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Microsoft talking to major Japanese Publishers and small studios for acquisition

thicc_girls_are_teh_best

thicc_girls_are_teh_best

Gold Member
We're really making threads with quotes from console warriors and unreliable "insiders" now, really? Is this a 2-for-1 BS Special of the week?

Look, all companies are always "in talks" with other publishers and developers, but if I'm being frank, MS are the last ones right now who need to be stirring the pot for yet another major acquisition. In the span of only four years, they've already acquired 30 or so studios across a string of independent smaller studios, one major publisher, and soon the industry's BIGGEST publisher.

To the point, they have enough studios, manpower, tech and IP resources to "feed the beast" that is GamePass, if that's what this was actually about. I'm taking Satya and Phil by their word, but that might not account for much. And let's also keep it 100%; we have not even began to see what the results of being under Microsoft mean for Ninja Theory (outside of Bleeding Edge, not the best example), Obsidian (I guess Grounded and Pentiment might count? Not exactly the most exhilarating games there though), etc. Let alone Bethesda. We barely have any output from these acquisitions of games we either would not have gotten otherwise, or show a very clear jump in quality versus what they were putting out beforehand.

And now you have to throw ABK into the mix. It's going to take at least five years of consistent results for ME to have any genuine faith in Microsoft's strategy with their acquisitions, so for ME I don't honestly want to hear anything about them looking for yet more big publishers or developers to buy (especially Japanese ones, because at that point they're just screwing around with Sony and Nintendo's stability with 3P publishers. I mean, buying Zenimax and ABK kind of does that as well, but I digress). I think the past four years have been good for MS's growth mode in terms of gaming, but it's time to settle down, and start getting to the meat & potatoes. Start getting that content out, and make it world-class.

If the results are looking good enough, maybe by 2027, if they're still interested in going after another big gaming publisher like, say, Sega, I won't have an internal repulsion against the idea, because at that point MS will have (hopefully) shown they could do with 30+ teams in five years, what they couldn't do with most of their FIVE original teams in 20 years. And that would be a massive W; if they came out at that point and said "hey, we're looking to acquire Sega", I think most gamers across the board would be okay with it, because the results from prior acquisitions are doing the talking for them by that point.

Now if they went on some wild bent and said they're buying Square-Enix or Capcom or something like that by 2027/2028 or whatever, my point would mostly still stand and it'd be Sony I'd be questioning, for not locking talent like that down beforehand if you knew there was a chance other platform holders were eyeing them. When you're too slow, you lose out, it's that simple. I do think Sony are considering these options themselves, though, so it shouldn't play out that way. Hell, these rumors could be about Sony in talks with Japanese publishers or developers and not Microsoft, which would make more sense because MS are still trying to get the ABK acquisition cleared so why split their focus acquisitions-wise with entertaining other big publishers/developers to buy? At that point groups like the FTC and CMA are going to see MS as extremely greedy, and complicate the process of them acquiring ABK.

Plus it wouldn't be the first time with certain "big" rumors started as if they involved Microsoft when they turned out to be pre-emptive pieces to distract from the fact they actually involved Sony. This has happened before, it could be happening again.
 
adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
tusharngf said:
Phil in Japan !! YAY
Click to expand...

db49f-16634101009430-1920.jpg
 
nominedomine

nominedomine

Banned
thicc_girls_are_teh_best said:
We're really making threads with quotes from console warriors and unreliable "insiders" now, really? Is this a 2-for-1 BS Special of the week?

Look, all companies are always "in talks" with other publishers and developers, but if I'm being frank, MS are the last ones right now who need to be stirring the pot for yet another major acquisition. In the span of only four years, they've already acquired 30 or so studios across a string of independent smaller studios, one major publisher, and soon the industry's BIGGEST publisher.

To the point, they have enough studios, manpower, tech and IP resources to "feed the beast" that is GamePass, if that's what this was actually about. I'm taking Satya and Phil by their word, but that might not account for much. And let's also keep it 100%; we have not even began to see what the results of being under Microsoft mean for Ninja Theory (outside of Bleeding Edge, not the best example), Obsidian (I guess Grounded and Pentiment might count? Not exactly the most exhilarating games there though), etc. Let alone Bethesda. We barely have any output from these acquisitions of games we either would not have gotten otherwise, or show a very clear jump in quality versus what they were putting out beforehand.

