Four Bethesda Studios Shut Down (and why it happened)

[@starfieldsignal]

References for this video: www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-07/microsoft-s-xbox-division-is-shutting-down-four-bethesda-studios?leadSource=reddit_wall&embedded-checkout=true www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-closes-redfall-developer-arkane-austin-hifi-rush-developer-tango-gameworks-and-more-in-devastating-cuts-at-bethesda

[@TheSpeednSpinner]

One needs a subscription to this bloomberg website to view this article

[@Joshcoshbagosh]

Tango Gameworks is really sad. They were always so underrated imo.

[@realEpicGold]

Their original core left with Shinji Mikami to another studio after Hi-Fi rush. What was left over was distanced from the USA studios and there was zero reason for keeping them there. Some will probably go to main studios and work on Fallout and ES:VI which I am so happy about as it's taking so long.

[@Joshcoshbagosh]

@@realEpicGold Personally I am hoping Bethesda can build something of a full time dedicated support team for Starfield similar to Fallout 76. Game has so much more potential and hopefully they will make more expansions after Shattered Space.

[@starfieldsignal]

Yeah, solid team.

[@starfieldsignal]

agreed.

[@starfieldsignal]

interesting insight. I think you make a good point about the director leaving.

[@kermut]

What’s with all the comments saying “clickbait” 4 Bethesda studios were closed today, that’s as literal as you can get man.

[@starfieldsignal]

Not sure, I mean yeah, it's a clickable title, but also exactly what happened.

[@kermut]

@@starfieldsignal only thing I can think of is general audience getting BGS confused with “Bethesda” and assuming they’re one combined thing lol.

[@tinblue]

@@starfieldsignal you know exactly what you were doing. Don't try and pretend otherwise. Total clickbait and embarrassing. Have a downvote for doing it. Be better.

[@grilleFire]

​@@tinbluemaybe Replace bethesda with Zenimax? Or MSFT, Not sure what you may have looked for.

[@mihu02]

@@tinblue Zenimax media is "the company" a holding company that owned the publisher Bethesda softworks and alot of game studios including Bethesda game studios, id software, arkane studios, machinegames. There may be more than this though.... Microsoft bought zenimax media and in turn ownership over everything underneath. In the early days Bethesda softworks was the original only company publishing and developing side for years before they got big, so they will always be known as Bethesda even though they grew and partnered/bought other studios Battlefield is that an EA game or a DICE game ? EA is the publisher but DICE is the studio that made it and owned by EA, same house same umbrella.

[@MouseReel]

It never occurred to me to look at the situation that way after seeing the announcement, but I think you nailed it.

[@starfieldsignal]

Thanks, Mouse

[@MaraJade-id2]

I agree with you Matt. I think you are right with how you are analyzing this situation. I think you’re right, the hot take is exactly what you are saying. Consumers have been asking for this.

[@mihanshid2158]

This is one of the reason that i was very unhappy with Microsoft's Zenimax Media acquisition, i knew something like this would happen.

[@VanityOfEliCLee]

Thanks for being the only youtuber ive seen to cover this with an actual reasonable perspective. Most creators are going on rants about what a terrible decision this was. Yeah sure its sad, but it makes sense and definitely fits what they are trying to do with getting more Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Starfield work done, more efficiently.

[@WillowLiv]

Extremely sad about these news, Arkane was responsible for one of my favourite games, Prey, and also, to a lesser extent, dishonored.

[@JoshuaGanoTyraxLightning]

24:45ish... No, don't get the game out faster, get the game out more right. :(

[@Druac]

I agree with your take on this...well thought out and well presented. Thanks. While it always sucks when layoffs happen in the industry, I have not played any of the games you mentioned that these studios built.

[@iamnoone940]

Good. Funnel the funds back into BGS and let them focus on their bread and butter.

[@starfieldsignal]

As a business decision, I see the reasoning, but yeah it still hurts knowing all those people's lives are undone now.

