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Machiavellian on 02 March 2023
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chakkra said:
CGI-Quality said:

Err.. you said a lot of things

  • FFXVI is half of their games for the near future (you do not know what is coming out)
  • The only reason Playstation is getting FFXVI and FFVIIRE as exclusives is because MS never made a better offer to SE (A. that's Microsoft's problem, and B. if it were that simple, they certainly would have tried)

Could also be that Square knows where the majority of those sales will come from and FFXVI being exclusive to Xbox is a massive risk when they don't have the units sold that Sony does (particularly in EU/JP where it is currently a slaughter). 

So, you want the deal to get blocked so they can take $70B and go on an exclusive buying spree (my error for seeing that as more pub purchases). Why wouldn't you prefer they take that money and invest in their own studios? This is what I was getting at. That should be the first line of defense and they already have plenty of studios. Why do you think Nintendo and Sony have the brand power and recognition worldwide that they do? No doubt the latter makes more exclusive deals than the former (who made many against SEGA during its 80s/90s reign), but they are no longer mainly recognized for 3rd party properties (Devil May Cry, FF, Metal Gear, Tekken, etc). That's how you nurture a brand. 3rd party deals will always happen — that's the nature of the business. But, you need to come correct with your own hand or risk being left behind and that is the situation they are in.

Game Pass can only do so much, and since a 30+% decline this early in a gen is not good, I'd prefer they stepped their game up with many of their own properties. 

Really? Are we seriously suggesting that now? What's next? Are you gonna tell me that the reason MS can't even mention Ghostwire Tokyo in a sentence is because Bethesda just thought that it would sell better on Playstation?

But hey, I'm not blaming Sony, I know that (like you keep repeating) it is all business. I mean, if it hadn't been for that Square Enyx partnership, PS gamers whould have had to wait a bit between GOW and.. Spiderman 2? So yeah, I can totally see how paying for exclusivity can fill the gaps.

And it is not about what I would prefer, it is about what would be the more realistic scenario; and if this deal is blocked I think they will have only 5 options left:

1) Make small adquisitions
2) Invest on their own studios
3) Hire more studios as 2nd parties
4) Invest more heavily into putting 3rd party releases into GP day one
5) Invest more heavily into 3rd party exclusives

Now, I don't think you need to be a genius to realize that $70b would be enough to do all five of those things; and I also think that you don't need to be a genius to realize that investing in their own studios would be the slowest option of them all. I mean, Sony just bought Bungie and Housemarquee for a reason (and Insomniac not too long ago).

So yeah, I would like for this to get blocked just so MS gets forced to focus on these other options instead.

I think you have a misconception on how big corporations like MS work.  Acquisition money is not money that just goes back to the Xbox division.  Acquisition money goes back to actually doing more acquisition.  The Gaming division for MS has a budget, that does not change whether this deal lands or fails.  MS as a company isn't going to expand the gaming division budget by the amount they were willing to use that 70b to purchase ABK.  I see gamers make this statement alot but from someone who has worked for multiple huge corporations that is not how the money works.

If the gaming division is not already doing your bullet points, no matter how this deal land or fail, nothing will change that because the gaming division has its budget for the year, milestones they need to reach, sales projections you name it.  That 70b goes back into MS acquisition pool of money to purchase another company.  It may be gaming related but with a huge business like MS, it could be anything.

I will also say that MS will not invest in any 3rd party exclusives.  That ship sailed with the Tomb Raider deal.  Instead MS will invest in day one 3rd party deals on GP as they feel that give better value.  You only have to look at the last 5 years of better to see that Phil has abandon that strategy.

So your ideal that if this deal gets block MS changes the course of what they are already doing and be more focus but that really is not going to be the case.  If the deal gets block MS will continue as they already have.  If they are not doing what is on your list they probably will continue to not do it and if they are its not like they are going to throw 70b at it because that money was never the gaming division money or budget.

Last edited by Machiavellian - on 02 March 2023