harry mason 1989
Banned
I agree
Jez Corden: Multiple aquisitions by microsoft xbox failed/stopped because of ABK
- Thread starter Bernoulli
- Start date
TLZ
Banned
SlimySnake
Flashless at the Golden Globes
Of course they do. They HAVE to in order to up their price by getting into a bidding war. You really think Square Enix being so chummy with Jimbo handing him not one but three exclusives on a platter didnt go to him first? Jimbo passed on Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal for sure. Not sure about Philbo but he was in Japan a lot around the time CD and Eidos were sold.
Respawn is located in los angeles surrounded by Infinity Ward, Insomniac, SSM, CD, ND and other big studios. There is no way they were bought without anyone finding out.
IIRC, Codemasters were being sold for $700 million before EA jumped in with a $1.2 billion offer. Everyone in the industry knows whats going on.
semiconscious
Member
i'm confused - if you're all about acquisitions, wouldn't not managing to pull one of them off make you even more determined to go after all the rest of them?...
Varteras
Gold Member
I want to see that Craigslist section.
That still doesn't explain away my idea that it is probably not as simple as we believe. Otherwise, there is no way no one else jumped on SE selling CD, Eidos, and all their associated properties (Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief) for $300 million. That would have been a no-brainer to go after. Clearly, something was at play we don't know about.
Captain Toad
Banned
And now they're gonna fight this for another couple years and further delay those.
SlimySnake
Flashless at the Golden Globes
well, both Sony and MS were locked in a bidding war over Bungie at the time, and MS had their eye on Activision too. MS had also just completed an expensive zenimax acquisition and didnt want to risk anything.
I would love to see the behind the scenes of the bungie acquisition. Bungie has no IPs other than destiny which is a dying IP. So they were bought on the backs of their talent alone. But $3.2 billion suggests that they were in a big bidding war and IIRC, one of the journos mentioned that Sony paying $1.2 billion to retain top talent sealed the deal. I also heard that this was in the works for months so both MS and Sony were likely too busy with that and SE was like fuck it, and sold to whoever showed interest.
Remember, insmoniac also went for $220 million in 2019. Thats an amazing deal. This is back when MS was gobbling up studios like Ninja Theory, Obsidian and Playground games. Its possible they went to insomniac and insomniac went to sony with the offer to see if they would at least match.
at least thats what i think happened. Ted Price and Vince Zempalla both instantly became $100 million millionares but are probably now kicking themselves after seeing bungie go for $3.2 billion.
gothmog
Gold Member
Microsoft fixing their own delivery pipeline is going to bear more quality than acquiring yet another developer.
KingT731
Member
They'd have to get Kadokawa to agree to sell it and seeing as From is extremely profitable....likely a no there.
Varteras
Gold Member
Yeah I would be super interested to hear about how half these deals went down. Especially the Bungie acquisition. I would imagine that was pretty fierce.
Thing is, I think Insomniac is a great reminder that things just aren't clear cut and dry. Sony got Insomniac for a steal. No one else was willing to offer more than that to own probably one of the most prolific and efficient studios who, despite that, still put out good games? Microsoft couldn't offer them more than $220 million, but a year later committed to spending well over $7 billion to own Zenimax? I don't buy it. At the price they paid for Zenimax, Insomniac was easily worth $500 million to them, and even that might be too low.
Varteras
Gold Member
bluecowboys
Banned
I am an investor after all.
bluecowboys
Banned
300 million is a lot for a studio without iPS.
Varteras
Gold Member
Iced Arcade
Member
That's not how things work Jamie.
Bungie definitely wasn't happy and wanted leave though.
bluecowboys
Banned
Being an investor or running a business is the only practical way to get rich.
VGT has been kind to me over the years.
ABnormal
Member
They are simply inept at it. And probably not even interested to bring something to the market. Just try to imagine what 70 billions means from the point of view of gaming development: it is said that GTA5 is the costlier game even created (some say 500 millions). Taking that as a reference, with 70 billions MS could have FIVE games per year of that level of production, for nearly twenty years (3 full generations). But they are really not interested on bringing something to the market: just acquiring it and monopolizying it from other competitors.
Why bother becoming good and competitive with your ability and long-developed know-how, if you have the money and you can directly buy the market and already-successful IPs?
That's why they are a cancer in this industry. They literally don't add anything, and what they do is harmful for the expansion and diversification of the market.
The only reason I hope they stay in the market is that Nintendo is on another target, and Sony left alone would not have competition (which is always bad for a variety of reasons). If only MS would start to invest on new first party IPs, that would be the best possible direction for the market in general.
bentanchorbolt
Banned
There exists a world outside of GAF and fanboys. What I said was perfectly accurate.
gothmog
Gold Member
Never really thought of it exactly like that but it makes sense. You have to think there's people within Xbox that probably want it to cater to the love of gaming, but I think the corporate culture just drags it down to just a race to see who can own everything.
sainraja
Member
Microsoft and Sony don't need to own any third-party studios. My god at some of you, lol. Creating new IP is hard, but given how much they are willing to spend on acquisitions, they can easily direct it towards multiple IPs that are original and will automatically be associated with their brand. The most recent example by MS is Hi Fi Rush, their fans loved it.
Look, I get the thinking behind wanting a company to own something because it guarantees access to Game Pass, but if MS's sole focus was getting Game Pass content and expanding it, they have better ways to do it than the route they have chosen.
