The industry historically hasn't shrunk when studios close like this. There just ends up being more bespoke studios all over the world with former developers from those studios.
I would not agree with that, no. First because I'd say mechanics are almost always the most important part anyway, and also because I've probably come across more stories that have held my interest in recent years than I did 25 years ago. Stories were pretty basic back then, more often than not. In fact, these days, I've been carried through mediocre gameplay by well-told stories more than a few times, and I don't think that ever happened 25 years ago.
I can think of plenty of games with writing I've really enjoyed in recent years, not the least of which is Baldur's Gate 3 just last year, but FPSes in particular are in one of only a few genres where I haven't been well served lately.
Currently, mine just says it can't connect to Steamworks and gets no further. Anyone else having that issue? I would expect the game to fall back to offline mode at least, but even with Steam in offline mode, I get the same error.
Being after well received titles is congruent with their Game Pass strategy. Being after as much money as possible would mean they probably should have charged more than $30 for one of the best games of the year.
So Redfall was set up to fail, and you make those people fall on the sword, and then Hi-Fi Rush is a game people clearly want more of and could have stood to cost more than $30, and you let those people go too instead of hitting the ground running on a sequel? What is wrong with you, Microsoft?
