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Mergers and Acquisitions |OT| Thread Merged

Acquisitions and mergers official topic

  • Is this thread organic enough?

  • The thread merging will lead to the collapse of the forums industry

  • Anti-trust laws should prevent people from creating threads

  • This gaming forum has not been bought out

  • The monopolization of OTs is bad for gaming discussion

  • Your post is in talks to be acquired by another forum


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cormack12

Gold Member
I remember this being the thinking when they did the same with the sports games in the UK. Now I need Sky, BT and Prime subs to cover me.

Except I pay for IPTV. The reality ia different to the idealism. The flip side is with no need for competition they can just churn out lower quality titles to suit Microsoft/Sony schedules.

We will have to wait and see how it all plays out.
 

Loope

Member
Companies don't operate on a whim. These are thought out moves, not exactly to show the other what's what. Guerrilla is tied with another franchise, Insomniac too, so they needed a studio to develop a shooter. They got a really good solid studio for that, these guys created Halo and Destiny, they will be good for Sony.
 

balls of snow

Gold Member
We need a good old fashion shake up of the industry. New battlelines will be drawn. Content and engagement is the new hypemen. Lets go.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I think most GAF doesn't want these acquisitions to happen. It's more about having the games you like inside your ecosystem right now.

I always played on Sony consoles and i "want" them to buy Square-Enix not because of console warring, but because i don't want to lose access to those games.

I do think it would be hilarious if Capcom somehow gets acquired by Sony and then Nintendo would lose IPs like Monster Hunter, specially after months of so many people saying "Nintendo is unbothered by all of it" and how this acquisition period doesn't affect them (which it will, even if they don't need 3rd party studios to survive)
Just buy both. Ive been doing this every generation.

This gen i was lucky enough to build a PC before the bitcoin mining boom but you should be able to buy both consoles this time around for $1,000. way cheaper than building a PC.
 

llLeonhart

Member
If that results in better games, which I believe it will, yes.
You may believe it, but there's absolutely no evidence of that whatsoever. On the contrary in fact, Microsoft has a long history of ruining franchises and studios. And it doesn't bode well that very first exclusive from Ninja Theory after being acquired is not only a major step down from Hellblade but a bad game.

Same goes to Sony too, although their history is not as bad, Evolution studios shutdown and the recent London Studios internal war of sorts doesn't represent a good sign to me.
 

Three

Member
If that results in better games, which I believe it will, yes.
In what way would it result in better games? If the consoles themselves were vastly different in what they offered I can maybe see a point (that they utilise some game changing feature which they might not have being multiplatform) but these are just plain jane consoles. On top of that Series S and low end PCs are a thing.

Is Halo for example a better game because it's not on PS? I don't see anything in it that makes it any different to other multiplatform games or see anything that is only possible because it's exclusive.
 
I think you are actually off by a lot. The Tiger engine though impressive, has so many issues code base wise within Bungie. Hence they locked content in the vault as to not cause more bugs when they added new expansions. My understanding is they either have done a complete re-write or moved on to another engine. Decima would be a great engine for them to use.

Honestly we wont know until they show their next project.


There's a lot of Tech Debt in Tiger engine that anything new project wise thats not Destiny would be in a new/different engine:


I'm afraid this isn't accurate. The content vaulting was necessitated only by the need to limit the size of the game install on gamer's consoles. It also serves the benefit of making development easier for Bungie, as adding new content, mechanics etcs, don't have to be tested on old levels that players are mostly not playing anymore.

It's an administrative decision rather than a technical one.

Bungie spent many years updating their engine and now they're able to successfully put out compelling new content regularly at an even clip. Their engine and toolchain being able to facilitate this is a huge deal and puts them well above many studios doing GaaS type games.
 

Concern

Member
Why do people think Sony dropped 3.6b for them to keep making multiplat game? Its the same deal as Zenimax and Activision. They're honoring previous contracts.
 
