On Tuesday, Microsoft shocked the gaming industry again with the news that it is closing three of its game development studios Bethesda Softworks (Arkhan Austine, Tango Gameworks and Alpha Dog Games), another Bethesda studio, Roundhouse Games, will be merged with ZeniMax Online studios.
Microsoft has not yet officially announced how many team members will lose their jobs. Several members of Bethesda’s own team took to social media on Tuesday to express their disappointment and even anger at Microsoft’s decision.
In the midst of the recent decline in Microsoft Gaming, the border reports, via unnamed sources, that division executives are debating whether or not to make certain changes to help revenue. While Microsoft reported that the Xbox division had a whopping 62% increase in revenue in the last fiscal third quarter of 2024 compared to the same period last year, the vast majority of that increase was due to it adding revenue from Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft in October 2023.
The Verge said that Microsoft executives are discussing whether or not to add the latter Sense of mission Games for its Xbox Game Pass service. It was assumed that when Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard in 2023, we would see many of that company’s games added to Xbox Game Pass. So far, the only one added is Diablo IV in March. The same report also said that Microsoft is considering raising the prices on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions.
Today’s report says that some Microsoft Xbox executives fear that putting Call of Duty games on Game Pass could cut into the overall amount of revenue those games could generate compared to releasing them as standalone premium titles.
Perhaps the most interesting rumor concerns The Saga of Sanoa: Hellblade II. The action-adventure game from developer Ninja Theory is set to launch on Xbox, PC and Game Pass on May 21st as a first-party Xbox Game Studios title. The Verge says the game is one that “Microsoft is considering for the PS5 console” at some point. Microsoft already released four former Xbox-PC exclusive games to other platforms earlier this year.
Microsoft will hold its Xbox Game Showcase event in just over a month on June 9th, hopefully we’ll get some clarity on what the company plans for the future of its gaming division around then, if not sooner.