- It appears that the Microsoft - Zenimax merger has been approved in the EU
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Decision(s): 05.03.2021: Art. 6(1)(b)
Art. 6(1)(b) states that the merger is compatible.
ID: gq7rga0ID: gq71kvn[removed]
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ID: gq7c4yrPure speculation admittedly. But as someone who is currently rocking a PS4 Pro with every intention of staying in the Sony ecosystem, I'm wondering if the strong PS5 sales will result in the Fallouts and Elder Scrolls of the future being released cross platform.
Granted, the bigger titles will likely have some timed exclusivity, but it's hard to imagine a world where Fallout 5 is an Xbox/PC exclusive. They'd be missing out on tens of millions of sales.
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Master chief fantasy sci fi rpg when?
ID: gq73djqIntroducing Halo 76
ID: gq762w2We certainly need more games in the Halo Universe. I wouldn't be shocked to see a Destiny style Halo game in the future that's MMO esque in a sense. Slightly more off the wall but I would also like to see an RPG in the Halo Universe.
ID: gq7a7kxSeriously, I've love this but not even with the RPG elements just an open world Halo game sounds super fun
ID: gq7dbqwSuper smash bros style hero shooter with all the Microsoft IPs please. Steve out there doing fortnite things, while Davahkiin is on the other side shouting people off the map.
ID: gq7bqxwA single-player Halo RPG could actually be cool
ID: gq8f3zoJokes aside, the point of the purchase was to diversify Microsoft's content. They've gone back to the Halo/Gears/Forza well too many times.
ID: gq815aaStarfield?
ID: gq894jkCmon Master Chief, let's get the FUCK outta here
ID: gq78z9nFinish The Fight!
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This is one of this gaming things that you never would expect. I always knew Bethesda and by extension ZeniMax had a good relationship with Microsoft, but I never thought of Microsoft buying them.
With one swoop Microsoft has Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Starfield, Doom, Wolfenstein, Quake, Dishonored, and a ton of others in their hand. It's just crazy when you think about it.
ID: gq7i5ukIt is crazy but, from my Perspective as a Main PC gamer Microsoft guarantees I can play these on PC.
ID: gq7c9psWell they got the money
ID: gq7g78qI’m excited about it because we’ll hopefully get higher quality ‘Bethesda’ games
ID: gq7t8pgThis is one of this gaming things that you never would expect. I always knew Bethesda and by extension ZeniMax had a good relationship with Microsoft, but I never thought of Microsoft buying them.
It makes sense though in retrospect. The #1 criticism Microsoft has received is that it just has way fewer quality exclusives than Sony.
This basically solves that issue, but let's hope it's more than just Microsoft making existing franchises exclusive (Minecraft puts some hope there).
ID: gq88pnbI hope Microsoft puts one of their studios to work on a proper sequel to Quake 1
ID: gq7uoo6Microsoft owns Doom, Wolfenstein, Perfect Dark, and Halo. It's like a lineup of influential FPS.
ID: gq7jhbzI imagine Starfield will be on playstation, due the fact the game was planned to be multi-plat and is most likely close to being finished. But I can't imagine the next DOOM, TES6, or FO5 will be on PS5. They'll be Xbox/PC exclusive. They effectively "won" this generation.
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Which Infinity Stone will microsoft get next?
ID: gq77xfpWho will buy who: Disney vs Microsoft.
ID: gq77v8dWhile some may disagree with me I think they are looking out east. Some people are going to say a Japanese company wont get bought by an American company, but in the reality of it as much money as Microsoft has, I'm certain there is a eastern game studio that they can get that can help craft a larger gaming presence in Japan/Asia for them. Remember it doesn't have to be just for the Xbox consoles, they might try to help improve xCloud in the asian market.
I figure, if they could get some JRPG's just for the xCloud/Xbox systems that might be really appealing for the East Asian market.
ID: gq8487pMicrosoft tried to buy Nintendo. It didn't go as well as expected for them:
Steve Ballmer, the former CEO for Microsoft, sent Bachus and others to make the pitch. "Steve made us go meet with Nintendo to see if they would consider being acquired," he recalled. "They just laughed their asses off. Like, imagine an hour of somebody just laughing at you. That was kind of how that meeting went."
Not every company wants to be bought. Some take pride in their heritage and history.
ID: gq8i549I could see it being Paradox. Their grand strategy games are well suited for gamepass and they are essentially the only ones making high profile GSG besides Creative Assembly. And with Stellaris having already been successfully ported to consoles the others should be doable, especially with microsoft bucks. They also own the World of Darkness IP that could be juicy for a studio like Obsidian to work on, especially now that from what I understand Bloodlines 2 will more or less have to be completely remade after the original studio Paradox had working on it bungled it up completely. I think Paradox also owns the Tyranny IP which would make things easier if Obsidian ever wants to make a sequel to that.
