240°

Best and Worst Developer Acquisitions in Gaming History

Capital game lists some of the industry's best and worst, including purchases made by Microsoft, EA and Sony.

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capitalgame.org
SOAD5036d ago (Edited 5036d ago )

Ensemble was not a bad acquisition. No acquisition has to be a bad acquisition. You take a studio of talented developers or at the very least competent developers, and you give them some funding and some time, and let their creative energy ferment a little and see what they can come up with.

I have a belief that most of these developers, whether you consider them good or bad, at least know how to make a game, so all that needs to be done is they need to be disciplined.

Case in point, Guerrilla Games. GG doesn't have a very good track record if you go far enough into their history. They used to be called "Lost Boys," and they made games for Gameboy, PS2, and Xbox. And their games were pretty bad, very bad, actually.

But Sony gave them funding and let them work on a grand, exclusive game, and they came up with Killzone, which was a pretty good shooter from a developer who was known for Shellshock: Nam 67, one of the crappiest shooters ever.

And now, GG has spearheaded the Killzone franchise into greateness.

Where there's talent, there's potential.

I don't think that RARE is a bad studio. I think that some good guys left the studio and people lost confidence in RARE, but worst of all, Microsoft chooses not to utilize RARE for anything special. MS orders RARE to make Avatars and Avatar accessories and now Kinect games.

I think if Microsoft gave RARE a bigger budget and more time, RARE could come up with a very great game.

Also, Ensemble made Age of Empires, so they were not a bad acquisition by Microsoft and therefore should not be in the honorable mention for worst acquisition.

Microsoft doesn't utilize its studios well.

BakedGoods5036d ago

Yeah, Halo Wars was pretty good, but I think the fact the MS took Ensemble a developer who always had a proven track record, and basically threw Halo at them then disbanded them right after they were done, it's kinda like 'use and abuse'. If Ensemble stayed independent they could have completed Halo Wars then maybe ventured out with a new RTS IP. Who knows?

Conloles5030d ago

I dislike that many still bash Rare, I had a lot of fun with BK:N&B and the Viva Pinata series.

Honest_gamer5030d ago

i loved halo wars it was a really good RTS (for consuls never held a candle to Dawn of war thought IMO)

AssassinHD5030d ago (Edited 5030d ago )

That is a lucid, intelligent, and well thought out comment. Bubbles for you and the first person who figures out the reference I am making with this response. No googling.

AssassinHD5030d ago (Edited 5030d ago )

Double post.

Spenok5029d ago

Ensemble was a TERRIBLE acqusition. As soon as they finished Halo Wars they were disolved as a studio. To which they promptly said F-U to Microsoft and made there own studio.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 5029d ago
safetyUnit5036d ago (Edited 5036d ago )

didnt know about some of these. Like the GTA guys originally doing lemmings? thats so old school!

The-Tentacle5036d ago

Seems like everything Microsoft touches turns to shit.

MRJENKINS5036d ago

@The-Tentacle
really? i heard fanboys have the same effect on everything..

kasasensei5030d ago (Edited 5030d ago )

@jenkins
Well said buddy, bubble for you.

The-Tentacle5036d ago (Edited 5036d ago )

Zune, Kin, HD-DVD, numerous development studios, windows vista, windows phone 7, Encarta, Ms dewey, Bing (probably), DOS 4.0, IE 5, bob, active x, clippy, winME

and just because a lot of people have been dumb enough to buy (and re-buy and re-buy...) their broken xbox even though it has numerous hardware faults and general bad design choices it's deemed successful?

add it to the list I say.

Awesome_Face5030d ago

Your just an ignorant fanboy who is missing out on a multitude of great appliances due to blind hate

darkmurder5030d ago

Wow so you bash HD-DVD which wasnt even Microsofts own property, they just chose to back it. Vista wasn't even bad it was blown over by media hype, Encarta used to be the most used in the world till Wiki came. How you can say that Bing (probably) when its consistently gaining market share has failed bemuses me. Windows phone 7 hasn't even launched lol.

