Phil Spencer - Microsoft board said "what's next" after Zenimax deal closed

Gaming
41

Everybody was. People were saying MS would never go near publishers who have toxic enviroment

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42

nah i said and many other said MS would get another publisher in next 5 years, toxic environment was never big issue really when come to acquisition.

what surprising MS Paid 70B! 70B! nobody expected that.

43

T2 did announce GTA5 next gen coming in March (to cap off their FY) and formally admitted GTA6 is in dev. Probably that stuff.

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44

yea most likely

45

Serious?

Also, what could that mean for a possible acquisition by either MS or Sony?

46

If they invested because they knew an acquisition was incoming it’d be insider trading

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47

Yup. What does it mean?..no clue, lol. Someone else said they invested in other gaming companies not long ago too.

48

Only if they actually knew that info. Lots of investors buying stock in 3P devs on the hopes of a buyout. Happened right after ABK deal and I think after Bungie deal too iirc.

49

Oh I see, so if I understand this correctly it points to there currently no ongoing plans for acquisition by anyone?

50

It doesn’t mean they are getting acquired, but it doesn’t mean they are not getting acquired lol. It provides nothing conclusive.

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51

Investments, like the one the saudis made, are as simple as they appear. They are investing in something they expect to see a return on. Shares are bought with the expectation that, given the current videogame market, they will see a return in time.

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52

Yep. People are reading way too much into it. They have invested into a load of gaming companies because they know the market is growing and so they expect their investment to also grow. They don’t need to wait for a buyout to sell the shares either.

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53

phone rings

CEO of Company Y: Phiiiiiiillll, how’s it going man. Congrats on the ac-

Phil:

click

54

“And the constant conversation had always been about mobile and casual”

Interesting

55

Apparently they did in Activision Blizzard

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56

Got it. :slight_smile:

Where’s this from?

57

The article in the OP.

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58

Activision-Blizzard happened in a few months. Seemingly motivated by low share prices (a bargain) and the leadership team needing an exit plan as the situation deteriorated.

Wonder if they are watching Ubisoft. They’ve got a lot of the same culture issues. Just haven’t had the string of bad luck games wise yet.

59

From the interview Phil gave. The OP could be seen as suggesting the board wanted more moves like Zenimax, but Phil actually says they were referring to more mobile/casual stuff. ABK covers all bases nicely though I’d say. :slight_smile:

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60

No doubt MS is ready to strike when given the opportunity.