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$10 billion later, Microsoft isn’t done buying game studios yet

Typical Microsoft strategy, buy the competition and ruin the industry

lol ok. meanwhile you are ok with Sony buying studios and buying timed exclusives?

before zenimax, Sony dominated MS in 1st party studios, now they dont and you are just bitter. Grow up.

In the end, a studio owned by Microsoft will reach exponentially more gamers than if owned by Sony AND at a much better value.
 

Vawn

Banned
I don't mind it either way, but it's funny how paying for exclusivity is anti-consumer, but buying the company to make all the games exclusive is pro-consumer.

I am honestly happy that MS seems to be all-in on gaming. I was nig on the 360, but I thought the last ten years from them has been incredibly weak.

I've seen enough now that I've decided to not sell my Series X preorder and am really looking forward to it. Really hoping Obsidian can make a new Fallout game.
 

Mmnow

Member
I don't mind it either way, but it's funny how paying for exclusivity is anti-consumer, but buying the company to make all the games exclusive is pro-consumer.
I haven't seen a single person say "Microsoft buying Bethesda is a pro-consumer move".

Maybe I've missed it, I don't know.
 

azz0r

Banned
lol ok. meanwhile you are ok with Sony buying studios and buying timed exclusives?

before zenimax, Sony dominated MS in 1st party studios, now they dont and you are just bitter. Grow up.

In the end, a studio owned by Microsoft will reach exponentially more gamers than if owned by Sony AND at a much better value.
Timed exclusives allows the industry and studios to adapt and change its strategy and platforms.

Buying the entire company, do you think maybe that might be a bit different to the above?
 
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Timed exclusives allows the industry and studios to adapt and change its strategy and platforms.

Buying the entire company, do you think maybe that might be a bit different to the above?
Timed exclusives is a cheap way to simply deprive some people of content. Buying an entire company actually means that you are also assuming the responsibility of a huge investment and trying to keep the company you bought healthy.

I wouldn’t mind Sony buying squarenix for example.
 

Mmnow

Member
Timed exclusives is a cheap way to simply deprive some people of content. Buying an entire company actually means that you are also assuming the responsibility of a huge investment and trying to keep the company you bought healthy.

I wouldn’t mind Sony buying squarenix for example.
And they might as well at this point. If I was an Xbox only gamer, I'd be pissed by how Square has been carrying on. Even the all encompassing Final Fantasy on Gamepass deal has been very slow coming.
 

mckmas8808

Banned
Typical Microsoft strategy, buy the competition and ruin the industry

I don't think MS could possibly buy "THAT" much of the competition. They can try though.

Timed exclusives is a cheap way to simply deprive some people of content. Buying an entire company actually means that you are also assuming the responsibility of a huge investment and trying to keep the company you bought healthy.

I wouldn’t mind Sony buying squarenix for example.

This literally makes no sense at all. Fanboys man, I tell ya.
 
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Croatoan

They/Them A-10 Warthog
How much is EA worth? Imagine if PS5 didn't get sports games, battlefield games or star wars games... Oh wait nobody cares.
 
They should buy Bioware from EA and restore it to past glory.

That would complete RPG trifecta Bioware, Bethesda, Obsidian under one banner.
 

The Alien

Banned
Asobo will be next I'd say. Maybe Dlala too.
Asobo, I hope....super talented and great relationship with Microsoft. These guys can make anything (Flight Sim, Plagues Tale)

I do think Bloober would be a candidate as well. Microsoft was shopping in Poland. A month or two later Bloober was filing acquisition papers.
 

Andodalf

Banned
How much is EA worth? Imagine if PS5 didn't get sports games, battlefield games or star wars games... Oh wait nobody cares.

LOL do you really think not having FIfa and Madden wouldn't be massive? Those are some of the biggest games out there. Not to mention being able to advertise star wars alongside a console whenever you want. I don't think there's any chance MS buys EA, but it would be a megaton for sure.

In all likelihood the NFL and FIFA would make MS keep sports games multiplat tho
 
I dont think they should buy another studio yet but just take stock of what they have get everything up to speed and nurture the studios they have and then maybe buy other studios once all their current studios are firing on all cylinders ...
 

mortal

Gold Member
I'm glad to see Microsoft finally taking their lacking 1st party seriously. Although all this talk about how much billions of dollars they throwing around does fuck all for me.
All I care is that this translates to really amazing 1st party gaming experiences, and we won't see the results of these purchases until 3-5 years into the generation.
 

AgentP

Thinks mods influence posters politics. Promoted to QAnon Editor.
This has been MS's MO for decades.

