I feel if Square is up for sale, then Sony isn’t getting them. I feel the bidding war between groups bigger than Sony like MS, Tencent, and wouldn’t be shocked if a third party publisher makes an attempt.
I don’t think Sony would be able to compete but I feel after Activision it’s Japan time lol would be funny if Xbox acquired Japanese publishers
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Yeah, I think that’s Sony’s worst nightmare tbh because they don’t have the acquisition funds to get a publisher. If somebody like Square or even Sega is for sale then they have to watch on the sidelines. I think it was reported that Sony as a whole only got $5billion for acquisitions. If that’s the case then they won’t be able to compete with MS, Tencent, Netease, EA, Take Two, and even somebody like Amazon and Apple who might take a go at it.
Anyways, at least this document is showing Microsoft is looking at Japan, so it could get spicy once ABK settles. Also, I feel Microsoft should look at Korea because that lies of P game looks dope, and would be interesting to have them in their umbrella.
Someone needs to force Korean devs off of making p2w mmos and gacha games. They always have good combat and graphics ruined by p2w stuff.
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We already suspected this was the case, but it seems Phil has confirmed that Microsoft’s content acquisition strategy is to acquire studio’s/publishers with revenue to obtain games without hurting the profit & loss statements. The idea that Microsoft has a warchest that can be spent on any expense like exclusive deals or lowering the console price was shot down when it was said Microsoft Gaming is expected to be profitable by the company.
He also confirmed there is a focus on mobile developers as they lost Zynga to Take Two, which seems consistent with prior messaging, and also that Chinese companies aren’t attainable acquisition targets for Microsoft.
I’d still like them to finance some more externally developed first party titles, but it sounds like we need the acquisitions to bring in the profit to fund those first. I think targets like Eidos/Crystal Dynamics may not be bringing in the kind of profit Microsoft would prefer. Before today I thought small(er) studios were the way to go, but now I’m convinced they’d rather go for someone with a large mobile presence like SEGA after they acquire Rovio, assuming Microsoft doesn’t believe they can get a Take Two or EA through regulators.
There was also some speculation that the Square Enix was looked at based on the titles of some of the redacted evidence documents, would’ve been great if we could’ve heard a bit more about this one from the trial.
Buying Square Enix makes sense since MS doesn’t want third parties to skip Xbox, the other Japanese publishers are on board.
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Your right, I does seem like Microsoft is trying to buy publishers that Sony has contracts with to keep content off of Xbox, and I’m not sure why Sony hasn’t reacted to this and buy Square before Microsoft can it’s crystal clear what Phil’s strategy is right now .
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I think Capcom or Sega would be a better target than SE.
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In the court proceedings, they said that they targeted Activision because of its mobile division. They wanted to use those apps to promote their own mobile store, where they could sell micro transactions and in-game purchases. But they couldn’t list their store on the iPhone app store, and they could only stream games, not buy anything, on the Google play store.
So I think they will look for companies with a large audience. They might go for individual studios, but they really want a company with a wide reach.
I don’t think regulators would let them buy EA or Take 2, but Sega or Capcom might be possible because of their mobile presence.
Bandai Namco also has a strong app presence, even though they license a lot of anime. They could be their next big target.
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It will be nice to have a new IP based on an action game gener
However, I think NT will try to end with the trilogy for Hellblade by the end of this gen or maybe start of next gen.
A new IP from them is far off I believe.
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Personally I feel like they should avoid SE since they don’t have the best relationship with them (supposedly). Even if there is no animosity there, they obviously prefer to work with Sony/Nintendo and Microsoft/PC are afterthoughts. I’d focus on developers that have been supportive of Xbox and could really use some stability/help.
Square Enix has stated that they want moneyhat and since MS no longer does those kinds of deals they get nothing. We already know that Final Fantasy skips Xbox because Sony pays, that’s not preference, it’s business.
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Capcom is hard to justify because they are doing so well and their content doesn’t skip Xbox. Zenimax was selling exclusives to Sony because they were bad financially, Activision with all the internal scandal plus they didn’t want to put their content on Game Pass.
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A point to be noted on how acquisitions work
https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1672398577006411777?t=6IbllknFERVWwKWgUiDymg&s=19
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i think xbox is targetting those companies that arent doing well nd those who r doing timed exclusivity with Sony
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Phil really knowing how to answer that question!
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The tweets are showing up again. In a new format.
With what Jez is saying I have to take a guess it was the companies Embracer got instead.
If so with Embracer having some financial troubles hopefully after ABK is bought MS can buy the companies from Embracer.
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