ID: gq887y3Hopefully none. Microsoft buying up studios is bad for the gaming community
ID: gq7cqe6I'd put my money on SEGA
ID: gq7kva7I doubt they will buy them, but theres rumors they will be working with Nintendo this year.
There was rumors before they announced all these companies they’ve bought that they were actually trying to buy Valve.
ID: gq7oetyMy bet is Ubisoft. They have a giant library and yearly releases, making it a perfect addition to gamepass.
ID: gq7q1hkShot in the dark, but EA or Ubisoft. Not right away, but a few years down the road.
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Was there ever a merger that hasn't been approved, on the last ten years?
ID: gq74zk8You're not going to see a lot of mergers being blocked because these companies will be hiring people to analyse whether a merger is likely to be blocked or not. They're not going to waste their time and money on a merger that's likely to be blocked unless it would be really beneficial for them.
ID: gq771fmMost mergers wouldn't be announced unless they were confident they'd be accepted
ID: gq74fesTmobile and AT&T was blocked a while back. tmobile and sprint was approved though.
ID: gq78snyMergers like this are huge, so before it’s even attempted they go over every legal possibility to make sure that it will go through to the courts. That’s why you won’t see news about mergers not going through because companies do they homework in order to make things as speedy as possible, it has nothing to do with the system being corrupt and that’s coming from someone who will 100% say that the system is corrupt.
ID: gq79iwwSainsbury's and ASDA
ID: gq76d6yThat ARM acquisition by Nvidia isn't looking like a sure thing yet.
ID: gq74otaPlenty of small ones. The headline ones are usually well-prepared enough to avoid being blocked.
ID: gq776gqComcast and time warner cable
ID: gq7b96zThe page linked by this thread has a "statistics" link you can follow, it's not exactly immediate to read because it has a lot of numbers, but it seems like plenty of mergers have been either rejected or outright withdrawn mid-process, see for yourself.
ID: gq79z5gThe corporate firms would get a black mark if the mergers were blocks. Merger that was banned staples/Office Depot in 2016 (there’s a case on it).
But it looks like that it was just allowed in 2020 which makes sense because the reason they weren’t allowed to merge was bc the court was skeptical about online retailers being legitimate competitors (Amazon) and obviously that is different now.
ID: gq79p32Schick and Harry’s
ID: gq7f5quEvery attempt from Couche Tard to merge with another company has been blocked.
ID: gq7h334The Siemens-Alstom rail merger was blocked by the European Comission a few years back
ID: gq7mhrhSometimes it can be approved with conditions. For example, the EU made Disney sell the Sky shares owned by Fox for that acquisition while the US made them sell some of the TV networks.
ID: gq7r1d2If a merger would likely be blocked it wouldn't have been attempted in the first place.
ID: gq8488eFox + Disney merger had many conditions added on by both the EU and US regulators.
Most notably Disney couldn't keep Fox's sports catelog due to already having ESPN in the US.
EU had issues with Sky (and I believe some sports too)
ID: gq86o4tWas there ever a merger that hasn't been approved, on the last ten years?
You can search it for yourself on the website of the European commission. Just glancing at it there's for example the merger of SIEMENS / ALSTOM that got rejected. Same thing with DEUTSCHE BÖRSE / LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE GROUP or RYANAIR / AER LINGUS for that matter.
ID: gq8nub7In Europe? Lots
ID: gq7z541Comcast and Time Warner was denied.
...which is (one of the reasons) why the approval of AT&T and Time Warner was idiotic.
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Not a shocker. XBOX really are tryna get all those RPGs (inXile, obsidian, bethesda). Also makes sense for game pass - you can spend a longg ass time in fallout exploring.
ID: gq77ivvWhen you think about it Microsoft is probably one of the biggest names in WRPG's now. They have Pillars of Eternity, Wasteland, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, then soon Avowed, and what ever else that is baking in the kitchen.
ID: gq7d3uh(inXile, obsidian, bethesda).
I hope with MS' unlimited budget we can now throw a shitton of money in those companies. I want them to throw money at every Arkane Immersive Sim and put some proper marketing too so we can actually have a sucessful one and people don't sleep on great titles.
ID: gq763x4This is about whether the merger is legal, not whether or not it makes financial sense.
ID: gq7jt5eIt actually doesn't make much sense to subscribe just for these types games. If you are gonna spend a long time in them you better just buy the game them pay a monthly subscription just for them (At least in the months you are playing a big RPG)
ID: gq7ayhxA few years from now is going to be a terrible time to be an RPG fan with a PS5.
