Breaking: Microsoft Shuts Down Xbox Entertainment Studios

[HardcoreSadism1]

Before anyone quacks ragingly over the very unfortunate layoffs, this doesn't mean they're dumping the Xbox brand altogether.


So it looks like the original Xbox days are going to be back. Meaning it's about Games and only Games.

[pacguy191]

Oh, and Netflix, Hulu, sports, and Facebook integration, patches, day one updates, stuff I don't care about, etc

It'll never be only about games again, sadly.

[Vexer1]

Well that's a little dissapointing to hear, still i'm OK with a stronger focus on games.

[Segatarious1]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2014/07/17/microsoft-closing-xbox-entertainment-studio/12792105/

18,000 total jobs - wow. 

So thats the end of movies like Pulp, that's too bad.

[HardcoreSadism1]

Let's be frank here:

• Before Phil Spencer took over, the idea of a cable box infrastructure wasn't what anyone really wanted but was rather a response to Comcast/Time Warner... It wasn't a gaming relevant sector at all
• The Games Studio is not closing, what with the recent Halo and Destiny news, that'll ensue bloodshed/suicide to full on halt the projects
• Services could finally be cheaper, though it still bugs me that people had to lose their jobs in order for this to even be a possibility
• Doing this, Microsoft has no choice but to weed through the subscription based providers that had not stood the test of (short) time, improving the quality control, which of course needs to happen- Hulu is so 2009
• Mattrick is the sole propagator of everything wrong with the TV/Movie based studio, what with insulting the consumer, backhand hyperbole on camera, etc.
• There's like one or two exclusive contents, period, throughout its existence

[Segatarious1]

[QUOTE=HardcoreSadism]Let's be frank here:

• Before Phil Spencer took over, the idea of a cable box infrastructure wasn't what anyone really wanted but was rather a response to Comcast/Time Warner... It wasn't a gaming relevant sector at all
• The Games Studio is not closing, what with the recent Halo and Destiny news, that'll ensue bloodshed/suicide to full on halt the projects
• Services could finally be cheaper, though it still bugs me that people had to lose their jobs in order for this to even be a possibility
• Doing this, Microsoft has no choice but to weed through the subscription based providers that had not stood the test of (short) time, improving the quality control, which of course needs to happen- Hulu is so 2009
• Mattrick is the sole propagator of everything wrong with the TV/Movie based studio, what with insulting the consumer, backhand hyperbole on camera, etc.
• There's like one or two exclusive contents, period, throughout its existence

[/QUOTE]

I will be shocked if they lower prices. They are doing this to make more money, not to save you money.

Remember this :  http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2013-11-07-huge-xbox-losses-hidden-by-patent-royalties-says-analyst   ?

"If we start with the overall traditional [Entertainment and Devices Division] business that actually loses money before corporate allocations and back out the nearly $2 billion 95 percent gross margin Android phone royalties, we conclude that Xbox platform plus Windows phone and Skype lose about $2.5 billion per year, and we estimate that the Xbox platform may account for roughly $2 billion of this," Sherlund said. "This is contrary to conventional wisdom, we think investors do not realize how extensive the operating costs are for this business and it is concealed by the hugely profitable Android royalties."

[Segatarious1]

Update :  The plot thickens.....

Microsoft May Not Be Able To Milk Android For Much Longer

The above findings illustrate that Microsoft’s claim on the Android smartphone is not as strong as previously suggested. It also reveals how dependant Microsoft is on Android. As the sales of Windows phones devices and Surface tablets struggling to grow, Microsoft depends largely on the licensing fees to appease worried investors. Royalty payments notwithstanding, the Redmond Giant is also using a forked Android to power the Nokia X range of devices.

According to previous estimations Microsoft’s licensing fee revenues could soar to as much as US$8.8 billion by 2017. That now seems unlikely as the next few years will see several legal and business challenges to Microsoft’s Android patent portfolio. There are enough evidences suggesting that several companies, including the largest payer Samsung, are all set to oppose Microsoft’s licensing deals both legally and commercially.

Read more: http://www.dazeinfo.com/2014/07/17/microsoft-corporation-msft-android-patent-earnings-challenges-china/#ixzz37oqWJuKD

[Atarifever1]

[QUOTE=Astrosmasher][QUOTE=Segatarious]Update :  The plot thickens.....

Read more:

[/QUOTE]
Yawn.... what were you saying. 

Oh let me recap.  Blah blah blah .. I hate MS. 

Okay.  We already know that. [/QUOTE]

Well, to be fair, it is the division that lets them hide the Xbox divisions losses, and they just laid off 18,000 staff at part of the Xbox division, so I did think the post was interesting right now.  I don't really think it is the plot thickning though.  They have been restructuring the division to compete better, and have been trying to reduce costs, and to refocus on games.  The layoffs are almost certainly part of that.  A possible looming war over patents is, in my opinion, unrelated and by the time that would be worked out (Microsoft is real good at long court cases) the Xbox One will have succeeded or not and the next generation will likely be underway. 


I don't think this needs to become the "pile on Xbox thread," but I figure one thread with all the bad news will limit the spread through the board.  One of the major platform holders just laid off the population of a fair sized town, working on the very feature they built their console around, the feature that they were so critcized for showcasing, so a little fanboy posting here is going to be somewhat inevitable.   

[Segatarious1]

Uhm, this is not hate or fanboy speak. It is MS current events.

And this google patent lifeblood is a big part of the entertainments division that includes Xbox. So this is all relevant, and will have consequences. Now granted, there is a fair amount of supposition and conjecture here, but that is what we are discussing, is it not? Why would we 'protect' MS from 'piling on'??? Seems un legit.

[Atarifever1]

[QUOTE=Segatarious]Uhm, this is not hate or fanboy speak. It is MS current events.

And this google patent lifeblood is a big part of the entertainments division that includes Xbox. So this is all relevant, and will have consequences. Now granted, there is a fair amount of supposition and conjecture here, but that is what we are discussing, is it not? Why would we 'protect' MS from 'piling on'??? Seems un legit.

[/QUOTE]
Hey Segatarious.  Whether you like it or not, every time we (all of us here)  become involved in pointing out the business failings of one company or another (one everyone knows we dislike), it's fanboy speak to a greater or lesser degree I think.  I can see it in the posts about Nintendo losses too.  We all know who everyone here is and is not a fan of (no one is fooling anyone), so what I was saying was rather than have everyone get bent out of shape over the news one way or the other, perhaps everyone coming into a thread about 18,000 layoffs at a major console company should expect the thread is a little more fanboyish than, say, a thread about a new game or a new online service or something. 

As well, I was saying that maybe letting the other, I believe somewhat unrelated, post through is better than ten posts about negative moves at MS taking over the whole board.  I was saying that doesn't mean I want people to think I want or will allow this to just become the "bash MS" thread.  It's about 18,000 real people being laid off and MS redirecting their focus away from the (in my opionion silly and wasteful) pursuit of the entertainment market.  The OP obviously wanted to discuss this news, not every piece of MS news on the internet.  I wasn't saying MS should be exempt from piling on, just that I didn't want my letting that post through to start a string of MS bad news articles having nothing to do with this layoff news overwhelming the thread. 

You can see in my post too how I did see the connection between the two articles, just that I think they are on such different financial and time scales that one isn't going to effect the other in a meaningful way for years.