Microsoft Agrees to Acquire BigPark Inc.

Microsoft Corp. today announced its intent to acquire BigPark Inc., an interactive online gaming company based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

BigPark was founded in 2007 by a group of industry veterans who led the creation and growth of two hugely successful software companies, Distinctive Software Inc. and Electronic Arts Canada. BigPark's founding team is composed of business leaders with over 80 years of collective experience in the video game industry, having produced or overseen blockbuster franchises including "Need for Speed," "FIFA Soccer," "NBA Street" and "SSX."

[original seed]

Not really into those games but still good games. Looking forward to E3 game.

[mintaro]

I'm guessing this is going to be connected to whatever motion plans they have going.

[Ausbo]

if they create successful first party sports games like sony have done with their nba and mlb the show series this could boost microsoft's lineup in the coming years.

[morganfell]

If I was in that company I would ask the members of Ensemble what I could expect from my job regarding a long term future...

[PotNoodle]

morgan, ensemble was with microsoft for 8 years, i'd say that was pretty long.

But it is nice to see microsoft building their first party back up again.

[morganfell]

pwned

http://www.gamezone.com/new...

[socomnick]

"1.5 -
pwned

http://www.gamezone.com/new...

Ok I think its confirmed, morganfell is a bloody moron, either that or he has downs syndrome.

[Lucreto]

Never heard of them what games did they make?

[matt247]

They've made nothing. They formed in '07 and are working on an exclusive game for the 360.

[DelbertGrady]

I find it easier to read for myself instead of asking others.

Anyways...

"We are delighted by the opportunity to welcome the BigPark team into Microsoft Game Studios," said Phil Spencer, general manager, Microsoft Game Studios. "The team is composed of some of the most experienced and creative minds working in the industry today. The combination of the BigPark and Microsoft Game Studios talent pools will be an accelerant for growth and innovation. We believe BigPark has tremendous potential to create new properties and innovative gaming experiences for our platforms, one of which we're looking forward to showcasing at the E3 Expo in June."

I have a feeling MS will sh!t all over the competition at E3.

[II Necroplasm II]

It will take time for Microsoft to have plenty of first party studios, they have only been in the game not even 10 years yet.

@Soda
I see Soda that someone with multiple accounts is hitting the disagree button on your post.
well whatever makes them feel better.

[Marquis_de_Sade]

Or it could be that we don't think MS will "sh!t all over the competition at E3".

[II Necroplasm II]

Did he say do you have the feeling?

[-EvoAnubis-]

I started to think MS forgot that 1st party studios are a good thing. Nice to see them using their money effectively. They need to keep this up.

[ShabzS]

but this company has worked/ overseen on sports related titles... nhl nfs and fifa.. must be a new sports title at e3.. but a new ip is also mentioned.. so have to wait till e3

[gaffyh]

I wonder how Ensemble and ACES Game studio feel. They essentially got fired so MS could buy this new studio. Although maybe this new studio has more potential...

[IaMs12]

Correction @ Above, they didnt "Fire" them all, although im sure many were layed off due to economic issues but anyways they were all compiled into a new studio to save money. Many of the orignial members are there still like Ensemble said it will not effect Age of Empire games, they shut the studio down to move them close in. The other hand with ACES im not sure of that story.

[siyrobbo]

MS still have a few first party devs, some staff from the closed studios have been absorbed into MGS, i think they may just have preferred everyone to be under one roof to pool the talent, but then what the hell do i know, maybe they are just stupid?

[NegativeCreepWA]

Ensemble was turned into two studios, so really a company was added not taking away.

[-EvoAnubis-]

Wrong. It didn't "turn into" anything. After MS unceremoniously shut them down, some former company members formed other studios. Three, not two: Robot Entertainment, Windstorm Studios, and Bonfire Studios.

DMA Design turned into Rockstar North. EA Redwood Studios turned into Visceral Games. Ensemble Studios was shut down, and some employees formed other companies. "Turned into" my ass.

[BLaZiN PRopHeT]

Looking forward to seeing the new IP at E3

[Elven6]

Interesting, Don Mattrick is one of the founding members of Big Park which opened in 2007, hmmm?

