07. May 2024, 19:30:13

#0

JDoranQuote

"Microsoft is shutting four studios, including Tango Gameworks, the developers of Bafta award-winning Hi-Fi Rush.
The Tokyo studio is being closed alongside Texas-based Arkane Austin and Canadian developer Alpha Dog Studios.

Wisconsin-based Roundhouse Games will be absorbed into Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios.

Microsoft has not said how many jobs will be cut as a result of the closures, which are all being made at subsidiary Bethesda - which the tech giant bought for $7.5bn (then £5.85bn) in 2020.

"I just want to say that I love all the people at Arkane Austin so much," said studio head Harvey Smith in a post on X, external."


Source: The BBC news website:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c72p5epzj2no

07. May 2024, 20:28:40

#1

foxQuote

Not surprised after RedFall and the way they handled its aftermath.

Acknowledged by: icemann

08. May 2024, 16:06:55

#2

JDoranQuote

Yes. I didn't think we'd ever see a Prey 2, or a Dishonored 3, since it seemed like Arkane had abandoned the immersive sim genre for a more popular style of game, but I did have some hope.

My favourite games developer used to be Rare. Then Microsoft bought Rare, and forced them to not release the type of games that people wanted, but to instead release either much more generic titles (which were presumably quicker and easier to make and to get out the door) or games for the Kinnect (the XBox only gesture reading hardware add-on). I don't know if Rare are still going, and don't care, but at one time I, and many millions of other gamers, used to avidly watch for news of Rare's new and future titles.

Thanks, Microsoft.

And give it five years, and there will probably be less than a dozen game publishers (MS, Sony, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, etc) who own (or more likely did own, but now have closed down) most of the games development houses. Other than the purely indie developers, I mean. And those few major publishers will be able to dictate how games are delivered to us, what DRM we are forced to endure, the costs of the games, how long we can use them for, and whatever else the companies can change to their advantage. And those companies will conspire together to make sure we don't have alternative options open to us that would allow us to bypass the customer-unfriendly things that are being forced upon us.

08. May 2024, 17:11:43

#3

foxQuote

Although I am pessimistic about the forseeable future of gaming too, I'm not feeling entirely hopless about the occasional enjoyable FP-RPG/ImSim-game. I'm not expecting them to ever impress me like the ones we already know and love again and they will be rare but AI in tandem with some inspired and capable dev-teams might indeed help create some really immersive game experiences and counter the problem of exploding development costs to a degree - while it's also going to ruin mankind on multiple other levels. Eh, what can you do... 

10. May 2024, 07:50:53

#4

icemannQuote

I absolutely adore Prey and Dishonored 1&2. Arkane for me was good up to Prey / Mooncrash, and then dropped off after that.

Deathloop just looked really boring from what I read about it + saw in gameplay vids so never checked out. Everything else they put out from then on just didn't interest me. I suspect the same was felt by a lot of the gaming public. Sad to see Arkane go. Would have loved to have seen a Prey 2 at the very least.

As for favourite game developer that's now gone away. Be either Origin, or Blizzard pre-Activision takeover.