[@MrArchilus]

Agreed, it's probably a business decision. Starfield, a new IP with lukewarm reception probably still made a lot of money and it was one of the top selling games of year. A new Elder Scrolls or Fallout will be money printers

[@drakenred6908]

Maybe. The problem is bethesda a a whole launched 2 clunkers, 76 which is not as bad as it first was, and Starfirld a game that started off with a lot of hope and kind of fizzled.

[@Chad4401]

Love people act like ps fanboys on KZbin and gaming media weren't the ones pushing a obvious hate campaigns, yet starfield is a lot of players playing yet haters ignore that to lie nonstop.

[@meatman8731]

@@Chad4401 what are you talking about? Starfield has less than 1/10 the current players of fo4. People aren't making mods for it because it's genuinely not that good of a game.

[@jeremysimmons8187]

After all the studios Microsoft acquired over the last two years and economy as it is, it was inevitable that they were going to close some third-party studios and shut down games that probably weren’t going to be very good anyways

[@meatman8731]

Hifi rush sits at 97% positive on steam, placing it among the very highest rated of games ever released on steam. A rational person would think it would be a waste to get rid of such a talented studio for not much of a good reason.

[@MaverickJones]

I'm sorry they lost their jobs, but I totally agree with your hot take, the gaming community has become very critical in the last 5 or 6 years specifically and we expect higher quality and more content than ever, it makes sense for them to refocus and provide quality over quantity at a faster pace than they've been able to before.

[@troy1993]

If anyone hasn't played prey 2016 DO IT! Such an underrated game especially if you like bioshock games.

[@starfieldsignal]

It really was a great game. It didn't click with me, but I definitely appreciate the artistry and quality of the title.

[@grilleFire]

It's important to note that about 70% of the original studio left when they started developing Red Fall. Most of the devs did not want to work on redfall as it was not their specific field of experience or interest. So arkain was pretty much an empty shell at the beginning of Redwall development.

[@starfieldsignal]

Oh shoot, I did not know that. Very interesting.

[@chrisstaff4727]

Okay so I’ll keep this brief as I can but I have a lot to say, layoffs in clothe corporate world are nothing new. However it’s important that Microsoft, Xbox, Bethesda do so on the promise that things will improve and it’s not to just line the ceos pockets. You have to remember it’s not just developers loosing their job, it’s janitors, receptionists, IT, assistants and so on. I’d also like to think and hope that for every layoff they hire back double over the next five years or so. Remember this isn’t Matt Booty this is Microsoft and I can’t imagine that this is his favourite part of the job

[@mauvecloud0]

I appreciate you providing full details of the studios getting shut down. I'll admit it's sad about the workers losing their jobs, but I'm not personally interested in any of the games you listed from these studios. On a separate topic, you might want to tweak your camera filtering - the background was showing through parts of the logo on your cap.

[@starfieldsignal]

haha, yep, my hat has a slight hue of green that is hard to filter out, oh well.

[@dankusoonyt7473]

This is definitely going be a big decision about the future of Starfield, Elder Scrolls & Fallout whether or not the franchise will get 1 more installment or DLC if the company shuts down.

[@briankelly1240]

As a consumer I am happy. Looking forward to faster release times. I rather they let the companies spin off though on their own though.

[@Joseph-wh5of]

It sucks at the teams where cut. But if this means we can get Bethesda's main big IPs quicker, such as fallout, the elder scrolls, and now starfield I am all in. As an elder scrolls fan, I've been waiting well over a decade for the sequel to skyrim. These games need to be pumped out far quicker and far faster.

[@meatman8731]

Why? Something that made old bethesda games great was their exceptionally long life. Pumping out game after game every year doesn't strike me as a good idea, and it's really putting all your eggs in one basket. If mainline BGS releases a poorly performing game they're on the chopping block you realize right?

[@ANGRYWOLVERINE2060-ft2nc]

We only have Xboxs word justifying this. Some people speculate it's the MS chairman and not Phil Spencer calling the shots on these layoffs. While some say some of these employees aren't laid off but will be assigned to another studio to work on Fallout 5. No proof of that yet.

