I really don't care if a platform holder buys a studio or an exclusive, because I can buy their hardware if the game(s) are good enough to warrant a purchase. That said I do have major concerns with buying a studio and disrupting the culture or mismanaging the IP and gamers have less compelling games to play. That is true for MS or Sony, and we've both do a good job and at other times a bad job with these sort of acquisitions.
Microsoft acquires ZeniMax Media (Bethesda, id Software, Arkane + 5 more) [2020-09-21, 2021-03-09]
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Microsoft is killing it.
I think they are going to be the Disney/Netflix of gaming in a decade.
The Series/s is cheap enough to infiltrate every market, and I'm certain it will get cheaper. With it, gamepass.
In a decade, it will most likely be just a streambox.
And by the looks of it, MS won't care if you stream on an XBox, a PC, a smart toaster, or even a PS
as long as you pay.
Sony cannot produce enough exclusives to differentiate and doesn't have the robustness of the infrastructure to compete.
They also don't have the money to acquire studio after studio the size of Bethesda.
They unfortunately need to let go of console sales as a metric and focus on subscription and advertisement.
And I say unfortunately because I firmly believe that some things cannot be made with exceptional quality on subscription alone.
I think they are going to be the Disney/Netflix of gaming in a decade.
The Series/s is cheap enough to infiltrate every market, and I'm certain it will get cheaper. With it, gamepass.
In a decade, it will most likely be just a streambox.
And by the looks of it, MS won't care if you stream on an XBox, a PC, a smart toaster, or even a PS
as long as you pay.Sony cannot produce enough exclusives to differentiate and doesn't have the robustness of the infrastructure to compete.
They also don't have the money to acquire studio after studio the size of Bethesda.
They unfortunately need to let go of console sales as a metric and focus on subscription and advertisement.
And I say unfortunately because I firmly believe that some things cannot be made with exceptional quality on subscription alone.
The purchase will eventually have a negative effect on competition. The status of multiplatform releases is shaky and if it is not now it will be later despite the industry quotes. It is very paradoxical to praise competition and at the same time view aggressive acquisitions as good for the competition and the market.
Sure MS needed something from their own business perspective and this is great for them. But for the market as a whole this is not so positive. MS wasnt going to go anywhere without Bethesda. They werent in danger of exiting. They were going to stay but not as market leaders. Not to mention with the corrective measures they took with XBOX Series they could eventually even the market share. They arent trying to keep their business afloat. The purchase wasnt about that. The aim is to own the market and there is no one positioned better than MS to do it. The Playstation is probably one of the very few if not the only business that keeps Sony healthy. Sony is no where as close as MS in liquidity and there is no market that Sony leads that is as big as the market where MS leads.
So a lot say that there is no one that can compete Sony except MS. But this is a short sighted and narrow perspective. The big picture is that no one could or can compete MS. Except maybe Google.
It was always MS vs Sony through the PC vs Console battle. The competition has always been there. The competition didnt start with XBOX. The XBOX was a later move to disrupt the console market share from MS's competitors.
What we see now is MS long term plan with the XBOX taking form.
This is an acquisition that no one else is in position to afford so easily.
Sure MS needed something from their own business perspective and this is great for them. But for the market as a whole this is not so positive. MS wasnt going to go anywhere without Bethesda. They werent in danger of exiting. They were going to stay but not as market leaders. Not to mention with the corrective measures they took with XBOX Series they could eventually even the market share. They arent trying to keep their business afloat. The purchase wasnt about that. The aim is to own the market and there is no one positioned better than MS to do it. The Playstation is probably one of the very few if not the only business that keeps Sony healthy. Sony is no where as close as MS in liquidity and there is no market that Sony leads that is as big as the market where MS leads.
So a lot say that there is no one that can compete Sony except MS. But this is a short sighted and narrow perspective. The big picture is that no one could or can compete MS. Except maybe Google.
It was always MS vs Sony through the PC vs Console battle. The competition has always been there. The competition didnt start with XBOX. The XBOX was a later move to disrupt the console market share from MS's competitors.
What we see now is MS long term plan with the XBOX taking form.
This is an acquisition that no one else is in position to afford so easily.
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Aaaaaand MS is ready to purchase more
https://www.cnet.com/news/how-microsofts-ceo-xbox-head-say-they-wont-screw-up-bethesda/
If Microsoft acquires two more powerhouses (e.g., Activision, Ubisoft, etc.), Sony has some real serious issues on their hands.
