They could but I don’t think Netflix would pay them enough for that to happen since that is a reason why a lot of movies and tv shows moved out of Netflix and made their own streaming services such as the Office what happened with the Netflix/Marvel shows before moving to Disney+.
Pay for what? With merge the board will merge too.
Totally agree. Without forgetting racing games, or even horror with Dead Space.
I don’t think redundancy is a problem. The interest is above all financial. If you acquire EA or/and Take Two, you acquire the 2 companies (excluding ABK) that generate the most annual profits on the market. It remains a business. I love Capcom, I think they would bring a variety of content, but in terms of benefits, it seems to me that we are very far from the American giants. Then, EA or Take Two would still bring interesting exclusive content to Microsoft (beyond the major GAAS licenses which would probably remain cross-platform). There really isn’t a bad choice in the end, just different strategies.
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True if there aren’t any IP’s involved why would they want to spend a lot of money on studios. At least with IP’s there is some value.
I agree i think WB would be a great acquisition for Microsoft but with all of the issues going on right now and all of the scandals and everything it wouldn’t be the best decision for Microsoft to go after them at the moment.
I mean that Netflix would need to find someone who would want to partner or merge with them since a lot of companies have their own streaming services now.
I do not see any major problem preventing a possible acquisition. Besides, I may be wrong, but it seems to me that the CEO of Warner Discovery had announced that the merger had been carried out so that the new entity could be bought out in the future.
Edit: I found the link!!
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I mean, for example merge with Paramount (though there is a huge disparity in market cap). What Netflix has is the subscribers and worldwide reach, but has no IPs. They don’t have money to acquire IPs by itself but let’s say they merge with Paramount and their both subscription services become one - or rather all Paramount content goes to Netflix (Netflix is widely more available worldwide than any other service). And they get additional subscribers, because growing the subscriptions becomes more and more difficult for every service and it all boils down to other services losing subscribers and Netflix is very vulnurable due to lack of IPs.
I highly doubt that Microsoft uses annual profits as a basis there. I still stick to my prediction that Microsoft will go either for Capcom or Take 2. And Capcom is the highest possibility due to various reasons.
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Capcom would be a great shout. Having Resident Evil and Street Figher as Xbox franchises would be great.
It’s a business, their goal is to make money, if they really want to reach 3 billion people and become a market leader, they need to target big franchises as well as mobile. I also think that EA and Take Two could be interesting in their strategy with the metaverse, although it is still unclear at the moment. Capcom would be great in a totally different strategy. It should also not be forgotten that acquisitions are based on opportunities. Currently, the market seems to be telling us that EA, Ubisoft and possibly Warner are the most likely targets to sell. Capcom hasn’t hinted at this.
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Capcom is a japanese company so no insiders or even western analysts care or know about it much at all.
I write off EA acquisition for several reasons
- they overlap too much with what Xbox has thus do not bring diversity
- they own EA Play, thus it forces Microsoft to support multiplatform service (imagine Microsoft paying EA developers to make games in order to release them on Playstation into EA Play service)
- they make too much sports game. I stick to my prediction that most of sports game will go F2P sooner or later, so there won’t be much benefits for GP. Deal for F2P cloud would better but it would not require acquisition at all
Ubisoft I write off due to Ubisoft+ too (bloat aside).
Take 2’s main source of income is GTA and NBA. Microsoft can try to negotiate GP deal with NBA - similar to MLB for example. Sports game will become F2P simply because getting more people there that could spend more money on MTX is better than gatekeep them with 70$ purchases. GTA is a special case in a sense we can for sure expect that we will get a single game (and Take 2 already throws all their studio into GTA salt mines) this gen at best (!). Unlike COD, this game is not even annual yet it takes too much time to make…
That’s true a merger or acquisition could happen I just don’t expect Microsoft to acquire WB/Discovery any time soon especially with everything going on.
Paramount did just launch their own streaming service with Paramount+ last year so I don’t think it would be happening (at least without it being costly). It is possible they could extend their partnership with Netflix though from 2018.
I know about Paramount+. The point is that Netflix is around 200m and hit the wall and Paramount+ is at 30m right now. Netflix hit the wall with their subscribers despite being vastly more available everywhere. And lack of IP is the reason for their stagnation. Paramount+ has IPs but they can leverage the reach of Netflix and by merging together grow further.
Actually, CBS had their CBS All Access service much earlier, since 2014.10.28. Then CBS and Viacom announced the merger on 2019.08.13 which completed on 2019.12.04. They started to fold in the Viacom content. They rebranded the existing service as Paramount+ on 2021.03.04 when they also expanded it into new territories.
Felt the need to be pedantic about the service existing for years before last year.
I’m not just talking about insider reports, although we did hear that Microsoft was in talks with Capcom around 2017/2018. For me, Capcom is the best thing to do in Japan, but I doubt that’s the current strategy.
The only overlap I can see between EA and Xbox would be FPS and RPG, and that’s not really an issue as they would bring big franchises to the catalog. Who will spit on APEX (100 million players), BF, Dragon Age or Mass Effect? On the other hand, EA would bring sports, racing, horror, and third-person action gaming (Respawn). There is also The Sims which is another genre. So it’s nowhere near as closed off as you claim, although there are indeed some similarities.
I don’t agree with F2P sports games or issues with EA Play or Ubisoft+. First of all, why make the games that earn you the most free? It wouldn’t make any sense. They are the most purchased games every year and they generate a lot of extra money with microtransactions. Regarding the platform, I don’t think it would be a problem. Close it or modify it by adding only cross-platform games (Racing, Sports, GAAS).
