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Microsoft considered acquiring Bungie and Sega to bolster Xbox Game Pass, internal emails show
- Thread starter Thick Thighs Save Lives
- Start date
- News
mrmustard
Banned
I don't even see this on an annual basis, but we will see. I think at the end of this gen Xbox will be around 60 million and Sony 150 million.
Black_Stride
do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Thats what i was thinking.
Though Remedy and Northlight Engine would be a hell of a get.
People Can Fly would be a good get but they might have enough First Person studios.
Mibu no ookami
Banned
There is no way Xbox Series is matching Xbox One at 60 million and there is no way Sony is hitting 150 million matching PS2.
For PS5 I'd estimate 110-130 million.
For Xbox, I'd estimate 30-40 million.
Black_Stride
do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Yes and that was only the first list. This is the shrinked list:
Isnt Moon Studios the remote work studio that uses Unity?
mrmustard
Banned
Series is already at around 22 million, do you honestly think they will do only 8-18 million in the next 4-5 years with Starfield, Fable, Forza and many more?
balls of snow
Member
And Asia. Rip asia, you dont really care anyway, do you.
nikolino840
Member
I think because only a moron doesn't do meetings, assemblies and specific research on a list of acquisitions weighing the pros and cons before actually and officially asking for the intent to acquire a particular company
Mibu no ookami
Banned
Yeah, I do. Sales are already in decline in year 3. Starfield isn't going to massively push units. People are going to play it on PC. A Forza has already released on Xbox, do you think that Forza Motorsport is just going to magically sell to an all different demo?
It's like saying GoldenEye, Mario 64, and Ocarina of Time are coming out do you honestly think N64 isn't going to sell more than 32 million units? Dreamcast had Shenmue, Sonic Adventure, NFL 2K... these games all had more mindshare that Starfield, Forza, and Fable... yet they didn't push the needle.
The reality is these games aren't going to move the needle because the needle is already slanting towards Sony. Spider-Man 2 will sell more units than Starfield. PS5 Slim will sell more units than Starfield. A PS5 Pro will sell more units than Fable will.
Is Starfield going to be bigger than Final Fantasy 16? Elden Ring? Harry Potter? Even if it's as big as these games, it doesn't push the needle even if you compare the games ratio of sales on PS vs Xbox.
Hudo
Member
Judging by how Bungie are abusing the Marathon IP for that extraction shooter bullshit, not even Bungie themselves care about Bungie anymore.
Mibu no ookami
Banned
Let's say Starfield is a SMASH hit.
30 million people play it during the first year.
AT LEAST half of that will be on PC.
That leaves you with 15 million people.
What percentage of these will be people buying the console for the first time? Let's be generous and say 25%. That's 3.75 million units of hardware...
mrmustard
Banned
They did 22 in 2,5 years without major games, it's delusional to think they will do less in the next 4-5 years with some major games and hardware price drops. Series S will be a good secondary console for non warrior Nintendo and Sony fans.
I wouldn't bet too much money on the success of Pro consoles. They only sold 1:4 compared to the Slim AFTER the release and it's not for the casuals. Also who knows if we only see a PS5 Pro or a midegen refresh at all? I stick to my 60 million, the 150 could have been a bit hgih though.
Thick Thighs Save Lives
NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
Yes. They've ended their publishing agreement with Xbox and their next game is being publishing by Private Division.
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Mibu no ookami
Banned
You think it's an easy fix to solve for Xbox's sales problem, but it's a lingering effect. They sold DESPITE not having any software. The ramifications of that come after.
I remember getting a Game Gear when it first came out. It was hands down better than the Gameboy which was already quite old at that point.
The Gameboy continued to outsell the Game Gear even years after the launch. Despite Game Gear getting some software titles. Why was this, because they were never able to get through on mindshare.
They even made Game Gear a key focus in Surf Ninjas to try to change the mindshare problem.
When kids ask their parents for a christmas present this year, they're going to be asking for a PS5 and Spider-Man not an Xbox and Starfield.
Why because Spider-Man is a huge known name with an established franchise that hits all demographics and all their friends will own PS5s.
I remember early on when N64 was actually close to competing with PS1. Wrestlemania 2000, Ocarina of Time, Mario 64, Star Fox 64...
