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A huge purchase is imminent within 1 month from now

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Oh boy, this is the dude, who moderated few ID@Xbox streams. So maybe something is really happening, but then again it could be something else entirely, because it reads "I HAVE", not "MS have"...
eh i dont know, this sort of announcment coming from him is kinda weird.
 

TBiddy

Member
The way MS has turned their fanbase into a bunch of beggars is insane to me. Every year now you’re going to have the green army flooding the internet with acquisition wishlists. Y’all embarrassing as fuck.

Arnold Schwarzenegger I Give Up GIF by Jerology
 
As a Playstation fan (i also own a series x and have game pass) I am going to be very depressed if MS aquires take two. I also fantasize about Sony buying Konami, so we can get Metal Gear, Silent Hill and Castlevania games made on the scale of God Of War, Last of us, and Bloodborne.
 
EA has a market cap of $40 billion, not happening.

Microsoft repatriated $200b from overseas and spent *maybe* half that at most.

EA is certainly within the realm of possibility. And EA would be one of a few companies that would possibly invoke a strong anti-trust reaction if purchased.
 

reksveks

Member
Microsoft repatriated $200b from overseas and spent *maybe* half that at most.

EA is certainly within the realm of possibility. And EA would be one of a few companies that would possibly invoke a strong anti-trust reaction if purchased.
Good time to get that money back and spend it if you think that there might be a meaningful move on global tax rates (personally a still pessimistic)
 

SaucyJack

Member
Microsoft repatriated $200b from overseas and spent *maybe* half that at most.

EA is certainly within the realm of possibility. And EA would be one of a few companies that would possibly invoke a strong anti-trust reaction if purchased.

I'm saying won't not can’t. I've said multiple times that MS can afford to buy almost anyone they wanted, but M&A is not as simple as that. M&A has to be in service of corporate objectives, meet internal rate of return objectives, etc, etc.

Microsoft's record acquisition is half what EA would cost. They’re not going to smash their record for the Gaming division.

Now, on the other hand, if you were to tell me that they’re going to spend $50 billion on Cloudflare or someone like that then I’d totally buy that.
 

Andodalf

Banned
I'm saying won't not can’t. I've said multiple times that MS can afford to buy almost anyone they wanted, but M&A is not as simple as that. M&A has to be in service of corporate objectives, meet internal rate of return objectives, etc, etc.

Microsoft's record acquisition is half what EA would cost. They’re not going to smash their record for the Gaming division.

Now, on the other hand, if you were to tell me that they’re going to spend $50 billion on Cloudflare or someone like that then I’d totally buy that.

This reminds me of how people said that Ms would never let Xbox spend a crazy sum of money like 4 Billion! It’s just way more money than they ever spent before, and MS “hated” Xbox! And if it cost more than 4 Billion? Well MS would shut them down sooner than pay!


And we all know what happened next, and those people, are salty a year later.
 

chonga

Member
I'd believe it when I see it. I swear, sometimes it looks like these rumors pop up by the usual suspects on Twitter with cryptic and pretentious tweets whenever MS/Xbox needs some positive momentum.
  • Xbox is buying Sega
  • Xbox is buying Crytek
  • Xbox is buying Take Two
  • Xbox is buying Warner Bros
  • Xbox is buying Square Enix
  • Xbox is buying Discord
  • Xbox has bought three studios: Netherealm, Avalanche, Crytek. "23 is now 26



^ None of these acquisition rumors ever materialized into anything.

Can it happen? Absolutely, sure, anything can happen. MS has to money to do it.

Will it happen? Another ~$10 billion studio/publisher purchase? No, I don't think so.

It is way too obvious at this point.

It is like a Russian bot campaign. Every time Sony comes out with some news all the fake rumours begin to surface about what Xbox is going to do.
 

Hosam6xavi

Banned
For me it's Valve or EA

With valve Microsoft will own the PC Market

with EA and fifa alone i can see why their is talk about monopoly

Fifa games are system sellers everywhere around the world it's really really that big
 

xHunter

Member
For me it's Valve or EA

With valve Microsoft will own the PC Market

with EA and fifa alone i can see why their is talk about monopoly

Fifa games are system sellers everywhere around the world it's really really that big
Pretty sure that FIFA does not want the game to be exclusive to one platform. Atleast that was the case a few years ago.
 

reksveks

Member
Buying EA would most likely result in a new-born sports series on PS5, which would ultimately make EA less lazy and result in better sports games overall
Too much of EA's value for me is dependent on the fifa license so its just too big a risk imo.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Yeah, I do agree. But I can also remember plenty Sony is buying Take 2, Warner B, Capcom, Konami, Squeenix rumours too.

