With Bloober teams new redux video, its almost a crime MS hasn’t acquired them yet. I’m legit thinking about pressing charges on Phil for that one. Call it Dev negligence…
Keep playin, Phil. See what happens…
3 Likes
Yes, Asobo is a must and build the french cluster from there. Same with Bloober, several other studios in Poland to form a cluster around. In Sweden, and the other Nordic countries, there are several studios to form a cluster around. Same goes for Germany. That would be a strong European presence with a lot of talent and diversity.
1 Like
Welcome! It’s good to see so many from the old site 
As far as your studio picks, aside from the studios we both have mentioned (Asobo, Bloober, PCF, etc.), there are definitely some great ones. DONTNOD is one of my favorite independent studios and for some reason I always got the gist that they prized their independence, but given the cost and risk of projects these days they could definitely use the security like Ninja Theory received, being in the same boat. Int. Night, White Owls, and Mistwalker would all bring something unique to the portfolio; As Dusk Falls looks intriguing and I adore the art style, and Mistwalker (feel like getting the gang back with Feelplus as well) would be wonderful for Xbox’s growing RPG plate. Hell Games is a dev that I would have shied away from like an anti-mask buffoon two years ago, but after seeing the massive amount of improvements to No Man’s Sky whilst dealing with the mountains of (arguably deserved) criticism, I could see them being a top tier studio once the Molyneuxisms are toned down.
I’m not particularly high on Tripwire or Behaviour, but it might be due to not playing their full catalogs. As much as I would absolutely love Moon to be brought into the fold, especially having just picked Will of the Wisps back up, I know that Thomas and much of the team have expressed the explicit wish to remain independent; I can respect that, but I hope that if times are ever hard they knock back on Phil’s door.
They have to lock down Asobo and Bloober soon, both Devs have done a lot of good for MS and have worked with them a lot in the past.
1 Like
Microsoft should just buy ALL of the studios!
3 Likes
Germany would be a bad location. No support from the government and games still have a bad image in germany.
I agree with Poland. Microsoft invested in the IT infrastructure is a start to get a studio.
Another good location would be france. Asobo would be a good start 
1 Like
Yeah, Poland would be the better country to invest it seems and Microsoft has clearly showen an interest in investing in the country. Plus, from the outside, there seems to be a more vibrant video-game developer scene among the Slavic nations, so it would be useful for Microsoft to tap into it.
Ah, didn’t know that about Germany. Poland and France have some great studios, same as the Nordic countries and I really think a strong EU-presence would be great for Xbox.
1 Like
My big thing with Tripwire is they’ve already made a successful FPS (Killing Floor) that could easily be made into something much bigger (I’d love to see it with a campaign). KF could be an awesome IP to have bolster the lineup on Game Pass. Then we also have the fact they just released Maneater, a shark RPG. Its crazy they managed to pull something as creative as that.
The biggest issue they have (imo) is technical issues, but getting backing from something like Xbox could definitely help them in that area (I’d hope).
As a plus, they’re located in Georgia which could become another hub for Xbox if they showed interest in Hi-Rez too (which I wouldn’t be surprised by).
1 Like
I just finished A Plague Tale, and I sincerely hope that Microsoft is able to convince them to go first party. The game was incredible and honestly up there with any of the best narratives that Sony presented this generation. I feel that this is a developer with a 10/10 third person narrative game in them. The setting could not be further away from what I want right now (a plague) but I was completely interested in the world and the struggles around the protagonists and the people they meet along the way. I’m almost positive that Last of Us PT 2 was heavily influenced by this game in a way similar to how this game was influenced by Last of Us. Asobo is spreading their wings with Flight Sim now and working on the sequel to this game with Focus Home, but they could be Microsoft’s long term answer to the lack of third person prestige titles.
4 Likes
MS needs their own Ratchet & Clank type game.
Psychonauts 2 is going to be better than any Ratchet and Clank game. I don’t care that it’s multi-platform, it’s still first party. Banjo is also a better franchise than Ratchet.They have the IPs (Banjo, Conker, Psychonauts, Jet Force Gemini) and I would love to see Playtonic brought in to bring them to life.
3 Likes
It really hurts that games like Wasteland 3 & Pyschonauts 2 are coming to Playstation. I realize those games were announced well before MS bought those studios and MS has to honor that. However I get the feeling that if Sony had bought those studios, they would have cancelled them coming to Xbox, because they’re 10000% more rutheless.
It doesn’t make the experience any less on Xbox. It really doesn’t bother me at all. Wasteland 3 isn’t even published by Microsoft. I have an X1 and a PS4 and will have both a PS5 and an XSX, and I promise I’ll play both on Xbox through Game Pass. If Microsoft wants their games on other consoles, that’s fine, I’m not worried about the business side, they know more than us about what helps their bottom line. They have thousands of people who work at making those kind of decisions.
3 Likes
Have you played 2016 Ratchet & Clank? I played it earlier this year and holy shit, what a great fucking game. No lies, im hyped for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
No interest in Banjo or Conker but I do agree with you in regards to acquiring Playtonic to develop them if it doesn’t end up being Double Fine which it probably won’t be.
I actually bought it at launch and never got around to playing. It’s actually next on my list on PS4 after I finally buckle down and finish Death Stranding. I do love the series historically and will play rift apart eventually but i think Microsoft has a much bigger void at narrative third person versus platforming.
I seriously cannot wait to see what Double Fine does in the next few years. I’ve been watching the DFA documentary and that studio is incredibly well ran.
I never played R&C until the “remake” from 2016. I’m happy I played it because im not into platformers but there’s so much more to it than just platforming which interests me a lot. I agree in regards to Microsoft having a bigger void at the third person story and narrative driven games compared to platforming.
I’m not into Psychonauts 2 at all but Double Fine is an excellent studio and such a great pickup for Microsoft. Tim Schafer is also one of the best people in the industry based on what I have read and researched and runs his studio extremely well. They may never be for me but I am intrigued to see what they’re doing after Psychonauts 2.
Double Fine is such a great studio, they’ve made so many different style games and they are all good. Especially loved Massive Chalice.
2 Likes
1 Like
I hope I’m not getting excited over nothing, but I’m hoping beyond a hope that this means what we all think it does!