I’m of the belief that if MS acquires a Japanese publisher it will either be Square or Sega
I’ve thought this before the leaked documents and now that only seems more likely, Bamco has never seemed likely to me and I don’t think Koei are of any interest to MS
Then again, I certainly didn’t expect ABK so not like I know anything but if I was betting on any of them it would be Square or Sega
Sonic has always been popular, the fact that after 20 years of mostly mediocre/bad games and yet people still love him shows his potential
Well, sonic generations was good, unleashed had great levels if you dont count all the werewolf stuff, and 06 had the potential of being adventure 3 but it needed a lot more time, double fine is going to work on games that they want, I remember seeing several people suggesting that they should work on banjo but isnt just that easy, just because they make platforming games doesnt means that they could take any platforming franchise, I think we should just let them continue because frontiers had potential, I mean 343 also had potential with halo infinite but I blame microsoft for its state, they should stop using contractors and let the studio build its own culture,
I think it would be a good idea to let other studios take a chance on working with sonic, also yea I saw this video, thats why I am suggesting that xbox should consider grounding inc in the future, maybe they can hire nick aswell because he clearly knows what makes phantom dust great, reminds me when maximiliam dood was helping iron galaxy with some seasons in killer instinct
But that output was years ago. Ubisoft has been trying to get their footing back for a while.
I believe Amy Hood was recently talking about how she’s wanting to bring the Microsoft Gaming division up to par with their other pillar businesses in terms of revenue and margins.
I find it hard to imagine Hood approving a publisher like Ubisoft based on current performance, especially when there are more than a handful of other potential targets that have far better revenue per employee ratios.
Ubisoft is not out of the realm of possibility, but it seems unlikely to me.
Just asking but what would you suggest as a plan to bring constant and diverse content to gamepass? Publishers and developers could bring revenue sure but who knows if their output will help gamepass at all, just see how we have barely seen games from xbox being launched after the acquisition of bethesda
The only ones I could think are namco, ubisoft, square enix or indie developers which doesnt take much time to make their games, they could also make a gamepass deal but I doubt ms is interested in doing one after ea play, imo xbox should expand xgs publishing a lot more
Bethesda only took a while to produce content because of Sony timed exclusive deals and (likely) covid-related delays. Any publisher acquisition should put out multiple games a year.
That’s the exact point I was trying to get across with Ubisoft but you did it better .
It’s clear Xbox are pushing GamePass as their USP and to keep GamePass on top they need regular first party content. F2P and Indie games will help fill the gaps but it’s those big AAA games which will sell subs. Yes live service games bring in loads of revenue but it’s GP subs they need.
I don’t think there’s many publishers which bring out as much content as Ubisoft do, especially at their current price point.
Ubisoft games doesnt bring a ton of revennue but they work perfectly for a service, you need to have a wide range of content to keep people on it, xgs could fill all those holes but I think ubisoft is an easier route
I agree MS needs more creative teams. Spencer and Nadella have both said that even after ABK they are not done.
I’m pointing out the huge overhead that Ubisoft would add with so many employees and, as things are currently, they aren’t driving up revenue. Its stock has been on a downward trend for years. Is that the leadership team you want to add as another major arm to the business?
Meanwhile, a publisher like Sega has been on an upward trend, signaling strong leadership that makes good business decisions. They won publisher of the year recently and are making the right moves to drive up company value. I’d keep courting Sega with an aim towards acquisition. Once acquired, I’d fund its growth for both its own output as well as publishing games from more Indies and AA games.
I mean, after seeing them buying abk it will not surprise me, and sure you can say that atleast they had massive money makers like call of duty or world of warcraft but xbox is going to let those studios work on something else so is clear they want more content than just those ips, I know ubisoft games doesnt bring revenue but that could change for gamepass, afterall xbox has launched games like battletoads, pentiment and hi fi rush which arent big sellers but they where good for the service and phil is interested in bringing back games like 1 vs 100 so is clear they want this type of content, several ubisoft games could find new audiences being on gamepass
Yea and thats one of the reasons why I doubt they will sell during the next years, they are the perfect publisher for xbox but if they didnt bought them after bethesda then we cant be sure they are going to be the next one now, neither ubisoft, I am just trying to see the benefits of every publisher instead of just saying “eww ubisoft, xbox should buy this publisher better”, still I respect your opinion about it, last year I hated the idea of ubisoft joining xbox but after seeing the possibilities I changed my mind
I always tend to look at Sonic in relation to Mario as it was Sega’s answer at the time. Also, Ratchet isn’t multiplat and it has never been a bigger seller. It usually does well but nothing over the top like their core franchises. After being in the industry this long I’d say I’m in the camp of those who expect better. Perhaps saying the character isn’t popular was a little too extreme, I was just surprised it wasn’t that big in Japan and mainly relevant in the west and yes, I see the movies and tv adaptations like Sonic prime which are very successful and sometimes I think are what’s pushing and holding the IP.
