Rumor: "Microsoft will buy Epic Games for $1 billion this summer!"

[Dodece]

This rumor is highly possible, and is indeed quite plausible. This is the kind of move that gives Microsoft leverage on multiple fronts. Which means it is something they are likely to do, or similar to something they have planned for the near future. Buying Epic goes far beyond the console wars. For instance it would have impact on their computer operating systems, their live game services, their robotics software division, and an assortment of media applications. Basically it could easily push them another half a year ahead of the competition in these fields.

I can sense the fear and the hidden agendas in many posts in this thread. Frankly you have every reason to be afraid, or to calm your apprehension with rhetoric. However Microsoft holding the keys to the car is going to hit Sony very hard indeed. Microsoft is a very aggressive company they would gladly take a hundred million dollar annual loss on the game engine if it effectively pushes Sony onto the tracks in front of a train. Slowing PS3 games development could be a crushing blow. Sony doesn't have a year to put out another game engine.

I am uncertain why anybody is down on Microsoft for not purchasing Bioware or Bizarre. I am also uncertain why its a negative that they are letting Bungie go. To me that is one of the remarkable things about Microsoft that it isn't doing things the Sony or Nintendo way. Sony buys half a dozen developers annually. Nintendo has a massive in house studio. Microsoft has just enough in house development to patch holes in their lineup. Rather then strangling their console in a death grip which hurts third party developers.

Am I the only one seeing the irony here. Big bad Microsoft makes room at their table for the little guy to eat. Not just eat but get a big helping. Sony on the other hand is a vulture eating up small developers left and right. Nintendo just makes a pig of itself at the buffet. According to some this is the opposite of reality. I ask you this if Microsoft is so evil why didn't they prey on the developers that sold themselves off to other companies. Why are they letting Bungie out. They don't have to but they are.

Seriously can you have it both ways here. Microsoft's developer buying sprees are pathetic in comparison with Sony. By all means look at the number of developers they buy every year. Meanwhile Microsoft is not being predatory with developers that are making exclusive games, and they are even letting their best development team spin themselves off.

I would say if there was a point here it is this. Microsoft is neither bullying or being any more predatory then their competitors if anything they have a lighter touch in the flow of things.