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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”

PhaseJump

Banned
Microsoft should buy Sega and Falcom, then when outraged weeaboos start setting themselves on fire they can send out a new crew of Burning Rangers to douse the flames, and offer them low effort Series S/X Xanadu Next Bundles.
 

driqe

Member
Microsoft should buy Sega and Falcom, then when outraged weeaboos start setting themselves on fire they can send out a new crew of Burning Rangers to douse the flames, and offer them low effort Series S/X Xanadu Next Bundles.
If persona gets the yakuza treatment that would surely cause a massive meltdown among the persona fanboys
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
I guess Microsoft can walk and chew gum, but I really feel like they should chill on the acquisitions so much and not spread themselves too thin. 23 studios is already pretty ridiculous. I kinda understand why, with Amazon and Google in the game now...but does this really mean they gotta go after everybody?

It was fine at first, but I feel like there are going to be no quality independent studios anymore once all is said and done.
 
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Genx3

Member
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.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
I feel like they are doing too much. I don't want that to dilute the quality of their first offers from their 1st party. As I understand it, they are supposedly letting their studios work autonomously, but I feel that it takes more than an infusion of money and resources to really create the kinds of games that would be top tier. If that's not their goal, then this just seems like a waste. They need to take a moment, get some games out and reflect on what works and what doesn't work...then maybe acquire more studios based on that data.

It feels right now like they just wanna throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.
 
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Bryank75

Banned
It's gonna get wild.
Not only do you have both Sony and MS in buying mode, you also have the big publishers in T2, Activision, EA and Ubisoft looking to buy up more studios, and then on top of that no doubt Google, Amazon, Apple and even Facebook are going to buy into the industry in a big way.
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.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
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.
Yea but Sony's studios are top tier studios. I kinda prefer Sony's approach to this, because they bought a few studios back in the day and nurtured them and now they are arguably the best in the world. In my post before this one I explain my concern with Microsoft going crazy with the purchases, but I can understand why you may feel Sony is falling behind as well. I'd like Sony to DEVELOP more studios, not necessarily buy them. That's just me though.

There are some low hanging fruit like BluePoint and a couple other 2nd party studios which I wouldn't mind if they picked up, but when you buy a huge studio or a group of studios typically the talent comes "as is" and then you build on that. The bigger they are, the harder it is to transition them. It's why I've never been a fan of the idea of Microsoft buying WB or EA for example. It's just too much to handle all at once I think if you're trying to refine the gamers' experience. What we'll have instead is seemingly "okay" titles like we've been seeing lately.

I want that AAAA studio or studios. I wanna see a game that I'm willingto drop $100 for. Maybe it's cuz I'm older and it takes more to impress me nowadays,
 
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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.
I agree that allowing RAD to be bought out by FB was stupid, but I think you will see them buy more studios like Bluepoint, House and even Konami IPs.
They don't have the cash to buy out something like Zenimax, but they can buy studios one by one.
I really don't understand putting 250 million into Epic either. They could have bought another studio like Insomniac and it would have been alot more valuable for PlayStation owners.
 

BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
Konami please sell your video game properties to Sony (I know, it will never happen).

I have a feeling it's Amazon and Google looking to spend the most. Microsoft and Sony both already seem to own everything they need for the foreseeable future.
 
Konami please sell your video game properties to Sony (I know, it will never happen).

I have a feeling it's Amazon and Google looking to spend the most. Microsoft and Sony both already seem to own everything they need for the foreseeable future.
I guess it all depends on how many exclusive games MS and Sony think they will require each year for people to keep paying for the sub service.
For instance, MS have around 24 studios.
Say each one puts a new game out every 4 years, then that's 6 new games every year.
So if each new game is $60 each, worth a total of $360 of games a year, would this along with the 200+ games in the library be enough to keep you paying for GP each month?
 

BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
I guess it all depends on how many exclusive games MS and Sony think they will require each year for people to keep paying for the sub service.
For instance, MS have around 24 studios.
Say each one puts a new game out every 4 years, then that's 6 new games every year.
So if each new game is $60 each, worth a total of $360 of games a year, would this along with the 200+ games in the library be enough to keep you paying for GP each month?

Yea, that would be awesome - but they don't only have to rely on exclusives to fill their subscription libraries (though they're obviously a large draw).
 
This is what a Xbox with the full support of it trillion dollar parent Company Microsoft backing looks like they are not messing around anymore they will buy up eveything lol
 
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.
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.
 
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D

Deleted member 471617

Unconfirmed Member
Nice. Hoping Microsoft acquires Asobo, Techland and WB Interactive. If they can somehow get Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal away from Square Enix, even better. Wouldn't mind The Astronauts either. Let's go, let's go!!!

Hoping Sony acquires Bluepoint Games and Housemarque.

No interest in Nintendo so I don't care who they acquire since I know that it won't affect me.
 

Bryank75

Banned
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.
Hehe, you might have missed my criticisms of TLOU2 then... even though I liked the new character 'Lev', I had many big criticisms of the writing, pacing and other aspects.

But, yes... I have many criticisms of Sony and PlayStation but they are constructive ones.
 

NonPhixion

Member
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.
I didn't think that Kadokawa was selling FromSoftware? That'd be a surprise.
 

Concern

Member
"They peaked with bloodborne, everything else is shit, MS bought a shell"

I think 23 studios is more than enough. But I'd pay just for those gaf gold worthy hot takes lol.

"Bluepoint made Demon Souls better than From ever could" 🤣.
 
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ksdixon

Member
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.
This is how i see it as well. It's really confusing. 'Why' act like this?

From what we heard they're buying exclusive content for multiplat games, whilst MS is out here spending 7B for a publishing house with several studios.

One is spending money and putting in no effort to earn their competativeness; the other is using all it's effort trying to find it's ass with both hands in the dark.
 

Maxwell Jacob Friedman

leads to fear. Fear leads to xbox.
I wouldn't be surprised if Sony acquires Bluepoint.

Even Microsoft tbh seeing as they have been revisiting old IPs recently.

If The Medium and Returnal does well I could see MS getting Bloober and Sony getting Housemarque.
And if returnal is a hit wouldnt be surprised as well with housemarque
 

THEAP99

Banned
he-cant-keep-getting-away-with-it.gif


Meanwhile Sony just keep sitting around hoping Jim Ryan's teeth get fixed, I am sick of this shit.

As a playstation gamer, I feel incredibly left-out that sony is letting all other companies have fun with acquisitions. I think things are looking bleak long-term unless they act FAST and NOW.

It would only be fitting that Microsoft buy Bluepoint for no absolute reason.. That would be a really Sony-move to let that go..
 
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Astorian

Member
For the people talking about a From acquisition, Sony is much closer than anyone else to that I’d say considering From is owned by a company that has ties to anime and manga which Sony almost bought them all the last few years.

This is how i see it as well. It's really confusing. 'Why' act like this?

From what we heard they're buying exclusive content for multiplat games, whilst MS is out here spending 7B for a publishing house with several studios.

One is spending money and putting in no effort to earn their competativeness; the other is using all it's effort trying to find it's ass with both hands in the dark.
Because they have different strategies, Sony’s (and Nintendo’s) purchases mostly come from long partnerships with the studio, this way they can be certain of the quality of the studio and if it fits with the rest, and not to mention they already have one of the best studios in the world so just throwing money at others doesn’t make sense.
 
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Fredrik

Member
I guess Microsoft can walk and chew gum, but I really feel like they should chill on the acquisitions so much and not spread themselves too thin. 23 studios is already pretty ridiculous. I kinda understand why, with Amazon and Google in the game now...but does this really mean they gotta go after everybody?

It was fine at first, but I feel like there are going to be no quality independent studios anymore once all is said and done.
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.
 