Lack of innovation -> Acquisition -> Mismanagement -> Dissolve or sell
 

hemo memo

Gold Member
Okay this is getting ridiculously good. The more preesure to Sony the better so they can finally WAKE THE FUCK UP and get off their high horse. Microsoft isn’t playing around. This is not the Kinect and always online fuck up from last gen.
 

lukilladog

Member
330px-Take-Two_Interactive_Logo.svg.png
 

sainraja

Member
Do you guys really want Microsoft to own gaming? lol

I think Microsoft needed to have a solid first party base and now they do have it and let's not forget or ignore the fact, that the portfolio of games the studios have released in the past are available on all platforms so the quality of what they release going forward remains to be seen - definitely puts Microsoft in a better position to compete with Sony/Nintendo first party but they still need to prove that to us.

Anyway, some of you guys really want Microsoft to own it all; that I can't really understand.
 
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The meltdowns from Microsoft buying studios is certainly the most entertaining part of 2020. It's also funny watching the narrative bounce around.

"They will come to ps5 anyway!"
"Well actually the games suck and I don't care!😂"
"Bethesda was going downhill anyway!"
"Microsoft will ruin them!"
"Why aren't we all panicking right now, Microsoft will own everything!"
"They should have built the studios up from the ground up, just like Sony did with their insomniac acquisition!"

Wonder what the next stage of grief is. These games are definitely coming to Xbox and Pc. They weren't coming to Nintendo even without the Zenimax buyout. It's very clear who here is sweating right now.
 
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Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
The meltdowns from Microsoft buying studios is certainly the most entertaining part of 2020. It's also funny watching the narrative bounce around.

"They will come to ps5 anyway!"
"Well actually the games suck and I don't care!😂"
"Bethesda was going downhill anyway!"
"Microsoft will ruin them!"
"Why aren't we all panicking right now, Microsoft will own everything!"
"They should have built the studios up from the ground up, just like Sony did with their insomniac acquisition!"

Wonder what the next stage of grief is. These games are definitely coming to Xbox and Pc. They weren't coming to Nintendo even without the Zenimax buyout. It's very clear who here is sweating right now.
nobody cares actually
 

mckmas8808

Banned
Do you guys really want Microsoft to own gaming? lol

I think Microsoft needed to have a solid first party base and now they do have it and let's not forget or ignore the fact, that the portfolio of games the studios have released in the past are available on all platforms so the quality of what they release going forward remains to be seen - definitely puts Microsoft in a better position to compete with Sony/Nintendo first party but they still need to prove that to us.

Anyway, some of you guys really want Microsoft to own it all; that I can't really understand.

It's just fanboy being console warriors. Just 3 months ago, most of these same people were mad that Sony kept Spiderman on the Playstation version of The Avengers game and said it was anti-consumer. Now those same people are requesting MS to buy Sega, Take-Two, Ubisoft, and EA just so they can keep those games on Xbox and PC only. It's weird out here.
 
It's just fanboy being console warriors. Just 3 months ago, most of these same people were mad that Sony kept Spiderman on the Playstation version of The Avengers game and said it was anti-consumer. Now those same people are requesting MS to buy Sega, Take-Two, Ubisoft, and EA just so they can keep those games on Xbox and PC only. It's weird out here.
First of all you have a very rich post history spanning in many years to accuse others of being fanboys or console warriors . I mean really ? You seriously think that you, of all people, are impartial ?😂😂😂.

Secondly Sony secured the spider man character, a huge ip, for everything (including his own games) , not just the avengers game.Third, I was seeing people celebrating left and right with the rumors of Sony buying timed exclusives from FFXVI to starfield. The bigger the exclusive, the bigger the celebration. Fourth , when Sony bought insomniac , people were screaming for Sony to buy remedy while saying stuff like «this is how it’s done». Hell people were drooling at the rumors , a year ago, that Sony was looking at buying zenimax.

Well guess what, THIS is how it’s done.
 
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mckmas8808

Banned
First of all you have a very rich post history spanning in many years to accuse others of being fanboys or console warriors . I mean really ? You seriously think that you, of all people, are impartial ?😂😂😂.

Secondly Sony secured the spider man character, a huge ip, for everything (including his own games) , not just the avengers game.Third, I was seeing people celebrating left and right with the rumors of Sony buying timed exclusives from FFXVI to starfield. The bigger the exclusive, the bigger the celebration. Fourth , when Sony bought insomniac , people were screaming for Sony to buy remedy while saying stuff like «this is how it’s done». Hell people were drooling at the rumors , a year ago, that Sony was looking at buying zenimax.

Well guess what, THIS is how it’s done.

It's okay to favor one console over another. Or to favor one company's philosophy over the others......but man! Hoping for one company to literally buy multiple huge 3rd party publishers (not a dev team) for the sake of keeping their games exclusive is weak and sad.

Plus what I said in that post above doesn't absolve Playstation fanboys. It's all stupid and sad. A few games that are exclusive or timed exclusive is one thing. But to want MS to buy EA and Ubisoft is another and you I know you understand the difference.
 
