True, xbox has no intention to gain footing in the console market rather in the pc market and especially in the cloud market.
Most importantly it is to gain brand recognition by gamepass and PC
Let’s not forget sony themselve has stopped to focus on the Japanese market.
The home console market is dying there and it shows.
Funnily enough Pachter said two years ago that Bethesda will be bought. Regarding Sega - well Xbox has always been something akin spiritual successor of Sega Dreamcast. Sadly they lost japanese games. Despite having the signs of restructuring in Sega (like selling some businesses) I don’t think Sega will be sold. But they also have interesting portfolio aside games - they also have anime.
I personally would prefer to have branding like Microsoft Sega in Japan.
The stopped focusing on Japan because they cannot defeat Nintendo there and Xbox as a home console will never win there either. MS is building the image of online gaming platform these days - they have the infrastructure and with the moves like pushing PSO2 on Azure in Europe, buying esports services and - I think - they are cooperating with Virtua Fighter x esports with Sega.
Let us please leave Embracer Group alone. THQ Nordic/Deep Silver is one of my top two AA publishers along with Focus Home Interactive going into this now current generation. I don’t want to see that go away. Luckily for me, I don’t see Lars Wingefors ever selling the company as he’s a self made man and built everything from the ground up himself.
I like how he is saving some studios in trouble. What I don’t like that much is how to keep them profitable they are keeping them under a tight/low budget.
Darksiders 3 for example. Was still enjoyable but damn if the fall from AAA didn’t hit hard while playing it.
Only reason I want Ms to snatch them is that with Gamepass there’s reason to invest more on those games instead of making them smaller to the point that even with muted marketing and sales they are profitable.
Yeah, he definitely saves a lot of studios that are in financial trouble while also keeping their budgets low but that’s how they will forever stay in business. If they start inflating their budgets and don’t get the return investment on them, they would eventually be in financial issues which I don’t want to see happen. They have way too many studios (I think it’s over 50 or something like that) for Microsoft to acquire the entire company as a whole. Just too massive.
Metro Exodus outside of clunky gameplay/shooting was an AAA level game and a great one at that. I loved Darksiders III as it’s my favorite of the three games with Darksiders second and Darksiders II third. I played all three of these games in the last three years and I never once looked at them as anything more than AA games. My biggest negative about Darksiders III was that it was like Souls until they patched it so I waited and once I could play it normally, game was great. Really enjoyed it.
Yeah, I can see that due to Game Pass but let’s be honest, majority of Embracer’s games are crap and aren’t going to do anything so I see it as a huge waste of money that could be better spent elsewhere. For me, I only care about 4A Games, Gunfire Games and Airship Syndicate who I hope they acquire after they finish the League of Legends game. Other than them, the only other studio I have any interest in is Xperiment 101 who’s developing BioMutant which hasn’t been seen in almost two years.
I like THQ Nordic a lot but I know exactly what they are and I see most of their studios as just mediocre, not for me or a combination of the two. Plus, they would probably be as expensive as ZeniMax was if not more.
In my eyes and mind, Microsoft/Spencer need to concentrate on quality over quantity. I don’t want to see Game Pass become like Netflix in regards to the lack of quality content where it’s more just filler and crap than actual quality games. Adding a THQ Nordic would definitely be going in that direction which wouldn’t be a good decision in my opinion.
Yeah, can’t argue with that. I really did not see Bethesda coming at all and prior to the purchase, I would not have believed it if someone told me that Xbox was going to buy Zenimax. So, although the chance is minuscule in my opinion, who knows, Microsoft could actually pull some crazy stuff off and somehow make it happen.
Do it Phil! make those salty tears flow like rivers! 
Exactly, the biggest surprises are the ones you don’t see coming. Who knows if it isn’t gonna happen again.
Sega is my dream get. Not just for Xbox and Game Pass but for Sega’s sake. A lot of IPs with cult followings that wouldn’t do well in a traditional commercial model anymore. They make a lot of sense on many levels except they’re in a messy situation due to the Sammy merger. If not for that, I’d have them at the top of the list.
We have naturally talked a lot here about filling gaps, especially since XGS covers so much already. However, I’d like to propose an alternative theory for the sake of discussion and speculation: it’s not about filling gaps so much as it is about being a go to place for certain genres. While I suspect Xbox will add a family studio and a Japanese studio, I don’t so much see them trying to go head to head with Sony and Nintendo there so much as they are trying to fill gaps for their existing platform-beholden members. It is for that same reason why I think Perfect Dark has not been forced to copy the Sony formula and why in spite of having 3 more than capable WRPG developers with several great IPs and teams among them, Xbox opted to add another 6(!) through Bethesda (Four BGS, 2 Zenimax Online).
For me at least, Xbox is the place to play for the following three genres in particular once the Zenimax deal closes: First Person Shooters, WRPGs and Immersive Sims. The following devs who specialize in these aforementioned genres are still private (with one exception) and yet to be acquired, and I’m curious if people find any of these likely.
FPS Studios: 3D Realms, Bungie, Crytek, Farm 51, Gearbox, Krafton/PUBGCorp (but that has a Tencent sized headache), Rebellion Developments, Slipgate Ironworks, Smilegate, Techland, Tripwire, Turtle Rock Valve.
