We'll DM you on Patreon with a Steam code for Dicefolk or Undermine if you support MinnMax at the $5 tier or upgrade your tier before May 12th, 2024! www.patreon.com/minnmax
I genuinely think Ben Hanson is the single best podcast host in games media. Lots of great ones out there, but Ben’s just a natural. His taste in video games is suspect…but nobody’s perfect, lol.
Closing Tango is ridiculous. They released one of the most polished and creative games last year, and it reviewed very well. I just don't understand letting all of that talent go to other companies.
As I understood it, the two axed studios had recently released, and have not began production on their next projects yet, so the logic was if they're gonna drop two studios you can't kill a studio in the middle of development as that'd be a waste of the money invested in those projects, you have to kill studios that haven't started full on production yet, which is why a studio, a good studio, got killed. Bad timing and mismanagement at the top. And the logical argument against ALL of that is they shouldn't be in a situation where they NEED to close two or more studios, why did you buy these fuckin studios in the first place if you couldn't handle them?
@@JoshMarshain "they shouldn't be in a situation where they NEED to close two or more studios" The sad part is, they absolutely were not. Microsoft had more than enough money to keep the studios open... heck, I read that the payout they gave to Bobby Kotick just to walk away would have been enough to pay the entire staff at both Arcane Austin and Tango Gamesworks for 17 years. This is pure, heartless, short-sighted capitalist greed at its worst; apparently shifting some lines on a financial graph to make themselves look more profitable for one quarter is worth more to them than keeping 2 beloved, relatively successful studios open, which is the antithesis of everything they said when they were acquiring studios and putting their games straight onto Gamepass. Call me naive, but I still believe this isn't something that Phil Spencer would have wanted, so to me it's a clear demonstration that there are people at Microsoft who are way over his head calling the shots. Very curious to see what he has to say next time we hear from. Wouldn't be at all surprised if he is let go/leaves.
Janet said it best about Phil and the other execs in her tweet - "This is the danger of selling the 'good guy' narrative. It only works when you do 'good' things."
I really do think this week was the final straw for a lot of people. It isnt just closing of these studios that is so offensive, it's becoming painfully obvious that the Xbox leadership team has no strategy or vision whatsoever. They have just been throwing money at the problem for years. They know nothing about managing studios or cultivating creative talent. Phil Spencer and the rest of the team should resign. If 10 years at the helm and over $70 billion invested into new studios isn't enough to perform, I don’t think you're cut out for this job. They should all feel embarrassed and ashamed.
It sucks for studios but I'm not offended enough not to buy the next console. I have a WAY bigger issue with Nintendo selling 8 year old launch titles, Wii U ports and bad remakes for $60. Switch 2 is the one I'll skip. I'll get the next Steamdeck instead.
@@smellywaffels1967why would you ever buy another xbox console? a pc is a way better investment since you’ll also get sony titles when they come to steam eventually. what can you get on an xbox that you cannot get on a pc other than a slightly better game pass sub? besides i doubt microsoft will release another traditional console after how badly the series s/x have sold. i agree about nintendo being lame tho. all my indies are now on steam deck and there’s rarely a nintendo title that brings me back to the switch
The Tango closing is the weirdest one considering they were going to have a ton of interest in whatever they did next coming after HiFi Rush, xbox balking away from that potential revenue is nuts.
Yeah was talking to a mate about this earlier they could have spun off cartoon series, sequels, hell even a co-op mode. There was so much universal goodwill behind the game. Chai good have been the new xbox "mascot" That's if they simply doubled down on it rather than branching into new IP
Especially if the goal for gamepass was games like "The Pentiment" and "Hi-Fi Rush" which they went out of their way to highlight as "gamepass games". This kind of low stakes, highly creative game was just about to really kick off with whatever their other studios are working on... But who knows what studios are next on the chopping block. All because Xbox saw foe sale and said "show me the way"
xbox made $26 billion in profit last year, they can take $1 billion dollars from that and put that money towards their studios so that they don't fire a bunch of people for seemingly no good reason. What's the point of making $26 billion in profit if you're not going to use it to make better products and improve digital services. The business model just looks stupid when you expect infinite financial growth when you're already making more money than most country's gdp's.
I'm so glad to hear Leo went back to Prey! That game climbed up my all-time list too. What a beautifully crafted game, Arkane Austin will be greatly missed 😢
Just want to say due to work I've been having to catch y'all on Spotify these past few weeks and I'm very grateful y'all post the show on there. Thank you.
Someone made a good point: When they say they want smaller games to produce awards and prestige, it's them saying that's what they think the type of economical investment the awards are worth; Budget will be saved for the biggest (popular mobile), and significant (popular Live Service) games.
