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Microsoft Insider Hints a More Acquisitions: “A lot of Money is Flowing Around Gaming Companies Right Now” With Several Getting “Multiple Bids”

ksdixon

Member
The thing is (according to rumors), is that they won't be selling their IPs, just the studios. If true, that's a bad deal.
I think the question is... would Warner keep the exclusitivity/contractual rights to the games? I'm ok letting Warner own Harry Potter, if HP games can only be played on the console I'm trying to improve the ecosystem of. Basically I take-on the wages of the game dev teams, and purchase myself an exclusive game series in one fell swoop.

But if Warner are just trying to offload bodies, or pull a fast one by having Harry Potter Game X on PS, and HP Game Y on Xbox by a different team, I'd be pissed.
 

MrLove

Banned
From Soft and Platinum really make sense if they're looking for a couple of great Japanese developers.
From Soft probably makes a little more sense so that we can finally get AAA sequels to Otogi and Ninja Blade.

We would have seen that a long time ago. No Japanese dev company from Japan will volunteer to work under the yoke of MS. Or why else is there not a single Japanese studio among the many acquisitions? Sony can get easily From software, but MS? no way. Too proud of these Japanese
 
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Orpheum

Member
Sony buys Bioware from EA next.

Bioware buys EA and grants Sony exclusive publishing rights, all future games being developed by
bethesda

brain.jpg
 

fermcr

Member
I always said Microsoft would eventually kill the gaming industry.

Notice how Sony gets exclusives without buying everyone? Microsoft make me sick.

Both Sony and Microsoft are equally bad... Sony just spends less money to get 3rd party exclusives then Microsoft.

Believe me, If Sony had Microsoft's money, they would also be purchasing big companies like Bethesda. Since Sony has less, they purchase smaller companies like Insomniac.
Claiming that Microsoft makes you sick while Sony gets a free pass... makes you bias.
 
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Banjo64

cumsessed
I know it’s a meme at this point, but is SEGA’s arcade division separate to their gaming one?

Out of every major acquisition that Microsoft could make, SEGA would be the one to complete their portfolio quite nicely. I think Sonic as a mascot (especially in light of the Sonic film doing very well, and a second being greenlit) would do great things for Microsoft’s image. Also, Yakuza. And Atlus...

Probably won’t happen, but that’s the only one that would get me excited now, as I think they’re pretty much sorted for western devs (assuming Moon don’t want to be acquired).
 
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TigerKnee

Member
Note to self. I had you pegged for a diehard Sony fanboy based on previous posts of yours I saw. This post proves I was wrong. That's a hefty criticism that would be incapable of any fanboy. Henceforth, the weight of your posts shall be increased twofold.

You make a valid point, but there's a bright side for Sony there. Pound for pound, and dollar for dollar. Sony gets more bang for their buck per studio than any other publisher except perhaps for CDPR.

Edit: And R* of course. But they're freaks and don't count.

Nah Bryank75 is one of the saner Sony fans out there. He (or she?) is good people.
 

kuncol02

Banned
there not a single Japanese studio among the many acquisitions?
That's simply a lie. They bought Tango Gameworks. Why there is no more Japanese studios? Because most of them are not worth money and ones that are are part of way bigger companies.
 

The Shift

Banned
These would be fine:

Avalanche Studios Group
Frontier Developments
Certain Affinity
Playdead
Asobo Studio
Paradox Interactive
Stardock Games
Grinding Gears Games
Blackbird Interactive

Epic Games :pie_starstruck:

In reality I would prefer MS promote an environment of in-house cross development of the IP's they own. There are a lot of talented teams in that group now and MS does have a sizeable back catalogue of IP:

Freelancer by Obsidian x Id
Crimson Skies by Double Fine x Machine Games
Solitaire by 343 x ...
 

KingT731

Member
That's simply a lie. They bought Tango Gameworks. Why there is no more Japanese studios? Because most of them are not worth money and ones that are are part of way bigger companies.
This is what's called a false equivalent. They didn't purchase Tango alone...they were already owned by Zenimax.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
I always said Microsoft would eventually kill the gaming industry.

