I think it was bethesda the amount they payed for Bethesda was a bad buy considering Bethesda hasnt released no good game recently

Why Playstation not having this problem??

What are MS really losing? Some devs. What do they keep? The ip's. Get rid of the bloatware and streamline it.

Microsoft Xbox is doing what I would have done but the studios close them down and rebrand under one name less money going out more coming in

Look I'm just gon say it, but Austin, you could've said your whole corporate understanding explanation and still could've shown sympathy for the jobs lost, the workers without a place to develop in. Since you can explain how a company run by money, by capital is for about 15 minutes, heck till your face is blue. However though, when you leave human understanding out of the discussion, I'm srry, it tells me you don't care abt the workers and that this corporate buying out, laying off, and profiting loop is just the way of life. I'm srry to say, but that's what a CEO or board member says, a mogul says, and not a person who gives a damn abt the workers, their rights, and how much layoffs can stifle an industry, even having folks leave it. So yh, you could've done a better job with your defensive stance if you didn't wanna come off like a complete ass. Bc if that's not your point and you stick behind your whole, srry to say, you just are one of them my guy, and that's a bit inhuman. Though with this situation, I can only hope for a real push in a gaming union and same in every part of tech, bc at the end of the day, none of these companies give a crap.

Video games cost too much to make....

Jim Ryan was right ✅️

I think, perhaps as much or more than any other industry though, gaming is so good-will based that these monoliths really need to better factor in good will, managing expectations, and the cost of ‘tactical errors’, bad looks, and ruthless corporate profit-making or course-correcting. My two cents.

I think they didn't give enough time, games take 4+ years to make. Most of the acquisitions haven't happened long enough ago for Microsoft to even see what these studios can do under their banner. They've only seen what they were doing as they were purchased. IMO it's far to early for MS to be doing this.

"I am not gonna take my bonus" Wasn't bonus supposed to be a reward for good performance? And today executives get like 50% on top of their salary even if profit or the stock price crashes - 50%.

The fact that the pro iPad is lighter than the iPad air is mind boggling 😭😭😭

If what Austin is saying that company has to keep growing and make a profit. Why 343 still hasn't been closed after all ?

I stayed here to hear Austins defense for Microsoft out. All he said was “big company wants to make more money.” Thank you for wasting my time. We already knew trillion dollar companies want more money.

Unfortunately capitalism is a cancer on society and has made people that dont do any actual work feel they need millions of dollars when its their workers that deserve the money

Ok so I’m a HUGE Xbox fangirl, been with them since launch of the OG Xbox. Never had a PlayStation and never really cared about it, except for last year when I got the PS5 to go along with my Xbox Series X. I actually find myself playing my ps5 way more and is now my go to for games and entertainment. I’m always gonna love Xbox but PlayStation has definitely won me over

I think game passes is definitely eating in to sails I hate to say it but I am just saying maybe Sony not releasing there games on there subscription day one I hate to say it to but I think physical media should stay because Xbox need money and Xbox takes a percentage of the sales on digital and physical media that is my idea and don’t release it day one on game pass I hate to say that but i think it’s a dark time for Xbox I started in 2014 and had a Xbox 360 first and Xbox one second I thought it get better and it did but flash forward to now it bad situation it just sad as a Xbox and PlayStation fan I own both subscriptions for game pass and PlayStation premium but I think Sony is definitely price gouging but it working because they don’t put there game out day one because it helps there sales on games it is definitely a dark time to be a Xbox fan I would not like to see call of duty on game pass day because it would probably just shut down to and that is multiple studios I hate to see go

you both make excellent points but where some issues may have been lost in translation, is that lay offs & bonuses/cost of business compensation are included in the pre merger agreements. It's a very well kept, yet dirty secret that companies AND UNIONS use to reach a deal that benefits those invested.

“That is just the way it works” It’s not working!

The more Austin keeps talking to me like I'm a child and saying to have an adult conversation makes me wanna get the torch and pitchforks even more 😂😂😂

Hello and welcome to "This is Xbox killing off studios"

This wasn't an Xbox decision, it was a Microsoft decision imposed on Xbox.

I don’t need Austin to tell me I don’t have a good understanding of basic economics.

Sony+xbox<Pc

Hot take: if Bethesda sucks so much and fails to deliver any good product, shouldn’t Microsoft axe freaking Bethesda instead of developers that manage to produce games? Microsoft owns Fallout and Elder Scrolls. Aye Bethesda and give those ips to some other in house studios. That’s my biggest gripe with this situation. Todd should be kicked out of Xbox.

When matt uses the mega phone he looks like Cartman from South Park.

It's all about consolidating their properties, they will shuffle their employees between different studios to be working on the projects that need the support.. shut down the studios that are no longer relevant, don't really have major projects ongoing and that will cause excess employees that ultimately will need to be let go.. in the end it will allow the stacked studios with plenty of staff to power through projects and produce what needs to be done.. it's a business and sometimes you need to evaluate your departments, shuffle staff to make the most out of your business

lol Austin no need for that “should you buy an Xbox?” Video u drop every 6 months now huh?