ID: gq7ado7I guess they finally realized that RPG fans never bothered to buy an Xbox
I personally haven't ever even considered buying an Xbox because they've never had any exclusives that appealed to me. Even with this these RPGs will almost definitely be on PC as well though
ID: gq7cdabNow if only Microsoft can save Bioware from EA, they would have almost all the major western rpg makers
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While I’m a little worried about the frequency that companies are buying up other companies in general, at least it wasn’t Take Two or anything.
No real hopes for what will come of this, since most of Bethesda’s studios wouldn’t gel much with Microsoft’s IPs. Maybe make a Smash-like game?
ID: gq7bjmjA Fallout game made by Obsidian is also possible.
ID: gq7fgymHow about an open world Shadowrun rpg?
ID: gq7cuxtAlways thought Microsoft to be more focused on RPG's and they got some of the best RPG creators in the industry.
I think Xbox could use some good rebranding, making more mascots for their console and perhaps allow IP's to interact with oneanother
ID: gq7fmogNo real hopes for what will come of this, since most of Bethesda’s studios wouldn’t gel much with Microsoft’s IPs
Huh? How?
ID: gq88ni8Microsoft buying up third party developers is bad for the gaming community. One company should not have control over the whole industry
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Curious if there will be any event or simply a blogpost with a video to confirm it once the acquisition is fully complete.
ID: gq70ssjMS gaming event is all but confirmed for the end of the month
ID: gq7px4mMarch 11th
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I still can't believe Microsoft bought Bethesda. This news was waay bigger than their next gen consoles. I remember seeing somebody tweet about it and thinking this was more of the bullshit next gen rumour mill's work, then seeing it trending, then goosebumps. Holy fuck. Back in the day when I was deeply invested in the console wars, this would have been quite the power up.
ID: gq7e6jgIt was really a holy shit that just happened thing in the industry that had everyone talking and even till this day haha.
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I really do hope this means improvements in Bethesda Softworks Bethesda Game Studios games, because while idSoftware, Arkane and even MachineGames (except Young Blood blooper) were doing from great to okay - the Bethesda Softworks itself were not and been going downhill for years and hitting bottom with Fallout 76 that was technical issue shitshow on launch. So yeah I hope cash injections and supervision of MS XBOX department means some improvements to future Elder Scrolls and Fallout, maybe a proper new engine or remade from scratch for modern HW and APIs to begin with.
ID: gq71unuEven without Microsoft, the BGS team had quadrupled in size since releasing Fallout 4 (100 employees to 400), the most sudden growth in the studio ever, even beating Morrowind to Oblivion (30 to 70).
We really are in uncharted waters now. For the first time, the BGS team are the size of a proper AAA studio, and have the funding of Microsoft behind them. Will this result in more scope? More polish? Will the now-diluted team be able to match the quality of their previous games? Plus we're seeing a brand new IP.
ID: gq7exxnFallout 76 was absolutely terrible at launch. I'm a huge fallout fan and I quit after a few hours, I tried a few times after that, it was still bad. Last October I was working through the game pass, along came 76.. ok, fine.. But, wow, I now think it's my favourite fallout. They really have turned it around.
ID: gq750wtdownhill for years
They released like one game in the past 5 years, which was a multiplayer spinoff title. Fallout 4 itself was critically acclaimed, despite the reaction from hardcore Fallout fans being more torn. But it's not even close to being as "downhill" as some people make it out to be.
And not again with the "new engine"
ID: gq76pypEvery time some gamer talks about 'rebuilding from scratch' in relation to Bethesda's engine, you know the gamer is clueless.
Their games are not jank because of the engine, they're jank because of the type of games Bethesda makes. They can take a combination of Unreal Engine 5, id Tech 7 and whatever dream engine you can think of, but once Bethesda is done making the engine do what is required for a Bethesda game, it will be just like their current engine again.
This is why nobody else makes Bethesda style games and why the only time CDPR tried it, we got Cyberpunk 2077. Because it's a difficult task.
ID: gq71j4wyou must've meant Bethesda Game Studios.
ID: gq73v2pYeah I’m hoping that they expand in the writing and quest department for their next games. I used to love Bethesda’s games but I found Skyrim to be fun but a very shallow game and Fallout 4 improved on gameplay but the writing got so much worse.
ID: gq75d0kbeen going downhill for years and hitting bottom with Fallout 76
I don't see the "downhill" anywhere. The only flop was 76 and that was because of how buggy and unpolished it was on release. Not because of the design.
I know someone will bring up Fallout 4. And to this I can point out the concurrent player numbers on Steam that steamroll most of other RPGs, including New "the best Fallout" Vegas. And the same goes for the size of the modding community. Fallout 4 modding has long since overtaken FNV modding. Basically, Fallout 4 was disliked by the FNV fanboys, but it is generally more liked than any other Fallout.