[@p-Nitti]

People are confused, gaming was never that popular, it became that way during covid, gaming always peaks in the winter months and in the northern hemisphere where people tend to be indoors more, all these companies over hired during covid, you can shoot movies in a few months but it’s takes years to make a game and their sales are not guaranteed. What I’m trying to say is the market is correcting itself and when the dust settles it will be a couple of big companies and mostly indi companies making money

[@MrBudNess]

5-6 years for Fallout 5? LOL Try 10. Maaaaybe with these changes, if they pump resources into Bethesda Game Studios they could get it in 5-6. Anything less is an absolute pipe dream.

[@williamduckett3407]

He means 5 to 6 years AFTER Elder Scrolls.

[@lorddrakkon5336]

To be fair its not their main studio

[@starfieldsignal]

not yet... eeck! Seems like no one is safe.

[@warpsol]

Maybe people are saying clickbait because your intro states you’re a starfield channel, but you’re commenting on gaming news? I’m not sure personally. But maybe changing your name to “signal” and do starfeikd stuff on the side but also do what you’re doing with gaming news too. Been subscribed for a min & enjoy the content🕺

[@colbycassady9063]

You had my heart drop.

[@FreakingBellis]

He’s saying what I’ve been thinking.

[@mihu02]

I get the idea behind the restructuring. I feel like Bethesda / Zenimax kinda grew into a big happy family and didn't really know how too run a big company. Where microsoft or the xbox gaming division kinda went... Listen! you are good at making games, stick too that, tell me what you need. Do what you do but faster. Make few but big studios with a central creative management. I look at Microsoft's gaming acquisitions as what bob iger did with Disney when they got lucas films, fox, marvel and many others. But i am biting my lip and mumbling "Please dont F this up... please"

[@AidanMcGirr]

Actually TES6 is in full development, last i heard. Pretty sure they said they got playable builds the other month

[@starfieldsignal]

Oh that's great. If you have a link handy go ahead and throw it in here.

[@grilleFire]

That's dev speak for pre production. When we had our first playable fallout 3 build I was literally oblivion world with rapid fire arrows.

[@AidanMcGirr]

@grilleFire well yeah, these would be very early builds we're talking. They only just moved out of pre-production, I think. Or if it is still pre-production, I presume later on in it.

[@kyriosmalaka2312]

I agree with you. I'll be honest. With few exceptions, I haven't cared one bit about what's come out of Bethesda Softworks or Obsidian in years. Dishonored, Prey and the Outer Worlds are all that I've bought. I've never touched a Tango game. The last Wolfenstein game I played was on the Apple IIc. It was made by the people who replaced Nazis with demons and called it Doom. I'm jus tired of waiting an eon for the next Fallout or Elder Scrolls game. If Bethesda put out games at a pace similar to the early 2000s, I wouldn't have been so grumpy about Starfield. It would have been, I'm glad you tried something new and it didn't pan out instead of IT TOOK YOU EIGHT YEARS TO DELIVER THIS PILE OF CRAP!. Fingers crossed, things change for the better.

[@ThousandairesClub]

*a necessary sacrifice for a better more beautiful tomorrow* 🌈🙏

[@angeloluna529]

More like an unnecessary one, they didn't need to sacrifice them just for fallout and elder scrolls. This proved that microsoft is unable to handle and control the large amount of studios they bought out. Nintendo and Sony has been pumping out exclusive games meanwhile microsoft rarely release any new games of their own. This is a tragedy, and its going to continue getting worse, who knows maybe they'll shut down bethesda in a few decades because they didn't bring the expected profits corporate expects.

[@hownottobasic4476]

NICE CLICKBAIT, MY HEART ALMOST STOPPED

[@SteelWolf13]

How is it click bait? 4 studios closed. "Bethesda Studios Shut Down (and why it happened)" I'd say the title was accurate. Just does not say how many studios were closed. Not his fault you took it as all the studios in total. Studios focus on that word.

