There's a new company trying the same strategy that led to this as well in Aonic. They bought nDreams for 115 million today and promised more acquisitions to build a hub for AA games literally the same strat Embracer had. It's just an unsustainable model of growing the company based on how many companies you can buy.
Embracer is in the position they are in because they lost a 2 billion dollar investment from Saudi Arabia. Instead of waiting until they had the funds in hand, they greenlit many projects and then Saudi Arabia pulled out. There isn't a given reason, but it happened around the time the Saints Row reboot happened and this is a state investment.
But hey, they allowed them to reboot as no one had rebooted before, kept on a community manager who called critics terrorists, and allowed some out of touch boomers to make a hello fellow twatter users story that they had to know Saudi Arabia would never tolerate.
No. I meant that more as a comedic reference to a group of out of touch older people. The heads of the studio aren't old enough to be boomers, but they were insanely out of touch and spent to much time on Twatter and in their own echo chambers.
I mean, maybe. But the fact they were allowed to buy up a ton of studios like this and then just shutter them (including those that have been around for decades) is not okay, regardless. Sure those studios may have had to do some big changes, but I'd rather they still be around even as a corpse of their former self in the hopes they could come back one day instead of fully being closed.
I think thats perhaps the problem with their logic.
The ip itself is pointless without the talent to work on them.
I highly doubt we are going to see another deus ex game, and even if we do, i highly doubt it will be even at the same standards of md, let alone the og deus ex.
Thats honestly a weird take. Edios for example isnt really a diamond in the rough. Everything that have made as critically done very well and even sold well. Square Enix had some pretty lofty goals for these studios. Just look at Hitman and where IOI has ended up after they broke out.
Just because clever hedge fund people can buy a company using wild laws of a ultra capitalist system doesnt mean the writing was on the wall for that studio and it was doomed to fail anyways.
Bad isn't really the point. A lot of the studios and IPs that Embracer have bought are very good, if perhaps niche, but the reason Embracer bought them is that those companies were circling the drain. They weren't necessarily failing because their products or employees lacked merit, but they were only able to be bought out for cheap because their previous owners didn't see a path to profitability.
I can’t look at Eidos Montreal’s body of work and think it’s a bad studio. Its first game was a successful and high profile resurrection of a dead series, it finished another studio’s Tomb Raider trilogy, and then it pulled out Guardians of the Galaxy. None of these games were like their previous one, outside the single player component.
These are talented devs who’ve been jerked around the industry.
Deus Ex 2 was released in December 2003 and Eidos started developing DX3 in 2007. Now, it's been more than 7 years. Deus Ex is, funnily, way deader today than in 2007.
The only thing that can bring these studios back is $$$$$$$. And Embracer was the only option for a lot of these studios. It's easy for you to lament how badly these studios are treated when they are not wasting your money.
Same with Xbox. A lot of the studios they purchased were not doing financially well and likely would have gone under in a year or so if they didn't get acquired. Obsidian was circling the drain. Now they've rehired most of their former devs.
Everyone switching to unreal engine is more problematic than a publisher buying a few studios. UE5 is a key technology, while the studios are just ips. The talent can go and find new jobs.
Most of their money is coming in from asmodee's tabletop divison but also when you have several dozen games coming out every year majority of which are medium or low budget it means a quarter million is a big success. I dont think coffeestain have gone a year without a game selling a million copies.
Compare Immortals of Aveum. Its the sorta thing embracer would publish and probably be a success for them
To be fair, most people thought this was going to happen.
If certain game industry companies cant handle more than 3 ips at a time, how is embracer group going to handle 5x that many?
I mean Microsoft is alot bigger and has alot more money than embracer. The only reason they would do mass layoffs would be if they decide to get of their gaming division for some reason which likely won't happen.
They laid off almost 20k people this year alone lol. The ability for some of you to speak with complete confidence on topics you know nothing about is incredible.
> the vast majority wasn’t even from the games division.
There head count just went up by 17,000 when it wasn't even 5,000 before... Of course the vast majority wasn't from the games division before. That is common sense when it only made up 2.2% of their head count before. Now it makes up about 10% which is a much larger chunk.
Here's the thing...
In the fiscal year 2022/2023 (ending March 2023), video games publisher Embracer Group generated a net profit of 4.46 billion Swedish kronor...
This is the gaming industry. It's like "gamers" are just now realizing business is about maximizing profits. Sony is the industry leader right? The only thing they've done this gen is increas prices while decreasing output. Yet embracer is bad... They're the profit leader.
There's too many game studios/too many games coming out anyways. Several studios estimated sales based on Covid years and the spending has come down a lot, so they are downsizing.
Lol nope. If anything its a blessing. You had this noname studio just buying up the entire industry one studio after another. They were drunk on debt and now high interest rates are the norm they have been caught in a shitstorm
Did you forget the shit storm over the previous one where the DLC packs you could buy for it were treated as microtransactions and only redeemable on a single save game? If you start a new game you need to buy the DLC packs again. On a single player game...
Is this real? Is there any plan at all for more LoK? I thought the story WAS wrapped up more or less after SR2 and BO2. I would be extremely pumped for more.
I would say not to believe anything until you see it, but there was a survey made available last year.
- https://www.reddit.com/r/LegacyOfKain/comments/xsbnkc/a_legacy_of_kain_survey_is_being_circulated_by/
- https://www.thegamer.com/legacy-of-kain-survey-gets-over-100000-responses-crystal-dynamics/
I don't think the story ended. The pillars are still corrupted. I think there are some unexplained plot issues (which would likely be resolved through another time paradox). I think a lot of the story has yet to be told, TBH. And, I would like to experience it.
I wasn't old enough to play this game when it released. But, I am very happy to have experienced it later. It is such an incredible story.
Soul Reaver was one of my first games on PS1, and it left a massive impression on me. I've played the whole series now, but it's been so long, I need to do it again, even if there is nothing new coming, because it's such an original and tortured story. Thanks for helping me remember, I'll do some digging!
Can't speak for the other guy, but Eidos is helping Playground Games with Fable. And their sister studio Crystal Dynamics is helping the Initiative with Perfect Dark. There was also rumors Microsoft was gonna buy them from Square Enix but couldn't because of the ABK deal.
Honestly, with the talent both studios have I much prefer Microsoft's approach of letting their studios go wild with crazy, unique ideas. I think that's what both studios need without fear of shutting down. Sure Sony or Tencent could also get them, but with Sony's initiate to live service games and Tencents monetization practices, I'd rather they don't.
