Xbox Bethesda Direct | Xbox Layoffs | Future of Halo | Scalebound & Gears Collection - XB2 251
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The Xbox Two Podcast is back and this week Rand & Jez will be talking about the Xbox & Bethesda Show Event, the Xbox layoffs, what is the future of 343 and Halo, and the rumors surrounding Scalebound and the Gears Collection and so much more!! #Xbox #Microsoft #halo
The Xbox Two Patreon: / xb2
Timestamps:
00:00:00 - Getting Ready to GO LIVE
00:06:31 - Intro and Housekeeping
00:19:10 - Superchats! Starfield updates, optimism, etc.
00:46:28 - GEARS COLLECTION?! Starfield SUPERBOWL AD?
01:08:25 - What we've been playing this week?
01:22:35 - Forspoken reviews where? Fallout 5 when?
01:31:30 - Xbox layoffs. 343i mismanagement.
02:12:50 - Superchats. Marvel Avengers dead.
02:33:34 - Everwild development going well? Scalebound coming back?
03:11:00 - Q&A!
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There are good peace time leaders and good wartime leaders. Phil was the right choice in turning Xbox around. Maybe he isn't the right choice for getting all these developers in line and producing.
1:56:38 PREACH RAND. This is why you're the GOAT Xbox content creator. You clearly love Phil and you're close with him but still have the integrity to call it like it is and critisize Phil as well. You are THE Xbox content creator MS should really listen to, not the corporate bootlicker yes men out there. They were the ones defending Bonnie/Phil etc and look what that led to. Maybe with better leadership these layoffs could have been prevented and Halo would be in a better state.
Rand just cause Xbox has good brand awareness in the US doesn't mean everyone knows about starfield, so a super bowl ad with the new release date would be awesome.
Although if you want more people outside the US to know of Starfield, then a Superbowl ad is probably not the optimal/most efficient way to do that.
Every time I fall asleep and wake up, this is playing
SAME LOL IT KEEPS PLAYING NO MATTER WHAT VIDEO
It truly feels like since I left twitter to recover Ms/Xbox has been cursed with Bad news 💀 I have a lot to say and probably what most folks wont like to hear...Just like in 2022 I had people like Klobrille come @ me for asking or demanding for lack of info on Xbox games or Wait till next yr mantra for xbox fans...Oh boy I was right.
Let’s hope with the release of their games this year we can get good news rolling
@@kennypowers1945 Agreed.
Minecraft legend is going to be HUGE. Jez, you were absolutely correct about the 15M unique players. It took me 45 seconds to look it up and fact-check you ;)
Thanks to HelloFresh for sponsoring today's podcast! Go to HelloFresh.com/xboxtwo22 and use code xboxtwo22 for TWENTY TWO free meals plus free shipping! Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Getting Ready to GO LIVE 00:06:31 - Intro and Housekeeping 00:19:10 - Superchats! Starfield updates, optimism, etc. 00:46:28 - GEARS COLLECTION?! Starfield SUPERBOWL AD? 01:08:25 - What we've been playing this week? 01:22:35 - Forspoken reviews where? Fallout 5 when? 01:31:30 - Xbox layoffs. 343i mismanagement. 02:12:50 - Superchats. Marvel Avengers dead. 02:33:34 - Everwild development going well? Scalebound coming back? 03:11:00 - Q&A!
thanks for the timestamps! it is highly appreciated..
I assume phil took a giant paycut as this happened under his leadership and this is supposedly painful for him. He certainly didnt keep his whole compensation package while pretending this has been painful correct?
If what Jez has been told is true. That Starfield is playable and they're just polishing. Which I take to mean optimising and bug fixing. If it launches polished. They should be applauded and praised for delaying the game. I find it ridiculous that so many games launch now, without that polish phase. They launch the game and then they add the polish. Games shouldn't be getting performance modes, 40hz modes, major bug fixes etc added six months after launch. They should be launching feature finished, even if that means launching later. The rush to market is absolutely insane in this industry. The industry is built on a fanbase with the emotional control of a toddler. So many people rush out to pay $70 for an unfinished product. Anyone with any sense, waits six months, see's if the game gets completed to an acceptable level and then buys a polished game at a cheaper rate. It's entirely the fanbases fault that the industry runs this way. If people could stop living with a childish sense of FOMO and only spend money on finished quality products at a reasonable price, games would be cheaper and they'd launch complete. The masses accept the current state of the game industry everytime they pre-order something. You wouldn't pre-order a couch if the couch company had a history of shipping broken, uncomfy couches and then fixed them six months later. It's total lunacy.
