- cross-posted to:
- games@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- games@lemmy.world
Today, one day after Microsoft announced that it would shut down four of its games studios, Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, held a town hall to discuss the division’s future goals. “We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards,” Booty told employees, according to internal remarks shared with The Verge.
For some listeners on the call, it was a surprising goal: Microsoft had just shut down the Japanese developer Tango Gameworks, which was coming off the small, prestigious hit title Hi-Fi Rush.
Hi-Fi Rush, which was a surprise release last year, was praised for its innovation and charm. The rhythm action game featured music by The Black Keys and Nine Inch Nails, with an art style that evoked the hyper-stylized games of the PS2 era. Just four months after its release, Hi-Fi Rush hit 3 million players. During the 2023–2024 awards season, the game went on to win a Game Award, a Game Developers Choice award, and a BAFTA.
Maybe stop hemorrhaging money with GamePass. Like for example is paying Take-Two hundreds of millions to get GTAV on the service really a good investment. They could have funded hundreds of smaller studios with the money they poured into the service to just get a handful of triple A games on it.
Just stop trying to make game subscription service a thing. If it ever becomes successful it will just change the industry for the worse.
You’re right but let’s be clear here: Microsoft doesn’t care if it changes the industry for worse, so the only calculus that matters to the execs is whether it works
One correction: the only calculus that matters to the execs is whether it works for now. Whatever happens later is somebody else’s problem