Phil spencer: Not done with acquisitions.

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akira__

akira__

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Yes, while some people say Sony shouldnt buy a publisher because look at MS (shouldn't even bean argument because Sony has been successful with the video game venture while MS hasn't). In the meantime MS and Tencent slowly buying IPs and publishers, studios.

Sony cannot do a Nintendo and just rely on themselves, its like asking Nintendo to only rely on new ips and not use Mario, Zelda, Pokemon etc
Xbox can't move away from playstation anymore. The abk deal was the end of console war.

Just a few days ago we had Xbox hypers saying cod selling bonkers. Even though Xbox sales were gone, pc went down. So the only place it sold more was playstation.

They can buy who they want, it won't be for the console war with Playstation anymore that is done.

Handheld, is their new motto.
 

Yurinka

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When did Sony make that statement??? the ceo just came out a few days ago saying other wise lol... lvoe when xbox dudes have the throw sony in the same spot so they can feel better hahahah. but i get it that ps5 ass whooping fuking u dudes up hahahah
They said it multiple times.

Sony said when they acquired Bungie that they weren't done with acquisitions, then in different fiscal report conferences and related QA sessions Totoki mentioned that they moved part of the budget for their mid-term (3 years plan) acquisitions & investments to buy image sensors stuff and servers for SIE, and that after having had a mid-term period focusing more on growing via acquisitions and growing their team this new mid-term period they were going to be more conservative with acquisistions and instead they plan to grow focusing more on getting the returns of these past investments.

Also mentioned that starting around late next year they'll sell 80% of their banks division and will use that money mostly on acquisitions and investments for mostly entertainment, and not sure if he even specifically mentioned gaming there.

Scary that he always mentions Asia. Stay away from the following and we're mostly good MS

Sega (including ALTUS)
Square enix
Capcom
Falcom
Konami
Bandai Namco
Koei Tecmo

Would be devastated to see any of them fall to Microsoft of all companies.
With Bandai Namco as exception, I think several of these companies are too small for MS and rely too much on PS. Plus on top of that at least some of them don't want to sell and include some business where MS may not be interested and would require important paperwork to spin them off and sell them to someone (Pachinko, resorts, books, toys, etc).

Considering the scale and money of the whole MS corporation (not only the gaming division), I think MS could be more insterested on companies that make way more money and have a way bigger userbase: some big (non-Chinese) Asian mobile gaming giant with a big presence on PC as could be NC Soft, Com2Us, Krafton, Kakao, Netease, Netmarble.

In addition to help them grow a lot in Asia, it would also would help them to heavily grow their userbase and create a good synergy with their other mobile game teams.

They could also be interested in some big ass outsourcing company like Virtuos.
 
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Kokoloko

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Xbox can't move away from playstation anymore. The abk deal was the end of console war.

Just a few days ago we had Xbox hypers saying cod selling bonkers. Even though Xbox sales were gone, pc went down. So the only place it sold more was playstation.

They can buy who they want, it won't be for the console war with Playstation anymore that is done.

Handheld, is their new motto.

Yeah the console war is over. Welcome to the platform wars lol.

MS will play along nice but will try and weaken Sony whenever it can, they do this everywhere they do business. Look how much the narrative has been from media and “fans” that Sony should go Multiplatform, they “need” to do this..

Then you have Sony Cucks like Totoki, Hermen and Kenichiro Yoshida Following the loser MS after there most successful generation in PS4…
 
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akira__

akira__

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MS will play along nice but will try and weaken Sony whenever it can, they do this everywhere they do business.

Xbox leadership will try offcourse, but they were capped ny project latitude. The best version of cod is on playstation, in the UK it was 70% revenue cod from playstation. That deal was centered around playstation.

The best version of sea of thieves, and hi fi rush are also on playstation.

They are signalling handheld, mobile. Seems the competition will be with Nintendo going forward.
 

peter42O

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So creative talent should get taken away for mass corporate profits because it somehow benefits you? You realize in the long term, buyouts signal the end of a creative synergy. In the end, you get nothing but brands that are shells of themselves.

Creativity in gaming ended a long ass time ago. AAA publishers are not going to risk hundreds of millions of dollars if not billions taking creative risks. It's why every game is in one way or another the same as every other game. Only Indies are truly creative because their games don't cost a lot. Nintendo would also be in that very small group. Brands and companies are already a shell of their former selves. How often do you see people say this in regards to Sony on this forum? Almost every damn day. Companies are going to do what they want. It's that simple.

Personally, I simply take advantage of what in this case Microsoft offers me as a consumer and gamer on Xbox. Despite all the negative bullshit surrounding Xbox, this generation has already been by far their best generation ever for me and by the time this generation ends, Xbox Series X would have given me more great games from Microsoft than their previous three generations combined. After letting all of the console war, sales and letting go of all this other bullshit months ago, I have enjoyed gaming more now than I ever has as an adult because im simply enjoying the games that I decide to play and stopped wasting my time with shit that I can't control and can't change.
 
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I hope they buy more and sink more to oblivion.

Explore James Cameron GIF by Feliks Tomasz Konczakowski
 

Kokoloko

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I sometimes use platform and console interchangeably. How would you define a platform in this context?

I’d personally class Playstation, Nintendo, Xbox and Valve/Steam as platforms.

