Other than soccer games, what games or type of games are way more popular in Europe than North America? Id position those type of games as likely targets.
FIFA,GTA,red dead or assassin creed and some third person games by capcom n sony they r usually the biggest seller there so what do u think
https://www.youtube.com/live/010fvWm4ky0
At 1:31:30 Jez starts to say some interesting things like how ABK messed up some some companies plans to sell to Microsoft. I am not sure who they are but there are plenty of videogame companies (entertainment in general) who are struggling right now 
.
4 Likes
I think the most obvious next move is something in Japan, it’s a no brainer. They need more Japan support and the best way to get that is do it yourself.
1 Like
Xbox Live has regional charts, you can see the differences yourself.
US: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/most-played/games/xbox
Poland: https://www.microsoft.com/pl-pl/store/most-played/games/xbox
Germany: https://www.microsoft.com/de-de/store/most-played/games/xbox
France: https://www.microsoft.com/fr-fr/store/most-played/games/xbox
Spain: https://www.microsoft.com/es-es/store/most-played/games/xbox
UK: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/store/most-played/games/xbox
Italy: https://www.microsoft.com/it-it/store/most-played/games/xbox
Xbox is more of a niche platform here in Europe that appeals more to a specific user, still it should give you some idea what is played more in Europe. There’s not that much different in any case, Fortnite is king everywhere.
edit: quoted the wrong person
2 Likes
On the podcast, Jez heard that a publisher acquisition was being held up by abk, nick heard a studio acquisition was being held up by abk.
Whether abk goes through or not, there will definitely be more acquisitions.
16 Likes
I hope that the discussions will continue once ABK validated (or rejected). I expect a series of acquisitions once the deal is done. Sarah Bond had already said that studios wanted to join the Xbox family and that they had to first go through a collaboration with XGP, so it is legitimate to think that the studios in question are Xbox partner studios. Crystal Dynamics and Eidos are probably concerned, and with the economic situation of Embracer, I think that we can still hope that an agreement will be found. As for the publishers Jez is talking about, the most obvious are SEGA and Paradox who have worked closely with Xbox for years. Nothing is certain, but beautiful things seem to be preparing behind the scenes. Looking forward to the next phase that will make Xbox history.
5 Likes
No one knew anything about Bethesda or ABK prior to the announcement. I have a hard time believing Jez has any concrete information about publisher acquisitions. Rumblings at best.
on the other hand people did know about previous acquisitions before they were announced.
Which ones? I think only Obsidian was common knowledge. The first wave (Ninja Theory, Playground, Undead Labs, Compulsion) came out of nowhere and while we knew to expect more acquisitions, inXile, DoubleFine and Bethesda had never been leaked.
There were rumors Zenimax was shopping around tho, more specifically in talks with Sony: https://www.reddit.com/r/kindafunny/comments/dn3lt3/regarding_tims_statement_about_hearing_rumors_of/
I like your thoughts here, but I like the THQ name and publishing arm better than just gearbox (personal preference). XBOX + THQ just seems like a great headline
Crystal Dynamics
Eidos
Flying wild Hog
Gearbox
Tripwire
Milestone
Black forest games
Dambuster studios
Splitgate ironworks
4A Games
A lot of nice studios and great IP for a fairly small price if it would ever happen.
2 Likes
I hope the ABK stuff is all sorted by this time next month and we can move on.
The flip side of ABK ending is I expect lots of players in the industry to quickly acquire thing, Sony, Amazon, Xbox etc. even larger publishers like EA. It’s going to be interesting to see who’s next.
1 Like
Quickly? I don’t think regulators will allow any existing games industry player to acquire a publisher wholesale quickly.
Welcome! And please don’t underestimate how popular Sonic is in Europe, far more even than in the USA. In many areas it was the first console people owned, even in it’s 8 bit form. Or the cartoon or the movie… Just it’s not FIFA big. But then that’s another market like the NFL games in the USA.
It’s not just bigger but also more for adult folks, where as sonic simply has a different audience. Heck Football Manager, also has a more limited market in that regard.
Arcade games are another big market. Imagine having a “retro” section on game pass with SEGA’S arcade offerings! That too is a huge market. Or even their old console offerings. SEGA had a huge array of old franchises that can just be released and tapped into.
And that’s not even talking about arcade games in general. Quick to pick up and play, faster to develop (and thus cheaper as the games are shorter and simpler) and quite popular. A new Afterburner or Outrun for game pass wouldn’t need to cost much to develop but would be quite popular. Heck it can be a budget title for those that don’t want game pass or have different hardware.
3 Likes
Only for smaller stuff though, right? Playground and Obsidian were known beforehand. I don’t think any of the big ones did.
i mean, whatever they are referring to might not be a “big one”.
I’d think that they didnt/aren’t waiting until close. Everyone has already been acquiring.
I do believe some time ago around the time of the Bethesda acquisition ACG had heard rumors FOCUS entertainment was in acquisition talks. I think once the ABK deal is done they should be fine with publishers in the west. Focus on Asia get SEGA if possible and a publisher in South Korea. Beyond that they can partner. A good partner will be Ubisoft. Ubisoft has the staff to make quality games and right now they need the business. Just a look at Star Wars Outlaws shows so much promise. That whole premise could be used for a third person Halo game. I do think there is a limit to how many developers Microsoft can acquire, the business strategy can only account for so much.
Sounds like they like 3rd person games, but those publishers are probably not the solution. I’d increase Xboxs offerings for those by building up a few independents that specialize in that.
It does seem to lean heavily towards the same games in each market:
Fortnite, COD, Rocket League, GTA, Apex, FIFA/Madden, Roblox, Minecraft, Rainbow Six Siege and Assassin’s Creed.
I know many people hate Ubisoft but it would help ensure a few more of their most played games stay on Xbox.
There’s no way Xbox can get either Take-Two or EA after ABK, also I can’t see Microsoft ever going after Roblox Corporation so it’s the next best thing.