These guys seem pretty sports oriented, maybe Microsoft is returning to the sports genre?

[PirateThom]

My fist thought was the same as yours, I also figured PGR would be a likely game for them.

[khsmooth]

...if we see an avatar based sports game

[Socomer 1979]

Now microsoft has 3 first party studios.
(whistling dixie)

[Xi]

including spawnpoint, turn 10, lion head, rare, wingnut....

But it's the size that matters if 1 studio is big enough to work on 6 games isn't that better then 3 studios working on 3 games?

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

To bad you can't go back and edit that comment, cuz you just got so owned.

[siyrobbo]

wow 6 agrees, 6 more stupid people who don't know what they are talking about, lol

[metalcheerio]

Even though its over seas, its good to see MS investing in a 1st party developer. Now all we have to do is wait to see the goods.

[kewlkat007]

What's that got to do with anything?

This is what MS should of been doing anyhow. I know it has the money. It needs more brand recognition franchises.

[Elven6]

Canada isn't overseas, it's a connect landmass, the studio itself is what 3 hours away from Seattle?

[velaxun]

exactly, what are you guys talking about? Time to check a map, vancouver is alot closer to Redmond than you seem to think

[cmacdonald]

Never overestimate the human brain.

[velaxun]

I wanna know why 5 people agree with him and only 3 disagree. Jesus that's sad. Do you people even know where Seattle is?

[Odion]

wow MS buying a studio its been many years

[cmrbe]

MS using their money wisely. Buy upstart companies that are not too expensive and in return create for them set in stone exclsuives that will define and set their consoles apart from others.

This is good for the industry and good for gamers as it means more new IP's to choose from and in return more bussiness that will fuel the industry growth.

Kudos to MS.

[JokesOnYou]

everything you just mentioned can be accomplished by buying the content through 3rd party studio's, sure its good when any company gets support to make games for any platform exclusive or not but who cares if its 1st party or not? I think people only think its *better somehow if the game is made by 1st party because thats they way things work before...micro has shown there are more ways to skin a cat and be successful.

JOY

[siyrobbo]

I think 1st party matters alot, its like what david jaffe said, 1st party devs are there to push the hardware, to really sell it and show what it can do. 3rd party devs and publishers are only really interested in the bottom line, which is why you get the likes of anual fifa's- guitar hero - endless copy cat games all based around the unreal engine.

[JokesOnYou]

That still can be accomplished by a 3rd party dev. I mean its simple; micro goes to a 3rd party dev with a big check and say hey make us a new amazing *exclusive IP that really shows off our console, and boom! you end up with a game like Gears of War. You see owning a studio and buying a specific exclusive is one in the same, except obviously the cost difference between paying for one game and paying for the entire studio's budget annually. A permanent employee or a temporary employee, nothing that we haven't seen in any other industry. Sure as I said acquiring more help for in-house games is great but I wouldn't care if they save the same money and brought more games from 3rd party sources, either way if the devs have the time, money and talent I get a quality game= Its just a difference in strategy but the end results are potentially the same for the end user(console owners), so I say once again who cares if a great game comes from 1st party or 3rd party?

JOY

[siyrobbo]

i see your point, my comment was more meant toward 1st party publishers not developers.

[cmrbe]

I don't agree with you.

What MS is doing is giving established 3rd parties more power at the expense of up coming game devs by the route you are talking about.

MS should just let 3rd parties develop their games on the x360 since the x360 is at the stage where 3r parties would want their game on the x360 due to the installbase. There is no need for MS to invest more in them as they would bring their games on the x360 in anycase.

Even with 3rd party console exclsuives like Gears doesn't really feel like exclusive as they are developed on a multi-plat form engine that has been used too much.

What i am talking about are console exclusives that are very unique to a console because of the unique proprietary engine they are using.

I guess its a difference of view but i for one would rather see new and interesting unique IP's over exclusive DLC,time exclusive and 3rparty exclusives that look feel and play like other multiplats on the same engine.

