While the Switch and PlayStation 4 continue to sell robustly, over in the land of Xbox things aren't looking quite as rosy. Even the most ardent supporter of Microsoft's console hardware would admit that there's a serious shortage of quality first-party exclusive games on the machine right now and that's only going to hold the Xbox brand back in 2018.
We imagine that Microsoft will have some big announcements to make at E3 - just like everyone else, of course - but in the meantime, how about a rumour that sounds so freakishly outlandish that it could actually be true?
Mentioned briefly in a Polygon piece about the current first-party game drought on Xbox One (and spotted by our eagle-eyed friends over at Push Square) is the claim that Microsoft is eyeing up Electronic Arts as a potential means of solving its tricky software problem. The source is "reliable"and "close" to Microsoft, apparently.
With franchises such as FIFA, Battlefield, Madden and many more besides under its considerable belt, it should come as little surprise to learn that the company - which is one of the oldest publishers in the business - comes with a hefty price tag of around $35 billion. That's certainly within reach of Microsoft's gigantic chequebook, but it would be the kind of investment that would nonetheless have the company's board members nervously tugging at their collars and exchanging worried glances with one another.
As our friends at Push Square astutely point out, one of the key reasons this might not be all that believable is that EA would have to make the majority of its money-spinning catalogue exclusive to the Xbox One overnight, thereby drastically reducing potential sales revenue - although franchises such as FIFA (and, we'd imagine, Star Wars) will be licensed to the company on the understanding that they are sold on as many systems as possible.
Still, Microsoft has already gone multi-system with Minecraft, and has stated in the past that it's interested in getting its products in front of as many people as possible, even if that means selling games on rival hardware. While it would be easy to see any potential deal meaning the end of EA games on Switch (and PS4), that might not necessarily be the case.
While we remain firmly in cloud cuckoo land, it's worth noting that the same Polygon article also mentions potential Microsoft deals involving Valve and the studio behind PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, which are also a bit on a crazy side.
A SuperDataResearch analyst states that announcements will be coming “very, very shortly”, so we'll no doubt find out if this is utter bull's droppings in the fullness of time.
[source pushsquare.com, via polygon.com]
Comments 170
A historically out-of-touch company buying out a notoriously cutthroat and ruthless one?
Honestly? If this were to happen - which I'm not ruling out - it would mean the end of Xbox, not the end of multiplat EA. The amount of money Microsoft would make by publishing all EA games on all platforms as opposed to just on PC and Xbox doesn't compare in the slightest.
If they were to purchase EA, they'd follow the same strategy they did with Minecraft. If they were to keep the Xbox brand alive, they'd perhaps have an exclusive from time to time and some "Best on Xbox" marketing, but franchises like Fifa, Madden, Battlefield and more would remain multiplatform.
Also, not completely unrelated: remember when Microsoft mentioned buying Nintendo some fifteen years ago?
Slightly off topic but one thing is will say for Microsoft is that their free Games with gold membership is far far better than anything I used to get with PS Plus
Let them have it. Nintendo gamers have a better chance of seeing EA software under Microsoft ownership than the current state of affairs. Not that this is happening any time soon, but still..
Holy hell, It's the twelfth sign of the end times!!! First Trump, and now this alignment of twin, dark, planets! We're just one microtransaction away from Ragnarok! Hide your wallets from your new be-suited overlords!!!
Since this is just a fun silly rumor, let's hope Microsoft is buying EA simply to shut it down. Just for fun. Do they have much money to burn? I hope so. Let it burn! BURN EA TO THE GROUND!
Fe is canceled on Switch.
And then reggie comes to E3 with his body ready. Holds smashbros switch in his hands saying "its all about the games" , and everyone forgot Microsoft lol.
Well, it can't get any worse with EA, they are already the bottom of the barrel in the videogame industry.
Simcity is probably the only EA game that I like. Maxis sold their soul to EA and never recovered.
@AlexOlney Aww, maaaan, don't do that to me!
Bubzy was a part of my childhood!T_T
Even if this became true, it doesn't mean that Madden, FIFA or any of the sports franchise would be MICROSOFT-ONLY. The sports franchises by EA are the money makers, and they'd probably be the ones that would continue on all systems. It would be the others that would become exclusive, the likes of the Sims titles and some of their other franchises, which could help Microsoft, but not much. Microsoft really messed up this generation, and unless they have a lot of exclusives on the way that shine bright, they ended most of their IP's, not even continuing them (seriously, what happened to Fable?). I loved the original Xbox for the exclusives (besides mainly loving more of the Dreamcast titles that flew onto it instead after the Dreamcast ended), but I loved Blinx, Voodoo Vince, Tork, Whacked, Kung Fu Chaos, Project Gotham and Rallisport Challenge. The 360 had some good ones too that I played, Viva Piñata and more. The X-box One has nothing that I really see that would make it a purchase for me...granted it would change if I didn't own a PS4, but if you own a PS4, there's no reason for it.
Also, I actually enjoyed the new Bubsy game on PS4! And the older ones on the Genesis were good too!
I don't see Microsoft purchasing EA though perhaps PUBG which is one of the other companies mentioned in the rumour. EA would be far too expensive should Microsoft find themselves in a bidding war.
@Akropolon That was a rumour, it was never actually something they ever considered doing and has been publicly debunked by the ex-head of Microsoft at the time.
@Nincompoop Maxis had to sell themselves after producing a number of failed games based on the Sim branding. if they had focused on Sim City and then The Sims, they would never have been in that position.
This probably won’t happen remember when Microsoft were trying to buy Nintendo
@Akropolon I almost forgot about that time when they wanted to buy Nintendo. I just remember what Microsoft does with companies that they buy...RARE will never be the same.
If EA goes the way of Rare, the industry will be better for it. We stand at the precipice of a golden age in gaming. Nintendo is back on top, classic genres and series are invigorated with new life--It's marvelous! Approaches to DLC and pricing structures in general will become more generous/reasonable across the board. On-disk DLC will go extinct. A gaming utopia looms over the horizon. Give EA the hatchet, Microsoft. Do it.
At this point, I will not rule anything out. Who would have thought Disney would have bought Fox's movie and TV studios and is now the owner of stuff like Aliens and The Simpsons.
This is a huge boon for Microsoft, and they would only be required to publish IPs that they license to other platforms such as Fifa, Madden, and Star Wars.
The rest of the stuff they can keep on the Xbox for themselves. And let's be honest here, Microsoft being able to sell Battlefield 5 as an Xbox exclusive would be a major feather in their cap.
Microsoft is not doing this to publish their games on other platforms. They are doing this to boost the first-party lineup on the Xbox without having to open a bunch of studios and hire a bunch of people.
Also, this assumes license holders also demand their games be multiplat. There is a huge possibility that Madden could become exclusive to the Xbox brand. Why? Because the NFL already signs exclusivity agreements with one company with pretty much anything else. NFL Sunday Ticket can only be found on Direct TV, Papa Johns is the only licensed pizza chain of the NFL, Mcdonalds is the only fast food joint that is exclusive to the NFL.
