Looks like Microsoft is hiring a team for RTS games

[Bateluer]

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/microsoft-s-decisive-games-team-hiring-for-beloved/1100-6424586/

Microsoft Games Studios has a new team called Decisive Games that is working on "the next installment in a beloved strategy game franchise," according to a job posting on the company's career site and Linkedin.

According to the job description, which was originally posted back in November 2014, the Decisive Games team is focused on world class strategy game development, and is looking for a Senior Software Engineer familiar with DirectX 11 or Xbox 360 and Xbox One rendering APIs.

Last year, another job posting indicated that Microsoft was seeking someone "to help build and lead the team for a new AAA title within an established and well-loved strategy game franchise." We don't know if Decisive Games is that team, but it certainly fits the description.

Back in May, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer also said that he thinks real-time strategy games will see a resurgence on this generation of consoles.

Some real-time strategy game franchises that Microsoft owns the rights to and could potentially revive include Age of Empires II, which got an HD remake on PC last year, Rise of Nations, and Halo Wars.

Which Microsoft RTS franchise would you like to see make a comeback? Let us know in the comments below.

Lower your expectations, if you were expecting a full Age of Empires 4. Age of Empires Online 2?

 

[Red Storm]

The classic RTS is all but dead, it's certainly not going to see a rebirth from a big company like MS or EA. The only hope is from the indie scene.

 

[JumBie]

New RTS games are the mobile and Facebook stuff we see like Clash of Clans. The RTS we know and love is dead.

 

[Red Hawk]

The classic RTS is all but dead, it's certainly not going to see a rebirth from a big company like MS or EA. The only hope is from the indie scene.

Isn't Starcraft still going strong? The Sins game is a RTS, it's got 4X elements but it's an RTS.

Microsoft owns the "Age of" franchise, so if this is an installment in a "beloved strategy game franchise", I'd expect it to come from that.

New RTS games are the mobile and Facebook stuff we see like Clash of Clans. The RTS we know and love is dead.

Yuck.

 

[JumBie]

Isn't Starcraft still going strong? The Sins game is a RTS, it's got 4X elements but it's an RTS.

The Starcraft 2 community plummeted. The game sold over 3 million copies but couldn't hold its community together.

According to this site: http://nios.kr/sc2/global/1v1/hots/ there are just over 300,000 1v1 ranked players globally. However, this site : http://www.sc2ranks.com/ shows the number is somewhere around 100,000. Which one is more accurate? I don't know.

Compare that to a game like league of legends that has over 35 million active players, you kinda get the drift.

 

[Red Storm]

Isn't Starcraft still going strong? The Sins game is a RTS, it's got 4X elements but it's an RTS.

Microsoft owns the "Age of" franchise, so if this is an installment in a "beloved strategy game franchise", I'd expect it to come from that.

Starcraft is its own type of RTS, it doesn't really compare to the likes of Age of Empires. They play differently.

My point is that a company like MS or EA sure as heck is not going to develop an RTS that plays like a classic like Age of Empires II, it's just not going to happen.

 

[Craig234]

Microsoft has not been good to players on a lot of games, like how it cancelled Age of Empires Online or Flight, leaving buyers with nothing. Bit of a grudge there.

 

[BSim500]

Lower your expectations, if you were expecting a full Age of Empires 4. Age of Empires Online 2?

^ This. I really don't think you can "go back" 15 years later. The teams that made Age of Empires, Age of Mythology, Rise of Nations, etc, are long gone (as are the Looking Glass Studios devs for Thief, the "PC centric feel" of pre-EA acquisition Bioware games, etc), and whatever game they come up with will certainly not have the same "core feel" anymore regardless of how many sparkly bits they add.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Maybe a Minecraft RTS is on the horizon? :biggrin:

Honestly I could see that working pretty well if executed right.

