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How many studios do you think Microsoft want to have?

How many studios will MS own at the end of their aquisition push?

  • They will stop after ABK which will give them just under 40

    Votes: 10 10.5%
  • They will finish off a few smaller ones giving around 45

    Votes: 22 23.2%
  • They are going after more publishers and will have well over 50 in the end.

    Votes: 63 66.3%

  • Total voters
    95

Buggy Loop

Member
Giving the recent revelations regarding sales data of physical consoles, upside down manufacturing costs, etc. they’ll get as many as they legally can.

Why? To become the ultimate third party publisher. Sega couldn’t compete in the console market towards the end.

I see the same happening for Xbox.

Hence their push for cloud gaming and gamepass every where (where possible).

I know a lot don’t want to hear that, but you don’t keep bleeding money on hardware for the purpose of “just being everywhere”.

It’s the smart move. Eventually, your IP makes it onto competitors platforms.

I mean, being attached to one box which is often sold at a loss makes no goddamn sense.

I know Denis Dyack is a meme at this point, but back in early 2000’s on this very forum he said that eventually the concept of platforms won’t exist and he’s right (this once)

We’ll be PC/Cloud. Consoles as of now are just variants of PC hardware. If publisher wants to make an affordable PC box, okie, otherwise they should all run on whatever you have available, if it’s a phone (poorer countries comes to mind), why not? Why gatekeep games to a box? It’s an archaic way of thinking for how the industry came to be initially with very custom hardware. It’s no longer the case.
 
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ChorizoPicozo

Gold Member
The overwhelming majority of people who play games don't do it on their PCs or consoles. They do it on their phones.
With 5G becoming more common place, I think MS think that more people will be willing to play their games on their phones vs a typical mobile phone type game.
MS is all in on the cloud.
MS is also going to release a streaming box. Some people with good internet might be happy to pay only $100 and get a GP sub as their way to play games.
I think MS is intending to change the industry.
People were saying the exact same thing about streaming movies on your phone and TV. Infact, when the Australian government planned the infrastructure for the NBN they widely underestimated the requirements for their fixed wireless part, which led to congestion on the entire network, all because they never thought Netflix etc would take off.
this explains why MS can get away with so much bullshit.
 

damidu

Member
The overwhelming majority of people who play games don't do it on their PCs or consoles. They do it on their phones.
With 5G becoming more common place, I think MS think that more people will be willing to play their games on their phones vs a typical mobile phone type game.
MS is all in on the cloud.
MS is also going to release a streaming box. Some people with good internet might be happy to pay only $100 and get a GP sub as their way to play games.
I think MS is intending to change the industry.
People were saying the exact same thing about streaming movies on your phone and TV. Infact, when the Australian government planned the infrastructure for the NBN they widely underestimated the requirements for their fixed wireless part, which led to congestion on the entire network, all because they never thought Netflix etc would take off.
nah not even remotely same thing
i mean
the streaming of 45 min show on netflix or crashing candies at bus stop
vs burying 80 hrs to starfield.

a casual gamer, who doesn't bother to buy a console or gaming pc, will never see the value of subbing to gamepass if they only have time to play 2 of those games in a year.
you are thinking from perspective of a gaming forum visitor

not to mention gamepass will have to compete with netflix for subscription budget and time/attention of those same people.
 

Azelover

Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
Making acquisitions is not the best way to go. Especially if there is a creative aspect to the output of the company. With rare exceptions, acquisitions hurt the morale of the teams, and it is very easy to lose talent. So you have to be very cautious with acquisitions.
 
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ReBurn

Gold Member
this explains why MS can get away with so much bullshit.
Scooby Doo Hello GIF by Boomerang Official
 

Fess

Member
Nothing other than most people now think it will go through from here on out.
Just interested in where this is all headed.
If it does come to that then MS can’t really do much else, I would say it’s (plan A) Activision Blizzard or (plan B) some other studios/publishers.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
The overwhelming majority of people who play games don't do it on their PCs or consoles. They do it on their phones.
With 5G becoming more common place, I think MS think that more people will be willing to play their games on their phones vs a typical mobile phone type game.
MS is all in on the cloud.
MS is also going to release a streaming box. Some people with good internet might be happy to pay only $100 and get a GP sub as their way to play games.
I think MS is intending to change the industry.
People were saying the exact same thing about streaming movies on your phone and TV. Infact, when the Australian government planned the infrastructure for the NBN they widely underestimated the requirements for their fixed wireless part, which led to congestion on the entire network, all because they never thought Netflix etc would take off.

They aren't the same market though and I think a big problem that console game developers/publisherd have is that they are thinking mobile gamers will move to GaaS.

It's a different market. It's like saying people who eat at high street pasty/chippy shops will all start patronising the new Michelin Star restaurant.

