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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”

Banjo64

cumsessed
They definitely have a worse track record post buyout, but I strongly believe Viva Piñata is better than anything they ever made with Nintendo.
I like Kameo and Nuts and Bolts too :messenger_confused:

Xbox 360 Gamer GIF by Rare Ltd
 
The beginning of the first economic bubble in gaming. In 5 years expect massive studio closures on both sides if this is the case.
This man speaks the truth.
I dont think so, gaming is healthy industry.
Really?

What % of profit in the industry is driven by game/hardware sales?
What % of profit in the industry is driven by MTX and Lootbox sales?

The industry is not healthy. It is kept afloat by chasing a fickle crowd who only play games because everyone else does.
 

Elios83

Member
So with MS, Google, Amazon, Sony, EA all in the acquisition race we're heading towards a nightmare scenario where after this gen people will be likely forced to subscribe to multiple services (like Netflix, Disney+, HBO etc) if they want to play with the same diversity they have enjoyed for decades on a single console.
This is not good at all.
 
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Forsythia

Member
I really don't like Amazon and Google entering this business. I do not want to stream games and if they buy big publishers/developers it is more than likely those games can only be streamed. And even if they release some sort of console, 3 is enough already.
 

Chukhopops

Member
So with MS, Google, Amazon, Sony, EA all in the acquisition race we're heading towards a nightmare scenario where after this gen people will be likely forced to subscribe to multiple services (like Netflix, Disney+, HBO etc) if they want to play with the same diversity they have enjoyed for decades on a single console.
This is not good at all.
You will always be able to buy games directly, but it’s possible some games will be exclusive to cloud consoles. Still better than now when you may have to buy a Switch or PS5 just for exclusives you might want.
 

Elios83

Member
You will always be able to buy games directly, but it’s possible some games will be exclusive to cloud consoles. Still better than now when you may have to buy a Switch or PS5 just for exclusives you might want.

Emmm how's that supposed to be better exactly?
You' ll have to continue to buy Nintendo and Sony products for their exclusives.
You'll just have to add to the mix subscriptions to companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft and whatever for games that are now are completely multiplatform.
It's no way an improvement from a consumer perspective.
 

Chukhopops

Member
Emmm how's that supposed to be better exactly?
You' ll have to continue to buy Nintendo and Sony products for their exclusives.
You'll just have to add to the mix subscriptions to companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft and whatever for games that are now are completely multiplatform.
It's no way an improvement from a consumer perspective.
Yeah my point could have been more clear, I don’t mean the situation overall is better, but that if I have to choose I prefer exclusives to be on a platform with little or zero cost to entry (like Stadia or the Amazon thingy) versus a platform with a high cost to entry (like 500 bucks for a PS5 or 300 for a Switch).
 

Elios83

Member
Yeah my point could have been more clear, I don’t mean the situation overall is better, but that if I have to choose I prefer exclusives to be on a platform with little or zero cost to entry (like Stadia or the Amazon thingy) versus a platform with a high cost to entry (like 500 bucks for a PS5 or 300 for a Switch).

Again you won't be able to avoid these costs if you're interested in the Nintendo/Sony games just like now.
There are no improvements, just extra costs because the games you would be able to play with a single investement (a traditional home console) will require (multiple?) subscriptions in the future.
It's bad.
 
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Dabaus

Banned
IMO heres what sony should do but wont:

Doesnt Sony have like 40 some billion cash on hand? They could purchase capcom for 5 or 6 billion and kadokawa for 2.5 billion. And still have 30 some billion left. Plus this quarters profits have come in yet which should be around 4 or 5 billion altogether assuming PS5 didnt make a major loss. Kadokawa also has manga and anime, a place they want to be dominant. Capcom you can do so much with their IP like movies, anime, streaming etc. Heck you dont even have ti make these games exclusive, keep them multiplatform for maximum profit.

42 billion- 8.5= 33.5 Billion
+5 billion of this quarters profits (Assuming its that good, holiday sales and whatnot)
38.5 Billion.

Id say Sony with Capcom and from software under their belt they wouldnt have to worry about what the other big player do. But they would/should focus all other energy on square enix after that.
 

