Head of Crystal Dynamics gets replaced

I wonder if it is because of the Tomb Raider deal. We will never know for sure, but If he gets a job a Microsoft it will be obvious what happened. I said he should be on the chopping block for this flop and here we are.

Good Riddance

I didn't see anything about anyone getting replaced, and even if they did, I seriously doubt it was because of Rise of the Tomb Raider. Still glad to see cows are so salty about not being able to play it yet though. A shame too, one of my favorite games of this year.

Like they were really going to say he was replaced because they regret his terrible business decision?

You're a sad, little man.

Try harder

@StrongBlackVine: I didn't see replaced at all. You need to stop with your hypocrisy though. Bashing Crystal Dynamics and Microsoft, but A OK with capcom and Sony with SFV.

Try what? I said he needed to go a few days ago and now he's gone.

Why scapegoat one individual for poor TR sales, it takes two to tango, more if you like something a little more exotic.

Because it has been suggested that he is the one that convinced SE to do the timed exclusivity deal. He was also the head of studio so if shit goes south he should take the fall. That is not a scapegoat. It's getting replaced for incompetence.

@StrongBlackVine: So, no proof. Nothing. Not to mention these 2 new dudes took over a few months ago.

There is absolutely no proof that he was sacked for poor Tomb Raider sales (especially since Square Enix would have been paid for for the title by Microsoft already- they are in no financial loss because of the exclusivity move). You just have an irrational vendetta against the studio, and this game, because it dared to become exclusive, only for a while, for a brand other than your precious PlayStation.

You admit that you love Tomb Raider, but you celebrated the game's commercial flop, and now you are celebrating someone losing their job. You're not a fan of games, you're a fan of brands, Sony's brands. And you're a fan of the worst kind, toxic, you don't just wish well for what you like, you actively wish ill on things you dislike, as well as anyone who happens to be associated with those things.

Basically, I will quote freedomfreak, because he said it best:

He resigned after 10 years with a pretty stellar record. Chances are he already he already knows where he is going next. MS studios would be great news.

But this is nothing new in this business. It's pretty rare people stay at the same company for so long. Hell look at Kojima!

These moves happen all the time, and the guys they promoted have serious talent, they were probably getting serious studio head offers from other companies as well.

Naw man, don't go all reasonable and shit on us, it's clear he was fired because he dared to make a game for something other than the almighty PlayStation

lol, as it turns out, Gallagher actually left Crystal Dynamics months ago, before Rise even released and bombed. He can't even be fired, he resigned of his own free will.

These statements literally have no basis in reality, as much as you would want them to.

@freedomfreak: The deal looked bad 2 months ago. They had the pre-order numbers then...

@StrongBlackVine: Yeah, okay.

@the-a-baum: I would no be shocked to see him end up at Microsoft. He was working for Xbox unofficially already.

@charizard1605: You talk about me having proof. Do you have proof that SE was fairly compensated for all these lost sales? You assume they made out well on the deal, but it's impossible that the studio head was axed for brokering a bad deal? Nice logic.

I'm sure you think Don Mattrick left on his own too.

Except he wasn't axed, he left months before the game even launched.

Square would have to be compensated for the game to be exclusive, or do you think they would make a traditionally multiplatform series, one with a strong association with PlayStation no less, for anything less than what they felt was a more than sufficient compensation?

Because if so, I have a bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell you.

@charizard1605: Square Enix knew this project was in trouble well before the release date. They had the pre-order numbers, they sucked and they actually renegotiated with Microsoft to be able to announce the PS4/PC version release earlier than planned.

You have not disproved anything, but nice try. I may be petty, but I have a better idea of what is going on than you do.

@StrongBlackVine: lol okay

So can we get this thread locked as TC is a hate machine.

@charizard1605: We're they also compensated for the extremely low sales on Xbox? This has not turned out to be a good deal no matter how you rationalize it. If it was that simple Xbox would be buying games left and right.

I didn't say it turned out to be a good deal, ever. But hey, they don't need compensation for lower sales, they were paid upfront, and when they signed the contract, they knew what they were getting into. Was Platinum paid when The Wonderful 101 bombed? Were they compensated?

The question here is not even that of the deal, which we know to be bad, it's of you drawing a flimsy connection between the deal and Gallagher's departure from the studio, when none exists.

ignore all the hate TC, alot of these guys don't understand how much a slap to the face this MS/Tomb Raider deal was to us longtime Playstation fans who have been playing TR since the 90's.

It's video games ffs, get some perspective.

@charizard1605: I seriously doubt that SE signed the deal expecting the game to flop. They stated the reason was to help grow the IP. Platinum games sell like shit all the time so why are you comparing their work to a mainstream success like TR and big publisher like SE?

