Skybox is a good suggestion. Xbox really does need to expand their internal support studios now that they’ll have such a big roster. It does seem like they’re expanding with a lot of roles though, so it might just not be visible to us.
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hmm AWS is very competitive so if the new CEO really set his mind on gaming then Amazon will bring the heat.
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so now we have confirmation from Brad Sams and Jez Corden that MS were looking to acquire Gearbox, could that have been the publisher that people were hinting at? I suppose they’re not exactly Bethesda sized though…
I’d wager not. Also, remember that MS were kicking the tires about WB whilst nearing the internal finalization of Bethesda. Furthermore, in 2018, MS built a studio and acquired four other studios simultaneously… they can walk and chew gum at the same time.
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I think they would have to be a lot bigger
Attempted to do, didn’t succeed to do, lol reports say they were laughed out of the room. Amazon will get the same response.
Every 4chan leak in the past year has turned out to be false. Like completely false.
As long as Lars Wingefors is the man for Embracer Group, I don’t see them selling to anyone.
Dude is an absolute hustler and self made man, he was selling comic books when he was 13
Yep. Which is exactly why he won’t sell it. He built it all himself. You don’t throw that away. Besides, he’s already a billionaire anyway.
SEGA + some small japanese devs + buy the Konami IP. This should be the way to go. You end up being the largest publisher hiring many second party studios to do some SEGA and Konami IP, immediately.
Xbox ends up funding a lot of good indie studios. Huge win-win!
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What I wouldn’t give to see Swery65 and Suda51 with unlimited budgets…
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I posted this on reddit and got a ton of downvotes for some reason, but here’s what I’m thinking now that we know they were vying for Gearbox:
I think this gives more validity to a potential Bungie acquisition. I have zero doubts they are talking but word on the street is Bungie wanted a lot. They would also have to pay a premium on the NetEase stake to get them to back off, but in fairness MS owns a stake in Bungie too and that makes them tougher for others to acquire.
So, like the OP says, look for RPG and Shooter devs as potential areas of interest, but I think we must also keep in mind that they are in a great position there once Zenimax closes. 1.3 billion is a ton for a studio with the track record of Gearbox when their publishing division means nothing to you, and their games are hit or miss. Microsoft owns 343i, The Initiative, Arkane Austin, Arkane Lyon, Bethesda Game Studios, Roundhouse Studios, Rare, The Coalition, Tango Gameworks, Undead Labs, Obsidian, InXile and fucking Id. All of these teams have made games that are shooters or have shooting elements. Gearbox means more to a Sony, Amazon or Embracer than it does Tencent or MS. Similarly, if teams like Crystal Dynamics and Eidos go on sale, expect MS to be willing to pay far more than Sony who don’t have the same need for them.
To put it another way, if MS can find a studio to bolster their RPG and Shooter output, they will buy, but if it goes to a bidding war, they may have a lower willingness to pay with a few exceptions.
Basically, I think MS wants to strengthen their RPG and FPS divisions, and I think Bungie is a good buy, but I also think if it hits a bidding war like Gearbox, they may have a lower willingness to pay than others because they are in a fantastic position to begin with.
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I agree that in areas they have covered they will (usually) be willing to give in eventually if the price is too high.
Only exceptions I can think of to this rule is Bungie and one of the major publishers.
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I don’t think you are seeing the big sharks clamoring to gobble up Bungie at the price they demand. They would take away resources to feed the Destiny machine rather than add development resources for whoever acquires them. They needed Vicarious Visions and High Moon support when they were still with Activision.
That is what I’m thinking too. I think Bungie probably wanted more than they were willing to pay out of the gate, but if someone else like Tencent or Amazon swoops in, Phil will be as competitive as Nadella and Hood will allow him to be. As for major publishers, barring Ubisoft (who themselves come with one heck of a diversified portfolio), I can’t think of any that was concentrated in shooters and RPGs the way that Zenimax was. But like Crytek for example I could see them gunning for, but I am also frankly shocked Embracer hasn’t tried yet.
I don’t either, but I could see MS making a counter offer if Amazon, Tencent or Netease tries. Matter would be a big get, as would maintaining Destiny, but 3 billion, even 2 billion is quite steep. I think Gearbox at max evaluation (1.3 billion) is the cieling, not the floor for Bungie.
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I would say Activision/Blizzard and EA would probably be the two closest publishers to Xbox at this point with their FPS (CoD, Overwatch, Battlefield, Titanfall, Battlefront) and RPG (Diablo, Mass Effect, Dragon Age) output. As you mentioned, Ubisoft would be there too.
Not saying these guys are likely targets down the line or anything, but they’re the ones handling things that Microsoft will be excelling at as well.
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Ah, that’s true. Yeah, I can’t say I see them selling anytime in the future but who knows. It’s a strange world.
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I don’t think Xbox/MS were ever in the reckoning for Gearbox.
Gearbox would have been in play between some unnamed contenders, I’m sure. Xbox would have looked at them, and said “pass”.
If you look at how Satya talks about acquisitions. He implicitly stresses on chemistry-fit for the acquisitions. There was never any chemistry between Gearbox and Xbox.