Support NeoGAF

[Leyasu]

23 creative studios we just bought. The employees never applied to work with us and they didn't release anything yet. Yay!

Do you think that all of those employees are now going to leave?

 

[Whitecrow]

Absolutely disgusting.

This is Xbox:

100M+ monthly active community members
15M+ Xbox Game Pass members
23 creative studios

...and we still can't make a profit

They spent bazillions getting all of that. Good luck on them making profit lmao

 

[Flintty]

There’s always the risk of stuff like this backfiring on MS, because they’re MS and they have an amazing ability to fuck things up. But let them have their moment - this has been a long and painful generation.

Us fans deserved some good news

 

[Zannegan]

Agreed. Much prefer MS buy then one of Facebook, Google, amazon or apple. Lessor of those evils for sure.

And yeah Phil was only against them because nobody with a right mind would go xbox timed exclusive anymore without MS paying through their nose.

Eh, I had it down to the fact that those deals did very little to move the needle for MS. People still do deals with EGS even though it has a fraction of Steam's userbase. Going with MS can't be any worse than that.

Then again, the Tomb Raider exclusivity certainly didn't do the IP any favors, so maybe you're onto something.

 

[cudiye]

This is like flexing a brand new car with a bose sound system and brembo brakes with no wheels.

 

[Twinblade]

Bethesda is a terrible company now days.

 

[M1chl]

You think PS4 needed to be saved?

Yeah, it would (probably) had just 4GB of (V)RAM if not for meeting Randy Pitchford and Andrew Boyes, who then went to Japan to tell exec what it needed to be done and since GDDR5 memories went down on price, they were able to do that.

 

[MrFunSocks]

SE would be a great fit for Sony, portfolio-wise, they've got some legendary IPs and a good mix of eastern and western studios.

I agree that dividing up the games industry between the big 3 isn't a good thing, but like I've said elsewhere, I would happily see it done before seeing Amazon and/or Google taking a slice out of the pie.

As for Phil, I always took those comments to be against timed/purchased exclusivity, rather than first party exclusivity. Still rich given how they started the generation though. lol

MS buying everyone would kinda be the best result for everyone, since literally every first party game releases on PC as well then. Then you’ve just got the choice of PC or console.

 

[MrFunSocks]

Now that they won't have to worry about putting out a game to pay the bills, they can focus on making the games they want and give them time to breath. Todd Howard referenced this himself in his first interview after it was announced.

Gamepass has the ability to allow devs to avoid crunch, avoid rushing out a product, and more importantly allow more creative freedom. As long as there are paying subscribers, they can focus on content. Not many developers have that luxury in today's gaming business climate.

This only applies to the 23 studios under MS umbrella of course, but that's a big umbrella with a lot of talent underneath it.

Exactly this.

MS stated a while back that they want to get to releasing 1 AAA game per quarter, every quarter, directly to game pass. With 23 studios, with rumours of a few more, it means each studio can now take 3+ years to make each game without worry basically. That’s incredible. I think in about 18-24 months Xbox is gonna be pumping out incredible games on a regular basis. Doom one quarter, fallout the next, Forza the next, then gears, then elder scrolls, then horizon, then conker, etc etc. Security is a massive issue in the dev world, and MS is trying to provide that. Their games don’t have to sell 10 mil each, they just need to keep people subscribed at $15 a month, which is a much easier sell.

 

[Damian black]

MS buying everyone would kinda be the best result for everyone, since literally every first party game releases on PC as well then. Then you’ve just got the choice of PC or console.

Lol.

How can a monopoly be the best result for anyone.
Ms managing of their studios has been absymal so far.

 

[GeorgPrime]

Just a reminder: Those numbers will secure you third place in the gaming industry.

To compare Sony:

- 12 Sony Developer to deliver high quality games (Quality over Quantity)
- 103.000.000 Active monthly user
- 115.000,000 consoles sold.

 

[EnergyStar]

Yeah, it would (probably) had just 4GB of (V)RAM if not for meeting Randy Pitchford and Andrew Boyes, who then went to Japan to tell exec what it needed to be done and since GDDR5 memories went down on price, they were able to do that.

Not sure about that. It's not like such big decision depends on one man opinion. I think there was multiple developers that pointed Sony to the right direction. Including their own.

 

[M1chl]

Not sure about that. It's not like such big decision depends on one man opinion. I think there was multiple developers that pointed Sony to the right direction. Including their own.

It's possible, but this was public story.

 

[SidViscous]

This poor twitter handler probably had to run the Crackdown 3 one for like 4 years, let them blow off some steam now they have some good news finally.

 

[MrFunSocks]

If they have 30 odd billion in cash reserves they can't afford 7.5 billion?

Sony too, could have completed this deal. Props to MS for getting the chocolates though.

A company with $30bil isn’t going to spend $7.5bil of that on a game publisher lol. Shareholders would go berserk.

$7.5 bil is pocket money to MS at this stage. It would be a massive massive risk to Sony, and not one they’d take.

 

[MrFunSocks]

Lol.