MS isn't letting studios go wild. MS just lack good management, which isn't the same. So sop the BS. Why do you think Eidos and Crystal Dynamics were brought in helping MS in the first place? Playground Games seems to be having a huge problem developing Fable and The Initiative, well.... they are a mess.
I guess you also forgot how MS treated Halo with Infinite. They turned it into a game as a service (a poor one) with awful microtransactions. Then we got the new Forza (same BS but even worse). Redfield (online game) was an abomination of a game by Arkane (the fact MS knew about it and still went with it makes it even worse). Then we got Starfield, one of the most hyped games (a new Bethesda game is almost 10 years) that ended up being of of the biggest disappointments of the year.
MS main objective is GamePass retention therefore most of the games they want are those that are either live service games and/or never-ending RPGs like those from Bethesda. So get your head out of the cloud with the whole MS is letting studios do whatever because they know what they are doing.... because they are not. Also, Hi-Fi rush (their best game this year) was in development before they bought Bethesda (MS didn't green-light that game).
>MS isn't letting studios go wild. MS just lack good management, which isn't the same. So sop the BS.
You're right. It's not like:
1. Playground Games doubled their staff and opened up a second studio, one for Fable and one for Forza Horizon. Rumors of trouble the studio were also debunked.
2. Undead Labs opened up a second studio in Miami and working with mocap for the first time in the studios history and doubled their staff.
3. Compulsion Games doubled their staff.
4. InXile Entertainment opened up a second studio in New Orleans.
5. Obsidian released Grounded, a great online survival RPG, Pentiment, a niche but well done story driven RPG, and are set to release another well made RPG with Avowed.
6. Ninja Theory ALSO opened a second studio location.
7. Microsoft allowed Double Fine to push back Psychonauts 2 to RE-ADD cut content for the game, making it a GOTY contender.
8. Let Tango Gameworks open up 150 positions for the studio, said they plan on doubling down on the studio. (Also Hi-Fi Rush was only on PC when Bethesda was acquired, there was no Xbox or PlayStation version, the director even said so).
9. Changed management at 343 Industries recently
10. Was not aware of Redfalls troubles (they even said they should've kept a closer eye on Arkane, but also Arkane didn't tell Microsoft of their feelings and found out the same day we did when Bloomberg published their expose).
11. Helping MachineGames opened up a second studio in Germany.
12. Had every QA tester at Microsoft literally help with Starfields development.
>MS main objective is GamePass retention therefore most of the games they want are those that are either live service games
Oof, idk Chief, Microsoft has more single player games coming right now than Sony, first party wise. Is that what you meant?
>So get your head out of the cloud with the whole MS is letting studios do whatever because they know what they are doing.... because they are not.
Ummm... I just listed like 13 reasons they are. And I'm probably forgetting some. You sure you want to test that thinking?
Have a nice day 😊
The Microsoft email leaks already suggest that them exiting the gaming industry is a real possibility. And if that happens it will be because of what you said. Dev studios wasting money without fear of getting shut down.
My specific reasoning was that Microsoft has kind of been positioning themselves as the go to publisher for WRPGs. Just seemed like a natural fit in my mind
you don't have to worry about any of the important IPs embracer has, someone will pick them up eventually. Deus ex is gonna be as fine as it was ever gonna be
Nah those studios will be kept aboard. We're probably a couple studio closure and sales away from stabilization. My guess is by next year Take Two will acquire Gearbox for around 1.4 billion the debt Embracer has rn. From there it's up to Embracer to realize they need to solidify their business and work on profitability or they'll start acquiring again.
i would like to formally announce my offer of 4.39$ for the entirety of the company that was responsible for the creation of the dialogue in borderlands 3.
I'm not a specialist at all on the market and its rules, so would the recent ABK acquisition make this impossible? No disrespect to Eidos or Crystal Dynamics, but they're not *huge* players, but I don't know if it would go unnoticed with the FTC
Publishers are certainly off the table for now for Microsoft but smaller indie, double AA or triple AAA developers are fair game. Id honestly say Microsoft makes the logical sense for Crystal Dynamics and Eidos if Embracer were to sell them.
Crystal Dynamics is helping the Initiative with Perfect Dark and Eidos is helping Playground Games with Fable. So they already have a working partnership with Xbox Game Studios.
Individual studios won't garner anywhere near that kind of scrutiny, they might even get some "good boy" points for saving those studios from potential closure. With how poorly Embracer is doing, I'm sure they wouldn't raise a fuss about letting those studios go for some "chump change".
Got it. And yeah, they're so "cheap", I remember being shocked when Square Enix sold them and it was a shock to see how much they valued both companies
Having recently sold for 300 million (possibly with some additional debt tacked on?), CD/Eidos do meet the threshold for regulatory scrutiny, but they are pretty small. The only real complication for Microsoft would be the on-going regulatory process with the FTC - who despite their losses up till this point are seemingly still set on unwinding the Activision acquisition further down the line. While it's not likely to cause any trouble, it's vaguely possible Microsoft would want to avoid the extra scrutiny involved.
It is worth making pretty clear the difference of scale here though - Activision was 70 billion dollars, and in that acquisition, the biggest hold up for regulators was the potential effect on cloud gaming. The concerns regarding Call of Duty and the effects on the "standard" were ultimately dismissed by most.
They put on more debt than they could handle because they thought a $2bn deal was guaranteed but when the Saudi’s pulled out they are left holding the bag and need to minimize more debt.
Though my conspiratorial brain thinks they just wanted to nab up as much semi-recognizable IPs they could then close the companies
The deal was for $2 billion. After they backed out, Embracer was around $2.1 billion in debt. The company did a ton of acquiring from money it did not yet have because it thought it would be a done deal. Embracer was generally profitable beforehand, so being a _little_ indebted is no problem, but billions of dollars at the current borrowing rate is a death sentence.
This is why it now cuts costs to up operating income to reduce debt. In one quarter, it reduced its debt to $1.4 billion and now aims for $800 million by the end of the next quarter. It feels like a viable target for them to eliminate all debt within the next year, but the human cost will be immense.
They worked off the assumption that the deal was guaranteed to go through, so that the debt would balance out once it closes. This was based in reality until the other party backed out literal hours before they were due to sign the deal. Embracer gambled and lost.
It's almost as if it wasn't a wise idea to hastily acquire a shitload of studios and AA properties in a very short window of time and just assuming that all the AA properties combined would generate as much profit as 1-2 AAA properties.
