Why Microsoft is Promoting/Hyping Up XBox Vapourware (Hardware That Does Not Even Exist) and 'Store' (or Titles) Instead of Physical Products
Last week's coverage in mainstream news sites helped Microsoft distract and obfuscate.
XBox is doing a terrible job and it has cost Microsoft billions in losses.
Notice how it's stalling (the XBox chief publicly admitted losing the console war):
In spite of giving it away at a considerable loss:
So far Microsoft is mostly destroying (laying off) much of what it bid to buy in 2022 amid yet another XBox crisis. In the news today:
-
136 jobs cut as Blizzard axes 68% of employees in Ireland
It’s been over two years since Microsoft publicly announced its intentions to acquire Activision Blizzard, and with the deal now closed as of October 2023, the joint company has wasted no time in laying off staff in "areas of overlap".
-
Blizzard is laying off over 126 employees from its support center in Ireland
“Companies should not invade this country, announce life-changing job cuts and simply refuse to speak to representatives chosen by people who have served their employer for many years,” Barry argued.
-
Blizzard is laying off over 126 people from its support center in Ireland
The massive culling of 1,900 workers by Microsoft looks to have had a significant global impact, as Ireland’s minister for foreign affairs Michéal Martin has confirmed that Blizzard will shed 136 employees from a support center in Cork, which is over half of that office’s headcount of 200.
-
Plus 126 people will be laid off in Blizzard’s support center, which is located on Ireland
The office in Blackpool, Cork is one of the two satellites that are situated on Irland’. The second station stands at Dublin and Blizzard has 400 employees around country-wide! Martin believes this recent layoff was very serious for the affected families.
-
Asda is selling Immortals Of Aveum for just £1
Immortals Of Aveum was one of the most high-profile financial flops of last year, almost instantly resulting in severe layoffs at developer Ascendant Studios.
[...]
‘Sure, there was some serious talent on the development team, but trying to make a AAA single-player shooter in today’s market was a truly awful idea, especially since it was a new IP that was also trying to leverage Unreal Engine 5,’ they said. ‘What ended up launching was a bloated, repetitive campaign that was far too long.’
-
‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ devs hit out at industry-wide lay offs
2024 has started with a number of studios cutting huge swathes of employees. Microsoft laid off 1,900 staff shortly after its acquisition of Activision Blizzard was approved, Riot Games laid off over 500 members of staff, and today (February 19) it was confirmed that Disco Elysium developer ZA/UM has cut a quarter of its staff.
-
What’s going on with all these video game industry layoffs?
TheThe video game industry has never been known for its job security. Game development works in cycles, and when games are released and projects end, people are often laid off. When the next project starts, hiring begins once again only for another potential cut down the line. It was hard for video game developers to feel comfortable in their positions before the most recent period of unprecedented instability. But over the past few years, it’s become a downright crisis.
If Microsoft plans to make up for the hardware losses by selling games, then tough luck. Bad timing. Since most operations/units at Microsoft shrink or lose money, Microsoft will look for what it can fake or pass off as "growth". █