Topic: Which Studios Should Microsoft Acquire Next?

@LtSarge For clarification, this does not concern their game division. Just the entertainment stuff like pachinkos and arcades. Their game division is actually doing incredibly well as of late thanks to stuff like the success of the PC version of Persona 4 Golden, in addition to games like Persona 5 Royal & Scramble earlier in the year in addition to the Yakuza remasters on PS4. They also have stuff down the line like SMTIII HD, SMT V, P5S' localization, Yakuza 7, Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 and presumably stuff like Persona 5 Arena and the next numbered Persona game entirely based on comments from Atlus a year ago.

If MS were to buy them they'd probably not even be interested in the stuff causing them financial strife at the moment, so it's highly unlikely they're actually in need of an acquisition. It would also probably have a further reach of alienation from other consumers than Bethesda.

@TheFrenchiestFry I mean the entire company is recording 100 million dollars in losses at the end of their financial year so it doesn't matter if the gaming division is doing well when the entirety of the company is being affected. That's why they want 650 employees to voluntarily retire, i.e. they want to cut down the costs for the entire company, including their divisions. Doesn't matter if the gaming division is doing well, this decision will have an impact on them as well. Whether that impact is significant or not I don't know. Not to mention that we don't know how the restructuring of the company will affect them long-term. Getting rid of the majority of your entertainment division might greatly affect their future revenue stream.

Sega Sammy is definitely looking ahead years in the future and if they realise that this scenario persists then they just might look for a company to bail them out. Microsoft is a good candidate in that regard since they are a very financially stable company with an immense amount of liquidity and Sega has had a great relation with them dating as far back as the original Xbox. I say this as a huge JRPG and Persona fan but I would love for Microsoft to buy up Sega Sammy and make series such as Yakuza as well as Persona Xbox exclusives. Sega Sammy might also see Game Pass as a great service to reach out to more consumers than previously possible, especially in Japan, and putting their franchises on there will definitely attract lots of Japanese consumers. In other words, this acquisition would help out both sides.

@LtSarge Honestly not only do I feel an acquisition of SEGA is unneeded considering they're already incredibly close at the moment with that partnership deal that netted them PSO2 as a timed Xbox exclusive in addition to the Yakuza games, but as a Megami Tensei fan I'd highkey be extremely worried for Atlus' durability if they became an Xbox developer. Atlus games have historically bombed on Xbox consoles. I'd imagine part of that is due to the lack of a draw in from the Japanese audience for Xbox systems, but the one mainline Shin Megami Tensei game that came to their platform bombed really hard, and Persona 4 Arena did so badly on 360 that for Japan it was released as a PS3 console exclusive. I also heard Catherine did considerably worse than on PS3 which explains why Full Body never came to Xbox One, and that's not even an RPG at all.

I'd be more comfortable if SEGA's partnership extended into netting them something like Persona 5 Royal on Xbox Series X/Windows 10/Steam especially since Persona 4 Golden is already on there, or maybe even an Xbox-exclusive remaster of SMT Nine, but I'm not ok at all with the idea of seeing franchises like MegaTen, Yakuza or Valkyria Chronicles become Xbox only on consoles. MegaTen honestly owes a lot to Nintendo for its inception in the first place, and I'd argue games like Nocturne and the Persona games (of which Persona 1 was actually the first roleplaying MegaTen title to be localized in English) being on PlayStation is the reason the franchise has become considerably more well known in the West.

The solution for getting Japanese content on Xbox should be just getting the games on the console, not the studios at the corporation lmao. I'm sure Phil is just as good at smooth talking to SEGA about nabbing Persona or SMT on their console rather than going straight into pulling out the cheque book like "CAN I BUY YOU PLEASE HEHEEHEHE"

@TheFrenchiestFry I think the issue is that Xbox users aren't willing to spend a lot of money in order to try out JRPGs but if they experience them for the first time through a service that they're already paying a small amount for each month, then the interest might drastically increase. I've already seen plenty of interest for the Yakuza series on Xbox now thanks to 0, K1 and K2 being on Game Pass. Put Persona on Game Pass and lots of people will want to try out the games, especially when considering that they are known to be 100+ hours long and potential buyers will easily get turned off from reading that. So at least they get to try the games first and then they might buy them afterwards when their subscription runs out.

