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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Xbox head Phil Spencer discuss further acquisitions

Fbh

Member
As long as they keep releasing everything on PC I don't particularly mind.

I'm still overall pessimistic about the gamepass model. Hope I'm wrong but I'd wait to see how the projects of all of these studios turn out under MS before celebrating them wanting to further acquire studios.
 

GiJoint

Member
Its insane, but what did it get Xbox fans? They are not getting any new games. They could have played all the games if MS bought them or not. MS added zero new games in this buy. They just took games away from a competitor. Its good for MS, but bad for gamers
Xbox fans get a great line up of high profile exclusive games, Gamepass gets boosted big time and Microsoft adds an arsenal of studios under their belt.

And before you label me some anti Sony guy I have a PS5 on pre order to go with my Gamepass PC. Sony is playing the same game right now with timed exclusivities and heck even Spiderman only being on the PlayStation version of the Avengers, Microsoft are fighting fire with fire here and good on them, Sony needs to be kept honest and have good competition. We both know full well that if Sony bought Bethesda, those big games will go exclusive.
 
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Didn't they already pretty much say they were going to let them keep doing their thing? The studios did pretty good too, so it would be smart to keep letting them do their thing

and they said they would help them achieve their vision. We’re talking about a trillion dollar company as a support network for these huge studios to develop with. If that doesn’t excite you then fine.
 

sixamp

Member
I guess thats something lol. But is that really enough reason to be giddy? They might get a slightly better product on a game they would have gotten anyway. 7.5 billion could build them a lot of new studios or grow some small ones into AAA. If i was a big Xbox fan I would rather they do that so I got games made I never could have played
In all honesty NO it's not. Just like insomniac going to sony. Why were all the sony fangirls going nuts.. because they know now this dev would be making games for their platform only .

But MS bought bethesda to put more ips in gamepass, give people more of a reason to subscribe . They bought minecraft for 2 billion and look what it's done for them. Not only did they get the studio and the game but they incorporated it into future AR tech. Bethesda are studios, games ID tech engine and technologies. It's a big deal for MS.

People asked why would MS buy Nokia. They didn't buy Nokia for phones, they bought them for their Patents. There's always more reasons for paying billions of $'s for something.

Xbox Fangirls will praise this for their platform
PS Fangirls will cry it's wrong
People like me could care less because I make decent money and I can buy a game no matter which platform it's on
 

J____Av

Member
You might want to check your facts there. Sony didn’t ‘invest’ in Insomniac and Guerilla etc. they BOUGHT them. The same as filthy Microsoft.

You don't see the difference between buying a massive established developer and buyng a studio that had made one game (that flopped) and growing them?
 
A company with the cash on hand AND credit rating that Microsoft has means absolutely nothing is off the table. With the CEO saying they will consider more acquisitions then we should expect that. Microsoft has the wherewithal to purchase Take Two AND Activision. They can also buy Nintendo or Sony or whatever other publisher/developer they choose to buy.

That said the board is not gonna go crazy. With Spencer saying it would be nice to own a Japanese company I have to think they are looking into that. Sega is cheap enough with enough IPs and legacy games that are loved worldwide. They have fallen off compared to the 90s, but I think the price is cheap enough that Nadella and the board would greenlight it.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
unknown.png
 

wolffy71

Banned
Phil fails to create any meaningful first party studios or output since 2014, gives him 7.5B to spend in 2020 so now we got studios, Satya pats him in the back with a proud face. Can’t say Satya is not a nice guy.
He just created MS studios basically so idk if thats fair. No point in being salty about buying studios when its clearly what sony has been doing. Its what every company does when they see opportunities.
 
I never said they were the devil. Its just strange to be pumped up about games your already were getting. If Sony counters and buys freaking Take Two, I would be annoyed too as I already was getting take two games. The move doesn't seem to be done to get more great games on Xbox. It seems to have been done to take games away from their competitors. Its great for MS getting back in the race (which is a good thing, so there is that), its bad for gamers

who is this “you” you are referring to? I have a Switch and PC with a 1070 in it right now. I’m not in the tank for anyone. I wouldn’t necessarily have even bought a Bethesda game or any other of these titles before this happened.
 

J____Av

Member
Xbox fans get a great line up of high profile exclusive games, Gamepass gets boosted big time and Microsoft adds an arsenal of studios under their belt.

And before you label me some anti Sony guy I have a PS5 on pre order to go with my Gamepass PC. Sony is playing the same game right now with timed exclusivities and heck even Spiderman only being on the PlayStation version of the Avengers, Microsoft are fighting fire with fire here and good on them, Sony needs to be kept honest and have good competition. We both know full well that if Sony bought Bethesda, those big games will go exclusive.

