Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Not caring about reach makes it a lot easier to manage the experience over here. I'm mostly a lurker so maybe there's a meta that I'm completely missing out on but so far it's been nice to just not care lol. 010
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 18/07/2026Guess it depends on the kind of game you're into. If you just play whatever comes out without expectations then it doesn't matter. If you want story, progression, growth, or expansion of an IP then 6 years in between entries kills it. No one is gonna care after that long. 000
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 18/07/2026I think it's frustration over rising costs, failing studios, generation-long waits for new games, constant engine issues, and everything else coming at once. Studios can barely make games anymore without bugs and coming out before we have our own children. Is pushing graphics worth this cost? 200
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 17/07/2026I've loved and lost many a podcast in my years but the one constant I can always go back to is AMT. The idea of paying for a podcast was so foreign before but it's easily been worth every penny. Biking, hiking, walking the dog or just getting fed up with current podcast/audiobook/music? AMT! 020
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Oblivion, Morrowind, and Skyrim coming out once every 4 years helped build the audience that made Skyrim as huge as it is. Same with Fallout 3 & New Vegas. Starfield was fine first entry but the IP needs work. Languishing for 12+ years won't do it or Bethesda any good. 000
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Honestly this should have been Phill's first priority. Bethesda was considered slow even in the Fallout 4 days and isn't improving. Throwing more bodies at the problem isn't always the right solution but they need to find some way to bring down times so new fans have chance to love their IP. 100
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 17/07/2026There has to be a way to divide labor. 4-6 years between IP installments is fine, but between releases studio wide is wild. That's 12-18 years between IP installments. You're losing fans to aging faster than you can generate new fan interest at that point. At the very least have tandem production. 100
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 17/07/2026Their other franchises have been on the burner for a decade+ and at this rate I doubt we'll get another Starfield before 2040. I liked the game, I thought it had potential to grown and develop... it's not happening with these dev times. Imagine if the first Elder Scrolls or Fallout games took >10yrs 100
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 17/07/2026I don't think it's fine to take decades between releases. If that's how Bethesda feels they have to make their games then I guess it's their choice but the inevitable layoffs won't be any worry off us. You're not gonna sustain let alone grow audiences on generational releases. 110
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 17/07/2026I've been happier with Starfield than most but even as a patient fan the slow dev has been hard to justify. Shattered Space took a year and it was full of repetitive quests, reskins, and heavy reuse. Since then we've gotten crumbs. It's poor output for such a gigantic studio even by their standards 110
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 17/07/2026I think it's fair for the audience to dismiss the how and why when the delays are this long. It's been 11 years since Fallout 4, 15 years since Skyrim, Starfield has gotten less DLC in 3 years than Fallout 4 got in 1. It's not a one-off, not an accident... the "how" and "why" aren't our problem. 100
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 11/07/2026This comment was moderated from visibility so... fail? lmao 210
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 11/07/2026We're on it lol. What can he build that would pull people away from Bluesky (the existing Twitter alternative) in enough numbers to make a dent without going bankrupt? 090
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 11/07/2026For better or worse taking care of laid off workers is something Microsoft does well. They have a lot of practice 😅 www.fastcompany.com/91570871/wha...fastcompany.comWhat Microsoft is offering laid-off employees in severanceThe company is providing up to 39 weeks of base pay to U.S. employees after cutting 4,800 jobs earlier this week. 100
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 11/07/2026Unions aren't magic. If there's a case of wrongful termination unions can help. If a studio isn't making money unions can't do anything about that. Xbox isn't a situation where unions would have protected those jobs (as we can see from unionized Zenimax staff also being let go) 100
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 11/07/2026I understand the point of a union. The problem is people thinking the union is the solution to THIS problem. Microsoft had a lot of studios making unprofitable games. A union won't make them keep head count high when there isn't revenue to sustain that head count. Unions wouldn't change these cuts. 100
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 11/07/2026They are solving that problem by cutting head count. Payroll is by far the biggest expense for a studio. If you're not making money heads will roll. There's really not much a union can do to change that. 000
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 11/07/2026Unions pretty regularly make things significantly worse lmao. Unions drive up the cost of doing business without adding anything to revenue. Look at Hollywood running literally anywhere else for productions bc unions and local laws make it too expensive to do business in LA county. US game dev next. 600
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 11/07/2026Unions can work... or they can make things much much worse. Ultimately the bottomline is all that matters. If your studio is losing money a union won't magically give you better job security. If you're profitable and getting swindled then unions are the way. 410
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Id software cuts do feel more unnecessary. They were putting out product regularly and one underperformer should not lead to such drastic cuts. I can understand centralizing QA for all studios and moving to Unreal does seem inevitable universally but they seem to be hard hit even for that. 000
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 09/07/2026I guess we'll see soon enough. I just don't know what the alternative would be when Microsoft gave these studios all the support they could hope for (admittedly not good management, Phil failed hard there) and they didn't see great returns. Something had to change. 100
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 09/07/2026They're harsh of course but so far every choice seems sound to me. These are the tough calls you have to make when fill let studios get fat and left projects that should've been culled to reach full development. Cutting bloat & focusing has been needed for years. 000