Chukhopops

Member
Again you won't be able to avoid these costs if you're interested in the Nintendo/Sony games just like now.
There are no improvements, just extra costs because the games you would be able to play with a single investement will require (multiple?) subscriptions in the future.
It's bad.
I agree with that - again my point is if games are going to be scattered across more services and platforms, I prefer it to be on Cloud platforms or storefronts better than across physical devices.

If Demons Souls remake was a Stadia game I would play it already since it would cost me just the game, but since it’s on PS5 I can’t justify the entry cost just for one game so far (plus it’s impossible to find one anyway). So I prefer a dev being bought by Amazon than Sony, if they have to be bought at all.
 

Elios83

Member
I agree with that - again my point is if games are going to be scattered across more services and platforms, I prefer it to be on Cloud platforms or storefronts better than across physical devices.

If Demons Souls remake was a Stadia game I would play it already since it would cost me just the game, but since it’s on PS5 I can’t justify the entry cost just for one game so far (plus it’s impossible to find one anyway). So I prefer a dev being bought by Amazon than Sony, if they have to be bought at all.

The issue is that they shouldn't be bought at all because the fragmentation and the burden of having to subscribe to multiple services for consumers is simply going to suck.
Not to mention that as proved by Netflix, Prime and other services, once the investement/promotion phase to attract users is over with these services, people will be screwed with small but continous price increases justified by the fact that they have to cover costs to offer more contents.
Buying a single console that allows you to have access to 80-90% of the games that are released over multiple years is the best thing.
In any case if you're talking about a scenario where cloud gaming takes over and you don't need specific hardware to play games at all everyone is going to offer such a service including Sony (they are right now!), so the thing about "it's better that x developer is bought by y" doesn't make sense. These companies are all the same, they want money.
 
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MonarchJT

Banned
Emmm how's that supposed to be better exactly?
You' ll have to continue to buy Nintendo and Sony products for their exclusives.
You'll just have to add to the mix subscriptions to companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft and whatever for games that are now are completely multiplatform.
It's no way an improvement from a consumer perspective.
it's not about ALL consumers gosh ms didn't spent 7.5 billions to make other platform consumers happy..as Sony dosnt when do exclusives or times exclusives shits Stop with this vulgar do-gooding. If for you it is so obvious (from how you write it seems so) to go out and buy consoles from Sony and Nintendo for their exclusives you will learn how to do this with ms. this is what Ms wants and I assure you that those in the Microsoft ecosystem are MORE THAN HAPPY with these acquisitions because everything will end up on gamepass ..And you will understand for yourself that Ms is interested in making their users feel special, not Sony's one. It's that simple. if other platforms (ninty and PlayStation) users will want they will be able to access the ecosystem in a very simple way since ms is working hard to lower the barriers to entry. cheaper console ... tv stick (rumor) android and ios (soon) ..pc
 
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Akhawi

Banned
I wonder how aggressive Microsoft will be with future acquisitions in the current environment. With giants like Google and Stadia shopping around and Sony probably looking at smaller studios, MS really needs to get their bids in before the studios/publishers are gone. What's the worst scenario for MS, overpaying too much for a studio/publisher in a potential bidding war or losing them altogether?
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
I wonder how aggressive Microsoft will be with future acquisitions in the current environment. With giants like Google and Stadia shopping around and Sony probably looking at smaller studios, MS really needs to get their bids in before the studios/publishers are gone. What's the worst scenario for MS, overpaying too much for a studio/publisher in a potential bidding war or losing them altogether?
google + stadia = same thing.

also it's funny you call google a giant but microsoft isn't? lol. last year MS market cap was #1 in Q1 and second only to Apple for the remainder of the year. Google (Alphabet) were #4 throughout the entire year. #3 was amazon throughout all quarters. Sony didn't even make top 10 but if you look at revenue MS brought in $126 billion where as Sony had $75 billion.

MS don't need to worry. they can afford to overspend and if someone like Google/Amazon came in MS could easily outbid them.
 
