200°

Digital Foundry Direct Special: Microsoft Buys Activision/Blizzard - Initial Reaction & Speculation

Digital Foundry : Huge news shaking the core of the games industry today as Microsoft seemingly out of nowhere announced their acquisition of Activision/Blizzard/King, hot on the heels of them already adding Bethesda to their Xbox family. Audi Sorlie, Alex Battaglia and John Linneman enter the war room to discuss what this could potentially mean for Microsoft and the video game industry itself.

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digitalfoundry.net
Magog1258d ago

If Microsoft has their way and every game is streamed from their cloud servers DF isn't going to have much to evaluate.

TheExecutioner1258d ago (Edited 1258d ago )

you meant soon DF will be jobless ??

Obscure_Observer1258d ago

"If Microsoft has their way and every game is streamed from their cloud servers DF isn't going to have much to evaluate."

PC and console gaming aren´t going anywhere as far MS is concerned.

Tacoboto1258d ago

Except DF just made a video comparing GeForce Now 3080 to the other streaming services and a local Series X.

The Series X wasn't always the most responsive either, surprise surprise

darkrider1258d ago

Well, df will soon be out of a job.... Nothing to compare that anyone cares...

Christopher1258d ago

I don't get this logic. They analyze games. Do people think they won't have games to analyze anymore?

darkrider1258d ago

Don't you? they will compare the s version and the X version. Done. And they will copy paste the analysis. the s version is great for such cheap console and the X is setting standard against well noyhing else...

Christopher1258d ago (Edited 1258d ago )

@darkrider: they already analyze exclusive games as it is.

See https://www.eurogamer.net/a...

And rarely are the analysis of a game the same from one to the next. Different games prioritize different things.

gamingtext20201258d ago

Audi explained it perfectly, it’s going to be damn near impossible or incredibly hard for all of these studios to flourish under one platform.

Father__Merrin1258d ago

Most people don't even realise non of this will mean anything untill 2023

gold_drake1258d ago

we're in 2022
what are you even talking about.

onisama1258d ago

What i don't understand in this comments section... Is why they support PS when they rubbed from us xbox gamers lot of 3rd party games.... Like ffvii remKe demon souls deathloop and lot lot of 3rd party Japanese games... Then cry when xbox started buying hole companies that make games... I just can't understand... I wont care if they were made from ps studios or funded by them but they did the same now they pay

Deathdeliverer1258d ago (Edited 1258d ago )

Are you really comparing timed exclusivity deals to buying companies? On top of that Sony MADE Demon Souls. You are wayyy out of the loop.
A lot of people don’t realize square was going under when Sony bought almost half the companies shares to save them. Then once square got back on its feet Sony sold the shares back to them.

onisama1258d ago

What about ffvii remake and end walker and persona i bought a ps4 for that game.... And many jrpgs deals and yes timed exclusives isn't fine too!!... Sony just do whatever they can on their budget to steal games and xbox doing the same is fair enough

sinspirit1258d ago

Demons Souls has been owned by Sony for over 10 years. It was never a 3rd party title. It was developed by a 3rd party(From Software) with assistance from Sony Japan studios.

Thing is, timed exclusivity is one thing, it does suck. Third party exclusives generally sucks, but I will say when it's a great collaboration rather than just blocking it from another platform that I will be excited about it(like Insomniac with Spiderman pre-acquisition).

It's wierd how to people that think that it's the same when one is a much grander scale than the other. It's not a simple yes or no. There is an in between to analyze each situation, each bought studio or paid for exclusive. Do they have a real and long standing relationship with the studio or did they just buy a developer who happened to release games on their platform? Was a paid for third party exclusive chosen for a reason other than keeping content off of other platforms? Because, in the case of both the Bethesda and Activision/Blizzard buy outs. It is 100% about obtaining all these properties and resources for themselves and nothing to do with being exciting partners with great relationships aside from making money together. Sony and Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Media Molecule, Housemarque, and pretty much all their devs had friendships with Sony and not simply just business agreements. Like, if Nintendo bought Rare, we all saw it coming but it didn't happen. That kind of long-standing relationship where they just worked so well together. Whereas MS and these companies? What's the real point?

MadLad1258d ago (Edited 1258d ago )

Because it's N4G.

Many of the same people currently yelling in the comments, saying this isn't fair and will break the games industry would be cheering if Sony had done it and it would have been a great move for gamers because now the games can flourish and whatnot.

It's just how things go around here.

onisama1258d ago

True i noticed long ago... Even the website color is blue fit how ps fanboys are in control in This site

Crows901258d ago (Edited 1258d ago )

You guys said the same when they bought their first line of studios. You said the same thing when they bough zenimax and youre still saying the same thing now that they bought activision blizzard.

