I totally agree that the other guys aren’t all in gaming yet or may never be. However there could be a future where they are and that would leave MS having to play catch up. I think WB and MS could do a lot of great work together licensing IPs back and forth.
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Catch up? MS just literally bought AB, there is nothing bigger in gaming concerning actually acquirable stuff. I love how people think about 10 years or more what ifs and forget about Sony.
With acquisitions like Zenimax and ActiBlizz I’m not sure catch up is the right word. But they’d be wise to keep an eye on WB (Games) for sure. Preferably with the licenses or else without. But a studio like Rocksteady especially with Batman AA and AC, you can put them directly next to Insomniac in terms of how good they are in my opinion.
MS has been looking for family friendly games and they will have some of those with ActiBlizz but with WB they’d also get the much beloved for all ages Lego games and for some here very important including me, they’d have their “answer” to Sony now basically owning Marvel games, well the AAA ones that is.
I’m hoping that the reason MS didn’t acquire them (a year or two ago I think it was?) Was because they were busy with Zenimax and after that ActiBlizz.
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I was talking in hypotheticals lol?
When I say catch up It was referring to my original post where I said there could be a future where Amazon for example has a gaming service that they can very easily marry with prime video to make a very attractive offering.
Regardless of future speculation bs I’m totally with you. They have so many talented studios that you could easily plug into some dormant IP. I think the stable of studios compliments what MS has and needs greatly.
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That’s the thing imo, we should worry more abput Sony moves than possible FAANG moves which could never materialize. Google and Amazon attempts are jokes for examples and even bundling new games releases with Prime (which I don’t think it’s sustainable, the model is already at its limit now) wouldn’t work with actual great games/IPs.
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I did also mention Sony leaning more into movies and TV which could potentially be very successful. (Uncharted will be a good litmus test)
I feel like I’m derailing the topic so I will leave at I like Warner bros and think it would be a good fit
I would rather Sony buy Warner Bros and it’s much more likely than Xbox too.
Part of Microsoft’s argument for why Acti/Blizz should pass and how they are protecting the sanctity of video games is that they don’t have a larger consumer business like other possible players. Turning around and buying a entire consumer business would be a bit antithetical to that.
Game studios, maybe. All of it. Not gonna happen.
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People forget that Sony Pictures has already been boxed out of the streaming wars. Sony is the only homeless movie studio. Now with Xbox boxing PlayStation out of the video game space. I think dominos are in place for a big tech company to eventually acquire Sony. In that hypothetical it would be best for Microsoft to buy WB. PlayStation can’t compete at scale with Xbox this generation or with the other media conglomerates. Sure they can be more Nintendo niche or indie movie niche but it would be better for everyone if Sony would use big tech money to start competing at this new world we live in. Microsoft is big tech, WB is a smart buy to compete with Amazon or Google buying Sony.
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So you have or plan to get a PS5, or not and don’t mind missing out on Rocksteady’s, TT’s, Monolith’s etc games?
This 100%!!!
It’s not out of the realm of possibilities that Sony gets gobbled up eventually.
I don’t know how much WB Games would be, but I wonder if Sony could even do this, and if they do if they can acquire any others.
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I don’t think any streaming uses Azure. Netflix, Amazon, Paramount, HBO Max use AWS. Warner would benefit Microsoft in several battles against Amazon, Apple and Google
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I dont get this obsession with Microsoft joining streaming wars. The only streaming war they should have is making xcloud better.
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And wouldn’t Xcloud be better if HBO/discovery were running an Azure bringing even more money into the pot, and more subscriptions for gamepass if included? Also wouldn’t owning the rights to WB, Cartoon network, boomerang, DC, New line cinema, Toonami, Castle Rock, and a ton more franchises to have exclusive games for make gaming a priority, along with some pretty good studios already familiar with said I.P.?
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I’m not trying to carry the water for a mega company like MS, but I’ve said it in the past and I’ll say it again, MS buying all of WB would be a smart move.
With the streaming wars and all the potential for getting out the IPs in new tv or movie format it could really help the video games too.
Take for example after the Witcher came out on Netflix, the video game got a huge boost in sales. So this could be the same for MS too.
Also if this was to happen, then 100% a new No One Lives Forever game will happen, because from my understanding people didn’t know if Activision Blizzard or WB owns the rights to the game.
But with MS owning both companies then there would be no reason to wonder anymore, who owns the rights to the game.
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man this will be my reaction if MS enter other media business
I think Microsoft should consider getting into the tv/film industry since their competitors are already in it.
The could bundle HboMax with Game Pass.
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Just leverage out your IP’s to interested parties and thats it. You take out literally all the risk and money reduce the money to be spent.
Just hit up Netflix, Amazon, HBO, etc.
I think it could benefit azure aswell their other services, like imagine a deal of gamepass and hbo max, also that is the best deal for ms to enter the streaming wars
But still I dont see them joining that industry, atleast for now, the focus is in gaming, but damm that will be something bigger than activision
Including hbo max with gamepass would be the biggest console seller ever lol
Don’t really like companies becoming the new Standard Oil/GE. Microsoft doesn’t really understand the entertainment industry, Hollywood doesn’t work like tech companies, heck the game industry has so far to grow that we’re almost 40 years into video games being an industry and no company can still set release dates as far in advance as Hollywood can and hit them consistently.
Microsoft already had previous toe dips into television/media including MSNBC which they’ve pulled out of since, and Xbox Television which was also shuttered relatively quickly. And since the only way it would really work would be to leave the entire WB division alone, they could just save money, just invest a chunk of shares and sign some first look deals with WB games or movie IP licenses with more of a return on their money.
Sony has almost a 50 year head start on every tech company that wants to be a Hollywood studio. You can’t catch up to that overnight. Keep in mind Warner is also music labels and television stations and books.
Sony was never really interested in a Sony-centric streaming service. They’ve never had their own broadcast channel or even a radio station for their music labels, in fact their biggest television shows are first run syndication like Wheel and Jeopardy and so on that air on one of the Big 3 networks depending on where you live. They have always been more about licensing their content out to others for eons, so a Sony streaming service would just be competing against their licensees.