Not to mention that, while Persona and Yakuza have been getting more momentum in recent years, these franchises could gain even more popularity through Game Pass since they will be available on PC, Android and Xbox on day one whenever a new game comes out. Persona 5 still isn't out on PC despite it being out on PS4 for three years now. That could all change if Microsoft owns the IP. Imagine Persona 6 coming out and being able to play it on day one on either Xbox or PC for only €10. I can easily see hardcore gamers subscribing to the service for one month only just to blast through the entire game in one month. Simply put, a potential acquisition of Sega and Atlus could open up so many new opportunities for fans of the franchises. Why wait years for a port when you can play it at the same time as it comes out for everyone else. There will be less of a reason to buy a PlayStation console as well.

@LtSarge I think P5 on PC is practically an inevitability whether or not it happens because of Microsoft. You don't just have Persona 4 Golden surpass FFXV's record of being the most concurrently played single player RPG in Steam history near launch and not expect it to have an influence in whether or not the series can amass a viable following on that platform. I'd even go as far as predicting Atlus might even consider putting P6 on PC alongside PlayStation 5 whenever that happens now that it's proven Persona has staying power on that platform.

The reason it took years for these kinds of ports happening is mainly because Atlus were vocally outspoken about their stance about games being played on platforms other than what they were designed for. SEGA has actively wanted the PC playerbase to be exposed to their library for years and it's finally starting to show. They don't really need Microsoft for that at all. Plus, Persona being on PlayStation has literally done no damage sales wise to the IP. P5 is the single most successful game Atlus has ever made in its entire history of existing, and it's only on PlayStation.

If anything I think Atlus becoming a full time Xbox developer is just an easy way out of getting those games on the platform as soon as possible, and there are other methods they should pursue. I'd love to see Persona on more platforms, but not like this. Atlus should just have the common sense within them to realize their IPs could thrive even more if they weren't locked to a single system, and the same applies to Shin Megami Tensei. I don't want to live in a world where I can no longer play Persona games on my PlayStation consoles or SMT on my Nintendo ones. I'd love to see Xbox join the party but going as far as locking out the audience those franchises have been acquainted with for years is going several steps too far imo. At least Bethesda made sense because they started off developing for consoles exclusively for Xbox and Xbox players got special perks when playing those versions of their games next to PlayStation. Microsoft practically treat them like an extended second party developer the same way Sony and Nintendo treat Atlus when it comes to SMT/Persona. Even SIE acknowledged this when saying Persona was a "platform holder" for them.

Sega and MS belong together.

So after the recent news about Square Enix possibly being bought out, I've been thinking about Microsoft's next acquisition in a different way. Previously I thought that it's obvious that Microsoft would acquire SEGA but I don't think that's the case anymore. If you look at the ZeniMax acquisition, you need to ask yourself what the purpose was for Microsoft to acquire it. Well first off, the publisher has a lot of studios under its wings and owning them would mean more games being developed for Xbox in the future. Another reason is the amount of IPs as well as existing games that Microsoft can add to Game Pass. Remember a while ago when the acquisition was finalised and around 20 ZeniMax titles were added to Game Pass?

So based on all of this, an acquisition of SEGA doesn't make sense for me anymore. SEGA Sammy doesn't have a lot of in-house studios or at least not many noteworthy besides e.g. Atlus. Not to mention that SEGA barely makes games from their old IPs anymore, they just outsource most of them. Streets of Rage, Alex Kidd, even Sonic. Also, most of their IPs don't really have a wide appeal and most of the games that SEGA has developed are from decades ago, not recently. In other words, adding SEGA Mega Drive titles to Game Pass just doesn't feel that appealing. I think the best approach for Microsoft if they want certain titles like Persona 5 Royal on Game Pass is to simply negotiate for them individually. I just don't think SEGA is an attractive option for Microsoft based on the criteria of having more studios at your disposal as well as lots of modern games that you can immediately add to Game Pass.