Huge Austin L "If you make mistakes then you don't get a second chance" Ah yes, the mistake of releasing an award winning game? People UNDERSTAND that a lot of the issue is ALSO with the industry as a whole. We can be pissed at the largest company in that space choosing to ruin devs lives, for profit, and ALSO be pissed at them for not innovating the space AS WELL as recognising some aspects are beyond even their control. Most of the criticism online does this. Either Austin has read the room wrong, he is being purposefully patronising for engagement farming, or is just stupid on this take. Sorry. L take bro.

Funny how Matt was in the board meetings at Microsoft. I didn’t know he was that connected.

They bought up two huge companies that have consistently put out mediocre games 🤷‍♂️

This is a business and unfortunately this is what happens

does not make any sense. What type of logic is that it is business? Why is Microsoft buying businesses if they are not capable of running? Because Microsoft has money, they are buying running business companies and destroying them.

What even is gaming anymore

Because of all the stuff that’s happened to Xbox, I will never buy another Xbox again.

remember all xbox stick riders you wanted this y'all thought you were getting tones of day one's on game pass 🤣🤣🤣 The model doesn't work not with high quality games.

This is why I buy all consoles so I won't miss any big games

I don't really think that Austin understands the situation especially because Phil Spencer lied so many times and this is a fact right now. So that's the real problem. Basically he's another Todd. Xbox has no reputation right now and nobody should care or trust what Phil says ever again.

does anyone else want to go back to 2002 in gaming?

the only good thing from xbox this year is releasing 3 games instead of zero

The entire profit incentives/stock price valuation system is completely messed up and unsynchornized.

When did Austin get replaced by a whiney lobbyist for the big companies. It's not even devils advocate anymore.

how much is MS paying Austin to white knight for them lmao. seriously, though, if MS knew they wouldn't be able to afford these "acquisitions" without gutting entire STUDIOS, they should not have been allowed to purchase them. and don't give me the "that's just big biz" bullshit line. if we, as common folk, cannot afford a super car or w/e, we don't get to buy it. corps should be held to the same standard.

I believe we need to consider the wider picture in this situation; both Microsoft and Sony have had a dubious week. The soaring expenses associated with game development are absolutely absurd. purchasing studios one after the other without considering the status of the gaming sector. Microsoft's framing of the situation is concerning, questioning whether the layoff was the sole solution or if it was part of a business plan or strategy. And adding to that is what Sony did with the PC gamers and PSN network situation. The gaming industry is evolving, but not in the way that is desirable. The next week will be much worse for gaming, and if the industry can't take a step back and assess the situation, I don't think there will be any stable gaming in the coming years.

"We don't have enough good games!" "What do we do?" "Let's close dev studios and fire devs." That's brilliant!"

I actually loved this video, its nice to hear different sides of this discussion. I think this opened my eyes in understanding the depts to the situation. I personally feel that companies only focus on what makes them money in the short term. I understand that that's what businesses do and how they need to please the share holders, but it negatively effects the games we love. I agree with Matt on his point of saying the "chance was not given". I feel like often in the industry there is so much potential for growth and possibly monumental additions that everyone would like. Heck, fans of different franchises come up with awesome ideas all the time! What sucks and I feel is stupid is not giving these ideas a chance. It might take time for these things to blossom and grow, but it can have big returns in the future. One point Matt made about Pokémon is that they can create awesome Pokémon games if they really wanted to. I feel instead of them hurting their fans by shutting down fan made projects that make no money, they focus there efforts on recruiting these people to work in their company. This allows them to make good and better games that can potentially make tons of money. TLDR I feel its commonsense to focus on the consumer and not what the board says, but I understand Austin's argument of saying that's how business are. I also feel if companies try to make a good product that's fun and that the fans enjoy, they will get their investments and more tenfold. People are willing to pay for something that is good!

so what happens if Linus acquires overclock

Microsoft should split up and down size their game devs instead of 10000 people working on a single game have them working on 100 games.

Xbox are being dumb, all they need to do is throw all the old CoD games on game pass, add WoW to game pass, and tell WoW players the monthly subscription they already pay will be included if they convert it to game pass, 90% of them would take that offer, also the nostalgic flood of players from having every CoD on there would send their customer base on their service through the roof! they have the answer in their lap, tugging on their shirt, and their like ''increase prices on micro transactions''

Why is it always "in the future" with Xbox. For the past half decade all we've been hearing is: Microsoft is developing games. Microsoft is acquiring studios to develop games. Microsoft has All these IPS to develop games from. Oh I know. Microsoft will have all of the great games in 2025, or 2026, or their next generation console. the future is bright for Microsoft games.

I'm buying hifi rush and leaving a great review right now! Microsoft have to be tight to a corner! what a stupid decision! and then after... they said they need these types of games. Also.... Hifi rush got lots of awards.... there's no justifying this.