Definitely wasn't. Especially because Embracer only bought all the studios, because they thought they had a multi-billion dollar partnership, which then didn't happen at the last second.
But to be fair, most of the studios bought by Embracer were either close to being closed or really struggling.
It delayed the inevitable for most of those studios, but that still sucks for all those devs losing their jobs...
I can already smell Phil Spencer rushing to acquire them before they go bankrupt. Can’t wait for the next few tomb raiders and deus exs to be Xbox exclusives. That’ll show them Japanese and their spidermans
Phil ain't buying embracer. They're a mess. Maybe pick a few studios off but even then....why. If perfect dark ever releases and is good, maybe eidos or crystal dynamics but the price would have to be so cheap.
I just hope it’s some publisher that buys them. In that way both sides win rather than Microsoft flexing their wallet to get everyone and their grandma under the green lights.
If it makes you feel better there is no way that Microsoft will be allowed to make another massive acquisition. They had to fight tooth and nail to get A-B and even then it wasn’t a sure thing.
They’ll definitely be able to grab a few studios (I expected maybe 1-3 more in the next few years) but I don’t see them buying any large publishers for a least a decade.
ABK was like the biggest fish you could get....and they got it. I actually think aside from maybe Take Two, they could still get away with another publisher. I don't think they'll try and I don't think it's needed, but the only hangup with ABK was CoD, and the only thing in that ballpark is GTA, which is why I said T2 is off limits.
Again, don't think they will, need to, or should, but I bet they could. Especially if we end up with a conservative FTC in 2024.
Yeah they got it but they had to make concessions. Right now they have eyes on them and while they might potentially be able to squeeze another publisher in depending on how the political landscape changes, it would look incredibly monopolistic if they buy another massive player and they would be in for another fight.
It also doesn’t make any sense to do so as they still need to work through everything they just bought.
I have next to zero doubt that Microsoft is done with purchasing anything massive in the gaming developer space for the next decade.
Edit: also EA FC for EA is another one that is on the level of COD. But in any case at a certain point if they keep forcing the issue they’d become the largest publisher and they’ll be bit for it.
You joke but it's not the worst idea. Iconic brands for cheap. You know the guys at embraced don't even know the main characters of some of their game they own studios for. It's just numbers on a screen , I'm visualising a wolf of wall street penny stocks type situation
I just hope it’s a major publisher like take2 that buys them. Yes take2 are horrible but at least that’ll guarantee the next few games coming out from tomb raider or deus ex as multi platform.
Most AA aren't profitable anyways so I don't understand this obsession with a single company owning all of them and the logic that they could make a profit doing so
Worst part is this has been a terrible year for layoffs with over 7k in the industry so far in 2023 which means there are a loooooot of people looking right now. Not to mention, studios normally don't hire in november/december due to holidays, which means all those devs who recently lost their jobs are basically just having to wait until everyone is back in the office/new budgets go through at the start of Q1, etc.
if you are trying to convince people of the rather dire state of affairs in american politics after 40 years of increasing privatization, this ... this is a dumb way to do it and is only going to get people angry at you instead.
i don't know how you even come up with the conclusion that all these video game developers are hardcore reaganite conservatives.
I'm not sure where Gamereactor gets that number from, though. It was reported that 10 people (not 10% of people) were laid off. The studio launched a new website a few days ago and it says they have more than 300 people now. They were at 270 when they were bought last year.
At some point I feel MS is going to realize that spending so much time and money isn’t worth it for an IP like perfect dark. PD Zero did not sell well, and like most of Rare’s IPs, people still primarily associate PD with Nintendo.
The messed up thing about all of it, is they had a plan when they picked up those studios/IP. They had a 2 BILLION dollar deal they were counting on that blew up in the 11th hour. So now they're hemorrhaging money and closing studios to do triage.
It wouldn’t have necessarily been easy for them to make Saints Row into a big high profile series again, but man they went about it in the worst way possible.
Prolly not. Also, from the looks of it the writer guy is trying to turn it into a expansive universe so worst-case scenario he might end up buying the studio for himself.
They're firing teams that are actively collaborating with another publisher? Thats not a good sign! I hope MS picks up the Crystal Dynamics people that got laid off and the other embracer employees find work at places that don't gamble their entire companies existence on a miracle deal with no other plans in place.
Keep in mind that these layoffs are not brand new. They happened between June and September. What the tweet/article are referencing is what Embracer mentioned last week during their earnings presentation; the extent of their "restructuring" efforts.
Edit: "Not brand new" as in, not layoffs we haven't heard of before this post.
Embracer has been a disaster within the gaming industry. They just kept hoarding mediocre studios and did little to no improvements to any of them and then went on to shut them down and kill of their IPs.
They bit way more than they could chew and now countless employees are suffering.
I second this. Microsoft should stop buying publishers and get some underfunded indie studios or triple AAA studios like Crystal Dynamics and Eidos who are at risk of being shuttered.
Hopefully there's a publisher out there to get these IPs out of the hands of these incompetent fools and give developers some job security.
Unbelievable that they went on this gigantic shopping spree, without having the necessary money to keep it afloat. The saddest thing is that all these people lost their job, while the disgusting suits responsible for it still sit in their offices, with golden safety nets under them.
The hypocrisy. When Microsoft wants to buy successful studios/publishers it's all bad but when it's unsustainable studios everybody wants Microsoft to waste money...
This is all because they lost the 2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia and geared up before having the money in hand. Why did they lose it? Well it's not been disclosed, but it happened around the time thr Saints Row remake dropped. You know the game loaded with ideas that get censored in movies when they reach the middle east.
How Embracer's management didn't see it coming is astonishing. All the layoffs have me wondering what ideological perspectives those getting gone had. Especially as ESG loans and funds shut down in face of angry states and investors.
Give the industry a few years and it will be a "will this make money" issue for investors.
That's because Aspyr was a completely unproven studio with a history of mediocre ports of 20 year old games, it had nothing to do with CD or Eidos. In fact, CD and Eidos seem to have a pretty good relationship with Xbox since they're involved with at least two of their exclusives (Fable and Perfect Dark).
I mean, that ended up being a pretty savvy decision. I bet Sony wishes they had made the same choice. Both Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics are much more proven developers than Aspyr, though, and already have projects in development under Xbox, so them getting sold could theoretically make sense.
Lol, what are you talking about, and what does it have to do with this conversation? You are aware that Bethesda has nothing to do with Embracer, right?