And now you have to throw ABK into the mix. It's going to take at least five years of consistent results for ME to have any genuine faith in Microsoft's strategy with their acquisitions, so for ME I don't honestly want to hear anything about them looking for yet more big publishers or developers to buy (especially Japanese ones, because at that point they're just screwing around with Sony and Nintendo's stability with 3P publishers. I mean, buying Zenimax and ABK kind of does that as well, but I digress). I think the past four years have been good for MS's growth mode in terms of gaming, but it's time to settle down, and start getting to the meat & potatoes. Start getting that content out, and make it world-class.

If the results are looking good enough, maybe by 2027, if they're still interested in going after another big gaming publisher like, say, Sega, I won't have an internal repulsion against the idea, because at that point MS will have (hopefully) shown they could do with 30+ teams in five years, what they couldn't do with most of their FIVE original teams in 20 years. And that would be a massive W; if they came out at that point and said "hey, we're looking to acquire Sega", I think most gamers across the board would be okay with it, because the results from prior acquisitions are doing the talking for them by that point.

Now if they went on some wild bent and said they're buying Square-Enix or Capcom or something like that by 2027/2028 or whatever, my point would mostly still stand and it'd be Sony I'd be questioning, for not locking talent like that down beforehand if you knew there was a chance other platform holders were eyeing them. When you're too slow, you lose out, it's that simple. I do think Sony are considering these options themselves, though, so it shouldn't play out that way. Hell, these rumors could be about Sony in talks with Japanese publishers or developers and not Microsoft, which would make more sense because MS are still trying to get the ABK acquisition cleared so why split their focus acquisitions-wise with entertaining other big publishers/developers to buy? At that point groups like the FTC and CMA are going to see MS as extremely greedy, and complicate the process of them acquiring ABK.

Plus it wouldn't be the first time with certain "big" rumors started as if they involved Microsoft when they turned out to be pre-emptive pieces to distract from the fact they actually involved Sony. This has happened before, it could be happening again.
Click to expand...
It's not even just that. Lets say MS bought Capcom or SE, so what? If it's like their other purchases it's going to take half a decade for anything to come out of it, so we are already talking next gen stuff when this gen barely got going.
 
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E

El Pistolero

Banned
Sega is ripe for the taking, imo, but a bigger, more interesting target for them would be Capcom, should they be willing to sell. Square? Not impossible, but that would be the biggest middle-finger to Sony this generation.
It makes sense that MS would be targetting japanese firms, seeing as any other substantial acquisition in the the US or Europe would raise a lot of eyebrows at this time. Wait and see...
 
64bitmodels

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Another thing, the removal of hardware accelerated sound also meant that MIDI sound got way worse

You ever wonder why MIDI sounds like fucking trash today? It's because soundcards used to have their own preloaded soundbanks that would have their own samples (or were generated on the fly with Frequency Modulation which I'm a sucker for), which often sounded really good.

Back then midi was actually a respectable, beloved standard. Removing hardware midi is bad but I could live with it if they didn't choose the absolute most low quality, shitty sounding, abysmal samples to replace midi with. Microsoft Wavetable synth is so actually fucking awful it ruined midi forever

Its not just sound either, Vista removed a shitton of features and fucked up a lot of stuff. It was the one OS that set windows on a bad trajectory. It's not just bad because it's buggy.

z76XqEj.jpg


Frankly if Linux got popular over windows we wouldn't be seeing many of these problems, the operating system scene would be far better and Apple/Microsoft would either be far less harmful or straight up not exist. all the changes Vista introduced are why playing early 2000s games on windows is a shot in the dark as opposed to guaranteed compatibility.

That being said, this is a gaming/acquisition topic and I'm derailing the thread quite a bit, so that's my last post on the matter
 
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drganon

drganon

Member
El Pistolero said:
Sega is ripe for the taking, imo, but a bigger, more interesting target for them would be Capcom, should they be willing to sell. Square? Not impossible, but that would be the biggest middle-finger to Sony this generation.
It makes sense that MS would be targetting japanese firms, seeing as any other substantial acquisition in the the US or Europe would raise a lot of eyebrows at this time. Wait and see...
Click to expand...
I'd imagine a Japanese acquisition would raise eyebrows in the US and Europe as well. Going after a 3rd major publisher is just asking for trouble.
 
adamsapple

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
ACESHIGH said:
MS should talk to Konami to license their dormant IPs. That's the scenario where gamers win the most, instead of acquisitions. Hell MS should buy Konami IPs. They can focus on casinos, hotels and pachinko.
Click to expand...