I agree on the Take-Two releases. There are few, and most of their studios still have everything to prove. However, they reach a huge community of gamers and could be a great asset for Microsoft. Zynga is also a great opportunity to develop further on mobile.
The issues with Warner Discovery are minor compared to ABK’s, and they’re mostly being fixed, right? I think it will mostly depend on Microsoft’s interest in transmedia. If they want to develop in there, Warner Discovery is the only interesting option because they touch the video game, the cinema, the comics and the television. I will even go a little further by recalling that Xbox was looking to bring a younger community to Xbox. Owning DC Comics, Looney Tunes, or Cartoon Network (and other partnerships) could be a step in that direction. I also think the metaverse idea could go in the direction of transmedia as well.
It is F2P
BF is dead (BF2042 was their chance to rival COD but they failed spectacularly there), DA & ME are the question marks (Bioware has to prove themselves again) and with them owning Bethesda they are not that important.
There is a handful horror games in EA but it is not the issue, MS is strong in racing too. And third person action…EA does not provide much of those anyway. Sports game are multiplatform anyway and with them going F2P (I bet on it), it won’t bring much to GP.
I know that for some reason people want Microsoft to “own all FPS” or “own all RPG” but that’s not gonna happen simple because you can’t own genre.
Because F2P games bring the unholy amount of money and by making sports game F2P they will literally bring more people to the franchises that will spend more money on MTX. Why do you think F2P games exist in the first place? I mean I don’t play FIFA, but if it becomes F2P I might try it and maybe even buy something for Ultimate Team. Throw in the in-game ads for F2P games and oh boy…The amount of money those games will generate will be enormous.
Not gonna happen, it will become anti-trust (or whatever) issue or whatever it is called.
It would still be costly for Netflix even if it is a merger. For Sony to acquire Crunchyroll and merge it with Funimation it cost them $1.175 billion. Not saying it can’t happen and I really hope to see more content from Paramount into Netflix but I don’t expect a full on merger without it being a hefty price for Netflix.
Best case scenario for it to happen is that Microsoft acquires Netflix or Paramount then they do a merger.
But Sony bought it no? They did not merge with Crunchyroll.
True but I doubt Paramount would spend millions of dollars with rebranding and expanding it across new territories just to merge or be acquired with another streaming service such as Netflix a year later. At least without it being pricey and I don’t think Netflix has that much current revenue for a merger with Paramount with how much they are spending on original content such as Stranger Things and other shows like Squid Games.
It would depend on what Microsoft wants to go for.Maybe for gaming if they get the gaming studios and the IP’s but as a company as a whole I don’t think Microsoft wants to be the company that wants to be under controversy and fix other peoples problems. It would also be much easier for them to go after a streaming service that they are partnering with such as Netflix or Paramount if they want to enter the streaming market.
Sony did acquire Crunchyroll and merge it with Funimation.
A WB/Discovery deal under MS really would be great.
If MS can clean up WBD then there is so much potential with games, movies and TV shows.
Games alone you have for future movies or tv shows Elder Scrolls, Gears of War, Psychonauts, Banjo Kazooie, The Outer Worlds, Wolfenstein and Dishonored.
Then from WBD you have future games from DC, No One Lives Forever, F.E.A.R., Mortal Kombat, Mad Max, Looney Tunes, Wizarding World, Dune and Thundercats.
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APEX is F2P but has a huge community of players and generates a lot of money. Additionally, Respawn is preparing a new in-universe single-player game.
BF 2042 is horrible, and yet it continues to sell and be played. This proves that the license is sufficiently solid and appreciated to arouse the interest of players. It’s up to DICE to wake up and take control. Same thing for Bioware, they have to take control. Bethesda’s distant releases prove that another major RPG studio wouldn’t be too much. The release of ME Legendary Edition has proven that the license is still appreciated, and I think the next Dragon Age is also highly anticipated.
Microsoft is developing 2 racing games. We are far from redundancy. Mass Effect and Dragon Age are 3rd person games, unlike the RPG currently in development at Xbox. Repawn is capable of making very good 3rd person games. Dead Space is also in 3rd person. And there are EA Originals games. It’s not about owning every FPS or every RPG, but rather looking at the big licenses and what they can bring to Microsoft on a global scale.
PES has gone F2P, right? It was a huge failure and probably killed the license. Are we going to pretend that it was a good idea or that EA wants to take the risk with its most successful license? Lots of people buy FIFA just to play UT. If you make it free, you’re missing out on all those game sales. I’m sorry, but I absolutely don’t see EA moving to F2P with these licenses.
What problem ? It’s up to the publisher to choose the content they want to put on their platform, not the government. As long as you keep the service on the competing platform and continue to feed it, there is no problem.
The interest of Warner Discovery is precisely that it is much more than streaming, unlike Netflix and Paramount. The acquisition of WD would affect several sectors, which makes the operation more interesting, and above all, much less risky.
Let’s hope it brings a second wind to the license. It seems to opt for an APEX-like strategy with a connected universe. The idea is interesting and could work quite well with the franchise.
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PES being F2P had nothing to do with killing the license. I would say lack of licenses - due to EA grabbing them all is what killed PES as people wanted to play the real footballers and so on.
And that’s okay 
Why would Microsoft want to continue to release games on Playstation and support EA Play there?
Retail sales are the minor part of FIFA revenue since a couple of years ago and most of the money comes from MTX and UT.
You emphasize third person too much there. Microsoft has a couple of games like this and being third person does not change the fact that Microsoft owns the biggest WRPG maker.