Support NeoGAF

[Liamario]

Can anyone say that this is a good thing to be honest.

 

[graywolf323]

Todd Howard On Joining Xbox

I have had the pleasure of working with, and partnering with, many of the best gaming and tech companies in the world. But our longest, and closest partner during my career, has been Microsoft.

bethesda.net

nothing he said there means they'll still come to PlayStation? Microsoft has been supporting Xbox + PC after all

 

[Uncle Obscure]

There was a time when this would have affected me greatly. Now, not so much. If Bethesda continues to churn out bug-filled, glitchy games that rely almost completely on the modding community to make them playable months after they get released, then this acquisition will have little effect on my gaming habits. Just my two cents, and, as always, YMMV.

 

[Kerotan]

There were rumours about Bungie and Destiny going exclusive to xbox
If this will come to reality, I don't know if i will interested in Next gen, sadly

They said they aren't going to MS. I'd imagine MS approached Bungie and that's where the rumour came from. I'm sure MS decided they had to buy somebody big so approached the likes of Capcom, Sega, Platinum games, Bungie, Bethesda, Take Two, Ubisoft etc. And Bethesda were the ones they managed to get.

I also feel like the threat of MS buying Imsomniac are the only reason Sony bought them and will likely now want to buy one of the listed above.

 

[triplestation]

da fuck

 

[RoboFu]

I don't know what a "billion dollar IP" is, but TES and Fallout are definitely 2 of the biggest in AAA gaming. Then you're buying a successful MMO, and the talent and infrastructure of the studios.

MS spent $2.5B on Minecraft in 2014. Based on that, this seems like a reasonable price for a company of the size and success of Zenimax.

merchandising probably makes a lot. but for a company like MS they look decades ahead not years. This is all for Xbox as a service on multiple devices when consoles go extinct.
and also its a sign of growth for investors.

 

[Senua]

 

[Swift Hunta]

I honestly think that all this means is a year exclusiveness, always on game pass, you pay full price for the game else where. When ever the deal is finalized that is.

 

[Dr_Salt]

Now Obsidian can make isometric Fallout? Oh god, this is now possible?

Yes it is my friend. This has been amazing news for us Fallout fans.

 

[BluRayHiDef]

Damn, so no more Elder Scrolls for PlayStation? Sheeit.

 

[Bryank75]

He is right.

He said 'SONY'..... he didn't say the gaming division. He is wrong.

Sony made 7.7 Billion dollars operating profit last year and over 8 Billion the year before.

 

[GamerEDM]

GG

 

[Klart]

Some people are in denial. You don't spend $7.5 billion on IPs you give to your competition.

Who the f* is in denial here. In denial of bloody facts.

MS spent $2.5 billion on ONE SINGLE IP and they DID give it to the competition.

Of course one does not know what they will do with this deal. Certainly not you. Certainly not me. Maybe not even MS know exactly what they will do. But given this prior example, it is not unlikely they will act the same way.

 

[Goro Majima]

There was a time when this would have affected me greatly. Now, not so much. If Bethesda continues to churn out bug-filled, glitchy games that rely almost completely on the modding community to make them playable months after get released, then this acquisition will have little effect on my gaming habits. Just my two cents, and, as always, YMMV.

I have to laugh at this a little bit because I remember buying Morrowind in 2002 and hearing people say the same thing back when.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

What?!? hahaha not even close.

Yeah, this is huge. 23 studios is INSANE.

This totally has me rethinking my next gen plans.

 

[Jonsoncao]

Thinking the Xbox department is only marginal and not that important to M$ as whole, this acquisition means that XGP is considered an important product by M$, on par or just slightly below the priority of the cloud computer services (Azure, Office).

Foreseeably M$ stock price will tank due to this huge spending with no immediate return.

 

[ExKing]

Congrats Microsoft ! Next Gen is going to be interesting to say the least. And Microsoft are in to win, no doubt...

 

[JLB]

Get used to this:

Xbox: Included in Game Pass
PS5 $69.95

yeah, im pretty sure Microsoft will do that. Play all these amazing games day one on gamepass at no additional cost, or pay usd70/80 euros elsewhere.
Its kind of a win win for them.
Also, there could be one or teo exceptions to that rule, like TES or Doom getting released 6 months later, or exclusive DLC.

 

[Hargate]

Come on you guys still think this is all about a petty console war. pfft. Microsoft is thinking bigger who gives a shit if they are in 2nd or 3rd place in the console war when you are getting revenue and reach on their platforms as well. MS is gonna be getting a cut some way from everyone's pie.

