Dunno, this outrage is all armchair quarterback-like to me. Clearly it wasn't all as rosy as these articles paint it. They must have seen something that wasn't working well in those studios. And ultimately they are the ones who have the numbers.
Hifi Rush taking too many years to make, and despite people liking it, not making a lot of money is an indicator of something being wrong.
Redfall was a blunder of the own studio, 100% them. They made the wrong choice trying to make a studio go into a kind of game that wasn't their thing. They probably rushed it too. The game wasn't bad but people didn't like it, and mainly it wasn't the super hit MS was hoping for.
And on your closing line, well, even MS has limits to what they can allow one of their studios to make freely if it's a flop. It all boils down to ideology in the end. This is capitalism and MS are out to make money with the huge investments they made.
Would a 100% indie Hifi Rush or Redfall have sold more or not sink their respective studios anyway? Maybe, and maybe they wouldn't have even existed if not under Microsoft's wing.
My whole point is that these pearl-clutching takes of "MS bad, kills studios on a whim with their bloody iron fist" can be a bit shallow and a knee-jerk reaction to what is obviously bad news. As a reader I would certainly be interested in knowing more precise information, but nobody outside those actually working there will know it, and I'm fine with that.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram