March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said he wants to make more acquisitions and he's pushing his most senior managers to help find the right candidates. ``We are really looking hard,'' Gates, 49, said in an interview yesterday in San Diego. Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, is taking a ``bottom-up'' approach to acquisitions by asking managers to look for targets, Gates said. Gates outlined the mandate in meetings with Microsoft's seven division heads, including Jeff Raikes, 46, who leads the division that makes Office software and Robbie Bach, 43, who runs the Xbox, home and video-games group.
Microsoft looking for more acquisitions
- Thread starter thorns
- Start date
jarrod said:
Midway is mostly owned by Redstone, so probably no. Eidos is a possibility, since they're at bargain price now, but I'm not sure which IPs they have that are worth anything (Besides TR and Hitman) or which developers they own.. My guess is they'll probably go after some smaller studios instead of a whole publisher.
So far they've been trying to show interest in Japanese developers to expand their portfolio...
So a few Japanese devs that they might be able to aquire for not to exorbitant a price...
Falcom
FROM Software
K2
Nipon Ichi
Game Arts (What little SE owns of them would hardly stop MS from a buyout if they were determined)
Other possible (but not likely) yet more costly purchases...
Tecmo (or a splintered off Team Ninja)
SNK Playmore (How much are they worth nowadays?)
Tri-Ace (Enix doesn't need them anymore so you never know)
Mistwalker or Games Republic (like the Retro deal happened a few years back)
Sony
So a few Japanese devs that they might be able to aquire for not to exorbitant a price...
Falcom
FROM Software
K2
Nipon Ichi
Game Arts (What little SE owns of them would hardly stop MS from a buyout if they were determined)
Other possible (but not likely) yet more costly purchases...
Tecmo (or a splintered off Team Ninja)
SNK Playmore (How much are they worth nowadays?)
Tri-Ace (Enix doesn't need them anymore so you never know)
Mistwalker or Games Republic (like the Retro deal happened a few years back)
Sony
Pedigree Chum
Banned
They should have bought Criterion, that would have been a good buy. They should pick up the guys who made Mercenaries (name escapes me), and Gearbox (BiA is impressive, they could have great future ahead of them in the right hands) and Starbreeze. And use the rest of the cash to get GTA time-exlusive, and give them the UT engine to use while you're at it.
gamergirly
Member
Malakhov said:
Sounds like some bitterness there.....
Hiro_Kunimi_80
Member
I'd like ( in order of preference)
team ninja ( not tecmo )
Bioware
Factor 5
Bizarre Creations
Silicon Knight
Sega
team ninja ( not tecmo
) Bioware
Factor 5
Bizarre Creations
Silicon Knight
Sega
Well, they own Crystal Dynamics, IO Interactive and Core Design. Those are 3 pretty notable teams right there, on top of their various IPs (Hitman, Tomb Raider, Gex, Soul Reaver, etc).thorns said:
I think generally buying into Japan would more hurt Microsoft's reputation in the region than anything. Better to form close publishing deals that benefit both sides there (like the Mistwalker, Game Republic and Q Entertainment deals) and build up their own internal studios (Team Tree and Team Breakout are a great start). They should really start up a Falcom partnership asap though, that should've been in place before Xbox even hit market there. Continue courting other more hardcore/niche underdog developers too (Tecmo, GameArts, Sting, Treasure, SNK Playmore, etc) in addition to the mega publishers (Sega, Konami, Namco, Capcom, Bandai, etc).DarkCloud said:So far they've been trying to show interest in Japanese developers to expand their portfolio...
So a few Japanese devs that they might be able to aquire for not to exorbitant a price...
Falcom
FROM Software
K2
Nipon Ichi
Game Arts (What little SE owns of them would hardly stop MS from a buyout if they were determined)
Other possible (but not likely) yet more costly purchases...
SNK Playmore (How much are they worth nowadays?)
Tri-Ace (Enix doesn't need them anymore so you never know)
Mistwalker or Games Republic (like the Retro deal happened a few years back)
Sony
Pedigree Chum
Banned
DarkCloud said:
Yup Pandemic would be a VERY smart buy. Starbreeze needs to shake Majesco and shack up with MS, imagine a next-gen Riddick-like game with UE3? Holy fuck.
Pedigree Chum
Banned
TheDiave said:
More acquisitions, eh? Sounds like EA's getting scared.
:lol
Acquisitions is a smart thing to do, especially now while there's lots of good small devs out there still. In the future it'll be slim pickings, get em now or not at all. EA is smart as fuck for thier acquisitions, and not because they're doing them, but because they're making SMART acquisitions. MS will have to do the same, it's not about buying out every small dev, but spending the cash to buy a handful of great devs.
Yeah aside from the smaller ones it would probably hurt them more than help. What they should be doing is hiring executives from major companies into Xbox Japan and then let them handle any Japanese deals. It seemed to entice Mistwalker over by having Maruyama in charge.jarrod said:
From Software
Team Ninja
Starbreeze
Pandemic Studios
and believe it or not, Sega would be a nice acquisition as well. They've got TONS of valuable properties and some talent still remaining. Some bloat still left, but worth the $$$ imo.
Consolidation is happening in a big way with EA at the forefront. Microsoft shouldn't stand back and watch as they lose talented dev houses to the competition, especially those already making quaility Xbox software.
Team Ninja
Starbreeze
Pandemic Studios
and believe it or not, Sega would be a nice acquisition as well. They've got TONS of valuable properties and some talent still remaining. Some bloat still left, but worth the $$$ imo.
Consolidation is happening in a big way with EA at the forefront. Microsoft shouldn't stand back and watch as they lose talented dev houses to the competition, especially those already making quaility Xbox software.
Hmmm, exciting i guess. Rare and Bungie are 2 of my fav devs in the west (along with a few others) and i dont think they need to invest in western studios. Their partnership with BioWare, Epic, Lionhead, UbiSoft and EA is pretty strong, so they have that side covered.
Id like them to invest in Japanese studios. Not complete buyouts, just exclusive contracts. SquareEnix would be a nice start
Id like them to invest in Japanese studios. Not complete buyouts, just exclusive contracts. SquareEnix would be a nice start
The Abominable Snowman
Member
I think they're going to acquire a larger publishing house, like Eidos or Capcom, and sign many publishing deals with developers like Bioware and such. It'd definitely be the smart thing to do.
Ghost of Bill Gates
Banned
Pedigree Chum said:
True.
Sega just bought `The Creative Assembly. The Total War developer.
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