And to counter one last thing. Popularity isn't a proof of quality, but popularity is definitely an indication of quality. Why would people buy and play a game en masse, if it weren't good? If they didn't see a quality in the game? Every other game boasts their sale numbers to prove how good they are. Did people buy Witcher 3 because of how good the game is or because of some consumer conspiracy against quality?
ID: gq8nsm1Fallout 76, especially at launch, was mostly made by a newly acquired dev team and not the main Bethesda games studios team
ID: gq73am1Fallout 76 is zenimax game, not bethesda Maryland
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ID: gq73qskAre there any Microsoft studios that did better post-acquisition? Microsoft at best seems to stay separate and let studios do their own thing. Especially with the sheer size of Bethesda, I think it's unlikely they'd be that involved with production.
ID: gq7b0m1I know of plenty of examples of companies being bought up and then ruined in gaming, are there any positive ones that give you this hope?
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Which is a shame actually.
My stance is that the big tech monsters should be divided, and Microsoft is not the only one. They concentrate too much power under one roof. This is never good for society.
ID: gq80uu0Yeah I’m fine with companies acquiring single studios like Obsidian or Insomniac, but these billion dollar mergers just aren’t good.
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ID: gq8b6noTech giants were cute in the 2000s when their products were being used only by a small percentage of the population. Today computers (including smartphones) have become so ubiquitous that you aren't part of modern society without one.
To put it into context, it's like having 2 or 3 massive corporations owning and operating all the roads, railroads and airlines on earth. And they can ban you from using their roads/trains/airlines forever with no recourse if their bot accidentally flags you for suspicious activity.
ID: gq7jnnpBig game companies already coast on their cash cows and barely innovate beyond a few extra features to keep interest going. Merging just seems to make things worse. No one should be celebrating when it only benefits the shareholders.
ID: gq7sq38Better than Tencent
ID: gq86a1uThe problem is that these huge tech companies make ungodly amounts of money and have billions sitting in offshore accounts. They don't want to bring that cash home because that would mean paying taxes, so instead they do acquisitions. Pay few billion for some other company, generate growth that way and the investors stay happy.
Will this purchase ever turn a profit? Doesn't really matter as long as it makes sense for tax purposes.
ID: gq8k20cThe pearl-clutching comments like this for a games acquisition are absurd to me. There are 100 other big tech issues to be concerned about over a games company taking advantage of scale to offer a better service, not to mention the fact that MSFT is by no means approaching a monopoly in gaming with this.
ID: gq7wemyAs long as they stay hands off for the most part then I think we should be good. I'm sure Microsoft has watched EA fuck up some franchises. Afaik the only franchise EA hasn't meddled in was Respawn but then they got full on bought out.
In short: I do not believe anyone in Microsoft is going to be like "The next elder scrolls gets mtx like sports games".
ID: gq85a3eLol they just want to sell consoles and games. Its not like Facebook which holds complete dominance in messaging apps
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This is a great move for both companies really. Xbox gets a stable of huge AAA ip while Bethesda gets resources, support, and time to make their games better than ever.
ID: gq73vlaFinally someone is able to give the 2300+ employee strong, multibillion dollar company behind some of gaming's biggest IP's some ressources, they were really fighting for table scraps before.
ID: gq7aiinThis seems entirely baseless as a statement. Bethesda is a massive company who had continued to expand significantly over the past few years and their games already have plenty of time. I'm really not sure what you think Microsoft is offering to one of the biggest publishers in the industry that they didn't already have.
ID: gq795qbI do not think Bethesda is that great for Microsoft, if Gamepass will continue to be their main strategy for the future, Bethesda, ID, Arkane and Machine all put together releasing about a game every year, is not ideal especially since only Doom and a big RPG from Bethesda seem to get huge hype, Arkane are well liked but niche, and Machine seemed to have lost a lot of steam with Youngbloods.
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I find it hard to get excited about Microsoft acquiring companies. I just remembered what happend to Rare and Lionhead.
ID: gq7zo1iI have mixed thoughts on Rare. iirc they already had exodus between Banjo Tooie and Starfox Adventures. If Microsoft hadn't bought them out then Activision would have, so who knows how that would have panned out as the years went on.
Lionhead however definitely got screwed big time and that whole sad affair is emblematic of Microsoft's poor leadership at the time. Fable was horribly diluted with lame spin-offs and the team got squeezed to make a long-term game out of it. Glad we're getting a proper reboot next time around but it's still sad. At least several of the staff are at SEGA under Two Point.
