I’d rather they get Nether Realms. If Double Helix was still available, they would be perfect.
If kI is really coming back I would say its best to secure the team behind it, specially if they want the game to be supported in the future.
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I got it! Bring IG in house for KI and move Crash Team Rumble to IG, freeing up Toys for Bob to make a new Banjo.
(Also make Crash Team Rumble F2P)
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I’ve been saying this Divinity original sin has came out and now that baldurs gate 3 is out I really hope Microsoft acquires Larian. Selfishly if they acquired cd projekt red and larian i’d be good personally.
But i do think that would basically give them full ownership of all the major western rpg powers. Which could become an identity for them as they move away from just being the shooter box.
Also lowkey the number one reason I always get a little excited about MS acqusitions is play anywhere adoption by the studios they acquire. I like being able to take my saves between pc and xbox. Now if we can just get full steam support for GP and PA.
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I’d love to see Microsoft get Larian. They are obviously an amazing RPG studio. A top down real time RPG in the Fable or Elder Scrolls world for instance would be amazing in between the Divinity or Baldurs Gate franchises.
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Fwiw, Tencent has a 30% stake and the remaining 70 is held by Sven (the founder) and his wife.
They would be challenging for anybody to acquire, and Sven has sworn off publishers in the past so even commissioning games from them may be difficult. D:OS2 was a big hit and Bg3 is pulling bigger than Fallout 4 numbers on steam, so there is no urgent need for him to want to sell.
Conditions may change in the future. Or perhaps a sufficiently large sum will change his mind. But my read is that what he’s currently doing as a wildly successful independent studio is exactly where he wants to be in life.
It’s the type of studio, I’d love to be brought into Microsoft with their resources but Larian given complete free reign to operate independently… I suppose like Bethesda are and how I imagine Activision and Blizzard will operate.
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I’ve thought about an old school Elder Scrolls for years and if Bethesda was to give Larian the blessing to make it, I’d be all for it.
The one thing is if Microsoft buys Larian, what company does Microsoft put them under, Xbox Game Studios, Zenimax or under the Blizzard part of Activision Blizzard.
I suppose they would go into Xbox Game Studios as a stand alone studio, but work closely with Obsidian and InXile.
Microsofts IP’s are nuts when uou think about it… Fable and Elder Scrolls are perfect game worlds for top down RPGs… You even have Fallout you could use.
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I don’t think Larian would be wise. I feel with that studio they don’t own any IPs of great value. I feel with that studio it’s more about the talent, and it’s not guaranteed they can retain talent, so there’s a lot of risk. Also, Swen said he’s not interested in acquisition, so I don’t think it’s possible at the moment tbh.
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Microsoft have a vast wealth of IPs plus the talent is always there to create new IPs. Larian are the best turn based RPG studio in game development currently. Microsoft already have deals with 3rd parties to license IPs… Indiana Jones for instance.
I doubt Larian are suddenly going to lose Dungeons and Dragons… What would they be able to do with say the Witcher IP in that game genre, if Microsoft opened their wallet and secured temporary rights with CDPR?
They’ve said they don’t want to be acquired. It doesn’t sound like they’re interested in that, and the thing about Larian is the talent itself. There’s no guaranteeing you’re retaining the talent, which makes acquisition of that studio very risky when the founder has been open about what he thinks about acquisitions.
They would be an awesome fit of course, but with the success of BG3. I feel it makes acquiring Larian very hard because they’re more than okay to continue doing what they’ve been doing because they’ve just became a rockstar studio imo
I get it… But his as far as I’m aware, is a hypothetical thread where in the best way it benefits the gamer (me) and not just the shareholders.
In the best possible outcome, Larian gets a massive pot of gold to work with, they keep complete studio independence and gain other IPs to create a gameworld within and have the capability of working alongside inhouse Microsoft tech knowledge on advanced AI and other software/hardware teams.
We can all dream.
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It wouldn’t be the first studio to say this before being acquired. Now, it’s likely that some of the studios Microsoft is considering want to stay independent. Some of you say Larian has no IP, but Larian has Divinity IP which is a very good IP with great games. Microsoft could allow Larian to develop a very ambitious third-person Divinity A-RPG. Divinity 2 was a great game and I’m sure Larian would be able to go back to the origins of the series. I think CDPR and Larian are the two biggest and most talented independent developers at WRPG, acquiring one of them would be great news for Xbox and would definitely confirm that Xbox is the home of WRPG.
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I’m personally not a fan of console makers dominating genres to that degree. I won’t use the term “monopoly” but having control over most of the top-tier developers of a particular genre of game seems a little too much.
We almost saw this with the PS4 and fighting games, though not through acquisitions.
I remember back in the 16 bit days that the Genesis was lacking in JRPGs, with Japanese developers opting to make them for the SNES instead. Again, not through acquisitions, but the end result really sucked. Although it did force SEGA to make their own and they were great.
Couple that with my personal belief that Xbox needs to cover all bases and that focusing on covering their weaker areas should be a priority.
I mean I hate to say that they should not acquire a talented hitmaker. Especially when they make games that give players a whole lot to play through, which makes it perfect for renewing Gamepass subs month after month. It just seems that Xbox is well covered in this area.
This is my personal opinion, I’m not saying my perspective represents a good business plan. It could be argued that cornering a market (genres) is really good for business and is tactically smart.
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I wouldn’t want Larian to move away from the top down turned based classic RPG type of games they make… They are masters at it. Xbox already has plenty of studios who can do third person action type RPGS.
You also have Shadowrun and Microsoft definitely needs a developer to continue to make that RPG series.
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KI has a lot of potential with guest characters if ABK goes through. If done correctly, it could end up becoming xbox’s smash bross. Same with Crash team racing.
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I personally think Final Fantasy isn’t as popular today, because Square Enix stopped making it a turn based game. Look at Persona as an example, the series is becoming more popular and that series is turn based still.
I truly believe I’m not the only one that misses the turn base game style.
There is still such a love for the classic FF games, yet you never hear people saying how great the new FF games are and I believe it is because changing the gameplay style isn’t what people wanted.
I could be wrong , but FF in a turn base style was unique and getting rid of that lead to the charm of it going away.
So I think that played a role in it not being as big today.
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