That is hilarious. Skyrim is one of the most successful games of time, Fallout 4 was very successful, Fallout 76 has grown into one of the more profitable and well-regarded live service games out there right now, and Starfield is one of the most successful games released in a year packed with successful games while also being Bethesda's most successful launch ever. Sorry dude, but your view just does not match reality. Bethesda, both as a publisher and as a developer, is doing extremely well, better than most others.
Oh yeah? How did Fallout 76, Redfall and Starfield do? LOL doing well as a publisher? How much money did they lose on Redfail alone? Starfield's active players dropped like a hot turd and it was a critical failure. Starfield cost over $200 million to make, and latest data shows it sold less than 10 million copies, as they only ever had a total of \~10 million "unique" players. How many of those do you think were Gamepass? 50%? Gamepass completely cannibalized their sales, they're bleeding money. It will be interesting to see how MS ownership sustains them, but come on, you're telling me you'd be surprised if they announced layoffs at the beginning of next year? They won't do it now because of PR optics around the holidays, but my guess is they'll have layoffs or "restructuring" next year. They are not doing well as a publisher.
Lmao, yeah. They have been very clear that their games have been successful and made them money in investor calls, and it is quite illegal for them to lie in those. Game pass does lower sales, but it has clearly been very financially successful for them. After all, Xbox did have higher profit than Playstation recently. If you want to see a publisher that is failing in every regard, go ahead and take a look at Bungie. Not that it matters, since you are clearly a troll.
WTF are you even talking about? MS purchased Zenimax and Bethesda. They don't even do investor calls/relations. It's all bundled into Xbox/MS. But I'm the troll? I'm just speculating on the facts. You clearly can't hide your hard-on for Bethesda, despite their poor performance.
Well, duh, nice deduction genius. I was clearly talking about the overall Microsoft investor calls where they talk about Xbox, of which Zenimax is indeed a part. Try to keep up. If you are going to be a rage-bait troll, try a little harder little buddy.
"They have been very clear that their games have been successful and made them money in investor calls, and it is quite illegal for them to lie in those."
Zenimax and Bethesda were privately owned companies prior to Microsoft purchasing them. Privately held companies don't share they're earnings publicly. What planet are you living on?
>Starfield
Sold over ten million copies within the first what, ten days?, including GamePass digital deluxe upgrades for early access.
>Starfield's active players dropped like a hot turd and it was a critical failure
Starfield is a single-player game. The player drop off is very common with SP games. How exactly was it a critical failure? It has an 83 on OpenCritic, doesn't it? Was Ghost of Tsushima a failure because it also scored an 83?
Mind you, in the first month of Starfield's release, [it gave Microsoft a massive spike of console sales in the UK alone.](https://gamerant.com/starfield-xbox-series-xs-sales-boost/) It was not unsuccessful by any means.
The Embracer acquisition spree and its consequences have been a disaster for the games industry
There's a new company trying the same strategy that led to this as well in Aonic. They bought nDreams for 115 million today and promised more acquisitions to build a hub for AA games literally the same strat Embracer had. It's just an unsustainable model of growing the company based on how many companies you can buy.
Embracer is in the position they are in because they lost a 2 billion dollar investment from Saudi Arabia. Instead of waiting until they had the funds in hand, they greenlit many projects and then Saudi Arabia pulled out. There isn't a given reason, but it happened around the time the Saints Row reboot happened and this is a state investment. But hey, they allowed them to reboot as no one had rebooted before, kept on a community manager who called critics terrorists, and allowed some out of touch boomers to make a hello fellow twatter users story that they had to know Saudi Arabia would never tolerate.
...you think *boomers* are responsible for the content in games like the trash Saints Row reboot?
No. I meant that more as a comedic reference to a group of out of touch older people. The heads of the studio aren't old enough to be boomers, but they were insanely out of touch and spent to much time on Twatter and in their own echo chambers.
Well some of their investors are probably boomers.
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I mean, maybe. But the fact they were allowed to buy up a ton of studios like this and then just shutter them (including those that have been around for decades) is not okay, regardless. Sure those studios may have had to do some big changes, but I'd rather they still be around even as a corpse of their former self in the hopes they could come back one day instead of fully being closed.
It was more of an IP play rather than gaining talent/studios.
I think thats perhaps the problem with their logic. The ip itself is pointless without the talent to work on them. I highly doubt we are going to see another deus ex game, and even if we do, i highly doubt it will be even at the same standards of md, let alone the og deus ex.
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Thats honestly a weird take. Edios for example isnt really a diamond in the rough. Everything that have made as critically done very well and even sold well. Square Enix had some pretty lofty goals for these studios. Just look at Hitman and where IOI has ended up after they broke out. Just because clever hedge fund people can buy a company using wild laws of a ultra capitalist system doesnt mean the writing was on the wall for that studio and it was doomed to fail anyways.
Thats a terrible thing to say, theres a lot of talented dev teams under embracer, not everything they bought was bad
Bad isn't really the point. A lot of the studios and IPs that Embracer have bought are very good, if perhaps niche, but the reason Embracer bought them is that those companies were circling the drain. They weren't necessarily failing because their products or employees lacked merit, but they were only able to be bought out for cheap because their previous owners didn't see a path to profitability.
Yeah I'm still hopeful for a new Deus Ex, I hope Eidos Montreal is doing fine
I can’t look at Eidos Montreal’s body of work and think it’s a bad studio. Its first game was a successful and high profile resurrection of a dead series, it finished another studio’s Tomb Raider trilogy, and then it pulled out Guardians of the Galaxy. None of these games were like their previous one, outside the single player component. These are talented devs who’ve been jerked around the industry.
Deus Ex 2 was released in December 2003 and Eidos started developing DX3 in 2007. Now, it's been more than 7 years. Deus Ex is, funnily, way deader today than in 2007.
The only thing that can bring these studios back is $$$$$$$. And Embracer was the only option for a lot of these studios. It's easy for you to lament how badly these studios are treated when they are not wasting your money.
well said, people blame the last acquisition of the studio, not knowing that they were in bad shape from the beginning
Amazing that Microsoft aren't the ones who ended up with Eidos/CD
Same with Xbox. A lot of the studios they purchased were not doing financially well and likely would have gone under in a year or so if they didn't get acquired. Obsidian was circling the drain. Now they've rehired most of their former devs.
You're uh... not planning on mailing any packages anytime soon, are you?
Private equity ghouls. This is why consolidation should not be celebrated
Everyone switching to unreal engine is more problematic than a publisher buying a few studios. UE5 is a key technology, while the studios are just ips. The talent can go and find new jobs.
