Microsoft buying Worms IP announcment imminent.

Minecraft also sells a ton of merchandise even more then Halo.  Just for the merchandising aspect it was a good deal.

"By the way here is Resident Evil 7, exclusively for XBOX ONE"

Could happen given Capcoms dire straights. Note he said, less not none. Assuming that happened and released next year, that's a single TP game vs. more than half a dozen 1st party ones.

I'm hoping that the partnership with Ford they have for Forza 6 actually leads to more DLC Fords then the partnership they had with Audi for Forza 5 which didn't really lead to that many cool DLC Audi's. 

Right, but you'd have to show the line where Epic Games and Microsofts contributions begin and end.

This is what Epic pitched to MS. It isn't even the same game.

The money came from the Xbox division? How is this a fact?

Just because they purchased Minecraft doesent mean we lost X1 exclusives. Is the Gaikai purchase the reason PS4 lacks notable exclusives this holiday?

If they want to change their strategy then its great but I highly doubt.

Sure you don't build a first party stable overnight, but in MS' case when they hell are they going to start?

Lets recap:
Started Turn 10, who went on to make Forza, the one truly original IP from Microsoft to ever succeed.

Bought Bungie when Halo was months from release, had them port it to Xbox, cancelling a much hyped PC version which did later arrive, not to mention the Mac version Bungie had been promising.

Purchased FASA as part of another acquisition in 1999. After doing very little with the Shadowrun and MechWarrior IPs on the Xbox family of consoles closes FASA in 2007, licences out all their worthwhile IPs to small studios.

Bought Rare in 2002, since they have mined the Perfect Dark, Banjo, and Conker IPs with zero success, made one new mascot IP for Xbox 360's launch that never got a follow up despite being a pretty solid (kid friendly) game (Kameo, FYI). Have since been largely relegated to Kinect titles, weren't even the ones who made the Killer Instinct reboot.

Purchased Lionhead in 2006. Proceeded to have them make nothing but Fable games, including a crappy Kinect Fable game. Stopped making PC versions entirely, games progressively got further and further away from the original concept for Fable. A large number of staff has been laid off over the past two years, another large group up and left with Molyneaux, which if it was anything like his departure from Bullfrog to found Lionhead constituted his core staff he's had everywhere (i.e. the real talent in the studio). Making yet another Fable game that is even further removed from the original premise.

Started up 343 studios as a replacement for Bungie when Bungie wanted out as opposed to eternally making nothing but Halo. Now 343 makes nothing but Halo, only not as well as Bungie. The game they wouldn't let Bungie make, Destiny, is now the most pre-ordered game yet. Winning?

Disbanded Ensemble Studios, Aces Studio, MS Flight Team, MS Victoria Studio (never released anything) and Carbonated Games. Have in the last several years purchased BigPark (absorbed into MS Game Studios), Twisted Pixel (who's next game was a full blown stinker), Press Play (nothing of note, so basically shuffling deck chairs with this and closing Carbonated).

Also, Black Tusk isn't new. It's Microsoft Vancouver. They just cleaned house and renamed it after Vancouver went years without finishing anything. Black Tusk is doing an admirable job keeping that history alive.

This is just a quick sample of how MS has handled their first parties. Forza is the only new IP they've generated and maintained worth a shit in their entire time as a console first party. Everything else was bought, mismanaged, and typically shuttered.

Buying their way into the industry with the Xbox with Bungie, Lionhead, etc. is one thing. Sure, you need meaningful exclusives and that was the fastest way to get them. They've been in the console business for nearly 13 years now though. The proof is in the pudding. Microsoft has never shown a commitment to developing their own legitimate first party stable. They closed much of what they did start with the Xbox during the X360 generation because Sony's failure to deliver with PS3 allowed them to pick off former exclusives and have a comparable 3rd party library at a lower price, so they weren't needed. The only significant reinvestment they've ever shown in software development was for Kinect, which they've now pulled back on nearly completely as well.

