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Microsoft to acquire ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for $7.5B

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Re: Microsoft to acquire ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for $7.5B

#191

Post by Cthulhu_ »

greenduck wrote: post #42

All of these consolidations of power are nuts. Feels like we need another round of trust busting in the next 10/20 years to help introduce real competition back into the markets.

For now I think we'll wait and see; while the big companies slowly poison the well with microtransactions and live services, ruining games to push for sales, the indie market is massive, turning single developers pottering around in their proverbial basements into millionaires and spawning franchises left and right.

I mean Minecraft started off like that. Terraria is following behind it. Among Us, a $4 game on Steam released in 2018, suddenly became a meme and huge out of nowhere. Fall Guys, made by a small studio that mainly did web, Flash, Facebook and mobile games for most of their existence, came out of left field and created the top game of last month, which (if played right) is an instant brand because of their simple yet infinitely customizable cute characters.

There is still real competition because the big publishers cannot stop the small developers.

Re: Microsoft to acquire ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for $7.5B

#192

Post by darknavi »

IshKebab wrote: post #157
Doches wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading this the second time, I think it might be one of the best "we're being acquired by X" announcements I've ever read. Excited but restrained, and it acknowledges (somewhat implicitly, but still) that there's going to be _quite a bit_ of trepidation in Bethesda's fanbase over the change. "WHEN THE HELL WILL YOU TELL ME ABOUT STARFIELD?" and the rest of that paragraph actually fills me with a pretty high degree o…

Really? I was immediately unimpressed when they started trying to claim they did it so they can make better games, rather than because Microsoft offered them a boatload of money.

Why not both? So far Microsoft has been pretty "hands off" with the development process of a lot of the IPs it has acquired.

Re: Microsoft to acquire ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for $7.5B

#193

Post by Medox »

bstar77 wrote: post #159

This just further confirms that my energy and money is going to the indie space. The level of enjoyment I get out of Factorio, Cuphead, Cogmind, Crusader Kings III, Curious Expedition 2, EXA Punks, Elite Dangerous, Kenshi, etc is so much greater than any AAA title I've touched in the past 5 years, yet these games are cheaper and most can run on a potato. I want to play games, not interactive movies.

Speaking of punk and non-AAA, I'll throw in Frostpunk. Now, speaking of winter survivals (and non-AAA), The Long Dark is also a masterpiece.

Re: Microsoft to acquire ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for $7.5B

#194

Post by QuixoticQuibit »

curiousllama wrote: post #172

Microsoft is just trying to recreate console lock-in without having to subsidize hardware so much. (1) Microsoft is trying to expand their gaming division, but struggle with first-party games. This acquisition is an acknowledgement that MSFT needs Bethesda creatives. (2) Microsoft's big strategy right now is to build their Xbox ecosystem - they're pushing GamePass, Xcloud, etc. heavily, and trying to become Netflix f…

I don’t see how $10/mo is at all profitable with them adding all these AAA games to it.

Re: Microsoft to acquire ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for $7.5B

#195

Post by kleiba »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #153
apatters wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, if you ate McDonald's every day you'd probably think that there are no good restaurants anymore. My top 4 games by playtime in the last few years were Rimworld, Oxygen Not Included, Dwarf Fortress and WoW Classic. Honorable mentions go to Spelunky and Stellaris. It's to everyone's great regret that a single one of these titles was purchased by one of the shitty publishers you mentioned, fortunately it's the one…

You could make the argument that because of Steam having such reach / monopoly on the PC gaming market, Steam (and by extension Valve) is effectively the publisher of games like that, and a very large one at that. There's GoG that mostly focuses on vintage games, and Epic that spends tons of money to get (timed?) exclusives on indie games + free handouts, but I'm not sure how well it's working for them to get market…

Correct me if I'm wrong, but was id actually involved in the 2009 Wolfenstein or in New Order? I think not. However, they did develop Doom 2016...

Re: Microsoft to acquire ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for $7.5B

#196

Post by the_hoser »

theandrewbailey wrote: post #80
wpdev_63 wrote: post #7

Holy sh!t. Bethesda is huge! Well I was just thinking the other day that Microsoft really doesn't have any first party studio that are really as good as Sony's first party. IMO they didn't release a game 'this' gen that makes picking up a xbox one worth it. This could change that with fallout and doom. Also this allows them to bring the ID tech engine under their stewardship.... I just hope that they don't trash the…

> Also this allows them to bring the ID tech engine under their stewardship. It doesn't have to be id tech, but can they make Todd Howard use some other engine than whatever Gamebryo monstrosity Bethesda Softworks been using for 20 years?

Only do that if you never want to see another Elder Scrolls/Fallout game release again.

Re: Microsoft to acquire ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for $7.5B

#197

Post by weeeeelp »

Trasmatta wrote: post #125
syshum wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly it is hard for me to see how Microsoft can ruin Bethesda any worse than ZeniMax was already.... the new Doom was ok, but the new Fallout was TERRIBLE, as with many other recent Bethesda ventures...

I would say the new Doom was much more than okay. One of the best playing FPS's I've played. And everything that Arkane makes is gold.

To add to the parent here, Doom was made by id Software, which generally has a huge history of making very good FPS games. I'm certain they were given a lot of leeway from the producer.

Arkane's 2016 Prey was just amazing... shame so few immersive sims get made anymore.

Re: Microsoft to acquire ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for $7.5B

#199

Post by staticman2 »

iruoy wrote: post #101
staticman2 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if they are moving to a subscription model because players hate the Windows store and basically refuse to use it instead of Steam when purchasing games. Having failed at running a store I wonder if they've decided plan b is running a rental service.

I think the Microsoft store is pretty good actually. I got 6 months of game pass for PC and didn't encounter any problems.

When it works it's fine but sometimes the window store breaks and you basically have to reinstall Windows- in whole or in part- to get it running again. It also is designed to prevent modding and doesn't work with Steam Link for remote play even though normal non-steam games work with Steam Link just fine.

Re: Microsoft to acquire ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Softworks for $7.5B

#200

Post by tormeh »

fendy3002 wrote: post #68
francis_t_catte wrote: post #22

Soon we'll just have Microsoft, Epic, and a conglomeration of EA, Activision, and Ubisoft after Bobby Kotick forces them all to merge. Facebook will bungle up any chance they have of capturing the gaming market after writing a cryptic paragraph about their legal right to request blood samples from all Oculous users in the TOS. Valve will quietly exit software development altogether, and pivot to building custom vanit…

There are more: - paradox interactive - rockstar, which is strong from gta v online and rdr - cd projeckt red, which also get income from gog and hyped cyberpunk - valve won't exit software devs in short time, their investment in vr is big. I won't be surprised if they release vanity knives with lootbox though IMO Bethesda decided to sell to MS because their recent games cannot generate enough popularity. They can on…

> IMO Bethesda decided to sell to MS because their recent games cannot generate enough popularity

Truly mystifying why they'd want to create an MMO. It's as if they hadn't been following the news. The success of WoW is incredibly hard to repeat, and most studios who try fail, no matter how much money they throw at it.

The MMO space has been, WoW aside, a money bonfire for one and a half decade at this point.

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