Microsoft "Officially Welcoming Bethesda to Team Xbox"

[XxEvil AshxX]

Just now, sblfilms said:

Boo to taking games away from other platforms

 

Yay to more GP content 

 

Sony fans: "Why should i buy an xbox, it has no exclusives."

 

Also Sony fans: "I don't want to have to buy an xbox to play Bethesda games."

[stepee]

9 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

Boo to taking games away from other platforms

 

Yay to more GP content 

 

lol pretty much. I like that I’ll be getting bethesda content for free now on pc with my game pass sub but it’s too bad for ps5 only people. But with xcloud, the cheaper series s as an option, and of course pc, I think they will manage if they need to play those games.

[Keyser_Soze]

Doom 64!

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

 

Sony fans: "Why should i buy an xbox, it has no exclusives."

 

Also Sony fans: "I don't want to have to buy an xbox to play Bethesda games."

Oh, the irony is there for sure. I have all the consoles because I’m an idiot, but Xbox remains my primary platform. So this doesn’t directly impact me, but it fits this weird anti-consumer and pro-consumer space that is hard to nail down. The best thing to me would be make these games available on PS5 but only at retail pricing while giving your platform holders access to the content via GP. Taking something away from PS5 owners to artificially boost the value of the Xbox brand is lame.

[Keyser_Soze]

4 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

The best thing to me would be make these games available on PS5 but only at retail pricing while giving your platform holders access to the content via GP.

 

That's how they handle their games on steam. Forza Horizon 4 just landed on steam for a nice fat $59.99

[JPDunks4]

Pretty awesome first joint trailer

 

 

[Mr.Vic20]

Game Pass, coming to PSN...someday? 

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

 

Sony fans: "Why should i buy an xbox, it has no exclusives."

 

Also Sony fans: "I don't want to have to buy an xbox to play Bethesda games."

 

Sony fans with PCs: "I'm good."

[AbsolutSurgen]

2 hours ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

 

Multiplatform Gamers: "Why should i buy an xbox, it has no exclusives."

 

Also Multiplatform Gamers: "I don't want to have to buy an xbox to play Bethesda games, and they're better on my PC anyways."

Fixed

[crispy4000]

10 hours ago, sblfilms said:

Oh, the irony is there for sure. I have all the consoles because I’m an idiot, but Xbox remains my primary platform. So this doesn’t directly impact me, but it fits this weird anti-consumer and pro-consumer space that is hard to nail down. The best thing to me would be make these games available on PS5 but only at retail pricing while giving your platform holders access to the content via GP. Taking something away from PS5 owners to artificially boost the value of the Xbox brand is lame.

 

It's only as artificial as the acquisition was.  I think they're in the right to leverage it.

It puts a new perspective on timed exclusivity though.  If this is Microsoft's big play, I don't blame Sony or Nintendo as much for their year-long deals.  It's better for a publisher to be paid off than gobbled up, which they're starting to do more of too.  The terms of engagement have changed.

 

There are more multiplatform games today than ever before.  But we're seeing more and more of the following:  Game is made for console X, may eventually be ported to console Y, definitely not on console Z, but presumably coming to PC.

[legend]

From a business standpoint, MS snagging Bethesda is a phenomenal pick up. For console-only gamers, they seriously have added a lot of value to the Xbox platform. And for PC gamers, it makes Game Pass even more enticing.

[crispy4000]

3 hours ago, legend said:

From a business standpoint, MS snagging Bethesda is a phenomenal pick up. For console-only gamers, they seriously have added a lot of value to the Xbox platform. And for PC gamers, it makes Game Pass even more enticing.

 

The value it adds to Xbox and PC is quite literally the same: It bolsters Games Pass. 

Beyond that, both platforms will presumably see the same Bethesda output to the same scale we're used to.  But now Sony is left out.  Perhaps Nintendo too, if they don't act to MS' liking.

[Xbob42]

11 hours ago, sblfilms said:

Boo to taking games away from other platforms

 

Yay to more GP content 

Yeah I'm torn on this one. I hate exclusives on any platform for any reason, but this also opens these games up to way more people provided GP doesn't change significantly in terms of price and ease of use. 

 

I guess it bothers me slightly less since the lack of exclusives is really having MS fall behind lately, so if it helps balance things out a bit and make a more actually competitive market, then eh, could be worse I guess. 

[JPDunks4]

I generally dislike any kind of exclusives, especially from bigger Publishers or Developers where we generally know, the game would've been made just fine without financial support from a Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo.  For the mid tier smaller studios that probably get a lot of help of financial help from a deal, I don't think anyone is going to mind too much to wait a year for those kinds of titles.