What makes sense then for me is Square Enix and Ubisoft. Square Enix does have a fair amount of noteworthy studios like Eidos and Crystal Dynamics that develop Deus Ex and Tomb Raider (on top of Avalanche Studios which is not owned by Square Enix but they still develop the Just Cause games) and of course the studios that develop Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts and even the smaller titles like I Am Setsuna. Also, Square Enix is a Japanese company and having a strong foothold in Japan while also delivering tons of JRPGs on Game Pass makes total sense to me. The same reasoning can be made with Ubisoft, i.e. they have lots of studios and IPs as well as games they can immediately add to Game Pass.

So yeah, I can definitely see Microsoft acquiring either Square Enix or Ubisoft next, but I don't think they will acquire SEGA. It just doesn't make sense to me anymore.

I honestly dread the idea of SE going over to Microsoft as much as SEGA but that's just me. I'd honestly rather not live in a world where franchises like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts and especially stuff like Octopath and Bravely are forcibly turned into Xbox first party games despite the fact it basically guarantees PC releases.

I honestly think Microsoft should chill with the acquisitions for now and only really pursue studios that have a super close working relationship with them if they're going to buy out someone else in the near future. I'm honestly surprised Moon Studios isn't part of XGS yet. They're basically to Xbox what Insomniac was to PlayStation or what HAL was to Nintendo

If they're squarely doing these acquisitions JUST for Game Pass, then stuff like Square doesn't even need to happen to make that happen. They're already putting so much stuff on there without having to be bought.

@TheFrenchiestFry I wonder if Sony is forcing Microsoft hands unintentionally. I mean, Sony paid for timed exclusivity for Deathloop and Ghost Wire Tokyo and I read that Starfield was apparently also going to be a PlayStation timed exclusive before Microsoft stepped in. It feels like Microsoft acquired ZeniMax partially to avoid any future games being timed exclusive on PS. And the reason why I bring this up in the context of Square Enix is because Sony bought timed exclusivity for Final Fantasy XVI. It just feels like all the conditions that were present back then with ZeniMax are now present with Square Enix and if Sony keeps making timed exclusive deals for Square Enix games then it does feel like Microsoft will react sooner or later.

@LtSarge I think Sony moneyhatted FFXVI knowing that they gained a lot of traction and press for FFVII Remake's exclusivity, in addition to the fact Square's basically been a big third party name tied to their consoles since the beginning, with FF appearing on almost as many Sony consoles as Nintendo's at this point. Microsoft likely got antsy when they found out Sony were moneyhatting so many games but a deal as big as Bethesda had to have been in the works for a while considering it was announced ahead of the new consoles even going up for preorder

I have a feeling Bethesda was up for grabs considering they were probably in a less than desirable financial state after Fallout 76 and the Elder Scrolls Blades seemingly failed to gain that much traction. Microsoft being a potential bidder was probably due to the fact that publisher was pretty closely tied to Xbox even when they branched out to being multiplatform (Morrowind was console exclusive to Xbox, Xbox got the expansions to Oblivion and Skyrim a whole year before PS3 did, etc.)

Square recently shut down those claims that they were looking to sell but if they ever do it's going to be pretty hard for Microsoft to get ahold of them I feel. Since they're a publically owned company in Japan there's also laws in place where the government have to approve of specific acquisitions made, and it's completely up in the air whether they'd approve a completely foreign company trying to buy them out.