The layoffs at Bethesda look like they are mostly marketing or PR type jobs which in an acquisition may have become redundant. I am not trying to minimize the personal impact in any way, just in these situations that sort of redundancy is common and layoffs a couple years in are to be expected. The looming recession just accelerates that.
You right But ponies ran with "see Gamepass is not substanable!"...🙄
@@cyrilA. xbox gaming division FY23Q2 -Gaming Revenue decline 13% (down 9% CC) - Xbox content and services down 12% (down 8% CC) on a strong prior year - Xbox HW down 13% (down 9% CC) Ooooooooooof xbox is dying 👀
Hardware down 13% during the holidays when they dropped the pricing to $200 for the Series S and that had massive stocks oooooooooof
@@drassbandit Sony annual net income for 2022 was $7.851B, a 28.72% decline from 2021. Oooooooooof 👀 even with GoWR
@@cyrilA. good job the ps5 is thriving then isn’t it. I bet Sony shareholders can’t believe their luck with the success of the ps5. I wonder how long Microsoft shareholders will put up with the total failure of the Xbox division. 2 years in and it’s already down on sales. Once this activision deal gets cancelled it could be the end of the road for this total failure of a division Oooooooof 👍
I want gears of war collection with amazing graphics like gears 5
that beat at the start is sick, does annyone know the name?
Time stamps?
they are up now
I thought I heard somewhere that a Superbowl ad used to be $1m per second
So excited when I got my day 1 switch in 2017. Haven't touched it for over a year. All about my series x and steam deck.
I’m just the opposite. My switch has had great first party games almost every month. Nintendo first party is gaming royalty.
@@Rick.Grayson I don’t like any of their games except 3D Mario games like odyssey and those are rare. So I’ve been on my series X most of the time with gamepass
Jez knows the Framerate of Starfield he talked with someone that plays it 👀
1:09:57 DNF is also a F1/racing term.
Not a four hour podcast, how could I listen to one that is so short!
They never were making halo infinite campaign dlc WTF that's what I was excited about smh 🤦🏾
I still blame halo infinite on 343i mainly, ms should of gave them full time staff and the managers of 343i kept pushing halo in the wrong direction. Hence bonnie ross saying "broader audience" There are even reports/articles 343i hired halo haters to try change the game, 90% of it is mangers at 343i fault and im glad bonnie ross and others left (properly saked) I do feel for the lay offs tho as alot of commited staff members sadly lost their jobs. I do think certain affinity should take over or be in charge of halo
What's with the short episode?
I love the intro music 🎶
Call of duty ODST is a great idea! Will bring back halo in limelight & introduce to new audience
Hell no we don’t need halos trashiness tainting cod. Halo needs to just die and stay dead.
@@opaz3530 every other cod has been same lately, u seem like a halo hater since u were born lol, relax
@@Ciki92 halo has been the same since it’s inception from the gameplay to the monotonous corny story. And yes I’m a halo hater cuz the game sucks and that’s exactly why 343 got dissolved.
Starfield ad making the Super Bowl makes sense to me
Happy birthday, Jez. I Can't believe I'm 10 years older than you lol. I can't wait until World of Warcraft comes to Xbox consoles. I'm thinking it will be supported by mouse and keyboard.
41:30, that's not actually how it happened. Emails were sent out after work, and the reasonable people who have work-life balance didn't see said email. Then, when they showed up to work and couldn't access the building, they figured out they were fired. It's still a scumbag move, but I wanted to make sure your info is correct 👌
Monster Hunter World was my first Monster Hunter. Enjoyed it for a while until i realized i'm doing the same thing over and over. It's such a grind, all for better gear, the story is pretty rudimentary. If i'm in the mood for somethign like this i'd rather play an MMO.
The new one is actually less grindy I've heard. It was the same thing for me with world. The combat was fun but the grinding not so much. Idk if I'll play this new one but it might be fun.