 

That being said, looking at this acquisition itself, who can honestly be mad at Microsoft for this move.  Sony had already bought timed exclusivity for 2 of Bethesda's upcoming titles.  There were what seemed like pretty legitimate rumors that Sony was also trying hard to buy timed exclusivity for Starfield as well.  So MS's option is to either get into a bidding war over and over again for every big 3rd Party game coming out, or just say F that, and buy the whole damn publisher. 

 

It was pretty clear Sony was going to leverage it's much larger PS4 install base and bigger PlayStation brand strength to try and shut Xbox out of a lot of upcoming titles with these kind of deals.  For MS, they probably looked at all these deals and were like, damn by the time we outbid Sony to get these games to be on XBox, we could just buy the whole damn Publisher.

 

It's why I wouldn't be shocked to see MS acquire more Publishers or Studios.  Unless this acquisition gets Sony to back off trying to buy up all these deals, I could see MS trying to flex it's pocket book even more to stop itself from missing out on future big 3rd party releases.

 

[SaysWho?]

17 hours ago, sblfilms said:

Taking something away from PS5 owners to artificially boost the value of the Xbox brand is lame.

 

It's part of what makes the excitement for it so weird to basically have games that were already coming everywhere come to fewer places. I think people misunderstand the attacks on MS for its really poor first party slate the past two generations (or just willfully don't understand because fanboys or weirdos); they had few development studios left, but the ones they were buying were usually struggling ones who were getting a second life (Double Fine, Obsidian). This was pretty much the only one that I had an issue with, having taken away a publisher from the gaming sphere with one less place to go for devs to pitch new games and taking games you were already getting and closing them off to other platforms. It's bad enough that Disney owns everything in the movie space. Hopefully we see the same excitement when Amazon buys Sega and Facebook buys Capcom.

 

I guess I'm in "luck" that I haven't really wanted a Bethesda RPG since Skyrim, but Starfield and a new Elder Scrolls were pretty exciting so I may have to just get the Xbox if they deliver and aren't like Fallout 4.

 

 

[Keyser_Soze]

28 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

I guess I'm in "luck" that I haven't really wanted a Bethesda RPG since Skyrim, but Starfield and a new Elder Scrolls were pretty exciting so I may have to just get the Xbox if they deliver

 

How about your brother?

 

[SaysWho?]

Just now, Keyser_Soze said:

 

How about your brother?

 

 

He ended up getting everything at launch so he's good.  

 

He's not into Bethesda's RPGs, though, so this was immaterial.

[crispy4000]

9 hours ago, JPDunks4 said:

It was pretty clear Sony was going to leverage it's much larger PS4 install base and bigger PlayStation brand strength to try and shut Xbox out of a lot of upcoming titles with these kind of deals.  For MS, they probably looked at all these deals and were like, damn by the time we outbid Sony to get these games to be on XBox, we could just buy the whole damn Publisher.

I sincerely doubt Microsoft went into this deal thinking they can't compete with Sony's pocketbook on the timed exclusive front.  It wouldn't have taken anywhere close to 7.8 billion.  And they're not totally stepping away from it either.  (Yakuza 7, The Medium, etc)

It's been spit and spat on that front for years, so in some ways I'm glad to see MS renew their focus on building up internal studios again.  Anger at them for buying Bethesda is misdirected. It won't only be MS acquiring notable studios and publishers from here on out either.

What we saw recently with Next Level Games seems to be indicative of where the rest of the industry is at.  Nintendo felt forced to buy them out because of aggressive outside bids.  This is the same company that willingly let go of Rare years back.

There's both an appetite to poach and hunker down.

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, SaysWho? said:

Hopefully we see the same excitement when Amazon buys Sega and Facebook buys Capcom.

 

There's several big and small Japanese publishers that would be ripe for the taking.  Maybe there's more of a pride/culture thing there that makes buyouts less common?

 

I wonder if we'll ever see Tencent snatch one up.  Or another merger, like SquareEnix.

[AbsolutSurgen]

I understand the disappointment from some people that Bethesda will no longer be publishing on Sony platforms.  I also understand the anger at Phil Spencer for his apparent turnaround on his belief on "exclusives" -- but didn't anyone really believe what he was saying at the time?

 

However, Bethesda does not really make that many GREAT games.  Skyrim was 2011, Fallout 4 was 2015 and Doom was 2016.  Yes, there have been some other good games in the interim (Wolfenstein series, Doom Eternal, Dishonoured series, and maybe Rage 2 and Evil within).   But this isn't like they are taking FIFA, Madden, CoD, GTA or Assassin's Creed away...

[crispy4000]

13 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

However, Bethesda does not really make that many GREAT games.  Skyrim was 2011, Fallout 4 was 2015 and Doom was 2016.  Yes, there have been some other good games in the interim (Wolfenstein series, Doom Eternal, Dishonoured series, and maybe Rage 2 and Evil within).   But this isn't like they are taking FIFA, Madden, CoD, GTA or Assassin's Creed away...

