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So, I think it’s important to note up front that the type of person y’all see in my videos and the type of person that I am are two different people. Parasocial relationships and whatnot.

My content on this channel has been overwhelmingly positive and recommendation heavy, in an attempt to both bring a lot of positivity to a tumultuous medium, as well as because sometimes it’s nice to just look at the bright side of things. But this can be to the detriment of the greater context of a topic, like if I were to talk about how interesting the setting and design of Darkest Dungeon is without telling you that it’s a grindfest slog that punishes you severely as a consequence of its design. If I were to just leave that out, some people would feel tricked by what I’ve written, and that’s obviously no bueno, right?


If that’s the case, then… how is the greater games industry different? Can I really just go on talking about how great video games are when the people who made them are burning the candle at both ends and being laid off in the thousands? About to reach over 10,000, and we’re not even halfway through the year? It feels neglectful and disrespectful to talk about how great video games are while the foundation of the industry is rotting under our feet.


As of two days ago, on May 7th of 2024, Microsoft committed what may be the ugliest of these layoffs by shuttering three of Bethesda’s studios, and relegating the fourth to live-action support status for the foreseeable future. Arkane Austin was one of two studios in the greater Arkane Studios ecosystem, and helped with Dishonored before making the likes of Prey, and the unfortunate Redfall in recent times. Tango Gameworks made The Evil Within series, which I greatly enjoy, to say nothing of the breakout hit of Hi-Fi Rush, a game which we were told was successful. Profitable. Regardless of profit, it was a critical darling, winning many awards, including the BAFTA, or as I call it, one-of-the-only-game-awards-that-really-matters. The other two aren’t covered as much, but Roundhouse Studios made the original Prey, and now they’re folded into TES: Online’s ecosystem, and Alpha Dog made a couple of mobile games. I find it darkly humorous that any studio that touched the Prey IP now doesn’t exist.


I know intellectually why this is happening. During the COVID years, everyone was inside. Games and screens represented your only real third space, so everyone flocked to the tech industry to keep sane. Profits blossomed, and loads of investment went into the market. But then… things returned to a version of normal, and people went back to work, kids back to school, and the computer and console returned to their typical place in our lives. The bubble had burst, but as with all things in love and Capital, the money people wanted the growth to continue, and they simply Could Not Have Seen This Coming. Now we’re in free-fall; investors are drying up, everyone is becoming more (economically) conservative, and somehow we need to maintain good numbers for our precious stock holders. So we cut. These are the facts of the case, we could say; but emotionally, I don’t think this makes this time any less cruel.


The reason why this particular set of closures and layoffs feels so damming is because it happened to Arkane and Tango. Arkane, who historically made loads of wonderful immersive sims and brought a new generation of gamers (including me) into the fold of Immersive Sims with the likes of Dishonored and Prey, is now at half strength. Redfall doesn’t even represent what Arkane Austin was good at, they made IMMERSIVE SIMS, not Live-Service co-op shooters, for Christ’s sake. I wonder why they would’ve pivoted towards making that type of game (sarcasm).


And fucking Tango. Say what you will about The Evil Within, it was an odd series, and I’m not sure if any of those games were successful. But Hi-Fi Rush was beloved, so soon after its release. It was well received, and according to Microsoft, it was financially successful. So why? Why close Tango? And from the dev’s perspective, why make video games? Why work for anyone else, when even your greatest achievements aren’t good enough for the higher-ups? If a success like Hi-Fi Rush isn’t enough to keep your “betters” from shutting your doors, why would anyone work for Microsoft. Why would anyone feel safe to try something new?


Microsoft has existed in this content desert since the Xbox One, and I cannot see how this decision solves their problems. A studio with historical talent, and a studio fresh off their big success are both cut in the process of pitching new games. According to Bloomberg, Tango was pitching a sequel to Hi-Fi, and Arkane was pitching, if you could believe it, an immersive sim. But despite current and past successes, Microsoft dare not let them cook. I find that infuriating.


Underlying all of these layoffs, for me at least, is a fear for the future of published video games. I don’t imagine this’ll come as a shock, but games take time, money, and people to make. From pitch to finished product, published games take two to five years to release, and killing these studios now represents a dearth of new games in the following years, to say nothing of the loss in talent. Studios filled with institutional knowledge about their niche? Seniors to advise up-and-comers? That’s all gone too, and with investment being the way it is, it’s not like these displaced employees can make their own studios. This is talent that is either on its way to the indie space, or much more likely, gone. I wouldn’t stick around for an industry this hostile to me either.