Is this the first in person kyle podcast appearance since pre covid? I really enjoy his humor and takes and can sometimes be interrupted more over video calls so its awesome that he made it in person
I finally played Prey in 2021 and legitimately felt bad for not playing it on release. It also shot up my all timer list. Brilliant seamless systemic storytelling.
To help clarify the Child's Play 2 thing, as a franchise Child's Play has split rights. The first film was a MGM/United Artists production, 2-3-Bride were all Universal, the rights of the next few are then split even more.
I watched your interview with John Johanas on this show last year. It's what made me subscribe to MinnMax, and what made me believe that Johanas and Tango Gameworks were Microsoft's best investment yet. The guy is just so deeply passionate about games, knew exactly what he wanted to make, pitched it to an industry legend, and successfully led a team to bring his vision to life in one of the best, most polished, and most inventive games of the last several years. This looked like Microsoft's best opportunity for a new franchise, and by their own public claim, it was a successful game. And Microsoft threw all of that in the trash. I desperately hope Johanas lands on his feet, but Hi-Fi Rush is his baby. He deserves so much better than for it to stay in Microsoft's hands.
To this day, I still don't see Game Pass as being sustainable for game developers, and possibly for Microsoft either. It sounds good in theory, but Game Pass games sell less everywhere elsewhere. Similarly, music streaming is not sustainable for the majority of artists and musicians. They have to go on tour constantly to make an actual living out of their career (which they couldn't even do during the pandemic). Also just imagine Xbox approaching Larian to buy them after all this... Swen would go Super Saiyan on them.
Yeah the Game Pass effect has honestly tainted the thought of buying games. It’s sort of like “why bother if it comes to game pass?” Cheapens the whole medium
I think it can be sustainable. With gradual price increases. The problem for MS is they haven't got that massive install base. They are chasing the Netflix business model but in order to do that successfully you have to get millions more subscribers and growth for GP appears flat. They are clearly hoping COD will be the silver bullet for Gamepass but that remains to be seen if that will even happen.
We gotta get Ana and Charles on something together. They both have a masterful use of understated humor and their combined conversation would be abyssfully-deeply hilarious.
What does closing Tango say about Game Pass and how much Microsoft values it? HiFi Rush was a raging success on Game Pass and people love it. The game was on there day one so of course it isn't going to sell like hotcakes. But even that's not enough? That worries me for the future of first party games on Game Pass.
I just finished Little Kitty, Big City and it’s pretty much everything I wanted in a cat game. Also, no spoilers, but it has one of the coolest uses of slo-mo in the history of video games.
I see how you can call Animal Well "not as puzzle-heavy as Fez" when you only played until the credits, but oh boy... I hope Kyle continues playing and sees how far off he was there :D It just keeps on giving and there's multiple layers to it!
No offense but you clearly haven't been paying attention. People still seem unaware of anything post-Xbox One reveal. Don Mattrick left, the core vision was entirely upended and reworked, and the Xbox One spent the first few years post launch turning the console into something unrecognizable. This continued into series x after years of consumer friendly decisions. And the people that had an Xbox knew it. It was great for a while there. Even the Bethesda acquisition went smoothly and seemed like a great fit for pre-Activision/Blizzard Xbox. What you are witnessing now can be summed up in the recent comments from Xbox about how Activision has been helping them find areas of "overlap". They acquired a company to gut them. It's pretty pathetic and the antithesis of the safe-haven they were creating for a lot of good devs. No one should trust a corporation, true. But to act like they've "fumbled" would be to ignore all the positive things they were contributed post-Mattrick and ignore all the blank checks they've given to developers along with the great platform they've built out for those that use it. The fact that they're saying "nevermind" is why people are freaking out now. This was all continuing to head in a positive direction but they threw it out in an instant after 6-8 years of committing to a larger vision.
@@jarg8 I pinky promise I keep up to date with xbox, Jeff Gerstman x Phil Spencers yearly e3 chats were some of my highlights of the event yearly, I literally went backwards from Pc to xbox 360 to play halo 3 and mw2 with friends because xbox was THE PLACE to be in 2009 Game pass is fine, but playstations ps+ catalogue is equally as fine, when directing my friends on what to buy for their kids now they're basically a wash as far as recommendations go, even if both current consoles basically don't have exclusives 4 years deep but hey over here you have this entire list of the last decade worth of PlayStation games and on the other side you have halo infinite and a few AA games Where are all the games in the last 2 console generations? what was their response to TLOU/God of War/Spiderman, even something like a Days Gone or Bloodborne, I barely give xbox credit for Bethesda at this point but.. Starfield? yikies Even xbox centric channels like MrMattyPlays are iffy on Hellblade 2's 10 hour run time but TLOU1 did a lot in those 10 hours, there's zero faith in xbox to put out good content and system sellers
I think the people trusting this corporation were the people that got their checks written by them. To put out a great game and win awards and be a new ip only to be cut a year later you'd think your parent company would not stab you in the back.
