jimbojim
Banned
So what if these two are different? And so what if new Halo was announced few years ago and new Spidey a week ago. Spider-man is much older brand and much stronger brand than Halo in entertaiment industry.
Microsoft might buy Bloober Team (creators of The Medium) next
- Thread starter Bernkastel
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So what if these two are different? And so what if new Halo was announced few years ago and new Spidey a week ago. Spider-man is much older brand and much stronger brand than Halo in entertaiment industry.
SleepDoctor
Banned
Or maybe just maybe..... you guys take this off topic mess to another thread. Were you really triggered by people's opinions tha you had to run in here to add your 2 cents to this off topic discussion ?
The amount of Sony fanboys always saying how Xbox is dead or irrelevant, running in every Xbox thread never seize to amaze me.
Slings and Arrows
Banned
I'm labelling me an xbot.
I only disagree with Phil Spencer beng the saviour. Outside of that Microsoft are doing well.
Dolomite
Member
Hey slice it however you need to swallow that hard pill. Spiderman is a success but halo is a 5 Billion Dollar legacy franchise. Spiderman is an impressive game Insomniac does in between thier other titles, and Halo....is Xbox
Bernkastel
Ask me about my fanboy energy!
Now you are just using console war templates for argument.
SleepDoctor
Banned
Andodalf
Banned
Dolomite
Member
"Well... it'll just be game pass filler!!!" is my new favorite insult
nothing screams insecure like discrediting a Dev team whose game is not out yet because they are being acquired by another platform
jimbojim
Banned
You're underestimating Spider-man as a brand
List of highest-grossing media franchises - Wikipedia
Shmunter
Member
I'm very consistent on this point
Dolomite
Member
You're derailing a thread about a polish Dev team's possible acquisition to peddle the good gospel of Peter Parker. Spiderman man is a hit with the kids across generations. CongratsYou're underestimating Spider-man as a brand
List of highest-grossing media franchises - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
jimbojim
Banned
You were involved in thread derailing before my first post here and i didn't started Spidey vs. Halo. Good? Good.
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Bernkastel
Ask me about my fanboy energy!
Very consistent in using lame templates.
Bernkastel
Ask me about my fanboy energy!
He was giving the hint.
Shmunter
Member
No idea what you're referring to. My point was made, anyone critically honest can admit the model inevitably ends in squeezing creators down a certain path.
Bernkastel
Ask me about my fanboy energy!
You mean your version of being critically honest.
SaucyJack
Member
This just lines up with the Microsoft buying a Polish studio rumour.
Once again who will buy Bloober Team other than Microsoft, who they have a good relationship with.
Microsoft in Poland for studio acquisition
I saw this on Era, if true then maybe their acquisition spree hasn’t ended yet. and before anyone jumps to conclusions, highly doubtful it’s CDRed. It’s in the twitter link but I’ll post it here for easier access, but here’s the list of Polish studios that are still independent. Here’s...www.neogaf.com
Rumours feeding rumours, eh?
I'm not saying it's not possible, it absolutely is. But I've said what I think are challenges that Microsoft currently face in their already rapidly expanded portfolio of studios and why buying a small indie studio in Eastern Europe might just not be top priority logistically right now.
And who else? There's a hundred companies out there that could snap up Bloober without a second thought.
The Alien
Banned
...and the new Worlds Edge studio responsible for Age of Empires.
Genx3
Member
If MS likes what Bloober is doing with The Medium they should absolutely acquire them before EA or Activision swoops in like they did in the 360/PS3 days with Bioware and Bizare Creations.
Those acquisitions screwed MS out of exclusives they fully funded. MS lost IP (or devs behind popular IP) they fully funded and took market risks on like PGR, Mass Effect, Jade Empire and SWKOTOR.
Those IP are some of Xbox' most beloved franchises.
MS was too slow to act on purchasing the Developers behind those franchises and it costed the Xbox brand in terms of quality exclusives. Games that were previously MS fully funded exclusives to XB like Mass Effect became multiplat.
