Microsoft acquires Zenimax Entertainment for $7.5 billion

[deviake]

You failed to appreciate my counterpoint. A "cheaper", "stripped down PC" is a machine that has every bit the identity that the Nintendo and Sony consoles do.

Observe the reasons console gamers raise for why they abhor the PC platform.

• They want plug n' play simplicity. It's cheaper, and it's simpler to know what you're buying.
• They value greater stability of games.
• They want to use a controller, not a keyboard + mouse. They don't want to suffer a competitive disadvantage when using the former in multiplayer, and they prefer for games to build themselves around it as the primary input for interface decisions.
• They want to avoid online cheaters.
• They want all of their gaming funneled into a single account. They don't want to be spread across multiple launchers they have to manage.

When you consider these, and you consider that the XSX/XSS offer better hardware values than any PC on the market, by a gaping margin, and a truly high-end experience of what is available in PC gaming at a much lower price point, again by a gaping margin, you see the attractiveness of the consoles.

That is its identity, and nothing else out there offers it.

Not in terms of exclusives (and in Nintendo's case hardware as well), you just want something to argue about. Also addressed this in my initial post:

Xbox at this point is just a cheaper gaming PC as far as I can tell, which is fine if you don't wanna pay extra to play the games.

 

[Madmick]

Not in terms of exclusives (and in Nintendo's case hardware as well), you just want something to argue about. Also addressed this in my initial post:

Xbox at this point is just a cheaper gaming PC as far as I can tell, which is fine if you don't wanna pay extra to play the games.

Yet it isn't just a "cheaper gaming PC". That's the point of my bullet list above. PCs don't offer that anymore than the Xbox offers the versatility of Windows. They're highly similar, but not the same.

Where they are the same, I also wanted to emphasize that is isn't just a "cheaper" PC like it's some Sam's Club bargain bin throwaway knockoff of a name brand product. Right now there are hundreds of different prebuilt PC models being sold on Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg, Microcenter, Fry's that are inferior as gaming machines, and yet cost more. So if one is so attracted to gaming PCs why wouldn't one consider an XSX? If viewing it as exactly the same, it reigns as the supreme value among the entire PC gaming landscape, after all.

 

[deviake]

Yet it isn't just a "cheaper gaming PC". That's the point of my bullet list above. PCs don't offer that anymore than the Xbox offers the versatility of Windows. They're highly similar, but not the same.

Where they are the same, I also wanted to emphasize that is isn't just a "cheaper" PC like it's some Sam's Club bargain bin throwaway knockoff of a name brand product. Right now there are hundreds of different prebuilt PC models being sold on Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg, Microcenter, Fry's that are inferior as gaming machines, and yet cost more. So if one is so attracted to gaming PCs why wouldn't one consider an XSX? If viewing it as exactly the same, it reigns as the supreme value among the entire PC gaming landscape, after all.

The pros and cons of both are known to anyone who has played both. Your life satisfaction will improve if you stop inventing things to argue about

 

[Deadwing88]

Supposed leaked Starfield images...

 

[BAM]

Kinda confused, weren't all these titles cross-platform? So are people celebrating Microsoft buying up studios and making games less accessible?

Why? Spite?

 

[jerzey devil]

https://www.inverse.com/gaming/bethesda-microsoft-xbox-exclusivity-elder-scrolls-6-interview

Microsoft and Zenimax executives are saying silent for the most part on what this deal means for Bethesda, but the company's founder Christopher Weaver (who left in 2002) is free to speak on the subject. In 2007, Weaver was Zenimax's largest shareholder with a 33 percent stake in the company. Today, he says he holds "a pittance of the stock." Nevertheless, he remains an interested party, to say the least.

"I was aware of the transaction and it is obviously gratifying news," Weaver tells Inverse.

For a bit more insight into the Microsoft-Bethesda deal, we spoke to Weaver via email, where he shared his thoughts on everything from what the deal means for upcoming games ("I have yet to meet an executive who does not want to accelerate the sale of a potential product") to the chances of Xbox exclusivity ("What Microsoft owns, Sony cannot get") to his opinion on the growing trend toward industry consolidation ("a product can only be as good as the creatives who make it") and disc-less gaming consoles ("High-speed internet will provide the bridge.")

MICROSOFT AND SONY HAVE SPENT THE LAST FEW YEARS ACQUIRING OTHER GAME STUDIOS. IS CONSOLIDATION GOOD OR BAD FOR THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY?

This is a difficult answer because it is so dependent upon the company being acquired. On the one hand, digital distribution, powerful tools, and sophisticated game engines have brought the cost of quality development down into the realm of the indies. At the end of the day, a product can only be as good as the creatives who make it. Properly managed, consolidation can provide a powerful mechanism for groups to share experience and "best practices." I do not think it is any accident that this announcement occurred so close to Sony’s PS5 announcement. There are only a limited number of proven creators of AAA. What Microsoft owns, Sony cannot get. There are many economies of scale that consolidation between the right partners has the capacity to provide, but the ultimate test will be evidenced by the quality of products produced over time.

