NEW - Via an FTC vs. Microsoft exhibit: In 2019, Microsoft mulled trying to buy Square Enix. Unclear at what level this was pitched, but Phil Spencer gave feedback to the internal proposal
NEW - Via an FTC vs. Microsoft exhibit: In 2019, Microsoft mulled trying to buy Square Enix. Unclear at what level this was pitched, but Phil Spencer gave feedback to the internal proposal
Wow that Twitter thread was toxic - people pretending like "greedy" Xbox is one acquisition away from world domination, when all the facts have pointed at Sony making game-level deals to continue dominating Xbox across so many new titles.
Of course Microsoft has considered acquiring other studios - that's what happens in the business world: you consider making purchases of other companies/competition to see if they make business sense to do so. Even Sony has acquired Bungie recently to expand their portfolio of live service games, of which they showed off like 10 at their recent games showcase a month or so ago.
people pretending like “greedy” Xbox is one acquisition away from world domination, when all the facts have pointed at Sony making game-level deals to continue dominating Xbox across so many new titles.
Microsoft is a monopolist in the PC space, repeatedly convicted for abusing their market power. Sony making deals for timed exclusives is a whole different level than Microsoft locking the biggest games into their own platforms.
Sony has acquired Bungie recently
And Bungie's Marathon will come out on Windows and Xbox. MLB The Show is on Xbox as well. Sony is happily supporting Microsoft Windows these days and except the misstep of Returnal, Sony even worked to make those games verified on Steam Deck.
Sony isn't a saint or anything. Their Windows ports started out to be motivated mainly as a promotion device for other releases: Horizon Zero Dawn was originally meant to be released on PC a few months before Forbidden West, God of War a few months before Ragnarok, and Last of Us to promote the TV show but the fact remains that Sony supports Microsoft platforms to some degree whereas has nothing to show on PS5.
Can we stop pretending that buying a developer and buying a publisher are even close to the same thing?