This is kinda my point. If you are into the console wars this is good. If not, not really. If you were an Xbox fan would you not rather have that 7.5 billion spent on new studios and games you never would have played without those new studios? You could still play Bethesda games AND you would get whatever 7.5 in new studios gets you. I hate buying third party exclusives and don't like when Sony does it. But this is a whole new level.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
What???????????

I thought every game forum know it all said the Xbox division makes such little profits, it wouldn't be feasible for top management to sink more money into it because each division is so siloed off from each other, they got to work on their own?

"Duhhhhh, every department has its own balance sheet."

Well look at that. Overall corporate balance sheets represent the entire company and top management can do what they want, unless it's such a huge shaker it might require shareholder votes. And buying Zenimax is not one of those situations.

Told ya naysayers.
 

LarknThe4th

Member
I feel like at this stage that I need to point out that Sony bought their way into the videogame industry in the first place, that's right the very concept of the Playstation 1 console is a money hat!! 😯😯😯 after the Nintendo relationship collapsed Sony Corp. Wrote Krazy Ken a big fat cheque

Financially they dwarfed Nintendo and Sega and crippled the Saturn in particular with that infamous mic drop price at E3(any of you think that was cheap?) And we dont even need to talk about how they hobbled the Dreamcast with PS2 hype

Nintendo, in this industry have always been smaller than their contemporaries (Atari, Sony, Microsoft) but they have survived and thrived by being intelligent with their output and creative with what they make and when they make it hell how they bounced back by going all in on Retro after Microsoft bought Rare was nothing short of genius talent scouting! Sega sadly couldn't adapt to the introduction of these Corporate Conglomerates entering the industry

So after this shocking revelation I have to ask, why is anyone mad about this again, am I supposed to care that now in 2020 the year of our lord that Sony are getting a taste of their own medicine??
 

J____Av

Member
who is this “you” you are referring to? I have a Switch and PC with a 1070 in it right now. I’m not in the tank for anyone. I wouldn’t necessarily have even bought a Bethesda game or any other of these titles before this happened.

You obviously. You have a PC right? So what did you gain? Nothing. You were already getting these games. No one is getting new games
 

Kagey K

Banned
That's being a bit disingenuous at best. Morrowind on the Xbox was on their because the Xbox hardware was the ONLY hardware that could run Morrowind. Gamecube and PS2 simply couldn't run it. It wasn't that Xbox went out and payed for that "privilege" Even still, that helped Bethesda Games Studios as much if not MORE than it helped MSFT. Xbox saved that studio which allowed them to go on and make some of the best selling games of ALL TIME across multiple platforms and not just Xbox. No BGS has ever been exclusive to a MSFT system, plain as that. Maybe ports of their games run better on MSFT hardware, but that has more to do with poor design decisions from Sony and Nintendo than anything else.
How’s it disingenuous?

You strongly helped reinforce what I said. It was exclusive to Xbox, I don’t know why MS paying or not paying to have it exclusive makes any difference.

You also point out that it saved Bethesda which reinforces me saying they had a strong working relationship, which I may add seems to have been mutually beneficial.

Then you directly contradict yourself by saying no Bethesda game has been exclusive after talking about Morrowind. Note I don’t even mention Oblivion as the timed exclusive even though many people like counting other timed exclusives as actual exclusives. 😉 Or Pirates of the Caribbean (Published by)
 
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Zog

Banned
I think some people are beginning to feel threatened by Microsoft. Like they might cut into their precious Playstation market*.


* It's ok when Nintendo does it.
 

quest

Not Banned from OT
This is kinda my point. If you are into the console wars this is good. If not, not really. If you were an Xbox fan would you not rather have that 7.5 billion spent on new studios and games you never would have played without those new studios? You could still play Bethesda games AND you would get whatever 7.5 in new studios gets you. I hate buying third party exclusives and don't like when Sony does it. But this is a whole new level.
They built 3 new studios and it might take up to 6-7 years to see any games from them. This would be great for Sony the generation would be over before games started to hit. Sony goes and money hats every thing gets 85% market share boy sounds great lol. This is not anyone's first choice but Sony forced this with money hat heaven. It was this or roll over and shut it down with Ryan running Sony. I blame Sony don't try to run your competitor out of business with out expectations of a response. Going to every major third party trying to money hat was declaration of war as I see it. Sony will still win this just keeps Microsoft closer to 35% market share instead of !5%.
 

