I remember it hitting $35 like a month from release lol, not a good sign.
I forgot about that heavy and steep discount.
Meanwhile the Diablo IP is a juggernaut. Microsoft should look into acquiring them…
From https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/mustafa-mahmoud/diablo-iv-beta-was-largest-in-franchise-history/
It is worth noting that the beta for Diablo IV was available across 3 platforms, namely PC, PlayStation and Xbox (in comparison to Diablo III’s singular PC beta) and so it is unsurprising to see the upcoming title perform so well.
Still, if this is any indicator toward the performance of Diablo IV, then it is safe to say that the game will be huge. Since its release all the way back in 2012, Diablo III has seen more than 65 million players (with official sales putting the game at 30 million copies sold) cementing the game as an undeniable success. Having released more than a decade ago now however, it will be interesting to see just how much bigger Diablo IV winds up being. We will have to wait and see.
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WB would be inline with previous acquisitions. Troubled company looking to sell. The gaming industry is getting into a cross media horizon. Look at the Nintendo movies, the sonic movies, Uncharted and the Last of Us. Hell, MS themsves are doing a lot of that too with fallout, halo, and gears. ABK dabbled into that with the WoW movies.
Theres a lot of opportunity with WB to pivot into doing a lot of movies, tv shows, and animation with Xbox IP
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Way back what feels like an eternity ago now, I wasnt all that enthusiastic about the Activision anouncement. The main reason being that it would 100% limit any other future acquisitions and that really has been apparent with the circus that has been going on for the past year. I really dont think Microsoft will be allowed more than 1 additional smaller publisher and some independent studios.
I am STILL salty over Crystal and Eidos. I would have personally taken them over Activision.
I think the 1 publisher has to be Sega along with some indie Japanese studios and a few of the western partners. Sega has massive all around value for the price tag.
Ubisoft is just too big and unwieldy. The number of employees could pose a problem in the eyes of regulators and honestly MS will need to be cleaning up Activision and probably wont want to do the same for Ubi.
Square just wont happen. Sony would do whatever it takes to protect and honestly just dont see them wanting to sell anyway.
Capcom isnt going to sell. This isnt years ago and that ship is long gone. I also dont think they give the same punch for value that Sega gives.
WB isnt happening. Not after the new owners have seen their recent cash cow of Hogwarts. They will want to see how things go for at least several years.
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I think of the Japanese publishers, Square would be the one most open to selling. They have plenty of failures and already have their hands out looking for external investors because they don’t want to take on the risk of AAA game development alone. I’m all for Xbox going after them, even if it forces Sony to step in and spend what they got to make it not happen. That just means Sony can’t acquire someone that we like more 
I don’t think WB Games is completely off the table even with the success of Hogwarts. My impression is that Gotham Knights was nowhere near projections and Suicide Squad is a bomb in the making. With the amount of time (and likely resources) spent getting those games out it’ll definitely influence things. That said… I think they have MK hitting this year too.
It’s possible I’m being overly pessimistic on these games though, and others like Sega’s super game. I don’t see them being successes (and the reaction to Suicide Squad gameplay is telling) but you never know until they hit.
Same. Licensed games are no guarantee of commercial success. Even good games like Midnight Suns or GotG had disappointing sales. There are of course counter examples, like Hogwarts Legacy or Marvel Spiderman which sold extremely well, but overall I don’t think licensed gaming is an absolute necessity. Sales of popular games like Jedi Fallen Order or Batman Arkham are similar to or lower than sales of games like Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry (FC5 surpassed 30 million players). I’m not saying that licensed games are irrelevant, making Xbox the home of Warner and DC Comics would undoubtedly bring a new audience beyond the video game sector, but that’s not a requirement and I agree perfectly Xbox on leasing licenses. There’s nothing better than owning your own content.
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As much as I hate to say it I kinda have to agree with alliance officer the next acquisition will probably be a mobile focused publisher
For Capcom it all depends on Kenzo and his sons. The price doesn’t really matter, it’s just that Capcom is still “at heart” a family run business. If they aren’t on board then it would not be wise to pursue that.
I’m conflicted with Sega. Not that I don’t see the value because they have immense value. Sega Europe is great, and I really see the potential in Atlus. You give that studio proper resources with a budget of $120-150 million they can easily, EASILY make the next big JRPG franchise. However their biggest asset Sonic is still an unknown factor. Sure you get your “mascot”, but it’s a mascot that has been producing mediocre games since I’ve been alive. I understand what Sonic can be, and if somehow Microsoft cracks the code for making great Sonic games, then you have gold. But that’s a big if…
I did not know a lot of their middling content was made with external partners.
