At Team Xbox, the tree is on fire. Thousands of employees have to look for a new job. A long-time developer is now reacting with harsh criticism, which mainly targets the executives.
Who is responding with clear words? Daniel Callan has been working in the gaming industry for over 20 years and has worked for companies like Bungie and 343 Industries on games such as Halo 3, Halo 4, Halo 5, Destiny 2, and Marathon. After the dramatic announcement from Team Xbox that thousands of employees must be laid off, the industry veteran responds with a personal anecdote.
On bsky.app, Callan explains that he vividly remembers an appointment where he was to present the new Halo 4 to the then leadership of Xbox. Present were: Don Mattrick, the then head of Microsoft’s gaming division (and predecessor of Phil Spencer; see cover image).
It was Don Mattrick who supposedly raised his hand at one point during the presentation and asked the room: “Has anyone here … played Diablo 3?” His idea was to integrate the real-money auction house from the Blizzard game in a comparable form in Halo, so that players could trade mech skins there.
The Elder Scrolls Online is unfortunately also affected by the recent layoffs.
What is so bad about the idea? Well, according to the other executives: nothing. At least, Callan reports that everyone was ecstatic and praised Mattrick for the absolutely brilliant, groundbreaking idea. Plans for concepts and to-do lists were even made.
Anyone who witnessed the auction house drama back then certainly knows well how that thing blew up in Blizzard’s face. Even years later, Blizzard leads like Mike Morhaime had to justify it: Morhaime explains the birth defect of Diablo 3 and how Blizzard got rid of it
Finally, Callan concludes his anecdote by linking it to the recent events: “Decision-makers in the gaming industry are and remain stupid, out-of-touch, money-hungry idiots.”
For Callan, at least back then, there was a happy ending in two respects. 1) Halo 4 did not get a real-money auction house. 2) The appointment took place at his workplace, and a 60-inch plasma screen was specially mounted on the desk for the presentation. It remained there as a second monitor until the end of the project.
What does the anecdote have to do with recent events? Many fans and those affected are currently looking anxiously at the daily news about layoffs, studio closures, and project terminations – behind which are always the same decision-makers that Callan says are “stupid, out-of-touch, money-hungry”.
Many of you may remember the enormous investments that companies like Microsoft have made in acquiring studios and brands. Various companies founded or purchased in the past ten years no longer exist today – or they are currently fighting for survival.
This often seemingly reckless action from the outside is difficult to comprehend. In some cases, many years and millions of US dollars were invested in projects that were stopped just before release. Here is a particularly bitter case that resonates to this day: Microsoft scrapped its dream game, even though they loved it: Former head of Elder Scrolls Online explains why he left ZeniMax
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