Xbox Acquisition |OT| - So We’re Back to Making Lists, Huh?

Exactly especially with tencent, Google and Amazon involved

Hmmm I recall Klobrille namechecking a host of devs a few years ago. IOI were there but there was more

Hmmm we’ll see

Microsoft will make another Zenimax deal this year no doubt, once the big guns rollout in the fall I can see 6 million more Gamepass subscriptions

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I agree 100 percent if Capcom is still interested I can see Microsoft getting them

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WB’s games stated the other day that their future games will all be Games As A Service but people get confused by this because it doesn’t mean “online only”, it means expansions for single player content like what Gotham Knights will most likely have. Nearly every AAA title has a GAAS element to them. Sometimes it’s multi-player, other times it’s single player and other times, it’s both.

Either way, perfectly fits in with Microsoft’s direction and Game Pass.

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This make more sense then Square Enix have a better relationship

I do wonder if Tango being included with Zenimax changes anything in Japan once the deal is finalized. I do remember something about owning a Japanese company makes it more feasible to add more.

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I think Microsoft is going to have more of an issue convincing a company to be acquired.

Making sure Tango Gameworks is treated amazingly well has to be a priority to ensure Microsoft can make more progress in the region both through acquisition of development studios and talent.

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I’ve mentioned it before but people never listen. Namely it comes down to logistics and presence in Japan and MS over there have none. No big name dev or publisher will join them or be acquired by them because of this.

Not entirely true. I could see Koei joining. They’ve been talking for 2 years how they want to become a worldwide company and appeal to the west. Microsoft can help with that. Joining might make sense for them.

Commercial suicide for both. What MS need to do is contract and partner, form long standing relationships, over a period of some time. As it stands they have neither.

I think people tend to misread the amendments to the FEFTA from the Japanese government, as it’s a bit more complex than just “gaijin investments=bad”. For starters, the amendments are more for protection against Chinese conglomerates. Secondly, the agreement isn’t a hard and fast rule that negates the possibility of foreign acquisitions or mergers, instead its a series of due diligence tasks geared around good faith notification by the Board members to respective shareholders (60 days if I recall) and “fair price” as deemed by an independent special committee (among other elements).

If that’s what you were implying, in regards to the difficulty of purchasing additional Japanese companies. I’m not entirely sure if it makes the possibility higher or the process easier however.

Source: I have a longtime friend from my TMG days that works in the Japanese financial sector in Osaka.

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You completely ignore several factors with this assessment, which is perhaps why the point’s ignored. Japanese games don’t just sell to a Japanese audience, in fact a large number of Japanese-produced titles sell in larger ratios to Western audiences. Secondly, xCloud is a Trojan horse in a way that neither the PS5 or Xbox can be in the region, so there’s an inherent advantage the Xbox ecosystem provides once xCloud is available.

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Phil Spencer literally only started talking to JPN publishers in what 2018? If I recall, so you think he’s going to go from this to spending billions on a acquisition? I’ve lived in the country, they are very hesitant and reluctant to join any US company. It’s just pure ignorance to suggest Capcom or Sega will agree to joining MS.

I think we see a partnership, multi game deal, set up between Xbox and Capcom/Sega, which is the correct course of action

Lack of trust and bemusement from the Japanese towards American companies is the big reason why. How MS just bailed mid way through the 360 era really hurt them as well

When it comes to Japanese publishers its Capcom and Sega. Everybody else is pie in the sky.

Japanese games sell well in the west but mainly on PS and Nintendo platforms. Capcom joining MS kisses this goodbye and makes them purely dependent on Xbox. It’s commercial suicide on thier part and a reason why they’d never let themselves be acquired by MS.

Capcom has to be the one. They were almost bought before monster hunter world came out but they recovered because of it so they may be off the table. Theres too much bloat with sega imo

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I’ve lived in Japan too (Kagoshima), and foreign investments happen all the time, so I fail to see the point…