I do not expect any acquisitions until things stabilize economically
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This part and just before it is the most interesting to me. The increase in content could include the content that they’re working on with King that has been discussed recently, though of course they always are going to be looking at what they can do, but the focus on increasing how they can reach gamers in more places really is what I’m excited to see, it seems like they have some thoughts on how to make big changes in the future here.
I do not expect any acquisition until we get a proper integration of Activision/Blizzard and King within the Xbox ecosystem.
Also saw people online saying Ubisoft, i admit i did a facepalm on that notion cause that would be a bad idea for numerous reason, as am sure people already know to death by now. However the fact that they mentioned studios instead of publishers kinda calmed me a bit since i think that’s better move overall.
They will probably wait until the FTC drops the ABK charges, but no doubt they will continue with new acquisitions. This is Microsoft. They want growth and profits, and the best way to achieve that is to acquire as much as they can.
That’s it! Microsoft is known for its appetite for acquisitions (not just in the video game industry). They will necessarily be limited in their actions by regulators, but there is no doubt that they will continue to make new acquisitions to obtain profit and growth. It’s an insatiable appetite. Without the regulators, I’m willing to bet they would have tried to acquire EA or Take Two after ABK.
Valve seems to me to be the best option for easy profit. They make more money than EA without developing a single game! There is no doubt that Microsoft is interested, even if I don’t necessarily think it will happen soon. Valve is the icing on the cake, but it will be a hell of a fight to convince them to sell and convince the regulators to validate the acquisition.
No. I think Warner Bros has the best chance of happening. Look how struggling they are. They are now only worth 19 billion (with 38 billion in debt). There is enormous potential to develop and excellent synergy with Microsoft’s activities. They have valuable IP, which is something Microsoft is interested in. Most Warner Games games have been successful because of the IP. I think that with better studio management and more regular releases, Warner Games would probably be among the biggest publishers in the industry. By purchasing Warner Bros, Microsoft would have more than 40 studios capable of developing games in the DC Comics, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Mad Max, Mortal Kombat universes… It’s a good acquisition for them. IP is important. Microsoft constantly repeats this. Warner Bros has value for Microsoft. I’m focused on video games, but Microsoft is a company that sells services, and I wouldn’t find it crazy that it owns a service like Max. I know the situation is complicated, but they have a card to play by offering a multi-service subscription. I’m thinking in particular of what Amazon is doing with Prime or Apple with Apple One. Honestly, I’m willing to bet on Warner Bros. It’s an undervalued acquisition but with a lot of potential. In terms of impact for Microsoft Gaming, it probably falls between Bethesda and ABK. It’s probably the best public publisher Microsoft could acquire, but obviously they’re going to have some work to do to get it back.
Oh there’s no doubt about it. They would have been over them like a dog in heat. I’d throw Valve in that list too.
Publisher wise I suspect your right, WB games is most likely. That or one of the smaller publishers like Focus Home Interactive, Square, Sega (or even Embracer post all their layoffs).
TBH I don’t really want them to pick up more publishers but I think it’s inevitable.
I don’t see them stopping on the publishers, it’s a must as it’s the only way to ensure they get the IPs. I think Xbox is going to change the industry for good with their next gen system which will integrate their vision of console, PC and mobile on a single platform open to accommodate all other platforms. Right now they are spreading themselves to thin trying to do so many things but once the ABK integration is solid I think they will move for another publisher. My bet is it will be Asia as that is where they seem deficient they seem to be focusing on Europe for now and I’m sure next year will be absolutely huge for them there with Fable, a possible Perfect Dark solid showing. However the Asian deficiencies has been on the high with Capcom games skipping, Wukong delay, and many revealed IPs like Phantom Blade Zero skipping Xbox or Project Eve going under Sony as Stellar Blade. The question will be who. Xbox has been good at surprising everyone. A single dev in Asia also doesn’t make any sense seeing as they are selling Tango. I would hope to hear SEGA and BLUESIDE.
https://x.com/shinobi602/status/1823417431047524862
The same thing will probably happen to Warner if they do not decide to sell everything and Microsoft could use this example to the regulatory authorities to push through the acquisition even if concretely outside the video game studios Warner should not pose any problem given that Microsoft does not yet have its own film studios, television channels, theme parks…
Maybe but the business isn’t doing well right now, why would Microsoft want it.
