Defining Duke, Episode 175 | Beware Evil Villain Xbox... - Four Bethesda Studios SHUT DOWN! (Patreon)

A nightmare year for Xbox continues. The latest chapter in this story is Xbox's shuttering of four Bethesda studios in Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, Roundhouse Studios, and Alpha Dog Games. The message is clear that the experimenting days of Xbox are done as the strategy deployed by its leaders continues to fail. The focus is Call Of Duty, Fallout, DOOM, and other high profile titles while the future of surrounding creative studios like Obsidian, Compulsion, Ninja Theory, and others have uncertainty beginning to cloud them. It serves as yet another powder keg moment for the brand where fan patience has run out. Is it time for the Phil Spencer era to end? How is Hi Fi Rush considered a hit yet its studio is shutdown? Why is the leash so short for teams like Arkane Austin while 343 and The Initiative can afford to waste precious resources? Is it even possible for Xbox to restore the faith at this point? You have many questions, so do we, and one thing is for sure: Xbox is still finding out the answers to all of them.

Timestamps:
0:00:00 - Intro

0:03:47 - What We’re Playing

0:32:09 - Xbox shuts down four Bethesda Studios

2:40:49 - Game Pass Pick of the Week

2:43:03 - Looking ahead to the Xbox Showcase