Prey is also one of my top 10 favorite games of all time and I've replayed it at least once every year since it came out. I'm so happy that Leo is enjoying it so much.
I'll always prefer BOTW for its shrine puzzles. TOTK's battle arena shrines are nice but the puzzle ones are really lacking. BOTW but with weapon fusion and TOTK's dungeons and battle shrines would be my ideal.
1:24:36 Why the edit? He was speaking with honesty and truth. 1:33:10 Not only is Leo's joke funny but it reminds me of when a teacher or boss would ask someone what they were doing, and the person would make something up cause the boss knows that they weren't doing the work. It would always make me laugh. Enjoyed the episode.
"Xbox Destroys Trust" - must be a day ending in "Y". as someone who's had every Xbox except the Bone, i'm just tired of the constant rake-stepping from this "leadership" team, and closing the studio that made *Prey* and the studio that made *The Evil Within, Ghostwire & Hi-Fi Rush* is unforgivable. so much talent and potential gone. not even divested, just destroyed. forshame.
@@smellywaffels1967 respectfully disagree. both Preys were amazing games in their own right & Ghostwire was fun as well once they updated it with more features and content.
@1:01:05 is that a glitch or an Easter egg, when Charles says Kronos and then it sounds like he says nemesis but I don't see his lips moving? I played it over a few times and I couldn't figure it out. Funny either way
Re: Cereal Branding: My understanding is that its not against the law to put brands/logos in TV and Movies. If you've seen the Josie and the Pussy Cats live action movie from 2001, they weren't paid for all those product placements, and didn't get permission to use those. Its usually not done because they don't want to give the brand free advertising. The only time it could get iffy and the production in trouble to use a brand/logo would be if the product is being cast in a negative light, you could get sued for slander.
I recommend anyone watch Moon Channel's YT video on the topic of why mass layoffs have been happening in gaming, titled "The Video Game Industry is NOT Collapsing". Will make a lot more sense (but still leave you just as angry, obviously) rather than just everyone scratching their heads pulling potential reasons out of thin air The long and short of it is, these layoffs are cyclic to appease shareholders to falsely demonstrate growth. All tech companies do this to some extent (as inhumane as it is), but when theyre screwing up a specific sector more than intended, the layoffs become extra drastic. I recommend watching the video as it generally gives reason to incredibly upsetting events. Besides Gears 6, I really dont know or care what Xbox is doing at this point and will likely sell my Series X and stick to PC and PS5. The company is better off to be treated as a software company with an occasional banger than an ecosystem I would like to be invested in beyond game pass.
Gamepass was a mistake that we love because it was so cheap and pro consumer. I also recognize that it conditioned us to never buy games which is why the gaming industry is where it is now.
I think you are WAY over estimating how many users Game Pass has. Game Pass existing has nothing to do with studio closures. Greed is reason Microsoft closed these studios.
What people have to learn is that it’s not pro consumer to devalue a product or industry with unsustainable pricing funded by the monopoly wealth of your parent company. It’s short term predatory pricing. MS backing out of this by trying to turn a profit in the Xbox division is bad - if they maintained the unsustainable prices just to hurt Sony or Nintendo, itwould have been just as bad or worse.
It would never be pro consumer in the long run. It's the same tech 'disruptor' strategy which is obvious now: start with a very low price and good service that squeezes the competition to death, then jack up the price / compromise service offerings - basically the same approach all the video streamers have taken. Problem for Xbox is that the competition won't die nor be particularly squeezed in this instance.
Shutting down Redfall the game makes sense, it was a mercy kill [how long before the Suicide Squad gets the same, and everyone is talking about MS, but what about others like WB's possibly killing off Rocksteady?]. But...No one thought they would shut Arkane Lyon, because they could perhaps go back to making those good games like Prey. But Tango Gameworks? That's just nonsensical, and after HiFi Rush, the one that's lost all good faith in the community.....
BOTW >>> TOTK. Easily. BOTW is my favorite game ever, and I still haven't finished TOTK. I just don't enjoy the building mechanic, and I hate how the ghosts of the champions walk around with you and you constantly activate their abilities by accident (abilities that aren't as good as the abilities in BOTW I should add). So far, I also don't enjoy the story that much, but again, not finished yet.