Rather than Ubisoft how about Crytek would love to see their engine more in the spotlight. I think if they had Microsoft backing, they could achieve a lot more considering they are probably the only studio to have a software raytracing solution on last gen consoles. A Ryse 2 would be mind blowing. Another publisher that needs saving is Blueside. They are the South Korean developers of the KUF series and also worked on 99knights. They have their own engine. They seem to have been struggling for quite some time, they would be a purchase worth it.
I would be interested to see what they could do with Crytek, it feels like forever since we have seen anything interesting from them. Hopefully their engine tech is keeping up to date with the rest of the market. Talking of ray tracing I can’t wait to see what 4A games does next, Metro Exodus is still one of the best looking console games.
Sonic would be the biggest mascot they could realistically acquire, the Rayman games from Ubisoft are brilliant (have lots of co-op fun with the kids) but it’s not iconic like Sonic is (ironically the Rayman games probably score higher!).
I think there is nothing to lose going for crytek, it has been so long since the last time they did something new, and I am not sure if hunt showdown is good but with xbox giving them resources it could be interesting, although I dont see any of the other xbox studios using cryengine, crytek is the only one that knows how to work with it well, with blueside I am not sure because the last kingdom under fire didnt perform well but just like crytek I think they could be better having enough support
Sonic is definitely a better choice for a platforming mascot but I just want to see more rayman if I am honest, xbox could easily let ubisoft milan or montpellier continue working on rayman aswell bring other franchises such as banjo
4A games was definitely one but they are now under Embracer and sold for around $40 million. They would be great if Embracer is willing to part with them.
Sonic and Shadow for me are my main interest in Sega as of now. They carry so much potential and it’s just annoying to see it not realized. The movies and streaming seem to get it though.
I would rather prefer Halo opting for this than UE5. Crytek lacks the resources like Epic to make the engine standard which is why I think under Microsoft they could rival Epic. Their engine certainly outshined UE4 on the Xbox one with Ryse .
Same, from all the ips that sega has sonic and super monkey ball are my favorite, with xbox we could see sonic getting enough support to return to his golden age, and I mean modern sonic, classic sonic has been getting good stuff if you dont count sonic origins, having arzest working on it is amazing because the studio has several developers that worked at sega during the 90s, now we could see that wacky creativty back, meanwhile dimps is mostly for nostalgia, I grew up playing the advance trilogy and rush so I need them to on a new 2d game with modern sonic, they could even make a fighting game because they have experience on that area
Being honest I dont think it is a good idea, I mean halo infinite didnt got enough content because most of the engineers that created the slipspace engine are no longer on 343, most developers know that working with cryengine is hard so 343 would depend a lot of working with crytek
Exactly. Sonic is popular despite SEGA’s mismanagement of it. At the same time, SEGA’s generosity in allowing fans to make fan content, including games, has gone a long way in keeping him popular. So credit to them there.
But it’s amazing that not only have we not seen a Sonic Mania 2 (or a Sonic 4 remake from Christian Whitehead and Headcannon), but also that SEGA didn’t work with them for Sonic Origins.
3D Sonic games sell great but are never “must play” titles. A game like Tinykins comes out as a must-play 3D platformer, so it’s not like no one besides Nintendo can make one.
With Sonic Team not getting a big budget for Sonic Frontiers, it shows that SEGA is mishandling the IP a bit. A Microsoft purchase could go a long way in having a premier 3D platformer that compares to Mario, as it serves Xbox pretty well to have something like that.
And yes I should be the one making that new Sonic game. I knew you were going to say that I was just beating you to the punch.
I’ve read people on forums talk about both Microsoft and Sony trying to aquire ubisoft but there two things that make me think it unlikely. The first is the Guillemot/tencent partnership which owns a significant chunk of the company and that values ubisoft at a much higher value then the current share price(the tencent investment into the Guillemot holdings last year valued ubisoft at $10bn). The second is how ubisoft has actually performed barely making any profit and actually losing something like $400m in their last financial year. I just think there’s a lot of risk associated with buying them especially if you have to pay what the Guillemot/tencent would want to sell at.
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