these studios is going to overshadow that showcase for me. There was some serious talent in these studios. They needed to give them sometime and nurture their talents instead of shutting them down. Very sad and upset with Xbox at the moment.

@RicebinBernacky

Sorry brother, but just not that simple. The industry grew significantly during COVID and there was bound to be a pullback. There have been countless articles discussing how the industry grew too big too fast and once life went back to normal post COVID, there just wasn’t enough consumer support to keep that level of development up. You have no idea what moves Bethesda’s would have done if left to their own devices. We are seeing significant layoffs across the entire industry, even with studios and publishers that were not involved in acquisitions and consolidation. To chalk this up as just a consequence of consolidation alone is incredibly naive.

And even with the loss of these studios, MS is still in a much more competitive position in both the console market and mobile market, which will still be very good for both markets long term. The console market is in a far better position with MS being more competitive than it would be with a much weaker MS or a MS that is out of the picture entirely in the console market. I can’t even imagine how bad things would get with no legitimate competition for Sony. I would likely leave the console market entirely and just game on PC 100% of the time.

As much as a feel terrible for Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin, I feel awful for Roundhouse since they were ex-Human Head Studios that were working on Prey 2 (the sequel to the 2006 game, not the 2017 "reboot") until Bethesda ruined them and cancelled the game for "not being up to their quality standards" and then release Fallout 76.

Which then Human Head had a hard time staying afloat with support work, working on the legendary bad game "The Quiet Man" and then worked on Rune II before quitting development on that to form Roundhouse. And now they're absolved into Zenimax Online with only doing support work for Redfall to their name.

While Xbox should be to blame for the closures of the studios and layoffs, I still haven't forgiven Bethesda for the cancellation of the game I wanted to play and caused a domino effect for their downfall (among other things).

first sony's nonsense an now microsoft does more nonsense.

can this industry do anything smart for once without utterly destroying itself??

@TheSimulator I actually think that all first party content should be multiplatform because Microsoft can make more money and sustain the massive amount of content made by all these studios. Having more revenue and better profit margins will make the business more sustainable, and Microsoft won't need to layoff employees or close down studios.

I believe that Microsoft top excutives are taking control of XBOX Division, while Phil Spencer is forced to follow orders. I don't think that Phil Spencer wanted to close down Tango, while he was the one that praised the studio and stated that they will invest more in Tango, which was the only Japanese studio of XBOX.

I believe, the best thing would be to stop this Gamepass.
These subscriptions are the downfall for media. When I read that Hi-Fi Rush wasn't successful enough... Yeah what were they expecting, when they put it into Gamepass.
There are people buying Gamepass over VPN extra cheap and stacking several years. I don't think that the studios are getting much out of this.
I wish Microsoft would go the Nintendo way. Just bring good games for a normal price. So people aren't using them trough Gamepass.

@Nintendo4Sonic Game Pass is the future of gaming, and the most valuable service at the moment. The fact that we can play AA/AAA/indies games with a small monthly subscription fee is a great budget option for many casuals and gamers who don't want to spend a fortune to buy 70$ full price games. Nintendo is not sustainable, doesn't have big market share, and can't compete with Sony to become market leader. Nintendo is a traditional company that makes great games which is selling for full price in her royal fanbase.

@Phil-Spencer-Gate loyal fanbase?
Nintendo sold way over 100 million Switch systems already. That a bit more than a loyal fanbase.
Nintendo dominates this generation and they are showing that traditional console gaming still works.

I (gladly & immediately) bought "Hi-Fi Rush" as soon after my gamepass ultimate subscription expired. It is a game exactly what xbox and gamepass needed for a long time.
It is sickening to see creatures like bobby kotick rewarded and on the other hand, hard working, good developers are punished.
It is undefensible...
Shame on you...

