Until there is a constant cadence of games big and small, no. And Xbox doesn’t think so ABK will be enough either, so.
The reasons they went for publishers is that they don’t have to manage stuff. I personally think bringing more studios under XGS is gonna be stressful for management unless they make a new internal organization with another head & management team, same XGS but a new organization/team to share the burden with Matt Booty and co.
The reason for acquiring more is simply competition, if they don’t buy others will buy, especially for the studios they are partnering with so that they don’t get screwed over like with KI and Crackdown3.
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Ok what the heck I thought this was the Activision thread, my bad! Sorry lol
No. Even if Microsoft had 75 studios and 150 million Ultimate game pass subscriptions, the primary impetus would be “how do we grow that to 500 million”.
Answers always the same.
Exclusives.
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Disagree that it has to be exclusives.
Having a wide variety of types of content and making it as easy to use and to stay subscribed is more important than the content having to be exclusive.
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I could definitely see them acquiring studios under the other branches in the future such as placing a Japanese studio under Bethesda to work with Tango and, or if and when the inevitable SEGA acquisition happens also acquiring Platinum underneath the Sega wing. Once Activision clears they could build back up their studioc count by bringing back Vicarious Visions or adding a studio here or there.
I could also see The Initiative becoming it’s own wing in the future with Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal , with Darrell as the head there. There is already so much synergy and cooperation between them it just makes sense. I might would also add IOI and Asobo under the Initiative wing bring the SE west family back together.
As far as Xbox Game studios I would still place People can fly, Certain Affinity, and others under XGS, but if they wanted to ease the management stress on Matt, it is possible they could place them under the wing of The Coalition and 343 as support studios that can also work on their own IP. I just don’t see them splittling XGS up other than maybe splitting the Initiative to be it’s own thing. Having partner or studios over other studios like 343/ Certain Affinity and The Coalition/ People Can Fly should help XGS grow without adding much stress. Especially since Halo and Gears are such huge brands.
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I understand this perspective. Personally, I would prefer if Xbox was more targeted in their acquisitions for the next few years or more. Don’t get tied up with the long process of buying another publisher. The ABK buyout probably stopped MS from acquiring Square Enix’s western teams. Get important teams like Asobo and Certain Affinity first (losing either would be terrible for MS), and then fill in some gaps with a fighting game team and whatever other kind of genre they need to cover. MS can take their time and just make sure that the teams they really need don’t pass them by again. Maybe talk with publishers like Embracer and WB to buy some specific studios and IP rights.
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What do I think will be the next big acquisition? Well, I’m not going to be original and say :
But before acquiring SEGA, I would like Microsoft to buy a few studios. We know Xbox partners and know that certain studios are of interest to Microsoft. So, I expect a few studios among this:
- Asobo
- Certain Affinity
- IOI
- People Can Fly
- Crytek
- Rebellion
- Remedy
- Larian
- Paradox
- Thunderful
- CDPR
- Stoic
- Supergiant Game
- Int./Night
- Frontier
- Don’t Nod
Given Microsoft’s strategy, I think having around 60 studios would be a good base for a diverse catalog and regular first-party content. Honestly, if we get closer to that, with the studios mentioned, we clearly won’t have to worry about Xbox or wonder when the next release will be. There is huge potential with studio acquisitions. I hope Microsoft is still interested in acquiring them and taking Xbox to the next level. The future of Xbox looks very exciting.
And of course, for the pleasure of quoting them, there are some studios which are unfortunately not independent but which would have their place in the family:
- Crystal Dynamics
- Eidos
- Avalanche Studios
- NetherRealm
- TT Games
Let’s hope this sweet dream comes true.
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Good list but I’d add Platinum to it. I wonder how possible Crystal and Eidos are at this point, I don’t think Embracer would let them go truthfully.
I think the business model dictates. Right now, I’m of the opinion 2 more publishers should be enough. One in Japan and another one in South Korea after that let the developers be the ones to acquire studios. In time others like Amazon might rise up if Game Pass is a roaring success and we might get something akin to the streaming wars.
Well, I think CI Games is the best opportunity for Microsoft to get its own Soul’s Like. I don’t know if the game will be as good as it looks, but I think it could be an interesting acquisition to diversify the catalog of games. In addition it is a Polish studio.
Embracer is in trouble, I don’t know if they want to sell some of their studios, but I think it would be better for them. They already rent Crystal (Perfect Dark) and Eidos (Fable) to Microsoft and the next Tomb Raider will be published by Amazon. Embracer is a big investor, but it’s not a good studio manager. If Microsoft can take Gearbox at the same time, I think it can be a good deal for both parties.
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Well this is nothing new but what are the chances for ubisoft now? I prefer sega a whole lot but I still like the idea of ubisoft, mostly to see ubisoft milan working on rayman aswell the potential of having several developers working on old and new ips, I know is unlikely because they have a lot of problems like abk aswell I dont think microsoft wants to have that many developers, still I think it would be nice because like sega they have been working together since the first xbox
I think a partnership is the best idea with Ubisoft. Microsoft have a lot of IPs now there is no reason why they can’t have Ubisoft develop something like a new Shadowrun rpg or a third person Halo in the vein of Star Wars outlaws. They need to make a big splash in Japan, and I think Sega is the best fit for that.
