I think SEGA would be next. It is big, but not that big, and also japanese.
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You could have said the same thing with bethesda and activision after seeing how playatation got ghostwire tokyo, desthloop and several excludive content from them, most people though xbox didnt had a good relarionship with them
And their legacy is rich, to much classics that could be added to gamepass
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Interesting sentence:
“To maximize the impact of this and other complex acquisitions,”
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I do wonder if Microsoft has a long term plan regarding music and movie streaming or they are just planning to stick to games only. With their pivot to mobile and potential mobile store, some mobile level subscription with just gaming might not be enough to compete with Apple One for example which is also relatively cheap despite offering TV, games, music.
Like Apple One is 17$ per month while offering music, tv, arcade, cloud storage. If Microsoft enters mobile market they certainly can’t just offer Game Pass perks and cloud games on mobile.
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I can’t wait to see the first big acquisition in Japan. This will be a good indicator to know if other large acquisitions can be made in Japan. According to a rumor, Microsoft was very interested in Capcom and SEGA. Fingers crossed for this to happen.
This is information that makes me happy.
The only attractive option to get into the market was Warner Discovery, but rumor has it that WBD wants to merge with Comcast starting in 2024. Without WBD, I don’t see Microsoft entering this market effectively.
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WD was not that attractive though (for the forum dwellers maybe). I do still think that Netflix is an option, though Netflix seems to be doing their own thing competing purely with mobile subscriptions like Apple Arcade. Would be hilarious if Netflix merges with Spotify.
I think in the end Microsoft will be provide only gaming backend will enter some alliance with some TV provider maybe - like offering Netflix Ads tier in Game Pass or something.
With WBD you have video games (Warner Games), music (Warner Music), comics (DC Comics), cinema, television (HBO) and video streaming (HBO max). It seems ideal to me to get started in the industry. Netflix is too big, the progression curve is bad, it doesn’t have its own studios or lot of big IPs.
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Aside Warner Music being independent from Warner Bros Discovery, WBD has various internal issues. On paper they have always looked nice though for sure but in really they are not really that attractive proposition.
Is hard to tell, then can always just make deals like having disney plus with gamepass or paramount plus, And seeing the state of hollywood right now I will not blame them for not trying to enter that market
Indeed, you are right!
The problems can be fixed, otherwise they wouldn’t have spent 70 billion on ABK.
From my point of view it is the only one that is attractive in this industry. Otherwise, it is better to invest this money in the video game industry.
Erm, the scope and type of ABK problems and overall state of ABK is nowhere near WBD situation.
Though I think the debates over WBD happened multiple times here.
Indeed, but in any case WBD is not on the table. I just think this industry is not interesting for Microsoft. Microsoft has good cards to play in gaming, which is a more interesting industry to exploit. I don’t think Microsoft needs to copy Apple or Amazon on this type of content.
They might eventually need because let’s say you are subscribed to Prime that offers Video, Amazon store features and Luna perks (if Amazon invests into gaming seriously). Why would you subscribe to Game Pass then? Game Pass would offer some strong IPs, sure, but the value proposition won’t be on the level of other offering.
Big TV subscription services do not offer such value proposition at the moment - like Disney+ and Netflix - but even Netflix is dipping its toes into gaming and probably will try to compete with Apple Arcade sooner or later.
When Microsoft enters mobile market, just Game Pass subscription won’t be enough 100%. I do wonder if Game Pass family is their way to offset the price diffferent as 5$ per person in case of 5 people is a nice propoosition.
I think one of my biggest issues to wrap my head around Microsoft going for a movie/show subscription service and/or company is the fact they’ve split their own IP among several of them.
Maybe Netflix would be more likely in my eyes if we continue to see MS partner with them on more projects, but we’ve got several projects (Halo, Minecraft, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, etc) being done somewhere else.
Unless they want to just take the Sony approach and just continue licensing out their properties while internally making their own, but I’d assume MS would want a service along with it.
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I agree. I don’t understand the reasons for that though.
Also a possibility but they will eventually hit a limit there. Especially if established movie services start prooducing a really good and popular games.
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Microsoft is selling a gaming service. They don’t need to bring anything else to it. Just to continue to invest heavily in video games to remain market leader. I understand your point, but honestly, Microsoft doesn’t need to compete with Amazon on this kind of content. In any case from my point of view it seems very risky (don’t forget Mixer).
All the subscription services are competing over the people. Microsoft has a strong brand recognition with Game Pass and Xbox and also due to their early acquisitions, they have first mover advantage. That’s their advantage right now, but it won’t last forever.
Mixer…Well, it was unfortunate as Mixer situation occured due to Xbox One era maybe. Though the fundamental problem is that it is hard to break the established community and it is hard grow them. Though stuff like TikTok happens from to time too.
I’d rather Microsoft keep its lead in gaming and keep Amazon out of it, than fruitlessly try to compete with Amazon (or others) in areas where Amazon (or others) is already a leader. Again, it’s a video game service and I think it should stay that way. I think it’s better to focus on something and do it well. Microsoft has a big card to play in video games with GP, Cloud, Mobile… There may be some interesting offers to study, but I think it’s important to stay focused on something that works rather than looking to have X thing because Y has it.
I have been fully behind this train. They need the super hero IP and the studios, plus having the film side and owning that huge catelog of IP. That is the only way i see them getting the WB studios and being able to use the IP. I also don’t see much issue with regulators because they aren’t into film and tv. I think owning the HBO and movie studios and going forward using them for their cross media IP would be a great move. Also merging HBO and gamepass is a no brainer, but i’ll agree it doesn’t look very likely.
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Dude I am really going to miss hbo max, im afraid that the new service will be terrible
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