Microsoft Might Be Forced To Purchase Epic Games!

[heruamon]

Reasonable said:

heruamon said:

NeoRatt said:
Microsoft would probably have a tough time buying Epic because of the Unreal Engine. Regulators would probably look at it as a monopoly move...

Also, Microsoft is obviously thinking that 1st party developers is not a good long term strategy. I am not sure why, but there have been some real obvious opportunities for first party purchases that they have simply passed up... Midway, Bioware, Pandemic, etc.

Monopoly?  In what way?  M$ IS the smallest developer amongst it's competitors and Unreal is one of many choices on the market?  Who exactly would pursue this case, and on what technical grounds...hmmm...after the bullshit fines EU has placed on US companies...maybe they might.

The scenario could be this, and this assumes MS want to limit Epic and Unreal engine to 360/PC only:

 

I'm a company with a contract for Unreal Engine and support making a game for PS3 based on Unreal.

MS buy Unreal and it becomes clear they want to try and shut down ongoing support for Unreal engine for multiplatform titles

I complain MS are unfairly competiting by buying Epic solely to prevent me producing my PS3 game or I complain at MS trying to renage on my contract which effectively they bought with Epic.

 

I really don't know what types of support contract Epic has, but a ton of multiplatform titles/projets use the Unreal engine so I suspect it wouldn't be a cut and dried purchase by MS unless they split Epic in two and allowed the engine development and support to remain fully geared to multiplatform - which its hard to imagine MS finding attractive as an option.

 

Yeah..true...but that isn't a case for monopolistic behaviour, it's a breach of contract.  A perfect case is Mass Effect 2...I'm sure EA would love nothing better than to launch the game onto the PS3, but they are prevented by the previous contract between M$ and Bioware, when it was independent.  I don't knwo what percentage of the market uses U3 engine, but there are alot of options out there.