The ESG bubble is deflating as developers find themselves no longer receiving sufficient capital funding by aligning with BlackRock’s agendas to support their string of commercial failures, facilitating studio closures and budget cuts.
Microsoft has made the decision to shut down several Bethesda studios, including Arkane Austin, the developer behind Redfall, as well as Tango Gameworks, known for titles like Hi-Fi Rush and The Evil Within.
Furthermore, Microsoft will be integrating the team from Roundhouse Games into ZeniMax Online Studios to contribute to the ongoing development of “The Elder Scrolls Online” game. Such absorption of a support studio is not uncommon in the industry.
Xbox Game Studios chief Matt Booty announced the restructuring in a memo to staff on Tuesday, stating that the closures were motivated by a focus on prioritizing high-impact titles and investing further in Bethesda’s portfolio of successful games and beloved worlds cultivated over many decades.
However, this corporate language masks the underlying reason: the studios closed failed to meet sales expectations.
Redfall, developed by Arkane Austin, notably flopped upon its May 2023 release. The game, essentially a Left 4 Dead clone, failed to maintain its audience beyond a week. Its overt emphasis on ESG agendas, particularly diversity and inclusion, clashed horribly with its vampire shooter theme.
The PC launch saw a dismal peak concurrent player count of just 6,124 on release day, plummeting to a mere 1,570 after only three days, a 74% drop.
The most poignant closure undoubtedly lies with Tango Gameworks, the studio established by Shinji Mikami, renowned as the director behind Capcom’s iconic 1996 Resident Evil and the initial Dino Crisis installment. Mikami also served as a producer for the highly acclaimed Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3, and Code Veronica.
Returning to the director’s chair for the 2002 Resident Evil remake, another timeless gem, and having helmed the original Resident Evil 4, Mikami solidified his status as a legend in the horror genre.
However, in his later years, Tango Gameworks, under his leadership, struggled to replicate the success of his earlier works. While games like The Evil Within 1 and 2 achieved some degree of success, subsequent titles such as Ghostwire: Tokyo experienced dwindling sales.
Despite critical acclaim for their latest release, Hi-Fi Rush, universal praise couldn’t salvage the studio. Microsoft, dissatisfied with the games’ lackluster sales, went as far as releasing Hi-Fi Rush on the Sony PlayStation 5.
Regarding these closures, Arkane Studios issued a press release confirming the closure of Arkane Austin and announced that promised updates for their unsuccessful vampire shooter, Redfall, will not materialize.
These updates, which were set to include an offline mode and new character DLC, are now canceled. This announcement comes as devastating news to the approximately fifty players who remained committed to playing their woke garbage. Microsoft proclaims that the game itself will remain online to play and will provide a supposed “make-good” offer to those dumb enough to have bought the Hero DLC.
Microsoft’s announcement of the cuts at Bethesda comes more than three months after the company disclosed plans to reduce its video game workforce by over 1,900 employees. 2024 is genuinely shaping up to be the year of layoffs amongst the gaming industry and quite honestly, I hope that it doesn’t only continue but accelerate.
Within its own ranks, Microsoft is exerting pressure on developers to adhere to its “product inclusion framework.” This guideline mandates the inclusion of characters featuring androgynous designs, particularly avoiding traditionally attractive feminine depictions, all in an effort to steer clear of catering to the “male gaze.”
This directive aligns with the broader agenda of diversity and inclusion, reminiscent of BlackRock’s ESG policies.
In addition to Microsoft’s pushing for inclusivity, they compelled Compulsion Games to hire Sweet Baby Inc for narrative consultancy on their game “South of Midnight,” coincidentally, the protagonist of the game underwent a seemingly race-swapped transformation from White to Black following Sweet Baby’s input.
Many studios are facing closures as a result of pushing such practices. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink openly champions his company’s capacity to “force behaviors,” wielding influence by acquiring substantial stakes in publicly traded companies.
Consequently, these companies often adopt ESG policies prioritizing characteristics like sexual orientation or skin color over skill or competence in their hiring practices. They also integrate pro-ESG measures into their marketing and products, especially in industries like video games, where attributes such as femininity or attractiveness in female characters are frowned upon by BlackRock’s criteria.
Adhering to these agendas can enhance the company’s ESG score.
The higher a companies ESG standing the more likely an ESG supportive hedge fund will invest into the company, essentially video game developers were being paid handsomely for producing woke infested crap that failed to resonate with audiences.
Lackluster game sales meant absolute fuck all simply because the developers / publishers themselves were securing enough easy finance elsewhere to supplement the commercial losses.
Now, however, that well is drying up. ESG hedge funds are going under left and right, with investors withdrawing from Larry Fink’s scheme. Consequently, corporations are no longer able to secure enough easy financing to offset the significant commercial failures of their products, especially considering the Hollywood-like budgets associated with modern video game development.
With developers no longer receiving the same level of financial support for endorsing BlackRock’s agenda, companies are implementing budget cuts. Many of them experienced significant expansion during the COVID-19 years and are now compelled to trim excess fat to stay afloat.
From Sony to Electronic Arts, nearly every game company has undergone significant layoffs over the past year, with numerous game developers being shuttered as well.
Volition, the studio behind the disastrous Saints Row Reboot, a game developed in collaboration with Sweet Baby Inc, was closed by the Embracer group. Coincidentally Embracer also sold off Gearbox Software to Take-Two Interactive at an $840 million discount from the price they paid for the studio years prior.
Sony shut down their London Studio, and Square Enix continues to face financial failure, having closed Forspoken developers, Luminous Productions mere months after the game’s release.
The company additionally sold its Western development firms to Embracer, along with the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex franchises, for a mere $300 million. Embracer then sacked employees from Eidos Montreal.
Square Enix also recently disclosed a loss of $140.8 million of canceled game projects, as their recent Final Fantasy releases appeared to fall short of expectations.
Layoffs within the video game industry are not only expected to persist but also likely to intensify in the coming months and years. More studios and developers are anticipated to either close their doors or be absorbed by other entities as modern game developers continue to prioritize adherence to Western ESG policies and agendas focused on “inclusivity” and “diversity” over creating genuinely enjoyable products that consumers want to buy.
The closure of Tango Gameworks is particularly disheartening. While Hi-Fi Rush was a charming title, it appears to have fallen short of sales expectations, or at the very least insufficient sales to offset the failure of Ghostwire: Tokyo.
As for Redfall, its demise is a celebration. A co-op looter shooter saturated with progressive themes and design elements, its resounding failure ensures Arkane Austin goes out with a whimper. Another testament of the failures that ESG provides.