Notice how Sony gets exclusives without buying everyone? Microsoft make me sick.
Most of their studios are bought like Naughty Dog, Guerilla Games, Sucker Punch, Bend, Media Molecule and Insomniac(and the former closed ones - Evolution, Psygnosis, Zipper Interactive and BigBig)
 
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Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
FromSoftware makes sense for Sony. I think Sony may go after Kadokawa Corporation (which owns FromSoftware).

Isn't Kadokawa Corporation also involved in anime? Sony is creating an anime monopoly, and that could be the last big piece of the puzzle. FS will be a nice bonus for the PlayStation division.

Apart from that, I think Asobo for MS, and Bluepoint for Sony are just no-brainer deals.
 

Shanomatic

Member
I always said Microsoft would eventually kill the gaming industry.

Notice how Sony gets exclusives without buying everyone? Microsoft make me sick.
I think that’s a bit of hyperbole; the fact is Microsoft is being reactive to changes in the industry, not proactive.

Games are getting more and more expensive, and it’s getting riskier and riskier for game studios to remain independent; many would much rather be under Microsoft’s (or any other larger corporation’s) umbrella than be one game away from closure. In theory, we should be supportive of these acquisitions in that scenario.

I understand that Zenimax kinda shook some people due to the size of the acquisition, but honestly I think that was a once in a blue-moon type scenario. Zenimax wanted to be sold, it’s not as if Microsoft just kept throwing money at them until the acquiesced, and truthfully I feel more comfortable with them being under Microsoft as it exists today than Amazon, Google, or Tencent.

The industry is rapidly heading towards the consolidation of its smaller studios, and all the big players know it, it’s the nature of any entertainment industry. And while it may upset some, Microsoft is the only player with both a near bottomless wallet and some kind of footprint in the gaming industry.

I’m certain that Sony will get their own licks in, with studios like Bluepoint and Housemarque, but it’s undeniable that Microsoft is in a much better position to get the most out of this rush to consolidate.
 
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PhaseJump

Banned
I always said Microsoft would eventually kill the gaming industry.

Notice how Sony gets exclusives without buying everyone? Microsoft make me sick.
Why would they buy and dismantle or ruin a company or industry?

The purchase of a company would be to add it to their portfolio, and support growth in the industry. By Microsoft buying up companies, they are sheltering many of them from the risk involved in the industry, creating games that may or may not be successful.
 

pasterpl

Member
I always said Microsoft would eventually kill the gaming industry.

Notice how Sony gets exclusives without buying everyone? Microsoft make me sick.

didnt Sony buy exclusivity for deathloop and ghostwire and was apparently in discussion to get starfield exclusivity
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Sony in buying mode? They've bought nothing apart from Insomniac who might as well have been 1st party anyway.

There is obviously an awful lot of complacency at the top of PlayStation management.

13 studios and quite a few of them have not produced anything commercial in quite a while... Mm and London Studio for instance and San Diego is going to have their MLB games published everywhere.

2nd party has lost Quantic Dream, Supermassive, RAD and others.

1st party lost Ueda, Evolution, Guerrilla Cambridge and a lot of staff have been poached too.

They have burned a lot of bridges in the last few years needlessly. I really do not understand it, it's like they are trying to undermine their own position in the market.

Objectively, when have Sony ever been in "buying mode"? Considering they've been on top for the majority of the last 25+ years, they've never been on a buying spree like MS have so far as I recall.
So, I'm not sure its a simple question of available funds, they've always bought very tactically and focussed on building third-party partnerships and 1st party studios.
 

K' Dash

Member
Can’t stop now, they’re still not doing all types of games, it’s mostly RPGs, racing and shooting. I think they need more devs that makes adventures and platformers. Since Moon don’t want to get bought and are off doing a multiplat they need to build or buy a studio that can do something similar since the Ori IP might not appear again this gen for all we know. And fighters, they have the Killer Instinct IP but nobody that can make another game.