WRPG Studios: Chucklefish, Hardsuit Labs, Larian, Reality Pump, Red Hook Studios, Talewords, Techland, ZA/UM
Immersive Sim Studios: Eidos Montreal (If SE is willing to sell), IO Interactive, GSC Game World, Nightdive Studios, Otherside Entertainment, One More Level, Wolfeye Studios,
While I would love to see Microsoft acquire Techland and Eidos Montreal, why do you want to see Microsoft acquire more of what they already have plenty of?
It’s not so much want as just a theory on my end (although I definitely want IO and Bungie) but more a case of platform differentiation I could see. Sony has in many regards become the de-facto place to go for third person single player action adventure titles across their studios, and Nintendo family titles. I could see Xbox embracing their “shooter and RPG box” by investing further to have a heavy stream of that content, while also investing in other studios to have a stream of content for everyone too, much like how the CW has become a mecca for Superhero shows or Disney+ the home of great Star Wars and Marvel content, but still have plenty of diversified content beyond their marquee titles. I think it is reaching the point where Nintendo and Sony simply cannot compete head to head on these genres the way how barring a Ubisoft acquisition, MS probably can’t compete on the same level with the quantity and quality of Sony’s genre offerings (I suspect titles like Hellblade 2 will be every bit as good, but to compete 100% with Sony there they need like 2-4 Hellblade 2s a year).
The lack of Turtle Rock and Tripwire Interactive on this list makes me sad.
hah
I like thinking differently. However, if they want to reach that gaming market of 3 billion gamers, how can they only serve these three genres up. I think they’ll have to lock the market down in other genres as well (as much as I’d be happy with just adding more RPG studios haha).
I think they’ll need to get to 40+ studios to really make a run at it. They need must have content that will appeal to hardcore gamers, casual gamers, young people, college age people, middle age people and old people. That’s how they get to the point where they can get 100s of millions of subscribers.
They need to add must have IP or create must have IP and studios to create that content across the board in the following genres: Puzzle, Story books, Strategy, Party, Simulation, Sandbox, JRPG, Horror, Mystery and Platformer.
Apologies. Knew I was forgetting some. Back 4 Blood looks great.
I disagree in regards to Microsoft not being able to compete with Sony’s third person action adventure offerings as they have the studios, money, time and resources to do so. They just need to be committed to them like they are their first person games and problem solved.
Looking at PS4’s life cycle, let’s see. 2013 launch, none. 2014 only had Infamous Second Son. 2015 had The Order 1886. 2016 had Uncharted 4 and Ratchet & Clank. 2017 had Horizon Zero Dawn and Uncharted Lost Legacy. 2018 had God of War and Spider Man. 2019 had Days Gone and Death Stranding. 2020 had The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima. That’s a total of 12 in an 7 year span. That’s an average of 1.71 per year.
That’s not entirely a massive amount of games to match at all. Even having just 1 third person action adventure game a year that’s a 90+ and simply of excellent quality would be a huge improvement over last generation and with no sacrifices to all the other genres and perspectives. Even having 2 a year wouldn’t negatively impact the rest.
Xbox could be the ONLY gaming console in which the hardware manufacturer (Microsoft) gives you everything and it’s all included in Game Pass.
Am I missing any? Regardless, they easily have the studios to have all their bases covered. This is also why I want them to acquire WB Interactive. It solves all the third person genres in one shot like Bethesda solved all the first person genres in one shot. Plus, they would have the super hero aspects covered as well as other popular licenses which makes sense and is only a positive.
A studio like Techland would be the AAA first person version of what State of Decay 3 should be in third person. Asobo would fill the third person adventure genre like they did with Plague Tale which has little action scenes but man are they good and it’s more of a story driven adventure.
A studio like CDPR can cover both first and third person and the amount of mainstream coverage (good or bad because it truly doesn’t matter which) along with the popularity that they bring with them is huge. People believe that they’re taking a hit with Cyberpunk 2077 which I find hilarious. The overall negativity towards them is minimal from the only people that count - the consumers that are buying the game. Pulled off PSN, refunds and still sells 13M copies at $60 full price in a whopping 10 days. Only GTA has and can surpass that.
Everyone here wants to see Microsoft and Xbox get the respect, praise and recognition they deserve. Well, above is the blueprint in how to do it, like it or not, prefer it or not. Until then, it’s going to be the same shit from social media, websites, youtubers and everyone else in between.
Microsoft/Spencer should be as aggressive as possible and get shit done that makes people look at Xbox and say, oh fuck, I wanna play that game…and can only do so on Xbox/PC and thus, that’s how they’ll get even more people into their eco-system and branding.
Of course, the above is my own personal opinion.
What about embark studies. Bunch of ex dice people including the former head of studio. Making some cutting edge stuff. Up to 200 people now, working on at least 2 games.
Any idea what they are trying to make, I couldn’t tell from their site or join postings. Actually some of their job listings almost looked like they aren’t sure yet.
One of them is a pvp team based shooter. It’s there second project.
First is a third person game. Insane graphics.