What a Week for Xbox, Huh?

Right after Sony's rough weekend, too.

Author

Robert Scarpinito
May 10, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

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Xbox Game Studios officially shut down Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and Alpha Dog Games. It also shut down Roundhouse Studios, though those employees will be subsumed into Zenimax Online Studios.

The next day, Xbox head Matt Booty said that the team needs more smaller games that attract “prestige and awards.”

Did You Know?

TechRaptor nominated Hi-Fi Rush for our Game of the Year Award in 2023. We also gave the game a strong 8.5 in our review. It’s now being review bombed, but in a wholesome way.

It’s a sad state of affairs where cold, hard cash is driving decisions at Xbox. On one hand, it’s understandable. Microsoft invested $70 billion into Xbox, and it’s looking for returns. Zenimax was having trouble commanding all its studios across the globe, so these cuts just make financial sense, in the short term.

Long term though? This is a huge blow if Microsoft is trying to win the cultural victory. No one’s weeping over Redfall, but Hi-Fi Rush was a buzzy surprise that seemed universally liked. Was it a phenomenon like Halo 2 was? No, but Bethesda sure ain’t pulling its weight, either.

We’re expecting more cost-cutting measures according to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, and that doesn’t bode well for Xbox Game Studios. This year’s Call of Duty will be the first under Microsoft’s umbrella, and with it being a huge source of revenue, all eyes are on it to see how Xbox positions it this year.

In other news, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa released a statement (via Twitter) that the next generation of Nintendo hardware will be announced within the fiscal year.

It’s not confirmed if it’s really called the Switch 2, and Nintendo does have a history of radically changing its hardware approach with each generation. However, the Switch felt like a lightning in a bottle unlike anything else for Nintendo.

Keep in mind, it hasn’t released a new handheld in years because of how much the Switch shifted the paradigm. So here’s hoping that whatever’s in store, it’s something akin to the breakout success the Switch has seen.

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Podcast: Sony Fumbled (& Recovered) This Week, Too

To bring it all full circle, Sony also had a pretty rough weekend with its breakout multiplayer hit Helldivers 2. It’s a tumultuous saga that’s led to the game being delisted on over 100 countries on Steam (and review bombed en masse).

At first, Sony wanted to enforce a policy that would require PC players to link their Steam accounts to the PlayStation Network. The company eventually walked back the decision, but it’s definitely left a mark on their golden child of the year.

If you missed all the drama or are curious about our thoughts on the matter, take a listen at this week’s podcast! Plus, keep an eye out for next week’s episode, where we’ll be live playing some Dungeons & Dragons.