IMO, That is where Sony's strategy has been superior to MS's XB' strategy. Sony saw how well Psygnosis was doing for them then purchased them. How well Naughty Dog was doing for them then purchased them, Sucker Punch then purchased and the same with Insomniac. Sony is a lot quicker noticing the talent behind their 1st Party franchises and will quickly identify that and go in for the acquisition before a 3rd party can come in and take valuable talent from them.
Those acquisitions screwed MS out of exclusives they fully funded. MS lost IP (or devs behind popular IP) they fully funded and took market risks on like PGR, Mass Effect, Jade Empire and SWKOTOR.
Those IP are some of Xbox' most beloved franchises.
MS was too slow to act on purchasing the Developers behind those franchises and it costed the Xbox brand in terms of quality exclusives. Games that were previously MS fully funded exclusives to XB like Mass Effect became multiplat.
IMO, That is where Sony's strategy has been superior to MS's XB' strategy. Sony saw how well Psygnosis was doing for them then purchased them. How well Naughty Dog was doing for them then purchased them, Sucker Punch then purchased and the same with Insomniac. Sony is a lot quicker noticing the talent behind their 1st Party franchises and will quickly identify that and go in for the acquisition before a 3rd party can come in and take valuable talent from them.
I hope this is true the timed exclusive was a waste of money. Getting the studio and growing it is the best long term investment for series x buyers. These guys have good ideas just need money to grow into bigger projects.
The Sony warriors bitching about Microsoft buying studios. Maybe Sony should let naughty dog or insomniac go free then since they were not "home grown"? Taking a small studio and building them up is great and we have seen Sony do it with great success
The Sony warriors bitching about Microsoft buying studios. Maybe Sony should let naughty dog or insomniac go free then since they were not "home grown"? Taking a small studio and building them up is great and we have seen Sony do it with great success
Nemesis Prime
Member
Hard disagree. No point of starting new studios when they are trying to see positive results sooner rather than later. It's less risk and less difficult to manage with pre existing experienced studios.
Looking at 343 and just how much they struggled with the past few halo games, it's evident you need studios with background and experience, if anything trying to create multitudes of new studios sounds more like throwing money at a problem than smart acquisitions
That's not to say I am against new studios, they have done so with 343, the coalition, and the initiative. But the initiative is still very far from releasing a game (still very small team and outsourcing), 343 finally getting into second gear (I like what I'm hearing from infinite), and the coalition still waiting to create that breakthrough game from them after 2 very safe games.
The Alien
Banned
I predicted Bloober as one of their targets when Microsoft visited Poland months ago.
(Am I an insider now? Lol)
I think Bloober is a good fit. Microsoft needs horror driven exclusives. They have a decent pedigree with Observer, Layers of Fear, Blair Witch. Bloober can benefit from Microsoft's funding...and The Medium looks like their biggest game yet.
Rumors of between 3-5 acquisitions are what's been floating.
(Am I an insider now? Lol)
I think Bloober is a good fit. Microsoft needs horror driven exclusives. They have a decent pedigree with Observer, Layers of Fear, Blair Witch. Bloober can benefit from Microsoft's funding...and The Medium looks like their biggest game yet.
Rumors of between 3-5 acquisitions are what's been floating.
CatLady
Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
Are there any reliable sources behind that rumor? 3-5 additional studios would be awesome, especially if one is Asobo.
Gavon West
Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
So basically you're saying you're not willing to wait and see what they have up their sleeves for the coming generation despite all the massive steps theyve taken to right the ship? I could see where you're coming from if the next generation all ready began and it was just more of the same. But this isnt the case at all.
Surely we need to see how the new devs and new techs play out but, all signs point to Microsoft having learned some very important lessons over the last few years, for sure! To even try to summarize the Xbox division as nothing more than corporate drivel after everything that's taken place since Phil took over is hyperbolic at best. If anyone thinks this now, you've clearly been out of the loop for a while. Opinions are just that, I get it. But this one is wrong. No offense.
PS
I cant believe you even brought up the Tv Tv Tv stuff. How many years ago was that??? Wasnt Jesus just starting on his rap group back then? Holy...
