Polygon have published an opinion piece regarding the lack of exclusives on Xbox One and in it they say they have heard a number of rumours suggesting that Microsoft are looking to buy Valve, EA, or PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds publisher Bluehole.
Let’s start with the big one, EA. The chances of Microsoft purchasing EA for the purpose of exclusive games is virtual nil as the majority of EA games are licensed properties such as FIFA and Star Wars.
We know that game sales are roughly 60/40 in favour of PS4 due to the larger install base and there is no way that Disney, FIFA, and the NFL will want to lose such a huge revenue stream. I would also expect that the contracts for these licenses will include sales targets which would be very hard to reach, especially if the games were also available day one on Games Pass.
Of course there are a couple of IPs that EA own outright, but at the moment the only one that is doing well is Battlefield. Mirror’s Edge faulted and Dead Space is, well, dead. Microsoft are unlikely to splash the cash for IPs that just don’t sell very well.
Next up is Valve and again the chances of EA buying the company are slim, purely because Valve doesn’t need to be bought. Gabe Newell and chums are awash with cash and are quite happy to potter along spending ten years making a game rather than churning them out, which is what Microsoft would want.
Bluehole does seem like the obvious purchase, PUBG is already exclusive to Microsoft platforms and is a fairly new company. However, they only have one game and it’s already out, which doesn’t help with Microsoft’s problem, a lack of Xbox One exclusives.
There is also the problem of a backlash, Microsoft came under heavy fire for buying exclusivity for Tomb Raider so you can imagine the furore if Star Wars Battlefront III became an Xbox exclusive.
So who should Microsoft buy? Well there’s one very obvious choice: Activision. Call of Duty has traditionally been ‘at home’ on Xbox and they don’t have any third party IPs anymore to worry about. In fact they barely have any games at all on their release slate, but making COD exclsuvie would be a huge win for Microsoft.
Of course this is all rumour and gossip, don’t forget that it wasn’t long ago that there were whispers that Microsoft were considering selling off Xbox and the games division.
Update: We’ve just had a Mass Debate about this and other topics.
Source: PolygonÂ
SamBeThyName
Never heard of Bluehole so it’ll probs be them. EA and/or Valve would be off their heads to sell
bunimomike
If their logo isn’t a Smurf bending over… well, expect disappointment.
SamBeThyName
Actual, genuine lol.
ron_mcphatty
Hah! Me too, nice one Mike :)
BossHog
Its far more likely Microsoft just give up. They have lost every generation, and Xbox doesn’t fit with Nadella’s vision of where Microsoft is heading.
SamBeThyName
Less lol
Avenger
There’s not really a lack of exclusives though. 4 exclusives in the first half of the year, then at least 2 in the second half, excluding E3 announcments.
What they’re lacking is variety in their portfolio of first party studios, a problem they got when they started letting Bungie and Bizarre fly the nest and wind down first party development for 360. Ironically Sony could be following them in the long term with the amount of closures they’ve allowed. Zipper, Studio Liverpool and Cambridge, plus Evolution, just to name a few.
The ‘no games’ myth is getting a bit tiresome to be fair. By a county mile, Microsoft’s biggest issue is the long term release schedule which they have to guarantee at E3 2018. They’re already nourishing Playground Games by giving them a new project and resources. They need to start investing in 343, Coalition, and perhaps Bluehole in order to develop different projects alongside the big IPs.
Starman
Glad someone else is aware this “no exclusives” line is bs. Last year was the only one where Xbox didn’t have a lot coming out, until then it always had as many or more than the PS4, but nobody was covering that as much.
Avenger
Yeah Xbox didn’t have much last year, but then I never felt PS4 had much either. Horizon Zero Dawn and GT Sport. The other games were remasters or expansions. Nintendo came in and owned it.
DrDamn
@Avenger
I don’t really like list wars and they might not have been to your tastes but Nioh, Persona 5, Hellblade, Nier:Automata, Gravity Rush 2, Everybody’s Golf and Nex Machina are not remasters or expansions. Also Lost Legacy whilst an expansion of sorts is standout fantastic and a dis-service to be dismissed as an expansion. Also *whisper* Knack 2. :D
None of the big platforms are suffering from a lack of games though. I could fill my gaming time happily with any one of them.
Avenger
I had forgotten all the JRPGs to be fair.
Hellblade is superb and understated, but I didn’t realise it was exclusive.
BossHog
Nope, its just you two microsoft employees.
Its well accepted Xbox is sorely lacking games
Avenger
Yeah, along with the other 35 million ’employees’ who bought an Xbox. Retard.
BossHog
Even polygon and gamesindustry.biz the biggest Microsoft shills going say the Xbox lacks decent exclusives
(polygon took a huge Microsoft bribe under the lane guise of a movie that never happened)
https://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/2m16oi/polygon_accepted_750000_from_m
JR.
It’s probably just as tiresome as when the Xbox faithful made the same claim about the PS4 in it’s first year or so after launch.
The people who said the PS4 had no games are now upset because the same claim is being made about Xbox. And the people who said the higher resolution of the PS4 didn’t matter are now shouting from the rooftops because the XB1X is more powerful. It’s comical really. Best just to smile and go along with it.