All the bosses repeat, but I would say the second boss is somewhat similar in that there is a lot to consistently deal with, and you need to be on the move for the whole fight. For what it's worth, I liked all the bosses in H2 more than the Hydra though, and agree that it's probably the least fun in the series.
Not a Funko Pop fan nor hater, but I didn't realize until fairly recently that people dunked on the brand? As someone who is indifferent - I don't get it, why?
I think I felt the same way that Leo does with Prey when I was 20 hours in, like he is. Unfortunately it's all downhill after that point when you are just backtracking and fighting the same enemies over and over and over. The last third of the game was sooo boring. Brought it down from a 9 to like a 7.5. But it's world and alternative history were extremely interesting, I will give it that. And for a name other than Prey, I think an easy one would be "Simulacra."
As happy as i am for the new nintendo console i think ive become numb to get excited for it as well. The amount of rumors and speculation took it out of me. I cant wrap my head around xbox shutting down tango. My mind is jumbled and i cant really get my thoughts together on it.
i really hope we keep this whole mass studio closure thing in mind when hellblade 2 comes out soon. xbox does not deserve to be back in anyone’s graces ever. there’s really no going back from this
I think Xbox is just ripping the band-aid off. Fundamentally I don't think they have any idea how to deliver a game that has actual mass market appeal. These studios do not make games that are profitable. In fact in the current climate there are quite a lot of studios which makes games that are not profitable. Looking at Remedy. Great games zero profit, doesn't even make its money back in dev costs. After spending 70 billion. They wanna make some money. So let's enjoy these last few AAA games as they are quickly going away. The future belongs to indie developers.
We'll DM you on Patreon with a Steam code for Dicefolk or Undermine if you support MinnMax at the $5 tier or upgrade your tier before May 12th, 2024! www.patreon.com/minnmax
I genuinely think Ben Hanson is the single best podcast host in games media. Lots of great ones out there, but Ben’s just a natural.
His taste in video games is suspect…but nobody’s perfect, lol.
Closing Tango is ridiculous. They released one of the most polished and creative games last year, and it reviewed very well. I just don't understand letting all of that talent go to other companies.
As I understood it, the two axed studios had recently released, and have not began production on their next projects yet, so the logic was if they're gonna drop two studios you can't kill a studio in the middle of development as that'd be a waste of the money invested in those projects, you have to kill studios that haven't started full on production yet, which is why a studio, a good studio, got killed. Bad timing and mismanagement at the top.
And the logical argument against ALL of that is they shouldn't be in a situation where they NEED to close two or more studios, why did you buy these fuckin studios in the first place if you couldn't handle them?
@@JoshMarshain "they shouldn't be in a situation where they NEED to close two or more studios"
The sad part is, they absolutely were not. Microsoft had more than enough money to keep the studios open... heck, I read that the payout they gave to Bobby Kotick just to walk away would have been enough to pay the entire staff at both Arcane Austin and Tango Gamesworks for 17 years.
This is pure, heartless, short-sighted capitalist greed at its worst; apparently shifting some lines on a financial graph to make themselves look more profitable for one quarter is worth more to them than keeping 2 beloved, relatively successful studios open, which is the antithesis of everything they said when they were acquiring studios and putting their games straight onto Gamepass.
Call me naive, but I still believe this isn't something that Phil Spencer would have wanted, so to me it's a clear demonstration that there are people at Microsoft who are way over his head calling the shots. Very curious to see what he has to say next time we hear from. Wouldn't be at all surprised if he is let go/leaves.
Down with Xbox!
Both Evil Within games are the best survival horror games ever made imo. Too bad they weren't the successes they deserved to be.
@@isaaccooper448yes! Less competition will make the industry better! Not.
Janet said it best about Phil and the other execs in her tweet - "This is the danger of selling the 'good guy' narrative. It only works when you do 'good' things."
I really do think this week was the final straw for a lot of people. It isnt just closing of these studios that is so offensive, it's becoming painfully obvious that the Xbox leadership team has no strategy or vision whatsoever. They have just been throwing money at the problem for years. They know nothing about managing studios or cultivating creative talent. Phil Spencer and the rest of the team should resign. If 10 years at the helm and over $70 billion invested into new studios isn't enough to perform, I don’t think you're cut out for this job. They should all feel embarrassed and ashamed.
I have an Xbox, but I won't be buying another one. Steamdeck or PC probably
@@fotografick Understandable. I can say the Steam Deck has been a fantastic investment in the two years I've had mine. I use it all the time.
