this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2023
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[–] [email protected] 58 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I mean, you don’t spend 70 billion on a market sector you’re going to deemphasize.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 10 months ago (1 children)

*70 billion this year alone.

2021: Zenimax for 7.5B
2018-19: Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Undead Labs, Compulsion Games, Obsidian Entertainment, inXile Entertainment, Double Fine Productions (all unknown amounts)
Earlier: Rare for 375M, Mojang for 2.5B

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Oh shit, Double Fine too? Psychonauts 3 here we go!!!

[–] [email protected] 16 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Psychonauts 2 happened because Microsoft bought Double Fine and said, "How much time/money do you need to finish your game?" And basically gave it to them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Hell yeah, I'm happy they did! That game was an absolute delight to play, just like the first one. The people at Double Fine really knock it out of the park!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If this was true, I don't think MS will let them release it on PS4

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Was Kickstarted for all consoles, they ran out of money, Microsoft bought them and left everything as-is, just gave more money. Go watch the interview about it.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What? No. Double fine kickstarted the game. That's why psychonauts 2 happened. Revisionist crap needs to die.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Literally watched an interview with Tim Schafer, they ran out of Kickstarter money and Microsofr saved the day. Look it up before calling me out please.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 10 months ago

No one saved the day, they fund raised before, everyone does, many people found publishers if needed after running out of croudfunded money. There is no saviour here.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Double Fine Productions

Brütal Legend II NOW!

[–] [email protected] 38 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

By basically just buying existing publishers?

[–] ryathal 14 points 10 months ago

That's how it works now. You can't get results in a quarter or two by spinning up your own production company.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Microsoft has rarely innovated themselves...

Edit: I just remembered that even Windows was externally acquired, so I believe, it would be more correct to say that Microsoft has basically never innovated something themselves.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think Windows was built in house but on top of DOS which Bill Gates bought off someone

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Yeah, it started its life as "Quick And Dirty Operating System" (don't know, why they renamed it) and even that was basically a ripoff of CP/M: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86-DOS

I guess, you can say that they did put in own effort into developing the windowing system. I wouldn't want to call that "innovating", since they were late to the party, but I guess, that would be moving the goal posts here...

[–] [email protected] 27 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Now let's all pretend that MS and Phil aren't buying up publishers to have another monopoly full of Xbox/PC exclusives. Tbf though, I think Sony started this whole exclusives thing and really pushed hard for it. They do, however, seem to be relenting now by publishing their games to steam.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Sony buys up studios for their talent not their IP. Bungie/Destiny is the only exception. They have a strong history of empowering their developers to release better games than they did before.

Microsoft is the opposite. They buy up studios / IPs and run them into the ground.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Can’t agree more. I don’t think there’s a studio under MS that’s done better under their leadership/portfolio than they’d done prior to their acquisition. The studios created to shepherd Xbox franchises that original studios move on from generally have never matched the highs previously seen either.

I also don’t appreciate them hoovering up franchises, via acquisitions whilst failing to develop much new that’s if any note. All it does is condemn a growing back catalogue to mediocrity or have them disappear into the vault.

Sony aren’t perfect but their studios tend to produce top tier games that look and feel like they’re a tier above most, making the most of their “exclusivity”. Most (all?) their major releases are their own franchises developed in house too, and it feels like there’s a steadier turn out of new, quality IP to boot.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You don't get it, though. Microsoft will put everything on Gamepass. Sony fanboys can suck on that!

Ignore the fact that them buying-up all these studios is objectively bad for our hobby and the industry, and that Gamepass has been touted as being objectively bad by everyone in the industry because studios receive a minuscule amount of revenue from it and that it disadvantages indie devs.

The only thing that matters here is that my metaphorical sports team beats your metaphorical sports team.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

I’m biased, but I have a trial to PC Gamepass and don’t find it better than PlayStation Extra.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Tomato/Tomato. They get the IP and keep them exclusive. Sony shouldn't get a pass just because their games are better.

The "exclusives-game" these companies play is bad for the consumer and Sony plays it just as hard as anyone else.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago

Sony makes them. Microsoft buys them. Two very different things. Quality is a separate issue, but related In that Microsoft apparently has a hundred billion dollars to spend but can’t make a great game by themselves in the last two decades. They have no taste for it. I hope they prove me wrong. I don’t want to see them become a monopoly of mediocre games that we have to subscribe for. I also don’t want to see Sony without competition.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

I mean Sonys last purchase was Firewalk Studios, who was working on a game that hasnt been publically shown(however, sony was given a preview of it privately) and they havent released a game yet, so they technically bought out an IP unless you claim they already hit the reset on whatever project they kept under the sheets.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Borderline I’d say, but if it’s not public Sony is buying based on devs / potential, not existing sales or hype, and at that point they are bankrolling a new IP and assuming all those associated risks.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Eh no, you can't really level the idea of buying out an ip that only exists behind closed doors.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago

It does if they decide to remove the windows conpatibility that was announced beforehand. So far they havent, but if they did, it would be treated the same.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I bet you they'll start pulling their games from stores in 2-3 years or release new ones exclusively to their own. The games will be made as difficult to run in wine/proton as possible. Probably they'll introduce some new graphics layer that's windows only and since they own huge game publishers, they don't have to worry about any other platform ever.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Let's offer a sacrifice to GabeN, preventively.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

By publishing to PS5?