Now that they have King I personally I don’t think EA Mobile or Zynga is going to influence their decision whether to acquire a monolith like EA or T2.
They are far more likely to go after Playrix, Dream Games or Moon Active (if Mobile is a priority).
Zynga was ranked 14th last year with $697m and EA didn’t even make the top 20.
That would be some of the best news to hit gaming in some time. We want more competition not less.
I think both EA Sports and 2K Sports have a lot of work to do regarding microtransactions and porting their games to PC. But I agree, if FIFA 2K is a great game and sells well, 2K Sports will have a very interesting game library to compete with EA Sports. Take Two would be a great acquisition, but I don’t think they’ll sell.
Unfortunately, I think this store will be another flop. It’s too late to compete with Apple and Google. I don’t know if Microsoft will buy a mobile-only publisher, but as Hue has shown, Microsoft has very good options.
It’s possible.
Yes, you are probably right.
Strong disagree, maybe not with EA mobile but Zynga is a company Microsoft literally talked to and with Take Two integration goes well will more than likely boost their value massively.
Maybe Playrix but it is important to note microsoft already compared the 2 companies and approached Zynga over Playrix as they deemed them the better buy despite both being amongst their top candidates. As for dream games or moon active, i think they struggle in 2 massive areas. They haven’t had consistant success, they could just be a 1 shot wonder and they haven’t been around for anywhere near as long meaning they don’t have as much user data Microsoft could use or sell. Unless they get them fairly cheap I really don’t see them happening anytime soon
Is that revenue or profit though. I’m guessing revenue as I know roblox is opporating at a net negative in which case it isn’t an accurate representation as it doesn’t account for their outgoings.
I’m not arguing otherwise. I’m simply saying it is the biggest risk on EAs evaluation as a company
They have already commented on this, they said they would have to sell if a good enough offer was made as they have a duty to shareholders to act in their best intrest so odds are they would sell but it would be a higher premium than someone like EA for instance. Think EA wanting to sell so they accept a 20% premium vs Take Two not wanting to sell but they are forced to accept a 30-35% premium due to their duties to shareholders. I think on base they are evan in terms of value, but Zynga gives T2 a much more notable mobile presences and room to expand not only the acquired company but the combinded entity as their are obviously synergies with Zynga and King
I mean, its another unknown but i find it more believable that microsofts biggest focus will be mobile over console from now one, and I know their are other potential mobile acquisitions. Now that Ubislop is probably safe for at least a year or 2 with Tencent best positioned to buy them or at least a bulk of their large assets i think the most likely acquisitions for microsoft to make in gaming are Playrix and Netmarble. 2 fairly large mobile publishers (with Square Enix and SEGA being 3rd and 4th respectively both also having notable mobile presnece).
It can give us an idea if what microsoft is looking out for though and the big publishers microsoft were eyeing up seriously were:
Square Enix: asian mobile and console growth
SEGA (twice): for European and American PC & Console growth along side Asian mobile growth
Paradox Interactive: PC growth
Zynga: Mobile Growth
NetMarble: Mobile Growth (specifically Asian)
Scopley: Mobile Growth
Playrix: Mobile Growth
Niantic: Mobile Growth (specifically social mobile growth)
Valve: PC growth and intergration with Windows
Nintendo: General growth but primarily intellectual properity expansion and domination
Along side those the following were mentioned briefly in the leaks allegedly (not sure if its confirmed or not but I saw someone post the uncensored version so take with salt): https://x.com/Xbox_Series_XS/status/1793362049034043403?s=19
Bandai Namco: strong asian presence in console and Mobile
Capcom: powerful asian franchises with mobile presence
Konami: Powerful Asian based franchises with strong presence in mobile and console
Nexon: Asain based publisher with a strong presence on PC and Mobile
Take Two: Deep slate of franchises for PC and Console
Ubisoft: strong console presence with a mix of owned propety and licensed property
Others are also mentioned but we know they were discussed outside of this in further detail so I didn’t feel the need to highlight them again (but they are netmarble, playrix, Square Enix, Valve and Zynga).
The thing that is worth noting here is with almost all of these mobile was highlighted meaning while it isn’t the be all end all its more than likely something microsoft considers important & on top of that EA wasn’t mentioned. While I don’t think this means it can’t or won’t happen as Activision also wasn’t mentioned, but I still find it worth noting assuming this is the actual uncensored version
I agree, but if the acquisition value becomes too high, Microsoft will have to fight with regulators. I think Take Two is probably worth it. You’re right, the synergies are interesting, and the three-branch structure (2K, Rockstar, Zynga) is similar to ABK. It would be a very good acquisition on many levels.
