Damn, even IGN is in on it?

Microsoft doesn't allow creative freedom. That's why Xbox sucks.

It's crazy because they had so many good games on the OG Xbox and the 360.

Out of all the issues with Xbox, lack of creative freedom isn’t one of them

Maybe there's just too much freedom in general and Spencer just isn't doing his job to quality control and whip these new studios into action.

Perhaps Redfall did start off as a passion project for Arkane Austin. But then they got acquired by Microsoft, got that comfy Microsoft money, and then started slacking off and not giving a chit.

That is closer to the truth. Bethesda not enough integration with Xbox, as they are still their own publisher. Sometimes it can work out very well (Hifi rush), or you can get a redfall. They need more quality control so this doesn’t happen again.

And they need to revamp their mock review process

I dont think anyone is gunna convince me that they didn't tank redfall on purpose for the Activision deal.

What is “no games, Alex?”

That was actually a good video

It is, very objective. Even Jay would like it.

wat

It takes years to develop a game and they were sure they were getting the deal approved until the last second. For this to happen they would have had to know months in advance the deal wouldn't go through.

They're just chit at making AAAs this gen, thanks to mismanagement and povertypass

Stopped watching as soon as "DEI & CULTURE" was mentioned DFS

It's just hard for me to believe any company would release a game in redfall state. I have played early access games that completely died and don't even have a steam page anymore that were more polished than redfall.

I almost genuinely believe it was on purpose to give Xbox the appearance of failing for when their appeals for that deal come around.

I played that game and it genuinely feels like a game that someone went out of their way to make bad, rather than a game that just was bad in its own, if that makes sense

Lmao it's over for boxcels.

Anyway I doubt it was any worse than Cyberbug on launch. Now that was a disaster and it was supposed to be the second coming of Christ. They had so much time and riding on so many expectations and good will, it blows my mind the state they released that game in.

I typically don't buy into conspiracy theories but with what you are proposing in mind, Phil declaring Xbox will never get out of 3rd place no matter what they do sure helps the Activision deal. What a nice soundbite or quote for MS battling the CMA.

No it's worse. It's light years worse. It's worse than any bad launch you can think of.

Cyberpunk was still a very playable and enjoyable game for those of us who didn't have a buggy mess of an experience. Either way the game clearly was light years more developed than redfall

No man's sky didn't launch with what it promised, but at its core had unique and interesting gameplay. The scope of what they were trying to do was at least admirable and something no one really had done before.


Idk redfall is literally so bad I just can't ever in a million years thin arkane made this game and was satisfied enough to release it this way.

Not only that but then didn't they just expand arkane too? After that chit? Wtf? There's no way there isn't something weird going on behind the scenes. Phil probably offered them riches to make sure the game flopped so when they try to appeal the Activision deal they can say "well look at all these articles about how bad we are blah blah"

My conspiracy theory: Phil tanked redfall because he needed to sacrifice a big title for bad press to get the Activision deal in his favor.

Come on now, you think they’ll overturn/make a decision on a 70 bil buyout launched by Microsoft of all companies, based on the apparent retardation of the company?

That’s like Apple wanting to buy whatever company and them launching a new set of pods where only one of them works so the CMA etc dudes just shake their heads and greenlight it.

MS has fuk you money to push the Netflix of gaming, difference is that this time there’s no Disney+/Prime as competition.

That's a bit of a weedcel conspiracy theory bro.
Phil seems like he's losing his mind tbh, he can't handle the position he's in. Time to step down and let someone else take over. He's like videogame Biden

Here's the article version for those who can't watch or would rather read:
https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-se...roblem-go-awayWe know. The world knows, because the Xbox marketing department and twelve people who only have an Xbox won't shut up about it.

But how much of a value proposition is it for developers? Not indie developers who need all of the exposure they can get, but the $70 AAA games with multi-million dollar budgets that get the most purchases during the first few weeks of release? The fact that Sony won't put their exclusives on PS+ day 1 should give a good idea of how other large scale publishers might feel debating the merits of the platform. While they can still benefit greatly, I'm sure it's a decision they're not making lightly the more they see Xbox screw up.Maybe that's a problem right there if you're more worried about that crap than whether or not the people you hired can actually do their jobs. Something has to explain the continualdeclinein quality despite the improved technology available to developers and the higher target platforms, and maybe trying to find at least a balance instead of catering to some San Francisco ideal would be far more beneficial all around.

Hell, maybe that "all walks of life" angle iswhywe see games like Redfall that were designed by and for lobotomy patients in contrast to what the same studio was putting out years ago before the old talent was fed up and left. Not everyone is suited for every job, and companies need to start realizing thatyesterdayyesterdayseveral years ago. This is all the more true for a creative endeavor that likelywon'tbe for everyone. E.g., you would be an absolute baboon to try and have me do a walking simulator, and Rebecca from wherever-the-fukk who plays mostly mobile games needs to keep her Starbucks-sipping ass away from anything involving a controller.The thing is, didheplay Redfall? From what I've read about Sony and what I already knew about Nintendo, the heads from both of those companies make a point to visit and play the games being developed. They aren't only showing up at the tail end either, but through the course of development so they don't have to make a drastic course correction when the game is mere months out from its ship date.
They're certainly not pinching pennies on their acquisitions, but you know where the entire company has been pinching pennies?Quality Assurance.

That's an area where I'm especially unsure of how much control Phil Spencer even has when the rest of the company cut that for their core software product.

QA can't just be the stability and performance of their games, but clearly howfunthey are, which needs to take priority. Look at how Halo Infinite managed to luck out with both COD and Battlefield having rough launches, only to faceplant because they prioritized "engagement" and monetization over just giving people the same playlist options they've had available for every other Halo game.
Seems like management and project goal problems because tons of studios have hit a snails pace in development timelines for questionable returns.Some time ago Arkane began taking criticisms from Anita Sarkeesian (sp?), so I guess you can also chalk it up to the well being slowly poisoned. The original creator of the company left and created his own studio, which might as well be the free space on a bingo card for all of these studios.SkillUp made a good point in his Redfall video that freedom needs to be earned, but Microsoft has been totally hands-off across the board with highly varying results.

In Redfall's case, it seems Bethesda was the one who gave them next to no oversight. Had they done so, they might have been able to catch problems with the base game before they became the foundation of garbage. For Microsoft to not even really check in on their new purchases, that's pretty nuts and they need to completely rework how they manage their studios from start to finish of a project.

It all sums up to this. If they got enough games, even a failure like Redfall wouldnt matter cuz they would have a lot of other good games to give to the players.

This dude switching from eye contact to the camera to the script he is reading back and forth the whole video was amature hour, but besides that well done summary on the current Xbox situation.Yea, I am not saying Forespoken is as bad as Redfall but it's a really bad game. However less was made of it since Sony has other good ones.

Yeah. We all argue how bad or not that bad Redfall is, it is because it is what we can all focus on for now til Starfield.

Imagine thinking IGN does good journalism. Talk about cringe, they're the biggest sellouts in the video games journalism scene.

With the amount of time you idiots spend obsessing over Microsoft, one would think you're investors or something. The only time I put this much thought into a company is when I stand to make money off doing so.

Good one, Jay.

I bet you have an Xbox tattoo.

Imagine being so emotionally damaged because your favorite piece of plastic is losing.

When IGN does a piece on the situation you know Xbox is in big, big trouble. They should go back to what they tried with Xbone, release a firmware update and convert the machine into a cable tv recorder and media streamer. Surely they can't fk that up.
Oh wait