Dear friend @Nintendo4Sonic
I gladly bought "Hi-Fi Rush" right after my gamepass ultimate subscription expired.
Can not be more happy...
It is sickening to see, microbe-soft rewarding bobby kotick(s) and punish, good & hard working developers

Absolutely horrible decision from a terrible company I'm not surprised to be honest with Microsoft plus I Absolutely cannot stand Phil Spencer him and told Howard just pure egotistical talk about arrogant

Studios are getting shut down no matter the quality of their output so why should developers give a crap to work hard and make good games? They're going to get fired no matter how many awards they win.
The industry is a joke.

@Nintendo4Sonic Traditional gaming can't make you a market leader. Nintendo is just happy with being a third player with less revenue and decent profit compared to Playstation and XBOX. Hardware sales doesn't mean anything, you should check software sales. Nintendo is making 10-12 billions dollars in revenue and 3-4 billion in profit. It's a good financial performance for a mid size publisher but it's too small to become a market leader.

Nintendo managed to create a unique identity of a game company which make funny cartoonish games with high quality gameplay which suitable for kids. It's like the Disney of gaming. They have their own franchise and fanbase. The average Nintendo game make 5-6 millions on sales with the expection of big releases like Pokemon or Zelda, which are extremely popular in the general audience.

XBOX has different philosophy and strategy which aims to become a top third party publisher that will make a lot of money not from hardware but from software, subscription services, cloud gaming, mobile games, live services games which will be available in all platforms. There's even a deal with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty on Switch 2. Microsoft wants XBOX to make 40-50 billions in revenue with high profit margin. The only way to achieve that kind of financial success is to become multiplatform and invest more on subscription services via Game Pass and Cloud gaming.

@Nintendo4Sonic

I want to remind you the statements made by Phil Spencer and Natella about XBOX business plan:

In an internal memo to employees, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer explained the strategy like this:
We have a different vision for the future of gaming. A future where players have a unified experience across devices. A future where players can easily discover a vast array of games with a diverse spectrum of business models. A future where more creators are empowered to realize their creative vision, reach a global audience, unite their communities, and succeed commercially. A future where every screen is an Xbox.
It’s a bold idea, particularly because right now, the word Xbox is synonymous with a console that sits under your TV. So if it’s not a physical machine, what is Xbox?

In an interview with The Verge, Spencer said that “Xbox is our gaming platform and content business.” Notably, he did not use the word “console.” Instead, Xbox is an idea, a platform that spans multiple fronts. It started as a console, and now PC and the cloud are a huge part of the Xbox strategy, as is the subscription service Game Pass. With the addition of Activision Blizzard (and its games like Candy Crush and Call of Duty Mobile), as well as the potential for a Microsoft mobile app store, you can add mobile devices to that, too. One day we might include a handheld to that mix. And following the success of previous multiplatform games, most notably Minecraft, rival platforms like the PS5 and Nintendo Switch are increasingly becoming a part of the overall concept of Xbox.

“I like the fact that we get a mix of things happening with our business,” Spencer explained. “Our business model is not just about hardware sales, it’s not just about first-party game sales. It’s a diverse business model that leads to the business success that we’re seeing today, which I think is kind of a testament to the path that we’ve been on for the last few years.”

When discussing the ideal of Microsoft being focused on software across as many platforms as possible, Nadella was asked about Xbox exclusives. Here’s what he said:
If it was up to me I would love to get rid of the entire exclusives on consoles, but that’s not for me to define especially as a low share player in the console market. The dominant player there [Sony] has defined market competition using exclusives, so that’s the world we live in. I have no love for that world.

Microsoft wants Xbox to be a “good” games publisher on Sony and Nintendo

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Nadella said that with the Activision Blizzard deal coming to a close, Microsoft has a chance to become a “good” publisher on both Sony and Nintendo. Separately, Nadella was quizzed about the future of Xbox in light of news that Microsoft’s market value has surpassed that of Apple’s, to which he said that Microsoft wants to build and release games across all platforms.

