Xbox Game Studios & Bethesda |OTXIII| Todd Howard & The Temple of Doom

[ThereAreFourNaan]

Not only this. MS lost nearly every 2nd party developer that helped Xbox.

Bungie (Departure)
Lionhead (closed)
Ensemble (closed)
Epic Games
Remedy
BioWare

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Crytek
Insomniac

+ More (including smaller teams like Swery).

Epic and Bungie both wanted to do their own thing. BioWare got John Ricitello'd with the Elevation Partners inside job shit.

The rest of them were on Microsoft, who chose not to make new contracts for one reason or another. Lionhead and Ensemble were wholly owned, and shut down. The dearth of content from 2017-2021 was a function of them basically retreating whenever they didn't immediately find a lot of success.

The studio slate in 2018 when they started buying was only so small because of the long term implosion of Microsoft Studios prior to the decision to start reinvesting and expanding.

 

[Pancracio17]

Brand it as a spin-off if you like then, but KI doesn't have a clear identity as a fighting game to betray, it's been an also-ran for as long as it's been alive.

Max has been great spruiking for it, but the reboot's very limited success on the pro front was the exception, not the rule.

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KI wasnt a success? It was on the platform that was the least popular for fighting games, and made enough to greenlight 3 seasons of DLC, complete with bonus characters. I would think it was a big success for its budget.

 

[mecaguendeu]

I don't get that way of thinking because maybe you don't like an specific genre. Then, when Microsoft abandon their IPs and don't do any sequel, it's all about "why are they not doing any sequel, what have happened".

More genres, more variety. Specially if those IPs have some reputation. And that's the only way for that reputation to increase and the IPs to consolidate.

That way of lamenting caused us to only have Halo, Gears and Forza as a relevant IPs for a long time.

 

[Deleted member 68874]

There's value in pursuing a fighting game especially when it comes to diversifying the Xbox first party portfolio which is mostly FPS and RPGs.

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The last FPS game Xbox put out was Halo 5 in 2015.

Xbox Studios/Publishing are already one of if not the most diverse publisher out right now.

Look at 2020:
Ori 2 (Metroidvania)
Gears Tactics (Strategy)
Age of Empire 3 DE (RTS)
Flight Simulator (Simulator)
Tell Me Why (Adventure)
Bleeding Edge (3D Brawler)
Battle Toads (Beat em Up)
Minecraft Dungeons (ARPG).

Xbox has only just become a big FPS publisher because of the Bethesda acquisition.

Killer Instinct was a great game, despite barely having a budget at all.

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Killer Instinct was a huge success for Microsoft. You don't continue to pump money into something for 4-5 years if it's not. Plus, it did reach over 10 million players as of September 2017, and that was just before it released on Steam. Not sure how much it grew after that.

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Do either of you think MS choosing to invest in a new Killer Instinct was a smarter decision than investing in Street Fighter V would have been?

Also I never said Killer Instinct was bad or that it was a complete failure.

 

[Shirkelton]

KI wasnt a success? It was on the platform that was the least popular for fighting games, and made enough to greenlight 3 seasons of DLC, complete with bonus characters. I would think it was a big success for its budget.

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I didn't say it wasn't a success, I said it was a limited success on the pro scene. Two very different things, almost the exact opposite, in fact.

 

[Pancracio17]

I didn't say it wasn't a success, I said it was a limited success on the pro scene. Two very different things, almost the exact opposite, in fact.

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I mean, its limited because its on the least popular platform for fighting games though. Its pretty popular competitively for people that played on Xbox.

 

[BloodHound]

I'll take a KI3 by.....ArcSys?
Would be fire.

 

[mentok15]

Sort of, yeah. I don't think they should do nothing with JRPGs or Fighting Games, but I think the idea of buying up multiple studios to that end is pretty misguided.

A lot of content on Game Pass is going to be third content.

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Yea I agree. For areas they are weak in Gamepass deals would be the best. Pushing GDK would also be beneficial for devs who have done pc but not Xbox ports before.