MS needs their own EAD that can do decent mascot platformers and take advantage of Banjo and Conker, if they somehow manage to have their own "Nintendo like" studio, they will be set.

If they can't find the talent here in the west, they should just outsource both franchises to Namco, as they work pretty close with Nintendo and I feel they have the talent needed to pull it off.
 
Objectively, when have Sony ever been in "buying mode"? Considering they've been on top for the majority of the last 25+ years, they've never been on a buying spree like MS have so far as I recall.
So, I'm not sure its a simple question of available funds, they've always bought very tactically and focussed on building third-party partnerships and 1st party studios.
MS have more cash in the bank and no historical debt that counts for a lot. The real reason why MS is in buying mode is that all the PS generation fans on here and on Resetra continually said MS have no In-House teams and no IP Well... MS listed and now changed all that.

Thank you so much Resera and NeoGaf. What goes around, comes around
 
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Bryank75

Banned
The beginning of the first economic bubble in gaming. In 5 years expect massive studio closures on both sides if this is the case.
Yup, to support so many developers longterm, you need the core gaming audience to grow a lot. The numbers simply are not there and when the realization occurs most of these studios will be shuttered and the IP's filed away never to be used again or held for ransom.
 

JLB

Banned
The beginning of the first economic bubble in gaming. In 5 years expect massive studio closures on both sides if this is the case.

I dont think so, gaming is healthy industry.
What I see like a more probable scenario is a bigger economic concentration, like three or three big companies owning a huge lot of IPs.
 

Fredrik

Member
MS needs their own EAD that can do decent mascot platformers and take advantage of Banjo and Conker, if they somehow manage to have their own "Nintendo like" studio, they will be set.

If they can't find the talent here in the west, they should just outsource both franchises to Namco, as they work pretty close with Nintendo and I feel they have the talent needed to pull it off.
Yeah this is their gap in their portfolio. Something for the whole family that is still awesome to play by yourself as an adult too. People always minimize Ori as not all that important but for me this is exactly the type of game that Microsoft need. And if it take 4 years or so to make another Ori and Moon is doing a multiplat now, when could we realistically see Ori 3?
Moon’s multiplat in 2022
Moon’s Ori 3 in 2026
That’s in 5 years...
 
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EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Microsoft consoles are the third option for consumers even if Halo infinite releases I don’t think it’s good enough to win consumers over.
 

Iced Arcade

Member
I always said Microsoft would eventually kill the gaming industry.

Notice how Sony gets exclusives without buying everyone? Microsoft make me sick.
Sony bought Naughty Dog in 2001, Guerrilla in 2005, Sucker punch in 2011, Media Molecule in 2010, insomniac in 2019.

just to name a few. its a very common practice from everyone
 
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MS needs to make Gamepass the netflix of gaming so they need more content. This is primarily about keeping people subscribed to Gamepass.

I have always kept Hulu and Netflix subscriptions because there is always something to watch, I don't have enough time to watch everything and my backlog of shows keeps getting bigger. With DisneyPlus and CBS All Access I cancelled them because there just wasn't enough content that piqued my interest. When you are scrolling through shows on DisneyPlus looking for ANYTHING INTERESTING to watch and there is nothing its just not worth keeping. I'll probably come back to DisneyPlus when the marvel shows come out.
 
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Hudo

Member
MS needs their own EAD that can do decent mascot platformers and take advantage of Banjo and Conker, if they somehow manage to have their own "Nintendo like" studio, they will be set.

If they can't find the talent here in the west, they should just outsource both franchises to Namco, as they work pretty close with Nintendo and I feel they have the talent needed to pull it off.
I feel like Rare could be Microsoft's "EAD".
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
MS have more cash in the bank and no historical debt that counts for a lot. The real reason why MS is in buying mode is that all the PS generation fans on here and on Resetra continually said MS have no In-House teams and no IP Well... MS listed and now changed all that.

