EpicRandy said:
Ryuu96 said:
Publisher...Unless it's a defensive move.
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I don't see MS going for another publisher for a very long time. $70B is a one of a kind aquisition for MS to date so I think they would want to get some data on the impact of the move over a sufficient large timeframe and see wether it meet expectation first. Then they would likely analyze whether another aquisition of a similar size can be expected to produce less of, a repetition of or more of an impact.
The most important metric on which they would measure this is probably in Gamepass sub counts, MAU and time spent by those subs in ABK content. And since CoD may well be kept out of gamepass for some years due to those marketing deal witch, correct me if I'm wrong, should end at the end of 2025, getting data on the impact might be an exercice in patience.
Also I think they might have some significant diminishing returns aquiring another publisher. They should already have like 50 studios by that point able to produce like 8-9 AAA/ years on a 6 years cycle not counting 2nd party initiatives. At some point there's not much increasing this will do to increase the appeal of GamePass.
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Agreed. I was thinking along the lines of Paradox or Sega but I can't see Microsoft actively pursuing them for at least a couple of years but when I say publishers, I'm talking about the very low end in size, I can't see Microsoft going for anything larger than those two and I think Paradox would easily pass regulators.
Also agree that Microsoft will have to get some data on this acquisition first, I don't exactly think they need anything more if all goes to plan. Xbox Game Studios + Zenimax should cover Xbox console but we've yet to see the data for Zenimax or XGS, Blizzard should provide a strong push into PC and King should provide a strong push into Mobile. All should give a strong push to Game Pass.
Phil is going to be extremely busy with ABK in the near future, Lol. There is a lot of work to be done and Phil unlike with Zenimax needs to be very hands on given ABK's recent history and how important they are. Imo I would split Activision from Blizzard and I would shutter the ABK holding company entirely, Activision & Blizzard leaders should report to Xbox leadership directly and Microsoft needs to ram its culture down ABK's throat.
I think PC Game Pass is obviously their weak area, it definitely isn't as big as Xbox Game Pass so I think that is where Paradox may come in, if Activision-Blizzard doesn't push PC Game Pass to a satisfactory level they may feel the need to acquire more PC orientated developers. Though Imo, the solution is fairly simple to push Game Pass on PC and that is to get it on Steam. Sega also has a strong PC side.
Another thing is that the PC ceiling for Game Pass should theoretically be much larger than the Xbox ceiling if people actually wanted to use Windows Store, Lol. There's like 100m+ MAU on Steam alone, that is larger than any singular Xbox console has ever had. Xbox needs to tap into that which is also another reason why they may acquire more PC orientated companies.
Agreed on CoD too, they can't judge it until one actually launches into Game Pass and that can't happen until Sony's deal is over.
Zippy6 said:
They really needed to plug up the gamepass exploits so that's a start. If they do add Activision and Blizzard titles to gamepass they need subscription revenue to increase dramatically for it to be worthwhile and the ways to pay next to nothing need to be patched.
Been subbed since FH4 launch and I think my total payments are under £150 for those 4.5 years. Didn't create any alt accounts for the $1 exploit, just upgraded 3 years of gold, ms reward points, auto renew bonus months, Spotify free month etc etc.
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It was more intentional than an exploit, Microsoft didn't care about it and actively promoted it, in the start it's all about getting a large amount of subscribers by offering extremely cheap deals and locking them into the ecosystem to then take their full price money years later.
I'm assuming it has been removed because they believe they have enough subscribers now, Phil already said before that Game Pass is profitable, I also think Family Plan is coming very soon and of course Activision-Blizzard titles being added as well.
Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 27 March 2023
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