ea may not own fifa but they own the sims ip which is super big and popular, mass effect,dragon age etc and maxis sims dev are workkng on a new ip that is not sims related. Ea is huge multi plat that would suck for non xboxers. See this the problem,i buy mostly multiplat games on all platforms theres a lot of us. So ea ubisoft bandai etc would really hurt if they were made exclusive. Sony cant moneyhat them they are healthy indepenednt. Go after square and others who are less big but have critical ips reknownd through out the world. Bethesda was onein this small elite category.
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All 3 rumours are up in the air, and no one has info, apparentlly.
I think Xbox are in a position of luxury now, and can make calls on acquisition with a higher bar than before. Sarah Bond did say that they do get appraoched for an acq, but fit and mutual growth is the key. Does Xbox grow with that acquisition, and does the studio grow with that acquisition? That last statement is going to be the key for Xbox acquisition. What addition besides just IP and talent does Xbox get for the acquisition?
They realise that this is unlike 2018, when situation was slightly different.
You’re right, there’s probably more things they’re probably looking for in next acquisitions:
- Geographical advantages (either new areas in target markets, add to a emerging hub (like UK or Sweden) or talent rich areas)
- Backlog of games not on Xbox yet
- IP and publishing rights ownership
- Industry leader in areas (ex Graphics, Story Telling, specific genre, new IP development)
- Technical expertise that can add to Xbox’s leadership
- Large catalog of games to be added permanently to gamepass
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UK, Sweden, Montreal, Japan certainly, Poland, Korea, South America, etc
They need a much deeper presence than just partnerships in Japan. Boots on the ground. An acquisition there would be sooner rather than later.
Unless they think they can pull Sega, Japan is the one place they can’t really be picky if they want to expand
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Are those actually rumors or speculation like we do here?
Seems like a lot of this stuff came from code names with no actual backing
There is some smoke between xgsp and those three.
Both jez and jeff have said they need to investigate more info if these names are in play for an exclusive arrangement or not.
Embark keeps coming up in strange ways with Phil visiting them and so on.
Most of theee might be purely partnerships, but some of them have traits that are fit for an acquisition like Sarah mentioned.
I think even the Behavior connection is light. From what I remember (love to be corrected), someone asked if Behavior could be behind one of the XGSP projects and Jez response was more of a “I don’t know, it’s possible” than anything providing a real connection.
Gravity Wells connection is solely based on there being a “Project Gravity” as far as I know.
Edit: was there some resume stuff about xbox/pc game from behavior? Too much to keep track of lol
They possess traits that fit an acq. That is all.
I have not commented on whether the xgsp connections are valid or not.
Interesting traits - especially with Embark and Gravity Well.
Embark is something that I have kept an eye on for purposes related to their tech. Slightly disappointed that they are bought out by Nexon, but all the images or Phil visiting them etc were interesting. Gravity Well reminds me of NT’s philosophy almost.
IOI, Crytek, Embark. Let the graphics party begin 
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I think you are underestimating a $ 2000 Billion business. I no longer think that Microsoft will integrate small Studios when Satya Nadella takes the floor and says he is All In in the Video Game is really to do big business the only buyouts that Satya Nadella has commented on are Mojang and Bethesda until now he is very proud of the takeover of Minecraft, this is what saved XBOX when Phil Spencer asked him to go All In in the game. It is very likely that without Mojang the XBOX brand would no longer exist. . They also saw opportunities with the Cloud. I think XBOX is more important than Windows today for Microsoft. there are about 1.5 billion Windows installed in the world but Satya Nadella and Phil Spencer speak of 3 billion players in the world (PC / Consoles / Smartphones / New public with TV application) They can reach a wider public with xCloud than Windows. That’s why you have to acquire massive licenses like Minecraft / The Elder Scrolls and I think GTA is an absolute banger as well (Disney has acquired Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel …)
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To meet their goals its going to take more than ownership of some of the largest traditional console/PC games. They need to turn the casual gamer (who is playing primarily mobile, not GTA), families, etc.
The moves you are talking will help them capture mor of the existing console/PC market, not the folks necessary to expand it to 2 billion gamers.
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Microsoft has a team on hand that takes care of porting games to mobile touch control and I tried that, I mean it’s great more and more mobile gamers are buying controllers like Razer Kishi as well.
Look at the games these people play. You don’t reach them with traditional console games with touch controls.
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I mean for me mobile games are just console games they run on weaker hardware and have less ambition but there are a lot of games that look like GTA, Minecraft, there is even a The Elder Scrolls game. I really think that it is possible to adapt all kinds of games in touch I also saw Gears of War like on Mobile and I tried Gears 5 with xCloud on mobile and I even played online it’s playable, I played Sea of Thieves, Viva Pinata, Minecraft Dungeons I had no problems you find a lot of mobile games that are inspired by console games in reality
It’s like this game from Platinum Games looks like a console game
Genshin Impact
Fantasian
and so many others like Fortnite … all these games are console games adapted to a smartphone so putting the touch controls on DOOM Eternal could attract the smartphone player to try it.
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I think we don’t realize the generation younger than us can play anything with touch controls.
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I agree if they are looking for ‘quality’ then Take Two is the better acquisition. However many casual games aren’t ‘quality’ 
.
As they have said they are looking for casual games then EA has a insane amount of popular casual games. Locking that all down to Xbox day one would be game changing.
Activision Blizzard also has tonnes of IP but just turn out the yearly COD release which always tops the sales chart regardless if it’s good or not. Also with their recent issues their market value has plummeted.
League of Legends, Crossfire and Fortnite are all way more popular than Minecraft. CS:Go and DOTA 2 are also likely up there in the same league as Minecraft. Hell even Roblox has more players than Minecraft these days.
Ubisoft also has quite a few popular titles and would be more affordable than the other options.
SEGA is the most interesting, when you start looking at the amount of IP owned by SEGA it’s ridiculous, also there’s alot of nostalgia there for many players.
Behaviour and Bohemian are great shouts
The games that are the most played by casuals arent console games so it doesnt matter whats ported into console with touch controls.
Those casual games that reach billions of gamers is dumb shit like flappy birds, clash of clans, etc.
They will be looking at both large and small (already are). Saying Xbox wouldn’t be here anymore without Minecraft… sorry, there’s not much merit to that statement.
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