Im curious also we knew about the Poland rumor. We know they would buy any legitimate Japanese studio in a heartbeat but that is not happening for cultural reasons
Bernkastel
Ask me about my fanboy energy!
Nothing stopped Bethesda from acquiring Tango Gameworks.
SleepDoctor
Banned
Rumors of another 3 - 5 acquisitions?
Really interested to see who are they looking to acquire if true.
Barlow
Member
SaucyJack
Member
Why does this guys name keep popping up recently? Had a look at his posts over on b3d and it looks fairly bland, standard fanboy fare.
Shmunter
Member
He's the guy proclaiming AAA releases by MS every second month.
Kokoloko85
Member
It very well might and should.
But if the reviews bomb, and the game bombs it will ruin the series for a long time. Its costing them almost a billion to make, coming off a lackluster Halo 5 it will be a disaster
SaucyJack
Member
He's the guy proclaiming AAA releases by MS every second month.
Ah, makes sense.
Telling people what they want to hear can work as a short term strategy I guess.
jakinov
Member
Th
Acquiring studios is fine as part of your growth strategy but again my point was instead of this acquisition and going forward I think that they should form new studios (assuming that they want to grow still). They already acquired several studios and the organization is substantial larger than when they started. But now I think that if they want to grow, take a different kind of risk and create studios where you can poach good talent from the super strong ones that you can't acquire (already owned by other big companies). Instead of settling for companies with not so-great track records and then leaving the main leadership in-tact. There's risk involved in both situations. But going forward maybe instead of trying to "grow first party"quickly", take some risk and to grow first-party to try and give you potentially better results.
They explicitly said their strategy is to let them do what they want and support them. You can pump money into bad leaders and teams and that won't necessarily make them good. My argument is that if you start from scratch you have the opportunity to find a new leader you can pump money into instead buying a companies who have not been consistently super successful (or at all). Other companies often purchase independently owned studios that they have a good relationship with and shipped a successful game or two with in the past. Microsoft acquired studios that have neglected them and are in the middle of creating games that ended up not doing so well. Google is currently doing what I'm suggesting and building new studios by poaching/acquiring top talent from other studios to run them.
In regards to how long it takes to hire a bunch of employees. For a company like Microsoft, it's probably not going to take as long as you think. Large companies can hire very fast, existing Microsoft studios already leverage Microsoft HR hiring system. Microsoft like most big companies have a bunch of deals with recruiting companies to go out and find talented who have or don't have a job already to get them to come interview. Sure it takes more time then starting at X employees than 0; but you shouldn't be basing your growth decisions on how fast you can get X random employees. You should want to ensure you are trying to get the best employees you can.
Also, It's pretty clear why I'm posting the same things. I'm was replying to someone directly quoting me, misunderstanding what I say and making silly arguments because he's overly defense over his favorite game console.
Microsoft acquired a bunch of studios in the middle of third-party distribution contracts with publishers. They don't even get to fully utilize them to get results. They already have several studios at this point. They should take a bit more risk and try and build new ones using strong talent from studios that aren't independently owned. The point of creating studios is about taking a bit of risk to get potentially better results.
Acquiring studios is arguably more throwing money at the problem than what I'm suggesting. Microsoft is buying a bunch of indie studios with worst track records than 343 , letting them do what they want and then giving them a bunch of money hoping that because they have a bunch more money they are going to suddenly have better track records in the future. The strategy I suggested was to build studios using top talent from other studios which is using people who have arguably proven that they know what they are doing instead of hoping the leadership and devs of these random indie studios do better with more money. My suggestion might cost more money but it's not about throwing money it's about taking the risk to create something great using people who have a great track-record; opposed to hopping the leaders of these studios are great leaders/visionaries who were held back by money.
The initiative is not a traditional development studio, they have been deliberately trying to stay small and experiment in their development methodology. Even if they went full-force and took a traditional approach to gave development you probably shouldn't have expect anything from them only 2ish years since their conception. Just like you probably shouldn't expect a big budget AAA game from any of Microsoft acquisitions from 1-2 years ago because most of their team were/are pre-occupied with other multi-platform projects and brand new big budget AAA games typically takes 3-5 years to make..