[@kermut]

How is this clickbait, 4 Bethesda studios literally shut down today. If you’re thinking BGS then that’s completely different

[@starfieldsignal]

Sorry, I updated to say "four" for some additional context.

[@RobertJHamilton]

​@starfieldsignal You should update the thumbnail image, that's what people see and go by

[@SergeyWaytov]

but why Tango Gameworks? their HiFi Rush been quite good, and of Ghostwire Tokyo I heard good things

[@starfieldsignal]

I think it just comes down to drilling down into the high impact franchises. Now is not the time publishers want to take risks.

[@SergeyWaytov]

@@starfieldsignal such a sad knock-on effect, while Ghostwire I heard mixed things, but HiFi Rush been a really, really good game from what Ive heard about

[@VanityOfEliCLee]

​@SergeyWaytov that's kind of the thing though. Hi-Fi Rush may have been good, but it wasn't very popular. People praise it, but its never had many players.

[@mihanshid2158]

Mighty DOOM requires network connection, this game is(was awesome) i spent a lot of time on it when i was away from my PC...

[@jessemorton9060]

I was really really hoping to see Dishonored 3 Wolfenstein 3

[@comicalrock496]

Kind of mad myself. Yes, Redfall was a bad game for the most part, I actually still enjoyed it, but not premium price game levels of good. I loved every game Arkane ever made and I preordered the BiteBack edition because I believed in the company. Even in the release of Redfall in its terrible state I was still hopeful, Todd Howard promised it would get the "Fallout 76 treatment," and while I had the feeling, the gut realization it wasnt true, I was hopeful, and allowed myself to be betrayed. If only they kept it together, actually continued, released the promised DLC, and etc. I am incredibly disappointed in Microsoft, disappointed in Bethesda, Todd Howard and etc, and to also get rid of Tango on top of that is a tragedy in itself. My trust in Bethesda has been massively lowered by this news. I understand but I am still disappointed. If only they gave Redfall an offline mode and removed DRM at least.

[@mihanshid2158]

He means Bethesda SOFTWORKS(should have said Zenimax Media) and not Bethesda GAME STUDIOS

[@zerooskil7161]

i did not ask them to go woke with their design decisions making women purposely less attractive etc, and while we didn't give them money for bad games we wanted the good studios behind bad games to remain and make what their good at making

[@d3athth3kid]

You can't be mad at the studios for listening to all the overwhelming hate. The fans "hated" Dishonored 2, Redfall, and Deathloop. Now we got youtubers and influencers putting the blame on Xbox? Blame yourself when you are using a hate train to line your pockets. I miss when KZbin videos were posted by fans for fun. Now it's just people trying to make money and capitalize off different fanbase's, pandering to the hate being spread. Everything is an echo chamber started by culture vultures to make lazy money.

[@johan23501]

I kinda agree with you, but not fully. I mean Xbox did buy Activision/Blizzard for many Billions of Dollars. If they didn't do that and instead used that. Maybe this could have been avoided or partially avoided. But that's just my honest opinion.

[@MintRL]

Are you still posting on gaming signal

[@starfieldsignal]

I've had to postpone ramping that channel up. Lots of changes happening in the Signal house, lol. All good things, just trying to find a good rhythm.

[@mygetawayart]

this is happening not because they wanna give BGS the tools to make things happen faster, this is happening because these games are getting far too expensive to make. Growth has reached the point of being unsustainable and we're seeing the consequence of that. It's not like they're moving employees from these four companies over to BGS or something, they're just gutting companies, laying off thousands of people because they're too expensive to maintain.

[@jasonbourne3940]

Does this mean blade isn't happening..?

[@rb98769]

Blade is developed by Arkane Lyon which isn't getting shut down. The only games developed in Austin are Prey and Redfall.

[@jasonbourne3940]

@roddbroward9876 Wooh, thank goodness. I want to see how Marvel and Bethesda get on. Thanks.

