• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Microsoft in Poland for studio acquisition

nikolino840

Member
Well, Sony purchased Insomniac shortly after Spiderman in which Im quite sure Insomniac were doing quite well financially after that. Insomniac even said they weren't looking to get acquired and loved having their independence.

All that to say, CDPR may be doing well, but they have a number like anyone else. And Microsoft has that number, guaranteed. Its just if they'd willing to pay it. Techland would be super awesome too.
Well.. Microsoft but not the Xbox division maybe... Spencer have to lick Nadella's ass day and night :D
 
Kind of funny if they buy Techland with Dying Light 2 and Chris Avellone doing some writing for it, though think it's just contract work and he doesn't actually work for them; correct?

Still though, inXile/Obsidian and Techland by way of having Avellone writing for it they would have all of Black Isle back in some form, muahaha.

Now they just need to buy Owlcat and corner Avellone and make him submit!

joking of course
 

Mista

Banned
Are they really? Because they sure as hell aren't acting like it.
They’ve been trying to reach the Japanese audience again. Phil also said that couple of times. Don’t know if desperate is the right word but definitely they wanna go back in there
 
Last edited:
  • Thoughtful
Reactions: Isa
And they’re desperate to get into the Japanese market

They have clearly proven this is not true and the market isn't valuable as it was 20 years ago which even then wasn't in top form.

I also find the difference between MS and SONY studio acquisition threads to be quite odd. Almost every company has brought Studios.

If Sony didn't raise the amount they would pay Universal for ND, Universal would have kept ND and Sony would have never gotten them. This also led to a relationship between Sony and Insomniac even though Insomniac wasn't a Sony studio for years.

Don't forget Psygnosis and Polyphony, the former was primarily a computer developer that was brought out by Sony, and the other was Sony buying some small studio who they changed the name of and added members to it for GT, There are many other examples of this as well, even NIntendo did similar actions multiple times.

What is funny is Microsoft historically had more original from scratch studios than Sony. It's only recent years that Microsoft has been increasingly going the acquisition route starting with the Kinect purchases in 2011.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
Its probably Bloober Team
This is Microsoft. They would buy every independent studio in the world just to prevent content from coming out on the competition if they could.

A lot of people here really have short memory it seems.
Keep in mind that this is the same site that cheered the possibility of Sony acquiring Remedy.
First you complain that Microsoft does not have exclusives, then you complain that they are buying small studios. I mean do you want them to buy actual big studios like Capcom ? Most of the studios actually benefited from the acquisition, be it Hellblade 2 and whatever Playground Games are working on or the positive response from Obsidian, InXile and Compulsion, although that probably does not fit into your narrative.
Microsoft's whole startegy is to acquire small but talented studios and then slowly nurture and expand them into big first party sudios.
 
Last edited:

FeiRR

Banned
Fyi Techland is bigger than most people think, Dying Light was a huge hit and DL2 isn't their only project in development.
The value of 10 top Polish gamedev companies, according to a report by Forbes from 2018. Value in millions of PLN (for USD, roughly divide by 4). I'm sure the figures are much higher now not only for CDPR but also for Techland.

UuGZq0P.png
 

Mista

Banned
They have clearly proven this is not true and the market isn't valuable as it was 20 years ago which even then wasn't in top form.

I also find the difference between MS and SONY studio acquisition threads to be quite odd. Almost every company has brought Studios.

If Sony didn't raise the amount they would pay Universal for ND, Universal would have kept ND and Sony would have never gotten them. This also led to a relationship between Sony and Insomniac even though Insomniac wasn't a Sony studio for years.

Don't forget Psygnosis and Polyphony, the former was primarily a computer developer that was brought out by Sony, and the other was Sony buying some small studio who they changed the name of and added members to it for GT, There are many other examples of this as well, even NIntendo did similar actions multiple times.

What is funny is Microsoft historically had more original from scratch studios than Sony. It's only recent years that Microsoft has been increasingly going the acquisition route starting with the Kinect purchases in 2011.
True that. Sony at the end of the day acquired brilliant studios that offers quality AAA. MS been rolling with the same since god knows when

I can feel that they’re taking a different route next-gen
 
  • Like
Reactions: Isa
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
If this were true, I'd put my money on Techland. Then again, People Can Fly has worked closely with MS in the past, too...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: Isa

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
My heart sunk because I thought it was gonna be CDPR.

I'm sure if MS did buy them that it wouldn't be so bad but still I want CDPR to do their own thing.

If Microsoft did want them then they'd have to go through CD Projekt and I doubt they'd allow it. I couldn't see them giving up Red. If it did happen then Red would need rebranded.

to avoid any confusion CD Projekt owns CD Projekt Red + GOG.

Is dying light taht good? A friend of mine highly recommended some time ago, but I never played it for some reason.
eh i enjoyed it but it wasn't anything amazing. i played it but can't see myself buying the sequel.
 
Last edited:
They’ve been trying to reach the Japanese audience again. Phil also said that couple of times. Don’t know if desperate is the right word but definitely they wanna go back in there
What have they been doing to reach the Japanese audience? I'm not really keeping up with this stuff, so I'm genuinely curious.

The next Xbox just seems like such a bad fit for Japan. It's high-powered, bulky, and (presumably) expensive. Not the kind of product you'd want to sell in a market that's shrinking rapidly and moving towards lighter, more portable products like the Switch.
 

Blond

Banned
This is Microsoft. They would buy every independent studio in the world just to prevent content from coming out on the competition if they could.

A lot of people here really have short memory it seems.

