With WB Games seeming more and more like a long shot (it always was), do you think that Microsoft will lock anyone else down?
Immediately my mind goes to two studios as somewhat likely.
Asobo and Bloober.
I think one or both of them will eventually be purchased by Microsoft.
Asobo has shown immense versatility and the fact that they are under contract for nearly a decade to work on Flight Sim makes it all the much more reasonable to expect an outright purchase.
Bloober is a bit more tenuous of an argument but The Medium is being heavily featured in a way that other third party games aren’t. I honestly am not super familiar with their work but they seem to be harnessing the power of the Series X better than anyone else so far.
My dream (but realistic) acquisition is Remedy. Xbox has really thrived in creating a plethora of unique titles, but let’s be honest. They need a studio that can make a third person action adventure type game that gets the critics to declare it the next step in gaming. Remedy is as creative and as talented as any developer there is and I would love to see them with the freedom and funding Microsoft is giving their new studios.
I’m not certain we’ll see any acquisitions and I do wish Microsoft would not hold them so close to the chest if there are. I would prefer a press release announcing them versus a stage presence.
So.
Do you think an acquisition is likely this year?
Who do you think we could see?
Who is your dream acquisition?
How would you like the announcement? X020 type stage presence or more subtle?
I was rooting for them as well but had heard they seriously valued staying independent. It’s a shame they won’t be staying in house but I’m happy they are comfortable staying independent and expect them to maintain a good relationship with Microsoft. Maybe 505 publishing will become a better partner with this.
They are talking and continuing to look. Statements by Microsoft execs confirm as much. The question is when and who? It takes 2 and timing is as important as fit.
As an outsider, Bungie, IOI and Asobo all seem like the best targets.
Bungie because Microsoft still owns a share of the company, they want to make a new IP and Microsoft knows how to maximize their ability to monetize a multiplat IP like Destiny based on their experience with Minecraft.
Asobo because they already have a relationship and have shown results with cloud tech.
Microsoft studios can learn to leverage their knowledge on other innovative projects in the future. I really like the potential of their Plague Tale team as well.
IOI because they’re a talented, well run studio who’s not had commercial success lately. Would love to see them gain Game Pass exposure and Microsoft resources to take the next step.
I think some studio in Poland makes sense. Growing talent pool and cost effective place to own and grow a studio. Just don’t know who’s the best fit out there. Bloober stated it’s not them. People Can Fly might be logical.
I feel like there will be 1 or 2 things this year just based on the amount of time it’s been since an announcement combined with the knowledge they’ve been talking.
I think maybe they’re waiting to see how well MS Flight Sim does before buying Asobo. They put alot of system stuff in it just for a game being made by a third party
Regardless of how Flight Sim does commercially, it’s hard to deny Asobo’s talent. There’s no waiting IMO. It’s either they’re willing to be acquired of they want to remain independent.
Would be unreal. Halo CE is synonymous with Xbox. They are so big and so successful though. It was alluded on episode 30 of the XboxERA podcast that they are nearly as big as WB.
I’d love it. I know some warriors won’t like Microsoft keeping Destiny multiplat but I believe Destiny on Game Pass for good with Microsoft backing would result in even better and more innovative things for Destiny long term. I also would like to see their next IP fully able to capitalize on all Microsoft’s resources including potential cloud innovations. Microsoft should be looking for the next Halo and who better to create it than the creators…of Halo.
The short answer is yes I feel, but that doesn’t mean Microsoft is done going forward into next year etc. Phil Spencer has already said that there has been no direction from above telling them to stop so it is dependent on the Xbox team.
Acquisitions don’t happen over night and it takes two to tango so to speak. My feeling, from reading what Microsoft has said, is they are concentrating more on integrating their new existing studios and getting their first lot of games out in the wild so to speak. We have to remember that first party has doubled in size within the past 2 years and the actual studios are growing in terms of developers. That’s a massive intake within a relatively short amount of time.
This doesn’t mean that Xbox Game Studios has stopped growing but if the right opportunity comes along then I would expect Microsoft to make a move.
I don’t see Microsoft acquiring Asobo any time soon as they have already confirmed that their next game outside of Flight Sim will be Plague Tale 2 to be published by Focus Home Interactive. Since that’s probably at least 3 more years away, I don’t see this happening and to be perfectly honest, any studio that Microsoft acquires needs to be fully exclusive to them. Like no more, Wasteland 3/The Outer Worlds being mutli-platform because that defeats the entire purpose of acquiring them.
I like Spencer and sincerely believe that he wants to be a good guy for gaming and all that but that only works if your competition is doing the same as you but they’re not so you need to pull back the friendly stuff and quite honestly, have more of that killer instinct (and the game too by the way) and stop being so nice and friendly.
Would much rather see Microsoft acquire Techland over Bungie. Maybe an exclusive game deal with Bungie but that’s it. They aren’t going back to Halo and Destiny stays multi-platform, if anything, you’re helping out the other platforms more than your own.
As for Remedy, they signed a multi-game deal with Epic so forget about them. Remedy got one hell of a deal from Epic so I can see why even Sony wasn’t able to acquire them last year which was expected.
As mentioned in the Xbox Studios topic, another development studio I wouldn’t mind would be The Astronauts who are currently working on Witchfire which looks pretty damn good. They seem to have some good talent there.
The pickings are slim and getting slimmer. I can see them picking up Team Bloober, and maybe the team that makes Stalker. I think they should establish a Japanese studio focused on making games for Japanese gamers.
Don’t think there will be anymore until 2021 at this point, they will grow but at a much slower rate now that they have a pretty good selection of studios now.