Of course Platinum is just happy to get a check regardless of the commercial success. You don't seem very knowledgeable about the gaming industry or business in general to be honest.

I'm using it to draw an analogy, and to get one point clear- Square was compensated, otherwise they wouldn't actually have made the game exclusive to Xbox to begin with. Of course they didn't expect the game to flop, no one wants their game to flop, but unless Square Enix was paid, upfront, sufficiently to cover what was considered to be a loss of sales from the presumed PS4 and PC versions, are you seriously suggesting that they would have made the game exclusive to a platform with no previous association with the Tomb Raider brand

Typical gamer doesn't know what he/she is talking about, and should stick to talking games, and not business.

For starters the head of a game studio isn't going to have much of a role in this deal in the first place, it's going to strictly be a Square-Enix thing. That's something basic anyone should understand.

I don't think the RotTR strategy was ever to sprint, more so a marathon.

I have not seen any sales or discounts yet of mentioning. I am backlogged by 4 games before even hitting the holidays. So purchasing a game to sit, is not a logical purchase. As I am sure many others are as well. But this is on my must have next list for sure.

From everything I have seen so far they knocked it out of the park with this one.

Not fair bro, OP doesn't play games.

Reaching new levels of sadness

True, these corporate slaves are a special brand fraud.

But still anytime this forum talks basic numbers, business shit, budgets, and the worst, THE FUCKING WORST is when some of them try to talk stocks, and it's the most basic shit I learned in accounting 1, it is agonizing at how fucking stupid people are lol. There is no excuse for it, google exists, and you're on the internet. You basically never have an excuse to post something completely uninformed on the internet.

@jg4xchamp: Gallagher had dual roles. He was head of the studio and also held an executive position with SE. Did you know that? So yes he was in position to influence the deal greatly. I know more about this shit than you do. All of you..

@StrongBlackVine: Yeah, we should kneel before you.

Oh well. he should have thought of that before signing the contract with MS but at the end of the day, he got his money and that's all that matters to him. Hey I'm all in for a get rick quick but it does comes at a price, your reputation is on the line.

Which still wouldn't make him solely the one putting the deal together, his higher ups are going to count the numbers and make sure they get paid. This is basic bean counting at this point, and corporate turnover isn't done on the fly within a month of some game is not doing well. No business works that way, no corporate entity would work this way. EA who is as numbers driven as anything else and cut throat as it gets, with Riccitiello waited until 2013 to have him step down, The Old Republic was a let down for them as early as Q1 of 2012 considering the game launched in 2011.

More than likely he has another job lined up, and it's been in the works for months, long before the game released. Especially since the cat was put in a more executive role at Square. Don't buy that? Funny considering your very own link says the following: "Both seasoned Crystal Dynamics veterans, Ron and Scot took over a few months ago, and the transition has been seamless. Now that we have a bit of breathing room after the launch, we wanted to formally introduce them in their new role to all of you."

Sunshine I do accounting for a living in New York City, you're talking way above your own pay grade at this point.

lmao

@jg4xchamp: Ooh an accountant. I'm not impressed. Glorified bookkeeper. I have much a higher/more respected title than you do and it is also licensed in New York. Let's not get pissy here. You have nothing on me. Leave your e-peen out of this.

Clearly I have a better understanding of business and reading comprehension in comparison to you lol.

Either way you slice it, the deal had next to no impact on homeboy leaving.

@jg4xchamp: Agree to disagree. I think the deal is part of the reason he is gone. The deal was made over a year ago so anything set in motion with his career could still be traced back to that.

And even if I am wrong I'm still glad he is gone because he was too pro-Xbox to heading a studio making games that sell best on PlayStation.

I probably should not have made this topic. I should be discussing the good news about Kojima rather continuing to dwell on this shit. I realize how spiteful this is now.

A mod can feel free to lock this unless you feel there is some decent discussion left to be had. I don't see the potential for any.

Apologies to any one I offended.

Are you fucking deluded?

Why else would Square suddenly decide to make the game exclusive? That's mostly why third party multiplat franchises go exclusive/timed-exclusive, because they have a deal in place with the console manufacturers that involves financial terms as well. They didn't decided to make Tomb Raider an XB1 exclusive because of their love for MS or their hate for Sony. They did it because they had a deal in place with MS and were being paid to do so.

And the studio head wasn't axed, you moron, he resigned of his own will long before the game was even released. Studios don't just look at their pre-order figures two months before the release of a game and then decide to fire one of their most prominent employees. That's not an accurate representation of software sales that long before the actual launch, it never is. Game studios aren't stupid enough to fire their employees on that basis, but you clearly are to think that that might be the case.

Locking on request