Then there's Zune which whilst it hasnt been commercially successful is a kick ass media player which is better than the iPhone in all things bar apps.

You're just a deluded sad little fanboy but of course Sony has never released a bad product cough Betamax cough. I could make a list too but unlike you I don't take a gripe on companies just because they're from a rival platform of a gaming console.

mrv3215030d ago

Vista wasn't that BAD? Sure it didn't make me sick, but man it was inefficent, problematic and unless you reinstalled every 3 months you'd notice such a performance drop.

I made a switch to Ubuntu because Vista was THAT bad.

Trust me Bing will fail because at the end of the day the internet is google.

Betamax which provided advanced quality was still used in television into this century BTW.

SilverSlug5030d ago

didn't make the list? Football Manager and Total War franchise are some of the biggest selling games in Europe.

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250°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

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theverge.com
darthv7222h ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle9h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic18816h ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio6h ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Lightning771h ago

What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.

Cacabunga8h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

shinoff21837h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga6h ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

itsmebryan2h ago

@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers

romulus231h ago

Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.

darthv721h ago

They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 1h ago
purple10111h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos10h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

DOMination-34m ago

In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.

XBManiac10h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad9h ago(Edited 9h ago)

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple1019h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos9h ago(Edited 9h ago)

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic7h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

MrDead56m ago

The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 56m ago
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150°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos1d 11h ago (Edited 1d 11h ago )

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers1d 7h ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos16h ago(Edited 16h ago)

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken18h ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g1d 3h ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing1d 3h ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H91d 3h ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola23h ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn6691d 2h ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle1d 2h ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

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300°

Microsoft Seemingly Closes Bethesda France

As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people

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insider-gaming.com
Hereandthere1d 18h ago

Microsoft should have left them stay 3rd party

GamerRN1d 16h ago

If they are let go, they can be whatever they want. They ARE 3rd party now... 🤦

Barlos1d 13h ago

Yeah, they're also jobless.

GamerRN1d 6h ago

They can form a company if they want, they are just as jobless as if "Microsoft had left them as 3rd party".

peppeaccardo1d 8h ago

"MIcrosoft leaves Bethesda do what they know how to do best" ... close! Oh the irony ....
(Citation from a week old article)

ChasterMies1d 4h ago

I think Microsoft and other game publishers are letting people go because they think ai will replace them. Doesn’t matter how much profit they make. They were always going to be let go.

PassNextquestion1d 18h ago (Edited 1d 18h ago )

Bethesda France was made up of roughly 15 people... they couldn't of being doing much

Bethesda France mainly did publishing and marketing within the region

blacktiger1d 16h ago

that's a shame for you to say that, i'm sure Elite loves hearing what you just said.

Mr Logic1d 2h ago

What a stupid thing to say. The elites give 0 fucks what we say on an obscure website in the comments section.

Crows901d 1h ago

You can always reach out and give them jobs at your company man. Don't wait

Profchaos1d 18h ago (Edited 1d 18h ago )

Bethesda France focused on publishing and marketing in the region. And 15 people lost their jobs as part of the closure.

I wonder if this is part of Microsoft's strategy to abandoned physical media or possibly gamepass advertising makes their roles redundant you don't need to market a game as hard when the majority of players get the game as part of a sub which already promoted upcoming games

Tacoboto1d 17h ago

It's France too, there's a high likelihood only 1-2 people on the team even had an Xbox.

Profchaos1d 17h ago

Possibly guven all the leaks we know the Xbox brand is really struggling in the region.

Yi-Long1d 14h ago

Well, if your consoles and games are barely found in any stores any more, of course you're gonna struggle finding consumers ...

XiNatsuDragnel1d 16h ago

Tbh Microsoft I think Bethesda being 3rd party same with Activision would probably more competitive than thus scenario imo

Profchaos1d 15h ago (Edited 1d 15h ago )

I think it would have been better for all parties really especially gamers

TheColbertinator1d 16h ago

The recently purchased Activision French offices might take over all the licensing and marketing for Microsoft in France from now on.

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