Microsoft might acquire IO Interactive

[GOWTLOZ]

Madword said:

fatslob-:O said:
Hmm, considering that management pushed to gain the studio's independence last year I doubt that the thought of an acquisition would cross their minds ...

I guess they were hoping to get more sales from Hitman 2, I mean in the UK disk sales were 90% less than Hitman 1.

When you have the stark reality of going bankrupt or getting someone to buy you as a company and secure jobs/your own future (and I guess the owners would make some money too from the acquisition), then I can see it as a no brainer.

Yep.

AngryLittleAlchemist said:

Madword said:

I guess they were hoping to get more sales from Hitman 2, I mean in the UK disk sales were 90% less than Hitman 1.

No they weren't. They were 90% less than Hitman Absolution ... which came out in the 7th generation when digital sales were still only about 10%-15% of sales, and was the best selling Hitman game ever. A dumb metric if there's ever been one. 

The Steam player count is better than Hitman 1, with a more consistent player base. Not only that, but:

https://www.destructoid.com/hitman-has-passed-13-million-players-504583.phtml

Hitman Season 1 went from 2 million in early 2017, to 5 million in late 2017, to 13 million in mid 2018 (it's worth mentioning this metric was before Hitman 2 was announced, so it had nothing to do with an upcoming game bringing hype to the first season).

There was an episode available for free on Steam for awhile. I downloaded it as well. I never payed anything for the game and never played the full game.

Puppyroach said:

GOWTLOZ said:

As a PlayStation fan, I agree. People didn't hype Hitman 2 and now its failing in sales while people still aren't buying it with its good reviews.

I'd say good for Microsoft on buying a quality developer. Sony needs more competition and I'll be able to play their games on PC anyway.

If Sony wants to compete, they should buy other developers. They shut down two of their revered first party racing game developers and it has bit them in the behind now. The only reason they were in a strong position was that both their competitors stuck to a niche and never got varied games. That might now change for Microsoft.

Completely agree. I myself is big on Microsoft but Sony has produced alot more variety and number of games thanks to the studios they acquired and made themselves. It's only good for the industry if we have three strong competitors that push out great games and services for us gamers 🙂.

Yes I can see it. Microsoft brought backwards compatibility because of competition and because of it Red Dead Redemption can be played at 4K. I'll get an Xbox someday to do that whether it be Xbox One X else a next gen Xbox. Xbox Game Pass is a phenomenal service.

Sony made PS2 games downloadable on PS Now because of Game Pass. Its obvious that getting the best of them is beneficial to us.