Toys4Bob is going independent

This screams to me Toys 4 Bob are working on Banjo without MS giving up its cloud rights to Ubisoft. Looking forward to what they can do away from Bobby K.

I’m not sure I get your point? So Xbox shouldn’t work on any ABK IP for the next 15 years in fear that the cloud rights will go to Ubisoft?

I think it makes more sense to have a super talented studio in house without the cloud rights?

If Toys 4 Bob work on ABK IP as a 2nd party studio the cloud rights would still go to Ubisoft. Plus there’s a chance the studio is acquired by someone else.

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Not what I’m saying. Just that ABK could focus on IP they already have and maybe use outside studios like XGS to test out new IPs if they can. Xbox has certainly hit the brakes on streaming since the CMA ruling while Nvidia are accelerating on it.

This is assuming that Toys 4 Bob are working on a Xbox IP which is not a ABK IP.

I still don’t see the positive for Xbox of T4B going indie. Yes it’s great for the studio but for Xbox I only see it as a loss (less talent and the loss of their only family friendly studio).

If T4B and Xbox can’t agree a partnership or they are acquired then it’s a complete loss (again for Xbox not the studio).

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I think it’s a bit of a stretch that Microsoft would divest a studio just to circumvent a streaming rule for a relatively small IP like Banjo, especially when they are actively pushing a more open platform with games on other consoles. I doubt this is some elaborate move, Toys for Bob just wanted out and Microsoft gave them what they wanted.

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Nah man! Those 50 employees were going to turn Banjo into the mega AAA 10+million seller that it…has never been!

(/s just in case)

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:+1: Yep sorry I missed Minecraft.

However we know Mojang will never make any exclusive (permanent or timed) family friendly games for Xbox. Which is part of the reason they also skipped my mind (they act no different to a third party).

The reason Nintendo is so big is that they have exclusive family friendly games (and also have Minecraft). What I mean to say is Minecraft will not draw anyone to the Xbox platform when you can already get it on every platform, a exclusive Banjo, Spyro or Crash might…

Microsoft makes twice as much as Nintendo does every quarter, where they will adjust things (as we’ve seen) is keeping costs down.

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There is a glut of studios in the market that can do whatever TFB can do for a flat price.

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In revenue yes, not necessarily profit. Nintendo has historically had a ridiculously good profit margin.

Revenue/Profit aside they have recently been talking about how they can reach more players (presumably this mythical 3 billion number) rather than fleecing the current playerbase.

To reach more players they can increase the entry points like they are doing now, however surely at some point they have to appeal to more players too, no?

If you look at Xbox’s portfolio one of the major areas they are missing are family friendly games and party/puzzle games. These type of games clearly do have some appeal with the Switch selling 140 million consoles while also running like a potato.

By offering these types of games in addition to their current lineup would it not make Xbox more appealing to the millions/billions of young families around the world? - perhaps those that are not that fussed by Xbox’s heavy RPG and Shooter lineup?

The more I think about this, they could be a good choice to bring back Commander Keen.

https://twitter.com/Tolkoto/status/1763272784069705763?t=X8Cehy9bT5v17FZSKzbPmw&s=19

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I’ve been away since the ABK deal closed and honestly, I’ve never been more displeased / disappointed with Xbox brand. 3rd party rumors to confirmation to now giving up on studios. I don’t buy the “it was to prevent layoffs” argument or they just needed to step away from being a cod support studio. Great games await ahead that’s for sure but no game is gonna fix that amount of Ls the leadership team decided to give. Also absolutely forget about them picking any small studio if they can’t even keep the ones they have.

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Let’s face it, kids will only engage with mobile devices and services supplied by adults. That and any trending stuff. I’m not saying you shouldn’t make any kids game let alone family, but that demo is forever sucked in by Fortnite, Minecraft (ironic), and Roblox.

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This is the argument I really don’t get.

Xbox has XGS, Zenimax and Blizzard. If they wanted to move away from Activision surely they could have negotiated to move to one of the above?

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As I said new IP. I also don’t see it as a loss even if they get acquired by someone else. There games haven’t been all that certainly nowhere near their competitors and like someone said Xbox could probably get a studio for a fraction. I think going indie might allow them to work on their creative juices like Moon Studios. Who knows maybe they just don’t like the ABK titles.

They can’t move them without first breaking ties just moving them to another studio by the CMA would automatically make the studio their moved to come under ABK.

Yeah you’re right that’s where the majority of kids are. Atleast the bulk of my kids friends are on one of those (typically Roblox).

I just want to see Xbox to continue diversifying their portfolio to offer more types of games.

When ‘we’ as a family want to play a game together at the weekend it’s always Nintendo. The choice on both PS and Xbox really suck. Even with 3rd party there are titles like Overcooked, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime and Boomerang Fu etc but the choice is still really limited.

Nintendo is forever defaulted to family because they’re Disney of gaming. Until Mario wields a shotgun, nothing is going to change. Other platforms are doing things differently. One is trying to be grown up version (Xbox) and the other is about cinematic (PS).