In an email to staff sent by Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft blamed the cuts on a “reprioritization of titles and resources”. The email, verified by IGN, is below:
Today I’m sharing changes we are making to our Bethesda and ZeniMax teams. These changes are grounded in prioritizing high-impact titles and further investing in Bethesda’s portfolio of blockbuster games and beloved worlds which you have nurtured over many decades. To double down on these franchises and invest to build new ones requires us to look across the business to identify the opportunities that are best positioned for success. This reprioritization of titles and resources means a few teams will be realigned to others and that some of our colleagues will be leaving us. Here are the changes going into effect: Arkane Austin – This studio will close with some members of the team joining other studios to work on projects across Bethesda. Arkane Austin has a history of making impactful and innovative games and it is a pedigree that everyone should be proud of. Redfall’s previous update will be its last as we end all development on the game. The game and its servers will remain online for players to enjoy and we will provide make-good offers to players who purchased the Hero DLC. Alpha Dog Studios – This studio will also close. We appreciate the team’s creativity in bringing Doom to new players. Mighty Doom will be sunset on August 7 and we will be turning off the ability for players to make any purchases in the game. Tango Gameworks – Tango Gameworks will also close. We are thankful for their contributions to Bethesda and players around the world. Hi-Fi Rush will continue to be available to players on the platforms it is today. Roundhouse Games – The team at Roundhouse Games will be joining ZeniMax Online Studios (ZOS). Roundhouse has played a key role in many of our recent game launches and bringing them into ZOS to work on The Elder Scrolls Online will mean we can do even more to grow the world that millions of players call home. With this consolidation of our Bethesda studio teams, so that we can invest more deeply in our portfolio of games and new IP, a small number of roles across select Bethesda publishing and corporate teams will also be eliminated. Those whose roles will be impacted will be notified today, and we ask that you please treat your departing colleagues with respect and compassion. We will provide our full support to those who are impacted in today’s notifications and through their transitions, including severance benefits informed by local laws. These changes are not a reflection of the creativity and skill of the talented individuals at these teams or the risks they took to try new things. I acknowledge that these changes are also disruptive to the various support teams across ZeniMax and Bethesda that bring our games to market. We are making these tough decisions to create capacity to increase investment in other parts of our portfolio and focus on our priority games. Bethesda remains one of the key pillars of Xbox with a strong portfolio of amazing games and thriving communities. As we look to the future, there is an impressive line-up of games on the horizon. In 2024 alone we have Starfield Shattered Space, Fallout 76 Skyline Valley, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle, and The Elder Scrolls Online’s Golden Road. As we align our plans and resources to best set ourselves up for success in this complex and changing industry, our teams across Arkane Lyon, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, MachineGames, ZeniMax Online Studios and the Bethesda publishing and corporate teams will be well-positioned to build new IP, explore new game concepts, and expand on our existing franchises. - Matt
Arrowhead knew all of this was coming six months ago and didn't say anything is absurd
In Arrowhead's defense, they never anticipated six months ago how much this game would blow up. They then spent weeks in crunch time just trying to keep the servers alive. Then Sony starts demanding that they crack down on PSN linking even though Sony, who is in charge of sales, sold the game in countries with no PSN support. Sony deserves the bulk of the blame here.
Chinese TikTok is fueling this on the Lefty, pro-Palestinian side as well. In fact, TikTok probably forced Elon's hand here to open up discussion in order to viably compete in the social media sphere. Now China doesn't give a shit about Israel or Palestine, but it is to their military advantage to spread division and demoralize American men from ever joining the US military. Not that China needs much help on that front, but they can certainly accelerate already existing grievances via the TikTok algorithm.
May is already Asian American Heritage month. They are straight up stealing the month from the Asians and giving it to the Jews.
In 1992, the month of May was designated by President George H. W. Bush as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/News_Asian_Pacific_Month.htm
The fact that the protests erupted around the same time the TikTok ban bill was signed tells you everything you need to know. The Biden Administration wants to seize TikTok without looking bad during a critical election year, so they're manufacturing a crisis. The solution will be "seize TikTok."
Okay, let's take this argument at face value and assume these 13 year-old girls from rural West Virginia are experts on Title IX. Again, what does this community expect a bunch of Middle School girls to do? What tangible action should these girls take?
Title IX was enacted in 1972. The mothers of these children weren't even born when it happened. Honestly, and I'm not even snarking here, what does this community expect a bunch of Middle School girls to do? They made the correct decision to protest competing against boys, and people are still shitting on them for it. It's a no-win situation.
These girls probably still use the things preferred pronouns and want it treated like a lady in situations that don't cost them.
These are literal girls from a Middle School in rural West Virginia (for non-Americans, WV is often slandered as one of the most "redneck" and "hillbilly" states in America). I get chiding adult Leftist women for this behavior, but have some perspective.
When my Ford Focus broke beyond repair and I had to shop for a new vehicle, I ended up replacing it with a big ass SUV. Why? Because:
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It's 1000% more comfortable. I had no idea how cramped I was in sedans until I actually got to test drive pick-up trucks and SUVs.
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It's a much more pleasurable driving experience sitting high off the road. You get to see a lot more than you do in a sedan.
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I feel safer driving around tractor trailers, other large vehicles, and EVs (which weigh as much as large pick-up trucks despite the smaller profile).
I can absolutely understand why a mother who has to haul children around would opt for one of these. I encourage the critics to test drive a pick-up or large SUV so that they can better understand the appeal.
On a related note, Hooded Horse is a publisher worth paying attention to. They tend to publish games made by small teams that are niche, in-depth, and focused on quality gameplay. I haven't encountered any woke garbage in any of their games. Hooded Horse is having a great run these past few months between Against the Storm leaving Early Access and now Manor Lords.
Funny how all of these protests erupted right after the TikTok ban bill was signed. IMO, this is textbook "create a crisis, then present a solution" from the usual suspects in order to make the US government look less dictatorial when it seizes TikTok.
Bill Maher of Kid Love Productions who belongs to the same degenerate sex club as Hunter Biden and wears the Podesta red shoes is a liar and likely pedophile. Stop giving these puppets attention when they occasionally say something you like.
After watching Unicorn Overlord get unfairly smeared last month over its translation, I'm taking the wait-and-see approach to this. Unicorn Overlord is an excellent game with no DIE bullshit at all, and yet people still tried to sabotage it because the translation looked like something out of a '90s JRPG. People need to pick better battles.
It removes top sites from the search results.
free to play yet that's what the majority of the cons00mer types seem to be playing now.
From what I've seen, these types of games tend to attract people who don't have the money or the equipment to play better quality games. It's mostly children, Third Worlders, and bored non-gamers who want to check out whatever their friends are playing without risking any money over it. I don't mean any of this in a snooty way; it's only to point that it's a different playerbase with different needs and expectations than traditional gamers.
It happens occasionally in Pittsburgh. The Liberty Bridge (one of the major bridges in the area) got hit by barges in 2012 and 2019, and nobody lost their shit over it back then. The flooding is the worst it has been in years--comparable to Hurricane Ivan in 2004--so this isn't a "routine" flood, either.
I get the skepticism, but Pittsburgh received an extreme amount of rain and flooding the day before. A rapidly rising river creates more stress than the ties binding the barges can handle. There's a good chance that this really happened as reported rather than sabotage or DIE incompetency.
I suspect at least some of the push for adding online content is to combat piracy. At least in my case, there are a handful of games I purchased legit copies of for the purpose of accessing the online features.