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Forums - Microsoft Discussion - Ex Lionhead Producer: Microsoft the “Destroyer” of 1st Party Studio

Fei-Hung on 07 March 2016
CGI-Quality said:
elektranine said:
Well the statement is basically true, MS doesn't have any productive 1st party studios that have lasted longer than a few years. They seem to not know how to not overhype games and then blame the devs when it doesn't work out.

What about Forza? Turn 10 seems to be doing a fanstastic job of maintaining quality while pumping those titles out. The Lionhead drop may be a big blow, but I'm not ready to write them off just yet. Perhaps the X1 is their last console. Perhaps not. All of this points me in the direction of restructure, not impending doom.

 

I think many Xbox fans are more concerned with what MS is restructuring to as supposed MS facing Doom. 

 

Turn 10 are pretty awesome and I'm sure 343 and The Coalition will do well, but at the same time, what's the likely hood they will create anything other than the franchises they make? 

 

Fans are worried Rare maybe next and that will be the last MS owned studio who would have created something new and different. 

 

I wonder what 1st party studio heads and staff are growing through right now at MS. Threads on the net everywhere are asking some serious questions. 



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Turkish on 07 March 2016

This guy are right. Waiting on E3 to see where MS is going because the latest news have been terrible.



jonager on 07 March 2016
aLkaLiNE said:
aLkaLiNE said:

17 studios are shutdown that were first or second party studios for Ms since the Inception of Ms Game studios.  (2002-Present). (According to Wikipedia. They only show 14 so I added lionhead, and the other two euro studios from this past year)

 

there have been only two first party studios that have made it from the clutches of Ms alive (Bungie, and twisted pixel)

 

  • This is against 9 first/second party studios closed by Sony within the span of SCEI (1993-Present)

 

and don't forget about Esemble Studios.



aLkaLiNE on 07 March 2016
jonager said:
aLkaLiNE said:

 

  • This is against 9 first/second party studios closed by Sony within the span of SCEI (1993-Present)

 

and don't forget about Esemble Studios.

That's included in the number I quoted. It wouldn't hurt to have someone else double check both these claims though. I'm sure Nintendo would be a longer time span with even less studio closures.



Mr Puggsly on 07 March 2016

If the Fable Legends beta was better I might be more bummed about this. Between that and medicore Fable Anniversary, maybe Fable needs a new studio.



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Azerth on 07 March 2016

Yeah because it makes complete business sense to jeep a studio who probably hasnt made a profit since fable 2



naruball on 07 March 2016
Azerth said:
Yeah because it makes complete business sense to jeep a studio who probably hasnt made a profit since fable 2

Do you have a source confirming that Fable 3 wasn't profitable? What exactly are you basing your statement on?



Mike_L on 07 March 2016
Azerth said:
Yeah because it makes complete business sense to jeep a studio who probably hasnt made a profit since fable 2

I don't think Daniel Gray is upset to see Microsoft closing Lionhead Studios per se but rather sad to see great studios being aquired just to lose their creativity and be "destroyed".

It's a genereal phenomenon with highly investor-driven organizations. You can't force creativity and unique ideas to conveniently be present every year, every 2nd or every 3rd year when investors demands a sequel. Even if the talented developers stay after their studio has been aquired, they  will be strangled by this kind of mentality. That's also why highly creative developers often resigns after their studio has been aquired.



elektranine on 07 March 2016
CGI-Quality said:
elektranine said:
Well the statement is basically true, MS doesn't have any productive 1st party studios that have lasted longer than a few years. They seem to not know how to not overhype games and then blame the devs when it doesn't work out.

What about Forza? Turn 10 seems to be doing a fanstastic job of maintaining quality while pumping those titles out. The Lionhead drop may be a big blow, but I'm not ready to write them off just yet. Perhaps the X1 is their last console. Perhaps not. All of this points me in the direction of restructure, not impending doom.

A restructure is not something you do suddenly and make rash decisions on. Just the other day the devs were talking about how good things were going. They cancelled a basically complete game and closed two studios all on the same day. That's a very sudden decision and nothing really points to a restructure. 

 

Very rarely is an announced game cancelled. I can't remember the last time that has happened.



Lafiel on 07 March 2016
elektranine said:
CGI-Quality said:

What about Forza? Turn 10 seems to be doing a fanstastic job of maintaining quality while pumping those titles out. The Lionhead drop may be a big blow, but I'm not ready to write them off just yet. Perhaps the X1 is their last console. Perhaps not. All of this points me in the direction of restructure, not impending doom.

A restructure is not something you do suddenly and make rash decisions on. Just the other day the devs were talking about how good things were going. They cancelled a basically complete game and closed two studios all on the same day. That's a very sudden decision and nothing really points to a restructure. 

 

Very rarely is an announced game cancelled. I can't remember the last time that has happened.

I remember several, like Getaway 3, 8 Days or Agent, but none of those projects was nearly as advanced as Fable Legends, which seemed ready for release this or next quarter.

The sudden closures and weird messaging the last days look more like a "refocus" than a "restructure" in my opinion, but we'll see.