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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

#401

Post by AlexC04 »

awill wrote: post #274

It's unfortunate that the Xbox Series X and PS5 are so, so, so similar. It seems stupid to have to purchase 2 nearly identical boxes. It's not just the console. You then need multiple controllers for each, and possibly other accessories (Sony has a PS5 specific headset, camera, charger, will have a PS5 VR etc.) I've historically preferred PS exclusives (Uncharted, Spiderman, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn), and the cr…

I've been a Playstation gamer since the PS2. I have multiple PS4s and a library of over 1000 games in my digital account.

With that context laid out that I am a big-time PS user, looking at the XBOX game pass subscription model where you get the console for free is REALLY tempting.

In every market I've looked at, there is a deal that works out to about $30 a month for two years. They give you the console, instant access to hundreds of really good games, day one access to all microsoft first-party games included in the price, many new release games from other publishers (for example EA ACCESS titles). Free monthly titles on PC.

AND all of that is actually CHEAPER than buying the console with the two years of subscription.

Plus the XBOX is going to have a number of new features related to second-screen-game-streaming that are also really exciting.

I'm really torn here right now. I might move away from playstation for this next generation - the XBOX is looking like it is going to be a big deal this time round.

OTOH - I really want to play the Miles Morales spider-man ... so there are arguments on both sides. To say nothing of the third option involving an Nvidia RTX3080...

I honestly don't know what I'm going to do yet.

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

#402

Post by szundi »

aplummer wrote: post #341
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…

We seem to have near identical taste so can I add: - they are billions - Kerbal space program - faster than light To your awesome indie games list

Kerbal is so awesome, it brought me back some authentic gaming experience

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

#403

Post by modeless »

tosh wrote: post #301

Carmack on the acquisition: > Great! I think Microsoft has been a good parent company for gaming IPs, and they don’t have a grudge against me, so maybe I will be able to re engage with some of my old titles. https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/1308069857913720832...

Carmack left Zenimax because they wanted him to work on sequels instead of VR. They only started caring about VR once the $2B Oculus acquisition was dangled in their faces, and then scrambled to find a way to get a slice that they didn't earn.

I didn't buy DOOM because I didn't support Zenimax's cynical lawsuit/cash grab. Maybe now I'll get DOOM after the Microsoft acquisition closes.

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

#404

Post by shakezula »

apatters wrote: post #94
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…

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…

Stellaris wins hands down for me in most time played. Honestly such a good game.

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

#405

Post by monsieurbanana »

KitDuncan wrote: post #324
gambiting wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work for a large video games company and we usually write two backends - DirectX for Windows and Xbox, and a special one for PlayStation. That is changing slightly with Stadia, because that forces us to write a Vulkan renderer too. But on the few games that have it, the DX12 performance is better on windows than that of the Vulkan renderer backend - so we haven't released it to the public.

Please do release it to the public! Just for Proton and to experiment/bechmark.

As much as I'd like that, I can hear from here the outcries from the gaming community.

"Your game is bugged! It doesn't work! I want a refund!"

"But the vulkan renderer is only tested on Stadia, it's not officially supported and the game is free."

"I. Want. A. Refund."

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

#406

Post by iaw »

apatters wrote: post #94
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…

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…

Dead Cells, Enter the Gungeon, Binding of Isaac, Papers Please, Return of the Obra Dinn, Spelunky 2

All fantastic games better than most major studio titles.

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

#407

Post by sailingparrot »

acruns wrote: post #344
lifty wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While statements like these are common when mergers/buyouts happen, the final decision down the line will not be his to make. Not saying that things will not happen as he states, but it shouldn't be seen as a certainty.

Why would they limit there revenue to a single platform? That doesn't make sense to me. But I don't play videogames, haven't since my kids were teenagers, think Call of Duty. I have sold software to corporate, and I can say the revenue from software sales far outweigh hardware revenues.

Targeting all platforms means the Zenimax division within Microsoft will make more money. Targeting only Xbox means more Xbox will be sold, so Xbox division will make more money.

It's not clear which one is a better deal for MS.

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

#408

Post by MaxBarraclough »

monsieurbanana wrote: post #405
KitDuncan wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please do release it to the public! Just for Proton and to experiment/bechmark.

As much as I'd like that, I can hear from here the outcries from the gaming community. "Your game is bugged! It doesn't work! I want a refund!" "But the vulkan renderer is only tested on Stadia, it's not officially supported and the game is free." "I. Want. A. Refund."

Put another way, then: doing so would mean taking on a considerable support burden.

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

#409

Post by leetcrew »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #173
akhilcacharya wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, the joke is funny but realistically it's clear that Valve is getting back in the game, so to speak, and we're probably going to see some VR followup to Alyx in the next year or two.

Sort of; unless they make more games, Alyx is "just" a tech demo or an attempt to sell more of their VR kits. It's weird, they've got some seriously good franchises that they haven't done anything with; Half-Life could use a sequel every few years; Portal could become a massive franchise; Team Fortress 2, CS:GO and DOTA 2 are huge money makers but I think they're reluctant to make sequels to those because of balancin…

as a player, I'm not really sure what would be gained from a sequel to csgo. any big change to the mechanics would just piss everyone off, and smaller changes can just be done as updates to the existing game. csgo was only ~$20 when it launched, and it's free now, so I don't think there's much financial upside to selling a newer cs title. they already make plenty of money off skins.

the only thing I see that they could really change in a new title would be the graphics, but I don't think that's much of a selling point to the audience. cs players care more about getting >100fps on their potato computer than pretty graphics.

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

#410

Post by arrosenberg »

tinus_hn wrote: post #281
epicide wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make a good point to bring up indie development (WoW excluded), but I think looking at the storefronts is also important. For these big conglomerates, the trendy thing is to have your own games store. Complete with exclusivity deals, privacy concerns, and plenty more. That's not to say that every game on a store has these issues. However, I think the lesson from mobile app stores is: don't discount the impact tha…

> For these big conglomerates, the trendy thing is to have your own games store. Complete with exclusivity deals How else are they going to get people to use these stores?

Better customer service, user experience, and game selection. All these various online game stores should be required, by law, to allow any publisher to put their games on the platform for a standard publishing rate. No exclusivity, no special rate setting. Those are classic anti-competitive tactics, and this is yet another front to fight that battle on.
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