350°

Squaring Up For Acquisition?

One company acquiring another is never as simple as an accepted offer and paperwork.

Read Full Story >>
goombastomp.com
Zeldafan64695d ago

Square doesn't want to almost completely lose the Japanese market by abandoning the Switch.

Zeldafan64695d ago ShowReplies(5)
TricksterArrow695d ago

By your logic, Bethesda shot themselves in the head by neglecting the biggest market share, that is PlayStation and Nintendo by being acquired by MS. Your view is too simplistic from a business view point. Sales are not everything. A big chunk, yes, but not everything.

695d ago
shinoff2183695d ago

I really hope sony scoops square.

shinoff2183695d ago

Ms went and bought up the best wrpg devs why cant sony buy square without hate.

The only games im interested in on xbox are gonna be fallout starfield(possibly) and a few inxile. Why cant sony get in on scooping up companies

annoyedgamer695d ago

PlayStation is based in the US now.

Sayai jin695d ago

Yes, I Hope Sony goes for it.

LOGICWINS695d ago

I think Sony should go for them. The competition will ultimately force Xbox to take Japanese IPs more seriously. This benefits me at the end of the day.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 695d ago
Zeldafan64695d ago

I wouldn't mind Sony purchasing Square so long as Dragon Quest kept coming to Nintendo consoles. I'm fine with Final Fantasy being console exclusive to Sony.

Eonjay695d ago

I mean... at this rate I wouldn't be surprised to see them supporting the Switch.

ABizzel1695d ago

It's more so your point is illogical. The majority of Square's best-selling games have completely skipped Nintendo platforms or had releases YEARS later with modest sales at best.

The Japanese market isn't producing numbers. Square's efforts on Nintendo come in the form of occasional AAA support from franchises like Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, spin-offs of larger IP, and extremely niche JRPGs.

I don't disagree that if Square were to be purchased it would be a good fit at either Sony or Nintendo, but their AAA games would likely be technologically held back going with Nintendo, and Sony and Square's paths towards Live Service align MUCH better, and Sony and their devs can also help Square achieve a much better technological evolution than Nintendo could.

Sega seems like a better fit for Nintendo IMO than Square.

neutralgamer1992695d ago

Whether we like it or not Sony will buy square and announce around the time MS/Bethesda conference. Not only that but Capcom acquisition is in the works too

Sony passed on the opportunity to spend $300 million go buy square USA division because it hasn't generated any major profit over the years( yes their games sold but their budgets were mismanaged all the way through, SE let them do their own thing so Crystal Dynamic CEO made the sequel to time raider timed exclusive for only $10 million dollars) the reason that's a big thing is because that game needed to sell and the CEO was a known Xbox fan so making timed exclusive is not a bad thing but more like for 100 million not 10

Sony paid 85% of development for FF7 remake

Sony funded FF16
Sony are funding street fighter

These games will come to PC but never to any other platform. FF7 remake part 2 will be PS5 exclusive for 18 months

People really think Ms can spend almost 100 billion on acquisition but Sony can't buy publishers which are worth between. 5-7?

Sony depends on PlayStation while for Ms Xbox brand is a not a necessity

Zeldafan64

Who cares man Nintendo is such a fade. PlayStation sells the most software and generates the most revenue for almost every publisher. But that's not how it works.

Christopher695d ago

***Whether we like it or not Sony will buy square and announce around the time MS/Bethesda conference. Not only that but Capcom acquisition is in the works too***

https://st.depositphotos.co...

neutralgamer1992695d ago

Christopher

No brother don't need that. Remember few years back Ms had the gamecom conference and Sony announced acquisition of insomniac. Expect something along those lines

Early more PS Blog. And capcom has been in the works a lot longer

annoyedgamer

No Sony shut down smaller studios in Japan and are actually trying to have a bigger presence in Japan. They know if they make monster hunter, dragon quest and final fantasy exclusive to PlayStation that Japan market will be a big get

People remember Sony shutting down Japan studios without realizing they made PD(GT developer bigger)

And look up team asobi they are huge now and are hiring to even grow bigger. People focus on a studio shut down without realizing most of the people were actually moved to Asobi and PD

Christopher695d ago

***No brother don't need that. Remember few years back Ms had the gamecom conference and Sony announced acquisition of insomniac. Expect something along those lines***

https://media.shafaq.com/me...

None of us know any of this. Let's not act like we do. One time something happens doesn't mean every time it happens. And, even then, doesn't mean it happens with these companies.

