I think that Playtonic is out of question (though I expect some MS game done by them in the future), Asobo is probably too (they wanted to go public after all or something).
They have potential - on PC they are just great - and with the recent issues they might be up for sale.
2 I think won’t happen, Enix I am not sure - probably also not, 4,5 - MS better to stay away and not purchase them before they deal with their management. Considering Techland single owner - I think it won’t happen.
My top picks are Sega, IOI and probably Paradox at this time.
Hunt has sold probably north of 2.5 million copies on Steam at conservative review ratio estimates. It was self published, so they kept the whole pie there. Retail physical copies on PS4/XBO are distributed by Koch but it’s also self published on digital for consoles. I doubt it did super well on consoles but I have no way of estimating.
They have their Engine business. Which isn’t booming… but they still get a non-zero amount of games coming out on it. Prey in 2017, Kingdom Come: Deliverance in 2018, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts in 2019 and Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem in 2020 would be the most notable recent (non-Crytek) releases.
They got a big payout from Amazon for their Lumberyard IP transfer in 2016. This was estimate at between 50 and 70 million dollars.
From 2016 onwards they had a side hustle with VR - Robinson: The Journey for Sony, The Climb and The Climb 2 for Oculus. These undoubtedly didn’t sell amazing but they would have kept some lights on since they were publisher funded.
Finally, Crysis Remastered got farmed out to Saber Interactive, but is Crytek published. They had an Epic deal so they would have scored some more money there.
They’re hiring up for a “New AAA game” at the moment - but they’re not hiring any narrative roles. I wouldn’t necessarily assume this is some kind of big project for a publisher or secret buyer. It could very easily be “Hunt: Showdown 2” or “The Climb 3”. The latter is firmly not AAA, but I find that job postings don’t always correlate to reality on that front.
Since CDPR and Techland are out People Can Fly is a must, Satya Nadella should just write a check , I know some people here are going to say that they are tied down right for there next couple games and wont be free til 2025 I really do get, with that said I wouldn’t risk losing a studio like that just because they are tied down due to contracts.
If they were an option, I think Xbox/Microsoft would’ve talked to them before they decided to go public.
If Microsoft was really shopping for polish developers, it’d be weird to skip one of the largest ones that Xbox has worked with an exclusive third party capacity (technically Gears wasn’t an Xbox IP yet).
Yeah I wonder if those rumors where legit that Microsoft was in Poland looking for studios, I agree skipping People Can Fly would be weird if Microsoft was shopping in Poland which the more I think about now if Microsoft was never in Poland.
This is so true. Not enough people look at the actual cost of the game’s production before immediately looking at sales figures and making a judgment on its success.
It could be their main target for the mean time. And they’re honestly the only Polish developer that has expressed interest in being acquired AND has worked closely with Microsoft.
All the other major Polish players seem to either have terrible leadership (Techland/CDPR) or aren’t interested in acquisition (my assumption for PCF).
They could always look at The Farm 51 and The Astronauts too.
Why I am high on SEGA (whether it is likely or not) is because their stable of content that ISNT AAA stuff.
I really like the current resurgence of things like beatemups. I want to see a lot more lower budget, arcadey, high fun factor games that can be played through multiple times but dont take a long time to complete. Like Virtua Cop and House of the Dead.
For me, the phrase “Microsoft buys SEGA” is digital viagra so I’m definitely biased on this topic. But I do see what you mean.
There are many good reasons to buy SEGA, from instantly adding hundreds of games spanning 20 years to Gamepass, to their strong PC RTS catalogue. And having a corporate mascot is great too.
But when it comes to grabbing people’s attention…IPs like Mortal Kombat resonate strongly with today’s western audiences, moreso than Yakuza or Persona.
That said, licensed games like Batman or Harry Potter probably will not be exclusive to the Xbox ecosystem. When it comes to these big IPs, their owners want as many players playing it as possible. You see the same with WWE and various sports licenses.
Realistically, I don’t see Capcom or Crystal Dynamics/Eidos Montreal happening at all. I can see WB Games as a possibility especially if they can come to an agreement regarding the licenses. Also, I believe that Gotham Knights gets delayed to 2022 and if that does in fact happen, I do believe they will sold off. Once they start releasing their next three games, the value decreases.
As for CDPR and Techland, im not like others. I don’t care about management issues, agendas or narratives. I simply look at one thing - will their games increase my user install base and in turn, Game Pass subscriptions? Answer to both for both is YES. I then look at CDPR being massive on PC which Microsoft definitely needs all the help they can get. That’s another positive.
I also believe that they would no longer have shareholders breathing down their throat while getting more money, time and resources. The management issues can always be worked out and resolved because it’s business. Too many people tend to make shit personal and if you’re in business, that’s the one thing you’re not supposed to do is make it personal because it then clouds your judgment and goes against what is best for business and that person(s) wouldn’t be doing their job to the best of their ability. Also, money tends to shut people up and solves a lot of issues.
With that said, I don’t believe will acquire either but if the opportunity were to present itself, Microsoft should immediately jump on that opportunity.
I do believe that realistically, Microsoft acquires Paradox Interactive and Sega before the year ends. They’re already in negotiations with Paradox and Sega was split off from the rest of Sammy which tells me it’s to sell them off.
I’m not into the new Hitman trilogy and if James Bond 007 is more action oriented but still has stealth, gadgets and gizmos, I wouldn’t mind IO Interactive at all but since the license appears to be a three game deal, I would say it’s unlikely.
That’s why I want xbox to not just lease the rights but full on buy the game rights to dc and hp. Att is like 150 billion in debt. Over pay for the ips and hope ATT is desperate enough. Xbix doesn’t need full rights just game rights. 4 billion for the studios and then 8 bill for the ip rights sounds right.
I love PCF but that ship has sailed. They are public and beyond that, their next three games (Outriders and 2 New IP) are tied down with Square and 2k. That means they probably wouldn’t make an exclusive game until late in the gen and MS would have to negotiate Game Pass deals with the two firms probably more expensive than the ones for Outer Worlds and Wasteland 3 combined… x 3.
