The XBox Thread - Page 215

Former 343 Industries employees have taken to social media to criticise Microsoft following a round of layoffs.

Yesterday, 10,000 Microsoft employees lost their jobs, including staff at Bethesda Games Studios, Gears of War developer The Coalition, and Halo maker 343 Industries.

Patrick Wren, former senior multiplayer designer on Halo Infinite (and now working at Respawn on Jedi Survivor), was one such former employee who criticised the "incompetent leadership up top".

"The layoffs at 343 shouldn't have happened and Halo Infinite should be in a better state," he said on Twitter. "The reason for both of those things is incompetent leadership up top during Halo Infinite development causing massive stress on those working hard to make Halo the best it can be.

"The people I worked every day with were passionate about Halo and wanted to make something great for the fans. They helped push for a better Halo and got laid off for it.

"Devs still there are working hard on that dream. Look at Forge. Be kind to them during this awful time."

He added in another tweet: "I do want to make sure that I call out how amazing the Multiplayer Leadership team was during development."

Tyler Owens, another former 343 Industries employee now at Respawn working on Apex Legends, tweeted: "As a Halo fan I'm really tired of Microsoft business practices and policies slowly killing the thing I love. Between the contracting policies they abuse for tax incentives and layoffs in the face of gigantic profits/executive bonuses... they set Halo up for failure"

At the end of last year, Halo Infinite's multiplayer creative director Tom French left 343 Industries.

Today, we reported the departure of Halo veteran and head of creative Joseph Staten from 343 Industries, as he returns to Xbox Game Studios Publishing.

The layoffs are a troubling sign of unease at Microsoft, and additionally brings the future of the Halo series into question.

A blog post at the end of last year from 343 Industries stated: "we're committed to making Halo Infinite better with every single update."

Halo Infinite's next big update is Season 3: Echoes Within in March this year.

Joseph Staten, head of creative on Halo Infinite and cinematic director on the first three Halo games, is leaving Microsoft, the company has confirmed to IGN.

In its message, Microsoft did not say where Staten was headed next, nor the reason he was leaving Microsoft after nine years.

“We’re grateful for Joseph’s contributions to the Halo franchise and Xbox as a whole," the statement from a Microsoft spokesperson reads. "We wish him all the best in his new adventure.”

Staten has long been one of the best-known names behind the Halo franchise, having been cinematic director on Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3, and having served as lead writer on Destiny while with Bungie.

He eventually left Bungie for Microsoft and served as a senior creative director, initially avoiding working on 343's Halo to focus on shaping franchise strategy for Microsoft Studios titles. He returned to the franchise in 2020 as campaign project lead and later head of creative, overseeing Halo Infinite. He then rejoined Xbox Publishing earlier this year at the same time that Microsoft announced the layoffs of 10,000 employees, including employees of 343. Staten has also written a number of Halo universe novelizations.

Staten declined to comment for this article.

After months of investigation, the regulator published its final report on the $69 billion deal on Wednesday and said it had prevented it over concerns it would “alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market, leading to reduced innovation and less choice for UK gamers over the years to come.”

The decision is the most significant yet in Microsoft’s battle to get the acquisition over the line. The UK regulator is seen as one of the most influential in deciding the deal’s fate, alongside the EU and the US.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission is suing Microsoft in a bid to block the deal over competition concerns. The EU is still investigating.

Microsoft has confirmed it will appeal the CMA’s decision.

The UK regulator wrote: “The CMA has prevented Microsoft’s proposed purchase of Activision over concerns the deal would alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market, leading to reduced innovation and less choice for UK gamers over the years to come.

“Microsoft has a strong position in cloud gaming services and the evidence available to the CMA showed that Microsoft would find it commercially beneficial to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service.

“Microsoft already accounts for an estimated 60-70% of global cloud gaming services and has other important strengths in cloud gaming from owning Xbox, the leading PC operating system (Windows) and a global cloud computing infrastructure (Azure and Xbox Cloud Gaming).

“The deal would reinforce Microsoft’s advantage in the market by giving it control over important gaming content such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft. The evidence available to the CMA indicates that, absent the merger, Activision would start providing games via cloud platforms in the foreseeable future.

“The cloud allows UK gamers to avoid buying expensive gaming consoles and PCs and gives them much more flexibility and choice as to how they play. Allowing Microsoft to take such a strong position in the cloud gaming market just as it begins to grow rapidly would risk undermining the innovation that is crucial to the development of these opportunities.”

In a statement, Microsoft’s president Brad Smith said the company was “disappointed” by the CMA’s decision and claimed it would appeal.

“We remain fully committed to this acquisition and will appeal. The CMA’s decision rejects a pragmatic path to address competition concerns and discourages technology innovation and investment in the United Kingdom.

“We have already signed contracts to make Activision Blizzard’s popular games available on 150 million more devices, and we remain committed to reinforcing these agreements through regulatory remedies. We’re especially disappointed that after lengthy deliberations, this decision appears to reflect a flawed understanding of this market and the way the relevant cloud technology actually works.”

Activision said it would work with Microsoft on an appeal and criticised the CMA for what it called “a disservice to UK citizens”.

“The CMA’s report today is a major setback for the UK’s ambitions to be a tech hub, and we will work with Microsoft to reverse it on appeal,” it said.

“This report is also a disservice to UK citizens, who face increasingly dire economic prospects, and we will need to reassess our growth strategy in the UK. Global innovators large and small will take note that – despite all its rhetoric – the UK is closed for business.”

In a separate statement, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick insisted Wednesday’s decision was “far from the final word on this deal”.

Initially, it had appeared that the UK regulator was moving towards approving the deal before today’s announcement.

While the CMA provisionally found in February that the merger could reduce competition and “result in higher prices, fewer choices, or less innovation for UK gamers,” it partially reversed its decision a month later.

After reviewing new evidence, the CMA said it no longer believed the deal would significantly reduce competition in the console gaming space, although it still has concerns about the acquisition’s impact on the cloud gaming market.

In its verdict published on Wednesday, the regulator said its final decision came after Microsoft’s proposed solution “failed to effectively address the concerns in the cloud gaming sector”.

In a bid to address regulatory concerns, earlier this year Microsoft struck game distribution deals with several cloud gaming services including GeForce Now, Boosteroid and Ubitus.