of employees over the past couple years, games industry executives appear to be adopting a more efficient method of what they euphemistically call"reprioritization": closing entire studios. Take-TwoThe dissolution of these talented, well-respected teams has reinforced the feeling among gamers and developers that nothing is good enough to earn security under big publishers today.
The message being heard is that you can do everything right, but still be deemed 'low-impact' at any point by the suits upstairs, and then it's curtains. In the wake of the announcement, fans and developers have expressed fury, heartbreak, and unease, especially over the future of other Microsoft-owned studios, which include Obsidian, inXile, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory.
"Extremely cool and not devastating at all how even studios and devs who make award winning or best selling games aren't safe from ✨restructuring✨ and ✨divesting resources elsewhere✨,"Helldivers 2 studio CEO Johan Pilestedt."I mean... Why close instead of divest ? Surely the team would easily have been able to find a new home.
Microsoft announces 4 studio closures—including Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks, creators of Prey and Hi-Fi Rush respectively