The point I'm trying to make is that Microsoft could end up getting Madden all to themselves, and there won't be a thing Sony or Nintendo can do.
And let's be honest here, people can call EA trash all they want, but there is a reason why they are the biggest third-party company in the world. Garbage or not, their games post huge sales numbers.
This is a serious game changer if Microsoft can buy them out, and own brands like Battlefield, Medal of Honor, Need for Speed, Mirror's Edge, The Sims franchise(which includes the Sims, Simcity, etc), Ultima, and Wing Commander.
Yeah, some of those brands are not active right now but Microsoft will own them and can use them however they see fit. And they would have no reason to make them multiplat.
On top of which, they would own Madden, Fifa, NHL, and Star Wars, and even if they are forced to make those games multiplat, they still make money on every copy sold, regardless of if Fifa 19 is sold on the PS4, Switch, PC, or Xbox One.
This is a rumor for now, but if it turns out to be true, then Microsoft could go from having the worst first-party line up to suddenly having one of the most powerful first-party lineups in gaming.
it could also hurt Nintendo in another way. If Microsoft gets EA, then Sony might scramble to buy out other companies like Capcom or others to give them an advantage.
We could very well be sitting on the edge of bidding wars between Sony and Microsoft to buy out as many third-party developers as possible and bring them under their control. If that happens, Nintendo(who would likely sit out such bidding wars) might very well be hurt.
Remember, who would have thought Disney would have bought out Fox? Or AT&T buying out Time Warner. This is the era of mergers, and thus far, gaming has avoided the major blockbuster mergers seen in other media.
But if Microsoft pulls the trigger and this, and its not just a rumor. Gaming could change overnight.
@Gs69 That was MS at the top of the world back then, now not so much capital to buy anything they want.
Nah, I don't see this happening. But you know what the ironic thing would be about this if it does happen? Nintendo would then have a greater chance of getting EA games than they do right now.
Hey, Microsoft trying to EA the heck out of EA is a whole load of irony, but it would be tricky since Valve is also involved and is private company. But still, quite a humorous outcome
@FragRed They were always experimenting, even before the Sims became a hit they were making Simlife, SimAnt, SimTower, SimFarm, etc games that flopped over and over.
If they end up buying it then I doubt it would end up with ea main franchises becoming exclusive. Actually think only one or two could happen as they mostly rely on licensed properties
EA like to buy studios and then shut them down quietly so maybe Microsoft should do this to EA
I expect it to go as far as Hasbro's brief talks about buying DreamWorks. Although at least those weren't a rumour.
@Caryslan "Remember, who would have thought Disney would have bought out Fox?" - well, Simpsons did if we get technical. But Simpsons seem to have thought just about everything over the years. XD And I'd say Disney's bargain seemed a lot more determined after their history of collecting Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm.
So let me get this straight....Microsoft is struggling to make first party games.....so it is going to buy a company that makes multiplatform games, which are already going to be on Xbox as well as other consoles? Seems like a great business strategy.
EA introduced the 'always connected online' DRM for Simcity single player game. That's the inspiration for XBox One's DRM. Both companies think alike, they deserved to be married.
Then for perfect harmony in the universe. Microsoft dissolve EA, just like EA do with every company they buy.
All will be right again my friends.
@AlexOlney I'm pretty sure the rumour said Microsoft is the one making the offer, not Nintendo
@Nincompoop I know, but it was because they were experimenting and producing flops that they found themselves nearly bankrupt and therefore had to sell out to EA.
@The_Mysteron No, the idea is that Microsoft would own EA's IPs, and publish them as exclusives for the Xbox. For example, Battlefield 5 would be an exclusive for Xbox One, and would be marketed as such.
The problem with this article and these comments is that people are assuming Microsoft is just going to publish such games on all platforms, but I think doing so would defeat the purpose of buying out EA.
If Microsoft can pull this off, they would control EA's IPs and would have them as exclusives for the Xbox. Want to play Battlefield or Titanfall? You have to own an Xbox! Want to play a new Sims game? Its only on Xbox .
I think Minecraft was the exception to this, not the rule. If Microsoft intends to launch a new Xbox in a few years, they have to face the elephant in the room, and that's making their first-party portfolio stronger. Right now, both Nintendo and Sony are beating them badly in this department.
If they can buy out EA, then they can reverse this trend. Love EA's games or not, they sell and Microsoft owning them would give them access to some major IPs they could use to sell Xboxes.
The only IPs that Microsoft would be required to publish on other systems would be Fifa, Madden, NHL, and Star Wars. But even those are not set in stone.
The PS4 is getting a Spider-Man game that is exclusive to the system, so what's to stop Microsoft from giving Disney tons of cash to make the next Battlefront or Star Wars games Xbox One exclusives?
Even Madden could be an Xbox Exclusive, however, unlikely people might find it. Why? Well, Microsoft already enjoys deals with the NFL when it comes to being them exclusively using surface tablets and PCS at NFL games. What's to stop Microsoft from extending this to Madden? NFL Sunday Ticket is only on Direct TV, despite the potential profit the NFL could get by putting it on other cable and satellite providers.
What's to stop Microsoft from dumping tons on money at the NFL's feet to keep Madden exclusive to the Xbox?
@JLPick 'just remember what Microsoft does with companies that they buy...RARE will never be the same'
I agree. Microsoft has very few ideas when it comes to actual games. I think Rare's greatness during the 90s was partly because Nintendo's high standards pushed them so hard. At Microsoft it seems like they have nobody steering the ship.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I agree.. i also don't see this happening.
Why would M$ waste their money reserves? for what...? lootboxes / micro transactions and mostly mediocre games? naaaa this would be bad business.
@The_Mysteron @JTMnM The problem with Rare is that most the talent had already left by the time Microsoft bought them. Also Nintendo had first say on any sale of the company but for whatever reason refused to buy it. So it was essentially a bidding war between Microsoft and Activision. if Activision had bought rare, they would have been in a far worse situation.
Oh, no! How am I ever going to live without EA's great games, like... that... hm... ...
@Caryslan I think you're assuming too much here. If any of EAs big hits are exclusive to one console, their sales are going to be greatly reduced simply by being tied to one console. The reason EA sells such huge numbers is because they are multiplatform. I understand your argument that having say Madden only on Xbox would be a draw for a lot of people, the actual sales numbers of the title would likely drop drastically. It's a kind of shooting yourself in the foot scenario if they bought EA and went exclusive, and on the other hand they wouldn't solve their first party software problem if they bought EA and licenced to other consoles. It's for this reason that I find the rumour very hard to believe. It doesn't make business sense. Now, that's not to say it won't happen, but it would be a terrible strategy and would probably spell the end for Microsoft in the console industry, in my opinion.
The NFL license is a big draw since EA had that locked up until Kingdom Come. And with the US Justice department 's pro business stance they might not challenge that when undergoing anti trust review.
If the deal goes through, I hope that Sony, Nintendo and other stake holders would raise the point and ensure that NFL will still be multiplatform or force EA to sell that portion of the business. After all, Football is a big thing in the US.