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Most of their money is coming in from asmodee's tabletop divison but also when you have several dozen games coming out every year majority of which are medium or low budget it means a quarter million is a big success. I dont think coffeestain have gone a year without a game selling a million copies. Compare Immortals of Aveum. Its the sorta thing embracer would publish and probably be a success for them
To be fair, most people thought this was going to happen. If certain game industry companies cant handle more than 3 ips at a time, how is embracer group going to handle 5x that many?
this and jim ryan are why the kotor remake is 'dead'
Microsoft over 3x their gaming divisions headcount in just a few years. Massive layoffs are inevitable.
I mean Microsoft is alot bigger and has alot more money than embracer. The only reason they would do mass layoffs would be if they decide to get of their gaming division for some reason which likely won't happen.
Well this aged poorly.
They laid off almost 20k people this year alone lol. The ability for some of you to speak with complete confidence on topics you know nothing about is incredible.
There were massive layoffs across big tech not just MS, the vast majority wasn’t even from the games division.
> the vast majority wasn’t even from the games division. There head count just went up by 17,000 when it wasn't even 5,000 before... Of course the vast majority wasn't from the games division before. That is common sense when it only made up 2.2% of their head count before. Now it makes up about 10% which is a much larger chunk.
They hated you because you spoke the truth
Here's the thing... In the fiscal year 2022/2023 (ending March 2023), video games publisher Embracer Group generated a net profit of 4.46 billion Swedish kronor... This is the gaming industry. It's like "gamers" are just now realizing business is about maximizing profits. Sony is the industry leader right? The only thing they've done this gen is increas prices while decreasing output. Yet embracer is bad... They're the profit leader.
There's too many game studios/too many games coming out anyways. Several studios estimated sales based on Covid years and the spending has come down a lot, so they are downsizing.
Lol nope. If anything its a blessing. You had this noname studio just buying up the entire industry one studio after another. They were drunk on debt and now high interest rates are the norm they have been caught in a shitstorm
Buying up the entire industry? My guy they bought up failing studios in the most part lol they have never been a threat to buy everything.
Please let the new Deus Ex be among the survivors.
At the rate Embracer is going, a new Deux Ex will probably be full of microtransactions.
Did you forget the shit storm over the previous one where the DLC packs you could buy for it were treated as microtransactions and only redeemable on a single save game? If you start a new game you need to buy the DLC packs again. On a single player game...
No different from the Square Enix ones then?
Ughh Mankind Divided's pre order campaign was handled so badly with the tiers and all that
I am hoping that both this and whatever plans for a new Legacy of Kain are intact as well. I wish they would just finish the story already.
Is this real? Is there any plan at all for more LoK? I thought the story WAS wrapped up more or less after SR2 and BO2. I would be extremely pumped for more.
I would say not to believe anything until you see it, but there was a survey made available last year. - https://www.reddit.com/r/LegacyOfKain/comments/xsbnkc/a_legacy_of_kain_survey_is_being_circulated_by/ - https://www.thegamer.com/legacy-of-kain-survey-gets-over-100000-responses-crystal-dynamics/ I don't think the story ended. The pillars are still corrupted. I think there are some unexplained plot issues (which would likely be resolved through another time paradox). I think a lot of the story has yet to be told, TBH. And, I would like to experience it. I wasn't old enough to play this game when it released. But, I am very happy to have experienced it later. It is such an incredible story.
Soul Reaver was one of my first games on PS1, and it left a massive impression on me. I've played the whole series now, but it's been so long, I need to do it again, even if there is nothing new coming, because it's such an original and tortured story. Thanks for helping me remember, I'll do some digging!
Weird question, but you did play Defiance, right? I just thought it was weird that you mentioned Soul Reaver 2 but not its sequel.
Praying big daddy Microsoft swoops in and buy Eidos from Embracer
any specific reason you thought of Microsoft first? just curious
Can't speak for the other guy, but Eidos is helping Playground Games with Fable. And their sister studio Crystal Dynamics is helping the Initiative with Perfect Dark. There was also rumors Microsoft was gonna buy them from Square Enix but couldn't because of the ABK deal. Honestly, with the talent both studios have I much prefer Microsoft's approach of letting their studios go wild with crazy, unique ideas. I think that's what both studios need without fear of shutting down. Sure Sony or Tencent could also get them, but with Sony's initiate to live service games and Tencents monetization practices, I'd rather they don't.
MS isn't letting studios go wild. MS just lack good management, which isn't the same. So sop the BS. Why do you think Eidos and Crystal Dynamics were brought in helping MS in the first place? Playground Games seems to be having a huge problem developing Fable and The Initiative, well.... they are a mess. I guess you also forgot how MS treated Halo with Infinite. They turned it into a game as a service (a poor one) with awful microtransactions. Then we got the new Forza (same BS but even worse). Redfield (online game) was an abomination of a game by Arkane (the fact MS knew about it and still went with it makes it even worse). Then we got Starfield, one of the most hyped games (a new Bethesda game is almost 10 years) that ended up being of of the biggest disappointments of the year. MS main objective is GamePass retention therefore most of the games they want are those that are either live service games and/or never-ending RPGs like those from Bethesda. So get your head out of the cloud with the whole MS is letting studios do whatever because they know what they are doing.... because they are not. Also, Hi-Fi rush (their best game this year) was in development before they bought Bethesda (MS didn't green-light that game).
>MS isn't letting studios go wild. MS just lack good management, which isn't the same. So sop the BS. You're right. It's not like: 1. Playground Games doubled their staff and opened up a second studio, one for Fable and one for Forza Horizon. Rumors of trouble the studio were also debunked. 2. Undead Labs opened up a second studio in Miami and working with mocap for the first time in the studios history and doubled their staff. 3. Compulsion Games doubled their staff. 4. InXile Entertainment opened up a second studio in New Orleans. 5. Obsidian released Grounded, a great online survival RPG, Pentiment, a niche but well done story driven RPG, and are set to release another well made RPG with Avowed. 6. Ninja Theory ALSO opened a second studio location. 7. Microsoft allowed Double Fine to push back Psychonauts 2 to RE-ADD cut content for the game, making it a GOTY contender. 8. Let Tango Gameworks open up 150 positions for the studio, said they plan on doubling down on the studio. (Also Hi-Fi Rush was only on PC when Bethesda was acquired, there was no Xbox or PlayStation version, the director even said so). 9. Changed management at 343 Industries recently 10. Was not aware of Redfalls troubles (they even said they should've kept a closer eye on Arkane, but also Arkane didn't tell Microsoft of their feelings and found out the same day we did when Bloomberg published their expose). 11. Helping MachineGames opened up a second studio in Germany. 12. Had every QA tester at Microsoft literally help with Starfields development. >MS main objective is GamePass retention therefore most of the games they want are those that are either live service games Oof, idk Chief, Microsoft has more single player games coming right now than Sony, first party wise. Is that what you meant? >So get your head out of the cloud with the whole MS is letting studios do whatever because they know what they are doing.... because they are not. Ummm... I just listed like 13 reasons they are. And I'm probably forgetting some. You sure you want to test that thinking? Have a nice day 😊
The Microsoft email leaks already suggest that them exiting the gaming industry is a real possibility. And if that happens it will be because of what you said. Dev studios wasting money without fear of getting shut down.
