Even if the argument is that they aren’t making games for some franchises, Microsoft could still hire them to make games for different franchises as an exclusive, without acquiring them.
They aren’t making games for most of the franchises they own. Current market forces certainly aren’t inspiring them to do so. Contracting them to make a new Metal Arms, for instance, means they’re allocating personnel away from their money makers, which raises the price of that contract to make up for the opportunity cost.
Yes it would be good if Playstation had more competition from XBox, but I have absolutely no confidence that they will get there just by acquiring publishers.
I have absolutely no confidence that they’ll get there without it. And to be clear: I hate that. I hate that when Sony gets an exclusive game, it means I have to wait two years to play it on PC. I hate that my friends hate the new PS5 controller but have to use it because that’s where you play God of War. But exclusives dictate a console’s success, as much as I wish they didn’t. So even if Xbox has quick resume and doesn’t arbitrarily make its old controllers incapable of working on newer games that don’t use the new controller features like Sony does, two friendlier features in the Xbox camp that would influence a purchasing decision in a perfect world, the customer is hardly ever going to pick Xbox, because the market decided exclusives matter that much.
They already acquired Zenimax/Bethesda and Redfall turned out to be a disappointment.
A game that was in production for a long time before it became a Microsoft product.
Sony is making God of War and Last of Us with their own studios, they don’t need to buy exclusivity for that.
There is no functional difference between this and buying other studios, especially since Naughty Dog was also a studio acquisition. Given enough time in the rearview mirror, Activision-Blizzard and Bethesda games will be treated the same way as you just treated that one.
What is Microsoft making? What good would it be to let them have even more publishers and franchises?
We just saw a ton of games that they’re making. And games these days just take so much longer to make, at least at the scale that Microsoft, Sony, and very few other companies insist on making them. Rocksteady has been working for 8 years on one game. The average AAA game has a 5+ year dev cycle now, which is absurd. The next game from Sony Santa Monica likely won’t come out until there’s a PlayStation 6. The likes of InXile, Obsidian, and Double Fine will have quicker turnaround times than most, and even those will take 3+ years. So with that perspective, the Microsoft acquisitions are fairly recent and are only soon going to start bearing fruit like Hellblade; not even Starfield counts in that discussion.
I have absolutely no confidence that they’ll get there without it.
They already have Zenimax and we haven’t much to show for it. It was releasing more games before it was acquired. But I’ll grant that not enough time has passed, though I’d say if Redfall wasn’t up to shape they could and should have changed the release plans.
But for Rare plenty of time has passed. What do they have to show for it? Sea of Thieves and a Killer Instinct game for the whole of the last decade. Banjo has been declared dead, Perfect Dark keeps getting postponed, and nothing else new. It doesn’t bode well.
We just saw a ton of games that they’re making.
It wasn’t all that many, and most of it likely came at expense of what would previously be multiplatform games. Zenimax would still be releasing games if they hadn’t been acquired. Sure, exclusives benefit them but this “competition” was really a net loss for players who don’t have Microsoft platforms. It came at expense of the third-party market.
There is no functional difference between this and buying other studios, especially since Naughty Dog was also a studio acquisition.
There is a marked difference in scale. If they just bought Treyarch or Toys For Bob that wouldn’t be a big deal. But they are bulk buying publishers along with all their studio subsidiaries. Activision Blizzard by itself is the 6th largest publisher. This is not just getting a studio. The comparisons being made to excuse Microsoft’s tactics are really glossing over what a drastic sweeping takeover they are doing, All the while they whine about how tiny and feeble they are, because this massive company doesn’t dominate the gaming market also.
But for Rare plenty of time has passed. What do they have to show for it? Sea of Thieves and a Killer Instinct game for the whole of the last decade.
Killer Instinct was a Rare property but not developed by Rare. And you’re underselling how hugely successful Sea of Thieves has been. (Not that I understand it; the game seems incredibly shallow, but it found a huge audience.) We have a pretty thorough accounting of what Rare’s been doing, and Sea of Thieves happened under new management at Xbox that wasn’t running the show post-Nuts-and-Bolts.
It wasn’t all that many, and most of it likely came at expense of what would previously be multiplatform games. Zenimax would still be releasing games if they hadn’t been acquired. Sure, exclusives benefit them but this “competition” was really a net loss for players who don’t have Microsoft platforms. It came at expense of the third-party market.
The same is true of Sony’s acquisitions.