@WomboCombo
This has made my day. You, Sir, are a scholar and a gentleman. May the sun forever shine upon your glorious nip-nips.
Microsoft has been keen on publishing their games on competing consoles since literally day one, just look at when Rare created titles for the GBA and NDS. They've just been more outspoken about it the last few years. This would create no barrier on EA creating titles for the NS, PS4, or iOS, unless EA themselves proclaim it.
@WomboCombo
Weeeeeeeee!
Seriously, if the urmor is true and MS does buy EA, it won't really affect Nintendo, but it will most certainly hit Sony hard because of their reliance on 3rd-parties. To be honest, I could actually imagine MS not having a problem bringing EA games to Switch because of its portability, as MS doesn't seem interested in having their own portable, just a very strong home console.
@The_Mysteron I see your point, but right now one of the reasons why Microsoft is losing to Sony and Nintendo is because they are badly lacking in the exclusives department, especially when it comes to first-party titles.
They can sell the most powerful hardware in the world, but if they don't have the exclusive games to sell the hardware, they lose out.
And the fact of the matter is, they really don't have much right now besides Gears of War, Halo, and Forza.
To boost their first-party line-up, they can found a bunch of new studios or use existing studios to introduce new IPs. The problem is, they have tried this approach already, and they have failed. Ryse, Quantum Break, Recore, etc have all been flops and have done nothing to help the Xbox's first-party situation.
This is while both Nintendo and Sony are hitting the jackpot on new first-party IPs for their consoles.
So, if the rumor is true, then Microsoft is going with plan B and that's opening up the checkbook and buying some IPs for the Xbox. And who better to start with then the biggest third-party developer in the world?
Yes, sales might fall if these games become exclusive to Xbox, but the brand also benefits. As I said before, Battlefield could push Xbox sales, and maybe even draw in gamers who might not buy an Xbox otherwise.
In the long run, it serves to benefit Microsoft because they would go from having the worst first-party to suddenly giving Sony a run for its money and even taking the fight to Nintendo.
I agree with you, this purchase only makes sense if Microsoft intends to keep these games as Xbox exclusives to help the Xbox brand.
If they simply intend to do another Minecraft, then I honestly don't see the point.
That seems like a LOT of of money to invest in just for a console... Sure Microsoft can afford it overall, but just for the Xbox team? This seems highly unlikely. But what is the point of paying up 35 billion if you’re not gonna make most games exclusives to your console? And if that was the case, sure they would sell more hardware but software sales would now see a drastic cut. Is it really worth it? I ...just don’t see it happening.
Do I hope it happens though? Of course. Maybe evil aka EA will be defeated bc this was a terrible decision for everyone involved. Or maybe there’s a chance MS can successfully address the infamous criticisms EA games always face to get some good will back. Maybe we would get another good Dragon Age game out of this. Who knows.
I posted the below on Pushsquare too and I think this assumption that Microsoft would make all these games exclusive is wrong and in fact I believe they would do the opposite.
Xbox isn't selling anything like the PS4 this gen, so they have positioned their brand not only as a gaming platform on PC as well as console, with cross buy between the two but also a subscription service and I think that's the key to where they're headed. EA already have a similar setup on their console making it rather easy to merge them into one and can you even begin to imagine the potential of Steam being incorporated into the Xbox brand. They've made lots of noise about cross platform gaming recently (Rocket League is between Xbox and Switch) and even suggested that some of their games may appear on other platforms and with Minecraft this is already the case.
Most people I've seen online are looking at this as if Microsoft are looking to keep these games exclusive to the Xbox consoles. However I can see them positioning themselves as a Netflix style gaming platform across multiple devices, yes including PlayStation, PC and any future Xbox that's released and in that scenario such a deal for these companies would make perfect sense.
Microsoft, Don't you ever DARE Ruin The Sims franchises !!
And don't you Ever make next The Sims games ONLY for Xbox and PC !!
@Marios-love-child hm.... no:D
Please let that be true! It would be good everyone if MS would clean up the mess that is EA.
@Damo: "EA would have to make the majority of its money-spinning catalogue exclusive to the Xbox One'
Why is that? I don't see why that would be necessary, MS would profit from selling existing PS4 games and enter a market they couldn't enter before.
Granted, they could make all future releases XB1-exclusive, but I'm not sure they'd do that either (because of the aforementioned profits).
There's no way you buy a $35 billion company and then still keep those games like Madden, Fifa, Star Wars, etc, as multiplat. I don't want this happen because it would effectively end the PlayStation brand, and that's not a good thing.
Now, if MS were to acquire Valve, I wouldn't mind that as much. It still brings some powerful IP and for the first time in a long time we might see some console stuff from that company again.
The one that makes the most sense money-wise is PUBG Corp. It would probably cost the least to purchase but you get a studio that has the current most popular game around and if you consider what its already accomplished with that game imagine what could be done with MS' considerable resources backing it.
@shani
I just only hope Microsoft will not so egoistic to put EA games only for xbox and pc, not for Nintendo and Playstation.
A match made in heaven
@Anti-Matter I really doubt they would, especially because the install base of the PS4 is just too big, they would miss out on a lot of sales.
And MS has been Nintendo-friendly for a while, see Minecraft.
@shani
Ah, i remember now.
Rocket League is also Crossplay between Nintendo with Xbox1 & PC (But not with ps4)
I don’t think it’s completly nuts although I doubt they’d spend the money. Even if MS keeps the games multi platform it likely buys them leverage by owning the most important sports titles, Battlefield and other major franchises to bargain for things like cross play with Sony which could help them eat away at perceived system lock in over time. That and initially this gen having the superior third party game ports on the PS was a big part of what got Sony ahead, where almost certainly MS would be the lead platform for all those titles even if they were cross platform.
They’d get Origin and its tech too which I’m sure has value and beyond just sports there’s the Sims, Need for Speed and a number of still respected studios including Bioware whose Anthem took out many best of awards at last years E3.
On the PC side it’s a big boost to the Windows Store side.
Considering what they dropped for Minecraft alone it doesn’t seem “that” nuts a buy. Not cheap but there’s not many bigger names in gaming and for certain high profile genres like sports EA is easily the top dog.
I doubt any buy would impact Nintendo a whole lot. It’s Sony where they’re probably likely to try push their weight I’d say.
EA would also have the infrastructure in place that MS if they wanted could be relatively hands off if they wish. Buying smaller Devs means greater risk and probably encourages extra oversight where they can probably let EA continue doing what EA does.
@Anti-Matter Sorry for that brainfart in my previous post, suddenly I thought MS could be buying Sony. ^^
@Gamer83 I agree PUBG is the most likely company for Microsoft to buy, though that is just one game and Microsoft needs to have a continuous string of releases to fix their lack of exclusives problem.
@shani
So, that means Sony will going Down ?
@geox30
Nintendo gamers have a better chance of seeing EA software under Microsoft ownership than the current state of affairs
Lol that's probably true
Thanks to some US corporate tax breaks I think we can expect to see some lofty purchases moving from companies’ wishlists to the executive agenda, no doubt.
