lostintheodyssey on 17 June 2010
Microsofts goal this gen has been to make a profit. If they owned a lot of studios they would have to continue to pay employees annual salaries even when a game is no where close to being released and they would have to add or replace employees. They would have to pay to maintain buildings, utility bills, equipment, land etc
By seeking out partnerships they can go to a developer that is creating a game in a genre that microsoft wants to compete in and they can just pay a lump sum to get it and release it during whichever time period they choose.
They don't have to worry about the costs of maintaining buildings and keeping good workers etc for x amount of years until a title can be produced so its probably cheaper for them.
