Xbox Acquisition |OT6| If this is about competition, let us have competition

Meltdowns would be amazing among the podcasters. And obligatory - “better than Microsoft” :joy: People will blame ABK deal.

Reminder all, this is for Xbox acquisitions; I’ve had enough feedback from users over the years that the majority prefer it to be that way. Deviations are fine after a company is purchased, as the impact of the acquisition on Xbox is directly related. Speculation on other parties purchasing studios should be kept to individual threads (like we have with the Sony acquisitions OT).

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Do we think if Saudi suddenly brought a significant publisher say Embracer & multiple studios for a total of $17.5 billion would this have a positive effect on the Xbox/ABK deal?

I can’t see it being a negative by any means, just another name to add to the puke of companies getting in on gaming.

Definitely not a negative for the Activision deal specifically, but I think it’d need to he something that shows more competition in smaller fields than just gaming as a whole. Saudi Arabia furthering their investment in the market maybe doesn’t do a lot, but if Google had made a major acquisition to further Stadia (rather than killing it) then Microsoft could have argued that there is strong competition in the cloud market. Or, if Netflix makes a major acquisition with the intent on competing with a subscription service - stuff like that.

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The problem is that it essentially caps the ability of the companies to invest into something new - because it leads to a situation where “they should invest into something new in a way that it does not affect the existing markets” which is crazy. Or “unless somebody else is doing that, you cannot do that” which is not how innovation works.

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Wonder if microsoft decides to enter the tv and movie industry, will they go for innovation or acquisitions

Anyways hopefully amazon will not give up with luna, and someone will use the technology behind stadia for a new service,it would be unfortunate if they threw all that away

They will acquire some streaming service if they were to join this industry.

Does Amazon have a history of abandoning their projects?

Yeah… There are no words. Good god. :phil_lmao:

Brazilian regulator has officially approved the Activision Blizzard acquisition!

(VGC has said that they made a mistake saying that it is the first to approve it, since Saudi Arabia already has. Just to clear that up)

This quote from CADE regarding their approval of the Activision Blizzard acquisition is very juicy and very interesting:

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Who do you see being acquired then? Paramount?

I really dont know, I havent followed the history of amazon, but seeing that amazon prime is now a good competitor in streaming wars gives me hope in luna

It’s definitely an interesting one.

From an Xbox perspective it would mainly be Wizards of the Coast.

Unless Microsoft as a whole intend to get into Movies/TV I’m not sure how viable it would be. If for example Microsoft purchased Warner Bros Discovery then I can see Hasbro being more inticing as they would have Transformers, G.I Joe, Power Rangers, Peppa Pig and PJ Masks etc.

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I can see them interested in hbo/ discover group for the dc license I just cannot see Microsoft going after hasbro I highly doubt they want to get into the toy business

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Interesting, never heard of them

This is there most recent project (published by Bamco). I believe they worked on Magic before this.

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Then you will also need to quit bandai and square from the list since both are in the toy market

Haha I was never thinking those 2 companies myself. My guess was always Capcom or sega (minus the Sammy stuff) for a Japanese publisher and a few independent studios like platinum

Being in the toy market matters much less than the toy market being your primary market. Does Hasbro even have game studios or would they just be gaining IP?

Hasbro has 6 gaming studios. From this axios article, heres the details https://www.axios.com/2022/08/15/hasbro-wizards-of-the-coast-tim-fields

Details: Hasbro/WotC now has six video game studios, many working on unannounced projects.

  • Skeleton Key. Location: Austin, Texas. Announced in July. Led by ex-BioWare developer Christian Dailey. Working on a horror game that may involve an existing in-house brand or something original; a decision on that is TBD, Fields says.
  • Atomic Arcade. Location: Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 2021. Led by ex-Warner Bros. developer Ames Kirshen. Working on a big-budget action-adventure game starring G.I Joe hero Snake Eyes.
  • Unnamed studio. Location: Eastgate, Washington. Founded in 2020. Led by ex-Bungie developer Leah Hoyer. Working on an original game since the start of the year. Fields: “I think it’s going to be kind of unexpected for our fans.”
  • Archetype Entertainment. Location: Austin, Texas. 50+ employees. Founded in 2019. Led by ex-BioWare developer James Ohlen. Working on an unannounced original sci-fi, role-playing game.
  • Tuque Games. Location: Montreal, Quebec. 70+ employees. Acquired in 2019. Led by ex-Ubisoft developer Dominic Guay. Released one game so far, 2021’s coolly received Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance, with an unannounced project in the works.
  • MTG Arena. Location: Renton, Washington (shares an office with the Magic: The Gathering tabletop team). Continuously expanding MTG Arena to create an up-to-date digital version of the card game.
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A site I saw a few times about a year ago (when I couldn’t stop listening to everyone talk acquisitions of all kinds) talked about Hasbro at length, they think Hasbro is looking to sell certain divisions. I think they mention Wizard of the Coast at some point.

They talked about how the company was setting itself up for sale & I believe a ex Microsoft employee is in charge or high up to.

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