I don't think it would change EA's attitude either way.
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/999/466/fe5.png
Microsoft has never been in the black with their XBox brand. The EA purchase would make the lifetime balance redder than Rudolf's nose. Does Microsoft really think this is the thing that will finally push XBox to the top? If so, I guess they have another lesson in the line of many coming up.
Lootboxes coming to Windows 10. Here is a lootbox that might contain the settings window you need, or it might shut down your computer! What fun!
Probably been alluded to already but if there is any deal to be made between the two it will be something to do with the direction Microsoft are already going in, Gamepass subs and gold subscription, not buying EA outright. EA Access amalgamation into Gamepass would be my guess, if anything at all.
I agree with all the reasons these moves (especially the EA one) would be terrible for all involved. Especially if the goal is to turn these games into exclusives.
I also agree with another comment that they aren't spending billions on a company to keep on supporting the others. This is on the heels of their first party exclusive issues once again being highlighted.
With all that being said, this is historically a very Microsoft thing to do. At least when Ballmer was in charge. I would have suspected with Nadella kind of cutting a lot of the fat out, moves like this would be in the past. And that's the only reason I have a hard time believing this happening. Though he does have a board to answer to and they may be putting pressure on them to do.something and something quick about their exclusive first party problems
I hope this happens, maybe this way we will see all EA games on Switch.
I don't see it, too much money, not enough exclusives. The X1 already gets all or almost all of the games EA makes, do they aren't gaining anything, and if they make the multiplats into exclusives they are losing money. EA has just too big and has too little to offer in terms of games. How many EA games does X1 miss out on?
I think a smaller company with a few games might make sense. Platinum, Ubisoft, Activision. Though probably not Platinum after Scalebound. I'm not sure how many companies that make AAA Sony exclusives are not already deeply in Sony's camp already, but X1 hot Sunset Overdrive, a really great game, but it was too colorful, fun, 3rd person and happy for the X1 fanbase. So I'm not even sure if buying one of those would help.
Japanese companies are probably out, but Capcom just came through with MHW, and they have a decent back catalog, enough to do a "30 for $30", but there may actually be a law in Japan about US companies buying Japanese ones.
Just not EA, nothing to gain in the way of games, and money to lose by going exclusive.
Even if Mircosoft did buy it, I think they would be foolish to end all support of other systems. I know a lot of us consider EA a cancer in the industry (I know I do) but it IS a profitable company. Suddenly stopping game releases on anything but Xbone would be a serious loss for them.
Though one good thing that might come from it, is Disney might pull the Star Wars rights back from EA if EA because Microsoft first party.
Let them have it, haha. It’s a free market, in some years, another company will make sports games for Sony and Nintendo. This will end EA’s dominance in sports games.
@Damo Was it really necessary to write "our friends at Pushsquare" twice? Makes it look like you are over compensating for the fact that if any of us were to go over there and mention Nintendo we get harassed by readers and writers alike. 😛
And don't you still work there? Moonlighting is one thing, but referring to yourself as "my friend over there" nudge nudge wink wink wink is borderline pyschotic. 😉
@rjejr Push Square is part of the network I co-own along with Ant and Daz...
@rjejr Unisoft has been trying to avoid a hostile takeover from Vivendi for the longest time and Activision is now one with Blizzard after buying themselves out from Vivendi as well. Both of those also put out their games for the Xbox just like EA. I think that if this rumor is true it's because Microsoft would see buying the single biggest third party publisher as a coup.
@shani Microsoft would almost certainly make some EA games exclusive to XB1 otherwise the move makes even less sense than it currently does. While there would be scope for profit by keeping things multi-platform, MS as a platform holder gets a LOT of revenue purely from licensing developers on XB1, and unless it wants to pull out of hardware entirely it would want XB1 sales to grow as a result of any potential deal. That means exclusivity.
@shani but if the purpose its to fulfill Xbox exclusive library why would Microsoft publish the games multiplatform? That's makes no sense. They can profit from the sales of Xbox that sure will increase if for example fifa was exclusive than every fifa fan would have to buy Xbox to play the game. So even not going multi they would profit a lot with EA.
@Caryslan Hmmm, I wonder how Nintendo would scramble to keep up then. If they sit there and take it, then they'll be sure to take some blows along the way.
Both companies suck anyways.
I truly don't care how/if this plays out or what the results may be. I don't own an Xbox of any kind at the moment, my computer runs Linux, and I made the decision to stop giving money to EA eons ago.
As much I don't like EA I don't wish any company to go under it is kind sad that EA will only be remembered for the bad things they have done. For those hate EA have you people forgotten your Christian values like "do on to others as they do on to you," or "Love your enemies." If you wish ill on others even if they are bad your simply as bad as them and goes to show low and immature the gaming community has become.
@duhsoares21 @Damo Of course, I had the same thought, but its seems very unrealistic to me. All those millions of PS4 owners wouldn't suddenly sell their PS4 and buy an XB1 instead just to play FIFA19... or would they?
But if course for the next-gen MS console (if there will be one) it would absolutely make sense ti nake them exclusive
Well, we all know what happened to Rare after Microsoft bought them.
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.....
EA started out with great intentions to give credit where credit was due, with the designers & programmers. They also had a goal to promote video games as an art.
Will we get a better Star Wars game this time?
no? maybe? anyone? (plz microsoft.... )
...i guess not
@Microsoft if you guys are reading this.. If you want to make a name again. Just bring a new Killer instinct to Switch. Believe me everone will love Microsoft when that happens.
I would think EA are valued as much because they have license deals with FIFA, the NFL, and NHL. If these games weren't multiplatform, EA wouldn't have the deals very long and the company wouldn't be worth as much. Can't believe MS would see value in such a buyout.
Lol, this is brilliant. They seem like they would make excellent bedfellows.
And absolutely nothing of value would be lost.
Would anyone actually miss EA? I sure wouldn't.
@MrGawain Good point.
There's no reason Microsoft couldn't continue to operate EA as its own entity, and continue producing multi-platform games. Specifically, I could see that being the route taken with EA Sports titles. Other titles would likely become exclusives. I'm not saying this is likely, but there's been a lot of comments, including the original article, that says they would need to switch all of their titles to be Xbox exclusive overnight, which isn't the case.
@shani As mentioned in the piece, I'm pretty sure FIFA will stipulate that the games can't be format exclusive.
Watch out @rjejr, @Damo is fond of nepotism.
Anyway, who knows. It could happen. It could not.
Suppose the sale did happen. What would prevent Microsoft from making a bunch of EA titles exclusive to the Xbox and PC? I mean, you can see what Sony has done with MLB The Show. Can you imagine if the same happened to Madden?
Boy i would like to play a good Sims (with not so many micro transactions) and battlefield game on mobile. Switch would be ideal but if it comes to iPhone it would be cool too.
Microsoft bought Skype good move, Microsoft bought Nokia, terrible move, microsoft bought linkedin and i don't see it going anywhere...