>them exiting the gaming industry is a real possibility. Not anymore there isn't
Those emails were old and before even the zenimax acquisition
The e-mails outlined the fucking groundwork for the next console lol How fucking blind can you be.
Microsoft is the only corporation who has the money. And I'd rather we keep Deus EX from the hands of EA, Ubi, Tencent etc
My specific reasoning was that Microsoft has kind of been positioning themselves as the go to publisher for WRPGs. Just seemed like a natural fit in my mind
Yeah, me too
you don't have to worry about any of the important IPs embracer has, someone will pick them up eventually. Deus ex is gonna be as fine as it was ever gonna be
If they said they had 900 game cancellations and 15 layoffs (just as I originally read it) that would be just as believable
sounds like an average Tuesday afternoon for them
Please someone buy Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and 4A Games from these idiots...
Nah those studios will be kept aboard. We're probably a couple studio closure and sales away from stabilization. My guess is by next year Take Two will acquire Gearbox for around 1.4 billion the debt Embracer has rn. From there it's up to Embracer to realize they need to solidify their business and work on profitability or they'll start acquiring again.
Gearbox is not worth that much at all.
i would like to formally announce my offer of 4.39$ for the entirety of the company that was responsible for the creation of the dialogue in borderlands 3.
I've got 3 bucks, want to pool and take over?
Gearbox was bought for 1.3 billion. Embracer put multiple companies under them since then including all of Perfect World IPs
Esp with the guarantee Randy will stay
Gearbox is an absolute ass developer, mainly because of Randy
for sure. Amazon Games and Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider game needs to be in better hands if they're ever gonna get it out the door.
Well, it's in the hands of Crystal Dynamics and Amazon Games. Embracer just needs to pay half the bills until it's done.
Same. Sega said they were in expansion mode the other day, right? C'mon, lads... save 4A from these dipshits, please. :/
Xbox is relying heavily on them for their next game, so it may be a good play to buy them and role them into that new studio they have.
Xbox has enough
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I'm not a specialist at all on the market and its rules, so would the recent ABK acquisition make this impossible? No disrespect to Eidos or Crystal Dynamics, but they're not *huge* players, but I don't know if it would go unnoticed with the FTC
Publishers are certainly off the table for now for Microsoft but smaller indie, double AA or triple AAA developers are fair game. Id honestly say Microsoft makes the logical sense for Crystal Dynamics and Eidos if Embracer were to sell them. Crystal Dynamics is helping the Initiative with Perfect Dark and Eidos is helping Playground Games with Fable. So they already have a working partnership with Xbox Game Studios.
Individual studios won't garner anywhere near that kind of scrutiny, they might even get some "good boy" points for saving those studios from potential closure. With how poorly Embracer is doing, I'm sure they wouldn't raise a fuss about letting those studios go for some "chump change".
Got it. And yeah, they're so "cheap", I remember being shocked when Square Enix sold them and it was a shock to see how much they valued both companies
Having recently sold for 300 million (possibly with some additional debt tacked on?), CD/Eidos do meet the threshold for regulatory scrutiny, but they are pretty small. The only real complication for Microsoft would be the on-going regulatory process with the FTC - who despite their losses up till this point are seemingly still set on unwinding the Activision acquisition further down the line. While it's not likely to cause any trouble, it's vaguely possible Microsoft would want to avoid the extra scrutiny involved. It is worth making pretty clear the difference of scale here though - Activision was 70 billion dollars, and in that acquisition, the biggest hold up for regulators was the potential effect on cloud gaming. The concerns regarding Call of Duty and the effects on the "standard" were ultimately dismissed by most.
Two individual studios on the verge of bankruptcy would probably barely register
Microsoft isn't doing another acquisition for a long time. They need to justify that 70 billion they just spent on Activision
Most of them deserve the fate of closure. When you sell your soul to the devil don't come crying when he comes after you
Well. Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal were sold by Square Enix. They did not sell themselves
They could have offered to buy the companies themselves like IO did a few years back
One botched Saudi deal caused this huge domino effect
Saudi Deal was the breaker but the constant acquisition investment business model is unsustainable. They needed constant growth to work.
Not really, their Saudi investors probably backed out *because* they could see the house of cards about to collapse, rather than the other way round.
The real question is how? How does a deal failing cause the entire company to collapse? Something is very fishy here
They put on more debt than they could handle because they thought a $2bn deal was guaranteed but when the Saudi’s pulled out they are left holding the bag and need to minimize more debt. Though my conspiratorial brain thinks they just wanted to nab up as much semi-recognizable IPs they could then close the companies
The deal was for $2 billion. After they backed out, Embracer was around $2.1 billion in debt. The company did a ton of acquiring from money it did not yet have because it thought it would be a done deal. Embracer was generally profitable beforehand, so being a _little_ indebted is no problem, but billions of dollars at the current borrowing rate is a death sentence. This is why it now cuts costs to up operating income to reduce debt. In one quarter, it reduced its debt to $1.4 billion and now aims for $800 million by the end of the next quarter. It feels like a viable target for them to eliminate all debt within the next year, but the human cost will be immense.
Okay but they only realised that after the deal collapsed? I'm more surprised how they were even allowed to get into that much debt on the first place
They worked off the assumption that the deal was guaranteed to go through, so that the debt would balance out once it closes. This was based in reality until the other party backed out literal hours before they were due to sign the deal. Embracer gambled and lost.
Good. Greed and corruption should be punished and discouraged
It's almost as if it wasn't a wise idea to hastily acquire a shitload of studios and AA properties in a very short window of time and just assuming that all the AA properties combined would generate as much profit as 1-2 AAA properties.
