The thing is each of these studios have released 1 or more games on Xbox. The level-5 beef I will assume has been squashed since TGS 2022 saw Level-5’s return to the Xbox platform with Nino Kuni. Artisan I didn’t know was French, but they seem to work with Japanese creators on JRPGS. I just assume the developers on Game Pass would be the ones that have in some capacity decided to work or partner with Xbox. Game Pass has been an instrument that has allowed a lot of Japanese developers to return to Xbox or give it a chance. Some of the devs you mentioned are nice but I assume they would first need to be in Game Pass.
The studios I mentioned also release their games on Xbox and even GP for some of them. This was an important point in my selection, otherwise I would have added NIS or Nihon Falcom, but the relationships are not yet good enough. I also chose studios that have worked with SEGA like Platinum Games, Arzest, CC2 and Vanillaware. I would like to see some of the small studios I mentioned grow with Xbox like Compulsion Games, InXile, Undead Labs did in the West.
Bandai Namco is behind Ni No Kuni on Xbox. Level-5 still hates Xbox and has decided to ignore the console for its latest releases. The CEO still resents Microsoft after 20 years, he said this in an interview. Level-5 would make more sense at Nintendo, but that must not interest them otherwise they would have acquired them when the studio was in difficulty.
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I really don’t see it like that. Level 5 still had a say on whether the port went to Xbox or not. I would say it’s just business as the Japanese culture doesn’t work that way. Bandai would not greenlight an Xbox port if Level 5 was against it. I bet if Microsoft offered them money for an exclusive, they would take it in a heartbeat especially with how the business is for them. The interview I saw had nothing about resentment. The CEO explained how they weren’t up to the task and Microsoft didn’t help also indicated they didn’t part amicably. However, he indicated he would still like to do a MMORPG. Their ignoring Xbox for their new game could simply be business related because they would rather have it in Game Pass as I doubt it will sell or do well on anything other than Nintendo in the case of chance. Capcom recently also didn’t announce an Xbox version for Mega man battle collection. Xbox in a way uses game Pass to build engagement and popularity for an IP and then when that happens the IP can sell like the Persona series for example.
Fair enough I only recalled one or two of these studios. Xbox has been pretty lucky or fortunate to have all this acquisitions in their favor. I won’t be surprised if this cancelation of Hyenas opens Sega for an acquisition.
Picking apart Embracer is more attractive to me than any particular publisher currently. Bring Eidos and Crystal Dynamics home.
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Adding 2 or 3 studios that put out top of the industry quality graphics for action/adventure games would be great for genre diversity and bringing a different audience to the platform. Would quite narratives too.
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This is what I have repeatedly mentioned, having those types of games would really help change the Xbox narrative, also because these games are typically more ‘on rail’ it would provide more opportunities to show of those ‘shiny’ graphics.
There’s not many left on the market so grabbing a few wouldn’t be copying PS but competing with them! Xbox already have a stranglehold on FPS/RPG so let’s have a few of these too!
Realistically we’re only looking at CD, Eidos, IOI, Remedy and Asobo. The rest are all in bigger publishers: Warner Bros, EA, Take-Two & Capcom (and Sony of course).
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Id probably add People Can Fly to this because those style of games fit this mold, they would just need better funding, expanded teams, and time. Crytek would definitely also fit this mold in my mind, theyd just be refocused back to their more action based games.
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Ah yes good shouts.
Ryse and the original FarCry were awesome, PCF could definitely make something impressive with a bigger budget.
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After all the leaks we’ve seen I’d say Xbox is already way ahead of us on these matters. With the recent hit to the industry, I think a lot of studios like Crytek will be open maybe even seeking acquisition at this point. Would love to see them become relevant again. I do wonder if the cancelation of Hyenas means a restructure of Sega’s SUPER GAMES.
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After all of this ABK stuff I can see how these developer purchases would be far more appealing in every way shape and form.
These are high profile teams. When you look at publishers like Capcom and SEGA they have one or two teams that are straight up top-tier, and and a studio like Crystal Dynamics is one of those teams that is comparable.
