Microsoft buying Zenimax/Bethesda

B.A._Baracus · 22-09-2020 2:02pm

MJohnston wrote: »

And yet that's exactly what EA Play is!

EA is a third party company

They make games for consoles. They do not sell a console. Never have.

I'll pose a question to you. Can you name one Sony or Xbox owned game studio that developed a game and released it for the other console...

Mitch Connor · 22-09-2020 2:05pm

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

EA is a third party company
They make games for consoles. They do not sell a console. Never have.

I'll pose a question to you. Can you name one Sony or Xbox owned game studio that developed a game and released it for the other console...

Yes,

SIE San Diego Studio

EDIT: Actually that isn't correct. I thought MLB the Show had released on Xbox but it is the coming title, not the current one out.

Penn · 22-09-2020 2:15pm

MJohnston wrote: »

And if Game Pass is available on PlayStation, then Microsoft aren't really a competitor to Sony anymore in the way they are now either!

They are, because so long as MS keep making consoles, it'll be cheaper to play on Xbox and pay for one subscription service than play on Playstation and have to pay for PS+ and then Gamepass on top of that too. It'd also destroy Sony's own PS Now. And the more games MS arrange to bring through Gamepass, the fewer are bought from PS Store thereby reducing Sony's cut.

Fallout & Skyrim are big franchises. No doubt about it. But they're also going to be available on PC. As big as Fallout & Skyrim etc are, they're not big enough for Sony to have to panic or throw out their business model. Skyrim was released almost 9 years ago, and Fallout has taken a serious hit as a franchise with Fallout 76. I'd see losing Arkane as a bigger hit to Sony because it makes Deathloop something of a lame duck considering any sequel to it will likely be Xbox exclusive.

Fallout/Elder Scrolls aren't going to make Sony do a deal with MS to bring Gamepass to Playstation. The only such studios who could trigger Sony to do something like that could be if Microsoft bought EA or Ubisoft, but even then those studios are so big and so inherently multi-platform that it would likely cause anti-consumer regulations to block such a move.

B.A._Baracus · 22-09-2020 2:21pm

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Yes,

SIE San Diego Studio

EDIT: Actually that isn't correct. I thought MLB the Show had released on Xbox but it is the coming title, not the current one out.

I'll save you the hassle of searching... You can't find any.

It's just smart business. If a gamer wants to play the new God of War they have to buy a playstation. If they want to play Halo they need to buy Xbox etc etc.
You push and promote your own console. That applies to everything. Including gamepass.

But here's another thing.. let's say magically gamepass appears on ps5 for its console lifespan. Then what?
Sony would have allowed it's rival to get an entire market share for a subscription based game service.
Then come ps6 and the next Xbox Microsoft simply announces that the next xbox is the only console to have gamepass only. Why would Sony allow that?

The games industry has always been about keeping up with the Jones to not lose any market share.

"Oh I see your next console has a digital only edition? We're gonna have one to"
"Oh I see youve got a subscription game service well we're gonna have one too"

Even game genres. Killzone was Sony's answer to Halo years ago.

MJohnston · 22-09-2020 2:27pm

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

EA is a third party company
They make games for consoles. They do not sell a console. Never have.

I'll pose a question to you. Can you name one Sony or Xbox owned game studio that developed a game and released it for the other console...

Mojang - Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons
Double Fine - Rad, Psychonauts 2 (or it will be)
Obsidian - Outer Worlds
Compulsion - We Happy Few
inXile - Wasteland 3, The Bard's Tale IV

johnny_ultimate · 22-09-2020 2:29pm

Penn wrote: »

I'd see losing Arkane as a bigger hit to Sony because it makes Deathloop something of a lame duck considering any sequel to it will likely be Xbox exclusive.

Arkane games aren’t massive sellers usually, so the loss is more in terms of prestige and reputation as their games are usually cult favourites and critical successes as opposed to big blockbusters. For the average player, Elder Scrolls is a much bigger deal simply because Skyrim has such a footprint.

