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Microsoft considered acquiring Bungie and Sega to bolster Xbox Game Pass, internal emails show

Nydius

Member
Given the past acrimony between Bungie and Microsoft, it would have been real interesting to see Bungie’s reaction to Microsoft dropping by, checkbook in hand, saying “please come back bro”.
 

Darsxx82

Member
FTC bout to use this as a "they wanna buy everything, MONOPOLY" card
And you think that Sony (which ended up buying Bungie and 6 more Studios) has no plans and has attempted acquisition agreements at those levels? Regulators don't look at what you tried to buy, they look at whether what you buy is going to cause harm to competition in the market...
 
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FTC bout to use this as a "they wanna buy everything, MONOPOLY" card
This is about to get spicy.


“We (Microsoft) are in a very unique position to be able to go spend Sony out of business,” said Booty, referencing spending $2 billion or $3 billion in 2020 to avoid competitors getting ahead in content at a later date.
“It is practically impossible for anyone to start a new video streaming service at scale at this point,” said Booty, referencing competitors like Google, Amazon, and Sony. Booty described content as a moat and that only Sony could really compete with Game Pass:’

Christ alive. If the FTC bring that up that’ll take a sledgehammer to Microsoft in court.
 

Varteras

Member
And you think that Sony (which ended up buying Bungie and 6 more Studios) has no plans and has attempted acquisition agreements at those levels? Regulators don't look at what you tried to buy, they look at whether what you buy is going to cause harm to competition in the market...

It's funny because some here who are surprised by this information and are against the acquisition of ABK in other threads talk about how SoNY should buy Capcom, Square and CDProject and they do not see problems but consider it opportune and business logic. ...

Ask yourself why Sony suddenly started buying as many companies in 2 years as they did the previous 28 years. What happened before that? Think real hard.
 
Of course there is an agreement and a close relationship between MS-SEGA. That this agreement had to do with acquisition plans may now gain more force.
Not necessary. This info is from 2020, while alliance was announced in 2021 and ABK happened in 2022.
 

tmlDan

Member
And you think that Sony (which ended up buying Bungie and 6 more Studios) has no plans and has attempted acquisition agreements at those levels? Regulators don't look at what you tried to buy, they look at whether what you buy is going to cause harm to competition in the market...
Sony doesn't have the capital/intent for all these acquisitions. MS started the acquisition war and Sony was forced to retaliate.

Either way, this trial is not about Sony, it's about MS.

unless you like when companies buy everyone and destroy gaming franchises when they get too big too fast? Or you love when one company owns everything and charges you $30/mo for GP like how Netflix prices rose.
 

Pelta88

Member
They can't create success despite having more financial resources than any other company in the business on the planet.


Instead, they're trying to swallow every gaming publisher and studio just to get a pr win. This is worrying and should give any real gamer, pause for thought,
 
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I wonder what The other CEOs at Microsoft must feel about Phil and Xbox. When their all around their window shaped conference room, I'm sure the Azure CEO, Microsoft Word CEO, Outlook CEO and Bing CEO just look at phil like "wasting our money on hope and dreams"

(,metaphorically speaking. I think they called each of them CTOs, excluding Phil)
 
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VAVA Mk2

Member
Given the past acrimony between Bungie and Microsoft, it would have been real interesting to see Bungie’s reaction to Microsoft dropping by, checkbook in hand, saying “please come back bro”.
Harold Ryan would do it for enough money.
 

DrFigs

Member
I wonder what The other CEOs at Microsoft must feel about Phil and Xbox. When their all around their window shaped conference room, I'm sure the Azure CEO, Microsoft Word CEO, Outlook CEO and Bing CEO just look at phil like "wasting our money on hope and dreams"
damn even the Bing CEO is judging lol
 

VAVA Mk2

Member
I wonder what The other CEOs at Microsoft must feel about Phil and Xbox. When their all around their window shaped conference room, I'm sure the Azure CEO, Microsoft Word CEO, Outlook CEO and Bing CEO just look at phil like "wasting our money on hope and dreams"
Window shaped conference room...so a square or rectangle?
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
They can't create success despite having more financial resources than any other company in the business on the planet.


Instead, they're trying to swallow every gaming publisher and studio just to get a pr win. This is worrying and should give any real gamer, pause for thought,
“Spending Sony out of business” saves you from having to actually setup and run AAA publishers / devs well.

So the thought experiment of content starving the competition… Mmmh maybe not entirely a thought experiment :LOL:.

Again… * honk *
stephen colbert lol GIF by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
 

Darsxx82

Member
Ask yourself why Sony suddenly started buying as many companies in 2 years as they did the previous 28 years. What happened before that? Think real hard.
???? There is no need to change the narrative. It is not what was being discussed.

But hey, I don't think you mean that Sony began to acquire in view of the purchase of Zenimax by MS..... According to Sony's own information, the contacts to buy Bungie are prior to MS buying Zeni-Beth.

