Kinect Sports Rivals Flops, Rare Lays Off Workers

If you have a game that's so extremely important to the future of your developer group that it'll make or break said group, you might be Rare. This week it's being suggested that in light of the less-than-stellar sales of Kinect Sports Rivals, its developers are having to change their game plan.

Word from Eurogamer suggests that Kinect's future may lie in the sales of software. While we've just seen the release of the Xbox One without Kinect earlier this month, here we're seeing the direct result of a Kinect-dependent game flopping.

A Microsoft spokesperson sent a message out this morning which included word that their "goal" was to "create new fun, social, and interactive entertainment experiences." Because this wasn't accomplished with Kinect Sports Rivals, it would seem, Rare has "made a decision to change our development process and methodology."

This change leads Microsoft-owned Rare toward "reviewing the skills and the makeup of our development teams in our business." This means changes in the amount of developers they've got employed, it seems, as well.

Meanwhile we're a bit baffled at the idea that this game couldn't take off on its own – have a peek at our Kinect Sports Rivals Review. Instead, we must assume, it's all about marketing and the reality behind the average gamer just wanting to sit down and game.

VIA: Eurogamer