Ecchi-American

Someone has to. All American gamer & weeb. Unfiltered shitposts and occasional insights

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

"...Mojang and King... bring critical geographic, demographic, and differentiation to XBOX."
you might think it's because mojang is in sweden but it's actually because the women, browns and third-worlders play these games

[ASHA @asha_shar]

This is an important email I sent today to all employees at XBOX:

Team,

We are beginning the most significant restructure in XBOX history. After careful consideration, I've made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27. This will include approximately 1,600 role eliminations today, and in addition, four studios will leave XBOX to new management. I recognize that a year-long restructuring creates additional challenges. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make all the necessary changes in a single day, and I wanted to be direct about the scale.

I know this is painful. These changes will directly affect people who have poured their creativity into building XBOX. Many joined us through acquisitions, while others were recruited here, or sought us out because they loved this industry and loved XBOX. Today's decisions do not reflect their talent or dedication.

Our business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins that are 3–10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected. As that happened, our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history. We must reset XBOX.

First, we will reset our content portfolio.

Since 2018, we have aggressively expanded our studio portfolio while the number of games created each month across the industry now outpaces the last ten years combined. We now find ourselves competing not only with the largest publishers, but also with smaller independent studios. It is neither possible nor desirable to own every great independent studio. We have also learned that we are not the best home for every type of studio; in a typical year, we lost 64 cents for every dollar we invested. As we reset XBOX, we will help independent creators succeed by providing open development tools and audiences to realize their vision.

Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will return to management and transition to independent studios with their IP, catalog, and runway for their next games. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have entered terms to join new ownership with funding to complete and grow Senua and State of Decay 3. In France, Arkane’s management is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options.

We are also making reductions across other units, and in some cases, shifting investment to focus on higher priority projects. These changes vary in size across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, and XBOX Game Studios. None of our first party publicly announced games or projects are being cancelled as part of these reductions.

In addition, Mojang and King will now report directly to me. These two studios have increasingly become platforms and are our largest by monthly active players. They bring critical geographic, demographic, and differentiation to XBOX.

Second, we will reset our platform.

We know that great technology gets better when it gets simpler, not bigger. Today, in some parts of the company, work passes through as many as 14 layers of management. Our platform teams are 40% larger than they were at the start of this generation, even as our player base and playtime have declined. That complexity has slowed decisions, blurred accountability, and made it harder to deliver for players. As we reset XBOX, we will simplify.

We will reduce management layers to no more than 5, and where possible, 3. We will deliver success through a flatter organization that is built around makers (individual contributors focused on building), player-coaches (leaders who remain deeply involved in the work while developing their teams), and directly responsible individuals (DRIs) who own key decisions and outcomes. And we will streamline how we work across our tools, with a cleaner code base, shared services, and 50% reduced vendor spend.

Third, we are resetting how we operate.

As XBOX grew our headcount, we became more fragmented. Teams, studios, and functions often operate independently, and it became harder to work towards a shared goal, make the right tradeoffs, and get things done.

For the first time, we are establishing a Chief Operating Officer with end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services. Helen Chiang has been promoted to this role and will report directly to me. Over nearly two decades at XBOX, Helen has helped build some of our most important businesses, from XBOX Live to leading Mojang and the Minecraft franchise. She will bring our businesses together under one operating model, making sure we make clear investment decisions, learn from our successes and failures, and hold ourselves accountable for results.

Thank you, Dave McCarthy, who is retiring after 17 years with XBOX. Dave has played a defining role in building the platform that millions of players rely on every day and has been a trusted partner through many of the biggest moments in XBOX's history. We wish him all the best.

These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one. The next decade of gaming will be larger, more global, and more creative than anything we've seen before. This year, we'll invest as much in XBOX as we ever have, but we'll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making XBOX where the world plays and creates.

I want XBOX to be one of the few companies that entertains more than a billion people each day and gives everyone the opportunity to create and connect. I know we can achieve this goal. XBOX has many of the most beloved franchises in entertainment history, talented studios around the world, and we will return to growth in 2027.

History is full of companies that mistake longevity for inevitability. We will not be one of them.

Asha

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

microsoft owning a bunch of the studios who made stuff we hated is great fun, but I think people are ignoring that this is basically just gonna get us a new flavor of soulless games. we might not get political pandering but do we want walmart video games? don't celebrate yet

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

@catsuka @pipkinpippa my prediction is that it will end up being overall even better than season 1 but will lack the cultural impact (no rebecca level standout and a more subtle emotional impact), making people forget about it, but it will become a cult favorite over time

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

this tag is absolutely cancer anyways. I blocked it because I was like "I don't want indie dyke walking sim 99" but then people tag games that have a single flirtation between two girls or a cross dressing scene with this so I had to unblock it

[Pirat_Nation 🔴 @Pirat_Nation]

Steam has blocked the LGBTQ+ tag in the China region. If you search for “LGBTQ+” on Steam while using a Chinese account or accessing Steam from mainland China, you’ll see this message:

“The content on this page has been flagged as inappropriate due to a violation of local laws and regulations and is therefore unavailable from your current location.”