And close them down or ruin them like Rare, don't forget that either.
 

quest

Not Banned from OT
Don't buy it the timing is just off and unless a studio reached out to MS to be purchased they were done. I don't see any of the big ones in Poland needing help to survive. I see it as another rumor.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
That is the rumor that is going around.
No one said that. Its just jumping to conclusion. Bloober Team and Astonauts makes more sense.
Don't buy it the timing is just off and unless a studio reached out to MS to be purchased they were done. I don't see any of the big ones in Poland needing help to survive. I see it as another rumor.
Timing of what? They are not buying CDPR.
And close them down or ruin them like Rare, don't forget that either.
Sony has closed more studios than Microsoft.
989 Studios (closed in 2005)
Bigbig Studios(closed in 2012)
Contrail(closed in 2000)
Evolution Studios(closed in 2016)
Incognito Entertainment(closed in 2009)
Studio Liverpool(closed in 2012)
Zipper Interactive(closed in 2012)
Guerrilla Cambridge(closed in 2017)
Team Ico(closed in 2011)
 
Last edited:

Woo-Fu

Banned
My money would be on People Can Fly, but on the other hand the relationship there is good enough that I don't know why MS would feel the need.

Additionally just because they're shopping in Poland it doesn't mean they're shopping for entire studios. Could be contracting for games, exclusivity deals, or platform-specific addons/dlc. For instance I could see them wanting to do any number of deals with CDPR that don't involve studio acquisition. Between Cyberpunk and GOG there is a lot of room to work some deals.

Lastly, people shitting up the thread with platform advocacy look sorta desperate.
 
Last edited:

molasar

Banned
It must be Teyon known for a very popular game on Steam called Terminator: Resistance and infamous Rambo.

Anyways, if I were them I would acquire Phobia Game Studio (Butcher, Carrion).
 
Last edited:

Hostile_18

Banned
Witcher 3 was their first game that was on PlayStation.
before that they only released on Xbox 360 and PC. So those "Loyal" fans only ever had 1 game they could buy.
so I can't see that as being an issue, especially since they could still release on PC, and Microsoft doesn't even release Windows Store exclusives anymore, meaning GOG and Steam releases wouldn't be an issue either.

if they had any issue with it it would be losing their independence, but not because they couldn't release on 1 of the platforms anymore, which they only ever released 1 game on anyways.

Hmm that might be simplifying things somewhat given a) the size of the Playstation market b) Cyberpunk coming out on the PS4 regardless.
 

quest

Not Banned from OT
No one said that. Its just jumping to conclusion. Bloober Team and People Can Fly make more sense.

Timing of what? They are not buying CDPR.

Sony has closed as much or even more than Microsoft.
989 Studios (closed in 2005)
Bigbig Studios(closed in 2012)
Contrail(closed in 2000)
Evolution Studios(closed in 2016)
Incognito Entertainment(closed in 2009)
Studio Liverpool(closed in 2012)
Zipper Interactive(closed in 2012)
Guerrilla Cambridge(closed in 2017)
Team Ico(closed in 2011)

Timing buying a studio. They are ramping up for a launch. It's the holidays this is probably that last break they get for a very long time over a year. To use it to go get a studio is strange. I could see after the new year or would went sooner.
 

Hostile_18

Banned
In this scenario, why would they care about the Playstation market? They wouldn't need the financial return anymore.

That's a good point. I guess it's just loss of goodwill. Which in the great scheme of things maybe isn't that important.
 
Last edited:
That's a good point. I guess it's just loss of goodwill. Which in the great scheme of things maybe isn't that important.

For Nintendo/Sony fans, but the Xbox is still on the market and those fans need a reason to buy the SeX. Personally, I don't think this would be a good thing for the industry. CDPR is too large and we haven't heard anything about them needing financial backing. In short, it's not like they're at any risk of going bankrupt. So it's different from recent MS acquisitions. Having said that, for Microsoft it would make total sense. Go big or go home. They ARE facing a legitimate risk of the SeX bombing like a motherfucker and leading them out of the market altogether. In that regard, it makes more sense than Techland.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Which is it? I always hear on GAF that Microsoft wants to get out of the console business and become a third party publisher, but now they want to be spiteful and want buy every independent studio to keep it off the competitions platform?

A lot of people here can’t seem to make up their minds it seems.

GamePass goes way way way way beyond the consoles business in their strategy, so neither of you would be wrong exactly in that idealistic scenario.
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
M$ has Gears 5, Halo Infinite, Forza 8 and those three have been very good for the company, the perfect situation would be adding another AAA (very rare) to the big 3.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Isa

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
The value of 10 top Polish gamedev companies, according to a report by Forbes from 2018. Value in millions of PLN (for USD, roughly divide by 4). I'm sure the figures are much higher now not only for CDPR but also for Techland.

UuGZq0P.png
If this is the main list of Polish companies, it's going to be CDR or Techland.

But Techland makes zombie/horror games that kind of goes against MS' State of Decay studio.

I have no idea what games #3-10 make. Never heard of any of them.

(Edit: Someone brought up People Can Fly games on page 1. If MS is seriously looking to acquire, it'll be this studio. They've helped make many shooters and MS games).
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Isa

TLZ

Banned
It's transfer season soon so why not ;)

There is only one studio in Poland that people thing of: CDPR

Every other studio is a small fry and doesn't exist.

Do I think MS is seeking to acquire them? No, but they could afford it.
Never happening.
 

Butz

Banned
Wonder if People Can Fly would be willing? not entirely sure why Epic released them shortly after acquiring the studio.

Could make sense to have them work on Gears with The Coalition like Turn 10 and playground with Forza .
IF Microsoft were to acquire People can Fly MS would also gain the Bulletstorm IP, right? If PcF were alright with making a sequel, that would be a huge get.

Though if you consider what kind of studios Microsoft has bought so far (studios with great potential who have trouble with getting funding), The Astronauts seems to be most likely candidate.
 
Top Bottom