I would be happy if fucking Tencent buys Konamis IPs. At least that'd mean there would be more games made for them.

Ezekiel_ said:
The absolute awkwardness of that photo.

Glorious.
Click to expand...


That's the "I just got way too much money than I know what to do with" awkwardness ;)
 
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skneogaf

skneogaf

Member
Microsoft should buy as many as possible but still release the games on playstation and Nintendo whilst having the games part of game pass.

Seems like a win for xbox and acceptable for playstation and Nintendo as die hards will continue to stick to only owning their beloved plastic box and intelligent people buy game pass.
 
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64bitmodels

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
64bitmodels said:
Another thing, the removal of hardware accelerated sound also meant that MIDI sound got way worse

You ever wonder why MIDI sounds like fucking trash today? It's because soundcards used to have their own preloaded soundbanks that would have their own samples (or were generated on the fly with Frequency Modulation which I'm a sucker for), which often sounded really good.

Back then midi was actually a respectable, beloved standard. Removing hardware midi is bad but I could live with it if they didn't choose the absolute most low quality, shitty sounding, abysmal samples to replace midi with. Microsoft Wavetable synth is so actually fucking awful it ruined midi forever

Its not just sound either, Vista removed a shitton of features and fucked up a lot of stuff. It was the one OS that set windows on a bad trajectory. It's not just bad because it's buggy.

z76XqEj.jpg


Frankly if Linux got popular over windows we wouldn't be seeing many of these problems, the operating system scene would be far better and Apple/Microsoft would either be far less harmful or straight up not exist. all the changes Vista introduced are why playing early 2000s games on windows is a shot in the dark as opposed to guaranteed compatibility.

That being said, this is a gaming/acquisition topic and I'm derailing the thread quite a bit, so that's my last post on the matter
Click to expand...

Stuff like this is why monopolies, duopolies, whateverthefuckopolies aren't good, a lot of the time. When 2 companies own pretty much 99% of the market it results in stagnation and degradation. (It's actually also why I don't really want Microsoft to leave the console market unless some 4th competitor comes along, as without Xbox, as weak of competition it currently is, Playstation has basically nothing to compete with since it's the only other console that focuses on AAA games and powerful hardware. They'd end up like Nintendo where they jack up prices and reuse the same IPs over again since there's literally nowhere else to go if you want big powerful consoles)

This consolidation of the industry does nothing good, regardless of if it's the so called good company or the bad one you always end up getting getting the short end of the stick, as you can currently see with operating systems, movies, and restraunts.

That being said, I couldn't care that much since there will always be the indie guys. Those are the real homies ❤
 
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A

ACESHIGH

Banned
jm89 said:
In what universe has ms shown they can actually take those IPS and actually do justice do them?

In the end ms will have to manage whatever internal or external studio they hand it to and that isn't exactly something ms have proven they are good at.
Click to expand...

Anything is more justice than remastering a big boss vs the boss fight scene to use it in a frigging pachinko machine.

Need to remind you that Konami greenlighted turds like MG Survive and Silent Hill Downpour?
 
thicc_girls_are_teh_best

thicc_girls_are_teh_best

Gold Member
nominedomine said:
It's not even just that. Lets say MS bought Capcom or SE, so what? If it's like their other purchases it's going to take half a decade for anything to come out of it, so we are already talking next gen stuff when this gen barely got going.
Click to expand...

Exactly. That's why it can start to feel like patent trolling; where are the results from the acquisitions? And I mean the results we would not have gotten otherwise. Bethesda were going to release Starfield anyway, RedFall anyway. The only difference is now those games are seemingly exclusive to only one console, instead of perhaps being timed exclusive to another for a short period before then being on both consoles (and that's assuming Sony were even pursuing timed exclusivity for either, which I somewhat doubt they were).

Like say if they bought Capcom or SE, what's the actual chance we get a new Einhander, or a new Darkstalkers or even Dino Crisis? Well let's look at what they've done with Rare; did we ever get a Jet Force Gemini remake or sequel? Nope. A new Battletoads that didn't look like a crappy Tumblr Saturday morning cartoon? Nope. A new Perfect Dark? Well kinda, but it was mid at best and then they buried the IP. If Rare stayed with Nintendo, we would've probably gotten at least a few of those games and other stuff like Viva Pinata as well, considering how in-tune that IP was with Nintendo's own image-wise.