@Reignmaker How is it that you bypass the highest selling sport game in the world for Madden haha.
@gortsi Forgot about Activision and Blizzard, they do such a good job of maintaining their separate company brands. That would make them pretty big to buy as well, and I don't see the Blizzard guys wanting to be bought or sold. MS could outbid Vivendi for Ubi I think, but I'm not sure they're worth getting in a bidding war over.
Purchasing EA would certainly make a splash, but that's a lot of money. Wouldn't it just be cheaper to outbid them for the NFL and FIFA licenses and make their own football games? I can't get past the cost. Better off buying somebody like Retro. Nintendo fans would love that. (joke, I know they're Nitnedo first party, would make for a nice rumour though)
The more I think about it - and do some minimal research - better off buying Activision/Blizzard than EA. EA will keep supplying them with console games regardless, but they'd also get a big PC and mobile push w/ King (forgot about that one).
Who knows, I keep waiting for MS to get out of the console business, so what do I know?
As long as they don't touch my Nintendo, I really don't give a toss.
@AlexOlney If they are going to buy EA and shut it down i am cool with that.
If they do, I hope they review & change EA's policies, and hoping that Microsoft won't be tainted by EA's practices.
@Nintendoforlife I guess I don't really care about FIFA
@rjejr whatever ends up happening it would definitely have ramifications down the line, and if MS do end up buying EA or any of the other big third parties I don't think it would signal their exit from gaming, quite the opposite
The synergy of the two companies is already close and they already work very very closely including revolving door management toward pushing the industry in the same direction. But despite synergy, financially that would be messy, expensive, involve stock swaps (EA's too big to just cash and carry even for MS) and would benefit no party. For EA products to remain cash cows they can't be exclusive. And for a buyout to be profitable EA products must remain cash cows, and EA's biggest sellers are multiplat by contract with the licensee. I suppose it could give MS quick access to dev studios to produce new exclusives for them, but there are far cheaper, cleaner ways of doing that than buying EA (and they just shuttered most of their own studios, so they don't seem too interested.) I've honestly thought it more likely that EA would buy the XBox division from Microsoft when it's inevitably up for sale.
Buying EA is less laughable, given the synergy, than Valve though. Valve is owned by Gabe, so it can't be a hostile stock purchase, Gabe would have to sell. And half the point of the founding of Valve was that Gabe HATES Microsoft, passionately (and formerly worked there.) Some of the comments in the leaked HL-2 source are pretty funny...... Honestly I don't even like Steam or Gabe all that much...but on this one I'm in his corner.
[Insert joke about Half-Life 3 confirmed as an MMO]
However, there have already been big sales and big IP sales. When THQ went down, it would have been easy for MS to dive in. They didn't. MS has had a consistent trajectory of EXITING game production since just BEFORE the first X-BOX launched. Their PC dev studios were consolidating and dwindling back then. If they were to jump in again, it certainly wouldn't be a colossal merger with a titanic company that would cause stock swaps for people who bought in for Windows and Azure potential. They'd gobble a bunch of smaller studios that are undervalued. That's been the Microsoft way for 30 years.
@JLPick They did announce they're doing a new Fable. Strangely they're handing it to the Forza Horizon team to develop since they shuttered Lionhead. They really went wrong LAST gen. The X360 started out blazing (and PS3 was a stinker) but they got complacent (as MS always does) with being the "Default" platform for 3rd parties and went on a rampage shutting down most of Microsoft Game Studios to trim the fat. By the time One came around they had no studios, few exclusives, and bet all in with TV and media and cloud platforms. WAAAAAY before the world is ready for it....especially the US. It' blew up instantly and they had to turn it into what we see now. The big thing with XBox now is the hardware (the X finally gave them a reason to exist, with the sleeker hardware and more refined online service.) So now there's a choice between "do I want to play FIFA, and Destiny on the X1X or on PS?" X1X actually is a nice choice (and the online can't be half as bad as Sony's or Nintendo's right (I say as PSN still can't successfully charge a purchase, and, DBZ:X2 Switch times out on the download for like the 20th time....and it's not my net connection....) The problem of course, as you said is, if I opt for the slightly less nice hardware of PS4 I get a MAMMOTH catalog of exclusive games I can't play if I go the other way. That's a hard sell. X1X becomes a great buy for the dedicated MMO/FPSO player....trouble is that player doesn't buy many games....
@Gridatttack Both EA and MS are so tainted that they make a Splatoon match look like a simple fountain pen spill.
Or I guess that's tinted not tainted? Whatever.
And so Microsoft consolidates their place as the most superlative carcinogenic force on the planet.
@HauntedNostril
Trump is a sign of America's integrity being resurrected. I can't believe there are still people who think we'd be better off any other way.
He also isn't a globalist, pedophilic, santanist who wants war with Syria, and to let in every refugee scumbag from everywhere in the middle east, working for the system. And of course everything else I'm forgetting that the Democratic party does.
Please. Do not mix politics and gaming. They don't even physically sound mixable.
@WomboCombo
#37
Comment of the year.
@gortsi Well yeah, if they buy EA they would be in gaming for the foreseeable future. I just don't see either of those things happening. Xbox is huge in the US and has a somewhat smaller install base in the EU but I'm not sure what they could do to expand it. Xbox 2 or 11 or 720, whatever they call it, I don't see it taking off. PlayStation brand has always been successful, even the unsuccessful PS3 sold over 80m units. PS4 will top that. Nintendo is all in on Switch mobile hybrid, MS doesn't compete in mobile, never have. Even their phones flop. So I'm not sure where that leaves MS room to grow in gaming. They'd be better off I think making a SurfaceTV powerful enough for gaming. They don't really have a WindowsTV Stick that I'm aware of either. I just don't see a global surge forward for Xbox, and is it worth it if they are US only? Only they know the answer to that though. And it's not like they are even forthcoming w/ Xbox 1 sales, they hardly ever go public w/ the numbers for those, meanwhile every million or so for Switch or PS4 they are broadcasting those numbers from the rooftops.
@10-zx
......politics are actually integral to a lot of game scenarios, but let's put that short-sightedness, and your bigotted, put-everyone-in-the-same-category, views on "refugee scumbags" aside and calm down, eh, you're obviously quite confused.
This is highly unlikely, the Xbox brand bleeds money, and Microsoft has shuttered or offloaded many of its studios. I doubt they would be looking to take on another especially with a portfolio as big as EAs. Unless they were going to pull a sega/atlus buy where the bought company works as before and just adds to the buyer's bottom line. Even still, I doubt it.
Who cares about EA anyway. Another big rumor is that Disney will buy EA, wich sounds much more likely.
35 billion dollars seem a bit pricey. Even if Fifa still make 1 billion per year. EA is still probably the most powerful publisher on the market. No one dare releasing a game in front of their yearly AAA during the last quarter.
If they were to buy EA, it would be for the microtransaction money from their games. Making their big service games exclusive to Xbox would make no sense as they'd be cutting off a lot of microtransaction money (and no, the people who would buy an Xbox as a result would not make up for it).
