Topic: Should Nintendo start buying third party studios?

Exclusive to Game Pass? It's possible. Not as likely as Amazon/Google/Facebook going exclusively service with games but definitely on the cards. However I don't think exclusive to Game Pass necessarily means exclusive to XBox. I think it's definitely on the cards for Game Pass to expand to other platforms in the future and they have the IP behind them that it could be hard for platforms to refuse

I mean it seems crazy now but I don't think Game Pass extending to Google TV/Android and Playstation is that unlikely. Also I think Nintendo, while a fairly conservative company, is someone Microsoft doesn't really see as a direct competitor. While I think Nintendo is unlikely to want Game Pass on it's platform at all I could see Microsoft just outright releasing stuff on Nintendo's hardware without Game Pass

Unless Gamepass becomes bigger than, I dunno, Netflix, a major game being exclusive to it would be pointlessly super controversial, so that people who want to give Microsoft 60 bucks for a single video game, now can't. I fail to see the benefit here.

Also unless its the next Halo, it would not cause any notable increase in Gamepass subscribers anyway, so that's just stupid.

Nintendo has mostly been buying third party developers that were already developing first party games, with the purpose to get their teams to work on Nintendo titles exclusively.

MS is buying companies to expand their first party franchises. There is not much of a point for Nintendo to buy companies that don't own big franchises as a move to counter MS.

If Nintendo were to buy a company for its franchises, it would have to be one that its franchises already have a big audience on Nintendo's platform, otherwise it would be a terrible investment. I don't think there are many companies that do.

If it gets us a new DKC yes please!

I've always said it and I'll say it again - you don't need to buy studios outright. You just need to build strong relationships with them and allow them to become successful in their own right. If Nintendo can do that and have an option on the specific IP those studios are working on (like Platinum with Astral Chain for instance) then it ties those developers into the Nintendo ecosystem for a relatively low cost and low risk.

Microsoft (and to a lesser extent Sony) are in a different situation because they don't have anything like as large a stable of historic IPs and/or older games that still have broad appeal to a modern audience. They're buying the brands and the content to shore up GamePass.

Put another way - Doom and Crash Bandicoot could be to Microsoft what Friends and "The Office" are to Netflix.

@StuTwo The Office and Friends suck though. It’s amazing to me it’s been 20 years, how have people not moved on from these shows yet?!

Nintendo is notoriously known to not try to control third parties. Last time they tried it was during the NES days and they got legal problems for that. Nintendo do their own thing and if third parties want to release their games on Nintendo systems then good for them but Nintendo won't force them.

I think it's an apt comparison since Crash Bandicoot also "sucks".

(Doom less so. Maybe it's more accurate to say that CoD will become Microsoft's "Friends". Just to ram home the equivalence: a typical session on CoD includes almost as much awfully outdated homophobic stuff as some episodes of Friends.)

Welp Sony just bought Bungie Studios. And said there will be more acquisitions. I think it's time for Nintendo to worry. If they lose Capcom, Sega, square-enix, bandai namco, platinum games, to Sony or Microsoft, it would be devastating.

@Bryon15 I'm not worried about Sony or MS buying any major Japanese publisher at the moment. Capcom is flush with Monster Hunter-money, they aren't looking to sell. Sega, has a tremendous catalog of IP but are just skating by financially, they're not an attractive purchase for anybody. Bandai Namco is an enormous company with 5,000+ employees across multiple business divisions and not just video games, a company Nintendo is already a minority owner of. Platinum Games is the most hit-or-miss developer in Japan, one game could score a 9/10 and the following game could score 5/10.

The only "maybe" is Square Enix.

Final Fantasy has been associated with the Playstation brand since VII, but XIV is doing so well I doubt S-E are looking to sell either.

@Magician I think the reason Sega is often bought up is because they own Atlus and they’re definitely a big money maker mostly due to the Persona franchise.

@Bryon15 Would it though? Nintendo consoles are largely bought for Nintendo games and aside from Monster Hunter there's nothing that "moves the needle" from those companies on the Switch. The latest Resident Evil or Final Fantasy already don't come to Nintendo and it's not like people buy a console for Sonic anymore.

Whilst the arms race between Sony and Microsoft if it keeps going on like this will just end up with one company crashing and thus leaving Nintendo with a bigger market share.

@FragRed

Ehhhh, the last couple years Atlus have recorded net revenue losses, haven't they?

I wouldn't qualify them as "big money makers".

@Magician I mean, I'm surprised they make money at all considering Persona 5, one of their biggest game ever, it's still only on PS4 and they didn't even anounced a next gen upgrade. Like, I like their games but some their desitions are questionable. Even from the business perspective.

Now being serious tho, you are right. Atlus is not a big money maker. In fact, they never really were. They have good games and potential while not being huge, probably the actual reason why Sega bought them and Atlus let it happen.

@Magician their games sales themselves have been selling better than estimated though. The problem with inter-companies like these is that Sega can be claiming revenue from Atlus and dumping costs on them too but it doesn't matter as management just look at the consolidate company.

Non-spin off Persona are a big deal though, I remember when 5 was released in the UK it went straight to number one in the charts and then left the charts completely as all physical versions sold out in the first week. It's those kind of big hype titles this arms race is after and I don't think they really care about how profitable an indivual company is otherwise they wouldn't be throwing silly money about.

Nintendo isn’t to worried about this, but they should be. If Sony and Xbox keep absorbing other large and AAA studios… imagine Nintendos future potential line ups. Nintendo can’t survive off their own titles alone. If Xbox or Sony buy out any, or all of Ubisoft, sega/atlas, Konami, capcom, koei tecmo, Bandai Namco, platinum, square enix. If Xbox or Sony buy 3 or more of these I would say Nintendo will be done. As a Nintendo fanboy I need more then Mario, Zelda, fire emblem, Metroid and Xenoblade to keep me interested. Square enix, capcom and sega/atlas in particular would almost be enough for me to leave Nintendo. I myself would love Nintendo to buy square enix, capcom, Konami, sega and platinum…. These developers plus Nintendos own brands would be perfect 👍 ( … who develops the ys series ? Them two)

@Kimba-lion I don’t think Nintendo are going to buy any big publishers like Square Enix or Capcom (though maybe they should have when they price was right a few years back), but Platinum Games kinda makes a lot of sense to me. They have worked on numerous exclusives, Nintendo kinda just lets them get on with developing the games and it provides a great genre of exclusives that Nintendo themselves won’t develop internally.

Yeah I don’t think they will either. I love getting games like triangle strategy etc, sadly if Sony buys square, Xbox capcom, that’s wiped out 30% of my current switch library. ( of course I own these ones, but moving forward). I like the good old days where developers were independent and had to Rely on creating quality games. I love Nintendos IPs but variety’s good. I’m just stoked We still have a free enough environment at the moment for shared IPs with my beloved switch.

@Kimba-lion Microsoft buying Capcom is far less likely out of the two. I’m not sure how much truth there is behind the whole difficulty in buying up Japanese companies, but it may well be too difficult to try. Also Microsoft likes purchasing publishers when their luck is down. Capcom is very much on the up.

Lol yeah your right all very true, and a good common sense analysis of the situation, but Still I wish tendo would get a few under the belt, just to always be able to provide access to these IPs. Either way, let’s hope we don’t see the monopoly continuing.