How can a monopoly be the best result for anyone.
Ms managing of their studios has been absymal so far.

Well with that monopoly at least everyone gets to play everything on whatever platform they want.

I don’t want only 1 console manufacturer btw. Just if it had to happen, MS would be the best option.

 

[whitesugar]

Xbox,pc,mobile. A base Sony will never have.
Keep telling us how many plastic boxes Sony sold.

except, sony does have that base and more. sony have sold more plastic boxes than 100m. and Playstation makes more money than xbox.
keep teelingus how many $1 gamepass subs xbox has

 

[whitesugar]

23 studios and not one game with a release date

 

[On Demand]

The losing side always tries so hard to brag about anything they can. So not surprised at this lame attempt.

Those extra studios that got you to 23 were bought off multiplatform developers. You didn't grow and build talent from the ground up like Sony does. You bought a bunch of studios, 2 of which are the only double digit sellers out of the 8., out of desperation. That never works. It doesn't guarantee you quality or good games. Fallout76 anyone?

Sony studios are still bigger with the best development pipeline and better quality games. MS doesn't even have a studio like Visual Arts that Sony has for their studios. They're buying up random developers with no sense to properly build them and a good development environment to creat high quality games. Halo Infinite anyone?

This company is hilarious.

 

[Estocolmo]

All they're doing is flexing their wallet, which is quite lame. Unlike Sony, they didn't work closely and form a unique relationship with the studios that they bought before buying them; they simply used their massive wealth to buy them out. Hence, they get no credit from me for acquiring studios.

Playground Games

 

[dalekjay]

I really thought SonyGaf would meltdown much more, there was only few whinny threads and not that much rumble, Sonyreddit/Era too it much worse, Reddit the worst

 

[Panajev2001a]

Since you apparently know nothing about Bethesda, I’d go watch the podcast Larry did with Phil Todd and Pete. Bethesda was working with Xbox before Xbox was a thing, and Todd has said many times that Morrowind coming to Xbox saved the company. They were intimately involved in the amount of Ram doubling for the 360. Xbox was the first to give them a chance to come onto an E3 stage. Bethesda was an early participant in Gamepass, and has done a lot of work on Cloud gaming themselves, so they’re a fit for Xbox now more than ever, and a 20 year relationship just got sealed.


If you go read Phil and Todd’s statements from the day of the announcement, it sounds like they’re talking about HS sweethearts more than billion and trillion dollar companies. The relationship between BGS and Xbox is closer than just about any 3rd party to any 1st party.

I read on a magazine that the Take That boys really were the bestest friends forever according to their publicist at the time .

Seriously, out of all studios they bought in Zenimax Bethesda was the most MS affiliated... Id maybe less though.

TheMajor Nelson interview you mentioned/the stream had a very happy Phil, but Todd felt a bit forced/cringy... while Phil was looking over with a “dance for me monkey, dance” grin .

 

[Drewpee]

Absolutely disgusting.



They spent bazillions getting all of that. Good luck on them making profit lmao

Yep, because the one area Microsoft struggles most is profitability.

 

[chonga]

I wasn't talking about Bethesda specifically but about the studios that they've bought in general; Bethesda is the exception, I would imagine.

No you weren't wrong - they were. It was still a flex of the wallet. It is irrelevant if you were love-buddies. All of the things they mention would still continue to be true whether or not MS bought them. It still was a butt load of cash delivered to secure a studio. Same with Insomniac and Sony right, they have a history but it was still Sony securing a studio through money as opposed to fostering something from the ground up.

Frankly I'm not a big fan of it, from any side. The race to buy as many studios as you can does one thing and one thing only: hurt consumers by removing choice.

 

[Bryank75]

Do you think that all of those employees are now going to leave?

Sony should open a studio across the road and offer 10K more and other perks.... 7.5 Billion wasted.

 

[Orky]

I've been playing FO76 on Game Pass and don't understand what people were complaining about. The game is actually really good.

It wasn’t that good at launch. Now it’s amazing.

 

[On Demand]

100M monthly Xbox users? Where are they getting these kind of numbers? Are they including all of the owners of the 3DO, Atari Jaguar, and Sega 32X?

The last reported number was 90M. Either way it includes Xbox, PC, Phones, Laptops, and every other device that you use XBL account on. Including PS4. PS4 because of Minecraft. It's adding to the monthly active users number. Which is funny to me. You can't even brag properly without PlayStation being somewhat responsible. lol..

except, sony does have that base and more. sony have sold more plastic boxes than 100m. and Playstation makes more money than xbox.
keep teelingus how many $1 gamepass subs xbox has

This is why boasting is never a good idea. Your info will be combed through and comparisons will be made and you'll just end up looking stupid.

It takes MS multiple devices including PS4 to reach 90M active users yet Sony sells over 100M PS4 "plastic boxes" alone and has 113M active users on PlayStation consoles.

Good for you MS i guess? I wouldn't want talk about those numbers seeing how they're nowhere near as impressive as Sony's. Consumers are easily fooled though. Especially MS consumers.