[@Charles-Darwin]

I see a near future where 'mobile game development' as they were, are not going to be needed for much longer. Xbox has been vying for the 'Netflix' of gaming for over a decade. With their ties/ownership in AI, they would 100% leverage this to improve their game streaming/ cloud service (among leveraging it any way possible). If they could 'crack the code' to get cloud service seamless or rendering consoles as we know them, obsolete, this would fulfill what they've been trying to be AND they would be cutting off a very lossy and 'rotting arm' that is the console. A console-less world is coming.

[@starfieldsignal]

Yeah, eventually. Have you tried out any of the youtube games? It launches straight in the app and streams. No downloads, no install size. It's a little of what Stadia promised.

[@Charles-Darwin]

@@starfieldsignal I'll have to give it a go. A huge benefit or change that I think we'll see from Xbox is some form of a split concept first, where it'll work best with it - but like now, anyone could still potentially play. A game like Starfield in particular with it's amazing proc gen system could have a much more expansive asset library that could be side-loaded ad hoc while you're playing the game (since they wouldn't be strapped by the game's overall storage size). These asset libraries could be updated indefinitely, constantly growing, offer more variations of the same base asset, and they could even fold the CC creations into the same concept.

[@uncledrew9174]

So what happens to the leaked Dishonored 3? Geez pls tell me they aren’t cancelling that

[@realEpicGold]

Well I sadly suspect they will.

[@rb98769]

Dishonored is developed by Arkane Lyon, not Austin.

[@uncledrew9174]

@@rb98769 this gives me a bit of hope

[@WINTERMUTE_AI]

I hope they drastically expand the STARFIELD team, I am sick of waiting.

[@Augusto9588]

If anything, they need to drastically reduce the size of the team, because they were developing faster before they became a big studio.

[@blockmasterscott]

I cannot speak for anyone else, but I turned my back on Bethesda when they stopped making open world rpgs like Elder Scrolls and Fallout and went for MMOs like ESO and FO76. Until they went that route I was a total Bethesda fanboy, but I have absolutely no interest in another MMO.

[@angeloluna529]

Very true, if fallout 76 made them a ton of money than their single player games and fallout 5 becomes another mmo, then fallout is pretty much dead at this point.

[@DrLynch2009]

Xbox has become the new EA.

[@TheGarethLusk]

Clickbait title much!

[@starfieldsignal]

Hmmm, definitely wasn't the intention. It is the most succinct and accurate title possible. If I say "Four Bethesda Studios Shut Down" does that provide better context for your initial reaction? Thanks for the feedback.

[@mildmannered1086]

Aye, have my downvote Mr Signal 👎

[@jasonbourne3940]

Not that baited bro.

[@TheGarethLusk]

Four Bethesda studios shut down way more contextual than "Bethesda shut down"

[@yourdaddy9964]

Lmao you’re just another Karen. Yuh bitch

[@theinquisitivelayman]

Adjust the title please.

[@starfieldsignal]

Wasn't my intention. Does adding "Four" to the beginning of the title provide better context? Admittedly whenever a publisher is also a developer there is always confusion.

[@theinquisitivelayman]

@@starfieldsignal I definitely understand the reasoning behind it! Even I, already being aware of the news, read this as the entire studio shut down initially though. I think others may get the same idea.

[@starfieldsignal]

Thanks for the feedback.

[@uncledrew9174]

Wtf??????

[@wilddoggamer6167]

Microsoft has been stupid the last half decade or so with game development. It was just what, 3 years ago at a Xbox summit that they showed a bunch of games that were going to be released "in the next 12 months". Half of those games they showed still have not released, lol. Bold, broken promises. The fact to release a game on the Xbox means it has to be good on both the S and the X is crippling those games. Then Bethesda themselves. Ignoring the crap that is Starfield, Redfall was even worse. I would actually call it one of the worst games in the 2020's, not just the year. Fallout 76, even though it has kind of recovered, was a disaster. For the big 3 you discuss, the fact it has been 10 years since Skyrim released, and we are just now starting real work on it's follow-up? By the time the new one is out, nobody is going to even give a crap, especially if "Bethesda" continues releasing crap. I have played Elder Scrolls since Daggerfall. Have thousands of hours in Skyrim. But, I have very little faith in them anymore. Fallout 5, who knows when it will release. It does suck people lost their jobs. I do think the wrong people are fired. Microsoft has some heads of departments that need to be fired. Bethesda Studios themselves, it may be time for new leadership direction.

