Hellblade developer Ninja Theory heading towards closure in new wave of Xbox cuts, as two separate agreements collapse

Submitted ⁨⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨iamthetot@piefed.ca⁩ to ⁨games@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.eurogamer.net/ninja-theory-closed-shut-down-xbox-layoffs

Ninja Theory - developer of the Hellblade series - is shutting down as part of today’s Xbox cuts. Its proposed buyers pulled out, resulting in the closure.

source

Comments

Sort:hotnew top

Hadriscus@jlai.lu ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
With this and Halo Studios being shuttered and handing over Halo to Activision, every developer should know to avoid Microsoft at all costs

source
FiniteBanjo@feddit.online ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I didn’t like the way that Phil Spencer was running the company: trying to maximize profits by funding microtransaction titles and features up the wazoo.

I really really really don’t like the way Asha Sharma is running the company: trying to maximize profits by cutting off all the less profitable titles and consolidating all their titles under one roof.

These chucklefucks go to school for like four to eight years to learn business and then go into a field like videogames/software and they learn zero fucking lessons from companies who made all the same mistakes in the past. EA did this shit and eventually went so far down the drain that they sold the company off to a foreign prince.

source
- zib@lemmy.world ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  These people don’t learn from their mistakes because in their minds, they didn’t make any. They just see this as the natural course of business as they ruin one company after the next.
  
  source
- Prox@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I read a good article a while back about how Microsoft needs to choose whether there are console maker or a game publisher. As a company, you can’t succeed at both because fundamentally those two approaches are at odds with each other. Consoles need exclusives. But game publishers need maximum exposure, which comes from NOT being exclusive.
  
  FWIW, I don’t think Sharma understands this.
  
  source
username_1@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Lesson 1: You can do a strange game if you want, it will be acclaimed if done without obvious bugs. But you won’t get much money from that. Especially when you’re under the corporate boot and should give away most of the income anyway.

Lesson 2: You can’t skip lesson 1, make ANOTHER strange game and expect to stay in business.

source
- JoMiran@lemmy.ml ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Cyan, makers of Myst:
  Image
  
  source
  - lIlIlIlIlIlIl@lemmy.world ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Because the 1997 games market is EXACTLY THE SAME as the 2026 market.
    
    Duh.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - username_1@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Myst had classical “adventure” gameplay. Slightly different UI and rather crazy plot, but under the hood it was just an adventure game with puzzles. Hellblade 1-2 was a walking simulator without even a cool plot. The only “killer feature” was the face animation of the main personage.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
- OscarRobin@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Except the problem was that’s exactly what they were told to do and told they were supported to do by Microsoft. Spencer told them to go make another expensive weird game because he thought the broadening would enhance Gamepass etc. he was wrong, and was replaced, but it still wasn’t ’their fault’.
  
  source
MrOtingocni@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I don’t understand why any company would agree to be bought out by Microsoft. MS’s modus operandi since its inception has been to stifle competition by buying everything up and gutting it. It’s a death sentence.

Is it for a big personal pay out by the team and they can all go elsewhere with a fat check once the axe drops?

source
- Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  The owners of the company get a fat check while the employees gets shafted. Same as with any corporate merger.
  
  source
- CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  That’s what I assume - like if your studio is going under anyway and MS is the only one to make an offer, you might be able to keep the place running for another year of so, give everyone a buffer and maybe finish whatever you were working on. I would figure it’s not a long-term strategy though, more just slowing the collapse.
  
  source
TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.ca ⁨13⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
This industry is so fucked.

source
addie@feddit.uk ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
A shame. I liked Enslaved, loved DmC, and really liked Hellblade. They made quite a big thing at the time they were making Hellblade about wanting to be ‘double A’ publishers - making highly polished indie games on a sensible budget, basically. And then they sold out to Microsoft, which has screwed them over - all those publishers needing to make a non-stop stream of big budget megahits or they’ll be hung out to dry.

Consolations to all affected. It has been an absolute bloodbath in games development recently.

source
RickyRigatoni@piefed.zip ⁨11⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Time to bust out the trump card. Heavenly Sword 2.

source