Square Enix bought Eidos for 84 million pounds in 2009, that’s kinda wild considering how out of control valuations are these days, lol.
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I know people really want Square West… but at this point, would that make sense for Xbox?
Tomb Raider is a big IP and Deus Ex and niche. From what we’ve seen, we know Crystal has lost a decent amount of talent to other studios (like The Initiative), not sure about Eidos.
Is there any other studios aside from those two that they’d get if they bought that branch of Square? Any worthwhile IP they’d get (aside from the ones I mention below)?
Off the top of my head, Square’s Western IP are:
- Tomb Raider
- Deus Ex
- Gex
- Kane & Lynch
- Hitman (for older titles?)
- Thief
- Legacy of Kain
- Just Cause
I get some people love these studios and some of these games, but it’s always just seemed like such an oddball purchase to me (aside from the Tomb Raider IP).
I think there’s a lot of bloat with Square, but they’ve got some big IP across the company that could do wonders for the Game Pass brand.
I think the most interesting thing though (and this is with a lot of Japanese based acquisitions) would be a lot do the titles not yet released on modern Xbox that could come over (older FF titles, Legacy of Kain, Chrono Trigger, etc.).
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A Square Enix acquisition would kind of be a checkmate IMO. MS has a “monopoly” on the WRPG genre and that would lock down the largest JRPGs.
Beyond that, I think it’d solve Xbox’s japanese third party support issues. If a sizeable part of that base moves to Xbox, third parties could not afford to ignore it.
Not going to happen but, strategically, I think it’d be the most impactful acquisition they could make.
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I halfway hope it’s square Enix just to continue the trend of playstation pays for exclusive Microsoft buys them.
But in all seriousness it will be interesting to see how the domino’s fall
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An update to bloober m&a, we should know in a couple of days what it’s going on with bloober. This doesn’t mean it’s getting bought by Microsoft. They could also extend the talks since they were supposed to announce it on December.
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Thank god. Been waiting for this to finally be announced to the public.
My guess is Microsoft got them and they were waiting out Zenimax to close and such.
If anyone else had acquired them I think it would’ve been announced much sooner than this.
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But I want the Atlus games, give them to me, please.
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WOW!!! I can’t believe that Bandai Namco is worth that much.
Side note - I’m hoping that Microsoft hasn’t acquired Bloober Team as I just don’t see them being worth acquiring in my opinion.
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Looks like Nexon is investing more again:
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Here’s a threat to acquiring publishers and development studios based in Saudi Arabia that my friend told me about…they invest hundreds of millions into SNK. They seem to have a massive shit ton of cash and he believes that they’re a bigger threat than Tencent. Thoughts?
After playing The Medium it was pretty good with the exception being the MC talking too much. If they are cheap eh just bring em on and just let them grow. But Im like totally indifferent to them coming on board or not.
I think Tencent is the bigger threat for now because of their market position. Hell they own part of the remaining 49% of SNK. These blokes are worth a watch but no need to panic… yet.
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Oh, okay. It’s funny that they own the other 49%. lmao
I simply prefer seeing better studios getting acquired. If they acquire Bloober Team, I would be like, okay whatever but I hope they don’t.
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Bloober Team just makes too much sense for MS to not go for imo:
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They are one of the few independent developers that are constantly releasing titles basically annually.
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Their games usually range from mixed to good, with a big public push from the studio to grow (they’re hiring a combat designer for their next game)
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One of the biggest issues they’ve had in the past is technical problems… for the most part, The Medium was pretty bug free (in my 3 times playing it)
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They’re a Polish developer that could really bring in a lot of new and veteran talent.
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Horror is a big thing with steaming services to the point Shudder exists. I can imagine it’s decently popular enough for Game Pass to really build up with more titles in that genre.
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Bloober has worked on AT LEAST two games with Microsoft. There is a relationship there already. It’s rumored they’re on a 3 game deal (similar to Undead Labs) so they might be working together already for their next project.
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If Bloober Team is truly working on a Silent Hill game, you can bet that’d be something Xbox would want to capitalize on.
EDIT: Lets not forget all the tech and devs that Bloober already owns or has a stake in.
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It does. Satya and Phil are aiming for a audience far wider and more global than anything previous Microsoft/Xbox leadership ever did. Japan and South Korea both have developers and publishers that have global reach, and it makes sense that any of them are active acquisition and/or partnership targets.
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As someone who’s adored Bloober’s games, even if they used to be poster children for “Eurojank”, I have been advocated for Xbox to bring them into the fold since Observer. With each game, the team continues to improve their technology and hone their skills; The Medium is such an exponential leap in every quality, over their last project. If Microsoft let someone else pick them up, it will be a damn shame in my opinion. Coupled with Techland, they would be fantastic additions that would also create a great opportunity for an Eastern European development hub. Disgruntled CDPR staff wouldn’t have to travel far for a great new opportunity 
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Wait…what???
I’m in agreement honestly, thought not as a this or that argument. Microsoft is thinking long term exponential growth, and that requires exponential investment in the short-term (which we’re seeing). I think another publisher acquisition and a sprinkling of smaller devs would be wise, and possibly what will occur. The wonders that could be done with Hazelight, Bloober, IOI, White Owls, and/or JP Games would be a sight to see.
Note: these are simply great teams that could do well under XGS, not that they’re in active discussions or possible.
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I just mean that Techland could still be a fantastic target, despite some of the management issues. Nothing new regarding information there, I was just talking about Polish devs that would be great, and the impact they could have in the region.
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Oh, okay. I thought something was happening with Techland and you were hinting at it. I do hope they acquire Techland.
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