That's why it's imperative to look to the past to have an understanding where the future may go, and MS's past with prior acquisitions isn't the best, not by a long shot. They've already got so much to prove and people want to add more to that plate just because it might mean more money for their bottom line? FOH with that reasoning; you only give a crap about that if you're a shareholder, at which point I have to question some takes.

El Pistolero said:
Sega is ripe for the taking, imo, but a bigger, more interesting target for them would be Capcom, should they be willing to sell. Square? Not impossible, but that would be the biggest middle-finger to Sony this generation.
It makes sense that MS would be targetting japanese firms, seeing as any other substantial acquisition in the the US or Europe would raise a lot of eyebrows at this time. Wait and see...
Click to expand...

So basically the only reason you want Microsoft to get these publishers is to screw over Sony (and while at it, Nintendo, although y'all seem to pretend Nintendo has no 3P relationships and doesn't benefit from making deals with independent 3P publishers, either. Tell me how Bayonetta 2 & 3 would've came about if Sega were already owned by Microsoft?).

I've said it before and will say it again; if MS make any other large publisher or developer acquisitions in the space of the next 3-5 years, especially ones that would clearly destabilize a main platform holder competitor, then this isn't about "competition" anymore. It's just them trying to pull the same Embrace, Extend, Extinguish crap but with a modern facelift.

64bitmodels said:
Another thing, the removal of hardware accelerated sound also meant that MIDI sound got way worse

You ever wonder why MIDI sounds like fucking trash today? It's because soundcards used to have their own preloaded soundbanks that would have their own samples (or were generated on the fly with Frequency Modulation which I'm a sucker for), which often sounded really good.

Back then midi was actually a respectable, beloved standard. Removing hardware midi is bad but I could live with it if they didn't choose the absolute most low quality, shitty sounding, abysmal samples to replace midi with. Microsoft Wavetable synth is so actually fucking awful it ruined midi forever

Its not just sound either, Vista removed a shitton of features and fucked up a lot of stuff. It was the one OS that set windows on a bad trajectory. It's not just bad because it's buggy.

z76XqEj.jpg


Frankly if Linux got popular over windows we wouldn't be seeing many of these problems, the operating system scene would be far better and Apple/Microsoft would either be far less harmful or straight up not exist. all the changes Vista introduced are why playing early 2000s games on windows is a shot in the dark as opposed to guaranteed compatibility.

That being said, this is a gaming/acquisition topic and I'm derailing the thread quite a bit, so that's my last post on the matter
Click to expand...


All the more reason I'm sticking with W10 as long as possible before even thinking about upgrading to W11 (and my laptop can upgrade no problem; they tried pushing me to upgrade last week xD).

skneogaf said:
Microsoft should buy as many as possible but still release the games on playstation and Nintendo whilst having the games part of game pass.

Seems like a win for xbox and acceptable for playstation and Nintendo as die guards will continue to stick to only owning their beloved plastic box and intelligent people buy game pass.
Click to expand...

How is it a "win" for Xbox? Did you forget that MS have stated these acquisitions are for GamePass, not Xbox? That means Xbox may or may not see benefits the way you're thinking. Also, if people on PS and Nintendo catch on and realize they're spending $60/$70 for these games that keep coming out for "free" on GamePass...if GamePass is the great value it's championed to be, won't the majority of those people stop buying those games and sub to GamePass for them instead?

At which point, MS's actual revenue stream for GamePass is going to have to be up to par, because they wouldn't be able to rely on purchases of those games in other ecosystems to offset the losses in sales if too many people are subscribing to play the games on GamePass and don't have a high enough ARPU (since there are so many ways you can get GP for the super-cheap or even free, that isn't unlikely).

Oddvintagechap said:
Platinum Games were begging MS for money. Match made in gamepass heaven.
Click to expand...

That's probably the only other realistic Japanese publisher/developer MS would be looking into: Platinum Games.
 
Punished Miku

Punished Miku

Gold Member
thicc_girls_are_teh_best said:
That's probably the only other realistic Japanese publisher/developer MS would be looking into: Platinum Games.
Click to expand...
I don't expect anything. But there's a few that are not exactly in great shape these days and would possibly be interested. Level 5 comes to mind for me, if MS isn't too pissed about that True Fantasy Online stunt. Ni No Kuni just dropped on GP. Cyberconnect just put 2 games on Gamepass so they're at least talking. Platinum obviously.
 