And now that Bethesda & Co are first party I hope that their back catalog becomes bc with enhancements.

 

[Grunty]

Do either of you think MS choosing to invest in a new Killer Instinct was a smarter decision than investing in Street Fighter V would have been?

Also I never said Killer Instinct was bad or that it was a complete failure.

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I think choosing to invest in your own IP is always the smarter decision, even if there is higher risk involved. If successful—and in this case it was—you have the option to continue to capitalize on that investment both financially and with the fan base by strengthening the IP with new content and future games. It doesn't appear that Microsoft has chosen to do so at this moment, but hopefully in the future another KI will happen.

 

[Caiusto]

Do either of you think MS choosing to invest in a new Killer Instinct was a smarter decision than investing in Street Fighter V would have been?

Also I never said Killer Instinct was bad or that it was a complete failure.

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I don't see your point, KI was a launch lineup game on 2013 and SFV launched at 2016. Besides, it's not like MS could push Capcom to make a new Street Fighter game, it's not how these things works.

 

[Searsy82]

I didn't say it wasn't a success, I said it was a limited success on the pro scene. Two very different things, almost the exact opposite, in fact.

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Now I'm going to ask a question, and it is almost entirely rooted in naivete, but why does the pro scene matter?

 

[rrc1594]

Get someone in-house to make KI and have it be more of a pick up and play, party game title.

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I don't always agree with your post, but they do come from a very level-headed and rational place. With that said FUCK OUT OF HERE WITH THIS!

 

[Tappin Brews]

Get someone in-house to make KI and have it be more of a pick up and play, party game title.

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Ryan Mccaffrey, is that you?

 

[Shirkelton]

I should probably clarify that I'm picturing a shift to a more casual, ongoing fighting game with less of a focus on the pro stuff rather than like, making it Fusion Frenzy.

Comparing me to McCaffrey is downright rude, though.

Now I'm going to ask a question, and it is almost entirely rooted in naivete, but why does the pro scene matter?

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It's a big way to draw money, investment and players to a fighting game, it's also really good advertising and is pretty important to having a strong, stable, growing community.

It also opens up further opportunities for more games, market share, etc in that genre.

That KI had the success it did despite not really being a big game on the pro circuit is really good, but Xbox clearly wanted it to be a foot in the door there and it's not really that.

This was also when Sony didn't really have a committed fighting game coming to their new console and the FGC was becoming a big 'eSports' style focus for a lot of companies.

 

[BlackheartVinyl]

I'm not even a fan of traditional fighting games, but KI should absolutely continue. It was a success. I think they should do a Season 4 and optimize it for Series X.

Plus, also do the Power Stone 2-type game with the Xbox mascots. Does Irom Galaxy have two teams? 😂

 

[SteelCurtain 59]

Has there been any news on anything related to 2nd party stuff from Xbox Global Publishing? Obviously their role is much less necessary with 22 other studios but seeing this discussion on genres Xbox is missing I feel like that would be a great way to fill those gaps and also build relationships with other studios for potential future acquisitions (not that I'm rooting for more acquisitions per se, but seems likely Microsoft is going to continue buying), things like having Banjo or Conker get revived by Playtonic or Gears for Breakfast (or any other developer), or outsource Killer Instinct for another fighting game studio. JRPG's might be harder though. Obviously they could just buy or create new studios for those genres but I feel like using their 2nd party would be easier than immediately buying more studios after going from like 5 to 23 in 3 years.

 

[ToadPacShakur]

I'm not even a fan of traditional fighting games, but KI should absolutely continue. It was a success. I think they should do a Season 4 and optimize it for Series X.

Plus, also do the Power Stone 2-type game with the Xbox mascots. Does Irom Galaxy have two teams? 😂

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I think it might be best to do a new game. Doing a new Season might scare off new people or those who fell off

though yes please, a Power Stone game please. My friends and I played THE FUCK out of the demo back on the Dreamcast

 

[Zg9]

I'll take a KI3 by.....ArcSys?
Would be fire.

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Take my money. It can be supervised by Ken Lobb, it wouldn't be his first time working with Japanese.

