So as some of us may know their is a difference in doing business with Public company (board of directs, shares etc) to a Private company. I won’t go into the differences to much just note it is easier/quicker to do business with Private companies. That includes acquisitions, in fact many of the studios Xbox purchased since 2018 were private (Obsidian, double fine, ninja theory, compulsion, undead labs, Bethesda).
Surprisingly a lot of content on game pass is from Private companies, the downside of a private company is typically your not that large and require outside investment and a successful project.
So the good part. I expect the FTC to fumble in the coming weeks and the ABK stuff to come to its happy ending. That said let’s consider what companies Xbox could go after and pick up rather easily regardless on if ABK is won or lost.
Here is a list of privately owned games developers (according to Wiki). You will no doubt notice a lot of these studios have been talked about and even shown up on Game Pass.
Have at it folks.
- Asobo
Plagues Take, MS Flight Sim
- Behaviour Interactive
Dead by daylight
- Clap Hands
Everybody’s Golf
- Colossal Order
Cities skylines
- Crytek
Crisis, Ryse
- Frictional Games
Amnesia, Soma
- GSC Workd
Stalker
- Haemimont
Surviving Mars, stranded alien dawn
- Hazelight
It Takes Two
- IO Interactive
Hitman, 007
- Iron Galaxy
Killer instinct, rumbleverse
- Kojima Productions
Death stranding
- Latina Studios
Divinity, boulders gate
- Level 5
Ni no kuni
- MistWalker
Blue dragon, terra
- Moon Studios
Ori
- Motion Twin
Dead cells
- Netsume
Harvest Moon
- Nicalis
Binding of Isaac
- Oddworld
Oddsworld
- Otherside entertainment
Underworld
- Platinum Games
Bayonetta, asterisk chain
- Rebellion
Sniper elite, Zombie Army
- Robot entertainment (was Ensemble)
Age of empires, orcs must die
- Stoic
Banner Saga, Towerbourne
- Supergiant
Bastion, Hades
- Studio Wildcard
Ark
- Take worlds
Mount & Blade
- Tate Multimedia
Kao the kangaroo
- Techland
Dead island, dying light
There’s so many talented studios here that would be great. Maybe try pick your favourite 5 I bet it’ll be tuff. Asobo, Crytek, Supergiant, Frictional, Platinum, techland, stoic, level 5 etc.