Man, what a cluster f*ck. Microsoft has just announced major layoffs across a lot of its studios. This comes after the company acquired both Activision and Bethesda. To get Activision and Bethesda, MS paid A LOT of money. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. So, it kind of makes you wonder. So, it really makes you think. Why did Microsoft buy these companies if it can’t even keep its current game studios running?

Going into more details, Microsoft has closed The Initiative, which was working on the Perfect Dark Remake. So, to the surprise of no one, Perfect Dark has been canceled. This game was in development hell for a while. It sucks we won’t get to play it but hey, it is what it is. And again, the writing was on the wall. We all saw that coming.

What’s funny is that Microsoft showed a ‘gameplay trailer‘ last year. So, we can safely assume it was fake as hell, because I can’t see why a publisher would cancel a game that far along in development. And if that trailer was fake, just imagine what else Microsoft might have been lying about.

Microsoft has also laid off 50% of Turn10. Turn10 was responsible for Forza Motorsport, which was a bit underwhelming. Rare was also hit by layoffs. From the looks of it, Everwild has also been canceled, alongside a ZeniMax Online IP. Rare has been working on Everwild for six years? That’s another game that was stuck in development hell. There are also layoffs at High Moon Studios.

Undead Labs was also hit by layoffs. Undead Labs has been working on State of Decay 3. The game was announced in 2020, and last year, we got an in-engine trailer for it. So, either that trailer was fake, or the game will launch hot. Because I can’t see why MS would downsize the Undead Labs at this particular point.

To my point, though. We all know what EA has been doing these past few years, right? EA has been purchasing gaming studios so that it could shut them down. This has become a meme now. However, we’ve seen this happening countless times. And, right now, MS appears to be the new “EA”.

Just to remind you that MS also closed Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin when it acquired Bethesda. So, add The Initiative to that list. And, from the looks of it, more will be added soon. That, or those studios might just end up helping on other big MS games instead of making their own.

It’s pretty obvious that MS saw the huge sales of The Elder Scrolls, WoW, and Call of Duty, and wanted them for itself. And what we are witnessing here is the price of it. It sucks for the devs who have worked on all those other, smaller games. But that’s how business works.

In some ways, Microsoft is starting to also feel like the next SEGA. Back in 2001, SEGA stopped making game consoles after the low sales of the Dreamcast. SEGA then became a game publisher instead. Sony won that console battle, and SEGA had to change. Now, the same thing might be happening to Microsoft. Whether people like it or not, Sony seems to have beaten Xbox. So now, Microsoft may have no choice but to focus on just publishing games.

Stay tuned for more!