With Zenimax now fully in the Xbox fold, just how big is Xbox Game Studios, and how does it rank with the likes of EA, Activision, Take Two etc for studio numbers, IP value and turn over?
I mean, Minecraft alone is massive.
In my eyes MS would be clearly around the number one spot.
Quality of studios MS is up there.
The game IPs with Halo, Gears, Forza, Fallout, TES, Doom, Wolfenstein, Minecraft and Flight Sim has to be the equal of any publisher. Im not counting Marvel, Star Wars, FIFA etc as these IPs are owned by other companies and only leased.
I put XGS at around 5000 employees. Now I know that some studios have huge numbers like Rockstar for instance, but Rockstars numbers go into polish rather than output.
How do others think XGS ranks in like a top 5 list?
Its bigger than Sony or Nintendo have ever been by headcount. Something I think gets overlooked. Owning 23 studios now is a lot different then owning 23 studios in the OG Xbox gen.
Some have estimated there’s about 35 teams, but honestly who knows. I’m sure it fluctuates.
I personally estimate Gamepass as worth $20 Billion dollars (a billion for every million subscribers) and all Xbox IP $80 Billion Half of which is Minecraft.
I also have Bethesda as now being worth $15 Billion.
Their IP alone is ridiculous.
Not sure any other publisher has as many good IPs as Xbox does now.
Activision has COD, Crash and that’s about it for valuable francises.
Take Two has the big dog in RDR, GTA, Bioshock, Borderlands, Max Payne etc. They have some high quality IPs.
EA has some big ones with Codemasters added in, but alot are gaming franchises which they are only leasing. They could lose the rights to another company so they lose a bit there.
Ubisoft has some decent ones like Assassins Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs etc.
But Xbox now competes big time with those guys.
Forza, Doom, Halo, Gears, Minecraft, Fallout, TES, Wolfenstein etc.
Who would have thought a year ago we would be saying this.