It sucks for studios but I'm not offended enough not to buy the next console. I have a WAY bigger issue with Nintendo selling 8 year old launch titles, Wii U ports and bad remakes for $60. Switch 2 is the one I'll skip. I'll get the next Steamdeck instead.
@@smellywaffels1967why would you ever buy another xbox console? a pc is a way better investment since you’ll also get sony titles when they come to steam eventually. what can you get on an xbox that you cannot get on a pc other than a slightly better game pass sub? besides i doubt microsoft will release another traditional console after how badly the series s/x have sold.
i agree about nintendo being lame tho. all my indies are now on steam deck and there’s rarely a nintendo title that brings me back to the switch
They have no clue how to make good games. They think just buying studios will somehow make the games good
In studio!?!? It’s like the before times!
The Tango closing is the weirdest one considering they were going to have a ton of interest in whatever they did next coming after HiFi Rush, xbox balking away from that potential revenue is nuts.
Yeah was talking to a mate about this earlier they could have spun off cartoon series, sequels, hell even a co-op mode. There was so much universal goodwill behind the game. Chai good have been the new xbox "mascot" That's if they simply doubled down on it rather than branching into new IP
Especially if the goal for gamepass was games like "The Pentiment" and "Hi-Fi Rush" which they went out of their way to highlight as "gamepass games". This kind of low stakes, highly creative game was just about to really kick off with whatever their other studios are working on... But who knows what studios are next on the chopping block. All because Xbox saw foe sale and said "show me the way"
Charles is such a good fit, excellent chemistry this episode
xbox made $26 billion in profit last year, they can take $1 billion dollars from that and put that money towards their studios so that they don't fire a bunch of people for seemingly no good reason. What's the point of making $26 billion in profit if you're not going to use it to make better products and improve digital services. The business model just looks stupid when you expect infinite financial growth when you're already making more money than most country's gdp's.
In studio! 🎉🎉🎉
I really love the in studio podcasts. I enjoy having voices on the panel from all over as well, but the in studio content always feels really special.
Leo Vader is so cool. Thank you for actually calling a spade a spade regarding the MS shitshow, genuinely
Didn’t at all anticipate how large Charles would be
How dare you😂
I also rediscovered Prey this year and fell in love with it, AND my name is also Leo.
Coincidence? I don't think so.
Just seeing you guys together in the studio, means so much to me. Oldskool GI and MinnMax podcast vibes love it! Thankyou MinnMax!
In person MinnMax is always unhinged and I'm here for it.
I'm so glad to hear Leo went back to Prey! That game climbed up my all-time list too. What a beautifully crafted game, Arkane Austin will be greatly missed 😢
Just want to say due to work I've been having to catch y'all on Spotify these past few weeks and I'm very grateful y'all post the show on there. Thank you.
Hey! First time listener. Great show!
Hey, thanks! How'd you find us?
Loved the chaotic energy with Dan coming in at the end!
Also Ben is a champ for the off-the-cuff video editing.
Was losing interest in channels that only do video conference content. Glad to see you all in the studio, it's much better energy.
Charles is a tall breadstick 😳 Happy to see him on so many things lately!
I was NOT expecting to hear Ben drop an uncensored F bomb. Didn’t have a problem with it, but wow that came out of nowhere
Can’t wait for the Prey FUNeral, Leo!!!
Love a game, follow a deveoper. Don't praise companies. They don't care about their own talent, let alone us.
Note: Rafael Colantonio's studio WolfEye made Weird West, not Evil West
4 dudes sitting around a table? What is this 2018??? -god I wish it was 2018 😢
Someone made a good point:
When they say they want smaller games to produce awards and prestige, it's them saying that's what they think the type of economical investment the awards are worth; Budget will be saved for the biggest (popular mobile), and significant (popular Live Service) games.
Is this the first in person kyle podcast appearance since pre covid? I really enjoy his humor and takes and can sometimes be interrupted more over video calls so its awesome that he made it in person
I finally played Prey in 2021 and legitimately felt bad for not playing it on release.
It also shot up my all timer list.
Brilliant seamless systemic storytelling.
15:10 Quick Correction the game is Weird West.
I love this show and the entire team that puts these together.
Love the energy in-person. Would love episodes like that!
Real fun podcast this week despite the frustrating news. The in person stuff is the best
In person is at least 20% better every time. RIP the old studio
To help clarify the Child's Play 2 thing, as a franchise Child's Play has split rights. The first film was a MGM/United Artists production, 2-3-Bride were all Universal, the rights of the next few are then split even more.