Variety is the spice of life. I would very much like MS to add to that variety instead of just getting a litte bit better multi-plat experience.

Wouldn't it be great if MS has the same number of devs like Sony putting out the same number of new and unique IP's like Sony?.That would be the ultimate for gamers and the industry as it would fuel more growth for the industry with more people being employed as well as support services and off course more games means more bussiness with more games for gamers. Think about what MS could achieve with their advertising and their own games like Uncharted or KZ2. The opposite of this is more power to 3rd parties that really doen't grow the industry as much and less unique and new games for gamers. I choose the later and why i support MS with this route. I hope they buy more new and upcomming devs and give them a head start like Sony did with ND IG and SP amongst many which will bring variety and growth to the gaming industry instead of just the old established 3rd parties devs/publishers.

[likedamaster]

I disagree with you, and I don't need a wall of text to say it. Jokes is right. Microsoft proved it with Epic & Gears of War.

It goes back to the basics of console development and that of which console is easier to exploit therefore get games out faster, make more money in shorter time, etc. Spin it how you wish. My concern is that of games, not really where they came from.

If Fable 2 was trash I wouldn't of touched it. If I knew MGS4 would put me to sleep I wouldn't have got it. Both of those are 1st party games, yet my game collection consists of mostly 3rd party.

[JokesOnYou]

Wouldn't it be great if MS has the same number of devs like Sony putting out the same number of new and unique IP's like Sony?

Well yes and no...because IF micro had the same number of devs they would probably have LESS available CASH FLOW to invest in talented 3rd party devs, and buying out a new or existing studio has NO garuantee that they won't get lazy after maybe 1 great game, RARE is a good example of how micro got burned, they made a few good games but they simply don't make enough top quality games every year to warrant the huge amount of cash micro paid to acquire them and of course has to pay all annual salary/budget. Why not just say hey we like the games Infinity Ward makes, we will pay all the dev costs + incentives for if you make us an exclusive.

Also 360 has some great exclusive games with plenty of diversity so I don't know why you even bring it up.

Really the best strategy is probably a mixture of both.

JOY

[-MD-]

Aww it's a sports developer? Sigh...

We need more Rares in this world.

[Roper316]

this is what MS should be doing so that they can get so true exclusives instead of just timed exclusives & exclusive DLC. Hopefully they will do more of this and less of screwing over half the gaming community with their timed & DLC BS.

[SpoonyRedMage]

I agree witbh everyone that this what MS needs to be doing. They need to get some up and coming dev studios.

I think they might wan to some of the failing devs/publishers as well. Try and save some of the good devs and ips.

[KingKionic]

ah..will see alot sports games from them in the future.

[- The Corrupt -]

When they acquire someone actually worth caring about, give me a ring. *yawn*

[velaxun]

How ignorant can you be? Even I admit, this was a smart move on MS's part, they've acquired a new studio that hasn't done much yet, so it would be really cheap for them to acquire these guys. Now they have another studio making games exclusively for their console. We just have to sit back and see what they can come up with

I'll give credit where it's due...

[DMasta718]

At least Microsoft acquired a 1st party studio. At least give props for that.

Can't wait to see what this company puts out and see what they reveal at E3. Especially since some of the people in BigPark Inc. worked on NBA street and SSX.

[Fox01]

The Corrupt is right, they could buy a company like EA for example (I'm pretty sure EA is worth less than $45 billion) and still have enough money left to to purchase two other EAs... Microsoft, it's time to step your game up.

[Elven6]

A studio comprised of Veteran developers each with over 20 years of experince not note worthy? Yea you're rigtht!...

[velaxun]

Buying EA would cost exorbitant amounts of money... Have you not noticed how large EA is? Just think about how many divisions they have not to mention the little studios that EA itself owns..

[Father Murder X]

"The acquisition will bring BigPark's talented developers into Microsoft Game Studios, where the team will continue development on an exclusive Xbox 360 game. Over the past year, Microsoft and BigPark have worked closely on this project, providing Microsoft with a clear view into the caliber of talent and innovation at BigPark." ----This is a quote from the article.