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ksdixon

Member
Because they have different strategies, Sony’s (and Nintendo’s) purchases mostly come from long partnerships with the studio, this way they can be certain of the quality of the studio and if it fits with the rest, and not to mention they already have one of the best studios in the world so just throwing money at others doesn’t make sense.
Sony's strategy straight sucks!

Look at SuperMassive, Until Dawn was the dog's bollocks, and they made a few PSVR titles. Man Of Medan was poor, and Little Hope still shows budget constraints now that Sony's not backing them. They've just been kind of set adrift... And there's plenty more examples like this. Ueda, Quantic Dream etc.

Today it was Bethesda that MS bought, studio(s) who's games were on the decline due to glitches, old engines, lack of money etc. etc. What if next time it's someone far more substantial, or someone that people would expect to be Sony-associated (e.g. FaceBook buying RAD)

The flaw in Sony's strategy boils down to case studies on Arkane's DeathLoop, and also Tango's Ghostwire Tokyo. Sony had ''long partnerships'' and ''exclusive deals'' planned with these, and then MS just comes along and gobbles-up Zenimax. So now, Starfield that Sony were negociating exclusivity for, likely isn't coming at all, let alone exclusively.
 

Astorian

Member
Sony's strategy straight sucks!
That’s certainly not what the real world shows.

Look at SuperMassive, Until Dawn was the dog's bollocks, and they made a few PSVR titles. Man Of Medan was poor, and Little Hope still shows budget constraints now that Sony's not backing them. They've just been kind of set adrift... And there's plenty more examples like this. Ueda, Quantic Dream etc.
I’m not sure what you’re saying exactly? Most of their titles have been fine to mediocre so it clearly didn’t work, not to mention David Cage’s studio had that horrible working condition news surface so there was no way they’d have got acquired.

The flaw in Sony's strategy boils down to case studies on Arkane's DeathLoop, and also Tango's Ghostwire Tokyo. Sony had ''long partnerships'' and ''exclusive deals'' planned with these, and then MS just comes along and gobbles-up Zenimax. So now, Starfield that Sony were negociating exclusivity for, likely isn't coming at all, let alone exclusively.

Having a deal to moneyhat a game isn’t what “long partnership” mean buddy.

Also, if you want a reply next time then don’t laugh at people that are just trying to discuss something with you.
 
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ksdixon

Member
That’s certainly not what the real world shows.


I’m not sure what you’re saying exactly? Most of their titles have been fine to mediocre so it clearly didn’t work, not to mention David Cage’s studio had that horrible working condition news surface so there was no way they’d have got acquired.
Sony's strategy does suck! If anything, they're coasting on the backs of the PS4 team. Shu, Layden, Boyes, House etc. Since Ryan took over, they've hardly attended or hosted any shows like E3, they've made 'x' amount of hotly anticipated games cross-generation games etc. The new PStore and PS5 dashboard layout/customisability have basically taken 1 step forward and 3 backwards.

RAD, SuperMassive, Quantic Dream... MLB The Show being forced to go multi-platform by MLB... my point was that for certain people these are all 'PS-associated' story-driven adventure games. You lose too much of what you're known-for, or you lose the ability to be the only place they're available at, and eventually you (PS) lose your identity. Kind of like the PS AllStars Battle Royal roster missing key PS iconic figures. People can just pick these games-up on PC on Steam sale, or on MS GamePass on PC or XB, there's less of a reason to own a PS machine. This is all besides the other point where story driven games can be kind of be watched-on youtube, so you can't really afford to be setting the few boats you do have in your boathouse adrift.
 

Astorian

Member
Sony's strategy does suck! If anything, they're coasting on the backs of the PS4 team. Shu, Layden, Boyes, House etc. Since Ryan took over, they've hardly attended or hosted any shows like E3, they've made 'x' amount of hotly anticipated games cross-generation games etc. The new PStore and PS5 dashboard layout/customisability have basically taken 1 step forward and 3 backwards.
Again, there is nothing pointing at this, the PlayStation brand and their first party output are at their most successful point, if those “mistakes” actually held much weight then things would have been different.