 

[NullZ3r0]

Awesome.

And I thought naysayers said the Xbox division is so broke making no profits they can't get help from the overall MS corporation for funding?

As one guy said "divisions run separate". LOL

Told ya so armchair internet accountants. It's the parent company as a whole that controls the coffers and where funding goes.

On the plus side, don't worry PS fans. I'm sure the Bethesda games will come to PS too. It's not like MS made Minecraft come to a halt on other platforms when they bought it years ago.

Phil has a seat at Satya Nadella's table. The moment Phil came up with GamePass, Satya was listening. MS is a cloud company. Anything that Phil can do to make GamePass the thing, will get serious attention at the company.

PS fans, 7.5 billion is a lot so these games won't be exclusive for the short term and any contracts like Deathloop will be honored. But these will all be in GamePass.

 

[T-Barbs]

Oh well...

 

[cyberheater]

I'm sure that Sony fans will still get the games.

 

[Esteldan]

I feel the crowd who think Zenimax games are still going to launch on PlayStation are in denial. The Todd Howard quote doesn't imply that at all and an acquisition of this size seems fairly ludicrous if they're simply doing it because they want the revenue from Fallout etc. That really doesn't suit Microsoft's strategy.

Future titles will launch on PC & Xbox, they will not be on PlayStation.

 

[Kerotan]

If this happens it would be a very good result from all this and chances are it will be on ps5 too.

 

[DoctorEkkoUK]

My guess is they wont make them exclusives but they will release them free day one on game pass. So be ready for lots of angry posts about having to pay for games that XBOX and PC players get "free"

 

[ManaByte]

I have to laugh at this a little bit because I remember buying Morrowind in 2002 and hearing people say the same thing back when.

I have to laugh at this a little bit because I remember buying Daggerfall in 1996 and hearing people say the same thing back when.

 

[Bodomism]

Only walking simulator and movie lovers are hating this news.

 

[Fbh]

Holy shit, that's a massive get for MS.

Bethesda is still shit unless they do some big internal restructuring under MS. But both ID and Arkane are fantastic studios.

 

[blastprocessor]

Pointless comparison isn't it though?
Revenue and profit for each would have made sense.
And that tweet from a biz dev manager...

 

[CitizenX]

I hate exclusivity with a burning passion. That being said after that shit Sony pulled with Final Fantasy 16 I really do hope Microsoft makes the new Fall Out, Doom, Elder Scrolls and Wolfenstein games available only on Xbox, PC and Nintendo platforms. take away ghost wire and deathloop from Sony, you own that shit too.

The problem is Xbox is not a global brand, its only US mainly. this could backfire

I hope Deathloop and Ghostwire -- PS5 timed exclusives -- have "Xbox Game Studios" on the cover, that would be funny at shit.

Maybe that is their way to get the ball rolling as simply a publisher with GP option.

 

[MrFunSocks]

You don't spend billions like that for nothing.
Current games perhaps aren't going to become windoz/xsex exclusive, but future games...

And, perhaps, there are way to "spin off" smaller exclusive teams off Bethesda?


MS paid 5 for linkedin.
Pocket money.

$5bil? They paid $22bil for LinkedIn.

Also I don’t think you understand what this purchase is - Bethesda isnt just one dev studio. They’re a huge publisher. MS just bought like a dozen studios with this purchase, including id software.

 

[Atrus]

Unless, you know, they change their mind and decide not to play nice. Shocking, I know, considering how nice MS has been throughout the years.

They could but Satya Nadella has been clear, even with this announcement, that its about reaching out to all gamers. Microsoft is pivoting away from hardware platforms to selling GaaS.

According to the confirmation tweets after my post about Bethesda games, it appears that this is correct.

XBOX consoles are no longer a major focus of Microsoft, GaaS is. If Sony and Nintendo allow Gamepass, they may even stop making consoles altogether as it would no longer serve a purpose.

 

[CitizenX]

Now Obsidian can make isometric Fallout? Oh god, this is now possible?

Its already out Wasteland 3. You all are stuck on names too much.

 

[Nemesisuuu]

Yes it is my friend. This has been amazing news for us Fallout fans.

This is the best news from this acquisition, I'm afraid to even think about it. While Wasteland 2 was good (didn't play third one yet), it always came of like poor man's Fallout for me.