Thank you so much Resera and NeoGaf. What goes around, comes around

Not every purchase needs to be multi-billion dollar outlays. Hell, the Zenimax purchase is an outlier among outliers, there is no historic equivalent I believe in the industry.

The point is Sony are acquiring stuff, they are paying over a billion to AT&T for CrunchyRoll in cash. They aren't hurting for money, especially not on the Playstation side.

And no. MS don't care about internet chatter, they care about their bottom-line and shareholder value. They are spending big right now to bolster themselves for the fight against the other internet tech giants who have developed an interest in gaming as another vector for e-commerce and services.

Sony are not a threat to their ambitions because they are moving in a direction where rather than competing, their interests converge. Its pretty comical to me that there's a perception that Sony are a direct rival to MS whereas Nintendo are not, and people kinda go from there insofar as judging every move as a strike against the other.

Zenimax published on Nintendo too remember, bear that in mind.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
And no. MS don't care about internet chatter, they care about their bottom-line and shareholder value. They are spending big right now to bolster themselves for the fight against the other internet tech giants who have developed an interest in gaming as another vector for e-commerce and services.
They also don't care about your "its business" posts.
 

Tmack

Member
The streaming wars prompted a lot of aquisitions on the film industrie and i bet it wont end well....

Same will probably happen on gamming industrie with similar results.
 

fermcr

Member
The streaming wars prompted a lot of aquisitions on the film industrie and i bet it wont end well....

Same will probably happen on gamming industrie with similar results.

What are you talking about?
Streaming is saving the film industry at this moment.
 

Tmack

Member
So Spiderman was developed by an internal Sony Studio I guess.

Spiderman is a longstading Sony franchise bought decades ago.

Sony developped it`s movies way before comic books movies became mainstream.

Despite not being the ones who created spider man originally, today most people know spiderman from Sony perpective.

You cant compare Sony/Spiderman relation with disney/star wars or microsoft/bethesda.
 

Shanomatic

Member
Spiderman is a longstading Sony franchise bought decades ago.

Sony developped it`s movies way before comic books movies became mainstream.

Despite not being the ones who created spider man originally, today most people know spiderman from Sony perpective.

You cant compare Sony/Spiderman relation with disney/star wars or microsoft/bethesda.
I genuinely mean no offense to you, because I’ve seen countless people on this forum and beyond say this, but no, Spider-Man is not in any way a “Sony franchise.”

Sony’s involvement with Spider-Man extends to movies and live-action television, that’s it. They have no control or say over video games, comics, or merchandise not related to film.

I honestly have to commend Sony, because they have done a wonderful job in having people associate their company with the Spider-Man brand, to the point where many believe it’s Sony’s franchise, but they have remarkably little to do with it.
 

Cornbread78

Member
So glad I bought a Ser X at launch, but I still seriously hate the way MS does business..... I expect to them to buy into the Japanese market since they cannot just outright buy-out the companies there. SEGA US/Atlus and a couple of the smaller Devs like NIS/Compile Hearts, etc...


Worst part of it is that Sony doesn't appear to give a shit anymore as they try to be MS and just focus on a few core IPs and are sitting on a ton of others..
 

quest

Not Banned from OT
So glad I bought a Ser X at launch, but I still seriously hate the way MS does business..... I expect to them to buy into the Japanese market since they cannot just outright buy-out the companies there. SEGA US/Atlus and a couple of the smaller Devs like NIS/Compile Hearts, etc...


Worst part of it is that Sony doesn't appear to give a shit anymore as they try to be MS and just focus on a few core IPs and are sitting on a ton of others..
Yes Sony buying big timed exclusives left and right to try and content starve Microsoft and Nintendo is great lol. Microsoft can't buy into Japan no one will sell they will sell to a fellow Japanese company. When Sony was making every zenimax game a timed exclusive you expected Microsoft to do nothing? Don't bring a knife to a tank fight. Until the zenimax deal that Sony forced Microsoft was buying studios that were having financial issues. None were the size of the insomniac deal for example which was a great purchase.
 
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