Final week, Microsoft laid off hundreds of staff throughout the corporate, together with main Xbox studio cuts and even a studio closure. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has said that the cuts have been needed and that Xbox must be a sustainable enterprise. Now, Raphael Colantonio–one of the co-founders of Arcane Studios–has reacted to the wave of layoffs and argued that Microsoft’s Game Go technique is “unsustainable” and unhealthy for the trade’s long-term well being.
“I feel [Game Pass] is an unsustainable mannequin that has been more and more damaging the trade for a decade, sponsored by MS’s ‘infinite cash,'” write Colantonio on X. “However sooner or later actuality has to hit. I do not suppose GP can coexist with different fashions. They will both kill everybody else, or quit.”
Colantonio added that he’s additionally “fed up” with Microsoft’s assertions that Game Go does not have an effect on the gross sales of video games. In a later post, Colantonio wrote that he can clarify at size “why the [math doesn’t] work for many publishers/devs, nor for Xbox as soon as they cease investing.”
Raccoon Logic studio head Alex Hutchinson spoke out about Game Go devaluing video games earlier this yr after his recreation Revenge of the Savage Planet was a day-one title on Xbox Game Go. Conversely, Rebel touted the launch of Atomfall on Game Go as an enormous success for the corporate. Earlier this yr, Id Software program co-founder John Romero endorsed Game Go because the Netflix for players. Romero’s studio had funding pulled from its mission simply final week, with many inferring Microsoft was accountable. It’s unclear if the studio will proceed to function in any capability.
Regardless, Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford just lately said that it’ll in all probability be years earlier than Borderlands 4 hits Game Go. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has particularly mentioned day-one launches on Game Go don’t make sense for the corporate.