In light of the awful news this week, I very much appreciate the giddy energy of the in-person recording
Charles is fantastic! He is an obvious asset to any content company (including minnmax 😉)
I watched your interview with John Johanas on this show last year. It's what made me subscribe to MinnMax, and what made me believe that Johanas and Tango Gameworks were Microsoft's best investment yet. The guy is just so deeply passionate about games, knew exactly what he wanted to make, pitched it to an industry legend, and successfully led a team to bring his vision to life in one of the best, most polished, and most inventive games of the last several years. This looked like Microsoft's best opportunity for a new franchise, and by their own public claim, it was a successful game.
And Microsoft threw all of that in the trash.
I desperately hope Johanas lands on his feet, but Hi-Fi Rush is his baby. He deserves so much better than for it to stay in Microsoft's hands.
Feelin like the old days at Game Informer with Ben at the controls and 4 people talkin about games at the table. Cool.
To this day, I still don't see Game Pass as being sustainable for game developers, and possibly for Microsoft either. It sounds good in theory, but Game Pass games sell less everywhere elsewhere. Similarly, music streaming is not sustainable for the majority of artists and musicians. They have to go on tour constantly to make an actual living out of their career (which they couldn't even do during the pandemic).
Also just imagine Xbox approaching Larian to buy them after all this... Swen would go Super Saiyan on them.
Yeah the Game Pass effect has honestly tainted the thought of buying games. It’s sort of like “why bother if it comes to game pass?” Cheapens the whole medium
I think it can be sustainable. With gradual price increases. The problem for MS is they haven't got that massive install base. They are chasing the Netflix business model but in order to do that successfully you have to get millions more subscribers and growth for GP appears flat. They are clearly hoping COD will be the silver bullet for Gamepass but that remains to be seen if that will even happen.
We gotta get Ana and Charles on something together. They both have a masterful use of understated humor and their combined conversation would be abyssfully-deeply hilarious.
I LOVE this conversation so much. everyone is just the best. Charles and Leo ya'll are funny AF
In studio is the best, immediately so much fun.
What does closing Tango say about Game Pass and how much Microsoft values it? HiFi Rush was a raging success on Game Pass and people love it. The game was on there day one so of course it isn't going to sell like hotcakes. But even that's not enough?
That worries me for the future of first party games on Game Pass.
I just finished Little Kitty, Big City and it’s pretty much everything I wanted in a cat game. Also, no spoilers, but it has one of the coolest uses of slo-mo in the history of video games.
JUSTICE FOR TANGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why would anyone assume Hi Fi Rush sold well. It’s a Gamepass game.
I see how you can call Animal Well "not as puzzle-heavy as Fez" when you only played until the credits, but oh boy... I hope Kyle continues playing and sees how far off he was there :D
It just keeps on giving and there's multiple layers to it!
Who was out here trusting a corporation and brand? What had Xbox put out on their own in the last 10 years lmao they fumbled 2 entire generations.
"But Good Guy Phil™ though."
Anyone who "trusts" a corporation of any kind needs to re-evaluate their life lol
No offense but you clearly haven't been paying attention. People still seem unaware of anything post-Xbox One reveal. Don Mattrick left, the core vision was entirely upended and reworked, and the Xbox One spent the first few years post launch turning the console into something unrecognizable. This continued into series x after years of consumer friendly decisions. And the people that had an Xbox knew it. It was great for a while there. Even the Bethesda acquisition went smoothly and seemed like a great fit for pre-Activision/Blizzard Xbox.
What you are witnessing now can be summed up in the recent comments from Xbox about how Activision has been helping them find areas of "overlap". They acquired a company to gut them. It's pretty pathetic and the antithesis of the safe-haven they were creating for a lot of good devs. No one should trust a corporation, true. But to act like they've "fumbled" would be to ignore all the positive things they were contributed post-Mattrick and ignore all the blank checks they've given to developers along with the great platform they've built out for those that use it. The fact that they're saying "nevermind" is why people are freaking out now. This was all continuing to head in a positive direction but they threw it out in an instant after 6-8 years of committing to a larger vision.
@@jarg8 I pinky promise I keep up to date with xbox, Jeff Gerstman x Phil Spencers yearly e3 chats were some of my highlights of the event yearly, I literally went backwards from Pc to xbox 360 to play halo 3 and mw2 with friends because xbox was THE PLACE to be in 2009
Game pass is fine, but playstations ps+ catalogue is equally as fine, when directing my friends on what to buy for their kids now they're basically a wash as far as recommendations go, even if both current consoles basically don't have exclusives 4 years deep but hey over here you have this entire list of the last decade worth of PlayStation games and on the other side you have halo infinite and a few AA games
Where are all the games in the last 2 console generations? what was their response to TLOU/God of War/Spiderman, even something like a Days Gone or Bloodborne, I barely give xbox credit for Bethesda at this point but.. Starfield? yikies
Even xbox centric channels like MrMattyPlays are iffy on Hellblade 2's 10 hour run time but TLOU1 did a lot in those 10 hours, there's zero faith in xbox to put out good content and system sellers
I think the people trusting this corporation were the people that got their checks written by them. To put out a great game and win awards and be a new ip only to be cut a year later you'd think your parent company would not stab you in the back.