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Elios83

Member
it's not about ALL consumers gosh ms didn't spent 7.5 billions to make other platform consumers happy..as Sony dosnt when do exclusives or times exclusives shits Stop with this vulgar do-gooding. If for you it is so obvious (from how you write it seems so) to go out and buy consoles from Sony and Nintendo for their exclusives you will learn how to do this with ms. this is what Ms wants and I assure you that those in the Microsoft ecosystem are MORE THAN HAPPY with these acquisitions because everything will end up on gamepass ..And you will understand for yourself that Ms is interested in making their users feel special, not Sony's one. It's that simple. if other platforms (ninty and PlayStation) users will want they will be able to access the ecosystem in a very simple way since ms is working hard to lower the barriers to entry. cheaper console ... tv stick (rumor) android and ios (soon) ..pc

Emmm honestly what are you even talking about?
My post was about how in general a future where consumers have to pay for multiple subscriptions to play the same games they could play before on a single console is obviously bad for consumers.
It has nothing with do with Microsoft's intentions. It's absolutely obivous that all companies want to dominate the market they're in and MS would like to lock all users into their ecosystem.
For MS consumers nothing is going to change, Sony and Nintendo aren't going anywhere in any case and if you want to play their games you'll have to buy their consoles or services just like...now?
And once the investement phase for Gamepass is over and MS will have a sizeable subscription base you're so going to enjoy the price increases to 15$ monthly or even higher to recoup all the billions they have spent so far and pay the bills for the development of all the games they're making. This is just the reality of the business model, just look at what Netflix, Amazon with Prime, Disney + are doing, at first they try to attract consumers with great value and then once they're locked they fuck them.
Also this is not just about MS, you're not seeing past your own nose if you are not realizing that MS are not the only ones who are doing acquisitions or gearing for an acquistion race. Huge companies (even stronger than MS) like Goole and Amazon are in as well. Not to mention the same Sony, Ea and other big companies.
The cake will be fractured in many pieces.
 
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Akhawi

Banned
Oops, I meant Google and Amazon*

Everybody knows MS is a giant already and I didn't claim or insinuate at them not being one... Point is these three giants are going to war, so the question is how far are they willing to go to win this thing.

MS has lost out on many good studios in the past simply because they were too hesitant.
 

Hezekiah

Banned
So with MS, Google, Amazon, Sony, EA all in the acquisition race we're heading towards a nightmare scenario where after this gen people will be likely forced to subscribe to multiple services (like Netflix, Disney+, HBO etc) if they want to play with the same diversity they have enjoyed for decades on a single console.
This is not good at all.
Streaming consoles being mainstream is years away. For the foreseeable you just need a PC and whichever Sony/Nintendo console you want and you're covered. Large-scale subscription services are still far from proven within gaming.
 

MonarchJT

Banned
Emmm honestly what are you even talking about?
My post was about how in general a future where consumers have to pay for multiple subscriptions to play the same games they could play before on a single console is obviously bad for consumers.
It has nothing with do with Microsoft's intentions. It's absolutely obivous that all companies want to dominate the market they're in and MS would like to lock all users into their ecosystem.
For MS consumers nothing is going to change, Sony and Nintendo aren't going anywhere in any case and if you want to play their games you'll have to buy their consoles or services just like...now?
And once the investement phase for Gamepass is over and MS will have a sizeble subscription base you're so going to enjoy the price increases to 15$ monthly or even higher to recoup of all billions they have spent so far and pay the bills for the development of the games of all the games they're making. This is just the reality of the business model, just look at what Netflix, Amazon with Prime, Disney + are doing, at first they try to attract consumers with great value and then they fuck them.
Also this is not just about MS, you're not seeing past your own nose if you are not realizing that MS are not the only ones who are doing acquisitions or gearing for an acquistion race. Huge companies (even stronger than MS) like Goole and Amazon are in as well. Not to mention the same Sony, Ea and other big companies.
The cake will fractured in many pieces.
Before those games wasn't on gamepass the same day of release and someone like sony who does it whenever they can .. would steal (to make his platform special on the skin of all other players .. Xbox Nintendo or pc) multiple games from ms users .... death loop & ghostwire they were at least timed exclusives and saw ms users again in deficit for at least 1 year. Those two games are just an direct example. It would be nice that all games would be on all platforms but that's not the case and if we have to be honest on balance the platform with the lowest price barriers and the easier to reach by users leaving youat the same time the choice of choosing your fav device (PC .. console .. tablet .. phone..TV) today it is what Microsoft is proposing.
On the talk about the gamepass price increase I could agree with you ... but at the moment it is so low for what it offers that even if we raise it by 1/3 it would remain a steal expecially after Bethesda games start to come in
 
