Machiavellian said:
The thing is people forget that MS is more than just a console company. They have other products and their Cloud based infrastructure is a big one. Anything that drive sales towards their tools and services like Azure is big bucks. With that said, every decision MS makes doesn't really have to just be about the Xbox but instead can benefit the complete solution that MS is trying to deliver. So no this move does not have to just incentivize making games because MS is not just a games company. Just because it doesn't just incentivize making games does not mean anything more than MS making moves to increase revenue for their entire business not just the Xbox. Now with that said, if MS will be making a big push with using their cloud platform for gaming as they have stated since the beginning of the X1, how does this purchase not slot right into making that happen. Purchasing a tools company that already have established contacts with every publisher and developer including mature tools for Physics just seem like a smart purchase. With this purchase, MS can integrate their Cloud platform with Havok already advance physics tools and offer a complete solution for publisher and developers. This could allow first and 3rd party developers to easily utilize MS Cloud within their games to give the X1 an advantage over their competition. This might actually allow MS to gain more 3rd party exclusives because what they can accomplish with their cloud tech cannot be done with the other players in the console market and thus see some developers wlling to make new games using the tech. This can also help MS with developers using DX12 over other API solutions like Vulcan when it comes to developing PC games including their own. So no, this purchase probably not Just about the Xbox but then again why does it have to be. If the benefit will make the total solution better than its better for the platform as well. Even using your netflix analogy I would change it to instead of Netfix purchasing new content for their services instead they invested in a new codex that make their content look better than the competition like providing 4K resolution for their content while the competition can only do 1080P. Its a move that helps with the now as people are purchasing new sets with that resolution but also for the future when more people will have TVs before the competition can enter the space. |
Your analogy doesn't work though because havoc is an engine that everyone already uses, and on top of which there are multiple competitors. Azure is a great tool indeed, but it's not like it's doing anything to 'secure' exclusive content.
While I agree that MS is a big company, and not just xbox, we haven't seen any moves with xbox that seem geared towards getting new games, but rather most of the news has had to do with them gearing up to launching a new service platform via windows 10.
Cutting away dev houses doesn't reinforce the idea that they're pushing to expand their game development.
At the end of the day, the question is
Are these moves going to increase exclusive content. If the answer is yes, it's hard to see how it would, since like I said a lot of tools are already available to devs no matter who they sign with. If the answer is no, then it propogates the idea that they are moving toward something new. That's how I see it. It could go either way, but the fact that the question exists should give cause to follow that lead and think about possibilities not yet accounted for.
