Reads like a PC to me. 
$70 games, weird monopoly crap like Microsoft buying Bethesda, subscription services galore, market platforms for everyone, I’m probably gonna have to finally upgrade my computer again, and I don’t like the PS5 controller design, I’ve been kind of intentionally not staying up to date but this next-gen kinda looks like it’s gonna suck.
Personally, I’m still entirely game to stan J.E. Sawyer. That said if you really want to go digging for things to poo-poo on, it’s still kind of up in the air how much he’s responsible for Honest Hearts being… Honest Hearts. Again, personally, I blame John Gonzalez and I have Zero Dawn to back up that blame.
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i know this apparently isn’t a violation of anti-trust, but can you imagine the sheer 2020 horror of having to see Certified Gamer AOC explain this sh*t during a congressional hearing like she had to try to lay out why the pentagon shouldn’t be streaming fortnite to recruit kids…
I wonder if she needs a video game consultant.
smash cut to Rob Zachny explaining the flying mammoth bug to a House Judiciary subcommittee
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I’ve been thinking this over for a while, and I’m not sure this acquisition specifically bothers me so much as, like, the entire idea that it’s cool for platform holders to outright own development studios. Acting as a publisher is one thing, but owning studios is just one vertical integration step too far IMO.
And so even though what MS, Sony, and Nintendo have been doing meets neither the legal nor colloquial definition of “monopoly” (since there still are plenty of 3rd party publishers and developers apart from the two of them), I still don’t like the vertical integration aspect one bit.
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I think the bigger issue at play is that subscription based services inherently create a need for consolidation. By that I mean Disney isn’t just acquiring Fox to get bigger and whatnot, but they have to do it just so Disney Plus has a breadth of content that can keep people subscribed indefinitely. Like, as. Disney Plus subscriber, I’m more likely to stay subbed because I can watch Simpsons reruns on it. Similarly, with Game Pass, having Bethesda on the service simply makes that service better. Microsoft would be foolish not to engage in vertical integration in that case.
But yeah, it’s a really tough situation as a customer. On the one hand consolidation is almost always bad, but on the other the past decade of streaming services have let me experience a massive amount of media at a much lower cost than when I bought movies, music, or games piecemeal. It’s not a great justification, I’ll admit, but I can’t deny the temptation to just roll with it and enjoy the ride as long as it lasts.
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Good news then everyone, it’s legal. We can stop worrying about it.
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Yeah, no thank you. How about not.
Feel it is fair to say, we are not at the end of this and Bethesda is a mighty bit domino. It will suck a lot at hyper speed
There’s…not much else left to buy! Off the top of my head…Capcom, EA, Certain Affinity, Deep Silver, THQ Nordic (shout-out to Mark), WB’s interactive entertainment division. Maybe Namco or Konami’s game IP? I assume that Ubi would be too big for Microsoft to eat. Even EA might trigger a funny look from the anti-trust people. Maybe Avalanche (the Just Cause people).
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If they’re going to do another big buy my money is on SEGA.
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Already putting out games on both console and PC with both being of good quality
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They get Relic for RTS games, who they’re already working with on the next Age of Empires
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They get Creative Assembly so now they’re in the war gaming space
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They get Atlus who have a pretty solid fan base and a huge JRPG catalog to pull from and entice a Japanese audience to buy an Xbox
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Sony losing Persona would be a slap
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They get into the arcade space in Japan if they want to some how start tying xbox live into that which would incentive people to buy an Xbox
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They get mobile game development
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They get another major MMO in the form of Phantasy Star Online
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They get a huge catalog of IP for all of their studios to start pulling from
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They get a studio that has experience making sports games
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They’ve already got a great business relationship
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I wonder what Sony’s response to this would be? If I was them I’d offer to do the same but with Capcom, Atlus etc and then give them that sweet sweet first-party funding. Kojima Productions would also be a smart buy. Basically they’re current first-party strategy is more than enough to hold its own against Microsoft’s agenda, they just need to up the number of big and exclusive games they’re releasing on their platform. This really isn’t much different to Nintendo’s strategy if you subtract the need to make a profit on each unit of hardware sold and a lot of people seem to think the Switch is an essential platform regardless of whether you also have a console/PC (although the fact that most of these games are coming out on PC going forward muddies those waters a bit for Sony).
I don’t know what Sony’s overall corporate situation is like, but Microsoft probably found the money for the Bethesda acquisition in the couch cushions in Phil Spencer’s office. I don’t think they have the cash to go studio-for-studio with Microsoft. They’ll probably pay for (presumably) timed exclusives like Ghostwire: Tokyo and Deathloop moving forward while they look to make a larger acquisition if they can swing it, but I imagine they’ll probably continue doing what they’re doing moving forward.
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I do wonder how likely it is for a Japanese company to sell to a foreign one, although it is possible
Definitely not. However, Bethesda is probably the biggest publisher/developer conglomerate behind EA, Activision, and 2K. Even your Capcoms of the world are not going to go for Bethesda money. Locking down the Japanese Market, esp given the global success of Japanese games in the latter half of this generation, would make a bunch of sense and probably cost as much as MS spent on Bethesda alone.
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Microsoft as a whole is around 20 times bigger than Sony, thus their pockets are 20 times bigger. That doesn’t mean Xbox has 20 times more to spend than Playstation, while Playstation makes Sony most their money, Xbox doesn’t make Microsoft most of its money so how corporate resources are allocated is likely a different ratio. Either way Sony can’t compete in spending but their board might allow a bigger bid for smaller publishers that Microsoft’s might not be willing to spend.
Let’s say Sony wanted to buy Konami’s IP and publishing arm, I could see them having a better shot at that than Microsoft. Then again Microsoft could “offer you can’t refuse” any publisher they want. It’s just a matter of if they want.
What I’m saying is I want any of Sony’s talented studios to take a crack at a Silent Hill.
Sony coming out with “We bought Konami’s IP and we’re throwing $150 mil at KojiPro to actually make Silent Hills and another $150 mil at From to do a Castlevania game” would be a pretty nice riposte, wouldn’t it?
I think it’s THE move to make. It would also be met with less cynicism than the Bethesda acquisition because it’s generally accepted the those IPs are wasted in Konami’s hands.
Yo, just give me MGS2’s tanker chapter with current gen physics and tech, and just take all my money.
