This interview along with no Gears3 in 2010 and an outdated engine that 3rd party devs aren't using anymore; it is very possible that Epic doesn't make it to 2011.

Another studio to keep an eye on is Bethesda. The've spent a lot of money recently, yet they've had nothing but absolute crap come out since Fallout3 and that was 2008.

Yeah..true...but that isn't a case for monopolistic behaviour, it's a breach of contract.  A perfect case is Mass Effect 2...I'm sure EA would love nothing better than to launch the game onto the PS3, but they are prevented by the previous contract between M$ and Bioware, when it was independent.  I don't knwo what percentage of the market uses U3 engine, but there are alot of options out there.

Unlike EA, Epic would probably make a lot of sense for MS to purchase. I'm not sure MS is looking to add any staff, though.

demitri55, the difference is not that big. In actual first party developer employees I think Sony has 2X as many as MS, if not even less. I think it was like 1200 for MS and 2000 for Sony at one time. Anyway they just do business in different ways, with MS contracting the Epic's and Remedy's to do exclusives for them. One way is not necessarily better than the other. From MS point of view, they dont have to pay all those employees year round.

I'm trying to think what franchises Epic has..just Gears and Unreal Tournament? And while I love UT, it has little commercial drawing power these days. Shadow Complex, but thats not really an established franchise.

Epic's small too though, I think 60 people?

Are you really suggesting Epic goes under?

Or just is sold?

If it's the former, you're crazy. Epic is VERY succesful.

And UE3 not used anymore? Another LOL. Mass Effect 2 was another success for that engine. Borderlands also used it recently and was a decent hit.

You obvious dont know much about the industry from your second paragraph as well. Bethesda is very succesful, and also was bought by Zenimax a long time ago already LOL. The same company that recently bought Id. What do you mean "have done nothing since 2008". Naughty Dog hasnt done crap since November, must mean theyre a big failure too lol. Normal sized studios dont make games that often.

A lot of people mention the Bioware-deal here. Do you know how expensive Bioware was? EA paid $700,000,000.00 for Bioware. So MS would need to pay more than that to get Bioware. Unless EA decides to bit even more again.

I lilke Bioware, but there is NO way their exclusive support is worth 750 million USD. MS got Mass Effect as an exclusive franchise anyway. So far, MS would have paid 750 million USD for an exclusive Dragon Age for this generation. Think about it.

Here are the Biowares games for this gen:

Do you think EA broke even with Bioware yet? No way.

Other than that, I would like to see MS buying Epic. To own the Gears of War franchise and the engine would be awesome. But the price has to be fair.

The relationship between epic and MS is outstanding. CliffyB was on stage at every Xbox E3 media briefing since 2006.

The power of the dollar bill is strong!  Also, ME is an Xbox exclusive because M$ had publishing rights to the trilogy, and they give it back to EA on the acqusition, so I'm sure M$ didn't do that out of the goodness of their hearts.

true, but all I am saying is that the 750 million USD MS would have had to pay back then (can you say it like this? Sry for my bad english ) are way too much. If Bioware continues to release game at this rate (1 title per year - maybe 2 or an expansion pack) there will never be a positive ROI.

And if this is the same case for Epic, MS won't buy them either.

Bioware is easily worth that. Hell, Cerb paid 2 billion + credits for Shephard.

If The Old Republic can garner 2-3 million subs average, it will be a cheap buy for EA, but that remains to be seen, at this point.

That would actually be a valid joke if Sony hasn't been gaining marketshare from Microsoft.