 

[Red Hawk]

^ This. I really don't think you can "go back" 15 years later. The teams that made Age of Empires, Age of Mythology, Rise of Nations, etc, are long gone (as are the Looking Glass Studios devs for Thief, the "PC centric feel" of pre-EA acquisition Bioware games, etc), and whatever game they come up with will certainly not have the same "core feel" anymore regardless of how many sparkly bits they add.

Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect all came out on Xbox before coming to PC (with Jade Empire, it took 2 years!). Saying BioWare games had a "PC centric feel" is inaccurate, and dissatisfaction with current BioWare games compared to those games shouldn't be blamed on lack of PC focus. Dragon Age Origins is the only game I'd say had a true PC focus, and before that you'd have to go as far back as Baldur's Gate to get a PC focused game from BioWare.

 

[clok1966]

The Starcraft 2 community plummeted. The game sold over 3 million copies but couldn't hold its community together.

According to this site: http://nios.kr/sc2/global/1v1/hots/ there are just over 300,000 1v1 ranked players globally. However, this site : http://www.sc2ranks.com/ shows the number is somewhere around 100,000. Which one is more accurate? I don't know.

Compare that to a game like league of legends that has over 35 million active players, you kinda get the drift.

comparing LOL to Starcraft is a bit silly, One game anybody can play and their suck-age doesn't show so much (LOL), the other if you suck you loss so hard you never want to play again (Starcraft). Don't get me wrong, they both take skills most of us will never have at the top level, its just one (LOL) lets 34,999,900 players think they are good enough to play with the big boys. One of the two is just way harsher on bad players. There is a reason there are so many players, anybody can play it, sorta.

 

[Shyatic]

The Starcraft 2 community plummeted. The game sold over 3 million copies but couldn't hold its community together.

According to this site: http://nios.kr/sc2/global/1v1/hots/ there are just over 300,000 1v1 ranked players globally. However, this site : http://www.sc2ranks.com/ shows the number is somewhere around 100,000. Which one is more accurate? I don't know.

Compare that to a game like league of legends that has over 35 million active players, you kinda get the drift.

Patching destroyed that game, and the expansions.

I LOVED playing SC2 initially, and was getting better at playing Terran (my race), until the patchhammer hit me. Then I have to re-learn the entire game and strategy. The APM is something I can't keep up with at least on the par of Korean players, and so I finally quit.

I play Counterstrike GO now.

 

[CPA]

If it's not Age of Empires I would be shocked. However, it would be great if it's Age of Mythology.

 

[Majes]

The Starcraft 2 community plummeted. The game sold over 3 million copies but couldn't hold its community together.

According to this site: http://nios.kr/sc2/global/1v1/hots/ there are just over 300,000 1v1 ranked players globally. However, this site : http://www.sc2ranks.com/ shows the number is somewhere around 100,000. Which one is more accurate? I don't know.

Compare that to a game like league of legends that has over 35 million active players, you kinda get the drift.

They made Starcraft too difficult. I was pro-level at Warcraft 3 and could barely scratch Masters in Starcraft 2... The reason is the game moves so quickly and 90% of your time is spent either managing your base or scouting. In Warfcraft 3 you could spend 75% of a game in actual combat.

It's too difficult for the average player to control 3 bases and an army or two while scouting an opponent. So people play LoL instead where they have 1 character model to manage with 4-5 commands.

Starcraft 2 isn't a bad game, but it's not really friendly to most players.

 

[chimaxi83]

Maybe a Minecraft RTS is on the horizon? :biggrin:

Honestly I could see that working pretty well if executed right.

D:


If "the next installment in a beloved strategy game franchise" and "to help build and lead the team for a new AAA title within an established and well-loved strategy game franchise" meant Minecraft, I would vomit.

 

[PowerYoga]

league (or games like it) has a very shallow learning curve and 95% of the people can play and enjoy it without feeling utterly defeated when they lose. In SC2 I've had very few games where it felt like a "good loss" or "good win". It's usually crushing victory or crushing defeat.

 

[mmntech]

Yeah, serious RTS games are basically dead. All mobile now, chock full of micro-transactions. Shame. I used to really like Rise of Nations. Too bad it never got a proper sequel. I don't count the one it did get, because it was such a huge departure from the original.

