• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Activision and EA tried to buy Minecraft

Does Microsoft have a past of milking (Skylanders), annualizing (Call of Duty) or running franchises into the ground (Guitar Hero)?



Yes, please (and it had better not include Rare). I might learn something new.

Um, Yes, they do. What rock have you been living under?
 
Glad MS got it. Either of those 2 would have been horrible.
Dude, MS is charging for skins, texture packs, everything. Minecraft has so much DLC it's crazy.

I don't care who bought it, because the game has been community driven for such a long time, it's impossible to topple.

Oh, you're adding that to the game Mojang? The community added that last year.
 

BibiMaghoo

Member
They sold to the lesser of three evils then, and that makes Notch's decision easier to understand for sure, money aside. If I had these three companies trying to buy I would have done the same.
 
Um, Yes, they do. What rock have you been living under?

Huh? I was pointed towards Halo, which has existed for 15 years and has four main games and a bunch of spin-offs. Forza, which is historically a bi-annual franchise, and a nameless count of franchises that Microsoft through market oversaturation ruined public interest in. I don't consider these anywhere near abusive territory.
 
Really? Annualize, sure; milk? No entry has been truly bad or awful, or even mediocre.

Halo is mediocre compared to what it was before. The MCC is still a broken mess. Fable has been mediocre since the third entry and that's just two of their franchises. Crackdown 2 was crap, Rare is practically dead
 

leeh

Member
You and I see Microsoft in a completely different light from each other.

MS are gonna milk the living shit out of this franchise, just as the other 2 would.
Wouldn't you if you forked out 2.5Billion for a franchise?

Supply and demand.
 

McLovin

Member
Yeah Activision or EA would have been bad, but if Activision let the Blizzard side handle it, they probably would have done something amazing.
 

Raide

Member
Yeah Activision or EA would have been bad, but if Activision let the Blizzard side handle it, they probably would have done something amazing.

Yeah, some Minecraft deck for Heathstone or a master skin for Heroes of the Storm.
 
Given Microsofts involvement in getting it on XBLA/consoles in the first place, they were the obvious choice for buying it, for me. Regardless of the money I think the relationship with some people at MS was important to Notch

Halo is mediocre compared to what it was before. The MCC is still a broken mess. Fable has been mediocre since the third entry and that's just two of their franchises. Crackdown 2 was crap, Rare is practically dead

Since the third entry, Lionhead have been making various spin-offs, it seems they are being allowed to make the games they want to make, if MS forced them to do something else, as usual, you'd be complaining anyway. Plus they are making a new IP. Crackdown i'll give you, MS made a huge mistake there, but at least they are bringing it back (again).

Given the success of Kinect Sports and avatars on Xbox 360, i'd say Rare have probably never been more alive under Microsoft than they are now. The Forza games are great too, made by 2 different teams and quite different racers, I have no issues with what they're doing with Forza.

Halo, well 4 still sold 9m units, hopefully they will put the mistakes with MCC behind them and Halo 5 was still very good from the beta
 

4Tran

Member
Clearly, Minecraft was a lot more valuable to Microsoft than it was to EA or Activision. For the latter, they're a major inroad into mobile gaming and can become an important source of income. For Microsoft, it represents an opportunity to rebuild their devices lines around Minecraft and perhaps create a huge fanbase from the children demographic. I wouldn't be surprised if a sequel comes out in the next 3 years - and that it will be exclusive to Microsoft mobile software & hardware.
 
Given Microsofts involvement in getting it on XBLA/consoles in the first place, they were the obvious choice for buying it, for me. Regardless of the money I think the relationship with some people at MS was important to Notch



Since the third entry, Lionhead have been making various spin-offs, it seems they are being allowed to make the games they want to make, if MS forced them to do something else, as usual, you'd be complaining anyway. Plus they are making a new IP. Crackdown i'll give you, MS made a huge mistake there, but at least they are bringing it back (again).

Given the success of Kinect Sports and avatars on Xbox 360, i'd say Rare have probably never been more alive under Microsoft than they are now.