Just buy both. Ive been doing this every generation.

This gen i was lucky enough to build a PC before the bitcoin mining boom but you should be able to buy both consoles this time around for $1,000. way cheaper than building a PC.
Not everyone wants to "feed" 2 pieces of gaming hardware. I most certainly won't buy 2 consoles. I'd rather sacrifice certain IPs than buying multiple consoles or building an expensive PC. I have plenty of friends that game on PC and i witness their headaches waiting for stuff to be patched or graphical bugs that need time to be solved, etc...not even mentioning how many of them are waiting to actually buy a new graphic card. It's just not worth the trouble for me.

That said, buying a Series S + Gamepass is not out of my mind for sure. Specially in Portugal. I've seen Series S at a discount for 270€ + free Gamepass for 3 months, lmao.
 

tmlDan

Member
Imagine doubling down on a silly take.

... And another thread goes into the ignore pool.
increased funding, financial stability, proper management and oversight - yea games could potentially be better.

you don't have to be a negative nancy, even Bungie said they can hire now because Sony acquired them.
 

John Wick

Member
Why do I as a gamer care if Apple, Google or Amazon get into gaming? I would rather see that than consolidation. These companies are no more or less evil than Sony and Microsoft. I mean no more to them than a number and a dollar sign.
Exactly! Politicians like greasy Phil try to make out the other corporations are bad and evil and MS is the good guy saving gaming for us gamers.
I hope they all do buy some big publishers then we'll ask some of the warriors what they think?
 

Pejo

Member
So because you like buying all consoles, you want everyone to have to do the same thing to enjoy games that they previously would have played on their choice of platform?

Mmmmm yea.....sounding a bit entitled there OP.
 
I think it will benefit studios like Firewalk but I really don't think the engine is anything to do with that.
One of the ways that Bungie will benefit PlayStation games is simply due to their experience in games as a service games that Bungie has, that and how well known they are for multiplayer games. I think have announced what must be four or five games as a service games and that experience alone is worth the expenditure. Of course, Sony could have done it themselves but not to the same extent as Bungie can do.
We have to remember as well that Naughty Dog, are currently producing a multiplayer game which they've already said will be as big as their single player games and although it's not the first time they've released multiplayer content, it is the first time that they'll have released a multiplayer game that could be compared to what Bungie does really well.
Of course, I'm not dismissing the Tiger engine in any way and technology sharing has been a big part of what PlayStation Studios has been about for quite some time now so of course the benefits of Tiger will reach the other PlayStation studios in the same way that the tech and experience from Sony's other studios will benefit Bungie.
 

Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
There's no doubt the Tiger engine is a beast

Meme Lol GIF by ALL SEEING EYES
 

FunkMiller

Gold Member
I'm old and remember the competition between Sega and Nintendo, when exclusives were pretty much everything. One of the best generations we've ever had.

Exclusive strategies make for better games, more competitively priced products, and more value for the consumer.

If these fuckers have to fight for your hard earned cash, you get more for it.
 
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Papacheeks

Banned
I'm afraid this isn't accurate. The content vaulting was necessitated only by the need to limit the size of the game install on gamer's consoles. It also serves the benefit of making development easier for Bungie, as adding new content, mechanics etcs, don't have to be tested on old levels that players are mostly not playing anymore.

It's an administrative decision rather than a technical one.

Bungie spent many years updating their engine and now they're able to successfully put out compelling new content regularly at an even clip. Their engine and toolchain being able to facilitate this is a huge deal and puts them well above many studios doing GaaS type games.

The link I sent is about them possibly using something different for "Non" Destiny title. Tiger is specifically for Destiny. Just like how the WOW engine is used specifically for WOW and not a lot else. WOW is a old engine.

