2nd party has always been the go-to for more immediate portfolio help. It takes a lot more time to acquire a studio who may be finishing up other projects and then have them turn something specifically for your service. On contrary, with 2nd party you don’t have to worry about whether the studio fits your culture, whether they want to sell at all, etc. A lot more flexibility there for short term benefits. When Microsoft finally decided to be all in on gaming late 2017 and then started spending in 2018, no doubt they looked at 2nd party to fill the gaps.
Being a mod here, I have to be careful lending credence to specific rumors but there’s some out there and a few that I believe.
Dave Mongan is a narrative Director at Global Publishing who was working on Flight Simulator ( I’ve checked the game’s credit and he is there ), and the following is stated :
As Narrative Director on the Xbox Game Studios Publishing team, oversee all narrative-related elements for multiple XBOX first-party franchises, most recently the critically-acclaimed “Microsoft Flight Simulator” and other exciting new AAA titles yet to be announced.
One thing I would say is that although the conversation about acquiring Bethesda first started in 2018 it fell through. And then Phil said that they got the opportunity over the summer to start having talks about acquiring Bethesda. So although the entire acquisition ‘Journey’ was 2 years they weren’t actively negotiating the entire time.
With Nadella repeatedly saying they aren’t done and are always looking for people I think there will be an additional $1B + acquisition next year, I have no idea who but someone. Nadella wouldn’t be reiterating that over and over again if they were going to pickup a couple of studios for say $10-15 million each. You have to remember the scale at which Microsoft operates, the investors don’t care at all if Microsoft buys 20 studios that cost $10 m each over the course of a year. Microsoft makes on the order of $40B per year so its nothing in the grand scheme of things, but investors want to see the rational for the larger headline (like on cnn) grabbing acquisitions. Which is why nadella is prepping them for larger stuff.
I know its a wishlist but oh well:
The IP rights around WB games are complicated, and I get that, I think that WB would be an amazing purchase even if the vast majority of the games had to stay multiplatform. With the Bethesda acquisition IMO xbox has enough true exclusives to be absolutely fine, with a few WB games being exclusive. For instance maybe all the Batman games are exclusive to xbox, but the rest are multiplatform. It might not seem like the best use of cash but it would ensure that Microsoft would never lose WB to someone else, and they would get marketing rights for everything and that cant hurt! Plus day one gamepass of course.
And secondly, IO interactive, I know they are working on a 007 game, so if they have to remain multiplat I’m fine with that, they are collaborating in some way with WB so for maximum affect get both !
With the rate of acquisitions in the last couple of months I think it makes sense for Microsoft to pick up basically whoever they can, even if it isn’t a 1:1 absolutely perfect fit like Bethesda. Im not saying go an get Ubisoft or something, but I don’t think a studio saying that they are happy to be acquired as long as they can stay multiplat, with maybe 3 month timed exclusivity, should be a road block. Thats why tencent can invest into so many companies so quickly, if your struggling and tencent comes along and gives you a ton of money for 10% of your company why not take it? But that makes it harder for Microsoft to acquire them in the future.
WB would be amazing for Game Pass. Agree that a lot of their stuff would stay multiplat but don’t think Xbox fans should be worried about that stuff. Microsoft is trying to make Game Pass so good, it’s a no brainer to subscribe. Almost nobody would stop subbing to Disney if Mandalorian came to Blu-Ray or you could buy full priced episodes on Itunes. More flexibility Microsoft has with where things can be released, more flexible they are with who makes sense as Game Pass purchases.
Yeah, it is going to be interesting to see who they bought?\are going to buy. Certainly, they are sending strong signals that they are actively in buying mode. Whether they are waiting until Zenimax closes or not, there certainly has to be some studio acquisitions in the bag\on the horizon.
If the rumors are true that they have 1 big\1 small purchase already completed\lined up, my guess would be:
BIG
Bungie: The timing just makes too much sense, even though they have come out repeatedly and said not happening, the fact that Destiny 2 + expansions are on GP, working on a new IP (Matter), their desire for artistic freedom\ownership of IP, not having to worry about funding, messy divorce from Activision, the fact they have a history with MS and relationship seems to be in a good spot now.
I wonder if this is somewhat of a trial, bringing Destiny 2 to GP members for free, while still offering\having it available on other formats. Even though it isn’t exclusive, the value\benefit to MS of it being on GP is still highly significant. Out of all of the “big” studios that I listed, this one stands out as the most realistic.
SMALL
Bloober: With a close 2nd to Dotnod or a wildcard. I do think an eventual acquisition of Asobo is very possible, I am not convinced it has happened\is happening in the near future though.
Why Bloober? The fact that their next game, The Medium is a console exclusive coming to GP day\date, the history that all of their other games (Layers of Fear, Observer, Blair Witch) have also been on GP, confirmation in June of this year that they have entered into merger\acquisition talks, MS well-known intentions to acquire a Polish studio. Lots of smoke there.