You can hypothesize all you want but youre dead wrong.

What has sony done recently that is even remotely similar? Have they purchased a single predominantly 3rd party developer recently? Ever? No.

If sony goes and buys capcom or from software I would still be saying the same. Bad for gamers. Consolidation is bad for this industry. I thought the same thing way back when activision bought blizzard.

But yeah we do know that games flourish under sony...and historically die and wither under microsoft but that may change...still waiting for those new successful IP.

MadLad1258d ago

@crows

Do you know how many times I've seen people on this site say they want Sony to buy Konami? Kojima Productions? Square Enix? Capcom? Let alone smaller entities?

It's just a bunch of hypocrisy had on this site. People would be crying tears of joy here were it a Sony acquisition.

Sony might not want it, but Playstation consumers do. The same ones demonizing MS for actually doing it.

RauLeCreuset1258d ago

"Do you know how many times I've seen people on this site say they want Sony to buy Konami? Kojima Productions? Square Enix? Capcom?"

That's your reasoning? You wouldn't troll, so I'm sure you'll follow up with evidence linking "many of the same people currently yelling in the comments, saying this isn't fair and will break the games industry" to past comments of the type described by the above quote? We'll even give you a pass on including those Kojima Production comments, despite that studio's history of working with PS, including the one IP they made since departing Konami.

MadLad1258d ago

@Raul

There's always a reason to be had for the situation being "different" when trying to justify hypocrisy.

Crows901258d ago (Edited 1258d ago )

Okay now you're making no sense.

You claim Sony fans keep wanting Sony to buy devs. I haven't seen that at all. I've seen specualtion due to recent Microsoft trends that Sony may buy those studios but never that we want them to.

Also what does it matter if there's some isolated individuals who want that. The question is whether Sony wants it. And that's my problem with all this. Sony may act on buying studios simply because MS is on a Purchasing spree of to multiplatform IP.

Besides if you act on something a certain way simply because another group are hypocrites then that means you have weak character easily influenced by the stupidity of some.

However...the groups of people that seem to support this and are happy about it on the Xbox side is very very numerous. And that's concerning coming from the group of gamers claiming everyone should have access to all games.

I'd personally be like wtf if Sony had this acquisition...wouldn't see the point at all and it would subtract from gamers who would otherwise have access. However if Sony were to buy from software...at the very least it was Sony who spearheaded their venture in the souls genre...doesn't make it goo though since Sony should only pay them to make an exclusive game similar to Bloodborne. Gamers lose overall if they bought the studio.

But I see you like to claim hypocrisy and use that as your excuse to attack those that don't like these acquisitions. And yet the real hypocrite would be you since I've definitely seen you say games should be accessible to all.

RauLeCreuset1257d ago

@Ted

"There's always a reason to be had for the situation being 'different' when trying to justify hypocrisy."

I told you we'll include the Kojima Productions comments. All you had to do was produce evidence to establish your claim that "many of the same people currently yelling in the comments, saying this isn't fair and will break the games industry" said "they want Sony to buy Konami? Kojima Productions? Square Enix? Capcom?."

You alleged across two separate posts that "many of the same people currently yelling in the comments" and "the same ones demonizing MS for actually doing it" are the ones who wanted Sony to do that. Your answer when called out for hypothesizing was, "Do you know how many times I've seen people on this site say they want Sony to buy Konami?" Your failure to follow up with evidence linking the comments you said were made to the people you're accusing is what would be expected from someone who is lying to cover up their trolling.

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Crows901258d ago

Sony made demons souls. The rest are timed exclusives and you can thank Tomb Raider devs for that one. It used to be only timed dlc in modern times until mcirosoft bought 1 year game exclusivity which didnt pay off at all. The opened the can of worms and playstation responded in kind. Not saying I like it...cuz i dont.

onisama1258d ago

Timed? So where is my ffvii amd persona 5? Or all the jrpgs they where buying??? Well i guess microsoft respoundedfor those questions too

P_Bomb1258d ago (Edited 1258d ago )

Xbox had third party deals too. From Splinter Cell Conviction and Dead Rising 3 to individual character DLC in Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

“Even the website color is blue fit how ps fanboys are in control in This site”

I really don’t know why ppl act like they’re forced to be here.

stonecold31258d ago

your not getting ff 7 remake on xbox because square havent metoined of a xbox port and im glad t isnt coming same go for ff16 forspoken

onisama1258d ago

I played it on pc don't worry without paying for it... Because they don't deserve my money with how they do business

RauLeCreuset1258d ago

"I wont care if they were made from ps studios or funded by them but they did the same now they pay"

Is that your super villain origin story? You have an interesting recollection of history. You conveniently omitted Xbox doing a lot of rubbing of its own.