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Possible unpopular opinion but I think it’s good when big tech companies have tens of thousands, preferably millions, of workers. When a company is worth 1-3 trillion dollars it’s better to have salaries being paid by these tech companies. Not every person is well off enough to “invest”, many people are simply looking for a paycheck. I deliver packages for Amazon because in small town America there aren’t a lot of good options for part time work that pay well. Obviously there are important nuances and worker rights improvements and federal minimum wage raises that could be improved. But I’m not talking hypothetically, Amazon is literally the best paying part time job that fits my schedule and more importantly my life and allows me to still give my special needs son the extra time for his additional support needs, and the part time hours of Amazon delivery hours allow my wife to work her job at the school in the evenings. I’m not trying to rant or get political, or even defend big tech Amazon 
… but I am saying it’s better when big tech companies employ people. We should all want that. Stocks help some, but that money doesn’t always trickle down to the workers.
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Well, I think Ubisoft is still an interesting acquisition for many reasons: IP, Back Catalog, Big Sellers, High Production Capacity, Proprietary Technologies, Xbox Partner… Ubisoft could work with its own IP, or with the 'IP from Activision, Xbox or even SEGA to diversify its production. The possibilities are many. It all depends on what Microsoft is looking for and if they want to bring over 20,000 employees into Microsoft Gaming. It is enormous. I think Ubisoft needs a restructuring, and Microsoft is the perfect company for that. Look, ABK plans to hire many employees for COD and Microsoft Gaming needs more support to develop their games. So while I don’t like what Ubisoft has become today, I think with the right decisions it could be an important pillar of Microsoft Gaming for the next few years. For me the main obstacle will be the regulators who will be able to debate on the importance of AC and the fact that Ubisoft has its own market and its own subscription service. I don’t think that will happen, but for $4 billion, Ubisoft is obviously an acquisition to consider. I mean it’s probably cheaper to acquire Ubisoft than to acquire a dozen of the big indie studios I mentioned earlier lol
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I definitely want to see sega or a japanese developer joining next, and I think that the idea of a partnership like that could work well for both parties, especially now that xbox will need more help for cod and other AAA titles, ubisoft could follow the same route as thq nordic letting some of their studios help others
Ngl, your post has made me interested in how big tech companies treat their employees in different places, it was awesome to read it, I should consider it in the future
Thats one of the main reasons why I make the question, ubisoft could easily help cod and several other titles from xbox aswell release content constantly every year, I am not sure if they will shutdown ubisoft + but I think it could be a good alternative to attract people in ps5, I mean is clear most if not all ubisoft games will end being multiplatform so I think it will be good to offer ubisoft + to the playstation market meanwhile gamepass subscribers get ubisoft games, or they could just make a new tier for gamepass adding the service like they did with disney plus, also they should get rid of ubisoft connect definitely, if I remember well regulators consider ubisoft as one of the big publisher like abk or take 2 but I dont think their ips reach the same amount of players like call of duty or grand theft auto at all, the restructure would take years but I think is worth it, mainly because I want to see ubisoft montpellier and milan having freedom to do whatever they want, I am sure it would be a long process just like activision but who knows what will be the next target for microsoft
I don’t know if it is possible or that Intel would even sell it, but if Microsoft could get Project Offset and the Offset Engine that would be cool.
I understand Offset the game from today’s standards aren’t the greatest, yet I would still play the game if it was released with the graphics it had years ago.
The real prize would be the engine and how there are today game engines that don’t have all of the features the Offset Engine had.
If Microsoft was to get Offset, they could incorporate the features it had into their other game engines.
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https://twitter.com/cowhand_fudca/status/1687648701463093248?t=UCUkhpDsZ3O2DPObnYEAKA&s=19
Edit: it was deleted. For anyone who didnt see it. It was basically the M&A person from Xbox winking to Iron galaxys annoucment.
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I would love to see Xbox acquire IG and put some muscle behind Killer Instinct.
IG has also done a lot of support work on ABK and Bethesda games. It seems like a good fit.
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Well, I agree with you my friends, Iron Galaxy is currently the best opportunity for Microsoft to have its own fighting game studio. Seeing the studio return to Killer Instinct is great news. I think Iron Galaxy could easily work on Virtua Fighter (if Microsoft buys SEGA) or a fighting game in the Blizzard universe. It’s an interesting studio. As you say, they also worked with Activision on the latest Crash and Spyro games. So think they would be able to develop that kind of content in addition to fighting games. Like Asobo or Certain Affinity, Iron Galaxy does not have an IP, but has skills that Xbox needs. So yes, it’s clearly an interesting acquisition, and I hope it happens.
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