(Probably should change the headline to "which publisher should Microsoft acquire next" instead at this rate lol)

So after today's news, it honestly seems like the sky is the limit for Microsoft. They can buy up anything they want. However, I do feel like Activision Blizzard will be the first and last major acquisition they'll make. Major as in "$70 billion" major. They've acquired ZeniMax in order to appeal to the single-player enthusiasts and they've acquired Activision Blizzard in order to appeal to casual gamers and the mass audience. It seems like they've got those groups covered and to me it only makes sense for them to target other groups now. Publishers like Ubisoft, Take-Two etc. are out of the question for me now.

At this point Microsoft has to acquire a Japanese publisher next. Square Enix has been my top choice for a long time now, but I'd also think Capcom and of course Sega would be other great choices. Just put more JRPGs and other Japanese games on Game Pass and it will soon be able to appeal to most consumers.

I agree Sega doesn't have the portfolio to really do much for MS. Ya, we love Atlus but they're extremely niche, all things considered. Even their best selling title is like 5m spanning 3 different releases on 2 consoles. All others are sub-mil, save perhaps SMTV which will likely break 1m soon.

But they need a Japanese publisher. They don't have any appeal atm. Honestly, they should see if Mistwalker would take a fat paycheck to come under their umbrella and bankroll Sakaguchi to start pumping out as many quality JRPGs as possible.

@JaxonH What are your thoughts on Square Enix then? Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Star Ocean, Mana, SaGa, they've got so many JRPGs under their belt. On top of that, they also have Tomb Raider, Just Cause, Deus Ex, Life is Strange etc. to appeal to a Western audience. If Microsoft acquires Square Enix, then they really wouldn't need any more Japanese companies. That would honestly be enough for them given the amount of Japanese IPs.

@LtSarge
If they acquired Square Enix, it's a wrap. I almost feel like SE (at least big budget SE) is bought out by Sony at this point though- all their big games are releasing PS exclusive now. Sure, they're dropping Triangle Strategy on Switch in March, and I'm incredibly excited for that, but their big budget games are all sold out to PS nowadays.

But, SE puts a lot of games on Switch, so that would hurt pretty bad to see that stop, personally.

I'm just not sure SE wants to sell. Not every company does, or has the shareholder approval. But I admit, SE would be a fatal blow. I'm not sure I want to see that happen. I do want MS to acquire a JP studio though. Just not sure which one. If Bandai Namco sold to them that would be just as fatal. Or Capcom, for that matter.

But, I guess they're gonna do what they're gonna do. We'll find out soon enough.

A real d-move would be if ms went to disney and worked out a marvel/starwars contract, to be the only developer of all games marvel/ starwars("look at all the devs we have. We(ms) could make any game and style of game you want"). Also, I'm surprised no one has managed a image comics deal or game. Other than a few cameos in fighting games. A spawn game would be nice, if done right.

Electronic Arts

More Japanese content on Xbox would be great and given its previous history with MS, Mistwalker is a studio I'd love to see brought into the fold. Granted it does mobile games now but something like Fantasian would be great for Game Pass.

MS tends to go big, however, and while I don't like seeing publishers purchased, one that wouldn't bother me so much is Konami. That company is literally doing nothing with its IPs in regards to gaming. If MS could somehow work out a deal to acquire Konami or at least get rights to its franchises, that'd be great because at least MS might actually do something with Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Castlevania and Contra that involves more than pachinko machines.

To me, the smartest next publisher would be Warner Brothers. But I want it to be all of Warner Brothers both film and game studios.

Then make some of their games with movies as well.

@Gamer83 Not a fan of these acquisitions at all, but yeah, literally anything involving Konami would be better than the status quo of the company at present, and they're squatting on so many classic IPs.

The only way I think these acquisitions end up being good is if they continue to target companies that are being run extremely poor like Activision and Konami and turn them back around. Then, contrary to what some are saying, it wouldn't be bad for the industry really.

It would be a bit ironic given how poorly Microsoft managed some of their acquisitions in the past like Rare, but it does seem like Microsoft has learned from past mistakes in that regard. If we get IPs revived that should have never died off and Call of Duty to be more than just a yearly cash cow that's a shell of it's former self, then I'd say bring it on.

Obviously my vote for the next one would be Konami.