Penn · 22-09-2020 2:48pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Arkane games aren’t massive sellers usually, so the loss is more in terms of prestige and reputation as their games are usually cult favourites and critical successes as opposed to big blockbusters. For the average player, Elder Scrolls is a much bigger deal simply because Skyrim has such a footprint.

Oh totally. I meant as a (near) launch title for PS5, exclusive (timed or otherwise), it was a big feather in the cap for the first few months of the PS5 especially with how they've given it so much time in their showcases. To have the studio now be going to Microsoft means the potential of the franchise and for Sony to really get behind the franchise/studio has now completely dissipated. Arkane are a studio on the rise. Sony losing a potentially strong relationship with them is definitely a kicker in terms of lost potential for PS5 users.

B.A._Baracus · 22-09-2020 2:58pm

MJohnston wrote: »

Mojang - Minecraft, Minecraft Dungeons
Double Fine - Rad, Psychonauts 2 (or it will be)
Obsidian - Outer Worlds
Compulsion - We Happy Few
inXile - Wasteland 3, The Bard's Tale IV

You literally spent an hour googling didn't you ....

22-09-2020 3:01pm

Yeah if I was a MS director who was pissed off waiting for Elder Scrolls 6 to come about, I would have done the very same thing too.

MJohnston · 22-09-2020 3:03pm

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

You literally spent an hour googling didn't you ....

I only posted 25 minutes after you did

Retr0gamer · 22-09-2020 3:46pm

Could Arkane do a Capcom? You know how Capcom sign exclusivity deals and the game comes out on another platform anyway.

Like Deathloop Special Championship Edition?

I wonder if Sony own the Deathloop IP. If so they could get another studio to work on the franchise.

MJohnston · 22-09-2020 3:50pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Could Arkane do a Capcom? You know how Capcom sign exclusivity deals and the game comes out on another platform anyway.

Like Deathloop Special Championship Edition?

I wonder if Sony own the Deathloop IP. If so they could get another studio to work on the franchise.

Deathloop and Ghostwire are both just timed exclusives, fwiw

Retr0gamer · 22-09-2020 4:10pm

MJohnston wrote: »

Deathloop and Ghostwire are both just timed exclusives, fwiw

Ah, or as I like to call them, non-exclusive anti-consumer dickmoves.

Azza · 22-09-2020 4:55pm

Waiting for Epic Games to buy up Microsoft and make all their studios games one year exclusive on the Epic Game Store. :pac:

Mr Crispy · 22-09-2020 6:48pm

Hmmmm

https://twitter.com/imranzomg/status/1308054774902714369?s=20

The White Wolf · 30-09-2020 7:25am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I very, very much doubt a new Elder Scrolls will come to Playstation now. It's a major coup for Microsoft to deny Sony such a big game.

Ugh this is a nightmare if the above is true.

BigGpu380 · 30-09-2020 2:26pm

I'm thinking the games as a service games stay multiplat but the bigger games might go exclusive. Honestly can't remember this big a deal happening in gaming though. A studio is one thing but an entire publisher is crazy.

Mitch Connor · 30-09-2020 2:31pm

that bethesda seem to be remaining a publish as well, rather than that being folded in to MS, would indicate to me that they will be remaining multi-plat to a large degree. I would like MS to take the titles exclusive, but I think they will work off a base of 'You could pay $70 for ES6 on PS5, but $7 a month will get you ES6 and Starfield and Fallout etc on Xbox'

Penn · 30-09-2020 2:58pm

Mitch Connor wrote: »

that bethesda seem to be remaining a publish as well, rather than that being folded in to MS, would indicate to me that they will be remaining multi-plat to a large degree. I would like MS to take the titles exclusive, but I think they will work off a base of 'You could pay $70 for ES6 on PS5, but $7 a month will get you ES6 and Starfield and Fallout etc on Xbox'

You could be right, but would Microsoft have paid so much for that, and even buying Zenimax rather than doing a Gamepass exclusivity deal with them if not to get full exclusivity of the games?

BigGpu380 · 30-09-2020 3:22pm

Do you think their next acquisition is going to be on a bigger scale like this one or probably just a few extra smaller studios?

UnfortuateSon · 01-10-2020 12:09pm

Its taken a while but Microsoft have finally gotten the checkbook out.
I was kind of surprised they didn't make this kind of move back when they first released the original xbox.

