Undead Labs Dev: "The Landscape Is Entirely Changed" Due to Microsoft Acquisition

Richard Foge, Design Director at Undead Labs, came on Iron Lords Podcast episode 67 as a guest, during which he answered some questions about the Microsoft acquisition of Undead Labs.

[DarkVoyager]

Seems they’re going to purchase even more studios down the road.

“Phil Spencer has reiterated that he doesn’t think Microsoft is done building their first-party, so it’ll be interesting to see where things go from here.“

[porkChop]

There are a lot of independent teams that could benefit from strong financial backing. It'll be interesting to see who they pick up.

I'm surprised they didn't go after IO Interactive and Hitman when they parted ways from Square Enix. Hitman would have been a strong franchise for them.

[Araragifeels]

IO Interactive is working with Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment so i can't see MS pick up the studio until their contract ends.

[porkChop]

Yeah, I know that. I meant right when they split from SE, before the deal with Warner. I'm surprised MS didn't swoop in right away, it would have been a smart buy.

[Direwolf484]

I think the reason we're seeing new studios now as opposed to last year has to do with Phil Spencer being promoted and Terry Myerson no longer controlling the budget for Xbox. Because yeah, IO Interactive would've seemed like a perfect fit.

[RememberThe357]

People talk a lot of trash about Phil, but honestly I think he's doing a pretty good job. Seeing them going back to acquiring talent is a good sign, and when you think about the the Xbone was supposed to be, they were ahead of their time. It seemed odd that they promoted him after such a rough launch, but it also indicates they might have actually done some good management and realized their team was being choked out by upper management and needed some room to grow. If Phil can balance investing in talent and keeping his bosses happy, Xbox will find itself in a very healthy place.

[mcstorm]

@RememberThe357 your spot on. What people are also forgetting is the Xbox one was also a balmer device and when Microsoft were trying to take on Apple, Google and others in the media side of things. Now the New CEO has pulled Microsoft out of a lot of things but pulled the company in the right direction they need to be to start making lost of £ again. They went above Google in the stocks not so long ago to take 2nd place and put the hear back on Apple who are dropping alittle at the moment. As for the Xbox the management seem to know that it's not about hardware sales but software adding things like cross play with pc/Nintendo/mobile ect is again a plus for Microsoft and adding services like game pass and a streaming service talked about at E3 as well as games on windows 10 and the hardware of Xbox s and X there is more £ to be made one way or another. Also having pc and Xbox play together like they should of from the start is Alos a massive plus as games for both pc and Xbox is again cash going into Microsofts pocket.

[Direwolf484]

I definitely think they will and they'll probably start at least one more studio from the ground-up as well.

[BlackIceJoe]

Part of me wonders if the rumors that Microsoft wants to buy EA and Bluehole Studios might have some truth to it after all. I personally doubt EA would ever be bought, but I do think Microsoft needs to make a big purchase like an EA.

If Microsoft was thinking long game a Japanese studio would be the smart choice. Buying Capcom would be interesting, yet at the same time I don't think that would happen. So a company a little smaller would be Tecmo Koei and Microsoft would also get Gust. With a purchase like that Microsoft can say they finally made a mark into that market and if they bought Mistwalker too they can get some JRPGs.

I still believe canceling Scalebound was a mistake, because had they not there would have been a good chance Microsoft would have bought them next.

I think the next few years will be interesting to watch, because with the next generation of consoles right around the corner I'm expecting we'll be seeing more studios being bought from all the different game developers and with those purchases us gamers we'll be getting many great games to play.

[Kavorklestein]

I hope they don't buy BlueHole.
Nothing Special about them in my opinion, besides maybe some nice artists, TERA artists... the rest, not so much.

[Prince_TFK]

That is awesome to hear. I personally would like to see them acquire Cuphead dev as well as Ori dev.

[Jinger]

One of the best platformers as well as one of the best SHMUPS? Yes please. I'd love to see what the Cuphead guys could do with a greater budget and their artistic talent.

[Kavorklestein]

If they bought Studio MDHR and Moon Studios... My hopes for something amazing would be at peak levels.

[ShottyatLaw]

I really like the idea of going after the creative talent above all else. Money can't buy some things, and I hope they continue to build with studios like UL.

And even though UL may not be getting the attention of some of the other acquired studios, it is the one I am most excited about. Give me a AAA zombie sim where I can embrace my inner Negan and have a full Saviors' server.

[shinoff2183]

I don't have a xbox one but I'll admit that state of decay is for me their most interesting title. I'd like to play it

[Gunstar75]

I know a lot of people who LOVE this game. I'm not one of them. I think they have the final damentals of a AAA game but it's rough around the edges, hopefully MS can give them the scope to make this franchise a AAA title

[Eldyraen]

I enjoy it but am well aware of its flaws. Now that they’ll be first party hopefully they can go bigger and better. 2 fixes a lot of issues but it’s far from perfect.

[Gunstar75]

*final dementals = fundamentals

[Kavorklestein]

XD
Made me laugh.
Good correction tho.

[shaenoide]

I dont know about the landscape. I just hope for more polished game.

[rivaldoo777]

Please offer them some money so we can see some HZD level of quality.