“We think that now we have the ability to do what we’ve always set out to do, which is build great games and deliver them to folks across all platforms,” Nadella said, listing “Xbox and consoles,” PC, mobile, and cloud as target platforms. “We want to do our very best in gaming — it’s a core business for us,” Nadella added before changing topics and moving on to AI.

I get why people are saying all corporations do things like this, it’s not just exclusively Microsoft.

However what stinks in this case is the fact they have just bought the studios. MS would have known this was the plan. The studios should have been made buy back offers etc before the deal was complete.

MS are turning into EA back in the day when they rinsed loads of awesome studios like Westwood.

@Nintendo4Sonic yeah they’ve sold over 140 million switches!

@Phil-Spencer-Gate read all the data.

Subscription hasn’t grown in a couple of years. Even with AAA day 1 offerings people still aren’t joining up. Starfield didn’t even boost it. (USA is up 1% YoY).

Something is going to give somewhere.

I'm sure that Phil doesn't want studios being shut down, but it's not his decision to make. Microsoft's hardware (Surface and Xbox consoles) is part of their global strategy and they will never quit it. The Xbox business don't get much money with hardware, but with software and subscriptions, so if you, as a player, leave Xbox and start playing on PC, on top of paying a lot more for the hardware and roughly the same price for software, you would also need to avoid any Microsoft-published game if you don't want to support Microsoft. Doing that doesn't make any sense, when Sony is the same or worse regarding financial considerations and definitely worse regarding consumer-friendliness.

About the economics, Sony is not sustainable without the PC market and third-party exclusives don't sell enough on PS as proven this generation, so it's not surprising that some changes need to be made at Microsoft's own studios, too. Both PS and Xbox as gaming businesses needed to scale back, but Xbox wanted to become a multiplatform and cloud ecosystem and needed to have more IPs and key studios to make Game Pass bigger, while PS was all about their exclusives and damaging the competition, excluding Xbox from key third-party games they paid to. If Sony had the money, they would have bought ABK and if they have to shut studios down, they will do it, as they have done.

How would the console landscape look without Xbox? It would look like Nintendo plus a more expensive and constrictive version of the PC world, because even with the current competition, Sony's subscriptions don't include first-party new releases and their software prices are raised even for marketing reasons, e.g., Helldivers 2. If PS was the only high-end console, its price would obviously be higher and the software and subscriptions wouldn't be any cheaper.

Nintendo has had their best generation, not because Switch is the best-selling console of the generation, that doesn't matter, but because they have ported Wii U games and one of them has sold 62m. That's more than remarkable. Cheap to make video games that are sold full price 10 years later. This generation Nintendo has not just saved a lot of money in gaming development with ports, ancient technology and overpriced hardware, but they have sold tons of software copies. That's because Nintendo's games still are considered the family choice and some kind of Disney. However, the dedicated, high-end market is more competitive. Nintendo has also been competing against mobile and they have reached a very decent chunk of the market. Switch replaces their home and handheld consoles, so their userbase is not bigger. DS+Wii was 255m. Switch 139m. You can think that some people have both DS and Wii, but many users have several Switches.

I'm genuinely curious about the next generation because it will be a different challenge for Nintendo under completely different circumstances, but it will also be a challenge for Microsoft and Sony, that have realised that the market hasn't grown (except during covid) and that the biggest hits can't be cloned nor mass-produced, e.g., all the titles trying to be Fortnite or the latest worldwide hit.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Game Pass has now 34 million fully paid subscribers compared to 22 million in 2022. That maybe not a huge number but Game Pass is making more money every year, and it's sustainable. Game Pass is probably making 4-5 billion in revenue...cause we know that Game Pass was making 3 billion dollars with 20 millions subs. Of course, subscription price is not the only source of revenue for Game Pass, because you can spend additional money for microtransactions on Game Pass live service games. For example, you can play games like Diablo, Palworld and Halo Infinite via Game Pass and spend money on microtransactions for those games.