 

[rob mafia]

Kinda confused, weren't all these titles cross-platform? So are people celebrating Microsoft buying up studios and making games less accessible?

Why? Spite?

to be fair, nothing seems any less accessible.

so far, microsoft seems to be fine with getting the $ from more game sales than less game sales and exclusivity.

 

[Dizzy]

Kinda confused, weren't all these titles cross-platform? So are people celebrating Microsoft buying up studios and making games less accessible?

Why? Spite?

Yup lol

 

[Schoolboy Q]

Supposed leaked Starfield images...

View attachment 801678

View attachment 801679

Looks great, will look fantastic on PC.

 

[HereticBD]

Kinda confused, weren't all these titles cross-platform? So are people celebrating Microsoft buying up studios and making games less accessible?

Why? Spite?

There's no spite, unless you're on either side of the pathetic "console fanboy war". Most are just acknowledging that it's a hell of a power move by MS. Nobody owns a PS5 or an Xbox Series X. Everyone has potential access to whatever. If you feel one company has the edge, then go with them. Nobody is forcing anyone to be loyal to any brand. If you still like Sony's line up, then go with Sony. If you like MS's potential line up, then go with them. If, like most gamers, you spend stupid amounts of money on gaming anyways, go with both.

There's no invisible wall here. Buy what you want. You're not being forced into anything.

 

[BAM]

There's no spite, unless you're on either side of the pathetic "console fanboy war". Most are just acknowledging that it's a hell of a power move by MS. Nobody owns a PS5 or an Xbox Series X. Everyone has potential access to whatever. If you feel one company has the edge, then go with them. Nobody is forcing anyone to be loyal to any brand. If you still like Sony's line up, then go with Sony. If you like MS's potential line up, then go with them. If, like most gamers, you spend stupid amounts of money on gaming anyways, go with both.

There's no invisible wall here. Buy what you want. You're not being forced into anything.

well, it's more about access to legacy titles rather than loyalty to the hardware.

If Bethesda and Co go exclusive, I'll just get Fallout/Elder Scrolls/Doom on PC. I'm not going to bother getting redundant devices that do the same thing except play two or three different titles here or there.

Taking multi-platform titles with decades of fan goodwill and making them exclusive annoys me. However, Sony and Halo developing their own shit and keeping it exclusive is fine by me (ie Halo, God of War, Gears of War, Forza, Gran Turismo etc).

 

[LuchaBear]

well, it's more about access to legacy titles rather than loyalty to the hardware.

If Bethesda and Co go exclusive, I'll just get Fallout/Elder Scrolls/Doom on PC. I'm not going to bother getting redundant devices that do the same thing except play two or three different titles here or there.

Taking multi-platform titles with decades of fan goodwill and making them exclusive annoys me. However, Sony and Halo developing their own shit and keeping it exclusive is fine by me (ie Halo, God of War, Gears of War, Forza, Gran Turismo etc).

Sony took a major character like Spiderman and completely made him exclusive. So much for "decades of fan goodwill.."

 

[LuchaBear]

The long running tradition of people being bias against Microsoft never ends. Hypocrisy up in this bitch.

 

[BAM]

Sony took a major character like Spiderman and completely made him exclusive. So much for "decades of fan goodwill.."

not a fan of that either, but Sony has owned Spiderman rights since 1999.

 

[LuchaBear]

not a fan of that either, but Sony has owned Spiderman rights since 1999.

You might want to check out the past like twenty Spiderman games, they came out on the Nintendo and Xbox systems as well.

 

[Mau]

Sony took a major character like Spiderman and completely made him exclusive. So much for "decades of fan goodwill.."

And Street Fighter.

 

[Mau]

not a fan of that either, but Sony has owned Spiderman rights since 1999.

Not videogames.

 

[LuchaBear]

And Street Fighter.

How can I forget...


Ya @Dizzy, fuck off lol.

 

[BAM]

And Street Fighter.

again, exactly. That's bullshit. It's even a competitve E-sport and to make that exclusive is bullshit. If they came up with it, fine, but they didn't.

 

[HereticBD]

Taking multi-platform titles with decades of fan goodwill and making them exclusive annoys me.

I just don't understand that argument. Plenty of third party developers are swept up in this game. It just seems that some people don't like it, if they aren't "draft picks". MS essentially just spent big to pick up some all stars, and are looking to buy a championship. It's all fair. They want to win.

The thing I really struggle with, are people's assertions that this limits options, and that you must buy one or the other. Nobody is holding a gun to anyone's head, and forcing them to buy an Xbox. This isn't a team sport where you might feel loyal to a city out of pride or whatever. It's just electronic entertainment. What do you lose if you switch sides? Where does that loyalty come from? Sony or MS isn't going to give you a cookie if you stay loyal to them, nor will your city throw a parade for them if they win the "console wars". How is anyone so passionate about this shit?