Microsoft cares about people using their services. That's their end goal. That's the reason why all of their 1st party games will be available on Xbox Games Pass at launch: more people playing games like Sea of Thieves, and therefore more people likely to buy into microtransactions/lootboxes.
EA's games would only add on to that. That's why the vast majority of their games would remain multiplatform.
Now, I could see Titanfall and Mass Effect going Xbox exclusive. I could see Microsoft using the latter as their way of saying "See! We care about single player games!"
@WomboCombo lmao
For once
Who cares about EA? Millions and millions each year.
And to be honest, doubt it will ever happen
Meh it wouldn't affect me quite as much since EA hasn't made anything decent as of late so if Microsoft wants to marry them then good for Microsoft. This way Microsoft could easily get rid of that horrendous Origin account and force EA players to just play on Xbox Live instead. I do feel sorry about the many EA players who doesn't own an Xbox though if this bucket of salt is true.
@bitleman Disney, like MS, recently CLOSED their game production studios. I doubt either wants to buy new ones.
@Tempestryke Probably a plus for EA employees though....MS doesn't have a bad history of mistreating employees like EA does. Believe it or not.
@Ryu_Niiyama Atlus was tiny and was a cash & carry buyout. Something like EA would have to be a stock swap merge. And that wouldn't lend itself to letting them operate autonomously. It's just a silly notion, they don't really offer anything MS actually wants or is useful to their core business, like you said.
@rjejr Yeah, like I said, I always imagined EA may be in the running to buy XBox from MS, not the other way around. I don't see where XBox goes. "Most powerful console" is cool hardware but it's not a platform to rival PS4. And Xbox was being rebuilt as a media platform which kind of failed. The only future I can really see for XBox at this point given their position is ditching it as a "console" and making it a "cloud platform." Make Game Pass into a Games for Windows version of Netflix all the way, and keep selling "XBox" pseudo premium hardware the way Steam Machines were going to work. And drop the pretense of being a platform competitor to Sony/Nintendo. That could actually be a cool service, and aligns with their "Microsoft as a cloud services company" roadmap a lot more than a boxed-software consumer electronics platform holder.
@dkxcalibur Larry Probst happened and sucked the intent of the company away from Tripp Hawkins. And he's still there all these years later leeching. It's not unlike Steve Ballmer usurping MS from Gates. (Not that either of those two are terribly admirable.) I think Hawkins is back on the board....but it's a powerless role for him at this point much like the remaining Disney decedents that were sent packing by Eisner and Iger.
@Solid_Stannis Tough battle for that title between Google and Facebook though.
@Iggy-Koopa
Because they're both sucky companies?
@HauntedNostril
I didn't mean "every place in the world".
But I'm not the one confused here.
This is so hilarious it's probably true...
@shani I guess that maybe lots of PS4 owners will also buy xbox one even if they don't sell their ps4 or maybe they sell because according to Sony the best selling game on PSN 2017 was FIFA 18. It's insane that even with a lot of good exclusives a multiplatform is best seller on PS4. But that's why I think microsoft move would make tons of Xbox sales.
Source: https://blog.eu.playstation.com/2018/01/05/what-were-playstation-stores-biggest-selling-games-of-2017/
It's a Tax right-off either way. They will loose nothing and can gain a lot . Nothing to loose in the grand steam of things. Big business 101...
Whatever.
I actually think this makes sense. The two companies have been getting cosy for a while, and Ms need more first-party games. If you've got the money why not buy the biggest company with the biggest games?
Licensing deals would mean the sports games remaining multiplat but they could release first and/or with extra content on Xbox. That would be huge in itself, knowing that to get the best version you had to buy it on MS format. Other games like Battlefield, The Sims, Need for Speed and Mass Effect could go exclusive. This could have quite an impact on Sony.
Xbox is in a tricky position and they need to do something drastic. This could well be it. Especially if the rumours of Disney being interested are true, MS could really do with getting there first.
@10-zx
"Do not mix politics with gaming". Or reality, in your case.
Microsoft wants to work with Nintendo, EA doesn't, Microsoft buys EA, solution in our favor? Time will tell. I hope 'soft brings in better business managers than EA currently has, because they STINK.
Seems to be company buying season. Disney brought 20th Century Fox, the WWE could possibly be sold to either FOX Sports or Disney both being interested, now this.
@electrolite77 Mass Effect STARTED as an X-BOX exclusive. MS Game Studios was Bioware's publisher, and heavily funded the game, before EA bought them (After Interplay owed them mountains of debt from Baldur's Gate II & Shadows of Amn when they went bankrupt, which is why Bioware was up for sale.) Mass Effect 1 and Jade Empire were created as X-BOX exclusives.....and then MS didn't care about games anymore and just sold the whole bundle of rights off. If they were actually buying EA to get exclusives like Mass Effect back that were rightfully theirs to begin with before selling it off, they're an even more out of touch company than I'd thought Nothing like selling off something you paid millions for only to buy it back for tens of billions.
I agree the two are VERY cozy. And I agree that buyouts are the classic MS method of gaining traction in an industry (usually with bad results.) But BIG buyouts have never been a tool they use. They go for small to mid. They like to leverage their weight to undervalue a buy rather than dealing with mergers and stock splits which could risk their own corporate structure. And the irony of closing their own studios, ending their own exclusives, including Bioware, only to try to get those franchises back, bundled with multiplat licensed games.....nah, it's surreal. I'd believe that as fast as Sega launching a Dreamcast II. Or S-E ever actually releasing Deep Down.
@NEStalgia buy XBox from MS
Never thought of that, but I could imagine it working out that way. Well I could have had Steambox actually taken off. That thing is somewhere in the back of my mind w/ Ouya. EAbox isn't all that different from Xbox.
As long as Switch doesn't get to be a media player, Hulu barely counts, EAbox can always position itself as that as well. Roku has been top of the heap for song long, I'm surprised nobody has bought them out, EAbox could give it a go. Not sure how big ShieldTV ever got, but EA has more marketing muscle than Nvidia. And they already have EA Access, which I dont think will ever arrive on Switch.
So yeah, EA buying and rebranding Xbox does make more sense. Though a spin-off merger and the Xbox games division with EA is probably more likely than a purchase. Rumours to that effect have only been making the rounds for about 4 years now.
http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/25/new-xbox-boss-wanted-to-sell-microsofts-games-division-4317425/
Honestly, if MS is going to spend the money to buy EA, just buy Nintendo instead. According to this outdated 2 year old report they're worth the same, about $20B.
https://geeks.media/biggest-gaming-companies
Edit: last year, EA and Nitnedo still the same market cap but $33B.
https://www.neogaf.com/threads/electronic-arts-ea-stock-just-broke-100-now-33-75-billion-in-market-cap.1371798/
Now Nintendo is about $50B and EA at $36B so MS should have bought Nintendo 2 years ago while they had the chance.
My feeling is that they would make publishing decisions on a game by game basis.
EA Sports titles like FIFA and Madden, would continue to be multi-plat releases, much like MineCraft, to avoid losing the licence. However the Xbox versions would get exclusive features to make it more attractive to players.
