Sea of Thieves followers are involved for Rare’s future, as the studio has been consolidated underneath Activision as half of Xbox’s newest reset.
Earlier as we speak, Microsoft introduced drastic adjustments for Xbox’s first-party studios, together with layoffs and consolidation. Activision is taking on loads of totally different duties at Xbox going ahead, together with main the cost on the subsequent Halo recreation. Sea of Thieves developer Uncommon has additionally been put underneath Activision’s umbrella, main many to surprise what the longer term of that group will appear like. Prior to now, Activision has swallowed up beloved groups like Neversoft and put them on Name of Responsibility to make maps and help the event of the FPS franchise.
“Properly, if the years of watching how Activision does issues is any indication, then we are able to anticipate one factor sooner or later: Uncommon as a CoD help group within the CoD mines like each different studio Activision touches,” said a fan.
Some gamers are hopeful that Uncommon might have the prospect to do one thing that it’s extra suited for, such as growing a brand new Crash Bandicoot recreation or Banjo-Kazooie, given the studio’s historical past of making platformers. Nothing has been explicitly outlined for Rare’s future, although, which has given followers some pause.
Activision has been closely criticized for over-monetizing its video games, utilizing generative AI, and oversaturating franchises like Name of Responsibility to the purpose that followers started to lose curiosity, main some to fret that the identical might occur for Sea of Thieves, too.
“Cannot see this being a superb factor, if the way in which Activision has dealt with COD is something to go by,” mentioned another fan on Reddit.
“This doesn’t bode effectively. I’m a lifelong Name of Responsibility fan, and Activision might be one of, if not the worst, firms in gaming. Every little thing they contact withers and dies. Mass layoffs, AI, loopy microtransactions, and all kinds of bullshittery might be commencing within the close to future based mostly on their monitor file,” stated another concerned player.
It’ll doubtless take just a few years earlier than we are able to actually measure what form of influence these adjustments have. Uncommon has been in a bizarre spot for a quantity of years, so some followers are no less than grateful that the studio wasn’t outright shuttered or bought off like different Xbox-owned studios. After thriving within the ’90s and 2000s, Uncommon was placed on Kinect obligation by Microsoft within the early 2010s, main some to imagine that this was a misuse of the studio’s time and skills.
Ultimately, they developed the highly-popular Sea of Thieves, however outdoors of that, Uncommon hasn’t produced a lot of substance. It spent a decade engaged on one other recreation recognized as Everwild, which was canceled final 12 months. The challenge struggled to make progress, and as a end result, the general public did not see or hear about a lot of it. It could play a task in whether or not Uncommon is given the chance to develop its personal video games going ahead or if the group turns into a help studio for Name of Responsibility and Halo.
Cade Onder
Freelance Author
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s information group. He covers all issues leisure, together with gaming, movie, and extra. Yow will discover him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.