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pasterpl

pasterpl

Member
Meltdowns would be epic if MS would acquire anyone like Capcom, Konami or Sega, or even smaller ones, studios like From Software etc. at the same time I tend to believe that MS is always on a lookout for new acquisitions and this “insiders” are just stating the obvious.

On the other hand, with Zenimax and ActiBlizzard It seems that MS is on path to bring as many games to gamepass day 1 as possible via acquisition (instead of paying for this, might have to do with Sony aggressively pushing non-gamepass clauses for any marketing deals they are negotiating) and they have opened their infamous warchest (ridiculed many times).
 
64bitmodels

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best said:
All the more reason I'm sticking with W10 as long as possible before even thinking about upgrading to W11 (and my laptop can upgrade no problem; they tried pushing me to upgrade last week xD).
Click to expand...
If it gets good enough for gaming by 2025/26 (by 'good enough for gaming', I mean you don't have to check a list to see if a game is compatible or not) you could always consider getting Linux mint/pop os/steam os and not have to deal with this bullshit of worrying if the next update will fuck things up or make them better
Plus actually having control over your OS, being able to customize it with 0 issues, no telemetry, being able to edit the code since it's open source, etc. It's like XP/7, but even better.
The only downside I see is that the Xbox app has 0 Linux support. So if you care about gamepass, you'll basically have to get an xbox, assuming you don't have one already

I'm convinced the twenties will be the decade of Linux. If it doesn't take off now with Valves backing, it never will
 
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Sojiro

Sojiro

Member
Oh boy, more acquisition rumors, yay 🙄. I will never understand people that actively cheer on this shit, even if it's your favorite plastic maker that's doing it.
 
Killer8

Killer8

Member
I'd like to see them set up a first party studio in Japan just to give a big fuck you to Sony on their home turf. Start teaming up and co-developing with all the talent that fled Sony Japan Studio like Bokeh Game Studio and Clap Hanz. Get Mistwalker back on board for first party JRPGs like a Lost Odyssey 2. Just do something more interesting than buying up a studio and letting business go on as usual... except now only for Game Pass.
 
SenjutsuSage

SenjutsuSage

Banned
Rumpleforeskin said:
I'd like to see them set up a first party studio in Japan just to give a big fuck you to Sony on their home turf. Start teaming up and co-developing with all the talent that fled Sony Japan Studio like Bokeh Game Studio and Clap Hanz. Get Mistwalker back on board for first party JRPGs like a Lost Odyssey 2. Just do something more interesting than buying up a studio and letting business go on as usual... except now only for Game Pass.
Click to expand...

Microsoft is working on exactly this. But since it hasn't come together yet, they're not going to say anything.
 
SmokedMeat

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
Drell said:
I'm really affraid of what the futur may be with microsoft buying out everything. They already have an absolute monopoly over the computers operating systems since the 90s, and it's shitty. I really hope the same won't happen for the video game industry.
Click to expand...

Compared to Embracer, and all the companies Tencent has their hands in, Microsoft isn’t that bad.
 
Rac3r

Rac3r

Member
They just started getting ports of old Japanese games, hardly have released anything from their own first party studios, and now they want to buy a Japanese publisher? lol.
 
PhaseJump

PhaseJump

Banned
Sojiro said:
Oh boy, more acquisition rumors, yay 🙄. I will never understand people that actively cheer on this shit, even if it's your favorite plastic maker that's doing it.
Click to expand...

Microsoft's got a big hole in their 1st party content lineup. Japanese games and JRPGs that have propped up and built the traditional home console market into what it is today.
Acquiring studios there ensures that fans of Japanese content will no longer be left having only late ports of 3rd party games, or miss out entirely on otherwise multiplatform 3rd party game releases.

If you're a customer of Xbox, why wouldn't you want them growing their studios and IP catalog? They want to be taken seriously as an entertainment platform, and have finally opened the Microsoft war chest for it. On the other end of it, whoever they purchase would have their funding ramped up to make more games for consoles and PC; instant guaranteed future value brought to game pass subscribers.


I see all the doomsday spewing, shit flinging console warrior apes constantly losing their minds and trying to imply some monopoly or existential industry threat, and I can only laugh. Buying Japanese studios/publishers would finally make Xbox whole and a bigger reason to buy-in for weeaboo customers. Japan itself could be a lost cause for the platform adoption, with exceptional growth potential generation to generation, but the western customers shouldn't even give a shit. It's only about the talent there getting big support money, to ensure their unique shit output grows and gets onto the platform.
 
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