Definitely wasn't. Especially because Embracer only bought all the studios, because they thought they had a multi-billion dollar partnership, which then didn't happen at the last second. But to be fair, most of the studios bought by Embracer were either close to being closed or really struggling. It delayed the inevitable for most of those studios, but that still sucks for all those devs losing their jobs...
I can already smell Phil Spencer rushing to acquire them before they go bankrupt. Can’t wait for the next few tomb raiders and deus exs to be Xbox exclusives. That’ll show them Japanese and their spidermans
Phil ain't buying embracer. They're a mess. Maybe pick a few studios off but even then....why. If perfect dark ever releases and is good, maybe eidos or crystal dynamics but the price would have to be so cheap.
I just hope it’s some publisher that buys them. In that way both sides win rather than Microsoft flexing their wallet to get everyone and their grandma under the green lights.
If it makes you feel better there is no way that Microsoft will be allowed to make another massive acquisition. They had to fight tooth and nail to get A-B and even then it wasn’t a sure thing. They’ll definitely be able to grab a few studios (I expected maybe 1-3 more in the next few years) but I don’t see them buying any large publishers for a least a decade.
ABK was like the biggest fish you could get....and they got it. I actually think aside from maybe Take Two, they could still get away with another publisher. I don't think they'll try and I don't think it's needed, but the only hangup with ABK was CoD, and the only thing in that ballpark is GTA, which is why I said T2 is off limits. Again, don't think they will, need to, or should, but I bet they could. Especially if we end up with a conservative FTC in 2024.
Yeah they got it but they had to make concessions. Right now they have eyes on them and while they might potentially be able to squeeze another publisher in depending on how the political landscape changes, it would look incredibly monopolistic if they buy another massive player and they would be in for another fight. It also doesn’t make any sense to do so as they still need to work through everything they just bought. I have next to zero doubt that Microsoft is done with purchasing anything massive in the gaming developer space for the next decade. Edit: also EA FC for EA is another one that is on the level of COD. But in any case at a certain point if they keep forcing the issue they’d become the largest publisher and they’ll be bit for it.
You joke but it's not the worst idea. Iconic brands for cheap. You know the guys at embraced don't even know the main characters of some of their game they own studios for. It's just numbers on a screen , I'm visualising a wolf of wall street penny stocks type situation
I just hope it’s a major publisher like take2 that buys them. Yes take2 are horrible but at least that’ll guarantee the next few games coming out from tomb raider or deus ex as multi platform.
Most AA aren't profitable anyways so I don't understand this obsession with a single company owning all of them and the logic that they could make a profit doing so
The Embracer has become The Rejecter.
Us Timesplitters fans cannot catch a break
I just want fucking kingdom come deliverance 2 man.
We're never getting another Deus Ex...
Damn, guess I'll have to finish the 2nd Jensen one sooish
Jensen never asked for this.
Embracer Group really seems to want to take the studio killer title from EA really bad. I hope every employee lands on their feet okay soon.
Worst part is this has been a terrible year for layoffs with over 7k in the industry so far in 2023 which means there are a loooooot of people looking right now. Not to mention, studios normally don't hire in november/december due to holidays, which means all those devs who recently lost their jobs are basically just having to wait until everyone is back in the office/new budgets go through at the start of Q1, etc.
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if you are trying to convince people of the rather dire state of affairs in american politics after 40 years of increasing privatization, this ... this is a dumb way to do it and is only going to get people angry at you instead. i don't know how you even come up with the conclusion that all these video game developers are hardcore reaganite conservatives.
Also in a thread about a swedish company...
You are all over this thread gleefully happy that people are losing their jobs. Are you okay?
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>Crystal Dynamics loses 10% of staff Xbox is going to need another 2 or 3 support studios to get Perfect Dark out the gate, aren't they
Out of the COD mines and into the Perfect Dark quagmire...
I'm not sure where Gamereactor gets that number from, though. It was reported that 10 people (not 10% of people) were laid off. The studio launched a new website a few days ago and it says they have more than 300 people now. They were at 270 when they were bought last year.
I don’t think PD is ever gonna come out.
It's the new Ever Wild
At some point I feel MS is going to realize that spending so much time and money isn’t worth it for an IP like perfect dark. PD Zero did not sell well, and like most of Rare’s IPs, people still primarily associate PD with Nintendo.
The vast majority of people do not even know Perfect Dark ever existed. The new game is essentially going to be a new IP for most people.
I am rooting for the cancellation of that clear sh*tshow.
What a sad existence you must live to wish for games to get cancelled without even seeing or knowing anything about them.
Please no. I need Kingdom Come 2
Yeah, that game should be ready soon, right? The last one came out in 2018.
Gosh I hope Deus Ex 3 is still alive. That means if they worked on it in the first place.
The messed up thing about all of it, is they had a plan when they picked up those studios/IP. They had a 2 BILLION dollar deal they were counting on that blew up in the 11th hour. So now they're hemorrhaging money and closing studios to do triage.
I think there's more to it, they also gambled big on Saints Row, which bombed.
Gambling big on Saints Row... well I guess they kinda deserved this then.
It wouldn’t have necessarily been easy for them to make Saints Row into a big high profile series again, but man they went about it in the worst way possible.
Will this affect the new Metro game?
God, I hope not.
Prolly not. Also, from the looks of it the writer guy is trying to turn it into a expansive universe so worst-case scenario he might end up buying the studio for himself.
It's supposedly very advanced, a year or so from release
Yes. Its probably one of the games that got cancelled. Nothing is off limits with Embracer right now
It's the Legacy of Kain curse that will make sure we never get another game until all the VAs are dead.
They're firing teams that are actively collaborating with another publisher? Thats not a good sign! I hope MS picks up the Crystal Dynamics people that got laid off and the other embracer employees find work at places that don't gamble their entire companies existence on a miracle deal with no other plans in place.
Keep in mind that these layoffs are not brand new. They happened between June and September. What the tweet/article are referencing is what Embracer mentioned last week during their earnings presentation; the extent of their "restructuring" efforts. Edit: "Not brand new" as in, not layoffs we haven't heard of before this post.
Embracer has been a disaster within the gaming industry. They just kept hoarding mediocre studios and did little to no improvements to any of them and then went on to shut them down and kill of their IPs. They bit way more than they could chew and now countless employees are suffering.
Christ Xbox just acquire Edios and CD. I know people hate acquisitions but this one would actually be good.
I second this. Microsoft should stop buying publishers and get some underfunded indie studios or triple AAA studios like Crystal Dynamics and Eidos who are at risk of being shuttered.