 

[kendominfinity]

Is Mojang One of the biggest studios they have or smallest? Looks like Marc Watson a producer there said they have 600 employees. That would put them around 343 Industries size.

 

[tapedeck]

Get someone in-house to make KI and have it be more of a pick up and play, party game title.

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[BlackheartVinyl]

I think it might be best to do a new game. Doing a new Season might scare off new people or those who fell off

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But it would cost less to produce, so it's less of a risk. The other seasons came out before Game Pass, I think it a new one came out today, it could likely be a different story.

 

[irrational]

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Lmao!

While we're at it...Here me out, a grity FPS reboot of Banjo Kazooie by ID Software.

 

[Guerrilla]

Ryan Mccaffrey, is that you?

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LoL, the ultimate insult.

Btw don't we actually need some kind of event/video in the first half of this year on top of the bethesda thing? They should talk a bit more about psychonauts2 soon right?

 

[Grunty]

I'm not even a fan of traditional fighting games, but KI should absolutely continue. It was a success. I think they should do a Season 4 and optimize it for Series X.

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It's too late for Season 4. Assuming it would even happen this years, that's 4-5 years since Season 3. Should they decide to continue, it absolutely needs to be a fresh start.

 

[Jimmy1984]

Paradox

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SEGA

 

[Monkhaus]

I simply used the layoffs as an example of companies saying something and another thing happens after the takeover. That happens in real life all the time. Spenser could not possible say otherwise until MS owned Microsoft. Would the head of Xbox also say they might consider breaking a contract before EU approval? Of course not. That would be career suicide.

Now is it going to happen? Not likely but are you suggesting no one at Microsoft asked their legal team to see if there is any viable way to get out of, break, or change (simultaneous release on GamePass) this contract? You are naive If you think that.

And no I do not hate this deal. I have a XSX and a XSS, and a PS5DE and a PS5 PE. I also have about 32-months left of GamePass Ultimate. I play CoD Black Ops on my PS5 consoles and that is about it. I will find it crazy if Xbox and Spenser do not make it very clear their intentions for exclusivity presently - there are lots of people this early in the generation who have not yet been able to upgrade to a XSX or PS5. Real information may sway people to buy a XSX or XSS in lieu (or additionally) of a PS5.

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If I were phil I would have immediately recorded a video the time the aquisition was done.

To all the whining Worms out there!
Do you wanna mess with me?
Ok, there you Go. Deathloop & ghostwire are cancelled for ps5. You want to play these games? Buy a xbox and you are good to go.
Furthermore i would like to anounce that never again a bethesda game will see the light on a playstation console. Not even a Trailer of a bethesda game!

you hate Ms? I HATE YOU

Think that would be a clear message!

 

[BlackheartVinyl]

It's too late for Season 4. Assuming it would even happen this years, that's 4-5 years since Season 3. Should they decide to continue, it absolutely needs to be a fresh start.

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Why? There's no rule against it. The game still looks great and plays great, not worth the risk. I'd say the game probably isn't worth doing if they're gonna start from scratch.

 

[SilentEagle]

SEGA alone can fill XGS's gaps.

 

[DJDoubleCream]

So it's today we find out more about the Bethesda acquisition as well as games coming to game pass? Any ideas what time?

 

[Neural]

So it's today we find out more about the Bethesda acquisition as well as games coming to game pass? Any ideas what time?

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I doubt we'll know more about the acquisition. But we should get the Game Pass games, it's usually at 5pm CET I believe.

 

[Xadra]

Oh boy, acquisitions talk is back.

I still believe buying small-middle studios, even if they don't have a lot of IP's, is the best move.


Is there any hind on what Roundhouse Studios are developing? Genre? More RPG? Number of employees? What can we expect?
They still don't have a webpage...
As Human Head Studios they developed Prey, Prey 2 (cancelled), Rune, and The Quiet Man .

 

[FarSight XR-20]

Why was GING-SAMA banned ? We need infos on Obsidian hires

Is Mojang One of the biggest studios they have or smallest? Looks like Marc Watson a producer there said they have 600 employees. That would put them around 343 Industries size.