This may be something big if it caught their attention for over a year.

[PirateThom]

Bare in mind Don Mattrick was a founding member of BigPark. While I don't disagree it could be big, there's a very obvious corporate link as well.

[khsmooth]

Yes very obvious indeed (evil laughter)...naw only playing. I can't see why anybody would think this is not a good thing. Anytime any of the console makers invest more to produce better products for said console then it's a win win. Win for them and us as gamers...the great and powerfull Kid has spoken. :)

[GiantEnemyCrab]

It's about time you add to your first party again MS.

I look forward to see what this studio does. If it turns out to be some Wii Sports avatar knockoff game I am going to puke.

[green]

Whatever it is that they are working on most be extremely big for Microsoft to actually acquire them.Well it's only 3 weeks until we find out.

[Mike Wallace]

every untitled game that is slated to come out at E3 is now Duke Nukem Forever

[IaMs12]

From the looks of the games they have worked on or over saw it seems like they can turn out some awesome sport games indeed. Im kinda excited with the name SSX in there lol. Although they may not make SSX games they might be able to innovate like they said and make a new game that will rival it :)

[OmarJA]

They're doomed... :D

[-MD-]

You're probably the worst troll on this website.

[morganfell]

It's worse. They are doomed and may not realize that despite the fact Microsoft holds the record as a studio killer.

[kewlkat007]

.....

[siyrobbo]

oh god, i have visions of some sort of wii sports knock-off for there motion controller camera (alleged motion control camera)

[KoB4EMvPi]

OMG...
If they make a SSX game i will be freaking stoked..

Game was the truth

[IaMs12]

Dude me too man im kinda excited about it being a possibility it seems. Not sure if they own the rights to the game or not but still. I loved SSX especially SSX Tricky was one of my favs.

[Knightofelemia]

So they make a game for the 360 it flops in sales and Microsoft closes yet another studio. Well hopefully they don't do that onething Microsoft lacks is alot of first party support cannot wait to see what game they churn out.

[Foxgod]

Excuse me, what studio has been closed down by MS ?
Ensemble was never closed down, it was split up in three new company's.
And all other studio's that are not under MS their flag anymore, simply became independend, ms hasnt shut anything down.

I find it nice to know that MS is having another dev studio, they got quite a list of studio's now.

[KingKionic]

Fox god is right.
http://www.robotentertainme...
http://www.bonfire-studios....
http://windstormstudios.com...

[Mo0eY]

So instead of having their first parties make an exclusive, they buy a company that's probably nearing the completion of a game. You bots will finally have something to brag about...

[cryymoar]

Microsoft: We own you and your hard work now! Do this and do that, don't do this and don't do that! Don't you love working for Microsoft and making us money?! >:D

[Foxgod]

No, this studio was funded by ms, and ms closely followed their production, now that MS decided to buy them, it must be that this studio makes quality games.

Besides, how do you think Sony aquires their first party studio's ?
They dont come out of thin air you know.

[Man_of_the_year]

Remember foxgod Sony Fanboys have blinders. They can't see the obvious. they only see what is right right infront of them but like a horse are too stupid to interpret what it actually means.

They think Sony just opened companies with different names under the Sony regime. Buying 1st party companies that are already established to make them 1st party companies...this is unheard of. Sony's first parties are all stored in 1 room with computers that they all share...

[cryymoar]

Sony has a first party for a reason, they keep these developers under their wings because they know that they pump out AAA games.
Microsoft doesn't have any first party because they only buy the rights for the game, and then drop the developer after that.

Sony has had developers for over 10 years.
Microsoft doesn't even keep a single one for longer than about 2.

Sony KNOWS how to be a great publisher and it shows.
PS3 has AAA games up the ass for 2009, and xb360 only has multiplatform.

Discussion is over. Better luck next year.

[Foxgod]

Then explain to me, how come MS got 7 first party studio's.

[Man_of_the_year]

if you actually believe that BS you just typed there than Sony can keep your ignorant moronic Sony fanboy views. You have no Proof, source, or anything that remotely backs up your ignorance.