That you think Sony buying studios and Bungie is just a matter of reacting to MS is funny. As if the Sony acquisition rumors only started after the purchase of Zenimax by MS 😂
 

Darsxx82

Member
Not necessary. This info is from 2020, while alliance was announced in 2021 and ABK happened in 2022.
I have not explained well. I was trying to say that the close relationship that exists today may be the result of those acquisition negotiations that ultimately did not take place. Not that there is a fund acquisition agreement waiting to be revealed....
 

Varteras

Member
But hey, I don't think you mean that Sony began to acquire in view of the purchase of Zenimax by MS..... According to Sony's own information, the contacts to buy Bungie are prior to MS buying Zeni-Beth.

That you think Sony buying studios and Bungie is just a matter of reacting to MS is funny. As if the Sony acquisition rumors only started after the purchase of Zenimax by MS 😂

All of their studio acquisitions and potential future ones? No. Do I believe that Sony accelerated and expanded plans when they saw Microsoft go after one major publisher, and then another? Yeah. If you don't believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.

Calls for Sony to buy major companies are a direct result of what Microsoft has been doing. It's not hypocritical to expect Sony to respond in kind.
 
I have not explained well. I was trying to say that the close relationship that exists today may be the result of those acquisition negotiations that ultimately did not take place. Not that there is a fund acquisition agreement waiting to be revealed....
Oh that. Yeah, I agree that this relationship is probably the result of the acquisition talks. Arguably it is the most optimal way for both Sega and MSFT - Sega is using Azure, releases stuff in Game Pass later, releases stuff Day 1 on Xbox, marketing deals and so on. At the same time, MSFT does not need to deal with either multiplatform releases nor with trying to make IPs like SMT and Persona exclusive.
 

graywolf323

Member
All of their studio acquisitions and potential future ones? No. Do I believe that Sony accelerated and expanded plans when they saw Microsoft go after one major publisher, and then another? Yeah. If you don't believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.

Calls for Sony to buy major companies are a direct result of what Microsoft has been doing. It's not hypocritical to expect Sony to respond in kind.
you have to understand, it’s okay when Microsoft does it because GamePass

but it’s not okay for Sony to do it because not GamePass, nevermind the fact Microsoft is worth trillions (something like 20-25x what Sony is worth?)
 

Ozriel

M$FT
Activision and Bethesda weren't on that list.

It does really seem like both were opportunistic attempts. Bethesda when they were shopping for a buyer, and Activision when Kotick's scandals tanked the share prices.
 

Varteras

Member
Activision and Bethesda weren't on that list.

It does really seem like both were opportunistic attempts. Bethesda when they were shopping for a buyer, and Activision when Kotick's scandals tanked the share prices.

I'm curious why their other targets, outside of Bungie, never materialized. At least not yet. Did their other deals halt their originally planned moves, you think?
 

Ozriel

M$FT
Well this case has made a thing very clear: If you are a Playstation gamer you can be rest assured that, regardless of the ABK deal, other publishers WILL get gobbled up.

Isn't Sega the only publisher on that list of internal targets?

you have to understand, it’s okay when Microsoft does it because GamePass

but it’s not okay for Sony to do it because not GamePass, nevermind the fact Microsoft is worth trillions (something like 20-25x what Sony is worth?)

I don't know about 'it's not OK'. This thread exists

Sony acquiring Activision would never have gotten off the ground, even if they had the money. Regulators would have nixed it based on their marketshare
 

Ozriel

M$FT
I'm curious why their other targets, outside of Bungie, never materialized. At least not yet. Did their other deals halt their originally planned moves, you think?

I think the Bethesda deal probably stopped them trying for other studios for a while. They had to go through approval for the Bethesda deal between Q3 2020 and Q1 2021. And then in less than a year, they were already announcing the Activision deal which was an opportunistic play.

Ironically, the email confirms Mobile as a key acquisition driver even over console, but I suspect that's not what most here want to hear.
 

Varteras

Member
Well this case has made a thing very clear: If you are a Playstation gamer you can be rest assured that, regardless of the ABK deal, other publishers WILL get gobbled up.

Isn't Sega the only publisher on that list of internal targets?

Yeah. If anything this information shows us that Microsoft does have limits on how much they'll spend on what companies. Being outbid by Sony on Bungie proves that much. Also, that Zenimax and Activision were much more likely opportunistic moments. That Microsoft's plans outside of them were, truthfully, much more subdued before both publishers came along with serious issues.
 
Do it. Their next console could be called "Dreaming Studio" and the tagline could be "where dreams do come true".

Your avatar is your very own Sonic OC. The system is just a box with a hole in it. Sonic loves chili dogs so the games are shaped like one for the system.

Anytime a game is connected, the system says random ukresistance quotes and sometimes talks about blue skies in games while glitching out like it's losing its memory. Also it randomly screams and begs to be turned off.
 

Neo_game

Member
How did these guys get such high ranked position in Xbox, Microsoft ?

No wonder Microsoft has beeen struggling to win market share. If I was the CEO of Microsoft, I would get rid of these people and hire more deserving leaders, managers to come up with better solution to gain market share rather than suggestion me to sign blank cheque after blank cheque to compensate of their incompetency.
 
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