It was a slow burn for PS1 outselling N64 and gaining mindshare.
Sony will release a PS5 Pro uncontested which will enable to it reach a lot of people who don't want to PC game but want more fire power than what the PS5 and XSX can deliver.
It will basically put DF out of business if Microsoft doesn't follow suit.
mrmustard
Banned
We will see, but if the Series sells less than 40 million I'll eat my hat.
So you’re upset about a hypothetical scenario where MS bought Bungie, but perfectly fine with the real world situation where the dominant market leader bought them instead ?
RickMasters
Member
The thing I don’t understand about the bungie one…… they said the price was too high but spend twice as much in Bethesda and are spending way more on ABK. How much. Did they think bungie is not worth 3Bn?
Personally I think a bungie and sega purchase would have been more interesting than the ABK buyout. Bungie seem well suited to gamepass with the types of games they make so I’m surprised they never really tried harder to re-acquire bungie.
mrmustard
Banned
Compared to Bethesda with its several devs and ips Bungie is a one trick pony. I wouldn't have paid 3bn either.
RickMasters
Member
Juicy!
Dr_Ifto
Member
If we are talking lifetime, yeah I can see that many. In the first year? Nah, 4 million aren't buying the console in the first year to play one game.
Trick question?
RickMasters
Member
Their insight into MP and MTX must have been really valuable to sony. I woulndt pay 3bn for them neither to be honest. I think even MS, mojang aquisition was expensive for just one dev that makes just one game,minecraft....and even when they do make something thats not minecraft...... its a spin off of minecraft, like legends or dungeons....
RickMasters
Member
Id imagine its one of those studios they regret losing. MS should have had more faith in bungie with their next IP (that would go on to become destiny) from a money perspective it worked out. the game was a success...even If I grew to hate it and stopped playing it. cant deny the success it has been for bungie. and given what they done with MTXs, thats right up MS street anyway. they would still be a better fit than with sony, even to this day.
Ar¢tos
Member
Atlus?
I can't imagine any other reason to buy Sega. Sonic is basically a has-been nowadays, compared to the 90s.
BlackTron
Member
In my opinion the real mistake was overconfidence that they could carry the Halo torch competently without them. If Bungie wants to do something else fine, give them that space to do so, but before selling them off. So just in case Halo is a disaster you can call them back in.
This mistake is a full 50% of what lost their standing in the console space, the other half was the doomed Xbox One reveal.
drganon
Member
Yeah, because Microsoft is real trustworthy
Lunarorbit
Member
All reports like this do is piss people off.
Rykan
Member
The people who are going to play it on PC are people with a PC capable of running Starfield, which is significantly more expensive than a series console. There will be plenty of people who are looking to play the game, and for many of them, an Xbox will be the most affordable option. Assuming the game is as good as we're all expecting it to be.
Apples to oranges. The Nintendo 64 was significantly more expensive to produce games for and was significantly more expensive for consumers, which meant it missed out on a lot of games. This isn't the case with Series X. There were all sorts of factors at play that don't apply here. The Dreamcast was selling well when those games came out. The Dreamcast was a very front loaded console: Most of its well known and popular games came out early, and there simply weren't that many big hitters on the system.
Ok, but one game selling more than the other doesn't mean that the game being outsold isn't a system seller.Also,you can't really compare sales anyway, because Starfield will be on Gamepass. That doesn't mean that Xbox is gonna catch up to Playstation, but Xbox series will sell way more than you predicted before all is said and done.
RickMasters
Member
funny thing is I can see some of these happening in the next five years. my bets are on:
Asobo (flight simulator is amazing and they have proven with the plague tale games they are a very talented studio)
CD projeckt (the final feather in thier WRPG cap)
avalanche (after the release of contraband I can deffo see it happening)
IOI (we know this ones been on the cards...Its a matter of time)
Frontier developments (I just think they would be a good fit...and I love elite dangerous. )
I dont they will ever be able to purchase sega for political reasons but that wont stop their relationship from getting stronger. sega could be to MS what square is to sony. maybe the persona series can get marketing spotlight on xbox and create some marketing synergy with a JRPG...platform association via marketing. maybe..... put all the old genesis and master system and saturn and dreamcast games on the xbox market place and in gamepass. nintendo already has a tonne of master system and megdrive games that are not on xbox or PS. port the lot. no need to buy sega. they cant have them by way of japanese laws anyway. so just spend some extra money and get as much sega content as possible. old and new.