RAD, SuperMassive, Quantic Dream... MLB The Show being forced to go multi-platform by MLB... my point was that for certain people these are all 'PS-associated' story-driven adventure games. You lose too much of what you're known-for, or you lose the ability to be the only place they're available at, and eventually you (PS) lose your identity. Kind of like the PS AllStars Battle Royal roster missing key PS iconic figures. People can just pick these games-up on PC on Steam sale, or on MS GamePass on PC or XB, there's less of a reason to own a PS machine.
I don’t have much to add on this, do I think it’s a mistake to release your games on other platforms? Sure, how will that affect Sony? Remains to be seen.
This is all besides the other point where story driven games can be kind of be watched-on youtube, so you can't really afford to be setting the few boats you do have in your boathouse adrift.
Am I seeing single players are dead take? EA would be proud of you, no but seriously, how can you even have this take with the massive success Sony have had with their single player game? Not to mention not long ago they shared some information showing people are actually spending more time playing offline games.
 

ksdixon

Member
Am I seeing single players are dead take? EA would be proud of you, no but seriously, how can you even have this take with the massive success Sony have had with their single player game? Not to mention not long ago they shared some information showing people are actually spending more time playing offline games.

I would imagine people are spending more time playing games/offline games, I mean it's covid isn't it?

Not sure what success with single player games you mean. TLOU2 game awards, presented by TLOU2 and won by TLOU2... and then the next week the articles started to appear as they ate their own ("games developed under crunch shouldn't be goty")? Or Spider-Miles, which for a variety of reasons hasn't done gangbusters that Spider-Man did?

I'm not saying single player games are bad, or dead, I'm just saying it is downright infuriating to see Sony set some developers adrift, to go multiconsole or PC, or worse, be bought by someone who won't share games with Sony. See: FB buying RAD.... and there goes any hope for a The Order sequel, you know what I mean? And just in a wider general sense, it's frustrating to see Sony miss on easy wins. Why's the PS5 dashboard taken several steps back from PS4? Where's TLOU2 MP or standalone Factions game?
 

Astorian

Member
I would imagine people are spending more time playing games/offline games, I mean it's covid isn't it?

Not sure what success with single player games you mean. TLOU2 game awards, presented by TLOU2 and won by TLOU2... and then the next week the articles started to appear as they ate their own ("games developed under crunch shouldn't be goty")? Or Spider-Miles, which for a variety of reasons hasn't done gangbusters that Spider-Man did?
Ugh yeah, I’m not gonna bother with this.

I'm not saying single player games are bad, or dead, I'm just saying it is downright infuriating to see Sony set some developers adrift, to go multiconsole or PC, or worse, be bought by someone who won't share games with Sony. See: FB buying RAD.... and there goes any hope for a The Order sequel, you know what I mean?
Sony had no control on those studios, if they were let go then most likely they weren’t fit for a purchase, also who actually cared about The Order? Let’s not act it was anything but a badly received game, RAD was given AAA budget and gave us that turd.

And just in a wider general sense, it's frustrating to see Sony miss on easy wins. Why's the PS5 dashboard taken several steps back from PS4?
That’s fair but also not really something that’s gonna affect them in anyway.
Where's TLOU2 MP or standalone Factions game?
Last we heard it’s in the works, what is there else to say? It’ll be shown when ready.
 

Solarstrike

Member
Nintendo should buy Capcom and Konami. They've had a long history together and it only makes sense. Plus, more characters for Smash.
 

cireza

Banned
Somebody explain to Microsoft they can partner with third parties for exclusive games (new ones, not existing multiplatform IPs because fuck this) without buying the studio.
 
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THEAP99

Banned
Somebody explain to Microsoft they can partner with third parties for exclusive games (new ones, not existing multiplatform IPs because fuck this) without buying the studio.
That's an unstable practice. It's gotten Sony not far recently.
 

Greeno

Member
Warner brothers

They have the all the lego games, batman arkham, Harry potter, mortal kombat, and middle earth games.

Just the lego games alone would give you a ton games.
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.
 
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