ID: gq7nhlzI just remembered what happend to Rare
You mean how they've just made their most successful game in their entire existance.
ID: gq7qseaSorry to interrupt the circlejerk but Viva Pinata is still my favorite Rare game.
ID: gq7mdemManagement changed from back then tho
ID: gq7mbhzTo be fair the management and company direction were also quite different. Not saying there's no reason to be worried, but so far under Phil Spencer it's been quite different.
ID: gq7jhcaOh gosh, don’t remind me about Rare’s fate
ID: gq7tglmWhy are so many negative points about Microsoft so stuck in the past? I don’t see people shit talking Sony for the Cell anymore
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These companies are infinitely more powerful than the railroads that were broken up for being too powerful
ID: gq8dz8gYou have got to be joking... you're comparing a video game acquisition to a monopoly that affected literally every industry that wanted to ship product or people long distances? Come on man. You really need to look into the railroad monopoly if you think that.
Northern Pacific Railway literally killed an Idaho lumber company by raising its rates, simply because it was competing with a Montana lumber company. Why? Because investors in the railway also owned that Montana lumber company. As a result, the owner of the Idaho lumber company had to sell to that Montana lumber company. That's one example of how that one industry affected literally the entire economy.
Rockefeller also used the railways to enforce his monopoly with Standard Oil. His company was large enough that he could negotiate discounts with the railways with the promise of higher yields, which allowed him to lower his prices, which killed any smaller oil company. They had the ability to change rates on companies from virtually every industry to decide who lived and who died. Get some perspective man.
ID: gq8n72sRight because GAMING is the most important thing
You’re smoking the good shit if you think MS is more powerful than Rockefeller and the oil/rail barons.
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Quake smash game where it's an arena fps using the chief, doom guy and others when?
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I hope this leads to several things:
More funding for 76. The game has a lot of potential, but it's clear that the team is low on resources and manpower. Collaboration of BGS and Obsidian on new Fallout titles. Obsidian would lend Bethesda writers for the main quest and narrative, while Bethesda would lend Obsidian the engine and some people for worldbuilding and location design. Win-win-win, as Sir Hammerlock would say. A win for BGS, a win for Obsidian and a win for Fallout fans. I assume that Avowed is too far into development, but I secretly hope that they would switch to Bethesda engine. A lot of the issues with The Outer Worlds would be instantly solved by having Creation engine - a lot of badly designed systems in the TOW engine are running find in Creation. This would not only give Obsidian fine-tuned systems, but it would allow them to focus on the content instead of re-inventing the engine. And last but not least - this would immediately make the game highly moddable. I know that MS tends to be hands-off with the studios, but I hope that they'll talk some sense into BGS and convince them to release a final wave of patches for their games. At least for Skyrim, Skyrim SE and Fallout 4. Ideally also for FNV, Falout 3 and Oblivion. All they would need to do is to take the unofficial patches, strip them of any unwanted changes (Skyrim UP had some at one point), test it internally and then release it. This would bring a lot of goodwill back for Bethesda. Microsoft would arrange for collaboration of Bethesda and the modding teams to make remakes of the older games. Bethesda already said that they don't want to remake old games and I think Microsoft will honor that wish. But that doesn't mean that Bethesda cannot supervise someone else doing that. And why have a new studio start from scratch, when there are community projects doing the same? Either the mod teams could become the new studio or a new studio would work with the modders. And it's not unprecedented for MS to use modders and their work. For Age of Empires II HD, they took the team behind the fan expansion "Forgotten Empires", turned them into an official studio Forgotten Empires and released the fan expansion as official expansion "The Forgotten". It would be amazing to have the Skywind, Skyblivion, Fallout 4 Capital Wasteland and Fallout 4 New Vegas officially supported. Not only would it speed up the process, but it would mean that the release would be official - on Steam, but also on consoles! Currently, there's no way to make the fan projects available on consoles, because they exceed what is allowed for mods there. But if for example Skyblivion gets official MS release, it would definitely end up at least on XBoX. This is more of a dream, but I want Fallout 4 Special Edition which would feature the improvements of the 76 branch of the engine. I know enough about engines to be aware that this isn't a simple change and would require some manpower. Either the advancements of the 76 engine would have to be backported to the current F4 engine (which could be a nightmare) or 76 engine would have to be modified to support singleplayer (though it's possible SP support is still in there). And what are the improvements? New lighting and weather systems. Improved distant terrain (this is what Todd talked about when he mentioned 16x the details, but it tends to get quoted without context). Better settlement interface. And if the 76 engine was used for F4SE, the game would automatically support the option for not stopping time in dialogues, weapon durability and food degradation.ID: gq792uxObsidian doing Fallout would be barely different to Bethesda making it. Cain and Boyarsky don't even write for their own "passion project" (TOW was mainly written by different people even though they were the project leads) and Sawyer wants to do his own thing now (smaller tactical RPGs). Everyone else involved in writing of Fallout has left Obsidian since, those include major contributors and known writers such as:
John Gonzalez Travis Stout Chris Avellone (DLCs with the exception of Honest Hearts) Eric Fenstermaker George ZietsID: gq78i6nObsidian would lend Bethesda writers for the main quest and narrative,
I've seen what current Obsidian is capable of. I'm not impressed
ID: gq8r0klMan, thank you
More funding for 76.
