Xbox Layoffs Seemingly Begin As Devs Reveal They're 'Open To Work'

It was reported earlier that people in these studios had been given the green light to start looking for jobs while still working. Maybe some of these fall under that category. Do wonder if some have been offered an early severance package if they leave early.

If people had bought this instead of playing it for ‘free’ on gamepass, the studio would likely still be open. Then again, if Gamepass never existed this game may never have been greenlit in the first place. And if it was, people may still not have bought it and we’d be where we are right now. I suppose we’ll never know.

Not layoffs in this case because they are leaving the studio. I don't blame them but that lowers the chances of finding a new parent company or spinning off on their own.

The game was available on PS5 and Switch 2. It was more than an Xbox or Game Pass title. The problem is that development took seven years and reportedly $100m and that's difficult to justify after playing the game as I did. That doesn't mean that it's a bad game, it is not.

We should learn the fate of these studios very soon. I am guessing they announce the plan by the end of their fiscal year, which is 5 days away. That leaves one 'bad news Friday' opportunity. Tomorrow may be the day.

Letting them be independent would be a nice PR move from xboxs perspective but it is like casting them off to a remote island to die. They likely won't last long on their own with the way the industry is. Maybe xbox can trim them down to small support studios for the big IP like Fallout, elder scrolls, etc until the industry turns around.

Well, in the end, it’s actually a good sign — it means the studio isn’t shutting down and that an agreement has been reached to offer advantageous departure plans for those who want to leave. These are amicable solutions commonly used in companies and beneficial to both sides, so they’re absolutely not layoffs in the strict sense of the term

@Balaam_ Blame Microsoft not the consumer dude gamepass for the most part is great for the consumer it's up the the companies to look after there own bottom line!

@Banjo- I still really want to play it, but yea too many studios (not only Xbox) are taking too long to deliver gigantic games (gigantic in assets, some might still be 8 hour long games).

Studios need to go back to slimmer, more agile releases.

I read an average play through of SoM takes 12-15 hours. I wonder if they could have delivered the game earlier if it was aiming for a 7-8 hour target. That could had resulted in profitability AND they could had expanded the universe with sequels that do more asset reuse (you know, like the old days).

@MinervaX76 I just checked. My playthrough lasted 12h 55'. I don't rush games at all. I spend twice as much as the time you can see on How Long to Beat playing some games for the first time. South of Midnight is linear and rough in terms of gameplay and performance. It has very beautiful locations but not that many. There is some simpler filling. My intuition tells me that they realised it was taking forever and rushed parts of it to make what is considered a complete game.

Last week loyalists were saying we shouldn’t believe these ‘baseless rumors’ and now they’re saying “it’s not layoffs, it’s just people leaving the studio” when the studio will no longer exist in a few days, you can’t make this up 🤣

It feels like the gaming industry is heading face first into a crash. Games are costing way to much now and taking too long. I am not going to say I know all the ins and outs of game development but they do have access to more tools then ever before.

Studios need to tighten their belts and become more lean. Out of all the studios MS own, Bethesda and Todd are the biggest issue. One team making one game ever 10+years. Lets take the salary of the devs for example:

• Average salary in US $110,000
• >500 employees
• 1 year costs is $55m
• over 10 years $550m in salaries alone.
  It just doesn't work.

South of Midnight wasn’t a bad game, but it definitely didn’t feel like something that had seven years of development and a $100 million budget behind it. This feels more like a management issue.

Also, some people are blaming players, saying things like “they just played it on Game Pass instead of buying it.” But the game was available on almost every platform. At some point, you have to put some of the responsibility on the studio and the game itself as well.

@IllusiveMan There are the loyalists on one side and the haters on the other. Who told you the studio was going to shut down? The truth is usually somewhere in the middle.

@shiny-enzo The funny thing is that the Xbox haters are negative 100% of the time, while the genuine Xbox players are just tired of wild rumours and doomsayers. If more studios are sold or closed, that wouldn't surprise us nor anyone else in an industry that is getting rid of all studios and projects except the top performers.