Xbox has been in a bad spot with the gaming community after the shutdown of multiple studios, including Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks and Prey developer Arkane Austin. Fans have bashed the company and the management over this, and some are even boycotting.
Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, has been the main target of fans to blame over the closure of the studios, but they seem to now have someone else. Fans are now taking out their frustration on the former president of Blizzard Entertainment and VP at Microsoft, Mike Ybarra, after his lengthy tweet.
Xbox Fans Are Now Criticizing Mike Ybarra for His Tweet on Studio Closures
Soon after the news that Xbox has shut down four of its studios, Mike Ybarra shared an essay-like post on X/Twitter, which seemingly felt to fans like he was defending Phil Spencer, and the community is now pouring out its frustrations at him.
In the tweet, Ybarra praised the company and also shared some ideas on how he thinks the company can do better going forward. The executive peppered the tweet with instances of praising Xbox, Microsoft, its leaders, and how the games should be, what a great game is, how these great games are responsible for console sales, success, and much more.
However, it hasn’t sat well with the community as Ybarra would have expected, and fans have the most problem with his statement, “This all comes down to making great games.” Fans have criticized Ybarra, saying that they do not understand why the company keeps on reiterating that when it does not make any sense given its recent decisions.
"I'll say again, this all comes down to making great games."
Mike, with all due respect, of which I have none, what are you even saying? Do you even know why people are the most outraged? Because a successful BAFTA-winner game had its studio closed by the Xbox leadership! STOP
— Dreamboum (@Dreamboum) May 10, 2024
Players have said that despite Tango Gameworks making Hi-Fi Rush, a great game that won several awards and earned praise from players and critics, the developer has been shut down, which contradicts the company’s statement on how it sees the developers and “great games,” which, as per Ybarra, is a “$500M-1B+ profit generator.”
Players Have Called Out Ybarra for Defending Xbox
Xbox fans have called Ybarra as he kept on defending Xbox. One fan said that his statement does not make sense given the awards and praise Hi-Fi Rush got and if Tango was shut down for the “crime of being successful.”
Another fan asked Ybarra if Hi-Fi Rush is not a “great game” and added that if it only applies to “games with microtransactions,” One player, referring to the “$500M-1B+ profit generator” comment, said that this is the main problem with the company, as it only cares about “profits before anything else.”
"A great game is a $500M-1B+ profit generator for the business (across platforms)". And this is the problem with xbox. Profits before anything else.
— HalfGlassOfLuke (@HalfGlassOfLuke) May 11, 2024
One user added that the company has destroyed itself as it has ignored customers, aggressively bought studios, has been unable to manage them, and is going third-party as well.
Was Hi-Fi Rush not a “Great game that exceeds players expectations” or does that only apply to games with microtransactions?
— John Babyar (@johnbabyar) May 10, 2024
Although some fans have appreciated the “clarity” from the executive, the majority are not happy with its recent decisions, whether it be the latest studio closures or the decision to go third-party.
What are your thoughts about this? Do you agree with Ybarra’s statements? Let us know in the comments below!