I believe Game Pass will have a major boost on subs growth when Activision Blizzad will bring all their games to the service. Just imagine how many subs will come for games like Call of Duty, Overwatch, Warcraft etc etc. All these new subs will play these games via game pass and they will spend extra money for microtransactions.

We know that Game Pass has two sources of revenue through subscription price and in-game microtransactions made by the existing games to the service.

@Phil-Spencer-Gate The cracks are already beginning to show that even a company the size of MS is struggling to sustain game pass in it's current format, with more and more concessions needing to be made. Job losses, studios being closed, games going multiplatform, adjustments to rewards points and a seeming pivot from first party studios having freedom to make smaller niche games to bigger, and likely safer, games all point to the service bleeding them dry and MS needing to do something about it.
It is widely reported that sub numbers for subscription services is stalling and gamers will be getting wiser that they can just sub to game pass for a month just to play a new game they want and then unsub and they are playing the game for a fraction of the price and there's no way that would be sustainable.

@Phil-Spencer-Gate yet it hasn’t increased by those numbers as we all know. They just bundled in the gold subscribers.

Everyone said starfield would boost it. MS even said it added the most in a day ever. Price has gone up in the last year, loopholed have closed, rewards less generous. Yet in the US, in the last year revenue has increased 1% in subscriptions.

So I’ll use the available data and not the made up maths.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner You don't know the official data, you just make your own baseless conclusions. The last data about game pass is that it had a revenue of 3 billion dollars with 22 millions subs. Game Pass has now 34 millions but Microsoft hasn't reveal any data for the current revenue. However, we can make the safe assumption that Game Pass has more revenue with 34 million subs compared to the previous report of 3 billion revenue with 2 million subs. And we already know that it's profitable by Phil Spencer.

@Ralizah I want to give you the benefit of the doubt that "things are so much different now!" but I remember people saying the same things back then. I'm sure it is somewhat better now, but I just have that nightmare memory of games never running correctly, rolling forward video drivers, rolling backward drivers, updating chipset drivers to try to fix some issue that then introduces another issue... I still have traumas of that moment the screen goes black and the nvidia logo appears at 640x480 just after lol. Yeah, that didn't happen any more even on my own last build, but I can't shake that feeling My last one after the nvida card blew I decided to switch to ATI because it was all the rage at the time (yes, ATI...) and it was still awful When I started with PC video cards were like $50. Then came 3d cards and $200 was an insane price to pay. Last build was $450 and I was just about done with the absurd prices. That a normal gaming GPU costs more than a whole Steamdeck says something.

"Buy premade!": After I'd finally moved onto console after being fed up after about 7+ builds and annoyances, but still wanted to play some PC franchises I decided to buy myself a nice "budget" MSI gaming laptop. Thing would overheat and hard freeze non stop. Rumor mill said there was some problem with the thermal compound on the heatsinks, and all kinds of instructions to rip it open, disassemble the massive heatpipe assemly and reapply arctic silver....with MSI support officially helping instruct. I think it was after that point I decided I effing hate PC gaming for life, everything is built like trash made to break at high prices....and it was half the price back then! Much as I liked the early golden age of PC gaming, I think the "problem" with console gaming is that it's now exactly like that period of PC gaming.

All that said though, and no, I don't want to sit there with a keyb/mo at a desk setting up my gaming boxes, I'd still probably do it if it weren't for the cost. Traiding a pair (2 screens) of $500 boxes for a pair of $2000-3000 boxes, benefits or no, is just not economically a smart thing to do. I keep getting tempted from time to time, but the numbers simply don't work, and unless PC hardware suddenly plummets in price or consoles suddenly skyrocket, I can't imagine the numbers will work out. If someone came up with an affordable and decent gaming PC that would be great, but, ironically, that's my theory of what the next Xbox will actually be, so if so they end up being the most practical solution, even if I have to hold my nose to do it, I suppose I would (isn't that why we all use Microsoft products, it's awful but it's the most practical?) if the next Xbox is an old fashioned console still, though, I'm not sure I'm into it these days. Though I do need my TES6 someday...