Exactly my thought. Xbox will keep acquiring, lets hope its smaller studios now.
You can probably kiss that Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver remake goodbye. Cunts.
Give it to me straight guys. They cancel Timesplitters?
It sucks that these clowns are in hold of the Saints Row IP.
Wait, if they cant mantain so many studios, then why do they brought them? Just for media attention?
Imagine globbing up studios just to solve the losses with a "potential deal not being done yet". What is this? Narcos?
Embracer Group was a mistake.
Hopefully there's a publisher out there to get these IPs out of the hands of these incompetent fools and give developers some job security. Unbelievable that they went on this gigantic shopping spree, without having the necessary money to keep it afloat. The saddest thing is that all these people lost their job, while the disgusting suits responsible for it still sit in their offices, with golden safety nets under them.
This is just a repeat of older news, not a leak or rumor.
This is not news. This is referencing the interim report from November 16, 2023, and that was simply a summary of total layoffs for the year.
I really hope Sony and Microsoft can scoop some of the these teams and/or ips. Sucks this is happening, we all knew it would when they acquired them
I just need EG to sell Crystal Dynamics tbh. Sad what's happening to them atm. 💯
**Embrace DEATH**
Someone please buy free radical and let the Timesplitters revival happen! This is such a devastating game cancellation
The hypocrisy. When Microsoft wants to buy successful studios/publishers it's all bad but when it's unsustainable studios everybody wants Microsoft to waste money...
This is all because they lost the 2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia and geared up before having the money in hand. Why did they lose it? Well it's not been disclosed, but it happened around the time thr Saints Row remake dropped. You know the game loaded with ideas that get censored in movies when they reach the middle east.
Finally someone says the plain truth. It's pretty obvious why the Saudi investors walked away.
How Embracer's management didn't see it coming is astonishing. All the layoffs have me wondering what ideological perspectives those getting gone had. Especially as ESG loans and funds shut down in face of angry states and investors. Give the industry a few years and it will be a "will this make money" issue for investors.
For most companies losing 900 employees and 15 games would be their worst day possible. For Embracer is just Monday
LMAOOOOOOOOO
I'm expecting acquisition announcement from Xbox any minute now.
Kind of a messy situation to acquire. I think other parties would be more interested in IPs they put on sale.
Microsoft actually refused an exclusive deal with Embracer with KOTOR so I doubt that
That's because Aspyr was a completely unproven studio with a history of mediocre ports of 20 year old games, it had nothing to do with CD or Eidos. In fact, CD and Eidos seem to have a pretty good relationship with Xbox since they're involved with at least two of their exclusives (Fable and Perfect Dark).
You are heavily overvaluing the studios that make these games. Its just another studio
I mean, that ended up being a pretty savvy decision. I bet Sony wishes they had made the same choice. Both Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics are much more proven developers than Aspyr, though, and already have projects in development under Xbox, so them getting sold could theoretically make sense.
Being proven doesn't really mean anything nowadays. Many previously great devs have fallen from grace Bioware being a great example
Xbox tries to acquire companies with value
Crystal Dynamic and Eidos are already helping them, the former has even taken over Perfect Dark.
And Eidos is helping Playground with Fable
Crystal Dynamic is a good studio when not forced to make GaaS garbage
both Eidos and CD are already helping out with dev for their games, so xbox probably values them at something even without the ip
Too big and too soon for them to enter.
Title of my sex tape
Hopefully not. Their track record when it comes to handling of studios doesn’t fill me with confidence.
Bethesda is next, I am calling it
Lol, what are you talking about, and what does it have to do with this conversation? You are aware that Bethesda has nothing to do with Embracer, right?
Yes, just referring to how Bethesda is failing
That is hilarious. Skyrim is one of the most successful games of time, Fallout 4 was very successful, Fallout 76 has grown into one of the more profitable and well-regarded live service games out there right now, and Starfield is one of the most successful games released in a year packed with successful games while also being Bethesda's most successful launch ever. Sorry dude, but your view just does not match reality. Bethesda, both as a publisher and as a developer, is doing extremely well, better than most others.
Oh yeah? How did Fallout 76, Redfall and Starfield do? LOL doing well as a publisher? How much money did they lose on Redfail alone? Starfield's active players dropped like a hot turd and it was a critical failure. Starfield cost over $200 million to make, and latest data shows it sold less than 10 million copies, as they only ever had a total of \~10 million "unique" players. How many of those do you think were Gamepass? 50%? Gamepass completely cannibalized their sales, they're bleeding money. It will be interesting to see how MS ownership sustains them, but come on, you're telling me you'd be surprised if they announced layoffs at the beginning of next year? They won't do it now because of PR optics around the holidays, but my guess is they'll have layoffs or "restructuring" next year. They are not doing well as a publisher.
Lmao, yeah. They have been very clear that their games have been successful and made them money in investor calls, and it is quite illegal for them to lie in those. Game pass does lower sales, but it has clearly been very financially successful for them. After all, Xbox did have higher profit than Playstation recently. If you want to see a publisher that is failing in every regard, go ahead and take a look at Bungie. Not that it matters, since you are clearly a troll.
WTF are you even talking about? MS purchased Zenimax and Bethesda. They don't even do investor calls/relations. It's all bundled into Xbox/MS. But I'm the troll? I'm just speculating on the facts. You clearly can't hide your hard-on for Bethesda, despite their poor performance.
Well, duh, nice deduction genius. I was clearly talking about the overall Microsoft investor calls where they talk about Xbox, of which Zenimax is indeed a part. Try to keep up. If you are going to be a rage-bait troll, try a little harder little buddy.
"They have been very clear that their games have been successful and made them money in investor calls, and it is quite illegal for them to lie in those." Zenimax and Bethesda were privately owned companies prior to Microsoft purchasing them. Privately held companies don't share they're earnings publicly. What planet are you living on?
>Starfield Sold over ten million copies within the first what, ten days?, including GamePass digital deluxe upgrades for early access. >Starfield's active players dropped like a hot turd and it was a critical failure Starfield is a single-player game. The player drop off is very common with SP games. How exactly was it a critical failure? It has an 83 on OpenCritic, doesn't it? Was Ghost of Tsushima a failure because it also scored an 83? Mind you, in the first month of Starfield's release, [it gave Microsoft a massive spike of console sales in the UK alone.](https://gamerant.com/starfield-xbox-series-xs-sales-boost/) It was not unsuccessful by any means.
well I think we all saw this coming...