On the other hand:
Rockstar games are extremely expensive to produce. I think putting them on GP on day one would be a colossal loss.
Cloud Chambers, Hangar 13, Ghost Story Games, and 31st Union have yet to prove they’re capable of developing good games.
If Mafia, Bioshock, Judas, or Borderlands 4 are great games, then I’m 100% with you on Take Two.
Thanks, that’s interesting data. Based on this list, I think Take Two + SEGA would be a good choice.
Price of an acquisition has nothing to do with the level of regulatory scrutiny in practice at least, in execution it could since regulators like the FTC could just be intrested in a headline or pushing their political rederic. If price did matter the FTC would of never attempted to block Metas acquisition of that VR excise company at a price of 300 million. It should come down to the market itself which with Microsoft going 3rd party is fairly irrelevant outside of maybe cloud
Yeah I don’t see a reality where they put GTA 6 on game pass day 1. Maybe a year later at best but that is even iffy
I mean, I already rated who I think are the most likely buys and I stand by most of it, the only thing that has changed is obviously Ubisoft isn’t as high. I would probably move them down to low would make sense to high I could see as I could still see it happening but Tencent is much more likely to get them now + they peobably secured another year or 2 for now
if they put GTA on gamepass- gamepass would cost us $30 a month. MS acquiring rockstar would be a disaster for pretty much everyone
I mean depends. Microsoft definitely was debating putting call of duty day 1 on game pass. They did it cos their was nothing left to lose, I don’t think putting GTA on the service day 1 is a lot different from putting EA sports, 2K sports, call of duty or battlefield on the service day 1 though for 1 simple reason. While the other franchises individual games don’t sell as well, they release annually or bi annually so their selling 30 million every year while assuming GTA 6 sells as well as GTA 5 it sells about 200 million units over a decade.
Xbox Acquisitions OT. Final reminder.
They should Buy Nintendo, come on Phil make that dream from the FTC leaks come true. Attack hard with the Xbox Portable or OEMs, Superbowl ads, Gamepass, Xbox does what Nintendon’t etc. You own Crash Bandicoot, time for an Hey Plumber Boy your worst Nightmare has arrived, looks at this Call of Duty at 10 to 20 a month, NFL, Ea Play. Can the switch 2 play GTA6? Etc, etc.
GTA 5 launched on 3 gens of consoles, how many people did rebuy?
News from Ubisoft. AJ Investments and a coalition of shareholders are opposing the deal with Tencent and are asking the court to force Ubisoft to hold an extraordinary general meeting. They want the new company to be sold to Tencent for €4 billion (€3 billion for shareholders and €1 billion to pay Ubisoft’s debts). If the court accepts the request, the deal could be canceled or modified. Microsoft could likely make an offer to acquire the new company (Assassin’s Creed, FC, and Rainbow Six). To be continued.
Intresting. I thought shareholder wouldn’t be happy with it. I would say this puts Ubisoft back up to the likely tier. I don’t think they are as likely as they were before still though
It always felt more like a liferaft for Ives, rather than Ubisoft as a whole.
Also, Tencent may be already getting quite a hands-on on the deal What is that huge update? :: Far Cry 4 General Discussions
EDIT: False alarm, they accidentaly put CERO version on global https://x.com/FarCrygame/status/1908252506943275407
Sounds like it’s a very small percent of Shareholders, a very similar thing happened with ABK. This is a non story
I don’t know, but the deal would be interesting because you get the best of Ubisoft (Ubisoft Montreal + AC/FC/R6 + old games) without the problems. If the new company is really for sale at 4 billion euros, I hope Microsoft makes an offer.
This is different from ABK because it is not a sale of the company but a transfer of the company’s core value to a new company minority-owned by Tencent. Guillemot saved his position before thinking about the company or its shareholders. Honestly, I don’t know if what Guillemot did is legal, but I am sure that many shareholders are very unhappy. It will be up to the courts to decide, but in 2024, AJ Investments already obtained the support of 10% of shareholders when it requested that Ubisoft be sold.
To be fair its a very different situation. One sold their company where their shareholders got a definitive pay out while the other sold their IPs with 0 pay out to shareholders. Wanting a percentage of the sale to be given as a dividence payout sounds quite reasonable
They didn’t sell anything
They did. They sold assassin’s creed, far cry and tom clancy to the new division. Ubislop just continues to own a majority stake in the division
Actually ubisoft still retained the IP, they are licensing it to the new entity.