If not for you putting that really early in your comment, I might have ended up reading a lot more of it
ID: gq7e253All they would need to do is to take the unofficial patches, strip them of any unwanted changes (Skyrim UP had some at one point), test it internally and then release it. This would bring a lot of goodwill back for Bethesda.
if they steal modders work and present it as theirs the community is going to lynch them
also if they do anything connected with skyrim all they are going to get as reactions are memes about milking the game dead.
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Microsoft really haven't said anything about Bethesda since the deal hadn't gone through. When it finally does maybe we'll get some PR for what they are doing, although I fully expect Bethesda to operate like an independent subsidiary with some more Microsoft branding.
ID: gq7e46gWell, they gotta develop something in order to announce it.
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I feel pretty dirty being excited for a corporate merger but I'm really hopeful they'll help make bethesda even better
ID: gq8e0qsI don’t see how a merger will fix any of Bethesda’s problems. Obviously, they might get more support, but it seems like people didn’t like how Bethesda was streamlining its games, and it’s not like Microsoft can magically make Bethesda games bug free.
ID: gq87ak7I hope Bill just fucking flings Todd out the door, off a cliff, along with that engine.
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I know some probably aren't happy, but with how poor of a job Bethesda has been doing in the last 8 years with their IPs, this is a very welcome thing IMO.
Think about it, they're acquiring Bethesda's parent company who's known to be what's really causing Bethesda to pump out shite and all of this happening before Fallout 5 and Elder Scrolls 6 comes out, so if there was anything even remotely similar to Fallout 76 about to happen to these IPs, MS will now put an end to it and we should see some very polished and fun games come out.
I get the feeling F5 and ES6 are going to be freakin fantastic games now thanks to this. Can't wait to hear more news on them now...
ID: gq7trepThey've been doing a good job with Doom. Studios the size of Zenimax are not always going to put out hit after hit.
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All that remains is an official statement from Microsoft on how the exclusivity status of all of Bethesda’s games will be addressed. Either they go completely exclusive, or some IPs are kept multiplatform.
MS gets a massive control over the RPG and FPS markets after this acquisition, and a total exclusivity lockdown will definitely create a gaping hole in the PS market. Things will be kinda fine on the FPS side on PS, but RPGs is where PS will feel the big pinch.
RPG IPs that MS will own:
Fable
Scalebound
Pillars of Eternity
The Outer Worlds
Wasteland
Torment
The Bard’s Tale
The Elder Scrolls
Fallout
Starfield
FPS IPs that MS will own:
Halo
Perfect Dark
Wolfenstein
Doom
Quake
Rage
Prey
Brink
Deathloop
Edit: I lay out info, and I get downvoted by brainless drones. Classic.
ID: gq8qjcfThere are 2 games on this list that matter to me, personally. Doom and Wolfenstein. I really like Fallout, but they have been getting worse each game basically.
ID: gq8ozlyScalebound? that got cancelled
Also new rpg ips: avowed by obsidian and AAA steampunk first person rpg using unreal engine 5 by inexile(wasteland devs)
ID: gq8ppd1especially since open world games is kind of the basket where sony put all of its Eggs, now Xbox has a bunch of massive world games, including titans like TES and Fallout alongside far more shooters and racing games, they're going to need to diversify quickly.
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Real question: what happens if the merge is approved in the US (or other jurisdiction) but not in the EU?
ID: gq85h2rThey usually adjust the deal to appease the EU. Since they don't want to lose access to such a huge market.
Disney/Fox merger for example had some EU specific conditions that Disney had to abide by to have the deal approved. Hell from the various conditions both the US + EU imposed on that deal they ended up having to sell of $30b of the $80b they spent originally to keep doing business in those places
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Can someone explain to me why the EU has to approve of a merger between two American companies? I don't really see why this is necessary, beyond the fact they do business in the EU. Does the EU block foreign companies they consider "monopolies" (or whatever) from doing business in the EU?
ID: gq7dccuSeveral of Zenimax's studios are in the EU
ID: gq7dsy4If companies of a certain size does a certain amount of business in the EU it needs approval. If the EU sees issues, they will ask for changes, for example to spin off certain business. And yes, if they don't allow it, that has consequences for their ability to do business in the EU.