However, for me there’s a logic that dictates likely M&A activity and that says that Sony will be more active than MS over the short to medium term.

Microsoft has gone from 8 to 23 studios in three years. There are definite management challenges in scaling up like that and MS do not have the most productive set of studios today. Their short term challenge is to make that set of studios work, manage them effectively, get them producing regular content for Gamepass. Adding more and more studios is going to amplify that problem so carrying on at the same pace would be illogical.
True. And I don't believe Xbox has the revenue to sustain this many studios and games in development.

PlayStation, as of their latest FY reports, was half the size of Xbox, and had operating expenditures of $22 billion. 12 studios vs. 23 studios.

Xbox has a yearly revenue of $13 billion (their highest ever), but that's no way enough. If PlayStation's operating expenditure is $22 billion, Xbox's would be $35 to $40 billion (especially with xCloud support, powered by XSX). Until Xbox increases their revenue to at least $30 billion, they'd be leaking over $10-$20 billion every year. I do not see how they'll be able to make another big acquisition and afford another 3,000+ employees.
 
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xHunter

Member
Legacy edition there for a reason see the switch
Unless they make their own football ip, that wouldnt be the decision of Microsoft in that case, since FIFA dictates that. Otherwise you would have gotten the ps4 version of MLB on the series consoles.
 

reksveks

Member
True. And I don't believe Xbox has the revenue to sustain this many studios and games in development.

PlayStation, as of their latest FY reports, was half the size of Xbox, and had operating expenditures of $22 billion. 12 studios vs. 23 studios.

Xbox has a yearly revenue of $13 billion (their highest ever), but that's no way enough. If PlayStation's operating expenditure is $22 billion, Xbox's would be $35 to $40 billion (especially with xCloud support, powered by XSX). Until Xbox increases their revenue to at least $30 billion, they'd be leaking over $10 billion every year. I do not see how they'll be able to make another big acquisition and afford another 3,000+ employees.

Some of the xbox studios are generally quite small. Ninja Theory is now 131 according to linkedin, Firesprite is 250+ according to the news but need to check. I might do a quick sheet on this. Damn Mojang is big.

The whole more personal computing division for Microsoft last year
Revenue : 54,093
Operating income : 19,439

To say that xbox operating expenses are 35-40 billion doesn't line up imo. Also the revenue was 15.4 I think.
 
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SaucyJack

Member
This reminds me of how people said that Ms would never let Xbox spend a crazy sum of money like 4 Billion! It’s just way more money than they ever spent before, and MS “hated” Xbox! And if it cost more than 4 Billion? Well MS would shut them down sooner than pay!


And we all know what happened next, and those people, are salty a year later.

Sure, that’s totally the same. 🙄
 

Midn1ght

Member
What if.... Valve's buying Valve?

third eye no GIF

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at 90% Discount!

Tim And Eric Reaction GIF
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Some of the xbox studios are generally quite small. Ninja Theory is now 131 according to linkedin, Firesprite is 250+ according to the news but need to check. I might do a quick sheet on this.

The whole more personal computing division for Microsoft last year
Revenue : 54,093
Operating income : 19,439

To say that xbox operating expenses are 35-40 billion doesn't line up imo. Also the revenue was 15.4 I think.
Firesprite is 250+, yes. But you are comparing Ninja Theory with one of the biggest (albeit recent) PlayStation Studios. It is now the 5th biggest PlayStation Studios, I think. Sony also has a bunch of studios that are very small, e.g., Pixelopus (25+), London Studios (56), Media Molecule (57), HouseMarque (78).

Zenimax alone has 2,300+ employees. PlayStation Studios has a total of 2,700+ employees.

I think this cost comparison translates perfectly, as both divisions are direct competitors, working in an extremely similar fashion and often have studios in same locations.

I do not see how Xbox's operating expenditures could be less than at least $30 billion. That's a bare minimum. Even in that case, they'd be losing $15 billion every year.
 

SaucyJack

Member
True. And I don't believe Xbox has the revenue to sustain this many studios and games in development.

PlayStation, as of their latest FY reports, was half the size of Xbox, and had operating expenditures of $22 billion. 12 studios vs. 23 studios.

