Xbox and Embracer Group recently made some genuinely questionable changes that not only hurt their own internal studio's morale but also faltered the faith players had in them. Embracer Group has been only a rather aggressive "shutdown spree" closing legacy studios like Volition, after just one failed recent release, while also acquiring a handful of other smaller AAA and AA studios at the same time.
Similarly, Xbox, despite their promises of helping nurture all of their internal teams regardless of their performance in terms of sales or critical reception, seems to have resorted to cutting off studios. Just recently, Xbox shut down not one, but four Bethesda Softworks studios, including Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks, without any prior notice.
These sudden (and admittedly jarring) studio closures are not only a major loss for both Xbox and Embracer Group, but they're also a stark reminder and perhaps even a warning against the "acquisitions arms race" amongst big AAA publishers.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinions.
While it's not okay to release a AAA title in today's time that fails to even function as a basic video game, it's also not okay to shut down an entire studio just because they failed at delivering a "million-dollar-hit" title. Both Volition and Arkane Austin, despite being incredibly talented, failed to deliver an acceptable product with their most recent games.
However, that shouldn't be a reason to simply shut the entire studio down and dismantle the livelihood of developers within it. Bethesda was (and still is) known mostly for their Fallout and Elder Scrolls titles, i.e., anything that's developed by Bethesda Game Studios and under Todd Howard's direct supervision.
While
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