Rumour: Microsoft In Talks For Another Bethesda Level Acquisition

Grabbing another publisher for exclusives would be perfect.

That's a fairly small list when we're comparing to Bethesda/Zenimax.

The above people in question didn’t predict the Bethesda acquisition though as the first reddit comment suggests?

Regardless, it wouldn’t surprise me for Xbox to be thinking about another big purchase. They need to get some big games out to strengthen their push of customers to GP.

As I said in a previous article, I think Ubisoft would be the perfect candidate for an acquisition by Microsoft. They have lots of recognisable IPs as well as franchises in all kinds of genres, especially open world which Game Pass could use more of.

@AlexOlney Oh Jesus... I miss Rareware so much. Viva Piñata, Kameo, PD/PDZ, Banjo....

@LtSarge
I can see why Ubisoft would be a high profile acquisition, but personally I'm fed up with their games to the point I didn't finish AC: Odyssey and Ghost Recon: Wildlands. All filler and no killer if you ask me. That said, I'd rather they bought Konami (I know it's a pipe dream) or Sega.

Could it be Sega?
Could it be?
Would that be possible even?

@Nic-Noc20th-C I hope it is.

@thatCFguy banjo3?? Maybe!! We can only hope!!

I hope not. Bethesda was already too much, another acquisition on that scale would just be ridiculous

I keep thinking Sega since they sold off their arcade division. That made many of us feel Sega was not doing so well, and that it is likely being sold off in pieces, or at least, they were selling off the pieces some potential buyer was not interested to own.

@AlexOlney
Worse, it's straight-up Nintendo itself.

It's Sony. Ps5 will be exclusive to XBox.

@CrazyJF Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't most of the major video game publishers public companies? If this rumour is anything to go by then Microsoft would be aiming at a company on the scale of ZeniMax, e.g. Ubisoft, even if they are public.

@gollumb82 Yeah but I'd rather have Ubisoft than EA, Take-Two, Activision etc. If you compare all the major publishers, then Ubisoft would bring the most amount of appealing IPs. I don't care much about sports games, Call of Duty or Rockstar since they are barely making any games these days. Granted I'm basing my argument on Western publishers, but like I heard from someone else, Microsoft would need to finalise their acquisition of ZeniMax and establish a contact in Japan (Tango Gameworks) in order for any sizeable acquisitions of Japanese publishers (like Sega) to be made. So if they are already discussing with a publisher now, it's most likely that it's a Western one.

But yeah, I've seen a lot of people praise Assassin's Creed Valhalla since it doesn't have a lot of filler compared to past AC games. Also, Immortals Fenyx Rising is an amazing BotW clone and having that IP as an Xbox first-party series would be amazing. Not to mention other IPs such as Rayman, Splinter Cell and so on. Even if these franchises don't receive any new entries, just having games like Rayman Origins/Legends and the older Splinter Cell games on Game Pass would be awesome.

Well lots of talk about the big boys throwing their weight around in the gaming industry so it makes sense for MS to snatch more IP up. Let's be honest, whatever Google or Amazon snatch up will be exclusive to their streaming services...no ifs about it like with Xbox for whatever reason. Tencent doesn't have a streaming service and i don't know of any plans for one, they just censor the content to their liking. They will likely remain multiplat just to make as much cash as they can. I wonder how much more MS can buy up before they face regulatory scrutiny of being to big in the market? Maybe some moves by the others will make it easier for them to do more acquisitions?

@AlexOlney I look forward to your reaction video when it turns out to be Nintendo!

@Krzzystuff there is far to many smaller studios and companies like tencent. From my understanding to get got. Buying sony would be the only thing that would raise an eyebrow.

In a weird way come on square. Having that catalog if jrpgs would really help xcloud in thst territory

Xbox is not messing around..

I bet it's going to be Segaaaaaaa!

I do get the feeling this is bad news for the industry as a whole. Going this direction and having, progressively, all the studios signed up to Nintendo, Sony and MS will likely reduce the overall diversity and likely quality. In the sense most people here hate Sony and would suggest they would turn all Bethesda games into a 3rd person action story driven game (and just to balance the argument), its probable anything creative coming from those individual studios is more likely to be shot down by the single direction the company takes.
Would be good if MS pick up failing studios that would other wise go out of business but I don't think that will be the case. More likely they will buy an established studio with the aim to make it PC/Xbox exclusive and force future projects to fit their game pass model - whether that be games as a service or limiting project budget to fit their subscription model.
And to be clear - this isn't an anti MS opinion. The same would apply to any of the big 3, and may in turn at least force Sony into snapping up other companies to protect themselves from MS acquiring every other studio out there.