EA owned games such as Battlefield, and Bioware's titles, would end up as Xbox and PC exclusives.
Other licensed property like Star Wars, depending on the specifics of the contract, would likely have to remain multi-platform until the end of the 10 year licencing deal with Disney. After that it would be up to EA and Microsoft to work out another deal with Disney for the possibility of future games been exclusives.
I don't know how to feel about this one. I got an Xbox One and love to play games on it, but then again I love being able to buy some EA games on different consoles. I really wanted to see them make some more games for Switch.
@Akropolon To be fair, MS never mentioned buying Nintendo. And MS has also never mentioned buying EA, Valve or PUBG. These are rumors made up by others.
My only hope for this to be real is that Disney could take the Star Wars license from EA and give it to someone who won’t make a micro transaction, loot box filled mess.
@shani I guess maybe I'm crazy, but if I have a ps4, and the only way I can play any EA games is to own an xbox, I'd be selling my ps4 and buying an xbox. Install bases can shift.
@rjejr There's a key difference though where Nintendo's worth is primarily liquid while EA's is tied up in assets and inflated value. That almost eliminates a cash buy entirely, and Nintendo shares trade pretty high as it is, and are very static so there's rarely a "good" time to buy in. Worse (for buyers), Nintendo shareholders are mostly behemoth banks and funds that dwarf even MS in capital. Hard to force their poker faces. Nintendo's pocket change for them. EA's shareholders are going to be more easily excitable. Though in reality, NEITHER of them are too willing to budge I'd bet.
Compare to Ubisoft where Vivendi is doing all they can to leverage a buy, and it's a softer target with small time excitable shareholders, and the Guillemots as key shareholders which are a bit more vulnerable than, say, Wells Fargo and PNC. Those firms aren't going to low-ball their shares, and they know how to work even MS to overvalue....which would strip value right out of the deal.
@Luna_110 But EA's model is more Disney than Disney itself managed. EA may be known in gaming circles as the kings of reckless profiteering, but you're talking about the place that sold $4 bottles of water in Florida in July. Ain't nobody has mastered profiteering like Disney. Not even EA.
@Travan Honestly I think, buyout or no, EA and MS have had a shared outlook on gaming for some time and a close working relationship. I think the existing XBox gamer is going to be largely an EA customer, and a die-hard EA customer is going to likely find XBox more appealing than PS even in the current context. When I think XBox I think EA games. And similarly few EA games excite me (they used to have some but Mass Effect is in the toilet, Mirrors Edge is certainly on hiatus. C&C....is dead and burried. Dragon Age is forgotten, etc. etc. The "New" EA that is all about GaaS and licensed games is very much what I think of XBox being about. So either way I think there's heavy association and intersection between the customers of both. No buyout needed.
Sheesh... Micro$oftdoomed? Is it THAT bad on the Xbox side of things...?
@NEStalgia
Yeah, but Disney will put a limit to, at the very least, not get authority calling them a “Star Wars themed casino” and investigate them at a federal level.
Microsoft isn't going to buy EA. EA is too big, they have too many licenses to deal with (Disney, FIFA, NFL, NHL, NBA, UFC etc), antitrust issues will begin to pop up, and Microsoft themselves don't have a great track record in maintaining the quality or even the mere existence of several game studios.
@NEStalgia So what you're saying to me is that if EA games are important to me, most likely I already have an xbox to begin with so I wouldn't need to sell a ps4 to get one? That certainly makes sense because I'm mostly a sports gamer. Throw in some shooters and racers. I had a ps4 but do not currently. The only reason I had a ps4 was for MLB The Show, which I feel has become stale, so I traded it for an X.
@MeloMan It depends. Do you have to make money to not be doomed? Subscriptions are floating them well enough....but it's hard to build XBox Two on that while Sony's showcasing blockbusters. It's kind of a stagnant platform, not because it never had a chance but because they squandered their very good chances by closing most of their software production to squeeze every penny into the quarterlies. And the new CEO generally doesn't have the slightest interest in the division. The good is the division now operates on its own with Spencer no longer under the Windows division head. The bad is the CEO still sees it is a mere distraction from their Azure based future (unless the plan is to indeed make it a cloud service rather than a console family. )
@Luna_110 We're talking about the same Disney that owns the town. Literally. Buena Vista FL and Celebration FL are actually bizarre, dystopian corporate owned towns...with corporate police....and corporate jail. Even EA can't claim that kind of power What DOES go on in "the tunnels" under those theme parks? Disney could be the villain of an EA game. And that's saying something.
@westman98 Mostly agree, but I don't think antitrust would pop up. Ultimately MS wouldn't control more of the industry than EA already does while XBox is currently not even a market leader.
@Travan Yep! Your gaming interests definitely are aligned with what I tend to think of as the XBox/EA ecosystem...not surprising at all that green would be your flavor with your game interests. And with the network effect of like minded players, I'd think the online experience for those games would simply be a lot better there too in terms of the community. Sports, shooters, racers, MMO/persistent world games. I know both PS and XB have much of the same games, but when I think of XBox that's definitely I think where it's most "home."
According to a Yahoo Article Michael Patcher says "Close to zero probability of buying EA,"
So, that's it. It's really happening. Microsoft is buying EA.....
@NEStalgia
One thing i noticed from Xbox.
Microsoft NEVER has Very Strong 1st party because their games are tends to Mature looking, No KAWAII or Cute looking that will sold for Japanese audiences. On Nintendo machines, there are Tons of Chibi or Kawaii games on almost every single Nintendo machines, while on xbox machines, there are Almost NO Cute games that really fascinating Japanese people. The cute games on xbox are mostly in Western style, Not in Japanese style. And that's the Big problem for Microsoft, Failed to impress Japanese and Asian audiences due to lack of Japanese style of games.
@Damo Oh yeah, my bad, you're absolutely right! I must've unintentionally skipped that part when I was reading it in the subway.
@duhsoares21 Wow, that's really insane (and simultaneously a damning indictment for the PS4 library)! Thanks, I didn't know that.
@Travan But humans (and especially gamers) are lazy!
On a more serious note: well maybe I'm underestimating EA's pulling power then.
@westman98 How is 'too big' a valid argument? If MS can afford it (and want it), I don't see why they couldn't do it. And what do the licenses have to do with it?
@NEStalgia Haha yeah, if that so-called 'expert' is saying it won't happen, I also now believe it will happen. 😆
Well I guess we still have to remind ourselves that this is just a rumour at this point, but if it turned out to be true I'd approve!
EA and MS are made for each other. Sweet dreams
Who cares? They're both garbage companies that truly dont give a flying nibelsnarf about their fans. Absolutely no salt here....
@shani
EA is a $35+ billion company. Yes, Microsoft is huge (they have $120 billion in the bank), but spending that much money on a purchase like this in incredibly. EA's stock will likely rise dramatically if Microsoft were to announce a purchase, so Microsoft would likely need to spend $45+ billion to actually complete a purchase.