This is nothing strange though. The US does the same.
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Why does the EU have to approve the merger of two American companies?
ID: gq8i7d2Because these companies are active in Europe, the EU could block them from doing business in the EU
And there are some studios in europe
ID: gq8hz5iThey actually don't, but it protects Microsoft, and Zenimax had European companies under them.
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Pure speculation admittedly. But as someone who is currently rocking a PS4 Pro with every intention of staying in the Sony ecosystem, I'm wondering if the strong PS5 sales will result in the Fallouts and Elder Scrolls of the future being released cross platform.
Granted, the bigger titles will likely have some timed exclusivity, but it's hard to imagine a world where Fallout 5 is an Xbox/PC exclusive. They'd be missing out on tens of millions of sales.
ID: gq7e3mySony is missing out on sales by not releasing God of War on Xbox. Nintendo is by not releasing Mario on PlayStation. Microsoft is by not releasing Halo on PlayStation.
I don't really get why with The Elder Scrolls this becomes an argument.
ID: gq7eafaThey'd be missing out on tens of millions of sales.
Sony miss out on tens of millions of sales by not having their games on Switch and Xbox so they will surely go there right.
ID: gq7g8z7No way honestly. MS paid 7,5 billion USD for Bethesda. Why make your competitor stronger? It's a done deal for TES and Fallout imo. No timed exclusives either, unless Sony wants to bring the Last of Us and Uncharted to Xbox? - this will never happen as well, and Sony could sell tens of millions as well. What's the point of a console anyway if you can play the best games from your fiercest competitor on a different console?
ID: gq7fmjnNot a chance. You don't spend that much money to have them released on PS. You make them exclusive and push people to buy an Xbox console or pay for Gamepass so they can play on IOS/Android or PC
They'll already have Xbox and PC players, they won't be that desperate for PS players
ID: gq7dip2Honestly don't see it. They make too much money on GamePass and will want to drive people to their own ecosystem further. Which this will do. I personally hate exclusivity. I'd rather everyone just be able to play the games on what they want. I just highly doubt they'll release them on Sony consoles. The flat per disc cost is just not as good as £10 a month.
ID: gq860opHey, I'm a linux gamer! Welcome to the world of the Microsoft monopoly. Enjoy your stay.
ID: gq7c39rHonestly very curious to see which way Microsoft will land on big Bethesda title exclusivity.
Personally I play tes and fallout on PC but I do hope ps players will be able to play these series in the future
ID: gq7sk8lYou don’t spend $7.5B to still release those games on your competitors’ console. Sony can do this timed-exclusive bullshit without buying the company.
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I have hated Ms ever since they bought Rare and ruined them. Perfect Dark, Banjo and Kazzoie, Conker, Jet Force Gemini, IPs they left to rot
Other games they made but didn't own the IP of but showed how good they could make games Star Fox and Donkey Kong and again they did nothing.
Looking forward to MS ruining their newly acquired IPs
ID: gq7y20tso you just assume that microsoft forced them to drop all of those and make other stuff. While the truth is that microsoft let them do whatever they wanted and they did.
ID: gq8p9y4so they didn't 'ruin' Rare, they literally just gave them creative freedom to make the games they wanted to make as they do with all their acquisitions instead of forcing them to pump stuff out.
so if you think they're ruined, its because Rare 'ruined' Rare for you. in the meantime they've made the most successful game they've ever made under Xbox and are working on another that they want to make.
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It's just a really interesting comparison:
Nintendo: Buys a long-time development partner looking to sell (Next Level Games).
Sony: Buys a long-time development partner to keep their games exclusive (Insomniac).
Microsoft: Buys a third-party publisher to get a ton of great, established exclusives overnight (Bethesda).
I'm sure Microsoft would try their hands at purchasing Nintendo again if they weren't a well-off Japanese company.
ID: gq8pzkhwhat are you talking about MS has had a good relationship with them going back decades. BGS's first console games were xbox exclusives.
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ID: gq7igpq[removed]
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I remember how I used to think that Microsoft buying out a major publisher would be stupid, how the buyout would double that publisher’s market cap, how Microsoft would be spending enough money to develop like 50+ super high budget games internally, how Microsoft would only be getting some name brands and a handful of ongoing projects that they’ll still have to pay into to come to fruition, how starting up studios internally would be much more cost effective....
I still think all of that, only now they’ve actually done it.
One thing’s for certain: Microsoft needs to commit to this. If the first few games that come out of this merger underperform, Microsoft needs to double down instead of chopping heads.
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Curious how nobody is complaining that EU’s monopoly laws are broken like they were saying about America in the last thread.
