[QUOTE="AdrianWerner"]
[QUOTE="visionary"]
Ok, aside from Ensemble, for the purposes of my own education. Which devs did MS shut down exactly since I keep hearing this without a concrete list, (which directly affected PC gamers), and just for fun tell me if you actually paid and played those titles with the joy I assume you complainers have. If you answer no to any of this, you can understand purely from a business perspective why these developers were shut down o_O.
ChartTopper93
Since Xbox was announced we've often heard Microsoft reps assuring us PC gamers that they are still committed fully to PC gaming. Maybe we should have been less trustful, but when MS was shipping games like Rise of Nations or Freelancer we really had no reason to expect the worst. Then came the whole Games for Windows initiative. And we were once again assured how much MS is into PC gaming, we were promised a lot, what did we get? Let's see what MS has done with their PC gaming division in the last few years.
- Moved FASA franchises (Battletech, CrimsonSkies and Shadowrun) to Xbox, when they flopped there MS closed down FASA studios and sold the IPs. Not to mention that they didn't extend the relationships with independent PC developers who worked on those franchises in their PC forms (especially Zipper is a good example, they went in to Playstation 2 where they created the popular SOCOM franchise and eventually got bought by Sony)
Moved Links and Midtown Madness to Xbox, they flopped there, so Access Software was sold to 2K
Let go of Digital Anvil teams who worked on PC Conquest: Frontier Wars and Loose Cannon. The remaining team was switched to Xbox to work on BruteForce, it flopped, MS as always closed them down.
Got rid of Ashersons Call franchise by selling it back to Turbine
Let Big Hug Games go (despite owning part of it), the company was bought by THQ
Canceled the MMORPG Mythica
Closed down ACES studio (responsible for Flight Sim, which was running longer than Windows itself!)
Canceled MS Train Simulator 2 (it's developed KUJU eventually restarted the project and released it as Rail Simulator through Electronic Arts)
Got rid of Marvel Online MMORPG, the devs went to Take2 where it became Champions Online
First switched Ensemble (their most successful PC dev and one that specialized in games that do not work all that well on consoles) to 360 to make Halo Wars and then when the game was almost done they announced the studio will be closed down when the game ships.
Zoo Tycoon IP is no longer in MS portfolio as the developer Blue Fang has switched publishers to THQ
They bought PC-centric Lionhead Studios and from that moment there's just sound of crickets when asking about any upcoming PC projects they have.
Even some ports of console games MS published (namely Jade Empire, Nija Blade and Mass Effect) weren't published by Microsoft, so essentialy the devs had to go behind MS' backs to get their games to pC
Basically since MS announced their newly restored commitment to PC gaming they've systematically been wiping it out, switching whatever they could to Xbox and whatever they couldn't switch they've closed down, sold or just let go.
It's ironic that the company who has a monopoly in OS market, one that is creating tools that every PC developer uses has moved out of PC gaming market. I have troubles thinking of any important publisher who actually has as little support for PC gaming. Yep, even Japanese console-centric publishers like Square Enix, Koei or Tecmo have stronger line-up of PC games than Microsoft does.Heck… Sony has a lot stronger upcoming PC line-up, you can almost taste the irony
PC gamers who are old enough probably still remember Origin, Bullfrog and Westwood, when Electronic Arts closed them down they got a widespread reputation of an "Evil Empire". Well, I think it's safe to say that now we've seen Microsoft climb upon that iron throne, threw the emperor out and put the crown on their own head.
To be fair they did more than just destroy, but even this ended up badly. They've tried to make us PC gamers give up free online gaming on dedicated servers, something we love so much and instead make us pay for playing through P2P, just like 360 users are. Then they tried cross-platform play, which also crashed and burned. Both of those have failed and we can be really thankful for that.
The only project of theirs that somewhat succeeded was the GamesforWindows branding, except in reality all it did was add an ugly bar on top of PC boxes and as it was a campaign aimed at increasing retail sales while looking as NPD's data for sales of retail pc games in US last year it's obvious they've failed at this.
I'm not villanizing MS here, I hate their decisions, but at the same time I know why they did all that. I'm just showing that they do not support PC gaming at all, they just blantantly lie in our face about it
jesus, you're really butthurt about Alan Wake arent you:lol: doing all this research and cataloging trying to prove MS is this bad company who mistreats PC users lol, plz. this whole thread has been fun to watch. i had no idea hermits loved 360 titles so much that losing ONE would have them whining like little babies for pages and pages. go ahead, try to spin it as some ethics were broken. but its all too obvious that you're just mad you're not getting the game. get a 360 or just suck it up...those are the two options left. stop the whining. there's no point to be proven here.
If you bothered to read why he posted that... which I know you didnt since your only purpose was to annoy.. it kinda went down like thisdude 1: MS shut down every PC dev they had
dude 2 : Ok, aside from Ensemble, for the purposes of my own education. Which devs did MS shut down exactly since I keep hearing this without a concrete list
dude 1: posted that huge wall of text for dude 2
dude 3*thats you* LOOOL ur being butthurt:lol:
:|
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