We really need to cool it as a hobby group with these random predictions of who is next when doing this is actually bad for the industry as a whole. Let alone the basis for them is about as credible as Petrol companies telling us Petrol hasn't caused any climate change.

tay8701695d ago (Edited 695d ago )

i can almost guarantee you that when sony aquires them they will continue to let them make games for the the switch. nintendo isnt really sonys competition, MS is. sony can cohabitate with nintendo just fine. plus sony could make a killing from the software sales as well.

ALMGNOON695d ago

Bethesda lowest sales are on Xbox 🤷🏻‍♂️

Mr_Writer85694d ago

"Square doesn't want to almost completely lose the Japanese market by abandoning the Switch"

But IF (and that's a massive if) Sony bought Square they wouldn't need to worry about that. As it would be Sony's problem.

And it's not like Square games don't sell on other platforms in Japan is it?

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 694d ago
DefaultComment695d ago

Why is it that you people think square Enix is for Sale? Just because they sold their West studios and some of the west Ips, that doesn't mean that the company is going for sale. They just cut the fat because the most profitable is their Japanese IPs and like hell they wanna let go to that Japanese market of Jrpgs.
They are doing fine, for instance their MMORPG FF14 is good since most of their Blizzard /warcratt fan base moved to it, and now they are announcing more Final Fantasy VII news? it's gonna be OK. I mean take it like this...the prime games pretty much has a time exclusivity to Sony and the second class games(leftovers) are for Nintendo and that's how it's been for years now. So they got nothing to worry about.

Zeldafan64695d ago (Edited 695d ago )

I wouldn't call games like Triangle Strategy and Octopath Traveler second class leftovers. The music, story, characters, gameplay and voice acting of both those games are great.

DefaultComment695d ago

I don't like to call them that neither but they are at the end of the day the budget for those games is significally smaller than a FF16 or FF7 remake. Square is happy making half ass games for the Switch because they are confident it will do decent sales. I hate that attitude from them but it is what it is.

shinoff2183695d ago

I dont consider those leftovers. I wanted them on playstation to no luck

lellkay694d ago

I wouldn't agree on the stories, characters and voice acting. Thought that was awful.

Gameplay and music was good though

franwex695d ago

Square wants to sell, EA wants to sell, Ubisoft want to sell, Activison is attempting to sell.

What is happening? Is it the current stock market sell off putting pressure? Is it unrealistic expectations of their products?

At the end of the day, just make good games. Don’t release service crap. Be more like Capcom and turn things around instead of trying to run away.

Eonjay695d ago

Well, Activision is selling almost exclusively because of Bobby Kotick. Microsoft is the primary source because they were already looking to take content from the wider market and make it exclusive to their subscription. Microsoft was headed in this direction for a long time though as is evidenced by Office 365. And so when investors saw that they could cash out to Microsoft they showed up in droves looking for checks. Sony originally wasn't looking to aquire but changed its tune once it saw that Microsoft wanted to remove options from its competitiors through brute force. Suddenly to investors, the preceived value of their stock went up and is allowing some to cash out and make bank. The situation with Bobby is even more complex because he realized that in order for him to save himself and make out as best as possible, he needed Microsoft to buy what was left of Activision, paying him out for the stock and then terminating him go so that he could bank roll the tripple salary perk that the Microsoft buyout would initiate. Thats right, in order for Bobby to get close to the billion dollar payday, he needs to be fired by Phil Spencer. Effed up for sure.

kayoss695d ago (Edited 695d ago )

Games are getting too expensive to make, Not all games will become successful, and companies are struggling to keep up with the quality and expenses.
This is why some companies are moving toward Game as a service model. They just need to make one game, periodically release content and not worry about creating a brand new game from the ground up. Games like Destiny 2 is now a full fledge service. If your game is successful, you will make more profits in the long term by keeping players playing your game.

Silly gameAr695d ago

There won't be any 3rd party companies left at this point.

Knightofelemia695d ago

The value of acquisition is never low if somebody drives up with a dump truck full of cash and bangs on your door then you will accept it. Every company has a price no matter who it is problem is the company that is making the purchase and how they will utilize your library of games. And do it in the right way that won't piss off the fans of a particular series. And if Sony buys SquareEnix good on them. I would rather see a Japanese company bought up by a Japanese company then see SquareEnix get bought up by a company like Tencent.

Show all comments (35)
140°

With Larian Out Of The Picture, Will The Baldur's Gate IP Be In Safe Hands?

Huzaifah from eXputer: "With Larian Studios washing their hands of the IP, what is the ultimate fate of the legendary Baldur's Gate series?"

RaidenBlack13h ago

If anybody's gonna mention BioWare, then look at Archetype Entertainment, they're the new BioWare
or else
Obsidian is still a good choice but not independent anymore.

anast13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

No, WoTC is pivoting to mobile. They can use Larian's work to justify DnD Go and everyone will accept it.

