[Corellianrogue]

Microsoft have just bought Twisted Pixel! That means now they'll have much bigger budgets for their games and of course they'll always be exclusive.

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/10/12/micros...ted-pixel/

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Here's the press release:

Quote:

Microsoft Studios Acquires Indie Game Developer Twisted Pixel

Acclaimed studio behind Xbox LIVE Arcade’s “Splosion Man” and Kinect for Xbox 360’s “The Gunstringer” to incubate new game and entertainment experiences for Microsoft Studios.

As a step in continuing to deliver Microsoft Studios’ innovative game and entertainment offerings, Microsoft has announced the acquisition of Austin, Texas-based game developer Twisted Pixel, the creative minds behind Xbox LIVE Arcade titles such as “Splosion Man” and the recent Kinect for Xbox 360 title, “The Gunstringer.”

From its beginnings in 2006 as independent studio developing award-winning Xbox LIVE Arcade titles, Twisted Pixel will now bring its talented team of developers to Microsoft Studios to help incubate and develop the future of game and entertainment offerings on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 platform.

“Twisted Pixel has an incredible track record of innovative, critically acclaimed, and most importantly, fun, games,” said Phil Spencer, corporate vice president, Microsoft Studios. “Microsoft Studios is home to cutting-edge entertainment experiences, and the incredible creativity of the Twisted Pixel team will help drive further innovation around Kinect and Xbox LIVE.”

“It is really exciting for us to solidify our long-standing relationship with Microsoft Studios, who we consider to be the leader in digital distribution and creating new innovations in gaming like Xbox LIVE and Kinect,” said Michael Wilford, co-founder and chief executive officer of Twisted Pixel. “As part of the family of Microsoft Studios we look forward to bringing even bigger and richer experiences to Xbox and Twisted Pixel fans around the world.”

With today’s announcement, Twisted Pixel becomes the latest member of Microsoft Studios, joining such prestigious and globally-recognized game creators as Lionhead Studios and Rare Ltd., on a team whose charter is to create exclusive experiences that differentiate Microsoft’s platforms.

http://twistedpixelgames.com/press_relea...sition.pdf

[legreffer]

This is good news, especially considering that they have released one of the best kinect title to date.

[TheZeeMan]

Hmm I wonder what MS's plan is, they keep swooping up all the good developers...not that I'm complaining, I've yet to play a "bad" title published by MS...just curious what their plan is, maybe to make as many exclusives as possible to compete with Sony?

[Corellianrogue]

(10-13-2011 03:06 PM)TheZeeMan Wrote:  Hmm I wonder what MS's plan is, they keep swooping up all the good developers...not that I'm complaining, I've yet to play a "bad" title published by MS...just curious what their plan is, maybe to make as many exclusives as possible to compete with Sony?

Well that's pretty much what Sony do all the time. Remember, before the first Playstation (when they were multiplatform) they just had 1 videogame studio, Sony Imagesoft. Then they started buying developers like Psygnosis (the first one they bought I think) who made Wipeout and Destruction Derby. (I think they're just called Sony Liverpool now.) Just recently they bought Sucker Punch who made the Infamous and Sly Cooper games for them. Luckily Microsoft said that they want to keep Twisted Pixel "indie" so they'll be very hands off and basically just give them bigger budgets for their games then let them do their own thing. They said they "don't want to screw up a good thing", lol!

[TheZeeMan]

That's cool then, I think that's how MS rolls, they let HMX do whatever as well.