Microsoft buying Square Enix?

[bbsin]

The reason why MS won't buy out SquareEnix is the same reason why Sony won't buy out Level5.

Once any of those 3rd party publishers get bought out by a huge 1st party company, the value of the 3rd party company decreases dramatically.
The 3rd party companies typically sustain themselves by making exclusive deals with companies and (most importantly) selling software on multiple mediums.

So if MS/Sony/Nintendo actually does buy out a major 3rd party dev/publisher. It would typically be a lose-lose situation for everyone since...
1. The 3rd party would be devalued by restriction of a smaller audience and less freedom.
2. The 1st party would be paying for a company that has great potential to make money from many sources, but will only get a fraction of the potential they paid for in return. This results in overpaying and the inability to bounce back from the initial payment or profit at all.

Creating a name brand is important, but every company needs to profit first and there are cheaper ways to get the trust of the consumers. The 3 first party publishers know this, and that why (even though everyone of them has had the ability to buy out a major 3rd party dev at one point or another) it hasn't happened already.