If you want to talk about scale, the industry in general, especially the type of game that sells these consoles, is so much bigger than it was in the 90s. If you’re buying a studio in an attempt to compete with a console outselling yours 5:1, you’re not buying a studio with a few dozen people who sold a few hundred thousand copies of a game. You’re buying a company with hundreds or thousands of people who sell millions of copies and a large percent of those customers buy DLC and microtransactions, because that’s what moves the needle. A large portion of those customers, by the way, only bought a PlayStation for that game, because that game was associated with PlayStation in the marketing, even though it was also available on Xbox.
They aren’t making games for most of the franchises they own. Current market forces certainly aren’t inspiring them to do so. Contracting them to make a new Metal Arms, for instance, means they’re allocating personnel away from their money makers, which raises the price of that contract to make up for the opportunity cost.
I have absolutely no confidence that they’ll get there without it. And to be clear: I hate that. I hate that when Sony gets an exclusive game, it means I have to wait two years to play it on PC. I hate that my friends hate the new PS5 controller but have to use it because that’s where you play God of War. But exclusives dictate a console’s success, as much as I wish they didn’t. So even if Xbox has quick resume and doesn’t arbitrarily make its old controllers incapable of working on newer games that don’t use the new controller features like Sony does, two friendlier features in the Xbox camp that would influence a purchasing decision in a perfect world, the customer is hardly ever going to pick Xbox, because the market decided exclusives matter that much.
A game that was in production for a long time before it became a Microsoft product.
There is no functional difference between this and buying other studios, especially since Naughty Dog was also a studio acquisition. Given enough time in the rearview mirror, Activision-Blizzard and Bethesda games will be treated the same way as you just treated that one.
We just saw a ton of games that they’re making. And games these days just take so much longer to make, at least at the scale that Microsoft, Sony, and very few other companies insist on making them. Rocksteady has been working for 8 years on one game. The average AAA game has a 5+ year dev cycle now, which is absurd. The next game from Sony Santa Monica likely won’t come out until there’s a PlayStation 6. The likes of InXile, Obsidian, and Double Fine will have quicker turnaround times than most, and even those will take 3+ years. So with that perspective, the Microsoft acquisitions are fairly recent and are only soon going to start bearing fruit like Hellblade; not even Starfield counts in that discussion.
They already have Zenimax and we haven’t much to show for it. It was releasing more games before it was acquired. But I’ll grant that not enough time has passed, though I’d say if Redfall wasn’t up to shape they could and should have changed the release plans.
But for Rare plenty of time has passed. What do they have to show for it? Sea of Thieves and a Killer Instinct game for the whole of the last decade. Banjo has been declared dead, Perfect Dark keeps getting postponed, and nothing else new. It doesn’t bode well.
It wasn’t all that many, and most of it likely came at expense of what would previously be multiplatform games. Zenimax would still be releasing games if they hadn’t been acquired. Sure, exclusives benefit them but this “competition” was really a net loss for players who don’t have Microsoft platforms. It came at expense of the third-party market.
There is a marked difference in scale. If they just bought Treyarch or Toys For Bob that wouldn’t be a big deal. But they are bulk buying publishers along with all their studio subsidiaries. Activision Blizzard by itself is the 6th largest publisher. This is not just getting a studio. The comparisons being made to excuse Microsoft’s tactics are really glossing over what a drastic sweeping takeover they are doing, All the while they whine about how tiny and feeble they are, because this massive company doesn’t dominate the gaming market also.
Killer Instinct was a Rare property but not developed by Rare. And you’re underselling how hugely successful Sea of Thieves has been. (Not that I understand it; the game seems incredibly shallow, but it found a huge audience.) We have a pretty thorough accounting of what Rare’s been doing, and Sea of Thieves happened under new management at Xbox that wasn’t running the show post-Nuts-and-Bolts.
The same is true of Sony’s acquisitions.
If you want to talk about scale, the industry in general, especially the type of game that sells these consoles, is so much bigger than it was in the 90s. If you’re buying a studio in an attempt to compete with a console outselling yours 5:1, you’re not buying a studio with a few dozen people who sold a few hundred thousand copies of a game. You’re buying a company with hundreds or thousands of people who sell millions of copies and a large percent of those customers buy DLC and microtransactions, because that’s what moves the needle. A large portion of those customers, by the way, only bought a PlayStation for that game, because that game was associated with PlayStation in the marketing, even though it was also available on Xbox.