Bro, you dropped 68lbs that’s amazing. 👍
Agree with Rand that a STARFIELD superbowl ad may not make much sense if the game is out late in the year (call to actions like 'preorder' dont work) but I think a general Game Pass superbowl ad could have benefit
That means starfield won’t be late in the year lol
This is what I think. It would be a general gamepass ad showing upcoming games and maybe family plan etc. There’s precedent already for Xbox using a super bowl ad I believe
Lol, what game represents me as a man? Brutal Legend. How could it ever be anything else?
For me it’s duke nukem
Oof the John Malkovich bit...wow
People are getting too hyped over a Super Bowl ad. Like bro it’s just an ad.
They get more hype because people assume they will be good because of the cost and typically they are.
Congrats Rand! 70 lbs is nuts!
All about return on investment. What was the return on investment on kennect? What about media services and tv viewing on the Xbox one. These are some investments they advertised and didn’t pay off. Lots of investments don’t have a direct return you can monetize. But all being said I think a reason Microsoft may not do a Super Bowl ad is because of the Activision deal and the FTC. Not trying to attract attention
you are a legend
What’s up!
STICK!!
1:58:40
Yes Jen you’re my favorite
Obsidian is probably OK being "hands off". But 343, yeah not so much.
Okay three quick things I want to say because I'm a bit late on this but first great show as always second I love your new sponsor that's beyond awesome 22 meals for free and free shipping wow and the AI generator poem is epic LOL.
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Jaz the last guardian was cancelled and came back and was good
Time is money, friend
Bonnie Ross should have been shuffled out years ago. Halo Infinite's disaster and the terrible TV show were the last straws.
I fell asleep and left KZhead auto play on and this came on after I finished a 16 minute video
The Super Bowl ad really is hit or miss. I think you're underestimating american footballs influence on the average person. They play two games in london, one in germany, and one in mexico every year at this point.
But no one in those countries cares about American Football
@@christiankhoury1026 those games sell out and they wouldn't play in those countries if they didn't draw fans the nfl is doing so good in London they plan on doing 8 games a season there that's a regular home schedule for a nfl don't talk about things you know nothing about
As a long time gears fan i can say a gears collection is absolutly necassary
The boy is young but very understanding, knows how to protect his father.
Jesus Christ Randal Thor. Someone didn’t like your take on Starfield not doing a Super Bowl commercial and you went all ballistic on the guy. Okay maybe the guy was rude how he put it, but your the host. You should be above attacking your listeners. I think the Super Bowl ad would definitely pump people up. No matter if the game doesn’t come u til June. It would show Microsoft is playing with the big dogs. Microsoft believes in their studios. I mean why not. So to run a super ad your product has to be ready for launch a week later. I think a Super Bowl ad for Microsoft is making a statement to their gamers and other companies in the market. Since I’m taking a different approach to you Rand are you going to attack me too? You need to be better at ignoring people who don’t take your same views. You acting like this makes me not want to listen to the show. I’m sure you’re saying I don’t care. I thought having a show was about reaching more people not pushing them away. I listen to the real deal Xbox podcast and dealer May go after a listener after they attack him or the show. But Dealer makes it funny, not personal. You need to chill out dude. And if your feelings are F me then maybe I shouldn’t listen to this show either. It’s supposed to be fun. Just my opinion. I like the show until you start attacking people for having a different opinion. Maybe your joking and I didn’t get the joke. Just my thoughts.
Malkovich
Minecraft dungeons has 15 mill player count. People play anything minecraft Rand!
You guys are magnificent!! It's impossible to capture the beauty in an avatar
If I was magically in charge of Xbox, I'd be seeing how I could fold in my under performant teams and franchises into the working teams we've brought in. It seems clear 343 is never going to be an effective group. I'd be looking at the management talent I've brought in. I'd ask them what would you need to be able to take on Halo, without effecting your current in dev games and what would you do with it? I heavily suspect they have talent who would love a chance to grow their teams and work on Halo. You might even get multiple Halo games in dev at one time, for less or equivalent money than it's costing to keep running 343.
If Gears collection is real then there's no reason why it shouldn't come out this year and Gears 6 next year.