Those would be my best guesses for MS next purchases: Bungie (letting them keep their IP, creative freedom & ability to launch across all platforms) & The Bloober Team.
Love to hear anyone else’s guesses? Someone is going to be right…
I’d agree about Bloober. But not Bungie. Far to expensive and they make games where MS is over stacked already. First person games, shooters and GAAS games.
Could have said the same about zenimax. Xbox already have several shooter and RPG studios. The point of these acquisitions is to secure the talent so they can’t be acquired by other companies and give them a boost in their game pass like services. Bungie could definitely make a game that would sell stadia/Luna etc so I could see MS acquiring Bungie to prevent that from happening, and because matter is so soon. I don’t think it’s by chance that MS acquired zenimax when Starfield isn’t too far away anymore, and obsidian right before outer worlds was revealed.
If they do acquire Bungie I think it’ll be within 6 months of planned announcement of one of their 3 new IP so it can be an Xbox IP and makes Xbox seem better. IIRC nadella wants to expand Xbox IPs as welll as studios, and having destiny and their new IPs would be a strong addition to Xbox. Bungie does cost a lot but now that they are working on several games it could be worth getting them to ensure Xbox has more noteworthy games, and Bungie could expand to get their games out more quickly and have more content in their destiny expansions. They could probably pump out expansions quickly if they had XGS resources.
Might be worth watching. First game will be multiplat which is awesome. Still, perhaps we’ve been narrowly focused on JRPG and J-Action when JHorror may be MS’s goal.
It will be a long and hard road for Phil and Xbox, that’s for sure. There are a lot of gamers out there that are now on their 20’s that grew up with Playstation being the must have console and Xbox being the vastly “inferior”, “has no games lol” machine. They also grew up with Sony’s “cinematic” 1st party games for better or worse so selling to them titles with a bigger emphasis on gameplay and mechanics like Prey, Halo or Dishonored will not be easy…I am really curious to see how this generation will unfold.
Meh. I’m going to be a contrarian here. Of all the times for Microsoft to fall flat in gaming, last gen was the right one because it forced them to transform early. Most hardcore gamers are stuck in their bubbles and can’t see how fast the world is changing and how it’ll impact gaming drastically in the next two to three years.
The power of Game Pass combined with 5G combined with rolling console hardware into an affordable subscription are grossly under-rated right now. All those things are disrupters. Game Pass, Xcloud and All Access are going to explode mindshare. A lot of the games that don’t have the attention of the core gamer within the traditional model will gain it when they’re launching onto a service with over 50 million users. The hot trends change. What everyone wants today is what they’ll grow fatigued off two years from now. The advantage of Game Pass is that once it gets big enough, you don’t have to chase trends. You can make them.
Microsoft has had 3 AAA mainstream games hit Game Pass on Day 1 and are around 20 million users with PC presence in it’s infancy and Xcloud a non factor. That may have that or more back half of 2021. I don’t think Xbox gamers need to worry about Xbox business. They’re in a very enviable position which I believe will reveal itself in the next two years with who they have.
Game Pass Ultimate is not a mature service yet. It will be mainstream in two to three years. That’s my prediction.
Oh I am not worried about Xbox at all and what Phil is doing/changing for the last 3 years and planning for the future has been great for me personally, Ι was talking strictly about mindshare - there is no doubt in my mind that the Series S/X will do better than One S/X.
It’s just that with Xbox One they lost almost all the goodwill that they gained in two great generations for the brand especially here in Europe and I am not talking about the core audience, I’ve talked enough with co-workers, friends and family to know that the general consensus among the more casual gamers is that Playstation is still the standard go-to console/brand and that their exclusives are “the best” (with gaming sites/press still playing a big role in this), a lot of people I know don’t even consider buying a Series console over a PS5 and that’s a problem for MS. I totally agree that Game Pass is MS’s strongest asset to win back attention to their platforms but they should promote Game Pass and the Series S more aggressively because a lot of people simply don’t know about them right now. Hopefully that will change next year with the release of Halo and with consoles back in stock again.
Believe me that if Game Pass will become a Trojan horse for great series/games like Dishonored, Prey and Wolfenstein to flourish and get more attention this would be a dream come true for me…these extremely talented teams and their great works definitely deserve much more recognition and love than what they got last generation. Maybe I sound pessimistic (I am not!) because I say all this from the Euroland perspective but I agree with Hindle that MS has to go big this generation and turn heads to win back mindshare much more than Sony does.
I think you are kinda off base here. Xbox as a brand has more value with Gen Z than PlayStation based on recent studies. It’s the millenials that adore PlayStation.
