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Xbox is facing criticism from the gaming community and the wider industry this week after laying off around 9,000 employees. This has included studio closures and game cancellations, making many lose whatever faith they had left in Xbox after a troubles console generation.
Now, someone from another company that is no stranger to criticism is weighing in on the conversation. As spotted by MP1st, EA Japan’s general manager shared his thoughts on the layoffs, blaming Xbox’s obsession with short-term success in return for long-term investments.
EA Japan General Manager Comments On The Xbox Layoffs
«Particularly in recent years, foreign companies have increasingly demanded short-term results for large-scale investments, and there are not infrequent cases where a change in direction is made to meet shareholder expectations before sufficient time has been invested,» writes Shaun Noguchi, general manager of EA Japan.
«The gaming industry is supported by each and every creator and staff member who has diligently worked on development at the forefront. As someone in the same industry, I feel deep pain regarding this decision,» he continues. «The frustration of something built over a long time not seeing the light of day, and the reality that gamers who were looking forward to it cannot even experience it—both are truly regrettable.»
Indeed, it does seem that we have seen Western companies rush to deem a game or a studio a failure. Perhaps the most infamous example is Concord, which PlayStation pulled the plug on after just two weeks. It then shuttered the studio, which we are seeing far too often in today’s climate.
EA itself has done this plenty of times. Most recently, Dragon Age: The Veilguard was written off after selling 1.5 million copies in its first few months, leading to pretty much the entire Dragon Age team being laid off at BioWare.
Now, Xbox has killed a bunch of games before they even got the chance to see the light of day. This includes the Perfect Dark revival, a new MMORPG from Zenimax Online, and whatever Romero Studios was cooking up.
While the EA exec takes aim at the need for short-term results, others in the industry have gone after Game Pass. Arkane’s founder and Larian’s head of publishing take this opinion, arguing that the Game Pass model has damaged the gaming industry.
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