As a gamer, what do you get out of Microsoft or Sony owning any of the mentioned studios? You have the option to play in either ecosystem right now. I know the automatic response for most of you is going to be Game Pass, but that isn't dependent on MS owning the studios since they have fronted money for other third-party games to be on the service.
Look, I get the thinking behind wanting a company to own something because it guarantees access to Game Pass, but if MS's sole focus was getting Game Pass content and expanding it, they have better ways to do it than the route they have chosen.
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looks like they're trying to do both at the same time.
Part of the 'delivery pipeline' includes studios…
Sometimes I have to wonder if posts like these are having a laugh…because investing in your first party setup is a significant part of growing your brand.
Iced Arcade
Member
Not everything is that deep McBud.
Prefer crystal dynamics/Eidos IPs over Activision's... That's not a company specific statement. I don't think any game should be cut off and restricted from another platform (I gain nothing from someone else not having)
But yes I love gamepass and PS+ extra a lot
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SSfox
Member
What about other western ips like Hitman and Deus Ex those weren't sold and still SE ips?
bluecowboys
Banned
They didn't want to attract or complicate things more. Once the EU commission approves or blocks it MS will continue purchasing.
Business wise they need to focus on GAAS and mobile imo.
Wild card studio, Face punch studios, and Ubisoft should be consider for console/pc side
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Doesn't stop Nintendo just make good/great games buying up it's won't help if you can't manage and keep developers.Easy to say that when you have like 60-70% worldwide marketshare in gaming and more than 70-80% in a lot of countries
Always amazed how people ask Xbox compete in a way that dominating market leader is competing. By the same logic I can always say that Sony should try and buy publishers, because Microsoft can afford to do. But then it becomes "unfair" as Sony has less money
Iced Arcade
Member
Eidos retained the Deus Ex IP and IO interactive with the Hitman IP went independent in 2017.
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El Pistolero
Banned
They have been operating this way for decades, so why are people surprised by their inability/unwillingness to get on top of that (The creation/production process)? I personally believe that what has transpired simply reflects the DNA of the three competitors: Nintendo started as a toy company, so their trajectory is in harmony with their core activity; They make polished, fun, inventive, family-friendly products, having universal appeal...build amusement parks around them...and now invest in capitalizing on their mascots and universes to get them more money through other media. Sony is an entertainment/hardware company that is used to tough competition, which explains the efficiency of their manufacturing, distributing, and especially marketing pipelines: They have a very long experience in the consumer market...Their titles are what you would expect from a business of this nature: High production values, high level of polish, bigger than life characters and world-building.
MS has neither of the above. Their shtick has been to pay to win, helped by their gargantuan financial means, so the moves they have been pulling, and the accelerated consolidation efforts they have deployed, are in accordance with how they conduct their affairs. It is just the way it is for them.
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Torrent of Pork
Banned
Which is a damned crying shame, as Lost Odyssey is a better JRPG than 95% of the trash Squeenix has crapped out for 20 years.
Thirty7ven
Banned
So I listened to couple of minutes prior to the timestamp and then kept going. My thoughts? What the fuck, this explains so much. These guys, this guy, are idiots. I'm shocked they have a following.
SSfox
Member
I doubt Insomniacs wanted to be bought by anyone than Sony, specially Microsoft, theyve literally no history with Microsoft except a game that flopped at Xbox.
As I stated in another thread almost all of Sonys big studios were bought.
I think they missed out on the studios square sold.
Varteras
Gold Member
This. I don't think it's always as simple as, "They offered more money". Sometimes I think there are other considerations. Other incentives on offer. The relationships these companies have. I refuse to believe that Microsoft wasn't willing to spend more than $220 million on Insomniac but then spent $7 billion on Zenimax. There had to be other reasons that didn't happen.
El Pistolero
Banned
Except they buy talent, and not IPs (Aside from Destiny, which shall remain multiplatform, just like other GAAS projects from Bungie. A Minecraft-like situation). The problem that people have articulated, and that some others try to obfuscate in bad faith, is that MS hoards already established franchises...They are buying out the audiance for said franchises, instead of enticing them with their own. What would benefit me as a consumer, is MS producing original content to take on Sony and Nintendo, not restricting access to games that we would have gotten anyway.
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Who says you would of gotten anything. Every studio bought in 2018 outside playground studios has big financial issues. Obsidian entertainment was reduced to AA game games because of financial issues. Brian fargo was ready to walk away from the industry because of being tired of financial issues. You make it sound like Microsoft bought a bunch of studios in great shape. Even zenimax had financial issues having to make fall out 76 and beg for moneyhats for extra money.
drganon
Banned
To some Xbox fans, acquisition begging is their favorite game.
Yoboman
Member
Insomniac saw what was in the market and didn't like it, they came back to Sony
Also Sony has successfully scaled them up and got them growing massively since acquisition. Over 500 employees now making 2-3 games at a time
That is a success story of acquisition that Microsoft would have fumbled
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
Destiny 2 is a game with over 30 million players (~700k daily active). It's a live service game bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars per year. It is far from a dying IP.
The value here is in the playerbase. They're buying expansions and other DLCs for the game, generating ongoing revenue.
Bungie also has a lot of good experience successfully delivering Live Service games. Sony aspires to be better in that space. Now they have the minds at Bungie to consult on their other projects. Bungie also has another IP in the works.
ZoukGalaxy
Member
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