Striking Distance Studios is owned by Krafton and isn’t really a good studio. Having cinematic or story-based games like Playstation would be good, but you need quality studios to develop them. I think studios like Asobo, CDPR, Crystal Dynamics, Eidos, or Remedy are capable of it. There are probably others. Microsoft has a lot of options, and I hope we see acquisitions of independent studios after ABK closes. I think some studios can really perform and reveal their potential after the acquisition. This could be the case for a studio like People Can Fly or Crytek. The example of Compulsion or InXile is interesting. Playground seems to do this with Fable as well. So who knows what these studios are capable of, we may be surprised and see more games of this type coming. I think the key factor is above all the studio’s potential to grow and develop quality games.
I didnt knew they were acquired by krafton, oh well there is always other options like the new studios such as thats no moon, yellow brick games or fools theory, personally I want to see them go for gravity well, having people that worked on jedi fallen order and titanfall would be great
I don’t know if they will be interested in the new studios. There are already so many partner studios and publishers to acquire. I would already be very happy if they bought a dozen studios of any size like in 2018. The FTC documents gave me hope. Now is the time to secure partner studios. I will be extremely disappointed if Xbox misses this opportunity.
Same, I wonder if they will consider waiting before announcing any new acquisition even if they are independent studios
I have been thinking about acquisitions and I really hope they focus on maybe grabbing solo studios with high potential and give them the resources they need to do more.
If they wait they take the risk of missing the Embracer studios (Gearbox, Eidos, Crystal), losing important partners, or losing potential exclusives like the new FPS from Certain Affinity. I think now is the time to acquire the partner studios before moving on to the next big acquisition. These are important acquisitions that should not be missed. I hope that Microsoft is aware of this and that it will not hesitate to take out its checkbook after ABK.
Nether Realms is one of the best in cinematic story telling. I would love to see them do some a little more like the Shenmue games. I think they could nail it. It would be nice if Itagaki could gather his old team and do another Ninja Gaiden Black like action game.
Honestly I feel Microsoft will miss out on many individual studios that we want them to aquire, I think Phil will go publisher again, and I also think Microsoft tired of seeing Gamepass grow in baby steps.
MS must buy CDPR before TW4
Imagine TW4 as an exclusive after the whole Starfield meltdown, it will cause the PS fanatics to have mental breakdowns.
It would however cement Xbox as the place to play WRPG’s… who would be left? ZA/UM, Bioware and Larian? If Xbox get their hands on Eidos a Deus Ex reboot would be the other big one.
One of the issues facing Microsoft with any new aquisitions within the next six months is that the ABK one is so large, that their entire aquisitions and merger resources are tied up doing that.
MS really need to jump on a number of their aquisition targets quickly if they dont want to lose them. Crystal Dynamics and Edios as two off the bat. Both companies are quite attractive to other publishers due to their quolity and IP. You would imagine T2 or EA would be all over them if they could. MS need to get it moving of they do intend on buying them.
Yes it’s possible, publisher acquisitions are the most effective way to develop Xbox and Gamepass, I won’t be surprised if Microsoft acquires 2 more publishers in the coming years. All eyes are on SEGA for the next big acquisition, but Warner and Square Enix could also be on the table. However, the FTC document gave me hope and I still expect to see studios of all sizes joining Xbox. I hope that happens, because these studios are talented and help to develop the Xbox brand on their scale. But whether it’s a publisher acquisition or a multiple studio acquisition, it will be a win for Xbox.
Probably one of the best acquisitions they could make. There are few studios as important in the industry as CDPR. The Internet would go crazy.
ZA/UM’s talent has abandoned the studio, they are effectively creatively dead. Bioware is a mediocre shell of their former selves. Outside of Xbox, there’s really only two other bastions of the WRPG genre, AAA speaking, and that’s CDPR and Larian. If you have any interest in WRPG’s at all, then you’re already fucking yourself over if you’re not within the Xbox ecosystem.
They have enough rpg studios and I’m sure between Bethesda and Obsidian they can raise a team that’s much better than CDPR. They need to be shoring their line up where they are deficient.
Some of you guys gotta chill with what Microsoft ‘needs’ and ‘must’ do. They’ve done so much acquiring that these are all wants and not needs.
Microsoft NEEDS and MUST relist Wolfenstein 2009 for sale, you cowards.
True. I think they’ve done enough already they can go with partnerships from here on. Anything more is just icing. Though I would say a Sega icing would be amazing.
Haha, Sega icing would definitely be amazing. What I would give to see Sega with first party energy again.
Sonic the NEEDlemouse
I’m with Phil in his outlook from a year or two ago that they still have more to do in building out 1P with Asian creators, as well as looking at more non-traditional markets.
I imagine they are set for many years to come to be incredibly competitive for Western appeal. I have serious doubts they’ll acquire another publisher based in North America unless it’s a pure mobile or PC play.
If I was Phil, then at this stage I’m thinking daily about drastic accelerators in Japan and South Korea (and China?) over the next 5 years.
Executing a plan to break the Xbox brand out of an America-first perception, becoming a real global brand with the ability to engage hundreds of millions (billions?) of gamers, is going to be hard work over many years. He’s going to have to make moves to build out that arm of the business soon.