 

They're about as big of a pick up as modern day Sega would be.  Doesn't really help to play them down relative to the rest of the industry.  They're still a big deal.

[AbsolutSurgen]

8 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

 

They're about as big of a pick up as Sega would be.  Doesn't really help to play them down relative to the rest of the industry.  They're still a big deal.

When was the last time Bethesda had a game in the top 10 in annual US sales?  Or even top 20?

Or, Sega for that matter.

[Keyser_Soze]

What they should do is spread everyone around.

 

Pluck some people from Arkane and get them to help work on the new Perfect Dark

 

Take some folks from Id and get them to work on Halo

[crispy4000]

24 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

When was the last time Bethesda had a game in the top 10 in annual US sales?  Or even top 20?

Or, Sega for that matter.

 

When's the last time a publisher who consistently charted in annual NPDs was bought by a console manufacturer?

You should set your expectations accordingly.  A buyout like this isn't meant to compete with the industry as a whole.  It's meant to drive platform adoption and subscriptions verses competitors in those spaces.  Bethesda is a huge get for that.

[Fizzzzle]

Sega owns Atlus (Persona, SMT), Creative Assembly (Total War), Relic (Company of Heroes/Dawn of War), and Amplitude (Endless).

 

Other than Atlus, their subsidiaries are primarily PC-focused, so it's not like MS or Sony would really be that interested in acquiring them in the first place, but they're still a big deal.

 

If the next Elder Scrolls and Fallout games are anywhere near as successful as the last few, it will look like a great acquisition.

[AbsolutSurgen]

I'll admit I have a different opinion on what a "big deal" is.  Buying Xbox, Sony, Nintendo, Activision Blizzard, EA, Ubisoft, Valve, Roblox, Epic Games, Rockstar/2k, Riot and arguably Square-Enix would all be a big deal.

 

25 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

 

When's the last time a publisher who consistently charted in annual NPDs was bought by a console manufacturer?

You should set your expectations accordingly.  A buyout like this isn't meant to compete with the industry as a whole.  It's meant to drive platform adoption and subscriptions verses competitors in those spaces.

The only time I can think of a publisher being purchased by a console manufacturer was in the mid-90s when Sony bought Psygnosis -- but I may be missing one somewhere

In terms of developers:

Sony purchased Insomniac games in 2019 -- they had a top 10 selling game in 2019, and a top 20 selling game in 2020.

Sony purchased Sucker Punch Games in 2011 -- they had a top 10 selling game in 2020.

Sony purchased Naughty Dog in 2001 -- they had a top 10 selling game in 2020.

 

19 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said:

Sega owns Atlus (Persona, SMT), Creative Assembly (Total War), Relic (Company of Heroes/Dawn of War), and Amplitude (Endless).

 

Other than Atlus, their subsidiaries are primarily PC-focused, so it's not like MS or Sony would really be that interested in acquiring them in the first place, but they're still a big deal.

 

If the next Elder Scrolls and Fallout games are anywhere near as successful as the last few, it will look like a great acquisition.

Were Elder Scrolls online, Elder Scrolls Blades, Elder Scrolls Legends and Fallout 76 successful?

[Fizzzzle]

Just now, AbsolutSurgen said:

 

 

Were Elder Scrolls online, Elder Scrolls Blades, Elder Scrolls Legends and Fallout 76 successful?

You're comparing mobile games, an MMO, and a shit-tier MMO-lite (name one besides Destiny 2 and The Division that has actually been successful) to massive single player games. Fallout 4 was very successful, even if I didn't think it was all that good. Skyrim was obviously ridiculously successful.

 

One thing that makes me hopeful is that being bought out by Microsoft may end the ridiculous money grabbing tendencies Zenimax had been pursuing over the last 5 years or so. Elder Scrolls Blades and Fallout 76 were nothing more than cash grabs. Fallout 76 was literally just reused Fallout 4 assets put into a context to have people spend money for what, at least at release, was barely even a game. Now that Zenimax is no longer in charge, I'm hopeful for something of a return to form for BGS.

[crispy4000]

16 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

The only time I can think of a publisher being purchased by a console manufacturer was in the mid-90s when Sony bought Psygnosis -- but I may be missing one somewhere

In terms of developers:

Sony purchased Insomniac games in 2019 -- they had a top 10 selling game in 2019, and a top 20 selling game in 2020.

Sony purchased Sucker Punch Games in 2011 -- they had a top 10 selling game in 2020.

Sony purchased Naughty Dog in 2001 -- they had a top 10 selling game in 2020.