If I was an Activision employee these current Microsoft layoffs would be a big concern how can Microsoft manage thousands of Activision employees without layoffs maybe Microsoft isn't ready for a 70 billion dollar acquisition I'm just being honest they need to focus on their current dev teams for years there were rumours of bad management at Microsoft and now all this is coming out I guess the rumours were True🤔🤔🤔
They are still focusing on their teams already, no way they are going stop buying companies to focus on teams, you sound like a pony. You may not be but you need to understand that Sony had their plan and Microsoft has theirs. They need a few more acquisitions after Activision to compete, I mean like 3-4 dev teams even after abk. Sony is that ahead
@@liamflan9553 I game on both PlayStation and Xbox but 343 devs are coning out saying Xbox management is terrible and this has been going on for years this is why Xbox takes extra long to release games this is something Microsoft doesn't want to deal with then lays of 10,000 employees the truth is the truth😁😁😁😁😁
OK
God of War 2018 had an ad projected on the court during the NBA playoffs and that drove a lot of traffic for the game. More people who play sports actually play videos these days. It isn't like when we were children and if you played games you were a nerd. I have been friends with jocks my entire life and a majority of them play video games now that they no longer play sports regularly. The Super Bowl is one of the most watched event in the WORLD every year. EVERY YEAR roughly 800 Million to a Billion people watch the SuperBowl. The only event that gets more viewers is The World Cup Finals that draws usually around 1B-1.5B viewers. If the game is coming out within the next 4 months the SuperBowl IS the place to have it.
Her Name is Sarah Bond get it right
Phil and Matt Booty are just inept at managing their teams. Over two years into the life of Series X|S and they've only delivered 2 AAA games. They should be held accountable for a lot more.
But in those 2 years they still delivered the better console, so I think they did pretty good by alot of people
@@liamflan9553 and the better service
Oh Nintendo and Mario has gone through the "Future of" dilemma. It's just in fan culture. Right up to talks of getting rid of Miyamoto. Relax.
Starfield cannot be only 30 fps
it will be
DOA if it is
@@grtcara8386 nah it’ll be fine
30 fps is in 2023? No, thanks. I just can't.
Most people won't even notice
Matty and Cog you guys were 🔥🔥 and spot on in this episode great show guys. Matty you were so spot on with 343 in regard to news today can’t wait to hear next weeks show!
I'm pretty sure Bonnie Ross knew this was happening and just wanted to get out before the bad press. 343 clearly has talented devs but management including Phil are to blame. Big changes should have been made after halo 4, micro transactions were clearly a bigger focus than the game itself.
The question "can MS manage ABK and COD?" is a pretty dumb question....if MS is hands off then its up to the studios to manage themselves. The reason why Halo has issues is because 343 had bad management with Bonnie Ross. If the people who ran ABK now are still running it after the acquisition then logic dictates they won't have issues. If Mike Ybarra is running Blizzard after the deal closes, then logic dictates Mike Ybarra will still be able to run Blizzard.
Zenimax/Bethesda was supposed to run itself but some roles were retired due to redundancy Ideally, cuts should have affected Microsoft studios alone, no?
@andi5943 that's because of upper management ei Kotich who'd be gone, has nothing to do with game development. You're not very bright are you?
@malekaius Cuts can effect anyone, what does that have to do with studios managing themselves? That doesn't mean they're not going to be affected by Microsoft corporate policy. You're not very intelligent are you?
@@andi5943 The entire Blizzard upper management that were accused are all gone now, that's the entire reason why Ybarra is running things now, again not too bright are you?
pretty large dog
Xbox mismanagement of studios is a huge problem.
Just make the video or don’t. That simple.
My question is why don’t we hear all these management issues for other Xbox studios? It’s only 343i that has always been the studio in mess. Is Playground games badly managed? Is The coalition badly managed? What about Rare or Minecraft. It has always been 343i and I think it has always been a 343 thing.
Simply not true. We hear this all the time for several MS studio’s. Poor management with higher ups, people leaving etc. but this time we got concrete proof that a lot a people have been right about the mismanagement at MS. If you think this is only about 343i, you haven’t been really paying attention to stories and articles covering MS studios poor handling of them
We are hearing about it because of layoffs. People currently hired aren't going to say their employer sucks.
We have heard about undead labs and the initiative being mismanaged. It is clearly a problem, stop trying to deny it.