Microsoft has not been good to players on a lot of games, like how it cancelled Age of Empires Online or Flight, leaving buyers with nothing. Bit of a grudge there.

Flight got cancelled because it was an absolute joke. Microsoft figured they could turn a popular franchise into a micro-transaction cash grab. In the process, they alienated Flight Simulator's core fan base. The game was basically Pilot Wings without any of the stuff that made Pilot Wings great. Just a single island to explore with nothing exciting to do. Hardcore simmers weren't going to buy into that.

Hard to believe it's been almost a decade since FS X came out. I really wish it would get a proper update. Shame ACES got shut down.

 

[magomago]

Yeah, serious RTS games are basically dead. All mobile now, chock full of micro-transactions. Shame. I used to really like Rise of Nations. Too bad it never got a proper sequel. I don't count the one it did get, because it was such a huge departure from the original.



Flight got cancelled because it was an absolute joke. Microsoft figured they could turn a popular franchise into a micro-transaction cash grab. In the process, they alienated Flight Simulator's core fan base. The game was basically Pilot Wings without any of the stuff that made Pilot Wings great. Just a single island to explore with nothing exciting to do. Hardcore simmers weren't going to buy into that.

Hard to believe it's been almost a decade since FS X came out. I really wish it would get a proper update. Shame ACES got shut down.

Not to derail this too much...but translation: PC consumer market couldn't provide a justification for a hardcore flight simulator for the time/money/resources they were spending.

 

[mmntech]

Not to derail this too much...but translation: PC consumer market couldn't provide a justification for a hardcore flight simulator for the time/money/resources they were spending.

The FS community is a small but dedicated one, and spends a lot of money. Certainly enough to keep X-Plane going. But yea, another discussion for another thread.

 

[psychosiz]

While the RTS scene is on life support on the PC, a good game would attract many players I believe. It would have to be done correctly. I wonder if they are considering a stand alone single player with multi player aspects or a MMO?

 

[TheSlamma]

RTS on consoles? god that sucks. Halo Wars was trash. RTS needs a mouse to work well.

 

[JumBie]

comparing LOL to Starcraft is a bit silly, One game anybody can play and their suck-age doesn't show so much (LOL), the other if you suck you loss so hard you never want to play again (Starcraft). Don't get me wrong, they both take skills most of us will never have at the top level, its just one (LOL) lets 34,999,900 players think they are good enough to play with the big boys. One of the two is just way harsher on bad players. There is a reason there are so many players, anybody can play it, sorta.

What I am trying to get with that point is the amount of real RTS players left is kind of low. The new generation of kids doesn't take too kindly to that type of game. Most of the people who enjoy RTS games are the older folks, ones that have been around from the early 90's. Any new RTS to come out isn't going to do major numbers unless its a casual game (hence the Clash of Clans reference in first post).

 

[Craig234]

Flight got cancelled because it was an absolute joke. Microsoft figured they could turn a popular franchise into a micro-transaction cash grab. In the process, they alienated Flight Simulator's core fan base. The game was basically Pilot Wings without any of the stuff that made Pilot Wings great. Just a single island to explore with nothing exciting to do. Hardcore simmers weren't going to buy into that.

Hard to believe it's been almost a decade since FS X came out. I really wish it would get a proper update. Shame ACES got shut down.

Except it got cancelled after release, after they took people's money, like mine (I never even played it yet), so they owed some support to the customers.

 

[MWink]

Lower your expectations, if you were expecting a full Age of Empires 4. Age of Empires Online 2?

After Age of Empires Online I don't think my expectations could go any lower. I feel that was the worst money I've ever spent on a game.

 

[TheSlamma]

After Age of Empires Online I don't think my expectations could go any lower. I feel that was the worst money I've ever spent on a game.

AoE:O was horrid for sure. That model really needs to go away. This is the problem when bean counters run game companies instead of gamers.