Xbox has a yearly revenue of $13 billion (their highest ever), but that's no way enough. If PlayStation's operating expenditure is $22 billion, Xbox's would be $35 to $40 billion (especially with xCloud support, powered by XSX). Until Xbox increases their revenue to at least $30 billion, they'd be leaking over $10-$20 billion every year. I do not see how they'll be able to make another big acquisition and afford another 3,000+ employees.

You’re right.

Strategically MS had a massive hole, hence the expansion of 1st party. A necessary move if they were genuinely committed to gaming. Zenimax was, I believe, more opportunistic (the perfect storm mentioned in an earlier post) and Spencer has done really well to persuade the board to go big here. IMO he really has to prove now that these investments, combined with the Gamepass, Xcloud strategy is going to deliver the results that the Corporation expects. I would be genuinely shocked if he’s allowed to go big again before delivering results.

I'm not saying they can’t acquire more, I'm sure if the right opportunity presents itself (a Moon Studios or such like) then they’ll go for it, but their immediate focus now has to be consolidation of operations. The majority of their studios are not particularly prolific and the challenge of managing 23 instead of 8 is a big one. They’ve had a three year MASSIVE growth phase, following that by a few years of focussing on operations is just the clear and logical next step.

Sony, on the other hand, are more obviously in a growth phase. They’ve told investors that they’re planning to spend $18 billion over the next 3 year cycle and gaming is the clear focus here. We have seen three modest acquisitions this year and I think we’re going to see a lot more over the next 3 years.

For the record I'm not particularly expecting Sony to acquire a publisher either, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them do a bunch of modest deals.

Weirdly Mojang doesn’t seem that big a deal now. 🤣
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
The way MS has turned their fanbase into a bunch of beggars is insane to me. Every year now you’re going to have the green army flooding the internet with acquisition wishlists. Y’all embarrassing as fuck.
Agreed.

These are the same group of people who oppose Sony strategy for "exclusivity" and now they are begging for massive acquisition everyday and think they are the "holy" one, "for the gamers".
 

NickFire

Member
I would absolutely love it if MS bought EA and made Madden exclusive. They'd lose so much revenue from the reduced player base that the NFL would open the books and give another dev / pub the licensing rights again. Then we'd finally get some real advancements (just a break from EA's loot box bull crap would be cool) instead of garbage updates like selectable celebrations even though the meta game is still "who can cheese the glitch plays the best".

I suppose that rant was more about how crappy EA handles Madden than anything else.
 

SaucyJack

Member
Firesprite is 250+, yes. But you are comparing Ninja Theory with one of the biggest (albeit recent) PlayStation Studios. It is now the 5th biggest PlayStation Studios, I think. Sony also has a bunch of studios that are very small, e.g., Pixelopus (25+), London Studios (56), Media Molecule (57), HouseMarque (78).

Zenimax alone has 2,300+ employees. PlayStation Studios has a total of 2,700+ employees.

I think this cost comparison translates perfectly, as both divisions are direct competitors, working in an extremely similar fashion and often have studios in same locations.

I do not see how Xbox's operating expenditures could be less than at least $30 billion. That's a bare minimum. Even in that case, they'd be losing $15 billion every year.

This is why I was talking about consolidation of operations. They need to streamline that cost base AND make the studio system more productive. Look at 343 Industries with 750 employees toiling to get out their first game since 2015, needing to rope in every spare resource across Xbox Studios for the last year; compare that with 400 employee Insomniac. PlayStation Studios certainly make mistakes and has had failed projects, but they are generally a slick operation pushing out a constant stream of new titles. Xbox Studios needs to get to a similar place.
 

Bryank75

Banned
You’re right.

Strategically MS had a massive hole, hence the expansion of 1st party. A necessary move if they were genuinely committed to gaming. Zenimax was, I believe, more opportunistic (the perfect storm mentioned in an earlier post) and Spencer has done really well to persuade the board to go big here. IMO he really has to prove now that these investments, combined with the Gamepass, Xcloud strategy is going to deliver the results that the Corporation expects. I would be genuinely shocked if he’s allowed to go big again before delivering results.

I'm not saying they can’t acquire more, I'm sure if the right opportunity presents itself (a Moon Studios or such like) then they’ll go for it, but their immediate focus now has to be consolidation of operations. The majority of their studios are not particularly prolific and the challenge of managing 23 instead of 8 is a big one. They’ve had a three year MASSIVE growth phase, following that by a few years of focussing on operations is just the clear and logical next step.