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What else do they own? Didn't they guy them for a relatively cheap price a few years ago? I'd say Sony are kicking themselves. But they're pinching themselves they bought insomniac because MS would have probably doubled their offer in today's world.
Seeing how Bloodborne sold the least copies of all their AAA titles, I don't think they are losing much sleep.
 

The Alien

Banned
i know phil wants to make randy pitchford his bitch so gearbox is next on microsoft's target. Since randy called out phil that your console is weak in a tweet. This will be sweet revenge from phil :p /s
I doubt Microsoft would touch anything Pitchford anymore.

Microsoft being all woke and Pitchford being....well, Pitchford.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Totally subjective. How much time have you spent playing SoT?
Not really played it yet, will do so and comment on it when I have done as I have it in my library.
So, I am not going to say it is shit, but even if it were a top class game it is one game in many years and not lighting the world on fire like DKC, BK, GoldenEye 007, the OG Perfect Dark, etc...
 
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IMO heres what sony should do but wont:

Doesnt Sony have like 40 some billion cash on hand? They could purchase capcom for 5 or 6 billion and kadokawa for 2.5 billion. And still have 30 some billion left. Plus this quarters profits have come in yet which should be around 4 or 5 billion altogether assuming PS5 didnt make a major loss. Kadokawa also has manga and anime, a place they want to be dominant. Capcom you can do so much with their IP like movies, anime, streaming etc. Heck you dont even have ti make these games exclusive, keep them multiplatform for maximum profit.

42 billion- 8.5= 33.5 Billion
+5 billion of this quarters profits (Assuming its that good, holiday sales and whatnot)
38.5 Billion.

Id say Sony with Capcom and from software under their belt they wouldnt have to worry about what the other big player do. But they would/should focus all other energy on square enix after that.
you won’t see spending on that scale by Sony particularly when Jim Ryan is at the helm and the world is still living with covid

Sony’s last earnings report looked good in parts but those bits were propping up underperforming areas like their movie division

it’s pretty clear he is simply holding course
 

SNG32

Member
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.

Man fuck starfield. I don’t get it if you like Bethesda games buy an Xbox console Sony will do fine without them. Sony will do what they’ve always been doing pump out amazing games. I’m glad Microsoft is taking it serious and buying teams like Bethesda to make them more competitive. Gamers win when you have a competitive industry. Microsoft is in a way better position then they were last gen and I’m glad for that. The only thing though where I see them still doing shitty in is getting Japanese games this gen. Sony, Nintendo and PC will have the bigger advantage this gen in that department.
 

Bryank75

Banned
IMO heres what sony should do but wont:

Doesnt Sony have like 40 some billion cash on hand? They could purchase capcom for 5 or 6 billion and kadokawa for 2.5 billion. And still have 30 some billion left. Plus this quarters profits have come in yet which should be around 4 or 5 billion altogether assuming PS5 didnt make a major loss. Kadokawa also has manga and anime, a place they want to be dominant. Capcom you can do so much with their IP like movies, anime, streaming etc. Heck you dont even have ti make these games exclusive, keep them multiplatform for maximum profit.

42 billion- 8.5= 33.5 Billion
+5 billion of this quarters profits (Assuming its that good, holiday sales and whatnot)
38.5 Billion.

Id say Sony with Capcom and from software under their belt they wouldnt have to worry about what the other big player do. But they would/should focus all other energy on square enix after that.

Sony had 41.6 Billion in cash and equivalents last quarter..... a large portion of that is in the form of stock, they own 34% of M3 Inc and 6.61% of BiliBili the chinese streaming site. These have grown a lot over the past few months and when we see the quarterly report on February 2nd, assuming there is not a large dive in values... I think we will see Sony cash somewhere between 50 Billion and 55 Billion range.