They said Tiger was built just for Destiny. SO either they created a new engine off of tiger, or they are using something entirely new for their new non Destiny projects.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Not everyone wants to "feed" 2 pieces of gaming hardware. I most certainly won't buy 2 consoles. I'd rather sacrifice certain IPs than buying multiple consoles or building an expensive PC. I have plenty of friends that game on PC and i witness their headaches waiting for stuff to be patched or graphical bugs that need time to be solved, etc...not even mentioning how many of them are waiting to actually buy a new graphic card. It's just not worth the trouble for me.

That said, buying a Series S + Gamepass is not out of my mind for sure. Specially in Portugal. I've seen Series S at a discount for 270€ + free Gamepass for 3 months, lmao.
Thats just what the reality is going to be going forward. I said this in the other thread but by the time the dust settles on this, Sony and MS wouldve split up all the major publishers between them or lose them to tencent or meta. We're just gonna have to own both consoles.

The good thing with xbox is that you basically get the games for $10 a month. They release maybe 4-5 games you'd want to play. Thats $50 a year. So while $500 is a major investment, it will save you in the long run.

I hear you about PC gaming having just spent $1k just to fix some parts. Ended up having to replace pretty much everything and i still dont have a gpu upgrade.
 
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The link I sent is about them possibly using something different for "Non" Destiny title. Tiger is specifically for Destiny. Just like how the WOW engine is used specifically for WOW and not a lot else. WOW is a old engine.

They said Tiger was built just for Destiny. SO either they created a new engine off of tiger, or they are using something entirely new for their new non Destiny projects.

Even if they work on a new set of tools for a new IP, they'll very likely rip out large swathes of their codebase in the Tiger engine. So I would still consider it the same base tool suite and consider them ahead of other options for a MMO FPS GaaS game.
 

PuffyCan

Member
I call bullshit, when Microsoft bought Bethesda everybody was saying they heard some rumor about other acquisitions and then nothing happened
 

Freeman76

Member
I would love this to be MS working with Nintendo so we can finally play nintendo games on decent hardware, but I know that would never happen.
 

CobraAB

Member
I doubt they'll block the sale - though they may drag their feet on the review. The acquisition would make Microsoft the third largest publisher, and yet still behind Sony in terms of revenue.
And still a bit thin on good XBox exclusive titles.
 

Zeroing

Banned
You really know nothing about this, huh?
Are you European? Then you must know that E.U are very strict when big corporations buy things… specially when it’s tech related. That’s why in Europe doesnt exist mega tech companies like Google etc…
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
We are in a very fucked up time for gaming. These companies have made more money than ever in the last two years and it’s time to absorb as much as possible to avoid inflation as much as possible and a possible worldwide recession.
 

Elbereth

Member
Honestly, the consolidation of our beloved industry is inevitable. I guess I’m now accustomed to having multiple services for my viewing pleasure. I’m not sure that I want the same for my games. Various issues such as lack of ownership, barrier to entry prices spiking due to strong consolidation, among other things. At least least I can enjoy it in the interim, but I’m not comfortable with what the future holds. Not enough to stop me from gaming, but will definitely change the way I feel about the dynamics of the hobby.
 
I have no idea where you got the idea that Valve is only worth 12 billion... Most recent revenue I could find for them was 4.3 billion in 2017, and that was on good growth. I don't doubt they are at 6-8 billion at least, and then a purchase is going to be decently high multiple of that because of their dominance. We are talking 36-48 billion on the low end in my mind
 
I doubt the deal won't pass but there are implications:

1. Microsoft is hands tied for a long time to do similar deals with other companies.
2. The deal might take longer than expected to be approved.
3. They might need to give up on using the deal to restrict the number of platforms Activision games will be released on.

We'll see what happens.

1. No it doesn’t. You can have concurrent deals happen.

2. No it won’t. The deal isn’t expected to be final until late 2022 or early 2023, and this was planned for in the contract. There’s even a $3b clause for Activision if the deal fails scrutiny (hint: it won’t).

3. No they won’t. As long as PC remains a destination for future titles (which it will), they’re good.
 
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