 

[Bojanglez]

Doesn't really seem like they are rubbing anything in.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Yeah we know, their social media arm has been active here on GAF, telling us about how much money we can save on our car insurance.

 

[Drewpee]

According to this thread, we still have some VERY hurt feelings on Neogaf.

 

[FALCON_KICK]

I don't think so. Microsoft are just advertising their new studios under Xbox brand.

 

[TTOOLL]

Arrogant MS is the best MS.

 

[whitesugar]

According to this thread, we still have some VERY hurt feelings on Neogaf.

Its OK, hopefully Microsoft will give you permission to play their games, like ES6 and Starfield (probably not though)

and until then you have State of Decay 3

 

[GeorgPrime]

23 studios and not one game with a release date

And they only had one job - Deliver Halo for the Launch Reveal.

....

 

[DaleinCalgary]

And they only had one job - Deliver Halo for the Launch Reveal.

....

And they only had one job - Deliver Halo for the Launch Reveal.

....

They did show Halo for Xbox one.

 

[GeorgPrime]

They did show Halo for Xbox one.

Jeah just to delay it for one year because it wasnt ready lol

 

[Insane Metal]

Suddenly, numbers matter again.

 

[VAL0R]

Well they are trying, this is nothing compared to 8+ years of humiliation and torture, and no matter what they do they will never top this gem

Sony fans think this is the sickest burn of all time. It has been wildly overhyped. It was a well-timed playful jab, but sheesh it's made out to be some stroke of brilliance.

 

[CitizenX]

I mean seriously though over 1/2 of their 'community' dont even play games.

 

[BlackTron]

They should allow these acquisitions to pay off before getting cocky. Could easily end up biting them in the ass.

You'd think they learned this lesson already with Rare.

My guess is, this will be a mixed bag. Some of these studios won't have much change in their output, some will benefit from the extra resources, and some will implode or become shells of their former selves.

 

[NoMoChokeSJ]

You'd think they learned this lesson already with Rare.

My guess is, this will be a mixed bag. Some of these studios won't have much change in their output, some will benefit from the extra resources, and some will implode or become shells of their former selves.

Nobody is immune from this. Sony has a list of bought out and shut down developers too. The reality is $100+ million budgets from games can make or break a company with one bad release.

 

[MrFunSocks]

The last reported number was 90M. Either way it includes Xbox, PC, Phones, Laptops, and every other device that you use XBL account on. Including PS4. PS4 because of Minecraft. It's adding to the monthly active users number. Which is funny to me. You can't even brag properly without PlayStation being somewhat responsible. lol..




This is why boasting is never a good idea. Your info will be combed through and comparisons will be made and you'll just end up looking stupid.

It takes MS multiple devices including PS4 to reach 90M active users yet Sony sells over 100M PS4 "plastic boxes" alone and has 113M active users on PlayStation consoles.

Good for you MS i guess? I wouldn't want talk about those numbers seeing how they're nowhere near as impressive as Sony's. Consumers are easily fooled though. Especially MS consumers.

Btw Sony count users on multiple devices and platforms too. Opening the PlayStation app on your phone counts you as an active user. Signing in to the PlayStation forums on the internet counts you as an active user.

 

[danstar]

All those studios but not a single good game coming out before 2022

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

All they're doing is flexing their wallet, which is quite lame. Unlike Sony, they didn't work closely and form a unique relationship with the studios that they bought before buying them; they simply used their massive wealth to buy them out. Hence, they get no credit from me for acquiring studios.

Sony outright purchased Naughty Dog after they made this on the 3DO:

Ah, the result of a beautiful, loving relationship between Sony and Naughty Dog right before they got bought out.

We can extend this to Psygonsis, and Sony (wait for it) using their wealth to buy up 3rd-party deals from SEGA and Nintendo in the mid '90s when they had no prior relationships with almost any of the companies involved in those deals.

See what actually learning and remembering history can teach us? Stop shifting the goalposts; these companies are out for profits, if they have the money to spend, they'll spend it. MS just happens to have a lot more of it to spend, that's all. It sounds like you want to blame capitalism...do you want to blame capitalism?

 

[KyoZz]

I though this was even funnier TheGreatWhiteShark

 

[CatLady]

To be fair, PS has baseball too. Ya, the game which is on its 25th iteration.

Yeah, but so does Xbox now that Sony has to make it multiplat in order to keep the MLB license

 

[The_Mike]

Sony fanboys the last seven years until last week.

 

[SoloKingRobert]

I can almost guarantee Bethesda will have a noticeable quality drop now that they are an MS studio.

 

[The_Mike]

I mean seriously though over 1/2 of their 'community' dont even play games.

Is this about the meme that's been more used than a drug addict whore "ms has no games"?
Meanwhile people playing on their Xbox reading your comment :

 

[CitizenX]

Is this about the meme that's been more used than a drug addict whore "ms has no games"?
Meanwhile people playing on their Xbox reading your comment :

Used to know a lot of them back when they were spitting the same, useless info. Its a fact.