If this is their last purchase for a few years and try to organically grow their other studios this wont be too bad.
However historically that's not been their style and long term I think this deal will be very bad for gamers. Gaming (and to be honest all industries with MS in them) benefit with MS as a strong number 2, but they need to be number 2 to keep them honest. History has shown repeatedly that MS cant stop themselves from competing to going for an all out monopoly (with the needed dirty tricks) in an industry and with their unlimited cash pile (compared to Sony and Nintendo) it will be easier then ever.

With game pass they have probably the best way to gain a monopoly or at least to get such a lead that it makes game pass the default choice to such a degree that any other service comes a far second place, think Netflix to Amazon Prime Video.

All it would take is the one or two more big purchases, like say Take Two Interactive or even just Rockstar from Take Two, and then they are done.

I think Sony are right that its not a sustainable business model. I'd expect AAA games to require budgets north of 150m this coming generation, but with their cash MS can certainly carry it and their studios as loss making for a few years. Get rid of Sony or Nintendo as platform makers so they move into solely development like Sega have done, and then up goes the games pass price with no where else to go.

Retr0gamer · 01-10-2020 12:28pm

UnfortuateSon wrote: »

Its taken a while but Microsoft have finally gotten the checkbook out.
I was kind of surprised they didn't make this kind of move back when they first released the original xbox.

They did though, they bought Lionhead, Bungie and paid a record breaking number for Rare. Few others I'm forgetting. Also signed exclusivity deals with Sega.

UnfortuateSon · 02-10-2020 10:10am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

They did though, they bought Lionhead, Bungie and paid a record breaking number for Rare. Few others I'm forgetting. Also signed exclusivity deals with Sega.

While true they did buy the above, as far as I recall, at the time they were just single studios who were capable of some very good games, Goldeneye and Fable on the 360 stand out for me, but with all due respect to their size and efforts they were hardly powers in the industry at the time of their purchase.
I was expecting MS to be making these kind of serious moves far earlier, which is buying not just publishers but genre defining IPs .

It could just be that its only now that the MS board see this as something to really push for dominance in. after all the above purchases could probably have been ok'ed at Phil Spencers level, the Bethesda deal would require Satya Nadella and full board engagement and sign off.

Retr0gamer · 02-10-2020 10:18am

They were trying to buy Sega as well and were very close to signing off a deal before it fell through.

UnfortuateSon · 03-10-2020 10:14am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

They were trying to buy Sega as well and were very close to signing off a deal before it fell through.

Yea that was more what I would expect. I hadn't heard that, so did a quick Google and see there is still talk about it.
Like I said originally, long term I see only bad things for gamers coming from these purchases.

Mal-Adjusted · 03-10-2020 10:45am

BigGpu380 wrote: »

Do you think their next acquisition is going to be on a bigger scale like this one or probably just a few extra smaller studios?

I'm surprised they haven't bought Remedy. They seem to have a very good relationship with the studio & Remedy are known for making intiresting, semi-prestige action games.

EoinMcLovin · 16-10-2020 6:14pm

Phil Spencer on Bethesda exclusivity: “I don’t have to ship games on any other platform to make that deal work for us. Whatever that means.”

Is it possible to recoup a $7.5 billion investment if you don’t sell Elder Scrolls VI on the PlayStation?” I asked.

“Yes,” Spencer quickly replied.

Then he paused.

“I don’t want to be flip about that,” he added. “This deal was not done to take games away from another player base like that. Nowhere in the documentation that we put together was: ‘How do we keep other players from playing these games?’ We want more people to be able to play games, not fewer people to be able to go play games. But I’ll also say in the model—I’m just answering directly the question that you had—when I think about where people are going to be playing and the number of devices that we had, and we have xCloud and PC and Game Pass and our console base, I don’t have to go ship those games on any other platform other than the platforms that we support in order to kind of make the deal work for us. Whatever that means.”

https://kotaku.com/xbox-boss-phil-spencer-on-series-x-launch-halo-infinit-1845392984/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Microsoft buying Zenimax/Bethesda

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