Obsidian and Playful are the front runners from what we have heard so far, I doubt that they announce three though two at most. I would really happy with Obsidian and meh on Playful.

I just think that there are better studios out there that are AA size that have better track records, Playful seems like the type of studio that you can give a 2nd party deal. I know that it's more complicated than that but we just don't know if they have a cap on the amount of studios that they want to acquire and I would hate to see a "spot wasted" on one that I don't think would bring much change to the platform, I still don't like the Undead Labs acquisition for example.

It was from an interview about game pass that I posted a while back I'll try to find it.

The rumors right now is that they are working on an MS 1st party IP (hinted that it's not Conker or Banjo) and they have a history with MS and would be a cheap buy, I don't want them either and if they get chosen over Armature then I will be pissed.

Here it is https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-08-23-why-xbox-bought-ninja-theory

the quote

Microsoft will hope the same will be true of Game Pass; people come in for Sea of Thieves, but stick around for Hellblade. So with that in mind, is Microsoft keeping its cheque book out to buy more mid-tier studios? Or is the shopping done?

"I don't want to seem like we're going out to fill a quota," he says. "It's not about filling a spreadsheet by any means. We will, however, have an interest in studios right now that fit this criteria of 50 to 100 people, who are making games on a two to three year cadence, and have content that we think will be of interest to our Game Pass subscribers. That means content that is a little different to what our big AAA franchises can deliver.

3 studios sound like a lot.

My short list of possible studios are Obsidian, Playful, Iron Galaxy, Armature, Aurora44,and Hazelight.

Out of those studios, they should pick up Obsidian and Hazelight, and leave the rest.

Recore 2 can happen without Armature. I mean, we already know Inafune won't be involved so it's certain that it won't be made by the same people as the original.

I doubt they will ever acquire a japanese studio but i would love Grounding inc be a first party and make a new Phantom Dust.

I still want MS to go after studios like Ninja Theory, they were a massive surprise and it seemed like a pipe dream at the time. They were not not looking for a buyout and MS managed to convince them to get onboard without trying to aggressively buy them out like some big publishers like to do.