Genx3
Member
25 Studios consisting of 2 teams each should be able to hit that 1 AAA game every 2 months if that's their goal.
They would need 25 studios right now if they're going to be launching that many games thru out the XSX gen.
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Genx3
Member
Andodalf
Banned
25 teams sure. 25 studios seems like a whole lot
Flintty
Member
Yeah. Funny to see the evolution from 'Xbox has no games Lol' to 'Xbox games are Gamepass filler'. Gotta have a crutch to lean on right?
Potentially a good signing - the more studios pumping out games the better.
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TheGrat1
Member
Yeah but what is Microsoft's track record of developing it's developers? It seems like most of their teams only work on 1 IP. Bungie left because they did not want to keep making Halo. Lionhead was nothing but Fable until they closed down. I get the feeling that The Coalition and 343i are going to be making Gears and Halo forever if everything goes according to plan. Even when those studios do step out of their boxes they get mixed at best results. Rare is a prime example of this. They were rock stars in the 90's and have been middling in terms of critical reception since. Microsoft pushing Kinect games on them was a mismanagement of resources, imo. If MS acquire Bloober team and The Medium is a success, I hope (for their sake) that they already wanted to do 5 or 6 sequels.
Contrast with Sony and Nintendo. Nintendo is a bit less structured, they seem to let any of their internal development teams and even outside studios take a crack at any of their IPs. Sony's studios seem to create new IPs every gen (except for Polyphony (I doubt they care to) and San Diego studio) and they generally get more and more critical and commercial success as time goes on. If Microsoft owned Naughty Dog I have little doubt that we would be waiting on Uncharted 6 by now and TLOU would have never seen the light of day.
The Alien
Banned
That's the rumor. I was thinking the 3 areBloober, People Can Fly, and Asobo.
But the "up to 5" has me really curious as there could be big gets out there (especially with WB selling off vid games division)....and with Techland confirming they havent been bought, makes it very interesting.
People Can Fly wpukd be good as they have decent IP history (Painkiller, Bulletstorm) and have done work on the Gears series.
Asobo and Microsoft apparently love working together. Flight Sim looks insane and they're ridiculously talented and can make any type of game (Plagues Tale adult single player, Flight Sim, etc.). I think Asobo, would be in the top 3rd of dev studios MS has. Asobo also needs financial assistance. They signed some short term contract to deliver one game due next year....but that hasn't stopped acquisitions in the past.
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SaucyJack
Member
Did anyone suggest that they did?
Andodalf
Banned
I had no idea what all game Asobo did. That's probably the most diverse lineup I've seen from one studio. Woah
SaucyJack
Member
Yeah, nah. This is fantasy stuff.
Xbox Studios have doubled in size recently, Satya and the Microsoft board will almost certainly be telling Phil that he needs to show some results from those acquisitions before signing off on a bunch more. Phil knows that this is reality in a large company like Microsoft. Internal rates of return need to be met.
Sure, if a good deal comes up and it fits strategy really well then he might be able to make the case on a one-off basis, but he's not getting to double the whole portfolio again any time soon.
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The Alien
Banned
I do think Microsoft now is different than the Microsoft of old. I think you are seeing investment and creative freedom that wasnt there previously.
Gears and Halo are old franchises, but they are still billion dollar franchises....so they wont let them just sit idle. I think Gears could use a hiatus to retool and reinvent.
But i think you're seeing that investment and freedom from these new studios in games like Grounded and Bleeding Edge. I also think studios like The Coalition will get the opportunity to work on/create new IP.
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CatLady
Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
The Coalition can take a Gears hiatus after Gears 6, I want to play the final game of the current trilogy.
Sony
Nintendo
They're not even remotely comparable. Bloomer doesn't have the track of Bioware and Bizarre at the time. Microsoft wants to offer the Netflix of Games, which can only succeed with a steady release of content. Dev acquisitions will keep a steady release of content.