Of course, you can still find the games you're looking for, but the LGBTQ+ tag is blocked.

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

@EepyCreepyCh sometimes it can be meditative like auto battling in a traditional jrpg for a while, but when you mix in action elements and ask me to grind for hours with full attention it's just exhausting.
I think persuasion exp/rewards in wrpgs is the closest we've got to an alternative

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

@EepyCreepyCh I think it's the same kind of people who love to get together just to complain about their mutual friends, they don't view it as mean just entertaining, though it's usually kinda mean

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

@Asmongold @mahirusoldier genuinely I think it's just a type of woman that simply doesn't exist in the west, so it feels wrong to most westerners, but I have personally known japanese woman who look and sound like her so I'm sure it must exist in korea too

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

why do they say on sale at playstation and epic but don't mention steam? biased as can be it seems

[Summer Game Fest @summergamefest]

Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, the official sequel to @SHIFTUP_Corp’s stylish action adventure, has been revealed at #SummerGameFest.

Play @StellarBlade today — now on sale on Playstation Store and Epic Games Store.

Watch the full trailer: https://t.co/KkDRoDNvfW

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

it's time we accept the persona era is over. 5 and metaphor are just normie sloppa and 6 will absolutely continue the downward spiral. we're never gonna relive the nostalgia we all have for 3 and 4

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

@EepyCreepyCh you can never escape the all seeing eye of the algo

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

@mahirusoldier @Cartillax relatable. started out not liking it, slice of life comfy made me start liking it, and that last arc made it great

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

@EepyCreepyCh perhaps the outfit is simply extra tight in the chest, so it's an illusion

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

@SandyofCthulhu @fandompulse at least the man lives his life in accordance with his writing style, staunchly middle of the road and inoffensive as possible

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

maybe now I will finally work on learning mahjong like i've always wanted to

[レトロゲーマー・アジャキング @TheAmazonia]

こちらはスフィンクスが開発し、日本物産から発売された脱衣麻雀「美少女雀士プリティセーラー18禁」。何のアニメのパロディか、見たらすぐ分かるでしょう。ご褒美シーンはかなり過激で、とてもココでは見せられません。当時の緩い時代とは言え、よく発売出来ましたね＾＾；

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

how long until he starts to question why the heck he's been asked to move packages across an intentionally broken conveyer

[Figure @Figure_robot]

Day 2 is Live: Watch humanoid robots Bob, Frank, and Gary running 24/7. This is fully autonomous running Helix-02 https://t.co/dsacH4HOzJ

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

I hope this is the white pill it seems to be

[Pirat_Nation 🔴 @Pirat_Nation]

Internet Archive Launches New Foundation in Switzerland, based in St. Gallen.

This new nonprofit group operates independently under Swiss law while joining similar groups in Canada and Europe.

• Initial priorities:

> Endangered Archives initiative: Rescue and preserve vulnerable cultural heritage and historical records threatened by conflict, disaster, institutional collapse, or suppression.

>Gen AI Archive project: In partnership with the University of St. Gallen’s School of Computer Science, aims to collect and preserve generative AI models and related systems

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

@DeadJosey david cage died so mixtape could get a 10/10

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

Silent Hill f is the best game in the Fatal Frame series in ages!

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

@viperwave After hifi rush, I'm convinced this was Johanas's influence. He seems to excel at inoffensive (but engaging) fluff but nothing else, and I think that showed it's mark on tew2 as a large part of its charm in 1 was that warped mikami signature style

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

@Davilis5714 ya it's a good distinction and all, but this is just schadenfreude about companies who are puritanical finding sinners in their associations

[Ecchi-American @ExtinctNetizen]

same company that objected to putting panty shot from cuckoos manga in the anime btw

[Pirat_Nation 🔴 @Pirat_Nation]

CEO and co-founder of Buta Productions, an animation studio that helped make anime shows like Bocchi the Rock and A Couple of Cuckoos accused of grooming artist Maryco when she was 14 years old

She posted a 33-page document with chat messages and other proof from many years, Maryco wants people to know what happened so it does not happen to others. She does not want more trouble.

The CEO deleted his X account and has not said anything in public.

Blou, also known as Bloodyredstar, helped start the company, he posted a statement.

He supports the victims. He is sorry he did not do more to help earlier. He will listen to anyone who was hurt.