I wouldn't complain because I actually want a Fable 4 game. Fable 3, though it was clearly flawed, was still a fun game.

The whole Rare thing, sure I'll give you that but I couldn't care less about their latest Output. The Rare of old is dead in my eyes.


I didn't like what the Halo 5 beta was doing, and I wouldn't care either if the MCC worked reliably.
 

Lothars

Member
Does Microsoft have a past of milking (Skylanders), annualizing (Call of Duty) or running franchises into the ground (Guitar Hero)?



Yes, please (and it had better not include Rare). I might learn something new.

Shadowrun
Mechwarrior
Mech Assault
Age of Empires
Did major damage to the halo series with masterchief collection
Project Gotham Racing
Perfect dark
Banjo-kazooie
Crimson Skies
Fable is a shell of what it was especially after Fable 2
Yearly releases of Forza isn't doing a favor to that franchise.

This isn't everything as well just some of the bigger titles that they have forgot existed or did harm to.
 
I wouldn't complain because I actually want a Fable 4 game. Fable 3, though it was clearly flawed, was still a fun game.

The whole Rare thing, sure I'll give you that but I couldn't care less about their latest Output. The Rare of old is dead in my eyes.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but on a constant basis you complain about the Fable, Forza, Halo, Gears cycle... so, I don't really think they can win.

Rare are going back to their older IP, that much is obvious. If Double Helix can make a good/great Killer Instinct, no reason Rare can't do the same with their own IP.
 

Peterpan

Member
Posters are complaining about a yearly Forza now. Such threads never surprise. Forza is a wonderful franchise. Which Microsoft built ground up. Halo has had disappointing entries, not bad ones.
 

Dunlop

Member
What's funny is MS isn't really the main focus of the article in the OP

people really see red lol

I would love to know how they will ever recoup that expense
 

Lothars

Member
Posters are complaining about a yearly Forza now. Such threads never surprise. Forza is a wonderful franchise. Which Microsoft built ground up. Halo has had disappointing entries, not bad ones.
Forza 5 wasn't a very good game, it has tons of issues.

Forza Horizon 2 is a great game but that doesn't excuse Forza 5. Masterchief collection is not just dissapointing, it's bad.

They can improve it and hopefully they do but with all the issues it's inexcusable.
 

Lothars

Member
I wish they milked or annualized these franchises.
They have killed those franchises though which is a damn shame but it's exactly what the other poster was saying that Microsoft has never taken a franchise and killed it or did anything with.
 

Peterpan

Member
Forza 5 wasn't a very good game, it has tons of issues.

Forza Horizon 2 is a great game but that doesn't excuse Forza 5. Masterchief collection is not just dissapointing, it's bad.

They can improve it and hopefully they do but with all the issues it's inexcusable.
Forza 5 isn't a very good game? Lacks content yes, but not very good game I suggest you go play more racing games before you comment about that. It's a great game lacking content and was filled with micro transactions, stop reading threads and go play the game, if that is not very good, would love to see what you consider good, in terms of gameplay and features.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but on a constant basis you complain about the Fable, Forza, Halo, Gears cycle... so, I don't really think they can win.

Rare are going back to their older IP, that much is obvious. If Double Helix can make a good/great Killer Instinct, no reason Rare can't do the same with their own IP.

Well for starters, they should have let Horizons stand on its own rather than milking the Forza name (which didn't seem to help much anyways). And yea, I've complained about the endless cycle but that doesn't mean I wouldn't take a solid Fable game Fable 2 is still one of my favorites from last gen, the issue is they haven't been able to do a decent game since 3 (which was rather okay).

I'm more than okay with more Gears, it's been a while since the third. I'm really hoping we get a collection that isn't broken as that'd be amazing.

Rare may very well come back to life. I don't know, I'm only talking about the way they are at the moment. With Kinect thankfully dead now they may just have a shot.
 

Crosseyes

Banned
I dunno if Activision might be better or worse, but EA? Would probably need to be digging a new grave next to the likes of Westwood and Pandemic.
 