I understand that we are entering a tight period; I’ve stated multiple times that there’s a lack of new investment, and budgets have to be slashed everywhere. But cutting the studios, cutting developers? The very people responsible for making the product that pays the bills? It doesn’t make sense to me, and cutting Tango Gameworks even less so. Microsoft is shooting itself in the foot, ass, and head by cutting the talent it bought for 7.5 billion dollars, and I don’t imagine they’ll fix their no-games issue by cutting the people who make those games. I have similar fears for the rest of the industry.


If you want to read more, here is an opinion piece by Chris Tapsell over at Eurogamer detailing Xbox’s decision and history of decision making, and his thoughts on this mess. You can find other less subjective articles linked within for further insight, but his anger at this moment reflects my own, so it was cathartic for me to read, and perhaps it will be for you too.

 https://www.eurogamer.net/what-is-the-point-of-xbox 

EDIT:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM8Bd... 

Howdy and hello, Superdude here informing you that I am RAPIDLY approaching 50k subscribers... so fast that just like the last time I did one of these, I am woefully unprepared to do anything spectacular in terms of editing or anything like that. Soooo I thought I'd do a Q&A of sorts  for you guys. 

Feel free to leave a comment asking me anything on any subject, assuming of course that I WANT to answer the question. Questions on my process, opinions on various media I haven't talked about, some mysterious and evil third thing; feel free to ask, and I will answer (in video form) hopefully soon! :)

Also, if you ask the question on patreon, I am more likely to answer it, so there's an incentive, I suppose. Thanks for your questions and/or interest! 

Geoff Keighley's crawling out of his hole to throw more game commercials at us! The Game Awards is three weeks away, and y'all can vote for your own choices here.  https://thegameawards.com/ 

It's been a pretty stacked year for games, so I'm wondering what you guys think is 2023's Game of the Year (and yes, this does pertain to my next video)? The options are taken straight from Game Awards, but feel free to grab others if you think they're more worthy. I barely consider Game Awards credible anyway, so it's not like they're the authority on the matter. Go nuts with it. 

Those of you who watched to the end of the last vid know I was playing Alan Wake 1 in preparation for Alan Wake 2. Well, I started AW2 yesterday and it is SO GOOD. It's actually scary (unlike AW1), and the lighting is genuinely stunning; my fiancee and I were just staring at this point in chapter 2 like, "How did they do that." It's genuinely good.

I will most likely be making a video in the coming months synthesizing (maybe Max Payne?) Alan Wake and Control so anyone who isn't caught up has a quick place to get caught up, cause this game is very pretty, and if you're invested in Alan Wake, it does NOT disappoint (in the early game, we'll see from here). 

Hey everybody. I have finished the intro portion of the next video, which is going to be about Baldur's Gate 3, the Dungeons & Dragons movie, and the tabletop form of D&D in a bit of a compare and contrast of how each medium represents D&D. Very nerdy stuff, I know. If you would like to see a sneak peek of the intro of the video, it is up on my Patreon (FOR FREE), which I literally just released. 

 https://www.patreon.com/Superdude100000 

Like I said, this sneaky peeky is free for this video, but if you like what I'm doing here and have the ability to support me, that would be super cool and also dope. 

For those who enjoy the poles: How do you like your D&D? 

Hey everybody. I just got finished with the better part of a move, and though I'm mostly done, there's still a long ways to go in terms of cleaning up the old place,  meaning I gotta hurry or pay rent at TWO PLACES AT ONCE which is obviously not the ideal. I am working on a video, but it may take a bit for it to come out while I get my living arraignments situated. Thanks for your interest in this work, I hope you enjoy what is coming!

But while I have you here, I would like to ask a question that's somewhat on theme for the next video, give you some teasers:

What kind of multiplayer game do you prefer? 

So, we've crossed 10k subscribers. That happened way faster than I was ready for, and it's pretty cool. Thanks everybody who wanted to hear more of my ramblings, it means a lot. 

I have something planned for the 10k subscriber special, but I haven't even started it because THIS HAPPENED VERY FAST so just letting you know something's coming. And also, that it's dumb on purpose. Look forward to a dumb-on-purpose video. There will be something out before that, so in like a month, prepare for dumb. 

Hey y'all. You've probably noticed on most of my videos that there is some glitchiness. Videos getting caught and some flashing green screens at moments. This is because a gaming PC != an editing PC, and I needed to upgrade my computer. 

Unfortunately, you cannot replace videos on youtube, so those old videos are just going to have errors in them :) :) :). But from this point forward, it's fixed, I promise.