360 in 2009...will it continue?

[heruamon]

rhisc said:

heruamon said:

rhisc said:

MS has been closing its studios.  It seems that this generation their plan is to get 3rd party developers to make games for Microsoft IPs like Crackdown, N3, Lost Odyssey, IU, etc.  Seems to be more cost effective than operating their own studios.  Problem is the consistency of the products.  If another Crackdown is made from a developer other than Realtime Worlds it could totally kill the franchise. 

I found a list of MS trademarks.  The video game IP's are pretty interesting.

 

 

 

Ensemble was close, but not really, since many fof the employees moved to MGS, and Bungie when independent...what other studios closed? as those are the only 2 that I know of?  Lionhead and Rare still seem to be working on stuff, so can you refresh my memory?

Taken from wikipedia:

• Ensemble: Pending dissolution (and partial absorption) as of September 9, 2008 (to be finalized after the completion of Halo Wars)
• Bungie: Became an independent studio on October 1, 2007
• Carbonated Games: Dissolved on March 27, 2008
• Digital Anvil: Dissolved on January 31, 2006.
• Hired Gun: Dissolved shortly after Halo 2 launch for PC
• FASA Interactive: The studio was closed on September 12, 2007.^[7]
• Indie Built: Sold off to Take 2 in October, 2004.

 

 

Looking at that list, I see Ensemble, which was dissolved, but quite a few stuck around, and Bungie, which wanted more control and independence.  Looking at that list, one can hardly ascertian M$'s move to shift to all 3rd party, and in fact, the current bolstering of MGS points to the opposite of more 1st party/2nd party software.  With Digital anvil and FASA, M$ absorbed quite a large portion of the employees, but M$ still owns all that IP, so with a more robust MGS, I can see new Mechwarrior games and maybe even Wing Commander games.  Actually, M$ licensed back the Mechwarrior IP, but I expect to see something announce in the future, as that IP is too rich not to do so.  Time will tell, but I think we will see MORE content, not less from MGS in 1st/2nd party software titles.