Prey is also one of my top 10 favorite games of all time and I've replayed it at least once every year since it came out. I'm so happy that Leo is enjoying it so much.
This Charles guy is gonna be big! I mean, he IS big... but I mean he's gonna be HUGE! ...IN POPULARITY.
Charles was incredible!!! Hire him asap!!! As a Cohort!!!
Wow what a great crew for the podcast!
Another great ep!
Snap, Crackle, Pop & Lock deserved more laughter from the group.
stacklands mention! i loved stacklands one of my favorite games of the last few years.
Prey is so good. Hearing Leo loving it makes a lot of Leo sense.
I'll always prefer BOTW for its shrine puzzles. TOTK's battle arena shrines are nice but the puzzle ones are really lacking. BOTW but with weapon fusion and TOTK's dungeons and battle shrines would be my ideal.
One of those SHOCKED it took this look but very happy Leo final sees the PREY light, it's such a for him game lol
In the studio vibes are SO GOOOD !!
Can’t believe they got Larry David on at the end of the podcast!
15:10 Weird West*
Energy is great in the studio
Community Questions Spoiler: Sometimes the ''Neighbor who just randomly pops into your house" sitcom trope is a real thing
When it comes to a studio like Super Massive that’s batting 1000 and super trusted, I’d also say Larian studios.
I really wanted a new Prey style game and The Evil Within 3. Worried for the future of studios like Ninja Theory and Double Fine.
Have you ever thought about an alternative to Patreon for countries/regions where it is not available?
1:24:36 Why the edit? He was speaking with honesty and truth.
1:33:10 Not only is Leo's joke funny but it reminds me of when a teacher or boss would ask someone what they were doing, and the person would make something up cause the boss knows that they weren't doing the work. It would always make me laugh.
Enjoyed the episode.
I think he just edited out a Suicide Squad spoiler. The right call in retrosepct.
@@KyleHilliard Oh okay, good call indeed.
"Xbox Destroys Trust" - must be a day ending in "Y". as someone who's had every Xbox except the Bone, i'm just tired of the constant rake-stepping from this "leadership" team, and closing the studio that made *Prey* and the studio that made *The Evil Within, Ghostwire & Hi-Fi Rush* is unforgivable. so much talent and potential gone. not even divested, just destroyed. forshame.
The only good one you named was Hi-Fi Rush. Prey sucks. The first Prey with the Native American character was way better.
@@smellywaffels1967 respectfully disagree. both Preys were amazing games in their own right & Ghostwire was fun as well once they updated it with more features and content.
Xbox news is more entertaining than their games
I turned around for a second and suddenly Ben Hanson lost all his hair and grew a beard.
@1:01:05 is that a glitch or an Easter egg, when Charles says Kronos and then it sounds like he says nemesis but I don't see his lips moving? I played it over a few times and I couldn't figure it out. Funny either way
In studio is always better.
Re: Cereal Branding: My understanding is that its not against the law to put brands/logos in TV and Movies. If you've seen the Josie and the Pussy Cats live action movie from 2001, they weren't paid for all those product placements, and didn't get permission to use those. Its usually not done because they don't want to give the brand free advertising. The only time it could get iffy and the production in trouble to use a brand/logo would be if the product is being cast in a negative light, you could get sued for slander.
I recommend anyone watch Moon Channel's YT video on the topic of why mass layoffs have been happening in gaming, titled "The Video Game Industry is NOT Collapsing". Will make a lot more sense (but still leave you just as angry, obviously) rather than just everyone scratching their heads pulling potential reasons out of thin air
The long and short of it is, these layoffs are cyclic to appease shareholders to falsely demonstrate growth. All tech companies do this to some extent (as inhumane as it is), but when theyre screwing up a specific sector more than intended, the layoffs become extra drastic. I recommend watching the video as it generally gives reason to incredibly upsetting events.
Besides Gears 6, I really dont know or care what Xbox is doing at this point and will likely sell my Series X and stick to PC and PS5. The company is better off to be treated as a software company with an occasional banger than an ecosystem I would like to be invested in beyond game pass.