With regards to licenses, I'm not sure Disney and the sports leagues will be happy to find out that Star Wars and the sports games may end up becoming Xbox exclusive, given that the money they earn from licenses correspond with the number of copies the games sell.
@Travan @fragred I was referring to this:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/news040804gatesnintendo
Not an official "We want to buy Nintendo" statement, but still the head of the company (and back then way more influential) Bill Gates expressing his interest in buying Nintendo. That was a big thing back then. So big in fact that Nintendo responded officially by stating such a scenario would never occur.
@Anti-Matter These days that's true, but it wasn't always, actually. Since the X360 they've been promoting the realistic looking M-rated games, sure. But back when they first launched the X-BOX (1, lol), they had a pretty broad range of games, and, inheriting a lot from Sega's help following the Dreamcast, the OG X-BOX was actually a good home for a lot of Japanese and Anime games. It was kind of the Dreamcast's spiritual successor.
And then they threw it all away chasing the rising shooter money early in the X360 days.
Nintendo certainly has the biggest catalog of such games today, but there was this odd time period where the GameCube was getting less, the Playstation 2 had none, the Dreamcast failed, and the X-BOX was actually the refuge for JRPGs!
@Caryslan The Disney merger has yet to be approved though. As is, it's technically a proposed merger agreed by both parties. It's still yet to be legally implemented.
I don't think this will happen, but part of me does want to see this just to see EA's management get cleaned up. Obviously MS isn't perfect, but I can't see them pulling the same shady stuff EA has been pulling recently.
Looks like Maxis is going off life support.
@westman98 Well I'm certain they could make those not-XB1-exclusive, just as it would be with the FIFA series.
OH GOD !! Maybe if thats true, tey will start to make games AGAIN !!
let ea die alrdy and has anyone seen ea excuse of battlefront 2 lack of sales their blaming the lootbox controversy instead of themselves seriously ea needs to disappear.
If this happened, EA titles wouldn't be exclusive to Xbox, they would also release on PC. Lost revenue from PS4 unless Microsoft gets huge license fees, but yeah, far from the worst deal in the world, from the perspective of EA's executives. Like Discostew and others have said, this wouldn't hurt Nintendo in the slightest, and Microsoft my be more willing to let Nintendo in on deals than Sony.
@shani
What's the point of buying the entirety of EA just for a big portion of their games (sports titles and Star Wars) to go multiplatform anyways?
If Microsoft wants to use EA's games to enhance their Game Pass beyond just new first party titles, they should just pay EA for EA's new games to be available on Game Pass. No need to buy the whole company...
This has some chance of happening. Right now Microsoft has one of, if not the biggest war chests in the world, which implies they are getting ready to buy up something. EA is a likely choice but it could just as easily be something else. But it will be something.
I don’t see this happening. EA’s worth goes down if they are single platform, or the value of the Xbox brand goes down if EA is multiplatform. Either scenario makes the deal too expensive for an EA under the umbrella of Microsoft, because either way, Microsoft loses.
Not enough salt (or drugs) on the planet for this to be believable to me.
@Akropolon i was thinking the same thing is ms buys ea then its likely the xbox is the one that will go hell outside of the US the xbox one doesnt sell all that well, have they broke 100 units a week in japan yet?
They could just "invest" giving Xbox timed exclusive EA games - or combine Xbox Live with EA online service.
Either way, no one would really care
@NEStalgia While the Xbox (1) did have a whole host of amazing Japanese titles (Panzer Dragoon, JSRF, Shenmue, etc.), I wouldn't say that console was a safe haven for JRPG's. There were very little of those, actually. At least the Gamecube had Baten Kaitos, Tales of Symphonia, Paper Mario and some other stuff.
The Xbox 360 however, even though it's known for its many FPSes, did have a ridiculous amount of JRPG's. Tales of Vesperia, Eternal Sonata, Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Infinite Undiscovery, Final Fantasy XIII, the list goes on.
It was during the (early) 360 days that Microsoft was pushing really hard to gain a foothold in Japan. It was to no avail however, and with the Xbox One we're back to quite a lot of fun Japanese games, but relatively few JRPG's.
@Tempestryke Yep.
Remember a few years back? Maybe just before or just after the wiiu launched, there was word that Capcom was up for sale, and it was very highly hinted that Nintendo were interested. Man I wish that happened. But it didn't.
I see the same with this, no way would it ACTUALLY happen.
I'd see Disney buy EA before MS. Disney own everything, lol.
Not like it'd effect Nintendo since they aren't really supporting Switch.
A little early for 1st of April, isn't it?
@HauntedNostril Haha that did make me chuckle, twelfth sign of end times
Microsoft needs to take a nap. all of their buy-outs is going to cause them to go broke....
@Akropolon Ahh, yes, I do recall the JRPG glut at the start of the X360. At the time though PS3 was awash in them as well. Many were multiplats.
This could be big. EA has some amazing IPs that they dont even use anymore.
@NEStalgia
I know there's a not a lot of precedent but given the big tax breaks corporations like MS have just been given and the corner they've boxed themselves into I'd expect an acquisition of some kind.
I also don't think decisions taken 10 years ago by previous management will have any bearing. M different people running the show and they've shown they're not afraid to change course. It's all about whether it's worth it to them now.
@electrolite77 While I know it means siding with Patcher....I'll say near-zero chance
Tax breaks or no, it's also important to keep in mind XBox is not a significan't core business for Microsoft, and EA represents a MAJOR acquisition that will rattle the foundations of the whole company. Previous management (Ballmer) actually had an odd unexplained love of the XBox division and defended it when it arguably shouldn't have been defended (and the board was not pleased. They wanted XBox to be GONE by now.) Current management (Nadella) was open to jettisoning XBox (part of why the board liked him) and is focused on changing MS's course to a cloud platforms company focused on mobile. And EA acquisition ties up a lot of resources that could be spent securing their new core business of cloud mobilization through acquisitions in that field rather than a sideways merger with a company in a peripheral industry related to a division most of the board doesn't want to be in anyway. Heck even if they announced it half the board would try to veto it.
I'm sure they'll buy someone, that's what MS does....but nothing on that scale. 35-45B just isn't a decision you take a risk on unless it's integral to the core business of the company. Again 1/3 value is a merger, not a buyout. Nobody under the Azure umbrella wants to hear "merger" with a media firm.
EA would be a good fit in terms of their focus on cloud. But it's just too ancillary to what MS is focused on to commit that level of resources to, and it's very far from the stated missions of the current CEO which is, honestly, a lot more ambitious and future-forward than "lets buy EA!" They're more or less aiming all barrels at Google and Amazon. EA would be a distraction in that war.
Heck, they'd go after Ubisoft before EA....it's a lot cheaper and accomplishes the same goals without the licensing nightmares EA brings with it.
loot boxes now coming only to xbox it is then!.
@FragRed Sim Safari was an awesome game. My and my sister played it all the time when we were young!
@NEStalgia
See, you and your good points well made, you've now got me speculating that they'll spin off the Xbox division in a merger with EA. What? I'm a dreamer....
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