Zenimax was an outlier, it doesnt mean they are going to buy another publisher
Definitely not seeing microsoft wanting activision right now, nor buying gta…in that case do better and buy all of ea, they get aall their sim ffanchise, sports games, bioware. But why do that ea is not with holding games from xbox…best purchase choice is se, will fill a lot of lineup gaps.
Yeah I used to think that too but I don’t anymore. I just don’t think it will be anytime soon in the next 2 years.
For the 20th anniversary of Xbox, Microsoft will be reliving their attempted M&A of EA 20 years ago.
Zenimax is a core gamer centric takeover just like Obsidian / InXile you know you are going to hit a niche of RPGs and FPS / Immersive Sim fans.
GTA today is one of the most popular casual licenses (everyone knows GTA)
Project yourself into a future where xCloud comes out of its Beta and works perfectly within 5-10 years on all devices (TV app like Netflix, PC, internet browser, XBOX consoles, IOS / Android smartphones) We are reaching 3 billion 'connected devices (that’s what Satya Nadella and Phil Spencer said) then release GTA VI exclusively on Day One with as much accessibility and you put the F2P multiplayer with Microtransaction I can guarantee you that you will make the redemption profitable of Take Two has 30 Billion with just one game.
I’m not necessarily a Take Two / Rockstar fan, I prefer Ken Levine’s Studio (Ghost Story) and the IP Bioshock is true. It would probably not be a buyout for purely XBOX Fans like Bethesda (because the first XBOX had big RPGs like Morrowind / KOTOR 2 and therefore the RPG has always been part of the XBOX identity) But it would be a smart buyout at image level. brand with the general public and an Incredible springboard for Gamepass.
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Wow nintendo + square acquisition hype. Microsoft will also be re-buying Rare.
Nah no chance. They’d be the last place console.
interesting to see that 2K are the only ones to worry about the disappearance of the XBOX Twitter account 
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Whenever I see “would you kindly”, I automatically think of bioshock lol.
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what do you think about sega?
i think xbox should make targeted acquisitions to cover “niches”…
sega would cover the rts niche very well
I think SEGA would be the most consistent buyout for XBOX and the XBOX Fans they have a long history, they are still very close. Phil Spencer said Tango Gameworks was a first step in Japan and Bloomberg revealed that Microsoft is talking to small developers as well as large Japanese developers. At TGS 2021 Phil Spencer revealed that XBOX is experiencing its strongest growth in Japan, there is genuine interest there in the XBOX Series and Gamepass. So I think Microsoft will end up investing in Japan like Netflix, which has also invested in Japanese anime to diversify the offer.
I will not be surprised that Microsoft is inspired by Disney which bought Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel I can see in the near future XBOX owning Bethesda, and several other big publishers (always difficult to say which) But they are All In in the game more than ever and Satya Nadella is not called for small business they have big ambitions to attract 3 Billion players on Gamepass and in the Cloud. So never underestimate the biggest stock market valuation on the planet that’s all I have to say Bethesda is just the start.
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Sega already did the Smash thing, before Smash in fact, with Fighters Megamix on Saturn.
On the surface it was Virtua Fighter Vs Fighting Vipers, but you unlocked characters from VF Kids, Sonic Fighters, Janet from Virtua Cop, Rent-a-hero, the Daytona Hornet car (!), the AM2 palm tree (!!), Mr Meat (!!!). All kinds of weird shit.
Was also an absolute banger, would love a sequel.
They just take longer to advertise something proves that they are buying something big. It took 3 years of discussion with Bethesda before reaching an agreement. We know that in 2020 Microsoft was interested in acquiring Warner Bros Games (while they were already buying Bethesda at that time), which proves that they are targeting other publishers.
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Yes this is how I feel too. They’re going for big fish and that’s why it will take longer.
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Buy Iron Galaxy and make another Killer Instinct.
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And their second team on the mascot party fighter 
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- Activision is at 55bn, (dramatically down)
- EA is 41bn, (also, down)
- Epic is 36bn, (Valve might be at similar internal numbers now). But Tencent owns 40% there in Epic.
- Take Two is 21bn (and rising)
– according to last know numbers.
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Some more interesting rumours to chew on -
Someone mentioned Embark, Gravity Well and Behaviour Interactive on Gamesbeat superchat. All three rumoured to be working closely with XGSP, apparently (unconfirmed).
The Gravity Well studio has an initiative very similar to Ninja Theory, btw. Aiming to do AAA development in a unique new way – with studio talent that is top notch. Worth keeping an eye on.
Embark is owned by Nexon, I think. I have no idea what Nexon wants to do with them.
And Behaviour is a surprisingly large studio - 600 people. They have the potential to be a AAA dev easily, and also jump in to help others when necessary – like Compulsion who are in the same Montreal neighbourhood.
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Yeah, Gravity Well is founded by some ex-Respawn leads. If Microsoft is indeed publishing their first game, that could be a great first step.
I’ve never spent much time with Behaviour’s Dead by Daylight but I am aware it has a big fanbase. Do we have any firm information about the rumored project they’re working on for Microsoft? I know they’ve done a lot of support work in the past.
Still holding out hope for Turtle Rock, personally. Asobo, too. Running out of time for a 2021 acquisition announcement! Xbox slept through acquisition season!
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