I really hope some other studio gets to try there hand on a new halo campaign, halo infinite campaign was for me one of the most boring and disappointing game I've played in years
Infinite campaign was a solid 6/10
Halo needs to be given to someone else. It finally looks like 343 is facing consequences for being incompetent. Can't fail to meet expectations 3 times and expect things to be ok. As for the larger Xbox narrative, they need to stop saying Halo is the most important thing because it isn't. The fact they are placing more focus on acquired studios and Forza is the critical and commercial darling shows that Halo is no longer the big Xbox IP. Let it rest and come back in 5 years with a smaller rebooted self-contained story without Master Chief. It's time to move forward and focus on the new IP's for Xbox (Starfield, Redfall, Hellblade, Indiana Jones, Avowed). Make 343 the Halo multiplayer studio and the Halo campaign support studio. Imagine Certain Affinity or id Software has a cool idea for a story and they have 500 devs at 343 who are experts with Slipspace and can help make the game. Either way, it's time for the new IP's to take center stage
The way Microsoft is treating 343 has me worried for the future of a studio like Obsidian or Ninja Theory they can release great games all they want but if they aren't making money layoff maybe studio closures and I'm not saying 343 made good games but their games reviewed well
They had an enormous budget, loads of staff and they couldn’t deliver on time, within budget and as you know lacked loads of content. When people don’t perform they need to be fired
If 343i actually released great successful games there wouldn’t be firings
Well if I was a xbox studio I'd be pretty nervous right now.
I've said many times before 343 is just a support studio, and they're finally being demoted back down where they belong so they can focus on their mental health. They don't belong in the big leagues with that kind of budget and dev time.
Much of that blame lies on Microsoft.
@nrXic It goes all the way down the line.. but if Sony Santa Monica F's up on God Of War they share the blame. Also 343 had more then enough shots and it's time to go away from them.
@@BTMaverick707 I encourage you to read all the tweets from the former employees.
@nrXic I've seen it and I would be bitter to if I got laid off. They weren't able to deliver and that'd that.
The superbowl is great unlike that other lame football
20 million players my ass goes to show those numbers are meaningless
All service/free games pull this shit. When the barrier of entry is non-existent, people just drop the game as soon as they get a little turned off. It's a double edged sword.
Jez screwed the man out of a 100.00. Jez is a fraud
I lost interest in Halo when Bungie left.
I don't own a current gen xbox. Why, KZhead? Why?
Xbox is in a constant state of disarray. Sad!
Leadership is just aquiring instead of building.
@@barcster2003exactly
Well hopefully with the trailers this week and games coming it’ll change
So tired of mismanagement.
cool
boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
People who whine about companies wanting to make money really need to get their heads checked. That is what they are there for. A bunch of these people that got laid off deserved it. All they were doing was posting videos on Tik Tok about how little work they were actually doing.
If Microsoft closes the ABK deal I think Xbox will somewhat sunset Halo if they get CoD.
Microsoft should handover halo to sledgehammer games which are a perfect fit for the game and 343 should focus new franchise
So wierd microsoft would kill one of its premier exclusives.
What’s up with these horrible podcaster names? 😂
Why do you have Jez on this podcast friend or not, he doesn't play anything, jeez Rand get me on, I've played everything, therefore have an opinion, WOW IS OVER...makes me sick...I stuffed it in 2004. 3 months and it was over. Fable 1 & 2 were classics ...what is this man on???? Please I've had enough, and so has everyone.
Microsoft will abandon consoles next gen and shift 100% to gamepass subscription gaming. There will be no more exclusives to gamepass only third party games and if they do release the typical halo, gears, forza 3pack exclusives theyve been giving u for years, they will be all live service games that last 10 plus years with an abundance of battle passes, lot boxes abd cosmetics to purchase. You all will cave in and say how this is the future of gaming😂😂😂. You all are going to stick with Microsofts shit in spite of not having to admit sony has the better gaming experience. U will play these mediocre games, pay a subscription and buy monthly battlepasses out of sheer stubbornness. Almost like how you all are doing now. The writing is already on the wall. Forza being a reboot and being named simply forza, that will be a live service game, halo they straight up said they want to support it for 10 years, and fable being just named fable, will be a live service all the top xbox sellers are going to be turned into or have already been turned into live service. 🤷♂️
Nothing exciting is coming to Xbox anyway