 

[Strider Highwind]

Holy shit is all ima say, holy shit

 

[Elog]

But these will all be in GamePass.

One thing I find weird is the idea that all these triple AAA games will end up on Gamepass without MS recovering the 7.5 USD billion investment.

Ultimately, the development costs need to be recovered with a profit. Anyone that believes you will get more games for less money when development costs are rising sharply have not thought it through. There is no magic money tree.

 

[Kerotan]

He said 'SONY'..... he didn't say the gaming division. He is wrong.

Sony made 7.7 Billion dollars operating profit last year and over 8 Billion the year before.

Sony are lucky they are now making bank again because it puts them in a position to react to situations like this.

 

[Elcid]

There was a time when this would have affected me greatly. Now, not so much. If Bethesda continues to churn out bug-filled, glitchy games that rely almost completely on the modding community to make them playable months after they get released, then this acquisition will have little effect on my gaming habits. Just my two cents, and, as always, YMMV.

This. I honestly can't think of a single Betheseda title that isn't a glitchy mess, except for the stuff by Raven. Best game I ever played by them was Singularity, after that everything else has been meh. Even Doom got boring after a few hours. Don't get me wrong, it's a huge win for Microsoft, but me personally as a gamer, no difference.

 

[AV]

Who the f* is in denial here. In denial of bloody facts.

MS just spent $2.5 billion two years ago on ONE SINGLE IP and they DID give it to the competition.

Of course one does not know what they will do with this deal. Certainly not you. Certainly not me. Maybe not even MS know exactly what they will do. But given this prior example, it is not unlikely they will act the same way.

You mean the game which has one iteration that had already been out for years and was already installed on millions on Playstations? Not even remotely the same thing.

 

[FlyyGOD]

Microsoft money backed Rare. We all know how that turned out. From a developer on par with Nintendo to gamepass filler.

Lets not forget the 500 million poured into Halo infinite.

Better IP's and more talented. You act as if Besthda hasn't put out any quality games in years. Im sure you enjoyed Doom, Wolfenstein or Elder Scrolls in the past. Dont let the salt blind you.

 

[Esteldan]

Having read some more of this thread, is there a particular reason it seems to accepted that future titles are going to come out for PlayStation? That doesn't seem to make any sense at all.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Well this sucks.

I really don't like platform holders buying up third parties that weren't in danger of going under, and in the case of the very successful Bethesda, they're needlessly buying a bloody publisher this time.

Those billions of dollars could have been invested into new studios, new talent, improved thier existing studios and management to better the whole industry and their output.

Instead it's squandered on what's little more than a massive fuck you to Sony.

I just despair at the lack of care or love for the medium these kind of business decisions show.

I see it as Microsoft pulling Fallout and ES from the grips of despair and tossing a dotted lifeline to Bethesda in the form of Obsidian.

Having an isometric Fallout, 3D fallout and ES game made by Obsidian again? Ohhhh myyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

This is fantastic news for fans of Fallout.

For the fanboys, stop whining. You have an option to still buy games on Xbox and PC!! This is better than the option of Fallout and ES being a MTX filled shit hole.

 

[Flintty]

Microsoft money backed Rare. We all know how that turned out. From a developer on par with Nintendo to gamepass filler.

Lets not forget the 500 million poured into Halo infinite.

Watch your god damn mouth Sea of Thieves is excellent

Admittedly the first decade or two was wasted

 

[YoodlePro]

I heard two months ago....CD

They don't have enough cash to buy Take Two lol. *laughs in GTA money*

 

[Woody337]

How does this alter Deathloop on the PS5?

 

[M.W.]

Welp, there you have it. MS doing things.

 

[TheContact]

This guy must be pulling figures out his ass.....

Sony Financial Statements 2005-2021 | SNE

Ten years of annual and quarterly financial statements and annual report data for Sony (SNE). Income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements and key ratios.

www.macrotrends.net

2019: 7.7 Billion dollars
2018: 8 Billion dollars Operating profit.

he clarified it was just Sony's gaming division, not all of Sony.

Pointless comparison isn't it though?
Revenue and profit for each would have made sense.
And that tweet from a biz dev manager...

It's not really a pointless comparison because it's not disparaging any one company; rather it's just showing how massive the buyout was compared to revenue earned from Sony's gaming division

 

[reinking]

Huuuge. I doubt MS will stop selling these games on PS platform but Sony better play nicer with timed exclusives.

 

[VAL0R]

WOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!!!

 

[ScarletSpider]

.