Microsoft Another Bethesda-Level Acquisition?

Get your bets on again seems Microsoft might be after more big publishers /developers.

Rumor: Microsoft Making Another Bethesda-Level Acquisition This Year - Gamerant

From the sounds of recent rumors, Microsoft isn't satisfied with having just Bethesda. Apparently, the corporation is looking to add more big-name video game developers to its roster. Exactly what companies Microsoft could be interested in remains a mystery, and there's nothing in recent grapevines suggesting developers are looking to sell. Even if there was, they would be rumors like this one, and would also need to be taken with a grain of salt.

I don't know who this guy is, but I've been hearing the same thing for months, that Microsoft wants to acquire another publisher, negotiations with bethesda lasted 3 years, as I've been pointing out, I believe the announcement will be at the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022

Would be hilarious if EA or CDPR announced they were bought by Microsoft.

Heck maybe even Ubiosft after the year of bad PR they had in 2020.

I don't think Ubi is on the table - you forgot the failed attempt of takeover by Vivendi?

Everyone else is game.
For better or for worse.

Think it's another RPG developer?

I heard some people say Take2 was likely but I would like to see EA bought if for no other reason, to see some new games from the ip they have been hoarding.

On second thought I would like EA ip bought up and EA management dissolved but if dreams were wishes…

So it's basically an article talking about a rumor with nothing substantial to back it up. Must have been a slow day at the office.

Not really see rumors sometimes become reality. Look at the Bethesda deal and when they bought Obsidian and Inxile. They all started out as rumors at one time as well.

Copied this from another sites comment section.

Link - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/447…ding-to-rumor/

Publishers in a similar price range to what MS paid for Zenimax would be Ubisoft, Square Enix, Koei Tecmo, Capcom, Sega, Konami, and Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment. Ubisoft fended off a take-over attempt from Vivendi just a few years ago so it seems they don't want to be bought. That basically leaves WB and the JP publishers.

AT&T was considering selling WB Interactive last summer, and supposedly had discussions with MS (among others), but decided against selling them, figuring they could make more money in the long run by keeping WB Interactive and releasing live service games. Maybe acquisition talks have resumed with MS. But I'm not sure if MS would be willing to buy WB Interactive, as AT&T supposedly wanted to sell just the studios for several billion dollars and keep all of the big IP's like DC, Harry Potter, LOTR, Lego, and Mortal Kombat, charging extra to license out those IP's instead. Not a great deal for MS to pay billions for just studios, then pay billions more for limited time IP licenses.

So I'm guessing it might be Sega. Not only are they the least expensive out of all of the above publishers, but I suspect they would be more open to an acquisition by MS than the other JP publishers, they've been pretty buddy-buddy with MS recently, what with the Yakuza day one gamepass releases and Sega talking about how successful Yakuza has been on Xbox in their investor calls and such.

Microsoft Already Made Back Cost Of Buying Bethesda, Xbox To Allegedly Buy More

I can't say I'm surprised.

Not sure what to think about all those acquisitions. On the one hand good for me (xbox), but I don't think it's good for industry if everything is owned by just a couple of big publishers.

Sony is also buying publishers (and timed exclusives), then you have EA and Blizzard (forgot about tencent). Not many small publishers left. At least it seems to me they have the majority of the total market (in revenue).

Interesting write-up:
https://learn.g2.com/video-game-publishers

Eg, Tencent has a 40% stake in Epic games.

I wonder if Microsoft will ever release an XBox exclusive that I'm even remotely interested in playing.

Originally Posted by LordConti
I wonder if Microsoft will ever release an XBox exclusive that I'm even remotely interested in playing.

They wont need to as Game-pass is their future. You might see a few exclusives but they are moving on to a different strategy and I applaud. As I'm tired of system exclusives.

Originally Posted by ilm
Not sure what to think about all those acquisitions. On the one hand good for me (xbox), but I don't think it's good for industry if everything is owned by just a couple of big publishers.

Sony is also buying publishers (and timed exclusives), then you have EA and Blizzard (forgot about tencent). Not many small publishers left. At least it seems to me they have the majority of the total market (in revenue).

Interesting write-up:
https://learn.g2.com/video-game-publishers

Eg, Tencent has a 40% stake in Epic games.

Yep fact is making those blockbuster games cost a fortune that gets higher every generation. It's the same thing happening with the movie industry as well nowadays.

You have Disney buying a huge percentage with other smaller studious owning the rest.

Eh, I have low patience for talking Youtube faces. Rather read things. @Couchpotato, did I understand correctly that Microsoft made 15.1 billion $ profit in Q4/20 and now these content makers are comparing that to the acquisition price they are said to pay for Zenimax? Apples and oranges in other words?

Also, the increase in sales revenue comes due to the shift to the new generation, no?

I understood the title in the video that Microsoft would have earned the money through Zenimax (or connected to it by increasing interest in MS products) already. That's wrong, right?

Well it's simpler then that. Basically Microsoft made back the billions they paid for ZeniMax the parent company of Bethesda. It's more due to a variety of reasons.

1. Older Consoles & Games
2. Newer console sales & Games
3. Gamepass & PC sales

So the games from the sale helped but they weren't the only reason.

Thanks for the clarification. Hmm…I feel that they have taken a few too many shortcuts in their maths.

Anyway, a valid point. Certainly a good time to invest in game studios as many active console owners are planning the shift to the new gen. If they'd manage to get only 1% of Playstation owners to shift to Xbox, that would be a lot of money for them.

Too much concentration for my taste … we'll end up with 3 or so gaming companies in the end - and they'll dictate everything, apart from Indies …