Ill be back next week for the Sony destroys Trust episode
That was last week with Helldivers 2, right?
snatched joke opportunities were wild between the fallout pit joke and fandango to the polls god dang lmao
Gamepass was a mistake that we love because it was so cheap and pro consumer. I also recognize that it conditioned us to never buy games which is why the gaming industry is where it is now.
I think you are WAY over estimating how many users Game Pass has.
Game Pass existing has nothing to do with studio closures. Greed is reason Microsoft closed these studios.
What people have to learn is that it’s not pro consumer to devalue a product or industry with unsustainable pricing funded by the monopoly wealth of your parent company. It’s short term predatory pricing. MS backing out of this by trying to turn a profit in the Xbox division is bad - if they maintained the unsustainable prices just to hurt Sony or Nintendo, itwould have been just as bad or worse.
It would never be pro consumer in the long run. It's the same tech 'disruptor' strategy which is obvious now: start with a very low price and good service that squeezes the competition to death, then jack up the price / compromise service offerings - basically the same approach all the video streamers have taken. Problem for Xbox is that the competition won't die nor be particularly squeezed in this instance.
grim fandango to the polls 😭 that killed me
The correct answer to the shoe question is New Balance
Shutting down Redfall the game makes sense, it was a mercy kill [how long before the Suicide Squad gets the same, and everyone is talking about MS, but what about others like WB's possibly killing off Rocksteady?]. But...No one thought they would shut Arkane Lyon, because they could perhaps go back to making those good games like Prey.
But Tango Gameworks? That's just nonsensical, and after HiFi Rush, the one that's lost all good faith in the community.....
These in person podcasts are the most important thing to me.
BOTW >>> TOTK. Easily. BOTW is my favorite game ever, and I still haven't finished TOTK. I just don't enjoy the building mechanic, and I hate how the ghosts of the champions walk around with you and you constantly activate their abilities by accident (abilities that aren't as good as the abilities in BOTW I should add). So far, I also don't enjoy the story that much, but again, not finished yet.
Try Elden Ring. It's similar but better in every single way.
Bingo. Because of Fallout TV show success MS needs to get on making the next Fallout NOW. They are redirecting all available resources into that.
TOTK will always be like Metroid Prime 2. Better than 1 in every way but y'all love much much more the first one 🤷
One question about Hades 2: Is there a boss that repeats all the time like that stupid Hydra in second area? That was so annoying.
I have a complaint about one of the best video games of all time
@@fotografick I do, so what? I like the game but the Hydra was not my favorite part.
@@fakepasta3935 I hope they got rid of that other annoying repeating boss, Hades.
All the bosses repeat, but I would say the second boss is somewhat similar in that there is a lot to consistently deal with, and you need to be on the move for the whole fight.
For what it's worth, I liked all the bosses in H2 more than the Hydra though, and agree that it's probably the least fun in the series.
@@TheBoyBlunder42 Thank you for normal answer.
Am I the only one who thinks they will just hire the best of them to make their own studio?
Leo's problem with TOTK is that it's too popular. Or he's afraid of ending the entire Zelda franchise?
Not a Funko Pop fan nor hater, but I didn't realize until fairly recently that people dunked on the brand? As someone who is indifferent - I don't get it, why?
58:47 had me laughing
I think I felt the same way that Leo does with Prey when I was 20 hours in, like he is. Unfortunately it's all downhill after that point when you are just backtracking and fighting the same enemies over and over and over. The last third of the game was sooo boring. Brought it down from a 9 to like a 7.5. But it's world and alternative history were extremely interesting, I will give it that. And for a name other than Prey, I think an easy one would be "Simulacra."
As happy as i am for the new nintendo console i think ive become numb to get excited for it as well. The amount of rumors and speculation took it out of me.
I cant wrap my head around xbox shutting down tango. My mind is jumbled and i cant really get my thoughts together on it.
Prey 2017 is a top ten game for me. Bummer Deathloop and Redfall were bad imo.
Bee movie is great and I won't stand for any slander
lol “They got Xena!!??”
ONE ROOM?!?!?!?!?
i really hope we keep this whole mass studio closure thing in mind when hellblade 2 comes out soon. xbox does not deserve to be back in anyone’s graces ever. there’s really no going back from this
Next episode: "Sony Destroys Trust"
I think Xbox is just ripping the band-aid off. Fundamentally I don't think they have any idea how to deliver a game that has actual mass market appeal.
These studios do not make games that are profitable. In fact in the current climate there are quite a lot of studios which makes games that are not profitable. Looking at Remedy. Great games zero profit, doesn't even make its money back in dev costs.
After spending 70 billion. They wanna make some money. So let's enjoy these last few AAA games as they are quickly going away.
The future belongs to indie developers.