@thatCFguy the internet NEVER lies!!!

@StonyKL Add in Google, Amazon, maybe even Facebook to that list of MS, Sony and Nintendo. Again I don't think Tencent will go the exclusive route just because I get the feeling they want to get their censored views to as many user's as possible. But yeah it's a bit of an odd feeling of where will the industry be by 2025? Hopefully we have some independent multiplat publishers/developers of big and small games. Don't want everything locked up behind hardware or software paywalls. I like a lot of the EA stuff in gamepass so don't want to see them disappear to Luna for example.

Cool, I don't really mind having all of this stuff exclusive to Xbox since I bought into the ecosystem a while ago.

Also, I'm surprised it has taken this long for all of these acquisitions to happen.

Edit: Sega would be bad, but kind of hilarious. I say that because it would almost be like having Sega back in the hw biz since the Xbox (og) was heavily influenced by DC. I believe MS had something to do with DC's OS, as well. It could come full circle.

Things aren’t quiet at Sega...just saying 🤔

Realistically, could see it being SEGA.
Ticks that Japanese market box and they have plenty of family friendly IPs that would be perfect for Game Pass.

The other could be Playtonic, with them teasing a re-brand and a good reason for it. However, that wouldn't be a very expensive deal I feel.

They don’t need another “Western” publicity-developer.
They need RPG’s to go well into the Eastern - call me JAPAN.
So there you have it - an Eastern company but which?

It's King. Microsoft heard your feedback and Halo Infinite is now a F2P match-three puzzler.

People mentioning PlayTonic are WAY off the mark. Compared to Bethesda, that's not even a dwarf, but more something along the lines of a Pikmin-sized company...

It's not Ubisoft either: they've successfully managed to fend off hostile takeovers from FAR bigger and richer (or rather: more powerful) companies than Microsoft, so unless they're a willing partner, that's not very likely.

If this rumour does actually have some merit and/or is even remotely true, then I wouldn't be surprised at all if it's going to be Activision/Blizzard. That is the only other available company that you could compare to the likes of Bethesda.

A second, but considerably less likely option would be Capcom.

An, in my opinion, most entertaining option would be Square Enix, but that too, is never going to happen.

EDIT:

Hm, now that I've read the Sega article, I suppose they could also be a candidate, although I'm not quite sure if they would nowadays still qualify as a "Bethesda level" acquisition, seeing as far as I'm concerned, a lot about Sega is decidedly faded glory...

Since I play the hell out of every jrpg on my ps4/switch I honestly don't care what studio xbox buys aslong as they aren't a Japanese dev

I'm skeptical that Microsoft will acquire a Japanese publisher in the near-future because the move could be seen as too invasive with Japanese consumers. And with the Series S Microsoft is apparently making some inroads in the Japanese market, so they probably don't want to risk it. But Atlus, Konami, Capcom, Sega, or Nihon Falcom would otherwise all be excellent candidates for an acquisition.

Whatever the case, I hope Microsoft uses the IP in their (current and upcoming) subsidaries' back catalogue in addition to current works. There are too many forgotten games and series from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s that would do well with a proper remake, re-imagining, or sequel.

@ThanosReXXX I do agree it is highly unlikely to be ubisoft but saying vivendi is more powerful then microsoft is jusy crazy.

I doubt activision /blizzard they are just a cod factory and not worth the 2 games you get a year for the most likely 15+ bill it would cost

My guess is sega, capcom , square or the more likely thing them announce the purchase of say 10 mid/large size developers all at once to be the same as a publisher purchase

@LtSarge Microsoft has a presence in Japan. Microsoft Japan Company is a subsidiary with its own CEO (Takuya Hirano) operating in Japan. Any Japanese aquisition could be made under that subsidiary.

I doubt it is but if it was Sega; Japan would disown MS. I mean they are barely allowed on the property now ...

Granted, I doubt they’d lock all the content to XBox if that was the case.

@Tharsman I asked people a couple of months ago if Microsoft Japan would be able to acquire companies in Japan but didn't get an answer. I suppose it's possible then.

Anyway, a lot seem to be pointing towards SEGA so we'll just have to wait and see.

@LtSarge it wouod be a lot more likely than them making the ownership under a small dev studio.

Either way, I'm sure MS has the legal team to figure out how to navigate any roadblocks.

I would not be happy if it was Ubisoft. Ubisoft games are good but they lack that special impact, in otherwords are quite forgettable. With the acquisition of zenimax microsoft is already a heavy hitter in western RPG's. I could die a happy man if microsoft bought sega. Shin megami tensei, persona, sonic, golden axe, crazy taxi, bayonetta, yakuza, warhammer 40k dawn of war + company of heroes. If they are looking to diversify their gamepass offerings I think sega is the way to go.

