Sea of Thieves followers are involved for Uncommon’s future, because the studio has been consolidated underneath Activision as a part of Xbox’s newest reset.
Earlier at this time, Microsoft introduced drastic modifications for Xbox’s first-party studios, together with layoffs and consolidation. Activision is taking on lots of totally different tasks at Xbox going ahead, together with main the cost on the subsequent Halo recreation. Sea of Thieves developer Uncommon has additionally been put underneath Activision’s umbrella, main many to surprise what the way forward for that group will appear to be. Prior to now, Activision has swallowed up beloved groups like Neversoft and put them on Name of Obligation to make maps and help the event of the FPS franchise.
“Effectively, if the years of watching how Activision does issues is any indication, then we are able to anticipate one factor sooner or later: Uncommon as a CoD help group within the CoD mines like each different studio Activision touches,” mentioned a fan.
Some gamers are hopeful that Uncommon could have the possibility to do one thing that it’s extra fitted to, equivalent to growing a brand new Crash Bandicoot recreation or Banjo-Kazooie, given the studio’s historical past of creating platformers. Nothing has been explicitly outlined for Uncommon’s future, although, which has given followers some pause.
Activision has been closely criticized for over-monetizing its video games, utilizing generative AI, and oversaturating franchises like Name of Obligation to the purpose that followers started to lose curiosity, main some to fret that the identical could occur for Sea of Thieves, too.
“Cannot see this being an excellent factor, if the best way Activision has dealt with COD is something to go by,” mentioned one other fan on Reddit.
“This doesn’t bode effectively. I’m a lifelong Name of Obligation fan, and Activision might be certainly one of, if not the worst, corporations in gaming. Every little thing they contact withers and dies. Mass layoffs, AI, loopy microtransactions, and all types of bullshittery will likely be commencing within the close to future based mostly on their monitor document,” said one other involved participant.
It should probably take a couple of years earlier than we are able to really measure what sort of affect these modifications have. Uncommon has been in a bizarre spot for a lot of years, so some followers are no less than grateful that the studio wasn’t outright shuttered or bought off like different Xbox-owned studios. After thriving within the ’90s and 2000s, Uncommon was placed on Kinect responsibility by Microsoft within the early 2010s, main some to consider that this was a misuse of the studio’s time and skills.
Ultimately, they developed the highly-popular Sea of Thieves, however outdoors of that, Uncommon hasn’t produced a lot of substance. It spent a decade engaged on one other recreation often called Everwild, which was canceled final yr. The mission struggled to make progress, and because of this, the general public did not see or hear about a lot of it. It might play a job in whether or not Uncommon is given the chance to develop its personal video games going ahead or if the group turns into a help studio for Name of Obligation and Halo.
Cade Onder
Freelance Author
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s information group. He covers all issues leisure, together with gaming, movie, and extra. You’ll find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