ID: gq8qjrvBecause most people on reddit are from the USA.
ID: gq8qk12Everyone saying that in the last thread had no idea what they were talking about. I understand why some people are upset but theres nothing about this acquisition that's anti competitive or monopolistic. Neither the SEC or EU was ever going to object and the approvals have been mostly a formality.
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How would the EU have authority over the merger of 2 US companies?
ID: gq85889They are multinational corporations with assets in Europe, selling to European customers. They would be free to ignore the ruling, as long as they didn’t want to operate here.
ID: gq7yqcnIf the companies do business there, and two of the companies under Zenimax is located in Europe, the EU cares.
ID: gq818owZenimax has a couple EU studios, it would only affect them.
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Why did they need an approval? Didn't they just buy Zenimax? Could someone explain?
ID: gq7axveAll big companies acquisitions need approval from the anti-trust agencies of the markets they operate in: you want to sell in the EU, for example, you need to follow their anti-trust regulations, which include not being so big you can prevent competition.
ID: gq7a0y5The EU has extensive labor laws that need to be met.
ID: gq7a10gThey trade within the EU, so it needs to pass EU regulations.
ID: gq7egzrThere are laws that are supposed to protect people from monopolies screwing them over. If all the power to deliver a product you want is in one person, that person can charge you as much as they want and provide you with any quality they care to work for, which would be none if they can help it. So these laws make sure that each industry has enough competition that different service/product providers have to outdo each other to get bought, which results in a better cheaper product for the consumer... in theory. When a big acquisition is about to happen, there are agencies in all big markets (USA, EU etc) that need time to check if that acquisition is going to create a monopoly. Of course, in this case, there's nothing even close to that, but things still need to be done proper so it took some time to get the official approval. The deal will still need months before it's finalized even with those tho. You are yet to see many confirmations about the deal going forward until it's officially official.
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Great deal for Microsoft tbh. $7.5B for Zenimax is a very reasonable price, worth it for their IP's alone (Elder Scrolls is worth a huge chunk of that value). Will be interesting to see how it all unfolds on the long-term.
After Minecraft for $2.5B another great acquisition for Microsoft.
ID: gq8gangZenimax market cap before the merger was like $3.5 billion, so it’s a pretty steep price.
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PS Players can still play Bethesda games with an xCloud subscription. Y’all have phones, right?
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I hated Halo 4, it was so dull after all the other games it just felt like 343 changing things for the sake of making their mark rather than improving anything.
ID: gq7szw9343 has ruined it. Bungie should've kept it
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Um.. two american companies have nothing to do with the EU. Prove me wrong. The EU should be lucky to play american games, not police them.
ID: gq75pmb2 companies under Bethesda are based in the EU, so it's required.
ID: gq76dxcI, for one, admire the incredible confidence you show while saying dumb shit like this
ID: gq76lbiIf I do Business in the US, I'm bound by American laws. If I do Business in the EU, I'm bound by EU law.
ID: gq76g10Arkane is a french company, Machine Games is from sweeden. I'm sure they have other studios in europe too.
ID: gq76u06Companies are international, the EU will account for a good portion of their revenue. If you want to produce and sell games in those territories you have to abide by their regulations.
Also, some of the developers and studios within the merger are based in the EU so those studios fall under the worker's rights and other EU guidelines for running a business.
Do you really think that Microsoft and Zenimax would be as big as they are if they only sold their products in the U.S?
ID: gq75vctIf you do business in the EU, it has something to do with the EU
ID: gq76z8bDo they pay you to say dumb shit
ID: gq76noiID: gq7eo03American companies that depend on revenue from the entire world. You can be pretty certain that there are American companies that would bankrupt if they suddenly lose access to the EU market without time to prepare for it.
ID: gq78azvWhat a dumbass comment.
ID: gq7dwzbThe US has the exact same policies. If two international operating EU companies want to merge, they need to run it by the US as well if a good part of their business is in that region.
ID: gq79nvoWow, this is pretty ignorant. You realize that the European market, and by extension a whole other government, exists outside the US right?
ID: gq7alhtUm.. two american companies have nothing to do with the EU. Prove me wrong.
They do business in the EU, which means they have to abide by EU law. Huh, that was easy.
The EU should be lucky to play american games, not police them.
Get over yourself lol. These multinational companies aren't going to abandon a market of hundreds of millions of consumers because of some idiotic notion about what country they were founded in.
ID: gq77z68This comment gave me cancer.
ID: gq7g3xsDo you regret this comment yet?
ID: gq7jnraAlright buddy back to
you go
引用元:https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/m0c2wi/it_appears_that_the_microsoft_zenimax_merger_has/
Oh, ok then