Right they are looking into doing this. That means we're looking at what 2020 till this produces any results if we're lucky? This will help them for next gen though so it's a good move.

Microsoft has been chatting about more software for years now, and 2017 has been the worst year for a long time in xbox history, 2018 doesn't look much better and even if they did suddenly react to all the criticism right this moment it is not going to be to atleast 2020/2021 that we actually see some games produced if they get cracking on putting together some studios now.

Buying up promising studios has not worked out for Microsoft very well recently. Purchasing one like Undead Labs might work as long as they just give them money and then STEP AWAY.

I understand jumping on the "games as a service" bandwagon somewhat but forcing traditional studios to follow that model has been a disaster so far. If you want a piece of that pie then assemble or buy studios that specialize in that.

Meanwhile, Sony and Nintendo have been knocking it out the park lately with traditional games. They might not be a cash cow like a successful "games as a service" title but they draw consumers to your platform. That's kind of important. Microsoft tried to put the cart before the Xbox. They were so eager to tap into the newest revenue streams that they forgot to secure a consumer base.

And buying up indies won't bring people running back, either. They need a new Halo or Gears. They need fresh blockbusters that can grab headlines and make people want to drop a few hundred dollars to get an Xbox. They're going to have to be willing to work from the ground up.

The best thing they can do right now is to hire the very best in the industry, give them a budget, and tell them to build their idea of a perfect studio.

Glad to see people aren't buying into what Spencer said this time. The guy has been lying through his teeth for the last 4 years, it's about time we all wised up to it.

They also have an asset in owning Minecraft.  They could possibly sell the IP later on.  Maybe for 2.5 billion, maybe more, maybe less.

From their perspective such a massive buy may have been a safer bet than backing ten major game projects.  

Better get to PS4 and Switch development ;)

Things like this take time, anything from anew Studio will not even be on the current hardware.  MS should have thought about this a long time ago.

Minecraft was a good purchase for MS for sure. It didn't do anything for us gamers though, we already had Minecraft before MS threw 2.5 billion at it.

Conker, Perfect Dark and Mech Assault would make for great reboots.

Make conker just as bat shit crazy. Make Perfect Dark darker. Make Mech Assault more bad ass. I don't see how these would lose money.

#1 they are not going to sell it to anyone for anywhere close to that amount because no one else is stupid enough to pay it

#2 how exactly did it benefit consumers/gamers to have MS hand a 2.5B cheque to Notch?

#3 perhaps if they used this money to do what the other competitors are doing (funding own studios, making new ips, investing in new experiences) then people would actually want their products and be excited for their brand.

As I said before, they have been in the business for nearly 2 decades and still don't have the 1st party content that both Sony and Nintendo give their consumers