I wouldn’t be mad at a SE acquisition. It would fill a major gap and give Xbox another top MMO.
And the online shit storm would be epic lol
All that said, I still prefer Sega and Atlus. I feel as though Sega has steady performance, greater variety in IP and more experience in PC gaming. Sega has been working on building more mobile games as well. There is also a good, long working relationship between MS and Sega.
With the work ABK is going to require, I feel like Xbox investing in Asia via a publisher with a leadership team that they trust would be a wise move. Phil and his team can be stretched only so far to fix things.
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The problem with that is that most of the big mobile publishers in the West have been acquired (King, Supercell, Zynga) or are the big console developers (EA, Ubisoft, etc.)
A lot of the big independents ones are in Asia. However, a lot of the games are gacha games that promote fan service women. So not sure if Xbox will want that. And many of them are in China, so very unlikely to be sold off.
Just buying a regular game publisher today probably already have mobile games anyways like Square Enix, Sega, EA, etc.
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Yeah if you’re ever curious check out the list of Square Enix titles on wikipedia, it lists all their recent titles and who was the developer behind them - they have their internal studios for stuff like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest but they work with a LOT of external partners. I actually think it would be one of the advantages of a Square Enix acquisition - in one move Xbox would gain a much wider network of contacts through the Japanese gaming industry. Of course, the fact that a lot of these recent external partnerships have not paid off for SE is still an issue. But yeah, I don’t think Square Enix would be a bad option, and as a fan of their games I’d kinda like to see it - but I agree that something like Sega would be a better option.
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Octopath 1 and 2 - Assisted by Acquire Inc.
Triangle Strategy - Assisted by Artdink
Live a Live - Assisted by Historia
Star Ocean - tri-Ace developed
Valkyrie Elysium - Soleil developed
Dragon Quest Treasures and FF Crisis Core - Tose developed
Dragon Quest Builders and Final Fantasy Origin - Koei Tecmo developed
Harvestella - Live Wire Inc. developed
The Diofield Chronicle - Lancarse developed
They work with tons and tons of external studios.
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Im not sure about Playrix seeing as it is a russian game developer.
-Founded in Russia
-Moved headquarters to Ireland.
-Ceased all operations in Russia when Ukraine war started. Relocated most employees in those regions
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Last time I checked Indiana Jones is a licensed property, so there is that.
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Capcom is one of the best publisher out there, but I doubt they are looking to sell. Resi 4 is doing very well. Monster hunter world 2 is going to sell a lot of copies. Also they have dragons dogma 2 in the making. Not to mention street fighter 6.
Activision is about Call of Duty. That’s it.
Yes, Microsoft can point to mobile, can talk about Candy Crush, can talk about any non-COD aspect of the merger they like but for me the absolute bottom line with this deal has always been about putting Call of Duty on Game Pass day one. It’s basically a one-size-fits-all fix to make Game Pass standout as an exceptional service with a yearly major universal bigger hitter carrying the torch.
Eidos have nothing compared to that. Tomb Raider barely sells these days. It’s a few million copies, at most. COD meanwhile… is COD.
People can choose to not like it based on their own tastes. For example yes, I’d love for Microsoft to have acquired the Soul Reaver franchise & finally made a good Legacy of Kain game but that’s not going to shift the pendulum or maintain Game Pass. We need merely look at how Brad Smith very quickly & succinctly handwaved away any suggesting for divesting Call of Duty back when the CMA was peddling bad math.
It was an emphatic “no”, because COD is the Activision deal.
Not by a long shot:
Even if all of Activion is COD at this point, it’s still ‘only’ 40% of the total revenue.
That said, divesting COD was never an option.
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Without COD I have serious doubts Microsoft would have gone through with the deal. They’re looking for a flagship Game Pass title which will sustain subscriptions, month after month, year after year. Without COD I suspect they would have looked at a company like EA & its sports franchises.
I think a lot of the conversations about this merger have ignored the huge elephant in the room: Microsoft wants Game Pass to be its big gaming service & for that it needs content. COD is ‘the’ best content they could aim for on a subscription based service.
The revenue for Activision as it currently exists is one thing, but the endless possibilities COD offers Game Pass is quite another, i.e. the merger will reset those financial realities & crate new ones where Game Pass in particular profits.
That’s the way I see it.
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