Latest news with #Hi-FiRush
The Verge
13-05-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Microsoft announces layoffs that will impact at least 6,000 employees
Microsoft is laying off more than 6,000 employees, around three percent of the company's entire workforce. These are the biggest job cuts at Microsoft since it laid off 10,000 employees in 2023, and will impact employees across Microsoft's businesses. 'We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,' says Microsoft spokesperson Pete Wootton in a statement to The Verge. I understand that the job cuts will impact all levels at Microsoft, including Microsoft-owned LinkedIn and some international offices. The cuts come just weeks after Microsoft CFO Amy Hood hinted at reducing the company's management layers. 'We continue to focus on building high-performing teams and increasing our agility by reducing layers with fewer managers,' said Hood on April 30th. Microsoft also started ' performance-based' cuts earlier this year, which have targeted hundreds of employees. The latest job losses come more than a year after Microsoft laid off 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees, and then in May 2024 the company closed several game studios, including Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks and Redfall developer Arkane Austin. Tango Gameworks later returned thanks to a deal with Krafton. Microsoft also laid off 650 more Xbox employees in September, as part of a restructuring related to the company's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Microsoft also cut around 1,000 employees from its HoloLens and Azure cloud teams in June.
Forbes
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion' Remaster Is Live, Free On Xbox Game Pass
Oblivion Bethesda At long last, Bethesda and Microsoft finally decided that they would debut the most-leaked project in the industry and do so without moving the release window that everyone was reporting. And yes, it's out now. After a stream showing off the remade Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remaster (not classified as a remake, apparently) with its absurdly amazing new graphics and features, it was announced that the game was launching today, as previously predicted, as a 'shadow drop,' the likes of which Microsoft has done before with games like Hi-Fi Rush (one of the great tragedies of our time, given what happened to its studio). The Oblivion remaster was made by Virtuous, not Bethesda pulling off devs to work on it as opposed to the eternally gestating Elder Scrolls VI, where as you may expect, there was not any news about that project in this stream today other than a quick mention. Rather, the focus is on this remaster which is far above and beyond what we've seen for practically any other game, at least nothing this old. It's genuinely amazing to behold, and this should grab a large numbers of new and old players alike. 600,000 people were watching this reveal stream alone. Oblivion Bethesda Despite being a hushed release until today (minus the leaks), the Oblivion remaster, if it's as good as it looks, may prove to be one of the bigger games of the year, given the impact the original had and how popular the franchise remains (as a decade of Skyrim demonstrates). Sure, even if some aspects are dated despite being a remake, this seems like it will have a wide audience. And a wide audience that includes, you guessed it, Xbox Game Pass players able to get the Oblivion remake as a part of their subscription. It looks solid, better than almost any remake I've seen in a long while. Getting your hands on it is another thing, and it will cost you a good chunk of hard drive space (120 GB) and $50 if you're not on Game Pass (it is also on PS5 and Steam). But at the time of this writing, I already paid for it because well, of course I was going to. I will report back with my own thoughts on the remake once I get a little ways into it. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Bluesky Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remake' Images Leak Ahead Of Imminent Release
Oblivion It's unclear why Microsoft and Bethesda have decided to keep this a poorly kept secret ahead of its release, but a load of reputable sources are now reporting that they are about to drop the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remake quite literally a week from now, the one beginning April 21. This has been said for a while by insiders like NatetheHate and VGC, and now the reliable Jeff Grubb has come out to say the same thing. It's next week. 'Other people have said but I've got separate confirmation that's going to be the case," Grubb said. We are also now seeing leaks about what the game will look like in Unreal Engine 5, as this is not simply a bit of polish and a remaster, this is a full remake for Virtuous, that developer's specialty. These images were unfortunately leaked by Virtuous itself in a now-private page on its own website. But of course it's too late now. It looks really good! This may be a pretty big deal of a launch this year, shadow drop or not. The Oblivion remake leaked back in 2023 when Microsoft documents were released as part of its court case for the purchase of Activision. Back then it was supposed to be in FY2022, but clearly that did not happen. Since then, it has not been officially announced, hence the coming 'shadow drop.' Then, a former Virtuous employee detailed coming changes that have been made to 'update' the game for modern audiences, ones we've now known since March of this year. This is when it was being reported the remake would be released 'by June,' and then VGC said next month. It is now next month, and yes, it's happening. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Here are the reworked gameplay systems based on what we've heard: I would probably question the decision to debut this with literally zero marketing, as I get that shadow drops are sometimes cool (Hi-Fi Rush!) but something this significant feels like it deserved more of a spotlight. Plus it's already leaked as being in development for the last few years, and this shadow drop idea leaked months ago. But hey, clear your calendars. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Bluesky Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nintendo Switch 2 may be getting more Xbox titles as Phil Spencer is "really looking forward to supporting them with the games that we have"
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Nintendo Switch 2 was announced recently, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer says he congratulated the company's president following the reveal. Speaking on GamerTagRadio, Spencer says he exchanged some emails with Shuntaro Furukawa and "gave him a big congrats and said my old eyes appreciate the larger screen. I know how simple that is, but it's not always true that I can read all the text." Most excitingly, Spencer added he was "really looking forward to supporting them with the games that we have." This seems to confirm Xbox will be looking to port its games over to the Switch 2 once it comes out. Xbox has already been putting its exclusives on other platforms for some time, like Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will be coming to PS5 and PC sometime this spring, and Spencer even says there's no guarantee Starfield remains an exclusive. While the Switch has many great games, it's the least powerful console out of the big three, but the Switch 2 should be closing that gap somewhat, so even more PlayStation and Xbox games could be making the move. As for why Xbox would want its games on a rival platform, "I just think they're such an important part of this industry," Spencer says of Nintendo. "Who would ever bet against the success of that team? They're masterful at what they do. Switch is a massive success and I think Switch 2 will be as well." Given Xbox's recent 'This is an Xbox' marketing strategy and the company's push into cloud gaming over the last several years, it makes sense that Spencer would want the company's games on as many devices as possible, even rival platforms. While you're here, check out the best Xbox Series X games you can play right now.