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 09/07/2026I'm struggling to see your doomerism from a business perspective. The studios that were cut were undeniably failing. The projects that were sidelined failed to connect, the studios being downsized have been struggling for years. Id wasn't investing in another Id Tech upgrade, Unreal is inevitable. 500
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 09/07/2026I'm sure they had internal metrics but the idea behind subscription services is that you drive up engagement. If a game was selling 5m copies you'd want 15m+ players on Game Pass. If there's growth profit will come later. Game Pass didn't grow the player base, it just cannibalized sales. 030
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 07/07/2026I'm a fan of Twizzlers (surprisingly controversial opinion lol) but yeah... licorice candy ain't the same as the real thing as lol. 010
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 07/07/2026If you're worried about layoffs idk if indie is gonna be where you want to go lol. 110
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 07/07/2026In a way maybe it was healthier that physical games were locked to one console generation as it forced you to look for new experiences. As a consumer I love having infinite back compat but realistically it's not healthy for the industry & I want studios to continue making games... what a conundrum. 100
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 07/07/2026I have personally reached the point where library content significantly curtails my enthusiasm for new games. I have a 300+ games on steam alone, ~20 I genuinely love and revisit. It's hard to pony up 80+ on a new title when it's competing for limited play time with my literal GOAT collection. 100
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 07/07/2026I think I know where this is headed...static.klipy.comUnreal Engine 5 Logo - In Le HeadALT: Unreal Engine 5 Logo - In Le Head 010
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 07/07/2026I don't think this is an EA situation because Microsoft did give these studios all the tools to succeed. Doom Eternal benefited from that, Dark Ages stagnated. Cuts are the reality of a struggling studio independent or under a broader umbrella. 200
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 06/07/2026How is anyone surprised the industry is a mess when they keep missing milestones, deadlines, release dates, metacritic scores, sales targets, and audience scores? The games that meet expectations still do well but they're few and far between now. Studios need a wake-up call. 000
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 06/07/2026This is where I put blame on Phil Spencer. The idea of gamepass is sound, but he was an idiot. He bought niche studios that make games a sweaty corner of nerd plays and literally nobody else. Compulsion & Double Fine were never gonna make mainstream hits. That's not your Game Pass purchase. 110
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 06/07/2026Microsoft gave studios freedom to pick their preferred projects so that greenlight is from Ninja Theory. The milestone failures are management are failings of Ninja Theory employees. They got more marketing than HB1 and was launched on Steam, Xbox, PS5 & Game Pass. Did not perform on any platform. 010
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 06/07/2026Is that on Microsoft though? Ninja Theory was on a knife's edge before being bought out then they spent way too long releasing Hellblade 2 which bombed. If Microsoft wasn't keeping them afloat they would have died long ago. Same with all these studios. 110
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 05/07/2026They're smart about it, only marquee titles are set at $80. The next Pokemon, Zelda, and 3D open world Mario games will probably be $80. This was always their stated plan. Microsoft just went full idiot and set ALL games, even low effort AA Obsidian releases At $80. Not sure what they expected. 000
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 05/07/2026Nintendo already did it successfully. The other AAAs will slowly do it. The problem isn't the price, it's the negative sentiment towards most game releases. Microsoft slapping $80 on Obsidian games that already feel AA (being generous) was a death blow. For respected games it doesn't matter. 100
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 03/07/2026I'm not overly attached to things so for me my collection has to have special meaning. Musicians I'm friendly with, authors I've conversed with, artists I've known closely. It's a nice way to keep a small but meaningful collection. 010
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 03/07/2026Can it be considered "competitive" if it's a download code for Sony's store? 010
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 03/07/2026I think this will end up costing more than it saves as it brings back arguments of monopoly. You no longer have a means to buy or sell outside of Sony's store. Physical was a cheap way to cover that. Now they'll face heightened legal pressure to open up consoles to third party stores. 140
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 11/04/2026We ARE that algorithm. Take away ever algorithm tomorrow we'd still be consuming the exact same stuff just with rudimentary recommendations from others. The way people blame algorithms as if they weren't just our shared desire to be entertained/distracted/etc is just shifting responsibility. 020
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 25/03/2026Being a nation of immigrants makes it easier but you still need a period of integration for immigrants. If you flood the country with more migrants than it can reasonably integrate in a timely fashion it leads to friction and anger at immigrants. Canada just overdid it for a bit, they'll adjust. 000
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 23/03/2026Immigration is honestly one of the most predictable policies globally. Whenever there is a shock of immigrants you get backlash no matter the country. It's completely unavoidable but politicians keep trying it hoping for different results. Jordan, Ethiopia, Canada,people fear feeling replaced. 100
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 23/03/2026Drake was right about Spalding. That win made me lose a lot of respect for awards. Better late than never I suppose. 010
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 17/03/2026Strait of Hormuz is the test Next we terraform Australia. 000
Carlos @sharintaint.bsky.social · 10/01/2026Don't give it oxygen. It feels good to call out but all you're doing is making it worse. I'm an absolute nobody and I've gotten death threats, my friend working in local media has gotten death threats. It's the reality of being public in literally any industry and talking about it makes it worse. 100
