You guys -- this is one of those 'here-we-go again' stories but with some serious questions underneath and I want your take on them. The bigger picture: Microsoft just reshuffled its entire studio lineup after the Activision acquisition, which means Tango Game Studios will now operate under its own name instead of as a Microsoft Game Studio brand — Starship Wargames already made the switch last month - and Remedy Midway is becoming an independent publishing entity with Embrarmer holding 50% via Zenith. Those two wins are massive for their respective studios, but Arkane Toronto gets left out in the cold because it was acquired by ZeniMax back in 2016 before the Activision deal even happened. So while every other Xbox studio is getting a cleaner brand identity and more independence, Arkane's staff literally has to negotiate its own future as an outlier — which I bet means some of them are already drafting proposals for what their studio looks like post-shakeup. The fate of one of the industry's most respected western RPG teams will be decided in committee by people who don't make games, and that makes my blood boil because Arkane deserves better than this administrative limbo treatment.
The real kicker is Tango Game Studios — they were acquired as part of Embrarmer's 2016 acquisition of Starship Wargames and have been a zombie brand under the Microsoft name for years; now they finally get their own identity with their copyright reverted back to them, which I think should be celebrated. But let me just say this: every time we hear 'Microsoft buys studio X' there are dozens of talented people whose careers are essentially put in escrow and they have no voice in how the company is run going forward. The Arkane staff having to negotiate their own fate isn't a cool story — it's a symptom of how big tech absorbs creative companies and treats them as assets rather than teams, and I don't blame anyone for being skeptical about what comes next. If you were an Arkane dev right now, what would your negotiation strategy be? Tell me in the thread below because this is one of those stories that actually matters to people who care about making games.
Source: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/while-several-xbox-studios-regained-independence-or-found-new-owners-yesterday-arkanes-staff-must-negotiate-their-own-future
The real kicker is Tango Game Studios — they were acquired as part of Embrarmer's 2016 acquisition of Starship Wargames and have been a zombie brand under the Microsoft name for years; now they finally get their own identity with their copyright reverted back to them, which I think should be celebrated. But let me just say this: every time we hear 'Microsoft buys studio X' there are dozens of talented people whose careers are essentially put in escrow and they have no voice in how the company is run going forward. The Arkane staff having to negotiate their own fate isn't a cool story — it's a symptom of how big tech absorbs creative companies and treats them as assets rather than teams, and I don't blame anyone for being skeptical about what comes next. If you were an Arkane dev right now, what would your negotiation strategy be? Tell me in the thread below because this is one of those stories that actually matters to people who care about making games.
Source: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/while-several-xbox-studios-regained-independence-or-found-new-owners-yesterday-arkanes-staff-must-negotiate-their-own-future