As another round of layoffs hit Xbox, Microsoft cancels Rare's long in development Everwild

[ciro64]

Who should I spank? Bill Gates or Phil Spencer?

When I saw ugly Banjo for the first time as a 11 years old I definitely wanted to spank Bill Gates

 

[Somnia]

Microsoft has been said to be a pretty hands off publisher and it seems like a lot of studios just have creative leads who struggle to keep a project focused and on track. Still, fuckin sucks that Microsoft and Sony have both become so synonymous with layoffs, closures and cancellations. It's interesting that when they are more hands on it seems to result in missteps like Scalebound or Halo 5, but then when they're hands off damn near half of the games they have in development take over half a decade to come out if they ever come out at all.

Let's be honest here when has Rare made a GOOD game? How long has it been? I wouldn't put it past me that their new game was going to be good anyway. It looks pretty but it's probably some multiplayer grindfest with barely any players on considering its on XBOX.
Microsoft did them a favor

Sea of Thieves was one of my favorite games of last gen entirely so I'm inclined to say the last time they released a good game was the last time they released a game. Really, the only "dark era" of Rare for me is the Kinect era, but even then the Kinect Adventures games were more than fine games for what they were.

Clearly this one was in some sort of development hell tho, considering it was in pre-production as early as 2014.

 

[ZombieFish]

Who should I spank? Bill Gates or Phil Spencer?

Yes. Although I have to agree with the sentiment that Rare are at least two decades past their expiration date. Perfect Dark looked kinda crap too, if I’m being honest. Still, hardworking people getting the axe is bogus.

 

[drizzes]

Rare in dangerous peril of becoming the Sea of Thieves life support studio

 

[job32]

View attachment 86279

Rare’s Everwild Reportedly Canceled

This sounded pretty cool and ambitious. It reminds me of when B.C. was canceled for the original Xbox. Definitely the biggest Xbox project to get canceled since Scalebound. Very disappointing.

Those were the best game trailers for a game I have seen in a long time. If I owned the console, I would have bought that, be it hit or miss in the gameplay department. It just exuded a bit of heart. Rare to see games that might actually lift your spirit these days. Probably why it had to go.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

The store page of Perfect Dark is gone.

 

[iamthemilkman]

Anyone remember this? This was one project that deserved to be canceled.

 

[negaversebuffet]

It's looking more and more like Microsoft bought up an entire section of gaming only to fire everyone and put the money saved into a huge pit labelled "AI research" so no one else gets to have things? I'm at the point where if you use gamepass you're a scab and I'm pretty done playing anything funded by them, much more interesting things getting developed (and finished) by indies.

 

[iamthemilkman]

I have no hope for Halo's future.

Halo Studios is currently working on multiple games, including the next mainline Halo installment, and it's the steward of Halo: Infinite, which is quietly spinning down its content cadence. The mood at the studio is tense, especially when it comes to one project that was recently in crisis, according to the developer.

"I don't think anybody is really happy about the quality of the product right now," they said. "There's been a lot of tension and pep talks trying to rally folks to ship." The studio recently teased that it would reveal what it's been working on at this year's Halo World Championship in October.

Even before the Xbox layoffs, there was 'tension' at Halo Studios

 

[Dr.Kisaragi]

Do you think the handheld Xbox Rog will continue or will be another flop?

 

[JackNoir413]

the industry keeps dying. billions must start their own indie studio...

 

[aquova]

I'll say my prediction again, that Xbox as a dedicated gaming device is over. The next one will be just a Windows box with a gaming UI, similar to what the Steam Deck is. They'll let you install any Windows program you want on it, including Steam, and it really just exists to give people the option to have a console experience on their big TVs.

I just don't see them releasing a new Xbox Series X-2 without making big changes, and idk what else they'd do.

 

[Leon]

Phil Spencer is a monumental failure, a garbage person. This is the memo he sent out to staff.

As much as i hate to defend him, it might not be spencer's fault in this, remember he's the ceo of xbox, NOT microsoft, the ceo of microsoft meddling from what i hear is the biggest problem with xbox as unlike the xbox division who actually see the value of games, microsoft's leadership want money and nothing else.

 

[Viviana Santos]

Do you think the handheld Xbox Rog will continue or will be another flop?

Rog Xbox Ally X is very likely going to be a flop.

 

[moonbits]

Let me handle Xbox, I'll turn it into the best console ever, trust me.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 5:34 PM

Rog Xbox Ally X is very likely going to be a flop.

yeah, I don't see getting any traction. Most people including myself would rather wait for Steam Deck 2: Electric Boogaloo, The Ballad of Gabe Newell

 

[Glimbo]

Microsoft's funding for a new FPS from Romero Games has also been stopped.

twitter link

 

[iamthemilkman]

Microsoft's funding for a new FPS from Romero Games has also been stopped.

View attachment 86656
twitter link

Interesting, I had no idea they were publishing his new game. I still need to play Sigil and Sigil 2.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Didn't Microsoft also replace their QA team with AI? There's shooting yourself on the foot and then there's suicide by nuclear blast, and MS has been so hellbent on accomplishing the latter for a long while now.

 

[moonbits]

Didn't Microsoft also replace their QA team with AI? There's shooting yourself on the foot and then there's suicide by nuclear blast, and MS has been so hellbent on accomplishing the latter for a long while now.

yeah they're pushing it too much people are beginning to quit.

 

[iamthemilkman]

Didn't Microsoft also replace their QA team with AI? There's shooting yourself on the foot and then there's suicide by nuclear blast, and MS has been so hellbent on accomplishing the latter for a long while now.

What are QA teams even doing anymore? It seems like so many games get released in a crummy state nowadays and require patches.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 8:16 PM

 

[ThatOneLum]

Honestly, at this point, I'd just expect to be disappointed by any game being created under the label/control of a major corporation.

If it's owned by any of the big three or one of their ilk, that golden apple is going to turn to ash in your mouth. Expecting everything to go to wrack and ruin is a better outlook than expecting greatness only to be massively disappointed.

 

[Leon]

What are QA teams even doing anymore? It seems like so many games get released in a crummy state nowadays and require patches.

Post automatically merged: Yesterday at 8:16 PM

View attachment 86697

Makes me think even more that this was from nutella or whatever his name is and not spencer.

 

[Pickle surprise]

Holy shit Microsoft is on a rampage, with the amount of studios being laid off and projects cancelled, what do they actually have for the upcoming year? It seems to be the logic that if your game is not making COD money then you are creating an unmitigated flop and should be put out back and shot. This kind of thinking is insanely unsustainable and will just lead to a homogeneous monoculture of safe and bland titles. Say what you will about Nintendo but you would never see them laying off Monolith soft just because the Xenoblade series are not hitting the sales numbers of Pokemon. It is this strange binary mindset of make all the money or get fucked that has become more common since gaming became a billion dollar industry.

The news that hits me the most is definitely Greg Mayles leaving Rare as he was responsible for some of my favourite games to come out of Rare and with him gone, the old guard during the Nintendo days have pretty much all left the studio now. I know many have said Rare was dead for quite some time but with Mayles and O'Conner gone, it is safe to say that the Rare of so many childhoods is definitely finished. Even though I don't play their most recent stuff (always online multiplayer stuff is just not my bag), I hope Rare still stick around in some form and get through this rough patch. Absolutely horrific day for the games industry.