Playstation and Xbox have consoles the PS5 and Xbox Series, Nintendo has a console/handheld hybrid The Nintendo Switch and Valve has a pc/handheld hybrid, SteamDeck but there platform is Steam.

Thats how Id class it.

If xbox doesnt sell consoles anymore lets say next year, they will still be a major platform where you can buy there games on there online stores. Epic and CDPR has their own platforms, Epic store and GOG, storefronts but no console.
Maybe Im using the wrong words but cba lol
 

Johnic

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You're buying into PR. MS is done with publisher acquisitions

Not only is daddy MS done with giving Phil money, you're forgetting MS had a lot of issues with regulators.

And it's even harder now, since MS has been on the shit end of the stick because of their monopolistic practices in several countries, like Germany.
 

Zzero

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I dunno, I think eastern Europe is more likely than Asia. Better English language proficiency for support work and hours that at least partially overlap US working hours, once again for support work. Those two areas seem to have factored heavily against Tango when they got closed.
 

DarkLordOtaku

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Just a few days ago we had Xbox hypers saying cod selling bonkers. Even though Xbox sales were gone, pc went down. So the only place it sold more was playstation.
He seems to be relatively pleased with the performance across platforms. Here are a few excerpts from the original Bloomberg article:
After releasing the first batch of Xbox games for Sony Group Corp.’s PlayStation and Nintendo Co.’s Switch, Spencer is pleased with the results. Microsoft will do more of that, he said, and won’t rule out any game in Microsoft’s stable.

“I do not see sort of red lines in our portfolio that say ‘thou must not,’ ” he said. It’s too early to make any sort of decision on the next version of Halo, he said.

“The Xbox business has never been more healthy,” he said, citing growth in cloud and PC gaming as well as console usage. “The business is performing right now, and I think that means a more healthy future for hardware and the games we build.”


Spencer also said he’s optimistic about the growth of mobile games.

“I feel pretty good about where this industry is going,’’ he said. “To reach new players, we need to be creative and adaptive of new business models, new devices, new ways of access. We’re not going to grow the market with $1,000 consoles.”

Seems like we'll probably anticipate a pretty generous pipeline of cross-platform titles, and they'll also be refocusing efforts for games targeting a Chinese audience, as well as mobile gaming.
 
24 Jun 2022
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Xbox leadership will try offcourse, but they were capped ny project latitude. The best version of cod is on playstation, in the UK it was 70% revenue cod from playstation. That deal was centered around playstation.

The best version of sea of thieves, and hi fi rush are also on playstation.

They are signalling handheld, mobile. Seems the competition will be with Nintendo going forward.

And they'll fail even harder than they did against PlayStation.

Microsoft's problem, like SEGA before them during the 5th-gen, is that they're:

1: Too reactionary, and​
2: Too obsessed trying to one-up competitors, vs. building an identity unique to them​

Microsoft's gaming division has no unique identity. Instead it's just become the monster from The Thing, trying to assimilate everyone before it gets blown up sky high. Microsoft's motivations in gaming, for the longest time, have been around other companies like Sony, Nintendo, Apple, Google, Tencent etc. rather than actually try cultivating their own gaming identity & brand. One of the biggest reasons they bought Zenimax was to block/intimidate Google out of the core gaming market. They bought ABK to prevent companies like Apple and Tencent from making a move. Xbox's console identity the past ten years has basically been PlayStation: Great Value™ Edition.

Cutting-edge specs aren't the reason Nintendo's been so successful; Nintendo's successful because they have arguably the most evergreen, and best long-term retained & curated, IP in the industry. And, they've married that IP software with their gaming hardware to maximize value proposition, to create a culture around their brand that appeals to everyone across the world.

At the core of Nintendo is a passion for fun, creativity and child-like wonder. At the core of PlayStation is a passion for pushing technological limits, like a scientist who wants to unlock answers to how the world works.

At the core of Xbox...is a business suit whose only passion lays with money, and spending that money to imitate those they're envious of, but lack the creative passion & skill that drives their better-realized competitors. Steve Jobs was always right.

But at least now, IF cooler heads prevail, maybe Xbox can focus on just trying to be the best Xbox it can be. If they couldn't take on Sony directly, they have no hope against Nintendo. But they have an audience of people who like the IP they've acquired, who like their hardware, and who like Windows.

Maybe start trying to act like a would-be respectable market leader again, and cater to your strengths, instead of getting caught up in yet another fruitless battle you'll likely lose even more defiantly than the last one. There's a market for an Xbox handheld, but not as a competitor to Nintendo. There's a market for an Xbox console, but not as a competitor to PlayStation.

Microsoft should know what the answer is by now.
 

Neversummer

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It would be funny if MS bought Kadokawa, Square Enix, Capcom, Level 5 or Arc System Work all of these japanese publisher/studios where on the MS leak target

Either way Sony/PS continue to loose important relationships, ip & studios diminishing the PS platform & storefront
 
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Neversummer

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Xbox can't move away from playstation anymore. The abk deal was the end of console war.
Not necessarily true. MS/Xbox can focus heavy on Switch 2, PC, Steamdeck & Mobile. You can argue that Switch 2 can be a serious player for 3rd party as they seemingly already favor Nintendo because there strong market share in Japan.

Remember PS doesn’t own the ip & while rn PS does get those games if PS continues to diminish itself the PS platform may not be that important/strong at a platform for 3rd party just like Xbox has diminish.