MrYd
EA (or Activision) would be a PR disaster, really. Unless they were to buy them and still keep doing PS4 games (which isn’t unheard of).
Valve would be a terrible idea. Does anyone really want MS effectively controlling all PC games as well as the OS?
Bluehole would make sense. Stupidly popular game making lots of money, MS buy it for billions, still keeps making money, appears on other platforms because money, and whoever’s in charge of the company buys a huge house and turns into a massive wanker, like that Minecraft bloke.
monkeyspoon
I’m getting really fed up of Microsoft thinking they can just open their wallet and buy what they want.
I have a novel idea for them. Why not invest in creating their own studios and recruit new talent to create new IPs. It’s a win for gamers. Buying studios only disadvantages gamers.
gernboes
Activision? Really? I think Activision also doesn’t “need” to be bought, at least not if you take into account its parent company, Activision-Blizzard, don’t you think? The points you made about valve (doesn’t need to be bought) and EA (doesn’t want to lose revenue streams) could also be made about Activision and CoD, or am I completely mistaken here?
I mean I have no clue if Activision could be bought without the consent of Activision-Blizzard, but I cant see them giving it away if they can prevent it…
Tuffcub
No, none of the “need” to be bought, but Activisions slate is relatively clean and they have one big game that could be made exclusive. As I said, Acti dont make games based on licenses anymore which would be a huge problem in a buy out to make exclusives.
gernboes
Yeah, but as I said, they are a subsidiary of Activision-Blizzard, and also, they publish Destiny, not only CoD…
JR.
They’ll probably buy Activision and remake the original Spyro trilogy… exclusive to Xbox. The monsters! :D
Honestly though, Why are MS not investing in their own games like Nintendo / Sony? Talk about third wheel. The sooner this becomes a two horse race the better.
Starman
Yeah because less competition always works in the favour of the customer. You also forget Sony have shut down some great studios and relied on a lot of remasters this generation.
MrYd
Probably works out better for customers than paying loads of money to make previously multi-platform games exclusive. Suddenly preventing 75m PS4 owners (well, 75m minus the number who own a PS4 and an XBone) from playing the next game in some big franchise can’t possibly be called in favour of the customer, can it?
JR.
Yes but in this case, the opposite is true. Competition is working against the consumer. Look at the Tomb Raider debacle. How did MS’s desperate need to compete with Uncharted benefit anyone? If anything, they damaged the brand and consumer trust. I vote we loose Xbox and bring back SEGA!
Starman
Could only see bluehole with battlegrounds happening really. The other’s would be hugely expensive, though the long term would pay off. A PS5 without Battlefield, FIFA, Madden, Mass Effect, Titanfall, NfS, Star Wars etc would be a turn off for many.
MrYd
In theory that could work well for MS.
There’s just a couple of problems.
By the time a PS5 happens, there’ll be 100m+ PS4s sold. And a PS5 is (most likely) just going to be a more powerful PS4 that can still play all those PS4 games. How many people are going to switch? Just for some sequels to some games?
If that backwards compatibility thing XBox fans like to go on about all the time really is a thing, MS really are screwed if the PS5 can do it with PS4 games.
Plus it’d piss off a lot of people. Maybe MS think that’s worth the money.
Starman
Well Sony and their fans have made it clear they don’t want to play last gen games, so can’t see Sony making the next PlayStation backwards compatible. Remember the majority of gamers just go where the games they want to play are, they couldn’t care less about console wars. 100m ps4’s would count for nothing, just like 100m Wii’s and 80m 360’s counted for nothing when this gen started.
MrYd
Didn’t MS come up with the numbers to prove most people aren’t that bothered by BC?
Things could change in the next 2 or 3 years, but currently it looks likely that any future Playstation or Xbox isn’t going to be an entirely new thing. Just a more powerful version of the current hardware. At which point the BC thing definitely comes into play and gives Sony a huge advantage.
You can’t say “the XBone is great because of BC”, even though numbers suggest it’s not that important, and then suddenly decide it doesn’t matter when it gives Sony an advantage. And no, I’m not doing exactly the same thing but the other way around. I’m just saying it doesn’t really matter currently, as the numbers suggest, but might be a huge advantage for a PS5 or a new PS4.
DrDamn
“The chances of Microsoft purchasing EA for the purpose of exclusive games is virtual nil”
I totally agree, but you don’t really cover the alternative. Buying EA and continuing to make games for other platforms – like they did with Mojang. There is a lot for them to gain – not least a company making decent profits in the gaming sector. Merging EA Access with Game Pass could be huge. Along with additional co-marketing and special treatment for the XBox platform. EA games would continue to sell on other platforms but become synonymous with XBox and boost sales there too.
Tuffcub
That’s because the whole point of Polygons article (and the rumours) was MS are looking to buy something for exclusives, not multiplatforms.
DrDamn
Yeah but this article is “Rumour: Microsoft Want To Buy EA, Valve, Or Bluehole. Is that likely?” ;-P. Is your article about Polygon’s article or the rumour therein?
The point of Polygon’s article is exclusives. You can’t extrapolate that to be the point of the rumour. They are trying to link the rumour to their argument but there are other reasons the rumour might exist.