Interesting to know about the game sharing thing. I assume they finally did it due to pressure because EGS did it. Steam's really no better than Sony/MS at heart. They just have more competition. Even if I did do the PC route I'm still not sure I'd go with Deck vs a handheld Windows PC so I can use all the launchers. I do keep shopping the PC handhelds, but then I remember that sticks me without a "performance" version of the game for the big screen unless I spend a few more grand on a box for that....the nerdy kid in a candy store wants to say yes. The practical one that says hey cost of living went up 30% and income didn't says no.

@Kevw2006 The long term plan for Game Pass is to release new day content every single month, so you have a reason for yearly subscription. However, it seems that XBOX wants the big publisher it owns like Activision and Blizzard to focus on the development of live service games based on popular IPs, which will be multiplatform and will be exist on game pass at the same time. The main source of revenue for games like Call of Duty, Warcraft, Diablo etc etc is microtransactions in all platforms. Call of Duty is making 1 billion in revenue on PS5 userbase.

Multiplatform is the way for XBOX to have access in all platforms and the global gaming consumer base. They will even bring Call of Duty on Switch 2. This is the way for XBOX to sale their games at a full price in all users in any platform and, at the same time, selling microtransactions for the consumers. The logic of exclusivity is just stupid and outdated because you limit your own consumer base and you're losing money from additional customers.

Phil Spencer himself has stated that Game Pass is not the only service for XBOX success, and it's a fraction of XBOX general revenue. Multiplatform, subscription service, mobile games, cloud gaming is all different products that could bring a lot of money for Microsoft.

That was the plan from the very beginning. But Microsoft is waiting for the right moment to annouce that XBOX will become a thir party multiplatform company without facing the stupid immature reaction of XBOX fanboys, who don't want to change their views on exclusivity and insist on "console wars".

Sony's Playstation is not a rival. Playstastion is just a client for XBOX to make a lot of money.

This is the end for me unfortunately, ive been a huge Xbox fan and have spent lots of money on games peripherals etc. Im selling everything while it still has value ,ive just cancelled all my Xbox subscriptions, Never thought ive be buying a PS5 but here we are.
Do we all seriously think Xbox can pull this back and recover, i dont unfortunately

I mean, they still have some big games coming but a lot won't be viewing that June Showcase now with the same appreciation for Xbox being about the gamers as much as they did.

@Phil-Spencer-Gate so how come Sony and Nintendo can do fine without Xbox release but Xbox can’t ?

@TheSimulator Cause Sony and Nintendo has already established popular platforms which took decades to build a royal consume base.Phil Spencer himself has stated that XBOX can't compete Sony on "console wars", and XBOX cannot make gamers to sell their PS5 and move on Game Pass. It's a waste of resource and time to compete against Sony/Nintendo with hardware and exclusive games. It's pointless strategy for Microsoft, which has to adapt to the new market challenge. And the new market is not "console wars" but content war in all platforms. Microsoft doesn't even has Sony/Nintendo as gaming rival, but it compete against Amazon, Apple, Google and Netflix, which follow similar strategy with Microsoft.

Check this video which explains the whole Microsoft strategy to dominate the gaming industry:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hReTSFU43W4

Between this and Embracer, hopefully this shuts up people clamoring for acquisitions.

@Phil-Spencer-Gate well a lot of it has to deal with Xbox not making good and different games there’s so many franchises and movies they can buy exclusives for to create before Sony gets another one

@TheSimulator It would take DECADES of low profits and wasting too much time to build the XBOX as a "quality exlcusive console platform" in a stagnant- dying console market. This is not sustainable for any company. You should see all the new data and the new market trend in game industry. Multiplatform, mobile, cloud and GaaS is the future of gaming. The production cost of AAA is so expensive that even Sony will become a multiplatform company by selling her games day one on PC for higher profit margin. Consoles market is not growing enought to justify the high risk and investment for AAA console exlcusive games.