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610 people on Linkedin (so could be more ?)

 

[crazillo]

Oh boy, acquisitions talk is back.

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Will we ever return to the games? Hopefully that is the case once Microsoft offers a deep dive on their new games. I'm so tired of these acquisition discussions. They're far worse than port begging by now.

 

[Vico]

To pivot a little bit, I'm curious about Game Pass' growth during the first half of this year. I'd guess it's going to slow down a little since there is a large gap of big day-one releases right now. EA Play and co probably helped late last year, but since january Game Pass hasn't been as agressive. And we don't have any dates for the 2021 releases so it's still going to be a while.

Will we ever return to the games? Hopefully that is the case once Microsoft offers a deep dive on their new games. I'm so tired of these acquisition discussions. They're far worse than port begging by now.

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Besides the Perfect Dark announcement and the Hivebusters release, as well as some info on Halo, there hasn't been much to talk about lately (Xbox Game Studios-related, I mean). I don't think it'll change much until june, they seem to prefer condensing every announcements / deep dives / trailers in a single big show rather than having more smaller events.

Going forward, I don't think it's the right way to do it. Game Pass showcases every 3-4 months seem more ideal to keep the conversation going.

 

[Klobrille]

Is there any hind on what Roundhouse Studios are developing? Genre? More RPG? Number of employees? What can we expect?
They still don't have a webpage...
As Human Head Studios they developed Prey, Prey 2 (cancelled), Rune, and The Quiet Man .

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We have no idea at all. Roundhouse Studios in general is currently flying under the radar, with no open positions, no social media accounts, no website or anything. It seems like they are just focused on working on something since the original announcement in 2019, with a proper re-reveal of the studio/their first project coming at a later date. There is also the chance they are collaborating with another Bethesda studio and assist on another project or something. We simply have no idea nor any clues. I guess it'll almost feel like a new studio when they start talking in the future.

 

[Deleted member 68874]

After playing some of Divinity OS 2 and Wasteland 3 co-op I hope Playground goes all in on co-op for Fable.

Deep RPGs work so well with playing with a friend and it sounds like Starfield and Avowed will be SP only games.

Xbox is known for it's more MP offerings and I hope they expand to some of their upcoming big games.

Oh boy, acquisitions talk is back.

I still believe buying small-middle studios, even if they don't have a lot of IP's, is the best move.


Is there any hind on what Roundhouse Studios are developing? Genre? More RPG? Number of employees? What can we expect?
They still don't have a webpage...
As Human Head Studios they developed Prey, Prey 2 (cancelled), Rune, and The Quiet Man .

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Maybe a licensed game like Machine Games? Since Bethesda games weren't doing the best itd make sense if they pivoted some of their studios to make games based on licensed properties.

There was a 4chan rumour from a while ago that said Bethesda was making a Planet of the Apes game. While the rumour is 99% BS it does seem like something within the real of possibility especially since Bethesda is working on a different Disny IP (Indy).

 

[Biggzy]

Maybe a licensed game like Machine Games? Since Bethesda games weren't doing the best itd make sense if they pivoted some of their studios to make games based on licensed properties.

There was a 4chan rumour from a while ago that said Bethesda was making a Planet of the Apes game. While the rumour is 99% BS it does seem like something within the real of possibility especially since Bethesda is working on a different Disny IP (Indy).

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I have been wondering about this ever since the Indiana Jones game was announced and whether Bethesda was pivoting some of their studios towards licensed properties.

 

[coarse_grained]

https://complicationsensue.blogspot.com/

I highly recommend Alex Epstein(Narrative Director at Compulsion Games)'s blog, has lots of in-depth interviews with industry veteran writer.

 

[Voodoopeople]

Roundhouse is a bit of a mystery. But I'm not sure how far along they'd be. They only got acquired late 2019, so basically got 6 months work done before the whole world stopped. Home working probably means mot studios have probably gotten about 50% work efficiency by working at home. About 6 months worth of productivity since March 2020. So in total I'd estimate Roundhouse has been working on something for the equivalent of 1yr since acquisition. Just depends on whether or not they were working on something at Human Head AND took it with them into Roundhouse.