[@jimpugh2522]

Thank God for Nexus Mods …….Gamer World Ripe for Total Take Over…Allen and Angie Super AI’s. Will fix all these Left Turns….Let’s Go Fly A Kite up in the Stratosphere….

[@NoVoice71]

Weulp, looks like ol' m$ has been cuddling up to ea and taking a page right out of their business practices. So glad I decided to quit supporting the entirety of the industry when m$ suspended my rewards account in October. Gamers, you deserve this! You asked for it with this digital nonsense which breeds ZERO accountability and contempt for gamers. Good goin' ! Enjoy what you destroyed.

[@grilleFire]

I told ya...

[@lunarcontact]

Speculative but likely

[@mattc7420]

This is absurd! Microsoft has trillions of dollars!

[@petruciobr]

Yes but but but, hear me out here... Fallout 5.

[@starfieldsignal]

Haha, right?

[@forestfranklin74]

all of these stuidos have good games on them but all there recent games are just awful

[@rb98769]

Not Tango Gameworks

[@MrMightyZ]

Arcane’s most notable flop imo was their best game, Prey. That such a great game could fail is a testament to Bethesda’s spectacular mismanagement that led to, among other things, the game being named after a completely unrelated project that led to consumer bewilderment. Then what was left of Arcane were so frightened of the employment market and so weak-willed that they stayed on under the auspices of a publisher who had just mismanaged them so badly that one of the world’s greatest games had begun to sink and looked like it was going down without a trace. I love Starfield and Fallout but that is despite Bethesda being truly and deeply incompetent in many ways.

[@starfieldsignal]

Good thoughts here Mighty Z

[@MrArchilus]

I mean, marketing and actual development are two different parts of a company of hundreds of employees

[@SteelWolf13]

Hmm.

[@grilleFire]

They should justsunset starfield and focus on Tes 6. They need to switch engines.

[@scartekgaming]

Dude, do not ever do that again, I about left a mess in me undies, not nice, I was actually worried for a second there

[@developement]

I bought star field total shit after 2 hours never played it agian , couldn't refund because i was over 2 hours..

[@zeljkoklepac3180]

Just created 100+ Unique ship designs for everybody for Starfield - if they shut down Starfield - its gonna be 🤮

[@SRW_]

That title needs a change.

[@starfieldsignal]

Better now? wasn't my intention to clickbait, just wanted it to be short and succinct.

[@SRW_]

@@starfieldsignal No worries my friend. The orginal made people think that bethesda was shutting down.

[@Elayzee]

I would FAR rather have a new Tango Gameworks game than more Starfield crap.

[@starfieldsignal]

More than Elder Scrolls 6?

[@Elayzee]

@@starfieldsignal yes.

[@MegaRugster]

Only 4 :(

[@joecaglitz8518]

The video says “Bethesda Studios Shut Down” Arkane is not Bethesda studios. Clickbait and good riddance. Austin is breeding some very bad things, curious who’s funding this city

[@starfieldsignal]

Arkane Austin, Tango, Roadhouse, and Alpha Dog were all Bethesda Studios.

[@joecaglitz8518]

@@starfieldsignal that’s like saying Bethesda is Microsoft. Come on man, just quit it. Don’t be like Brokeback Boys 😂

[@Ghent_Halcyon]

Nice clickbait, would it fucking pain you just to put a tittle that is correct?

[@starfieldsignal]

What is incorrect? It is the most succinct and accurate title possible. I added "Four" at the beginning of the title for better context.

[@grilleFire]

​@@starfieldsignaldon't listen to that asshole. Title is fine.