J____Av

Member
He just created MS studios basically so idk if thats fair. No point in being salty about buying studios when its clearly what sony has been doing. Its what every company does when they see opportunities.

With the exception of Insomniac (which Sony worked closely with and helped for years) Sony has always bought small or failing studios and grew them into something bigger. They don't go out and buy established studios to get games they were going to be on PS anyway
 

Megatron

Member
Yes. Because while its not the same thing, its similar so you have a bit of a point with them. Bringing up Guerrilla Games completely negates that point though

MS does the same thing that Sony did with Guerilla though. They bought Dynamic Pixels who had made one shitty console game. So I guess that negates the Bethesda purchase for you too, right?
 

GiJoint

Member
This is kinda my point. If you are into the console wars this is good. If not, not really. If you were an Xbox fan would you not rather have that 7.5 billion spent on new studios and games you never would have played without those new studios? You could still play Bethesda games AND you would get whatever 7.5 in new studios gets you. I hate buying third party exclusives and don't like when Sony does it. But this is a whole new level.

Why would people who aren’t into console wars care about the where the money is being spent? All they will want is good games and services and if Microsoft comes out saying heavy hitters like Elder Scrolls 6 and the next Doom game etc are exclusive to Xbox and PC and you can also get them day one on Gamepass for cheap etc etc that wins and keeps people in their camp, that’s what they want. There is zero chance of Sony trying to do any deals on any of these massive games. Microsoft pulled off a stunner here whether you like it or not.
 

J____Av

Member
They built 3 new studios and it might take up to 6-7 years to see any games from them. This would be great for Sony the generation would be over before games started to hit. Sony goes and money hats every thing gets 85% market share boy sounds great lol. This is not anyone's first choice but Sony forced this with money hat heaven. It was this or roll over and shut it down with Ryan running Sony. I blame Sony don't try to run your competitor out of business with out expectations of a response. Going to every major third party trying to money hat was declaration of war as I see it. Sony will still win this just keeps Microsoft closer to 35% market share instead of !5%.

Again, thats my point. Thats just console wars shit. Its good buisness for MS to try weaken the compitition and I get why they did it. I have no clue why any fans are excited though. As a fan I would much rather 7.5 billion be spent on new studios for games never possible without them. That way they gain games. This doesn't gain MS any games
 

CatLady

Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
Why? If you were a Xbox fan you would have gotten all these games anyway. If you are into console wars its good for Xbox fans. But if you are just an Xbox fan, nothing really changes

Wrong, we now get a whole of my favorite games day & date included in my Game Pass Sub instead of $59.99 each. I've bought just about everything BGS has put out this gen.
 

Max_Po

Banned
Hmm...You would think then after 20 years they'd stop making consoles and selling software for it if they aren't making any money. What do you know that MSFT and the rest of us don't?

Yes, I can read their financial statements as they are public. Revenue ain't profit.

Try finished middle school so you can read numbers as well. Also I was talking about MS's Xbox division.

What's your cut from MSFT's (as a whole) financial profits ? still on mommy's allowance ?
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I feel like at this stage that I need to point out that Sony bought their way into the videogame industry in the first place, that's right the very concept of the Playstation 1 console is a money hat!! 😯😯😯 after the Nintendo relationship collapsed Sony Corp. Wrote Krazy Ken a big fat cheque

Financially they dwarfed Nintendo and Sega and crippled the Saturn in particular with that infamous mic drop price at E3(any of you think that was cheap?) And we dont even need to talk about how they hobbled the Dreamcast with PS2 hype

Nintendo, in this industry have always been smaller than their contemporaries (Atari, Sony, Microsoft) but they have survived and thrived by being intelligent with their output and creative with what they make and when they make it hell how they bounced back by going all in on Retro after Microsoft bought Rare was nothing short of genius talent scouting! Sega sadly couldn't adapt to the introduction of these Corporate Conglomerates entering the industry

So after this shocking revelation I have to ask, why is anyone mad about this again, am I supposed to care that now in 2020 the year of our lord that Sony are getting a taste of their own medicine??
Some of the key things Sony did during PS1 era that gave them a boost was buying Psygnosis (which at the time was a multiplat studio) and moneyhatting Tomb Raider so the sequels got delayed or didn't go to Saturn and N64. The first game was a big success on Saturn, PS and PC.

Psygnosis made game multiplat for a year into PS1 and then Sony seemed to cut them off from other platforms.

People don't know or remember this because back then nobody knew what was going with deals. All you had was whatever was written in game magazines.