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It’s September now with a rumored PlayStation event, just like 2020. Don’t get me wrong but my feeling is MS needs to work harder in its gaming business to reach more eastern users. Maybe an acquisition could help. Now I wonder which company could generate high MAUs from Asian markets? 
TGS is coming up soon that will give some hints. I think they’re already doing a lot with getting SE, Sega and now Mihoyo on board. I don’t think they need to be talking about acquisitions now until at least next year. The FTC should have a new head next year that is more amenable and sensible. As for where they would target my guess now would be South Korea as that is where it’s hot now. They’ve worked with Phantagram Interactive in the past for the KUF series and now I think Phantagram has reformed under Blueside which did KUF circle of doom and ninety-nine nights for 360. Blueside might be in need of saving so they would be a cheap bet, and one in which regulators won’t fuss over seeing they haven’t worked on other consoles yet. :: BLUESIDE :: Another would be Sega obviously with their relationship and what they could do and achieve with the Sonic franchise. For now though making deals for Game Pass is good enough.
the company that will generate the most MAU in the next few years is Take Two GTA VI will be massive probably a hundred million MAU if I were Microsoft and I would look to acquire MAU quickly there is nothing better than GTA VI
Take Two has stated multiple times that they don’t want to put GTA VI Day One in Gamepass but if they get bought it’s not a problem anymore with games like GTA VI / CoD / Minecraft / The Elder Scrolls, future Blizzard games… would absolutely be a phenomenal MAU factory
Realistically none of the big 3 (EA, Take-Two and Epic) are going to happen post ABK. They would need Playstation or Nintendo to grow in size substantially (which will likely need them to acquire one of the above) or another tech giant (Amazon or Apple etc) to come in and do the same.
Take-Two’s MAU will definitely increase substantially for the first 12-18 months after GTA, however EA is technically the better buy for MAU’s IMO.
Neither of these are a possibility anyway.
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Ubisoft continues to fall (1.5 billion), it’s really sad what’s happening to this publisher.
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1.5B is crazy! Surely they can’t dip under the 1B point can they?
Ubisoft always were one of my favourite publishers, its surreal to see them this way.
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Yep Ubi are one of my faves - they’re one of the few publishers not to fall into the “everything must be a Souls-like” craze, their games generally remain really accessible.
Too many gamers complain of “Ubi open world bloat” - well as they all say when I can’t play Souls-likes “it’s not for you”, those Ubi games aren’t for them.
But for me, particularly the AC series in recent years have provided beautiful big open worlds to explore with a half-decent stab at keeping some of it historical, from AC Syndicate to AC Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla - I’ve spent countless hours in them almost collecting everything as I love to explore them…
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There are games certainly are something else. I for one like their open world but it’s become too similar. They need real good stories in my opinion that holds the open worlds. Atlas Fallen for example I thought would have been a great candidate for the Ubisoft formula. The way I see things it would be best for Ubisoft to pretty much become developers for hire working on contracted projects. let them work on that halo mega blok for Xbox and switch.
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The value will probably increase with AC Shadows, but it’s crazy to think that today Ubisoft is worth half as much as Embracer. It seems to me that Ubisoft was worth more than 10 billion a few years ago. It’s also a publisher I liked so I hope they don’t close. They do a lot of bad things, but they don’t deserve to be in this situation. They get a lot of hate but their games aren’t that bad. I hope they get through this.
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that’s wild their IP alone should be worth more than that. I wonder what the debt would be like.
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