I agree with you about Kadokawa. 100% is a must buy.

Now, if they did buy Capcom it would have to be with an eye to taking a large percentage of the Japanese market back. Monster Hunter being key, it would also deny many games to services like GamePass. But you may have some outrage and kickback from Nintendo fans etc. Getting Street Fighter and MVC would be huge for the FGC.

Square will not sell to foreigners and are impossible to buy, as they owe Sony for saving them and many Japanese individuals and families own the shares and will not sell. So Sony doesn't really NEED to buy them.

Kadokawa and various other studios like IOI, Remedy, Bluepoint, Supergiant, Larian and a shooter studio like Turtle Rock or Bungie.....would do a good job of future proofing too.

Capcom if they really want to go hard for Japan. As discussed.
 

Bryank75

Banned
Im glad that this hobby i really enjoy is going to be torn apart because a few trillion dollar companies couldnt be satisfied with the mountain of money they already have.
The thing to do is just keep buying the platform you always liked to play on.... if the new entrants can't gain any market share, they will stop their destructive behaviour and leave. We might ahve a few casualties but it's the only way.

I actually plan opn buying more PS5's this gen and gifting them to friends and family. Just in spite of what is going on in the industry.
 

Edgelord79

Gold Member
Ubisoft would be a good acquisition for Microsoft. Would give them a lot of the third person adventure IP, a very solid studio infrastructure, Tom Clancy, Far Cry, etc. Also they could be acquired for a similar cost to Bethesda - valued at 3.7 billion with a market cap of 10.5 billion.
That offer would most likely have to be in the range of 13-14 billion with 12 months free of GamePass thrown in.
 

Evil Calvin

Afraid of Boobs
Doesn't mean anything without games. MS has almost zero output over the last 4 years. Gears 5, Crackdown 3, Sea of Theives and Forza games. No other 1st party games to speak of. What have they been doing all of these years? They get exclusives like Ori and Cuphead but as far as games their studios make it's been barren. I think they need to focus on what they have and actually release something.
 
I wouldnt buy a company till the pandemic is under control. All these companies are overvalued. Gaming is going to have a huge drop off. All my thot friends are playing more switch cause they cant go clubbing.
 

CitizenZ

Banned
MS has done a good job, but basically all for survival. They are outputting some of the best AA games in the business and their always online, monitoring you system GP is a good bargain. They give away a bunch of games, offer a bunch of sales, etc, etc, etc, and still have barely made a dent. Outside those solid AA games(which are polished I might add) they havent made a dent for yrs. I mean their slogan for close to a decade is "Wait til E3" Anyone thinking their games will be exclusive are delusional, there is no BIG $$$ to be made in that aspect.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
The last thing I want is censorship in Bookwalker. Don't touch Kadokawa, let them stay independent.
 

Stuart360

Member
Really surprised there hasnt been any Microsoft buying THQ/Nordic rumours. They would be a perfect fit for Gamepass. AA games, old famous franchises, and they have somehting like 80 games in development apparently, that would be steady and constant Gamepass filler.
 

Astorian

Member
Really surprised there hasnt been any Microsoft buying THQ/Nordic rumours. They would be a perfect fit for Gamepass. AA games, old famous franchises, and they have somehting like 80 games in development apparently, that would be steady and constant Gamepass filler.
THQ have been on an acquisition spree themselves, I’m pretty sure getting acquired isn’t on their plan.
 
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Genx3

Member
What company right now isn’t “being honest?” What does being honest even mean?
Being honest means that competition is what stops companies like Sony and MS from screwing customers over.
They know their customers can bail on them for their competitors.
 

Edgelord79

Gold Member
So who's excited for Google and Amazon stealing all the big AAA studios?
Have they actually acquired anyone substantial yet? I've heard dire prognostications for Microsoft and Sony on this forum when Amazon starts gobbling up studios however here we are... and nothing yet.

Watch tomorrow Amazon will acquire Ubisoft basically taking a dump on everything I just said. Not holding my breath though.
 
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