On topic, I think they've acquired what they need and now there needs to be delivery. There's no point over buying in the hope of striking it rich.
 
I do think ABK is the last big publisher MS goes after, and honestly I doubt it would have happened at all if ABK's stock hadn't taken a nosedive at the time.

There will be a few more targeted purchases in the future, but I doubt any more than single studios.
 

DrMano

Neo Member
They will keep buying until someone gets fired over the loss f money and nothing to show for it....
 

Fess

Member
I personally think Microsoft needs to focus less on studio acquisition and more on studio management.
No doubt. They have 23 studios, and how many internal studios has actually released anything substantial since the launch of the Xbox Series consoles?
6 studios?
I refuse to think the rest are all planning to release games the same year, some must be further along and ready to be shown soon so the summer event better be mind-blowing.
 

Hunnybun

Member
I think they are probably after enough to deliver 2 or 3 really decent first party games a year.

Based on current output that'll probably end up being about 150 studios or so.
 

Hunnybun

Member
No doubt. They have 23 studios, and how many internal studios has actually released anything substantial since the launch of the Xbox Series consoles?
6 studios?
I refuse to think the rest are all planning to release games the same year, some must be further along and ready to be shown soon so the summer event better be mind-blowing.

I'm most looking forward to their new 30fps Doom instalment.
 

Neo_game

Member
IMO they have more than enough already. There is no point in spending million or billion $ buying studio if talents leaves. They need better managment and planning.
 

Hunnybun

Member
They aren't the same market though and I think a big problem that console game developers/publisherd have is that they are thinking mobile gamers will move to GaaS.

It's a different market. It's like saying people who eat at high street pasty/chippy shops will all start patronising the new Michelin Star restaurant.

On topic, I think they've acquired what they need and now there needs to be delivery. There's no point over buying in the hope of striking it rich.

Yeah, absolutely. It's like people who say there are a billion or whatever gamers cos someone's nan plays Candy Crush Saga on Facebook.

No no no. There's obviously no very obvious dividing line, but it's still two broadly separate groups. Playing on a mobile is as likely to predict an interest in fucking baking as it is a desire to play a complex video game like Elden Ring.
 
I don't think that MS will stop acquiring anytime soon, their Gamepass Strategy relies a lot in games released in a consistent basis, so the obvious path is to acquire more. But like someone mention before that makes Xbox the "Gamepass Plataform" wich makes people to rely on Gamepass meaning that game sales may be damaged on the process and that allows Sony to make moves on third party publishers to pay for additional content on PS like Hogwarts Legacy or even skip Xbox and release as Console exclusive like Final Fantasy XVI.
 
I can see MS buying 4-5 more publishers before finishing up with Purchases. I see them buying EA, Take Two, Sega, Capcom and maybe Square Enix and having a total of 60-70 studios in order to achieve their plans of having AAA exclusives games releasing on Gamepass every 2-3 months
 

Robbinhood

Banned
As many as regulators will allow them to, which is all of them because they are crooks and got paid millions...billions of dollars.

Btw anyone in the world can buy an XSX, stop spreading FUD they are hard to find.
 

ChorizoPicozo

Gold Member
I can see MS buying 4-5 more publishers before finishing up with Purchases. I see them buying EA, Take Two, Sega, Capcom and maybe Square Enix and having a total of 60-70 studios in order to achieve their plans of having AAA exclusives games releasing on Gamepass every 2-3 months
you can see that...

...how realistic do you think that vision is?
 

Facism

Gold Member
As many as they need to be competitive after pumping infinite money into 4 generations worth of consoles and 3rd-party deals
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
I can't see them getting any other big publishers, what's the point? If Activision goes through they clearly have "enough" empire building.

Maybe some smaller studios here and there over time.

With so much consolidation I'd be more worried about MS shutting down studios. It wouldn't surprise me to see big layoffs in the future for Bethesda
 
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Ozriel

M$FT
Mods, can we try and keep this about where people think MS is headed with their aquisitions and what the plan is for these studios and GP moving forward? It appears the usual.suspects are trying to turn it into a war zone by just posting bait posts.
Thx

You made a bait thread, though.

I’m not sure how you’ll convince anyone you didn’t know how this thread would go.

On topic, your ‘55 games’ maths is significantly off. Several of the acquired studios are mobile only, and IP like Cal of Duty ties down multiple studios.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
After they get Activision/Blizzard there’s really no point in going after anyone else.

There’s barely anyone left outside of Japan that has ip worth acquiring.
 

Skifi28

Member
They can certainly keep spending to become the biggest.......customers will decide if they become the most successful.
At some point, you're big enough that customers don't have a choice. I imagine that's what they want, but it remains to be seen whether regulators will allow them to buy three quarters of the industry. Then again it's MS, so not exactly their first rodeo.
 
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