July 3, 2026 05:52
The Game Business: Microsoft wants to close Obsidian Entertainment, chaos reigns in Xbox studios Microsoft is
The Game Business: Microsoft wants to close Obsidian Entertainment, chaos reigns in Xbox studios
Microsoft is exploring the possibility of closing the Obsidian Entertainment studio.This is reported by The Game Business, which spoke with Xbox employees.
As journalists write, today there is a mixture of disappointment and chaos within the Xbox teams.The stumbling block was the strategy of the new head of the video game division, Asha Sharma, who adheres to the mentality of a startup.Because of this, speed of decision-making has become a priority rather than careful planning.
The developers believe that Sharma too often listens not to them, but to consultants.In addition, lightning-fast reactions do not fit well with the long-term development of modern games.
Xbox employees themselves believed that the situation with the development and release of games had been improving recently.Now they think that they are being punished for the weak sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. But the reality is that against the background of income from Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Minecraft and World of Warcraft, the results of The Outer Worlds 2, Avowed, Kiln, Keeper and so on seem insignificant.
“We are too scattered across many projects, platforms and business models.We need to focus"
However, not everyone in the unit agrees with this.They note that for some reason Microsoft is stubbornly trying to revive franchises whose peak popularity is long past.Examples include Halo and Gears of War.
The Game Business has reaffirmed early reports that studios Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory, Double Fine and Undead Labs could be shut down if talks to sell or spin them off into independent companies fail.However, Obsidian Entertainment, which released the failed role-playing games The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed last year, was also at risk.
It is also noted that other teams are also involved in the negotiations, so there is a high probability that the list will expand.Apparently, we are talking about Arkane Lyon.
@gm_galactic #Xbox #game #Strategy
Microsoft is exploring the possibility of closing the Obsidian Entertainment studio.This is reported by The Game Business, which spoke with Xbox employees.
As journalists write, today there is a mixture of disappointment and chaos within the Xbox teams.The stumbling block was the strategy of the new head of the video game division, Asha Sharma, who adheres to the mentality of a startup.Because of this, speed of decision-making has become a priority rather than careful planning.
The developers believe that Sharma too often listens not to them, but to consultants.In addition, lightning-fast reactions do not fit well with the long-term development of modern games.
Xbox employees themselves believed that the situation with the development and release of games had been improving recently.Now they think that they are being punished for the weak sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. But the reality is that against the background of income from Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Minecraft and World of Warcraft, the results of The Outer Worlds 2, Avowed, Kiln, Keeper and so on seem insignificant.
“We are too scattered across many projects, platforms and business models.We need to focus"
However, not everyone in the unit agrees with this.They note that for some reason Microsoft is stubbornly trying to revive franchises whose peak popularity is long past.Examples include Halo and Gears of War.
The Game Business has reaffirmed early reports that studios Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory, Double Fine and Undead Labs could be shut down if talks to sell or spin them off into independent companies fail.However, Obsidian Entertainment, which released the failed role-playing games The Outer Worlds 2 and Avowed last year, was also at risk.
It is also noted that other teams are also involved in the negotiations, so there is a high probability that the list will expand.Apparently, we are talking about Arkane Lyon.
@gm_galactic #Xbox #game #Strategy