RiseNShine13h ago

Short answer, nope. Long answer, f*ck nope.

Christopher13h ago

Honestly, we're talking completely new engine and none of Larian's built-in stuff with regard to environments and the like that they had from their past divinity game. No one is going to have that just ready to go. So, they need to shop for a dev studio that has a past game that shows what they want.

Obsidian doesn't have that, maybe the closest being Dungeon Siege 3 or Pillars of Eternity, but those are very basic, not as open, very little environment related and altering capabilities. So, we're talking a step way back on what Larian delivered. Zero scene experience to line up with what was done in BG3. Okay conversation tree designs, but still needs more complexity.

inXile has Wasteland 3 as a base model engine, and I think that's better than Pillars of Eternity from Obsidian. But, still needs to be more open world, more environmental effects, and a much heavier rules set adaptation. But, not a bad overall engine as a base, but still a ton of work. Zero scene experience to line up with what was done in BG3. Needs a ton of work on that entirely.

Tactical Adventure did the Solasta game. Really good and more accurate as far as 5e rules than BG3. But, again, if the expectation is similar to what made BG3 a big hit, engine isn't designed for moving the camera, is a bit outdated in graphics, doesn't have in-game scene elements, and needs much better writers/voice actors.

Owlcat of pathfinder games is another choice, even though they've recently moved on to WH40k licensed games. Again, though, the engine is the biggest issue here to match up, but it's a much better option overall than Tactical Adventure. Another question is writers/story telling, as much of their overall story telling bits are very limited with a lot of random worldbuilding elements that are just +\- of some attributes.

TBH, no matter who takes over, it's just not going to be like BG3 much like how BG3 isn't at all like BG1/2. And BG3 was so successful because of how much Larian was able to put in with their engine and how focused they were on players having ridiculous control over the story being told. I just don't see the next BG being the same and depending on what it is, it might be good but I'm not as big of a reach as BG3. It's way more likely players are going to go into BG4 (or its spiritual successor if it moves away from Baldur's Gate and into Neverwinter or something like Plansescape) expecting much of what is in BG3 with more options, new and older characters, and the same level of control over what they're doing. If it doesn't have that, regardless of who makes it, it won't be as successful, IMHO.

CrimsonWing6912h ago

Probably not, but maybe… just maybe…

Show all comments (6)
30°

Human Fall Flat 2 Delayed, Devolver Details Major 2023 Sales Decline

As part of its latest financial report, Devolver Digital has announced that upcoming physics platformer Human Fall Flat 2 has been delayed beyond 2025.

Read Full Story >>
techraptor.net
260°

Microsoft has ‘let Blizzard be Blizzard’ following its acquisition, studio says

Microsoft has 'let Blizzard be Blizzard' following the acquisition of the veteran developer according to World of Warcraft's executive producer.

Read Full Story >>
videogameschronicle.com
Kaii1d 10h ago

Diablo 4 storefront being a cash grabbing shitshow does unironically attest to that, kudos.

kythlyn3h ago

Microsoft needs to be guiding Blizzard to be what it USED to be, not allowing it to continue to be the greedy bastardization of itself that it has become.

XiNatsuDragnel1d 7h ago (Edited 1d 7h ago )

Okay i will be interested if they become old Blizzard but might as well be dead.

Rynxie17h ago

They will never be old blizzard. Most of all the OG's left from developers to those on the top (even some decision making folks left).

Vits1d 7h ago

Shame most of the people that made Blizzard what they were, have already left a while ago.

ApocalypseShadow1d 7h ago

I was about to say this. How can they be blizzard when they're no longer blizzard from yesteryear?

blacktiger22h ago

Rare was the thing I lost heart

victorMaje19h ago

Exactly. Blizzard hasn’t been Blizzard for a long time.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Knightofelemia1d 4h ago

Blizzard is not the same Blizzard like it use to be.

PassNextquestion22h ago

Were you expecting Microsoft to hire everyone that had left Blizzard long before they purchased the company...

Microsoft has let the Blizzard company they purchased continue to be the Blizzard company they purchased.

thesoftware73015h ago

Wow, PassNextquestion,

You fully understand what that saying means, unlike some people on here who just have to say negative garbage talk.

When someone says, "Just let *blank* be *blank*, "they are just letting them operate how they operate.

It's pretty much how Sony "let Bungie be Bungie."

This comment section is full of outright haters, but you have to "let N4G be N4G"

GamerRN13h ago

This site leans so heavily in one direction...

BISHOP-BRASIL4h ago

I don't think people commenting are necessarily blaming MS for anything here, this is just collective longing for what Blizzard/Vivendi was before Activision's meddling.

Show all comments (43)