Sony, on the other hand, are more obviously in a growth phase. They’ve told investors that they’re planning to spend $18 billion over the next 3 year cycle and gaming is the clear focus here. We have seen three modest acquisitions this year and I think we’re going to see a lot more over the next 3 years.

For the record I'm not particularly expecting Sony to acquire a publisher either, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them do a bunch of modest deals.

Weirdly Mojang doesn’t seem that big a deal now. 🤣

If Sony had gotten Zenimax, it was basically game over for Xbox.

I think that is probably how he explained it to the board etc.
 

reksveks

Member
I do not see how Xbox's operating expenditures could be less than at least $30 billion. That's a bare minimum. Even in that case, they'd be losing $15 billion every year.

So you believe that the rest of the personal computer division roughly costs less than 5 billion and generates around 44 billion in revenue. Guess it could do.

The three months ended June 30 2021 costed Microsoft 9.2bn up from 8.8bn for the same quarter the last year.

Anyone know if Microsoft has studios like VASG? I have a shitty estimate using LinkedIn with some studios missing for both platforms holders.
 
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lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
If Sony had gotten Zenimax, it was basically game over for Xbox.

I think that is probably how he explained it to the board etc.
yea Sony had the player base, good selection of well known IPs, and world domination on console market currently. even without gamepass equilavent service they will survive.

The only problem is that Sony need more studios, aka major acquisitions ,at least 1 or 2.

Money is the problem here for Sony, unless they come out with another major surprise
 
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SaucyJack

Member
I really want to quote all the idiots that said all the games are still coming to Playstation, because you know, MINECRAFT 😂 You played yourself. That shit is hilarious.

For the record, I am very sceptical that MS can get the return on investment on their $8.1 billion acquisition by having all of their biggest titles exclusive. I'm not saying they won’t be exclusive, beyond contractual commitments it seems obvious that they will be, but I am saying that ceteris paribus the numbers don’t add up.

What could they do to make it work? Well significant cost costing will be a start, maybe the next fallout being more Fallout 76 than Fallout 4, micro transactions, loot boxes, etc.

Time will tell.
 

yurinka

Member
Oh boy, this is the dude, who moderated few ID@Xbox streams. So maybe something is really happening, but then again it could be something else entirely, because it reads "I HAVE", not "MS have"...
Maybe his announcement is that MS hired him for something beyond being the host of a specific isolated event.

yea Sony had the player base, good selection of well known IPs, and world domination on console market currently. even without gamepass equilavent service they will survive.

The only problem is that Sony need more studios, aka major acquisitions ,at least 1 or 2.

Money is the problem here for Sony, unless they come out with another major surprise
PS4 sold over 1600 millions (and growing) of games, if Zenimax would have sold 50M games on PS4 (which isn't the case at all), Zenmax sales would be a 3% of the PS4 game sales.

After the Zenimax continued releasing updates and dlc for PS, and even the Quake 2021 game, but even if in the future they go full console exclusive for all their future games, Sony won't give a shit because Zenimax game sales only represented maybe ~2% of their (growing) game sales. And part of these Zenimax sales were due to 1st party marketing that now they'll use with someone else, so they won't lose part of these sales and since their game sales grow, they will compensate what they miss without Zenimax.

Money is not a problem for Sony, the opposite: their game division is generating more revenue than any other platform holder ever did in gaming history and have 44 billions in cash. They have the money but don't have any reason to buy a huge publisher, they already dominate the hardware and sofware console sales to a point that they keep breaking several console platform holder gaming history records every year with PS4 and P5.

They simply acquire from time to time some partner who has been working for them in successful exclusives since many years (or even decade) ago as a consolidation of their relationship to control them better, to give them more stability and resources, to secure them from being acquired by other people (so securing they will continue working for them) and specially to make their relationship with them more profitable.
 
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MScarpa

Member
For the record, I am very sceptical that MS can get the return on investment on their $8.1 billion acquisition by having all of their biggest titles exclusive. I'm not saying they won’t be exclusive, beyond contractual commitments it seems obvious that they will be, but I am saying that ceteris paribus the numbers don’t add up.

What could they do to make it work? Well significant cost costing will be a start, maybe the next fallout being more Fallout 76 than Fallout 4, micro transactions, loot boxes, etc.

Time will tell.
So you're worried about their ROI? How many shares do you own? 😂
All these are going to be exclusive. Shit even Deathloop and Ghostwire are timed. I just think it's funny reading all the " no way TES6 and Starfield and Fallout are exclusive"
 
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