In 1997 Core Design opened negotiations with Nintendo to release a Nintendo 64 version of the game, and started work on the port in anticipation of the negotiations being successful.[31] The planning took place between 1996 and 1997, with Douglas wanting to redesign the game mechanics to incorporate the platform's analogue stick controls.[20] The team never received Nintendo 64 development kits,[20] and the port was scrapped when Sony finalised an exclusivity deal to keep subsequent Tomb Raider games exclusive to PlayStation until the year 2000.[11][20]
 
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ElCasual

Member
Sony must be totally regretful for close at leat 3 studios in the past years.
Like Zipper, Evolution and Liverpool. Congrats.
 

J____Av

Member
Why would people who aren’t into console wars care about the where the money is being spent? All they will want is good games and services and if Microsoft comes out saying heavy hitters like Elder Scrolls 6 and the next Doom game etc are exclusive to Xbox and PC and you can also get them day one on Gamepass for cheap etc etc that wins and keeps people in their camp, that’s what they want. There is zero chance of Sony trying to do any deals on any of these massive games. Microsoft pulled off a stunner here whether you like it or not.

Thats a good point. Didn't think about GP. Still, as a fan I would rather the 7.5b be spent on new games so I can play new games and the Bethesda games
 

martino

Member
all those people with complex moral code rules...a mascarade to hide probably and sadly to themselves a simpler truth....
 

Redlancet

Banned
Xbox fans get a great line up of high profile exclusive games, Gamepass gets boosted big time and Microsoft adds an arsenal of studios under their belt.

And before you label me some anti Sony guy I have a PS5 on pre order to go with my Gamepass PC. Sony is playing the same game right now with timed exclusivities and heck even Spiderman only being on the PlayStation version of the Avengers, Microsoft are fighting fire with fire here and good on them, Sony needs to be kept honest and have good competition. We both know full well that if Sony bought Bethesda, those big games will go exclusive.
you are crazy if you think "this is the same game"
 

LarknThe4th

Member
Some of the key things Sony did during PS1 era that gave them a boost was buying Psygnosis (which at the time was a multiplat studio) and moneyhatting Tomb Raider so the sequels got delayed or didn't go to Saturn and N64. The first game was a big success on Saturn, PS and PC.

Psygnosis made game multiplat for a year into PS1 and then Sony seemed to cut them off from other platforms.

People don't know or remember this because back then nobody knew what was going with deals. All you had was whatever was written in game magazines.

In 1997 Core Design opened negotiations with Nintendo to release a Nintendo 64 version of the game, and started work on the port in anticipation of the negotiations being successful.[31] The planning took place between 1996 and 1997, with Douglas wanting to redesign the game mechanics to incorporate the platform's analogue stick controls.[20] The team never received Nintendo 64 development kits,[20] and the port was scrapped when Sony finalised an exclusivity deal to keep subsequent Tomb Raider games exclusive to PlayStation until the year 2000.[11][20]
Good catch forgot about that, wasnt their also some shadiness about numbered Resident Evils only being allowed on the Playstation 1?

People complaining about all this have very short memories
 

wolffy71

Banned
With the exception of Insomniac (which Sony worked closely with and helped for years) Sony has always bought small or failing studios and grew them into something bigger. They don't go out and buy established studios to get games they were going to be on PS anyway
Gymnastics. Buying studios is buying studios. Do actually think sony said to themselves lets buy small untalented studios and see what happens. They would have bought any studio that they thought made sense, and have done so. And not buying stuff that was gonna be on PS anyway? Come on.

And on top of that they take the money, you as a consumer of their products give them, and actually pay other devs to set it up so people on xbox, switch, and pc cant play that game. All that money paid for timed exclusivity comes from your pocket. There's no hero's here, just businessmen.
 

CatLady

Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
Why? If you were a Xbox fan you would have gotten all these games anyway. If you are into console wars its good for Xbox fans. But if you are just an Xbox fan, nothing really changes

Oh another great thing this deal does for Xbox and PC gamers is it keeps Sony from moneyhatting anymore BGS games to keep them away from Xbox and PC gamers
 

chonga

Member
are you high? MS is now the investor, overseer and financial backer of 8 new studios? How does that equate to no new games in your mind?
I'm not sure why you're not understanding what the other dude is saying. All that is happened is the same people are working for a different parent company. Unless they grow the workforce nothing changes. And given that Satya is saying you can't just grow a studio overnight you can't expect workforce to be doubling in size and getting extra games. You don't magic up more titles just because you're owned by somebody else.

So as they say there will either be no new games, or you won't see sequels to games you've seen from those studios before.

In other words you will either see new Fallouts, new Dooms as you might expect, or, released from their burden to churn out sequels to be sure of financial success these can try their hand at new IP.
 
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