So I’m on board with that, for sure.
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I’d really love Xbox to bring Certain Affinity in. Really good leadership over there and IIRC they’re headquartered in Austin, TX, which means Xbox could visit them and Arkane Austin together.
Also, I think people are definitely overvaluing Japanese publishers/developers. I feel like the next big explosion of developers are going to come from China and Korea and they’ll probably make the types of games that would be very popular on Game Pass.
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CDPR won’t sell to Microsoft, but man it sure would be nice if Xbox had a Character Action/RPG developer as good as CDPR that was a graphical powerhouse.
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Epic Games might be in trouble.
I think this is a great point especially when you factor in that you’re going to be buying cheap because the valuation of these companies will definitely grow in the next 5 years.
It’s smart to go where the puck is going rather than focusing a lot on previous pedigree.
Though I do think that a good counter argument to the idea that Japanese publishers are being overvaluated is their massive backlog of games going back 30+ years. Adding that to a streaming service adds a ton of value that these new developers wouldn’t be able to offer. Still, your point still stands if we see SEGA going for anything over $6 billion.
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We have seen the costs to get really high quality AAA games on gamepass day 1. They compared with the price it would cost to make the games themselves. Im sure that alone will drive more acquisitions of high quality games.
On the flip side, theyve been able to secure indie games at very affordable rates.
I can easily see a future where microsoft contiurs to pay to get lots of indie games to fill gamepass, but is close to nearly fueling the AAA games (day 1 for sure) on their own.
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Yeah you can see Playstation already ramping up investment in those regions with its MiHoYo partnership and their China Hero Project partnerships. It’s only a matter of time before they tie the knot with someone permanently. Xbox needs to be competing here, and they are. They just scored a big W with Lies of P launching on Game Pass (Round8 Studio out of Korea) and coming in well-received.
I’ll commend Xbox for righting the ship, so to speak, with Sega and Square Enix, but I really don’t see making those partnerships permanent moving the needle in the same way as getting in on the ground floor with the next MiHoYo or Riot Games out of Asia/Oceania. Especially when we consider the difference in cost (not that cost matters much to MS).
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Agreed. $250m for a Jedi Survivor sized games just shows how acquiring a company for billions is cheaper in the long term. I do still think game pass will get there eventually to do that though.
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Isn’t gaming projected to grow in Japan, South Korea and China?
Xbox probably has the most inroads in Japan, so it would make sense to invest there first while building inroads to South Korea.
I imagine they eventually make big moves in Japan and South Korea.
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Are you talking specifically about he consumer market or more on the producer side? Honestly I’d be surprised if gaming wasn’t projected to grow basically everywhere because more access is coming online all across the globe. In developed nations high-fidelity games are just now starting to be able to be played on mobile devices, and the native handheld market seems to be gathering steam. In less wealthy nations subscription services and cloud gaming could ease the access barrier as well.
Speaking specifically about Xbox’s ambitions, I feel like their Game Pass story on console is written already. Selling more consoles will grow Game Pass subscriptions of course, and they need to keep working there, but the real meat left on the bone is in the PC market, and so by partnering with or acquiring developers in traditionally PC-gaming-focused nations they’ll obtain content that can really move the needle outside of just “Sell more Xbox’s” (which they need to do as well). This is why I feel like China and South Korea (along with Eastern Europe) make the most sense in the medium term now that they have a HUGE publishing arm in the West (XGS, Bethesda, Blizzard, Activision).
Regarding Eastern Europe, I LOVE that they’re working with GSC Game World on bring S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 to Game Pass. I’d love for that partnership to continue, and if GSC ever wanted more stability maybe they talk to them about an acquisition.
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Epic will be fine. They can always raise prices on the Unreal Engine if it gets really bad for them. But in any case I don’t think Epic would be able to be acquired by any of the 3 console manufacturers without divesting the business related to Unreal Engine because its the closest thing we actually have to an “essential input” in gaming. They’re also one of the “Big 4” independent publishers as identified by global regulators so even absent Unreal Engine they’re essentially unacquireable by Sony/MS/Nintendo (post ABK).
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