It's okay to favor one console over another. Or to favor one company's philosophy over the others......but man! Hoping for one company to literally buy multiple huge 3rd party publishers (not a dev team) for the sake of keeping their games exclusive is weak and sad.

Plus what I said in that post above doesn't absolve Playstation fanboys. It's all stupid and sad. A few games that are exclusive or timed exclusive is one thing. But to want MS to buy EA and Ubisoft is another and you I know you understand the difference.
I already wrote that EA and Ubisoft buyouts make no sense for anyone. I wouldn’t mind MS buying a publisher like capcom or Sony buying squarenix . It is indifferent to me since I buy both MS and Sony consoles in every generation anyway. The philosophy behind locking games and buying developers is the exact same, you want to deprive your competition of things. It just happens that MS has more money than Sony. Sony has been very aggressive since the birth of the PlayStation 1, it is exactly how the PlayStation empire was built, upon 3rd party exclusives.

Playstation-only owners have always felt entitled , for decades, but now that MS is taking gaming extremely seriously they are panicking.
 

HarryKS

Member
Really interesting to see neophytes tackling business deals. Or lacking reading comprehension in general.

Nadella is saying nothing that hasn't always been the case. They've always been on the lookout for acquisitions.

Was different at the beginning of his reign though. He didn't see the value in the branch at the time, but they were able to make it fit within his vision of Microsoft's slimmed-down philosophy of service based revenue.
 
I already wrote that EA and Ubisoft buyouts make no sense for anyone. I wouldn’t mind MS buying a publisher like capcom or Sony buying squarenix . It is indifferent to me since I buy both MS and Sony consoles in every generation anyway. The philosophy behind locking games and buying developers is the exact same, you want to deprive your competition of things. It just happens that MS has more money than Sony. Sony has been very aggressive since the birth of the PlayStation 1, it is exactly how the PlayStation empire was built, upon 3rd party exclusives.

Playstation-only owners have always felt entitled , for decades, but now that MS is taking gaming extremely seriously they are panicking.

They should panic. Xbox never had full support from MS with the xbox division. They were never really taken super seriously. Now they are. They were never allowed to spend Bethesda money before either.

Youre about to see a very different MS this generation forward. So if theyre worried, they should be.
 
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mckmas8808

Banned
They should panic. Xbox never had full support from MS with the xbox division. They were never really taken super seriously. Now they are. They were never allowed to spend Bethesda money before either.

Youre about to see a very different MS this generation forward. So if theyre worried, they should be.

If you are right, then one should ask why it took MS 20 years to get serious about a multi-billion entertainment industry then.
 

Roronoa Zoro

Gold Member
Timed exclusives is a cheap way to simply deprive some people of content. Buying an entire company actually means that you are also assuming the responsibility of a huge investment and trying to keep the company you bought healthy.

I wouldn’t mind Sony buying squarenix for example.
Or they're just getting popular IP and turning them into gamepass filler
 

12Dannu123

Member
it's obvious on where the industry is going. Consolidation to boost their subscription services. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft will aggressively gobble up studios and publishers. By the end of the gen we will see less third-party support on consoles and relying entirely on first party.

Let's pray Sony is prepared to compete against Big Tech companies
 

quickwhips

Member
After the team up with Sony, Kojima said:



Which is all well and good until Sony stop funding his games or start to expect a degree of editorial control.

I've never heard he's got any problem with Microsoft before. I'm sure that'd soon disappear if they agreed to fund his circumcision serial killer game sight unseen.

Nah the real reason Kojima will stay independent is because he was tied to Konami for forever and look how that turned out. I'm certain 50 publishers want to fund his games just to say they did.
This is no different than Todd relationship with xbox.
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
If you are right, then one should ask why it took MS 20 years to get serious about a multi-billion entertainment industry then.
Because it’s a hugely volatile and cut throat industry with not much room for more than 1-2 players. They make *far* more money *far* easier in other places. Sony and PlayStation money is chump change to MS, that’s why they haven’t really cared in the past. Now they care because they’re trying to go bigger than just selling games on a plastic box, they’re after the trillion dollar market of turning everyone into Xbox customers, not just maybe sell 100 mil plastic boxes.


Let's pray Sony is prepared to compete against Big Tech companies
Sony can’t compete financially, that’s for sure. Google, Apple, Amazon and Microsoft could all buy Sony as a whole with ease. Sony couldn’t have even bought Zenimax.

Sony just need to hope that Apple and google don’t open their cheque books the way MS just did or there might not be a PS6.
 
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Concern

Member
No surprise but the real question would be "who?". Sega, Techland, Asobo, bloober? Although I think 23 studios is more than enough.


I'd rather they invest in buying studios than buying some dumb "timed exclusivity".
 
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