I honestly think it could be CD Projekt Red. Seems like they have a good relationship with Microsoft plus they are going through a bit of financial struggle.

Capcom would also be epic LOL

I'll bet it's sega, to me xbox has always felt like the sega successor or what sega would have become if things had gone differently

Ubisoft is far too big to be in this discussion. They're one of the big 4 publishers. Much much bigger than Bethesda. Arguably bigger than Xbox Game Studios itself, at present. They could be bought out in a hostile stock takeover, as Vivendi tried to do, but MS isn't into that game, and Yves isn't in the mood for selling control. I think that's a non-starter.

@mousieone With Sega and xCloud there's a fair bet that Xbox would be more welcome in Japan than Playstation at this point. Doubly so if MS plays nice and shares Japan content with Nintendo which is likely enough. I still don't think it's likely Japan would even approve. BUT the move that Sega is further carving their businesses into separate units labeled for individual resale does make one wonder.

I still think they're more likely to sell the amusements division since that's the least stable right now. BUT, they're cozy with MS and always have been, and if MS comes in with a sweet pot of bonus money right when they're in a financial black hole....that might be the difference between court protection and keeping on keeping on for the rest of the company. It's far from impossible, or even unlikely. And, it would be another case where MS wouldn't be strong-arming a company to take possession of it for business advantages so much as a good fit between a company teetering on locking the doors getting a bailout by MS who can justify the philanthropy of it for the business advantage it brings.

@Krzzystuff Since when does US DOJ apply regulatory scrutiny to market consolidation? The last time I can recall they did that was Ma Bell. And Ma Bell was seeking to be scrutinized to take their monopoly off the leash so they could divest into the tech sector. It's ok, they re-consolidated the ruse under the AT&T/Verizon split banners after 20 years apart.....no need for regulatory investigation here, there's two!

@Terrin It's not nearly as crazy as you think it is. They're a multi-media company, with large and long tentacles in various other branches.

Microsoft may look bigger, but they're basically "just" an IT company, albeit arguably the world's foremost one, but still more in a dedicated sector of business, even though they have diversified somewhat, but not nearly as wide as Vivendi.

And I did say more powerful, as in: more influential in media, which is something that Vivendi definitely is. It was a VERY hard battle for Ubisoft to stay out of their clutches, which already goes to show you how powerful they are. Microsoft would not have been able to duplicate the exact actions that Vivendi have taken over the last couple of years.

I myself have been in IT-related sales & marketing as a sales manager & team lead for well over 15 years, so I do happen to know a thing or two about how these things go behind the scenes and where the real, sometimes not immediately visible strengths of companies lie, and it's not always as clear and cut as it would initially seem.

@AJDarkstar
Yep. Seems very convenient to me that they are separating their businesses, making it much more appealing and easier for any bidders after just their games division.
We know Amazon and Google are out hunting publishers as well, so I think that's why MS have be so proactive in getting the talent in and why they've stated before that those companies are now their rivals and not so much Sony any more.

@AJDarkstar
It depends if the whole Cloud gaming thing takes off, as that's where these companies think the money is, not console sales.
I think once these apps are on Smart TVs and PC's, then MS could see Game Pass subscribers rocket and they need the constant supply of games for that.

I think if did buy SEGA, then they'd honour previous agreements like with Bethesda.

@NEStalgia ubisoft is the smallest of the big ppublishers, so by deafult they are the best bet for MS. MS doesn't need any hostile takeover either. most of these companies have common investors who can see the value in replacing ubisoft stock for MS

@ThanosReXXX Activison has 70B market cap, so MS can buy both ubisoft and ea instead.

@demian There's WAY more other factors involved than just a market cap, so that isn't a decisive factor at all. And EA will never be bought out by another company, much like Ubisoft.

As mentioned in my first comment in this thread, which I edited yesterday, it would seem that Sega is now a likely candidate instead. And they do have a long history as well, after all, going back all the way to the Dreamcast.

"Not confirmed" and "probably won't be for a while".

The world's going to end, it's not confirmed and probably won't be for a while. By the time it is clear I'm making this up you would have forgotten I ever said anything but I'm getting attention right now so that's nice.

@ThanosReXXX still a company with 70B market cap needs more (money and/or stocks) to get acquired than one with 40B market cap. Time Warner had sikko at size and cost 100B. If EA and ubisoft are impossible, Activision should be more than impossible

@demian Not if it's a mutual agreement. A hostile takeover might be tricky, but that's not what this is about. And again: there's WAY more factors involved than just the price tag, so it isn't as simple as that.