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[James Sawyer Ford]

Fun fact: that's how most acquisitions go down, just ask Sony.

Fun fact: there's never an implied deal from the start, and that only works with studios that are smaller/newer or have a long standing history working exclusively with Sony, not some random large 3rd party studio lmao.

 

[coffinbirth]

lol wait. They thought Rare owned Donkey kong???

No.

There were some MS executives that had nothing to do with the Xbox sector that took a tour of Rares offices sometime after their acquisition, and one of them saw a DK poster and got excited about the prospect of owning DK....until they had to be corrected. That is the whole story, but you know, internet.

 

[Deerock71]

 

[coffinbirth]

Fun fact: there's never an implied deal from the start, and that only works with studios that are smaller/newer or have a long standing history working exclusively with Sony, not some random large 3rd party studio lmao.

Fun fact: those acquisitions happened, regardless.
Also, you have absolutely NO CLUE if any sort of deal was implied at any point.

Pointing out Sony in this scenario is but one example, in the larger world of business this isn't exactly uncommon.

 

[Belthazar]

lol wait. They thought Rare owned Donkey kong???

A few Microsoft executives did at the time, someone from Rare told the story in an interview.

It happened when some executives were visiting the Rare headquarters right after the acquisition and saw a Donkey Kong poster. They started talking about how excited they were that microsoft now owned Donkey Kong and couldn't wait to see what would come next for the franchise... only to be brought back into reality by the Rare people, who had to awkwardly tell a bunch of suits they didn't own a monkey.

 

[coffinbirth]

Not going to lie by far the most sensible look on XBOX partnerships. But know I/o, Avalanche, Crystal Dynamics parent company's have been shopping these guys around.

And MS is going to have one game be done by each as a barometer to gauge if they should acquire.
Unlike long term partnerships that go over multiple titles.

Avalanche are same guys who did just cause series which in my opinion shows it's just played out.

To me this is MS trying anything at this point.
If they do end up acquiring all three. The amount of money invested to return doesn't make sense. And do the IP's come with them?

Microsoft are currently drowning in IP with a lack of studios to make them all, hence CD working on Perfect Dark, Playground working on Fable, etc.
Honestly, I would be looking at potential acquisitions of publishers with large amounts of studios. THQ Nordic immediately comes to mind.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Fun fact: those acquisitions happened, regardless.
Also, you have absolutely NO CLUE if any sort of deal was implied at any point.

Pointing out Sony in this scenario is but one example, in the larger world of business this isn't exactly uncommon.

In the gaming industry, it's extremely rare to acquire 1 studio that's already part of the umbrella of a major third party studio

 

[Human_me]

I think the next acquisition will be Avalance.
I feel like they will be a good fit with a good amount of IPs.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Fun fact: there's never an implied deal from the start, and that only works with studios that are smaller/newer or have a long standing history working exclusively with Sony, not some random large 3rd party studio lmao.

Fun fact: Grubb quite literally said after the fact they would approach Square Enix if PD worked out not that there was and implied deal ao your entire shtick here is pointless lol. (and it's just speculation anyways not some rumor)

 

[coffinbirth]

In the gaming industry, it's extremely rare to acquire 1 studio that's already part of the umbrella of a major third party studio

It's also extremely rare for a major third party PUBLISHER to allow an entire studio to be contracted out out to another PUBLISHER.
Considering SE has quite publicly stated their disappointment in the sales of CD's last...what, two or three games, this isn't even a stretch to think that this is beyond possible and leaning towards probable. Just look at IOI.

 

[itsjustJEFF]

acquisition rumors always gets me so... horny

On the real tho... some of you really get hard on this kind of news. If you want this to happen, you better go buy these games when they release... no matter what.

 

[Tarkus98]

I believe that both Avalanche and Crystal Dynamics would be good gets and nice fits for Microsoft. They have worked with both of these studios in the past as well as the new games in the pipeline. Seems to be a good working relationship. Not really familiar with I/O I. Isn't it on, off, on in binary? I suppose that's a good enough reason to pick them up.
Does Avalanche own the Just Cause IP? Too lazy to look it up right now.

 

[Plantoid]

Tomb Raider is owned by Square Enix Europe (aka) Eidos Interactive.
Unlike IO Interactive, CD has no ownership to the Tomb Raider series, they just a studio ordered to make them by SE/Eidos
It would be illogical for SE to sell the studio AND their biggest western IP.

Yeah, you're right, I didn't know about the IP owner