I would think the best way to avoid it is maybe let Sega stand as its own maybe even support it with a handheld (GAME GEAR 2) or like some have said basically make it Xbox Japan giving them as much autonomy. I think if the incentive is there they will come along. Also, a lot of Sega seems more European based than ever before so more japanese studios under them is always welcome.
I think we need to stop being shy about MS acquisitions, they went out to buy the biggest publishers in terms of single player and multiplayer games plus they tried to buy back Bungie along the way. If they are going to acquire an Asian publisher we can assume that they will go for the biggest one they can buy, in the end they end up buying Bandai Namco that nobody seems to see them as a possibility like ABK which was a surprise lol
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Koei Tecmo and Sega like you said unlikely. Though I will say Koei Tecmo is one of the first publishers this gen to embrace and publicly speak for Xbox in Japan. Though since the original Ninja Gaiden black haven’t really sparked my interest. They are quite big in Japan though.
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Now that would be a statement. Bandai Namco have stayed more traditional and that is something I welcome.
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Okay so lets assume more acquisitions are coming.
- What does everyone here think are their buggest opportunities to make huge gains in?
- What areas is Xbox weak in and could become industry leading in and attract millions.
An example of one that wouldnt work is jrpgs, no matter who Xbox buys, they will not be #1.
Maybe It’s ingenuity, but I think one of the best ways to keep devs from leaving is being honest with the studio as we seem with Double Fine in PsychOdyssey. Keeping the culture alive, send the one overseeing the studio to answer everything they can like Booty did, without sugarcoating.
And I guess always have in mind that some people will leave for N reasons and that’s fine. If an japanese studio happen I don’t think it’ll have a massive exodus of devs if they’re well handled, like the respect they showed to Tango, Mikami and everyone else.
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Biggest get would be sega. Great relationship with xbox and they would fit a lot of holes. With toys for bob and SEGA they could start pushing nintendo level content and take some users from them.
Anything bigger then 20 billion i doubt they will go after, but i can see them buying individual studios up.
Im sure after the buying went cold due to the abk deal there are a lot of studios who want to be bought given the opportunity.
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Oof, tough question - it’s hard to think of much that Microsoft won’t have a major hand in already that is A: Big enough to draw in millions and B: They could reliably take a leading position with a few key acquisitions. Like they could make a strong push into fighting games but it’s hard to dominate in that genre without strong Japanese support and it’s not got the biggest of audiences.
Actually, I was thinking of genres but it doesn’t have to be that. So, I’m gonna say Valve. Microsoft has never been able to push their own PC digital storefront successfully - acquiring Steam would solve that and integrating game pass would he huge.
They’d also gain a major hand in VR, I think that having a VR platform work across PC AND console while being supported with first party content and having games available through a subscription service would be the best possible way to push VR (though personally I’m not much interested in seeing this happen as I’d rather they focus on non-VR content but hey, it does fit your question) not to mention handheld PC market that they could push as a lowkey PC gamepass machine.
No idea if Valve is particularly viable though, I imagine regulators would want to take a hard look at Microsoft buying the dominant PC marketplace for games.
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As much as folks on forums (myself included) clamor for a Japanese acquisition, I think they’d get more impact out of securing developers that can make those big cinematic games that can compete with Sony’s.
I’m not one to be out there begging for Sony-style games, but they are pretty big, mesh well with licensed IP, and so on.
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I doubt valve is an option. They need competition in the pc space or they would be considered a monopoly. It would also have a hard time passing with regulators.
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Thats an interesting thought. Who do you have in mind?
There is MS already doing that with Ninja Theory and presumably Compulsion Games. I would also count Fable as we know that PG delivers in terms of graphics plus it will be a third person game.
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Yeah I agree, I don’t think it’s particularly likely.
Discord. If Microsoft ever acquired Discord it would be huge!
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Ninja Theory and Compulsion are a fraction of the size needed to really compete with those studios, but I am hopeful for their output. I dont think we can expect similar size and scope out of these teams. Fable might fit that.
Most of the normal names that people throw around in here, haha. IOI, Asobo, CDPR, if Ubisoft had their stuff together… Nothing too exciting.
Might be other options that I don’t know of.
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Ninja Theory is medium size but I don’t think his game is going to be. MS has been promoting it so much, I guess it’s getting help from Epic and other studios.
Maybe if Embracer is willing to sell the Eidos and/or Crystal Dynamics studios. To be honest, if they were to do that, I dont even think regulators would be involved because its just selling a really small portion of their company. Same thing I suppose with some of the WB studios.
I think an underrated and undermentioned option is Hazelight Studios.
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What was the “get an Xbox” meme everyone was talking about?
I assume it was from SDFers having a meltdown over Redfall not releasing on PlatformX.
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