All articles tagged with #microsoft xbox
Rebs Gaming's video cites anonymous Halo Studios staff alleging studio head Pierre Hintze fostered a hostile environment, berated teams, and mismanaged projects, with claimed inaction from Microsoft HR and senior Xbox leadership, raising questions ahead of a major Halo release.
Microsoft’s Xbox is restructuring and spinning off four studios; Double Fine Productions and Compulsion Games will become independent studios, retaining ownership of their IP and catalogs, while Ninja Theory and Undead Labs move to new ownership with funding for their next games; Arkane is assessing options, and both Double Fine and Compulsion have publicly affirmed their plans to continue making unique games under their own management.
Obsidian says Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 did not meet the sales targets set by Microsoft, and its leadership plans to shorten development times and use smaller budgets with 3–4 year cycles. Grounded 2 remains a smaller project, and there’s intent for more Avowed in the future while PS5 release timing could help. Microsoft/Xbox reportedly holds a ~30% profit target per Bloomberg reporting, but Obsidian emphasizes continuing to take creative risks even if profitability targets aren’t always met.
The cost of buying new game consoles has been steadily increasing, with recent price hikes from Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo making launch purchases more expensive than ever, which is unusual as historically consoles tend to decrease in price over time.
The upcoming Asus ROG Xbox Ally handheld, a collaboration with Microsoft, faces potential market challenges due to high pricing leaks suggesting it could cost between $700 and $1,050, which may hinder its success given the competitive landscape and existing alternatives like the Steam Deck and Lenovo Legion Go. The device offers features like Game Pass access and Thunderbolt 4 support but may struggle to gain traction if priced too high, especially without discounts from Microsoft.