SE did a timed exclusive deal with Xbox for Tomb Raider before it did one for FF7R with PS. Capcom did an exclusive deal with Xbox for Dead Rising 3 before it did a deal with PS for SFV.

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240°

‘I think Xbox hardware is dead’, says Microsoft gaming veteran

One of the founding members of the Xbox team has questioned Microsoft’s multiplatform gaming strategy, and said they believe the Xbox hardware business is effectively “dead"

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videogameschronicle.com
1d 13h ago Replies(3)
Goodguy011d 11h ago

Think that rumor that they'll still make a new console but at a profit at $1000 will be true though. The series consoles will remain their cheap alternative throughout next gen I would say. Keep in mind that game pass and pretty much going 3rd party is their main focus. They want to bring xbox everywhere.

1d 11h ago
GamerRN14h ago

If they don't maintain some kind of console presence, I think they will lose gamepass subscribers and just become a 3rd party publisher who eventually sells everything off

Cacabunga13h ago

Xbox games are releasing on all platforms. Who needs this hardware? PS or PC is all you need

Flewid63812h ago

I've never owned an Xbox in my life and I have GamePass.

thorstein11h ago

The only Xbox I owned was the 360. I have gamepass for my PC.

GamerRN6h ago

Majority of Gamepass users are currently on console...

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crazyCoconuts13h ago

Even if they could get it down to $800 for a box that can run with comparable performance to a PS6 (at, say $200 cheaper) the population of people willing to buy such a thing would be so limited.
It would be the worst of both worlds.

1d 9h ago
Futureshark1d ago

A slow, painful and public death too.

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190°

While Layoffs Hit the Industry, Nintendo Retains 98% of Staff Including 78 With Disabilities

TNS: Based on its most recent ESG data, Nintendo boasts a remarkably low staff turnover rate of just 1.9%, with virtually no reported layoffs.

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thenerdstash.com
Jin_Sakai2d ago

Because Nintendo makes great games.

Yesyes1d 10h ago

It’s unreal that people are downvoting this when they consistently have the best scoring games on metacritic.

2d ago
rlow12d ago

Well it doesn’t surprise me. As much money as they make and how they value their employees. It’s a great company in that regard.

2d ago Replies(1)
drivxr2d ago

Well, when your games remain full price many years after release.

And you make profit off of outdated hardware.

I would be shocked if they couldn't afford to retain their staff.

lodossrage2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I didn't want to say anything but drivxr is right.

Nintendo always sells at a profit because they purposely use tech that's always 5 or more years behind. And it's also true their games hardly ever get price decreases.

Don't get me wrong, it's great they kept most of their workforce, but making a point to have your tech specs behind everyone else affords that luxury.

Darkegg1d 21h ago

I don’t think it’s their purpose to use old tech. It’s their purpose to make value of software and know their value. Nobody makes games like them that’s for sure. I just don’t appreciate their customer unfriendly policy.

It’s not impossible to take their status. Companies need to have a selection of 8-bit and 16-bit. Now imagine a split screen for 8 player game for SNES Mario kart and selling at $9.99. The problem is that it doesn’t make profit. So many companies won’t invest in “old” technology. Everyone guns for triple AAA modern technology software but honestly we can enjoy modernized 16-bit creative ideas that allows 8-player mayhem. It’s a pipe dream, possible but impossible.

Shane Kim1d 22h ago (Edited 1d 22h ago )

If they ended up kicking people out after all of that stated above, it would be truly shameful.

DivineHand1251d 18h ago

Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Tesla and Meta are all trillion dollar companies yet they are laying people off in large numbers.

I believe the reason Nintendo layoffs off less workers may be a result of their culture. It seems Japanese companies believe in giving their workers long term or life long employment opportunities and will exhaust all options before laying off workers. This is something we don't see much of in the west unfortunately.

Rdeal1d 12h ago

might be something to do with the fact all those companies hire more than 20x the employees than Nintendo

LoveSpuds1d 17h ago (Edited 1d 17h ago )

What the hell are you talking about? It has nothing to do with how profitable they are. Its completely cultural, MS and Sony make stacks of cash and still lay folks off. Nintendo chose not to lay off staff for the same reason their execs took pay cuts to increase staff pay instead; because they value their staff and view them as colleagues, and respect them as such.

If Sony weren't so US centric I fancy they'd fare better too, they should get shot of US and European leadership and go back to when Japanese execs were running the show if you ask me!

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60°

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc To Rock San Diego Comic-Con

This should make fans attending the ahow event happier as Bandai Namco is bringing some interesting game experiences to the convention.