 

But this conversation was about publishers, no?  The whole point being its a package deal that's a shot in the arm to exclusivity on multiple fronts.  We haven't seen any buyouts to Bethesda's scale.  It's unprecedented.  Both in terms of the money exchanged and the studios acquired.

[AbsolutSurgen]

1 minute ago, Fizzzzle said:

You're comparing mobile games, an MMO, and a shit-tier MMO-lite (name one besides Destiny 2 and The Division that has actually been successful) to massive single player games. Fallout 4 was very successful, even if I didn't think it was all that good. Skyrim was obviously ridiculously successful.

 

One thing that makes me hopeful is that being bought out by Microsoft may end the ridiculous money grabbing tendencies Zenimax had been pursuing over the last 5 years or so. Elder Scrolls Blades and Fallout 76 were nothing more than cash grabs. Fallout 76 was literally just reused Fallout 4 assets put into a context to have people spend money for what, at least at release, was barely even a game. Now that Zenimax is no longer in charge, I'm hopeful for something of a return to form for BGS.

I'm talking about the only games they have released in the last 5 years in those franchises. 

Skyrim is almost 10-years old.  Fallout 4 is about 6-years old.

If people are getting their knickers-in-a-knot over potentially missing one big game every 6-7 years...

 

[Fizzzzle]

2 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

I'm talking about the only games they have released in the last 5 years in those franchises. 

Skyrim is almost 10-years old.  Fallout 4 is about 6-years old.

If people are getting their knickers-in-a-knot over potentially missing one big game every 6-7 years...

 

That's what I'm talking about, with Zenimax no longer in control, they might actually get funding to have major games come out more like every 2-4 years like they used to. Microsoft didn't buy them because of Fallout 76, they bought them because of Elder Scrolls and Fallout. And they can also push development of those games to devs like Obsidian or InXile. Or at least I hope so.

[AbsolutSurgen]

Just now, crispy4000 said:

 

But this conversation was about publishers, no?  The whole point being its a package deal that's an instant shot in the arm to exclusivity on multiple fronts.  We haven't seen any buyouts to Bethesda's scale.  It's unprecedented.  Both in terms of the money exchanged and the studios acquired.

A publisher is just a group of developers who also owns the IP.  Zenimax/Bethesda was available, IMHO, largely because the vast majority (maybe, all) of their output over the last 5 years has been a commercial/critical disappointment.

[ShreddieMercury]

3 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

A publisher is just a group of developers who also owns the IP.  Zenimax/Bethesda was available, IMHO, largely because the vast majority (maybe, all) of their output over the last 5 years has been a commercial/critical disappointment.

 

Lol

[AbsolutSurgen]

1 minute ago, Fizzzzle said:

That's what I'm talking about, with Zenimax no longer in control, they might actually get funding to have major games come out more like every 2-4 years like they used to. Microsoft didn't buy them because of Fallout 76, they bought them because of Elder Scrolls and Fallout. And they can also push development of those games to devs like Obsidian or InXile. Or at least I hope so.

I don't know if Microsoft has shown, in recent history, that they are capable of making top-tier games (outside of Forza for racing fans).  I think it would be awesome for Bethesda to return to their past glory.

[Dodger]

10 hours ago, JPDunks4 said:

I generally dislike any kind of exclusives, especially from bigger Publishers or Developers where we generally know, the game would've been made just fine without financial support from a Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo.  For the mid tier smaller studios that probably get a lot of help of financial help from a deal, I don't think anyone is going to mind too much to wait a year for those kinds of titles.

 

That being said, looking at this acquisition itself, who can honestly be mad at Microsoft for this move.  Sony had already bought timed exclusivity for 2 of Bethesda's upcoming titles.  There were what seemed like pretty legitimate rumors that Sony was also trying hard to buy timed exclusivity for Starfield as well.  So MS's option is to either get into a bidding war over and over again for every big 3rd Party game coming out, or just say F that, and buy the whole damn publisher. 

 

It was pretty clear Sony was going to leverage it's much larger PS4 install base and bigger PlayStation brand strength to try and shut Xbox out of a lot of upcoming titles with these kind of deals.  For MS, they probably looked at all these deals and were like, damn by the time we outbid Sony to get these games to be on XBox, we could just buy the whole damn Publisher.

 

It's why I wouldn't be shocked to see MS acquire more Publishers or Studios.  Unless this acquisition gets Sony to back off trying to buy up all these deals, I could see MS trying to flex it's pocket book even more to stop itself from missing out on future big 3rd party releases.

 

 

 

There is something kind of funny about Sony buying a year of console exclusivity and Microsoft responding by saying hold by beer, we just bought the whole company. What's next, MS buys Square-Enix since it looks like Sony is trying to make new Final Fantasy games Sony console exclusive?

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

I really do have to wonder just how critical was the cash flow situation at Zenimax for them to agree to this buyout.