Did we? I think we maybe discussed Ubisoft before.
I don’t really get your counterpoints in this instance.
Make third party games if necessary? Surely they need developers which specialise in them and want to make them. Even if they did, would they reach the same popularity and or quality as GTA/RDR - unlikely?
Bioshock is very unique, I’d say it’s more of a Horror/Thriller FPS.
Sports games make a tonne of money, the main argument I see about the ABK deal is it would bring more money to the Xbox ecosystem, if this was the case sports games make the most sense. Just take a look at Xbox’s most played games.
XCOM and Civilisation are two of the biggest turn based strategy games which ABK/Xbox doesn’t have.
If you include all their other mobile studios yes, however you could say the same for Take-Two as they also have Socialpoint, Nordeus and Playdots. In addition Rockstar and 2K have their own mobile teams which release mobile versions of GTA, NBA & WWE etc.
The point is they get everything they want with ABK. Without ABK - sure T2 would be a lucrative deal - but with ABK, they are not really interesting anymore.
Sony was able to make Ghost of Tsushima, Horizon etc. Sure they might not be that popular as GTA for 8 years straight, but they are similar style of games and with Microsoft having third person games in the pipeline, it will be fine. Compulsion’s game, Contraband maybe etc. Similar style games.
Bandai Namco also said that “every game is unique” but the point is that the upcoming Steampunk RPG from Inxile will be similar.
And Sports games are also tied to third party licenses that Microsoft has no control over. Now, this debate we certainly had not once or twice. That’s for sure.
Xbox does have the games like this in the pipeline. Grand Strategy for sure with Ara (and who knows what else) and some tactics game probably too.
Microsoft does need to own every popular game or each and every specifiic subgenre.
They certainly need japanese games and a fighting game. They need some japanese publishers because it is a big hole and their pipeline and they need to provide the guarantee to their consumers that japanese games won’t skip the platform. Fighting game is necessary because it is a very unique genre that requires certain developers and due to PS4 era, a lot of those are aligned with Playstation.
But that’s my point, all of the big T2 games are genres which Xbox/ABK don’t really have.
Regarding your other points I agree Xbox need a fighter & JRPG studio but I’m going to have to continue to disagree with you on sports.
Yes they are third party licenses but as myself and others have pointed out, sports are different in that they are annual, people don’t really care about playing the older sports games they want the current title with the current licenses. If Microsoft were bothered about that then they wouldn’t have tried to acquire EA previously, clearly they didn’t with how much money those types of games make.
Sony seem to encourage their studios to make those type of third person action/adventure games, I’m not saying the current Xbox studios can’t make them, I’m saying it’s unlikely they will.
We have a few rumoured games on the way, which may fill some of the missing genres but they have no precedence. We have no idea what they will be or if they will be received well. Most of these seem to be through partnerships rather than first party studios too, so we could end up with one-off titles for an entire generation similar to Ryse.
Hahaha
Ah man, Driver one was on my favourite games, 100% agree.
I would rather say that Watch Dogs is gonna join Driver soon
I do wish to know how Driver 3 would look like if it was not rushed
Previously like what… 20 years ago? It was before Game Pass or even digital storefronts. Completely different era.
I am not sure if they really encourage them but as we can see with Hellblade, Contraband, Compulsion’s game - they have developers that can make those games. Even allegedly Indiana Jones.
The point is that Microsoft have them and not in a desperate need at all.
T2 is not attractive publisher after ABK. And Rockstar is too slow.
I my opinion, I think that microsoft wants to have more big ips but after all the scrutiny going on with abk they will try to look for smaller acquisitions, t2 of course would be beneficial for xbox but besides gta and zynga, they really dont have to much things
And sure 2k would help with sports but if xbox was looking for that then they would buy ea, also is much better to just make deals with the license holders just like the mlb show
Independent studios and japanese publishers are more likely at this point, but nobody expected abk so anything could happen
I don’t think Microsoft did not expect that scrutiny so I don’t think that if they were planning to go after T2 (I doubt) they won’t go after it. This whole scrutiny is just an ideological nonsense anyway.
Still who knows how much difficult it could be if they went directly for t2 or ea next, sure they arent worth as much as activision but still they are the next biggest publishers out there, but yea it could happen
At this point I have learned that microsoft is always unexpected
Thats why if the next acquisition is someone like square or capcom it would be a glorious day on the internet
You don’t need to actually possess a monopoly in order to have regulators block something.
Regulators do not merely look at a pie chart and say “well if you’re under 50% you’re fine!” The ongoing process is a good example of this.
The fact that ABK is under significant scrutiny should be a clear indicator that a successful ABK acquisition followed by another big player like Take Two is going to attract even more. Everything people expressed worries about regarding ABK would be compounded by adding another major player.
I really hope Microsoft doesn’t feel the need to copy Sony and make a bunch of over the shoulder 3rd person games.
I’ve tried pretty much all of their exclusives on PS4 and most of them are either boring ass generic third person shooters (uncharted is so overrated) , games trying to be movies or Ubisoft ripoff map games (ghost of Tsushima I’m looking at you especially).
Even the new God of war was boring to me, and the constant puzzles in every area just ruined it for me. Give me the original trilogy any day.
I really don’t see the appeal so can someone please explain it to me ? Besides some nice production value these aren’t fun games !
The only Sony exclusives I’ve ever enjoyed are Demons Souls (original and the remaster were great) and Bloodborne.
The only other exclusive I’m interested in trying is spider man but that’s in pc now, and again it just looks like a map game with Arkham combat
I completely forgot that wb is also a possibility, they would help a lot to fill several holes on xbox portfolio aswell that they dont bring big ips that would make sony cry about besides mortal kombat, I still believe they are worth it
I already have understand that at some point we will lose someone and there is nothing xbox could do about it, afterall they arent going for everybody favorite, instead of the ones that makes more sense
Because lets be honest, nobody wanted to see xbox going for abk, but after the announcements it started to make a lot of sense for gamepass, pc and mobile
Still if somehow xbox doesnt buy asobo I will never forgive them
Of course one of the biggest acquisitions on videogame history is going t have a lot of scrutiny
I think they are nice, is just that they dont have a ton of replay value and it doesnt give a ton of freedom with the gameplay, is like a one-and-done experience, still I respect people that wants to see xbox makimg those type of games, I still think there is a ton of potential for them
God of war melee combat is fantastic, and I want to see them expand on it beyond just quick events
I havent seen to much of wb game studios lately, only that gotham knights isnt everybody cup of tea
Still it would be a good option to buy all their studios, I have stopped being a fan of the idea of microsoft acquiring the entire thing, just the game studios
Personally I would be disappointed if Microsoft misses NRS and it is acquired by Sony.
I don’t care much about other studios that might be interesting for Sony.
