They are very good devs but I have to wonder if MS is going to let DOOM and other IPs go because that's the thing, I have seen many people use Toys for Bob as an example of things going right "Oh they didn't close and they are making Spyro" but the TFB situation was very easy in comparison. They didn't have any IPs of value and the game they were making was cheap by MS standards so it made sense to let them go and give them a contract to finish the game. Ninja Theory on the other hand is rumored will be shut down (and I saw a lot of Compulsion devs looking for job on linkedin), if they actually close one of the many reason will be to keep Hellblade so they can either use it or sell it. 

I don't think id will be part of the studios they will let go but in case they do I don't think their IPs will come in the package the same way Warner was open to sell the MK dev without MK lol. In my opinion after the Haven and firewalk acquisitions and with the challenge that will be to sell the PS6 because of the economy if they are going to acquire something in the future it should be either studios that have worked IPs for them before the acquisition so they can be trusted like Insomniac and Housemarque or studios that actually have IPs of value ... even with all the shitshow that has been Bungie.  

Yeah, they're a huge studio headcount wise. If they're losing about 50% that should put them around 300-400, which is still a lot of people. It definitely sucks, but there's no way Sony was keeping so many people for a studio that made Destiny 2 and haven't bothered to get Destiny 3 going.

I think the goal should be to get the rest of the studio looking at Insomniac and replicating their success. The proposed Marathon remake some of us have discussed seems the easiest way to do this with part of the team. Moving Destiny into different shapes could potentially work. Some of the DLC expansions were basically mini campaigns right? Focus on co-op PvE experiences. 

Definitely of any studio MS might let go, this would be the one worth catching. But I'm unsure what you realistically do with them... resurrect Resistance? Make my dream sequel to Persistence??? 

CoD Blackops 1+2 are being released on PS5, and maybe PS4? Next month. Not just the campaign but Zombies and Multiplayer as well.

It would be crazy if the urgency to stop losing money with Bungie isn't increasing the chances of they making a mid size single player project. This is where the "companies don't want to take risks anymore" some people love to repeat would actually help LOL and contrary to what the Marathon haters are saying I don't think Marathon has to sustain the whole studio, once Sony greenlights another project (and they have to because 400 people is still too many only for Marathon) whatever percentage assigned to that project will start living from a new budget. That's basically the only reason why Bend is still alive LOL because by the time they got their service canceled their already had another one greenlighted.

Saw the Housemarque interview and it sucks that some "gaming news sites" used what they said about FromSoftware to create clickbait like "Housemarque compares to FS" or "Housemarque wants to learn from FS" when what they actually said was that they want to keep making the kind of games they make and keep fighting to show players their games are worth buying like how FS and other have done in the past, immediately after they said that they laughed and clarified that they don't expect FS level of success.

It was good to see that when they were asked about SAROS sales they answered without any visible stress, maaaaaybe they won't be hit. An interesting detail was that they mentioned twice how having a strong catalogue of titles that boost their sales with the release of a new one always helps, that tells me the boost on sales Returnal had from the moment SAROS was announced to the moment it was released actually counts in whatever Sony expectations had for the game.

And finally other point that is worth mentioning is how they left the door open for more content for SAROS and the possibility of making a smaller game than SAROS next time, which I think would be smart from Sony, if they already realized giving them double or triple the budget won't double or triple the sales and they already have a dedicated playerbase then let them make smaller games (at the scale of Returnal) and switch volume with frequency. Insomniac can't be the only studio that doesn't take 5 years to release games. Firesprite could also be in that group, if Until Dawn 2 works, those kind of games can be released every 3 years.

Yeah, the Hoursemarque interview was interesting.

People often underestimate catalogue sales and engagement on things like PS catalogue. 

On one hand I'm dissapointed that they want to keep narrowing in on their niche because Returnal (haven't played Saros) feels great and has a lot going for it but I just want a bit more conventional and explorative world/interaction. I don't particular love "rogue-likes". I think there's a perfect window for something a bit more metroid feeling on PS5 but thats just me...

On the other hand, not everything is made for me and I appreciate that they're making something which is distinct from the 3rd person action adventure catalogue and has the support from Sony to do so. I hope they do well. If they want to keep the route they're going they really have to make their game budgets ultra tight.

Saros could keep selling. It's April release was not ideal given the wave of huge hits around it and more direct competition with Pragmata which I sure stole quite a bit of its sales momentum, but the summer is relatively quiet so I hope they push with a demo, some disocunts and fun updates (skins, QOL improvements etc) to keep it visible throughout the months

GTA VI preorders start June 25th, a week from now.

So it begins. Finally

I picked up Returnal on PC after @G2ThaUNiT recommended it. Talk about a very hard game as I've been stuck on the first boss. But I keep going back trying to get good RNG to get better guns and artifacts. I got REALLY close a couple of times. 

If you have a PS5 I recommend Saros as well, I liked it even more than Returnal.

Also, yes, Returnal is hard lol, I still have to come back to play the second half of it.

I haven't gotten a PS5. I basically only game on my PC at this point. At this point I've bought all single-player PS games on PC except Days Gone and Spider-Man 2.

Saros easier than Returnal?