By shutting down a studio instead of selling it off or even letting it buy itself out, Microsoft ensures that no studio it has ever owned can become viable competition. Who cares about a diverse industry when you can keep all the IPs developed under your umbrella and shelve them for decades, instead of letting the studios that made them go on to work on their creative visions?
Article also mentions that it breaks the employees of those studios up so there is less chance of a competitor that makes another successful IP
Ironically if the developers band together and start another studio they would probably have Microsoft knocking on their door with an acquisition offer in a few years.
The trouble is the upfront capital though, but at the same time another publisher would surely bite at the thought of getting a talented studio's staff in one go?
If only someone had money from their company being bought by Microsoft
There's absolutely noncompetes baked into that sale. Noncompetes might not be legal, or applicable, torards employees anymore, but they sure as shit are still legal and binding as a condition for a business's sale.
hello welcome to my new venture capital firm: we specialise in funding game studios where 90% of the staff got fired in an acquisition turned shutdown
Infinite money glitch
Microsoft getting back to the business strategy that made them successful
Article also mentions that it breaks the employees of those studios up so there is less chance of a competitor that makes another successful IP
Ironically if the developers band together and start another studio they would probably have Microsoft knocking on their door with an acquisition offer in a few years.
The trouble is the upfront capital though, but at the same time another publisher would surely bite at the thought of getting a talented studio's staff in one go?
If only someone had money from their company being bought by Microsoft
There's absolutely noncompetes baked into that sale. Noncompetes might not be legal, or applicable, torards employees anymore, but they sure as shit are still legal and binding as a condition for a business's sale.
hello welcome to my new venture capital firm: we specialise in funding game studios where 90% of the staff got fired in an acquisition turned shutdown
Infinite money glitch
Microsoft getting back to the business strategy that made them successful