By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Ryuu96 on 07 February 2024

Thank FUCK.

The layoffs aren't new/additional to the 1,900 either FYI. It's just California's WARN act and the same warning as I posted a few days ago. So what it looks like here is the office is being closed down due to the layoffs and WFH, they're likely downsizing to a smaller location or maybe even becoming fully remote, Sledgehammer closed one of their offices down recently as well to downsize.

Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 07 February 2024

Around the Network
Ryuu96 on 07 February 2024

Sucks to hear Jeff Strain (Undead Labs founder, left years ago to create multiple studios) has also suffered layoffs at his studios too.



zero129 on 07 February 2024
Ryuu96 said:
konnichiwa said:

Because visibility sells, I am pretty sure that having barely or none physical games in store make xbox unattractive for uninformed customers who wants to buy  a console for themself or as a gift.   Especially when they are trying to be informed and ask a salesperson who tries to sell those kind of customers a PS5 with disc or Switch because they possibly return and buy some physical games that stores get a cut from... 

Idk, I wonder if this is a fairly outdated view on things, visibility likely sold during the X360 era and whatnot but does it have much of an impact nowadays? The people who grew up with mass internet usage and playing these consoles now have kids of their own, their parents are largely more informed and hell, even kids themselves are way more informed than we were as kids.

You'd be surprised about just how informed kids are Tbh.

If I had a kid, I would not need to be informed at all by a salesperson, if any of my gamer friends had kids, likewise to them too, my teenage nieces and nephews have not once gone to a retail store for a game or console, nor had to be informed about anything from a salesperson on what they want. They're already fully onboard the digital only train and find games via other means but never a retail location.

And the thing is, Xbox already barely has any physical presence in these locations you're speaking of so it won't change much and even in their strongest markets, it's simply the way things are headed, consumers are voting for this at large, it does suck for those still wanting physical though but it simply is making less sense for both the manufacturer and the retailer.

Xbox is ahead of the pack here but it's coming to come for everyone, retailers are going to slowly stop stocking so much physical discs, starting with films/tv then moving onto gaming, Xbox will be hit first, Sony will be next, Nintendo won't be for a while. It's what basically all publishers in the industry want so it will happen eventually.

I suspect next Xbox will be digital only (50/50 on an optional disc drive) and I think Sony has one gen left before they follow Xbox, it'll be a domino effect which comes around to everyone because it's what everyone wants and they'll be certain pushes to make it happen too. Sony's 1st party physical sales are still pretty strong but 3rd parties are largely digital and them moving more digital will have a unintentional knock-on effect on Sony.

I'm a bit curious though, I don't know how it works exactly but why exactly can't retailers just stock their sections with digital codes instead of discs? I've just seen a Target full of digital Xbox codes on Twitter, Lol. And PC's are still stocked with digital codes despite physical practically being non-existent for PC.

I wonder without Physical Store presence how PalWorld managed to sell so much ...



Ryuu96 on 07 February 2024
zero129 said:

I wonder without Physical Store presence how PalWorld managed to sell so much ...

What you talking about, it has physical store presence.

JK.



BasilZero on 07 February 2024
Ryuu96 said:

Looking at that graph, if the trend is similar, we'll be quiet in February but March will have another large round of layoffs around the industry.

Seems to be with the trends considering March is the last month of the Fiscal Year.



Around the Network
BasilZero on 07 February 2024
Ryuu96 said:

What you talking about, it has physical store presence.

JK.

Damn lmao



Mar1217 on 08 February 2024

Toys for Bob hasn't been closed thankfully but the layoffs incurred still leaves them handicapped quite considerably for future game production projects.

Feels like they're bond to either, work as a support studio again for COD or they might eventually resize for a new project ? But that seems mighty hopeful.

As for the way COD looks to be shaping up, I have several questions to the integrity of Xbox for their employees well-being that will be working on these projects. Knowing that they've not changed the usual yearly COD schedule like they said they were intending to do a one point.

Of course money is the name of the game yada yada but if the contracting conditions for the devs do not change in the end from the excruciating grind mindset of their previous overlords, then oh god, all this acquisition saga will have meant nothing but a simple change of head at the end of the day.



Switch Friend Code : 3905-6122-2909 

konnichiwa on 08 February 2024
zero129 said:
Ryuu96 said:

Idk, I wonder if this is a fairly outdated view on things, visibility likely sold during the X360 era and whatnot but does it have much of an impact nowadays? The people who grew up with mass internet usage and playing these consoles now have kids of their own, their parents are largely more informed and hell, even kids themselves are way more informed than we were as kids.

You'd be surprised about just how informed kids are Tbh.

If I had a kid, I would not need to be informed at all by a salesperson, if any of my gamer friends had kids, likewise to them too, my teenage nieces and nephews have not once gone to a retail store for a game or console, nor had to be informed about anything from a salesperson on what they want. They're already fully onboard the digital only train and find games via other means but never a retail location.

And the thing is, Xbox already barely has any physical presence in these locations you're speaking of so it won't change much and even in their strongest markets, it's simply the way things are headed, consumers are voting for this at large, it does suck for those still wanting physical though but it simply is making less sense for both the manufacturer and the retailer.

