At least we will get another Fallout from the hands of Obsidian right? Right?
Activision in charge of Halo? That’s a deathblow if ever I heard one.
Xbox lays off 268 more employees, merges Obsidian into Bethesda and puts Activision in charge of Halo
Submitted 2 weeks ago by AustralianSimon@lemmy.world to games@lemmy.world
Comments
ZapBeebz_@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Sabin10@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Post bungie halo has been like watching a train wreck in slow motion, the series has survived the last 16 years on reputation alone.
QueenHawlSera@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Post Halo Bungie hasn’t fared much better….
warm@kbin.earth 2 weeks ago
It literally doesnt matter. Halo died with Bungie and Bungie died with Halo.
psx_crab@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
On the bright side, Activision is quite capable of making the exact same game over and over again and consistently. Their knowledge of beating the dead horse is borderline necromancy. Can’t say the same for 343.
SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Tbf if you were to give Halo back to Bungie they too would fuck it up nowadays.
harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Oh it is straight up necromancy and Black Ops might be necrophilia.
AustralianSimon@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
CODification here it comes. Couldn’t be worse than the current state of Halo though?
Sonotsugipaa@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Halo became what it is now because they tried to turn it into CoD, so it couldn’t be better either
RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Activision doesn’t only publish Call of Duty though. They publish all kinds of games: Sekiro, the Tony Hawk games, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, etc.
Way more potential than what 343 had. I mean, 343 was purposefully NOT hiring former Bungie-era Halo employees. The important ones, like Marcus Lehto, Marty ODonnell, heck they only brought Joe Staten to get Infinite “back on track” and then promptly kicked him to the curb too. 343 definitely deserved this earlier, I am gonna be honest.
ZapBeebz_@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The games you mentioned ring in my head as mid-2000s highlights, with nothing more than blatant money grabs published in the last decade. Not very indicative of a healthy studio imo. They may have once been capable of turning out good games, but that was roughly in the era 343 was turning out good games too
Cethin@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
This isn’t publishing. This is development. Halo will be an Activision developed game.
lemmyvore@feddit.nl 2 weeks ago
At this point a deathblow would be a kindness for the Halo franchise.
Damage@feddit.it 2 weeks ago
Microsoft Is the worst thing that ever happened to computers
scops@reddthat.com 2 weeks ago
Ehhhhh, if we could see into the multiverse ball, maybe. I’d fucking hate to see a timeline where Apple was the dominant consumer-grade OS producer through the 90s and 2000s.
Damage@feddit.it 2 weeks ago
It’s more a matter of practices rather than product. Microsoft killed the competition with every underhanded tactic they could use, they atrophied the PC ecosystem, the damage they’ve done is incalculable, and now that they don’t have the same power anymore, it seems that doing damage is still their main objective, dedicating even more resource to achieve it
False@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Notch no longer being involved in it is also a plus
lemmyvore@feddit.nl 2 weeks ago
Apple wouldn’t have survived the 90’s because, ironically, Microsoft saved them from bankruptcy.
drmoose@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
With Apple right behind it.
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Holy moly.
That is basically the worst case scenario, no?
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The absolute last thing Obsidian needs is more Bethesda.
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They should have folded Bethesda into Obsidian and given them TES/Fallout.
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The absolutely last last thing Halo needs is to be more like Call of Duty.
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They should have cut 343, and split the IP amongst specialized studios. Like an Arkane special ops stealth game, or a strictly multiplayer Activision game.
This is beyond even my worst expectations.
cheat700000007@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Obsidian is doing fallout.
Halo needs ANYTHING. 343/Halo studios has never had a fucking clue.
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Obsidian is doing fallout.
But under BGS now. To me, that is frightening.
darkangelazuarl@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s worse then that because studios aren’t names they are the people that make the games. **All these studios bare effectively dead. ** The only good that may come of this are the devs that start their own indio studio and make the games they want. Not an easy path mind you.
bigmamoth@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Last good game by obsidian ? By Bethesda ? Commercial success now ? Obsidian dig their grave.
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
They made a bunch of good RPGs/RPG-ish games, and a bunch of “mid” ones.
My personal favorite is Grounded. It does sorta feel like an Obsidian/BGS game, with its heavy implicit environmental storytelling, audio logs and such.
RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Its not even close to the worst thing. The worst thing was letting 343 “Halo Studios” keep Halo.
At worst, we just get another bad Halo game. But with entirely different people working on it, at least there is a chance it could be better. Under 343 “Halo Studios” it had no chances of being good.
Activision is a publisher, they don’t only make Call of Duty. They have a large variety of games they publish, including Blizzard’s Overwatch, which while one can argue doesn’t fit the Halo gameplay, proves that Activision has the capacity to publish an FPS games that feels almost nothing like Call of Duty.