I can absolutely see those happening in the next five years. And I can see them doing deals with devolver and focus to get more of their games on gamepass, day one. They already have EA and ubi as part of GPU. I think post ABK aquisition the focus will be on smaller/individual studio aquisitions.
Reckheim
Member
yeh, the limits are 'you have to release games exclusively on our consoles'
Bungie going with Sony wasn't a money issue.
Danwan224
Member
That is still a questionable listYes and that was only the first list. This is the shrinked list:
The Fuzz damn you!
Gold Member
Bungie is worth more to Sony, because:
A) Sony have more consoles to sell the game on
B) Sony was willing to keep the game multi-platform (and even if MS were willing to do the same, they’d still be losing a 30% cut of a significantly higher number of sales than Sony is).
C) Sony needed a counter to a potential loss of CoD.
Bethesda is a better fit for MS’s GamePass model. Long-term engagement in Festiny requires constant (expensive, in dev terms) updates. For Starfield or TES, the games themselves are engaging long-term with minimal maintenance, and the modding community will do a lot of work for you on top of that - while potentially adding revenue as well. Sony isn’t so big on modding, terrified as they are of having their console jailbroken.
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RickMasters
Member
Id also add D) they were worth the 3bn to sony for their experience with MTX and GAAS. I just dont dont think I would have spent 3bn for them. maybe half that. I just dont see 3gn dollars of value in that aquisition, personally.
also destiny does suit the GP model just fine. any gaas game does on any subscription service. in destinys case, aslong as they throw in the main expansions and just let users buy the MTXs. On that same note ill bet there will be more pricier tiers of GPU in years to come that incudes battlepasses and season passes for many of these types of games.
solidus12
Member
Never gets old
Jigsaah
Member
I'm gonna assume Microsoft knows more than me when it comes to this, but I don't really see the value in buying Sega. I suppose it comes down to the price, but just in general, I didn't know Sega games had as much mass appeal in modern times.
Still think Microsoft just needs to chill a bit. I get they are looking at Google and Amazon and seeing that they have at least the capital to buy up a lot of these studios if they wanted to. However, the thing to me is like, sometimes you can put so much on your plate that you end up getting nothing done at all.
I really think Microsoft is gobbling devs up and won't be able to handle it, which could hurt everyone including the consumer.
Still think Microsoft just needs to chill a bit. I get they are looking at Google and Amazon and seeing that they have at least the capital to buy up a lot of these studios if they wanted to. However, the thing to me is like, sometimes you can put so much on your plate that you end up getting nothing done at all.
I really think Microsoft is gobbling devs up and won't be able to handle it, which could hurt everyone including the consumer.
FlyyGOD
Member
Microsoft buying publishers is the result of Sony money hatting exclusives .
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
jonnyp
Member
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
MS has to be stopped at all cost!
John Wick
Member
Watch the shills be in total denial.........
MS always were a company that stifled competition. Then cry to the regulators when one of the other big tech giants shafted them the same way......
John Wick
Member
No they haven't tried buying anyone for 7 billion never mind 70 billion. You need to stop this "What If" nonsense to defend MS.
John Wick
Member
That's it Phil out spend them like we all have. Why innovate when we can buy/bully our way to success as we have in many sectors.
Fat Frog
I advertised for Google Stadia
What deathblow ?
Sega has been twice metacritic #1 publisher.
They are shitting gold with Sonic movies, buying Rovio, hiring a load of staff for Creative Assembly, Atlus, Yakuza Studio, Sonic Team, creating 2 new studios in Sapporo, Persona 5 will pass 9-10 million units sold (13-15 with the spin offs by 2025), Sega veterans from ex-Sonic Team, Smilebit are returning to create games for them.
I'm clearly against a buy out by Microsoft but as a legendary publisher loved by millions of people, Sega can only do better over time.
Their only limit was arcade business.
That's over... They sold it.
Now, they can survive only with the revenues of Sonic cross franchise and old IPs digital sales...
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