For the past decade, Xbox has been on a spending spree unlike anything the games industry has ever seen. Billions were spent acquiring studios. Billions more were spent building Game Pass, funding content, supporting hardware, and expanding the Xbox ecosystem across multiple platforms. Now the company appears to be preparing another major reset. Following an internal memo describing Xbox as "overextended", reports suggest studios such as Ninja Theory, Double Fine, and Compulsion Games may be facing closure or independence negotiations as Microsoft attempts to reduce costs and refocus the business...
Tag: myles blasonato game design
The Simulation Compass: Why Players Need Direction Before They Need Freedom
One of the biggest myths in game design is that player freedom automatically creates immersion. It doesn't. Freedom only matters when players understand what they can actually do with it. This is where many systemic games fail. Designers spend months building interconnected mechanics, emergent interactions, and multiple solution paths. The systems are there. The depth is there. The possibilities are there. The player never sees them. Instead, they walk into a space, identify the most obvious solution, and move on. Not because they don't want to experiment, but because the game never taught them how to recognise opportunity. This is what the Simulation Compass solves...