I see no chance of that. Maybe there would be antitrust issues too (though IMO, they would be foolish concerns). I can definitely see the EU getting butthurt.
I also now wonder if Sony feels compelled to strike back and buys somebody.
Funny because in recent times it felt to me like Sony had the bigger warchest to aim at gaming. MS, while technically they have more money, seemed to keep Xbox on a tight sort of pay for yourself budget (this is why for example you never see crazy low Xbox console prices, as well probably as anti trust), while PS is much more fundamental to Sony as a company and a profit engine. I had heard some twitter stuff about Sony "throwing their money around" and then at their last event they came up with several paid for timed exclusives (Deathloop. FF16?)
How many publishers are left really? I cant keep track but it seemed Zenimax was one of the few besides Ubi/EA/Activision.
I remain of the opinion exclusives are overrated. Most people go back to playing Destiny, Fortnight, Madden, Cod, NBA 2k, Fifa, the list goes on.
when the CEO says that they are going after software seriously now.... From a company that seemed not to care anymore where their users had to go through mocking left and right, to this.... If this was a calculated marketing strategy they would be true geniuses.
This MS acquiring has made wondering. Are we seeing a big step in the direction of MS pulling out of the gaming hardware and focusing on earnings from software delivery and services for existing platforms in the future? Maybe providing at best some streaming hardware?. To further add to this is the fact that they are about to release both the weakest/cheapest and most powerful next generation consoles. In this way they can see if they are getting good growth in the market for those two extremes and then make a final decision for the next round. Also I feel that their messaging has been mostly focused on gamepass and cross platform the last few months.
right. If you buy any company it'd be ideal to publish everywhere, thus the more you sell and the more people enjoy those games the better.
Nadella is a god compared to Ballmer, so maybe he shall see that. I've always been a fanboy of MS - not Xbox itself - since my first game alongside Need for Speed was Microsoft Golf on a Windows 95 os, but yeah
when the CEO says that they are going after software seriously now.... From a company that seemed not to care anymore where their users had to go through mocking left and right, to this.... If this was a calculated marketing strategy they would be true geniuses.
announcing this after months of back and forth chess maneuvering with Sony ahead of preorders was brilliant by MS. Sony clearly was of the mindset that MS had no games, and that narrative was just summarily shot down.
MS said months ago they believed the industry was changing and they see their competitors as Amazon and Google. Just like other media streaming services it's content that is going to drive subscriptions. They can't wait for Google and Amazon to wade into the fray, the price will only go up.
Sigh. I felt the opposite. Maybe it would end the "MS not committed to Xbox gaming" stuff. But I guess somebody managed to get the opposite out of it, that hadn't even occurred to me.
Amazon was making a gaming push (of unknown intent?) a while back, nothing really came of it and they fired a bunch of gaming related people (Garnett Lee was a big known name for me they laid off). Stadia is so far going disastrously for Google, I wonder how long they stay committed. If anything I feel like Amazon and Google are retreating from anything near core console space at least.
Sega, Square Enix, Paradox. All smaller than those three.
It seems no one thinks Nintendo will be affected no matter what studios are bought by Ms.
That's why I see Sony's strategy is more like that of Nintendo. The first priority is to build the best first-party games and
to give more diversity to attract different kind of consumers.
cheapchips
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Geff Grub's Gamebeat article was suggesting Bethesda sold to get ahead of the industry too. AAA being too risky and expensive, with players being drawn back to their favourite GaaS. Rather than chart risky a new course for themselves, grab the cash now and see where the market is in a few years.
arandomguy
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That doesn't preclude exclusives from being a selling point and benefiting the adoption rate of a specific platform. Ultimately Destiny, Fortnight, etc. will be available regardless of platform. So what would differentiate between the PS5 and XBX? Well if I want to play Uncharted in addition to those multiplatform titles I have to buy a PS5. That doesn't mean I would have to play Destiny (or whatever) on the PS5, but it does mean I need a PS5 for Uncharted.
Personally speaking the only reason I'd consider any console or have is certain exclusives not available on the PC. If Sony didn't have Naughty Dog as an example I'd have zero interest in the Playstation as a platform (as other titles seem to have moved to the PC). Similarly I have basically zero interest in the Xbox as a platform (well at least hardware platform) as their "exclusives" tend to be on the PC.
he implies there will be more. Rumours say Sega, but.....
Thats going to be insane if they are planning to buy Sega and Konami too.
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