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Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
These fuckers won’t rest until there’s nothing good left to play and all that’s left are multiplayer only games that cost $100 up front and still need several microtransactions a day forever in order to be in any way playable 😮💨🤬
amgine@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You’re missing one major step. It’ll be 100 up front plus a monthly fee to your cloud gaming access to be able to play the game until they decide you don’t get the license to play it anymore and they take it away. You will own nothing and like it.
Pronell@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
As I remember, back in the 90s, the CEO of Activision hated video games.
So of course that zombie of a company is still fucking up gaming.
Cethin@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
This is on MS not Activision.
Pronell@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Absolutely, I was just giving historical background about Activision.
ProwlsInSoup@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
seaplant@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
A good time to mention that Xbox (and boycotting Game Pass especially) is one of a dozen or so priority targets chosen by the Palestinian BDS Movement beecause they’re vulnerable and Microsoft’s cloud computing services are so vital for “Israel’s” military and prison system
rosahaj@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
From what I’ve heard, Bethesda and Obsidian have always been great places to work. I hope Microsoft isn’t ruining that for the devs. Hopefully the increasing union presence in Microsoft will bring worker interests back into consideration.
Nutteman@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I imagine Bethesda hasn’t been fun to work for for a good 10 years now.
shartgargle@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Word is that NOBODY wanted to make starfield other than Todd Howard. Apparently once whispers of being bought happened, he wanted that game out because he knew Microsoft would never allow them waste time on something that isn’t elder scrolls or fallout.
deadcream@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Companies that make “boring” games are often great workplaces, while those that make bestsellers (such as CD project red, rockstar, etc) are shitholes putting workers through hell and permanent crunch.
BigBananaDealer@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
bethesda has only ever had layoffs twice in their history, i think one was before morrowind and the other was after asha took over xbox
Mora@pawb.social 2 weeks ago
Woefully wrong. Pre-Microsoft Bethesda was probably okay. But Microsoft Bethesda layoff waves were:
- January 2023
- January 2024
- May 2024
- September 2024
- possibly July 2025
- (despite Zenimax != Bethesda, they create Elder Scrolls Online, so also July 2026 , where thay cut nearly half of the team responsible for ESO, including the community manager)
- this new one now
I am probably missing some. So honestly, the only thing save to assume that the only thing working at Microslop is their CoPilot.
rosahaj@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Makes sense, they were in dire straits before Morrowind, and well, Microsoft is Microsoft.
warm@kbin.earth 2 weeks ago
Really? Isnt it just Todd going around demanding things? Id never want to work under that narcissitic dick.
rosahaj@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
I can only go off of what I’ve heard directly from Bethesda devs, who from what I’ve seen generally have the attitude of ‘’he is a great boss who has been given too much to handle as the studio got bigger.” You’re probably referring to the ‘seagulling’ post which, afaik, was a 4chan post without a source.
AustralianSimon@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Guys, let’s bring Skyrim to (insert random platform). - Todd
Zahille7@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
With all the bullshit you’re spouting off I’m surprised you haven’t pulled the “Todd hates Obsidian/New Vegas” card yet.
ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip 2 weeks ago
I’m sure Microsoft firing everyone isn’t helping…
nullspace@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
What exactly is their plan? Just collect IPs so they aren’t being released on other platforms?
whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
It is a very old strategy for monopolies to buy up competition so they can kill the competition, it’s how Microsoft was founded.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Founded? I know they did this as they grew, but founded?
mirshafie@europe.pub 2 weeks ago
Yeah so historically PlayStation has had a lot of exclusives (Shadow of the Colossus, God of War, The Last of Us) that would be the deciding factor for a lot of players. So Microsoft wanted to ensure that Xbox/PC could synergize and compete against Sony by buying a stake in a ton of game studios. But between bitcoin, AI and enshittification the gaming industry is in shambles so they’re cutting overhead.
forkDestroyer@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
Don’t worry: their CEO was answering support calls. I’m sure things will be fine.
(Doomed.)
ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Halo to become Call of Duty In Space in 3…
Rakonat@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Where have you been for the last 14 years? Halo has been call of duty in space since 343 took over.
Sonotsugipaa@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
No, no, Halo has been Call Of Titanfall Strike: Global Offensive Theft Auto 2: Yet Another An Ancient Evil Awakens Worse Than The One Before in space since 343 took over
deeves@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The only people in the world left that understand the lineage of Halo, and that Halo is all about the combat dance, and elaborate encounters, and that every enemy in the level is a chess piece that needs to be placed with utmost care, is Id Tech.
Id Tech, freshly equipped with everything they learned from resurrecting DOOM, is the only studio skilled enough to possibly save the Halo franchise.
Too bad Microsoft obliterated them last month, too.
Oops!
ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Wait until they give Doom to Activision, to create Call of Doom - UAC Mercenaries, a game where the hellspawn are replaced with striking UAC workers gone too far and dressing up as imps and such.
B0NK3RS@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
Halo of Duty?
PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
They all ready did that 14 years ago when Halo 4 came out. It had kill streaks and creat-a-class with custom skins.
bitjunkie@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Implying it wasn’t already that
brucethemoose@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Halo was an attempt at a better direction, compared to 5.
harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Can’t wait for Fallout 5: Skyrim Crossover Edition.
Turns out Heimskr was working with the Thalmor the whole time and after Ulfric captured Hoover Dam, the Khajit Commonwealth just said “fuck it” and nuked everyone.
Well, it was skooma spiked with Nuka Cola.
The Radskeevers are everywhere and are a pain to kill.
ProfessorHoover@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
Ok that description kinda makes me want to play a more fantasy themed post apocalypse. I guess The Witcher sort of counts, IIRC that story started with a magical apocalypse destroying the modern Earth
aeronmelon@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Deck chairs on the Titanic.
I honestly believe that Xbox will stop existing as a company in a few years.
VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah, Asha Sharma seems to be set up as an example of the glass cliff. She’s clearly trying to bail out a sinking ship rather than revitalize a stale brand. Giving Halo to Activision shows a misunderstanding of what Halo players want, but the other things she’s doing are things that probably could have helped five or more years ago, but are just too late now. We’re probably heading toward a repeat of the 1983 crash. Xbox and PlayStation might still be around after, but they’ll be in the position that Atari and Sega were after the crash, with their remaining market share evaporating the instant a new competitor arrives.
Meanwhile, so long as Nintendo just keeps doing what they’ve been doing they should be fine. I could see them phasing out game key cards as an option for devs if the digital only backlash on the next generation is bad enough, but they might not have to given that the publishers that have been using them are the ones most likely to implode.
frank@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Honestly, Nintendo is in such a good position to pick up serious market share from Sony and Xbox. It’s insane that just making actual games that aren’t riddled with crap and not insta firing everyone who works for you is enough to be the clear front runner.
I wonder if, like Sega and Atari, there will be someone to swoop in and take market share here. I worry it’s a Meta or someone with a terrible spyware product.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
they often hire women to take the PR nightmare, and flak from the public when a company is failing, and looks like the plan is to close down xbox eventually.
dreamkeeper@literature.cafe 2 weeks ago
Sony still has good IPs to fall back on, despite all the goodwill they’ve lost lately. The PS6 will sell just fine as long they launch it with a could reconmgnizeable titles.
Xbox is in deep shit because first of all, they’re competing with themselves. These no reason to get an Xbox if you have a PC. Secondly they’re IPs are trash. They ruined Halo and people don’t trust Bethesda anymore. Although I do think a new ES game would still print money.
ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip 2 weeks ago
Wow. This is what happens when you put someone without game industry experience in charge of your game division. Incredibly stupid decisions all around.
Noite_Etion@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Activision is now overseeing Age of Empires… Couldn’t let Sony outshine you “who can shoot themselves in the foot hardest” could you?
ScarlettStunningSpace@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Xbox is dead
chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
So is Halo Studios/343 just…dead now? Seems like they’re dead if they don’t have Halo. Kind of in their name.
carotte@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
at least double fine got out… well i don’t want to say “before” microsoft started gutting everything but at least they got out
also daily reminder that the xbucks you spend on xbox fund genocide
MasterBlaster@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
well, R.I.P. Elder Scrolls 6.
Drasglaf@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Nooo not Obsidian! Fuck off, Microsoft.
Glitch@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Lol, smells like desperation from here.
whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Rip obsidian, I enjoyed pillars, avowed, and pentiment
laz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Yeah aasha is like a child with no understanding of her customers and is instead of playing games playing with companies
xSikes@feddit.online 2 weeks ago
Mainstream is dead
echodot@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
Why don’t they just get out of the industry, they clearly don’t want to be in it anymore. It’s just been stupid decision, after stupid decision, they basically have a license to print money and instead of creating the games that people want, and then selling them for people to play on their confusingly named consoles, they instead muck around with it by raise prices, closed studios and discontinuing IPs.
QueenHawlSera@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
I didn’t know Microsoft owned Obsidian
Toga77@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Fucking hysterical how everyone was celebrating Asha Sharma and Xbox a month or two ago, even though SHE LITERALLY SAID 1,600 CUTS ARE ON THE WAY.
This is because their AI bet fucking failed, and so did gamepass.
Yet the only ones hurt are Devs, the gamers, and potentially IPs people adore.
What a shit timeline this is.
Ertain@feddit.online 2 weeks ago
Obsidian, we hardly knew ye. 🫡
Ravenheart@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I still think they should sell Rareware to Nintendo. The fact that so many of those excellent oldschool games are stuck in IP limbo is a tragedy. Can’t play them unless you emulate them, or are lucky enough to find original hardware.
Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 2 weeks ago
I swear if they also mess up with Mojang…
rosahaj@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
“I wonder what will happen if we put all of our eggs in the same basket?” - Famous basket-dropper.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
closing down the division. seems like the head of xbox is there to do just that.
Gaja0@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I’m keeping this one