Xbox is ahead of the pack here but it's coming to come for everyone, retailers are going to slowly stop stocking so much physical discs, starting with films/tv then moving onto gaming, Xbox will be hit first, Sony will be next, Nintendo won't be for a while. It's what basically all publishers in the industry want so it will happen eventually.

I suspect next Xbox will be digital only (50/50 on an optional disc drive) and I think Sony has one gen left before they follow Xbox, it'll be a domino effect which comes around to everyone because it's what everyone wants and they'll be certain pushes to make it happen too. Sony's 1st party physical sales are still pretty strong but 3rd parties are largely digital and them moving more digital will have a unintentional knock-on effect on Sony.

I'm a bit curious though, I don't know how it works exactly but why exactly can't retailers just stock their sections with digital codes instead of discs? I've just seen a Target full of digital Xbox codes on Twitter, Lol. And PC's are still stocked with digital codes despite physical practically being non-existent for PC.

I wonder without Physical Store presence how PalWorld managed to sell so much ...

I find it kind of Ironic that you go all the way to necro a post..., that post was made after BG3 already was a massive succes and people being tired of me that BG3 wasn't on xbox yet....And that game was only digital so you clearly now that I never stated that digital only games can't sell.

I was the one who made pictures more than a year ago and last summer how the situation in Europe for Xbox is bad.

Barely any games available in game store,  Barely any Xbox bundles , no xbox games advertisements and expensive 550€ Xbox series X consoles while you had PS5's next to it with for less that came bundled with games like  God of war Ragnarok; Horizon; Spiderman 2; FC 2024; Final Fantasy XVI, Call of duty...and so on. = All of this is visibility of Xbox in stores.

People like you quoted me around that time and said in your country in Europe xbox series x must be sold out while the truth probably was that the store is bad at demanding consoles or they don't want any because it is not selling.

We have the results now, sales are bad in Europe, so bad that if those were Japanese sales some would say 'maybe xbox should go out that region'.

since then I saw plenty people commenting in this thread what I said before from 'I barely see any xbox game commericials in Europe it is all Nintendo or Sony related' and 'Target and Walmart will get rid of Physical xbox games? This will hurt Xbox sales'....Those are the kind of comments that talk about visibility.

 






PixelPirate on 08 February 2024

Made a post about it on Reddit over a year ago. Gained some traction as you can see. If they go completely digital, I guess it wont even matter anymore. Steamdeck seems very popular, and as far as I know, you can only buy it online.

As for me, I wish they don't go completely digital as it means less choice for us consumers, since we only have one storefront on Xbox consoles. But yeah, probably happens anyway.

Edit: lesson learned, don't upload images using your phone... :') breaks everything!

Last edited by PixelPirate - on 08 February 2024

konnichiwa on 08 February 2024
PixelPirate said:

Made a post about it on Reddit over a year ago. Gained some traction as you can see. If they go completely digital, I guess it wont even matter anymore. Steamdeck seems very popular, and as far as I know, you can only buy it online.

As for me, I wish they don't go completely digital as it means less choice for us consumers since we only have one storefront on Xbox consoles.

Edit: lesson learned, don't upload images using your phone... :') breaks everything!

Yeah, I had similar kind of pictures and it certainly affects sales,  steamdeck sales are fine but if the next Ps handheld would sell like the steamdeck is doing now people would call it a disaster. 

Anyway FTC makes a point:

FTC criticizes Microsoft for laying off Activision Blizzard workers after claims it would operate independently

The FTC also says it would struggle to get aid to affected workers if a court later reversed the acquisition

    

The US Federal Trade Commission has criticized Microsoft over recent layoffs at its game studios. 

Last month, Microsoft announced it would be laying off 1,900 developers from its global workforce, impacting those at studios the technology giant owned. This included layoffs at Activision Blizzard, which Microsoft finalized the purchase of last year in October 2023. 

The FTC believes Microsoft laying off developers at Activision Blizzard contradicts its past messaging, from before it acquired the studio. As reported by Bloomberg, the FTC has filed a letter with the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals calling into question Microsoft's previous statements that Activision Blizzard would operate independently should it be acquired by Microsoft. 

Microsoft previously said that the layoffs would reduce "areas of overlap" between itself and Activision Blizzard. This, the FTC highlights, is what's chiefly inconsistent with Microsoft previously claiming that Activision Blizzard would operate independently post-acquisition. 

"The reported elimination of thousands of jobs undermines the FTC’s ability to order effective relief," the FTC stated in the letter, in the case of a court theoretically finding Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard illegal later on. In this scenario, the FTC is saying, it wouldn't be able to effectively get monetary aid to those who have just recently been laid off under Microsoft.  

The layoffs at Activision Blizzard are now continuing, and just earlier this week, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro studio Toys For Bob was hit with layoffs, with a reported 86 developers laid off at the studio. Despite reports to the contrary, it appears Toys For Bob isn't shutting down entirely, and will now operate entirely remotely, after its California-based studio was shuttered.