Growing up, I was one of 3 PlayStation kids, but everyone else had a 360. Also, one of those 3 got a 360 too and went with the One for the gen after. Now, for areas that are PlayStation Nation at heart, I agree it’s an uphill battle, but the gap in consoles sold is the lowest it’s ever been last gen in the US. The PS5 is obviously the hot system right now due to notable launch titles, stock shortage and millenial hype, but I could easily see Xbox’s 4-tiered approach and significant investment help in the long run.
Also, I don’t think it’s so hard to sell a game like Dishonored, Prey or Halo as Game Pass comes in handy here. I will be honest, barring Halo multiplayer, I find these games sinfully boring to watch, but to play, they are so bloody good. And ultimately, we play games, not just watch em.
I am speaking from personal experience and what I am seeing is the opposite, friends and family of my age (I am 38) or at least over 30 have fonder memories of the 360 mainly because we probably lived this generation to it’s fullest. I guess things may differ between US and Europe though since Europe has always being mainly Playstation focused and Xbox One was a lot weaker here than the 360.
People will try out a lot of games that they wouldn’t play otherwise on Game Pass that’s a fact but for this to happen people should know about and invest on the Xbox ecosystem in the first place. I may be off-base here as you said but what I want to see is MS marketing their great ecosystem and consoles more here in Europe. Anyway as I said interesting times ahead especially since MS and Phil are playing the long game.
PlayStation has become a product which people like to own even if they don’t use it too much. In EU for example, a heavy FIFA region PS buttons are synonymous with the FIFA controls. PS has been sponsoring UEFA champions league for the longest time, you watch a match from 2000 you will see a PS billboard. It is very difficult to erode this sort of mindshare but it can happen.
My friends would live and die by steam but ever since Epic has been offering free games, their Epic games collection is almost as big as steam. This is where Xbox will succeed, through providing sheer value. Gamers are very fickle you provide them enough reasons and they will move over, loyalty only last so long, Xbox found this out last gen.
Value for money, ease of access and constant content will be the backbone of gamepass. This will not result in vastly increased hardware sales though, most of Xbox’ growth will come through xcloud and Xbox is OK with that future they mostly care about revenue and engagement. Acquisitions will continue, this was Phils plan and it only gets clearer as the days pass.
Your perspective is probably the mainstream viewpoint and it’s fair. I just see it different because I have a tendency to look at trends.
Some interesting facts to consider:
PS2 out-sold OG Xbox about 6 to 1
Microsoft started the next gen with only 1 established system selling IP known at the time
It took Microsoft 2.5 years to reach 20 million global sales.
People focus on everything Sony did wrong with the PS3 however from a high level, the factors that helped Xbox take market-share were 1) price 2) Xbox Live 3) new IP exclusives. Without Xbox Live being innovative and a step ahead of other ways to play online at the time, Call of Duty, Halo and Gears wouldn’t have had the pull they had.
Going into this generation:
Microsoft has close to 20 million Game Pass subscribers the day new hardware launched
Bethesda Softworks RPGs are bigger than Halo, Gears and Forza. Skyrim, Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 sold close to 45 million together.
All Access offers a larger value proposition to price elastic consumers than 360 vs. PS3 price delta
Xbox Games studios has more new IPs in development today than Microsoft had in development when the 360 launched.
My point is gamers shouldn’t worry about mindshare or sales. Worry about what games you want to see. Today the lack of mindshare Microsoft has for console hardware is not much of a factor. By the time they have stock to sell, Halo, Starfield and Forza Horizon could be months away from launching day 1 on Game Pass, PC gamers will have a significant impact on the mindshare of Xbox IPs, and their roadmap will be more clearly shown. I think Microsoft has enough known heavyweights at the front of the pack. They don’t need to chase mainstream mindshare. It’s coming. Now’s a great opportunity to lead exposing the mainstream to new IPs and different genres before the competition catches up with their own subscriptions.
I wonder if Starfield ends up being an Xbox/PC exclusive if other games like ES6, FO5 and Wolfenstein 3 etc follow suit, I know at the end of the day I’ll be ok as long as those games come out on Xbox which they will and them being on other consoles probably won’t affect me but I’m very curious to see Xbox have another big exclusive again, it feels like last gen PS4 had a bunch of very popular high quality AAA exclusives, we haven’t really seen that from Xbox since Gears 3, Halo 4 etc which were huge releases, perhaps besides Forza Horizon 4 which I’m certain is more popular than many of us think (15th most played in the US right now and has been in the top 10-15 since launch and I think Benji sales hinted at the numbers for that game being huge, it may be Xbox’s biggest game of last gen) I guess I’m just curious to see what impact Xbox having other AAA franchises like those from Bethesda as exclusive will have, I think making everything from now on PC/Xbox exclusive is the best way to grow the brand.
