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Xbox's The Initiative continues its hiring spree with Naughty Dog, Bungie, Crystal Dynamics, Respawn... alumni
- Thread starter FarSight XR-20
- Start date
Wrong studio but maybe this game will inspire coalition to step up there gameplay as well
That was Destiny 1.
But tbh Destiny 2 was even worse with how slapstick the writing was.
They found one morsel of success in the writing with the occasional humour in late D1 expansions, then proceeded to absolutely beat that horse down in to the dust through to the other side of the earth with D2.
It's pretty obvious that whatever this is, Microsoft wants it to be a Mario/Zelda/God of War/Halo-level game. Something that is special, genre-defying, and becomes a cultural touchstone in entertainment.
The only thing lacking in that game was the plot. Everything else was outstanding and we finally got an actual Tomb Raider game.
I don't think these hirings should be presented as something unusual. At least I get the impression that these kind of posts imply that Initiative's hiring are somehow highly different to how other studios operate. Of course as an AAA developer they are going to hire folks with experience and credential, and the circles aren't that big in the end. People change from one studio to another all the time. This is almost like reporting weekly that water is still wet.
Most directors out there would be glad if they shipped a game like that tbh. You may not think it's a bold sequel but it was a technically sound, polished and enjoyable ride, that really isn't anything to be ashamed of. Most of its weakness comes from its similarity to two already released games, not a general lack of... anything, really.
Yep, kind of odd it had the best gameplay by far but the worst story by far as well. Very dis-jarring too and inconsistent as well.
What was the last studio built from the ground up to launch a AAA game? 343industries? It seems like a really challenging project. I'd love to know what they're cooking!
Lemme guess, they're gonna be picking up some series from the OG Xbox days and half-reinventing it for a modern age while still having it play like a game from the turn of the milennium. There will be an ungodly number of sequels that will make large-scale changes to everything but they will still more-or-less play the exact bleedin' same.
Replying to something in another thread about this;
Replying to something in another thread about this;
I mean, they already tried this with 343 and look how that turned out.
There is something unnatural about creating a new studio and immediately giving them this level of budget. Consider that there are only really a handful of studios that are arguably AAAA and they are decades old on the whole. This seems like a massive risk for Microsoft, quite frankly. You can put together a dream team, but there is so much more to game development than that. I'm excited to see what they're working on but... it feels like a shot in the dark. Hard to be confident about.
I want an RPG/FPS/Story driven Perfect Dark
Something huge that spans earth and into space with the tie-in of Aliens from the original.
I want it to be a huge single player (or two player co-op MAX) game. Mulitplayer is fine, but it ABSOLUTELY MUST BE SEPARATE from single player. I do not want a Destiny or GAAS.
Hey Microsoft, just hire me on...I'll help guide you. No, seriously...I hate my job (16 years in engineering), I can start next week.
Something huge that spans earth and into space with the tie-in of Aliens from the original.
I want it to be a huge single player (or two player co-op MAX) game. Mulitplayer is fine, but it ABSOLUTELY MUST BE SEPARATE from single player. I do not want a Destiny or GAAS.
Hey Microsoft, just hire me on...I'll help guide you. No, seriously...I hate my job (16 years in engineering), I can start next week.
OP
OP
There is also the possibility of a joint-development with another established studio(s).
So far, The Initiative has a lot of vets but is still a small team (50, 65 people ?) compared to some studios. I don't think they are creating their game alone.
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Hope all that talent does not clash or things crash and burn....joking of course, but reading about this talent reminds of the time the L.A. Lakers had Kobe, Shaq, Gary Patton & Karl Malone as 4 of the 5 starters and people were talking they would be unbeatable and then injuries hit and everything crashed and burned. I know weird analogy. lol
True, but they've done it with 343. So they must have learned some things along the way there. At the same time I agree it is unnatural. But maybe you don't want really good "AAA" talent's only career movement options being existing entrenched stuck-in-a-IP AAA studios or starting a small indie studio. Sometimes those ideas and talents might work better with a whole new BIG team with a BIG budget and control over the creative free from decades-old constraints (not to knock the leaders there). It is kinda cool to see it happen - IF they bring the goods. That said, so far 343 seems to be locked to Halo, so hopefully that doesn't happen with The Initiative.
It definitely seems harder than letting a studio ramp up naturally over time. Naughty Dog had around 10-15 employees when they shipped Crash Bandicoot iirc. And it hasn't worked out great with their other attempt at this, 343i either. But with a ton of individual talent and likely a huge budget I am very interested to see whatever it is that they're cooking up.
I haven't seen any repeating leads, but you do need leads of every single department when creating a new studio from scratch, obviously. Those will probably do the hiring of their respective teams. Building teams like this, rarely ever happens (I actually think this might be a first, but IDK for sure), so I find this team fascinating. They are also pretty much just starting anyways, so I won't expect a game from then in at least 3-4 years. Can't wait to see what they are cooking, and hopefully its a new IP and not PD (I just never liked that game. It had zero charm to me and I am not interested in the setting at all, but hey that's me).
If it's been 15 years since the last entry and it's a reboot, does it even count?
I desperately want a new Perfect Dark but I also want it to be good. Everyone is making 343 comparisons and being kinda sketch about it but do remember 343 knocked it out of the goddamn park on their first time out. They fumbled a bit later. Hell, The Coalition did great also if we count Gears 4 as their first outing. MS seemingly does well doing what they do, idk.
"I'm sorry sir. We'd love to hire you, but your video game didn't score high enough on Metacritic."
I think it's safe to say they are definitely not taking over Halo Infinite.
I just want MS to get into AAA story driven games that Sony has dominated with for the last gen and before.
I hope this is not some multiplayer game.
I hope this is not some multiplayer game.
Off topic, but thanks for this post. You just tripled my interest in the game after making some assumptions based on reviews/general chatter.
LOL "unnatural" š
Damn MS why you gotta violate God's natural order
Lol at the downplaying. Era so negative. How often do we see a brand new studio with AAA(A) budget and top tier talent. People are acting like it's normal in the business. It's not. The Initiative is stacked. This is exciting stuff. A brand new AAA(A) studio and game.