 

[Spirited]

I really do not have confidence in Roundhouse studios and it wouldn't surprise me if they are "just" a support studio for the rest of the bethesda teams. Like the last games they've made is the quiet man at MC 28 and Rune 2 at MC 50 which was also abandoned when human head went defunct in spite of promises to their then publisher.

They do have a pretty baller logo though so that should account for something at least.

 

[BlackheartVinyl]

Oh boy, acquisitions talk is back.

I still believe buying small-middle studios, even if they don't have a lot of IP's, is the best move.


Is there any hind on what Roundhouse Studios are developing? Genre? More RPG? Number of employees? What can we expect?
They still don't have a webpage...
As Human Head Studios they developed Prey, Prey 2 (cancelled), Rune, and The Quiet Man .

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They already announced they're starting the The Quiet Man games as a service and they'll keep that going for the next 20 years.

 

[Arn]

Do we know if we're getting anything more on the Bethesda front today?

I remember talk of more information coming on Thursday, but can't remember if that was actually legit.

 

[Firenoh]

Do we know if we're getting anything more on the Bethesda front today?

I remember talk of more information coming on Thursday, but can't remember if that was actually legit.

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Yeah, the GamePass announcements.

 

[BlackheartVinyl]

Do we know if we're getting anything more on the Bethesda front today?

I remember talk of more information coming on Thursday, but can't remember if that was actually legit.

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Yeah, the GamePass announcements.

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We don't know that for sure from Microsoft (so no one should be upset if that's Friday), but Jeff Grubb indicated that yeah, it'll be today.

 

[lunanto]

News in 3 or 4 hours?

 

[Xadra]

There is also the chance they are collaborating with another Bethesda studio and assist on another project or something.

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I can see them assisting the development of The Elder Scrolls VI.

Specially if any of this is remotely true: Lawsuit Claims Bethesda Purposefully Sabotaged Rune 2 In Favor Of The Elder Scrolls - Game Informer (old news) Hard to believe, and probably bullshit.

 

[T0kenAussie]

Will we ever return to the games? Hopefully that is the case once Microsoft offers a deep dive on their new games. I'm so tired of these acquisition discussions. They're far worse than port begging by now.

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The acquisition talk is an ARG

 

[Arn]

Yeah, the GamePass announcements.

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We don't know that for sure from Microsoft (so no one should be upset if that's Friday), but Jeff Grubb indicated that yeah, it'll be today.

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Thanks!

 

[arsene_P5]

Has there been any news on anything related to 2nd party stuff from Xbox Global Publishing? Obviously their role is much less necessary with 22 other studios but seeing this discussion on genres Xbox is missing

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I don't think there has been any recent news. Just a rumor that there is a AAA game XGP is publishing. I feel it's not about "necessary" and more about Microsoft having enough of them publishing games with a external partners that then go on to something else. The most recent example being moon studio doing a new IP and therefore not being available for a new Ori for a few years.

Even Killer Instinct had this issue iirc, because the debeloper got bought by Amazon. Correct me if I am wrong. I think there will still be published games, but Microsoft isn't heavily investing anymore, because you can't plan with those franchises. After all the independent developer can do whatever they want.

Will we ever return to the games? Hopefully that is the case once Microsoft offers a deep dive on their new games. I'm so tired of these acquisition discussions. They're far worse than port begging by now.

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What's your favorite Xbox game and what do you look forward to the most?

 

[Deleted member 68874]

I can see them assisting the development of The Elder Scrolls VI.

Specially if any of this is remotely true: Lawsuit Claims Bethesda Purposefully Sabotaged Rune 2 In Favor Of The Elder Scrolls - Game Informer (old news) Hard to believe, and probably bullshit.

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Bethesda absolutely pulled some bullshit business tactics against Human Head. Idk about the Rune 2 issue though.