Microsoft brings nothing to this industry other than dump trucks of money. They're in the video game industry for all the wrong reasons. Making and selling video games is a secondary part of the business model and that has been the case from day one. Originally it was a Sony denial tactic. As Sony fell on hard times and the X360 emerged as a successful product they used XBL to turn it into a marketing push where their real customers were advertisers and games were just the gateway to get people in the door looking at all the ads. The XB1's original concept took this to the next level planning to have Kinect effectively mining data from within our homes while we lived around the system. Obviously the blow back was too great to continue that little project, but that was the original intent and Microsoft stated as much during a conference for their advertising partners.

Instead of this (which probably cost them $50M or better), Titanfall (which also likely cost them $50M or better) the stated NFL deal at $400M, and buying the Gears IP from Epic (likely a solid $50-$100M price tag) Microsoft could have funded over a half dozen of the biggest, most expensive AAA exclusives EVER. They gave the NFL more money for a fantasy football app than Take 2/Rockstar spent on Grand Theft Auto 5. Let that sink into your head when you excuse their lack of first party studios as "taking time".

Source: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=125163689&postcount=7090

Just for some perspective: GTAV cost $265M to develop and then market. GTAV.....the game that sold 52M. Imagine nearly 8 games of that caliber. As an XBOne owner, be objective and think about that for a second. Not saying that MS acquiring Minecraft was bad business for them. But as a consumer, imagine nearly 8 GTAV caliber games exclusive to XBOne, for you. 

Don't make excuses for why acquiring Minecraft was awesome, as if it affects you in any way, shape, or form. Imagine nearly 8 GTAV caliber games only available on XBOne. Increased XBOne sales, bigger userbase, which, then, draws in even more exclusive content. But no; Minecraft. 

Oh, this post  again. Please. In comparison to Sony?

• Geurilla Cambridge: Only releases PSN games/Vita games. Now only working on a morpheus game
• London Studio: See Guerilla Cambridge
• Northwest Studio: See London Studio
• Media Molecule: Moved to Vita/Move development only. LBP3 metas 73% and bombed.

• PixelOPUS: Levy same critique as directed to Twisted Pixel/Press Play

• Japan Studio - Makes PSN/Vita games only, except for Team Ico who's haven't released a title in a decade. The studio head wants out.
• Polyphony Digital: GT6 3M sales.  nuff said.
• Naughty Dog: Works on endless Uncharted games
• Bend Studio: Downgraded from releasing console games to portable only. Not allowed to make new IP.
• Sony San Diego: Works on endless MLB games.
• Sony Santa Monica: Shut down team making new IP and fired all employees, works on endless god of war games, the last one was a real stinker
• Geurilla Games: Works on endless Killzone games, the last one was a real stinker

• Evolution Studios: Released new IP which stunk , studio gutted. Only releases DLC for a bad game now.
• Suckerpunch: Released lowest rated inFamous, then studio gutted, lost 40% of staff.

• SCE Liverpool: Shut down after phenomally bad output
• Zipper Interactive: Shut down after phenomally bad output
• Incognito Entertainment: Shut down after phenomally bad output
• BigBig Studios: Shut down after phenomally bad output
• Sony Online Entertainment: Shut down, all IP's sold off, going multiplatform under a new owner

• And for the grand fromage, Sony did spend $380 million on Gakai which is a significant game related investment, and so far's biggest contribution is to port most Playstation exclusives to tablets and streaming devices.

Who would have thought that in 2015 Gears of War 2, PGR3 and Forza 4 would still be exclusive to Xbox 360, but you can play The Last of Us, Uncharted, god of war, infamous, killzone and ratchet and clank on any Android 4. or equivilent.

In 2017, do you know where your PS4 exclusives are going to be?

No one claims MS first party has a perfect history, but they're certainly no less mis-managed than Sony Computer entertainment.