Lothars

Member
Forza 5 isn't a very good game? Lacks content yes, but not very good game I suggest you go play more racing games before you comment about that. It's a great game lacking content and was filled with micro transactions, stop reading threads and go play the game, if that is not very good, would love to see what you consider good, in terms of gameplay and features.
Yes it's not a very good game, I didn't enjoy Forza 5 at all especially compared to previous games in the series like Forza 4, The microtransaction really killed the game.

I will give Forza 6 a chance but won't for a long time after it's released. I still need to go and play more Forza Horizon 2 but it's a great game.
 
Well for starters, they should have let Horizons stand on its own rather than milking the Forza name (which didn't seem to help much anyways). And yea, I've complained about the endless cycle but that doesn't mean I wouldn't take a solid Fable game Fable 2 is still one of my favorites from last gen, the issue is they haven't been able to do a decent game since 3 (which was rather okay).

I'm more than okay with more Gears, it's been a while since the third. I'm really hoping we get a collection that isn't broken as that'd be amazing.

Rare may very well come back to life. I don't know, I'm only talking about the way they are at the moment. With Kinect thankfully dead now they may just have a shot.

I don't see what difference the Forza branding makes, if anything it will have helped the game. Its not like it is another Motorsport game, if you're upset at them "milking" the Forza name (a very well established brand, too) then just called it Horizon, I really don't see what difference it makes. You got a couple of great games that are different to Motorsport, splitting hairs over having the name "Forza" in front of it seems like an utterly useless point.

I bet Playground were delighted that they got to use the Forza name and assets too, for what its worth.

We got Judgment after Gears 3, its not like Gears hasn't been used like any of the others, the only reason we have a gap now is due to the acquisition, moving development to Black Tusk. We'll get a Collection this year.
 
Shadowrun
Mechwarrior
Mech Assault
Age of Empires
Did major damage to the halo series with masterchief collection
Project Gotham Racing
Perfect dark
Banjo-kazooie
Crimson Skies
Fable is a shell of what it was especially after Fable 2
Yearly releases of Forza isn't doing a favor to that franchise.

This isn't everything as well just some of the bigger titles that they have forgot existed or did harm to.

Are we talking about developers or IP?

Because a lot of IP get shelved because they don't sell - like Project Gotham. PGR4 was a great game, but sold like shit, that's on gamers, not MS.

Forza is pretty much the highest rated racing franchise for the past two generations. The Horizon series is a different beast altogether, and it's still good.
 

Lothars

Member
Are we talking about developers or IP?

Because a lot of IP get shelved because they don't sell - like Project Gotham. PGR4 was a great game, but sold like shit, that's on gamers, not MS.

Forza is pretty much the highest rated racing franchise for the past two generations. The Horizon series is a different beast altogether, and it's still good.
No that's on MS, it's not on the gamers when MS keeps abusing the same ip's and won't invest in almost any new ips.
 

Shanlei91

Sonic handles my blue balls
seeing Shadowrun mentioned makes me sad

I wished it was priced at $40 and did not pretend to reference Shadowrun at all

Game was amazing, it deserved sequels

Best game ever. Should rebrand it as "Halo space wizards" and rerelease it.

They have killed those franchises though which is a damn shame but it's exactly what the other poster was saying that Microsoft has never taken a franchise and killed it or did anything with.

What cosntitutes as killing a franchise? That there haven't been new games for it recently? Viva Pinata had two games, a spinoff (based on the tv show clearly aimed towards children), and a game for the DS; the second game is basically a perfected version of the original. It's one of those games that you only need one for a generation, like Mario Kart or Smash Bros. If we don't see a sequel in the next 4 years on Xbox One or PC then we can say it's dead. But even then, the final entry, Trouble in Paradise, is amazing. It was a quality game and as someone who doesn't care about sales, I say they did a good job with providing a fun game.
 
No that's on MS, it's not on the gamers when MS keeps abusing the same ip's and won't invest in almost any new ips.

Ryse
Sunset Overdrive
State of Decay
Scalebound
Powerstar Golf
Crimson Dragon
Quantum Break
Ori and the Blind Forest
D4
Kalimba
Screamride
Lococycle
Project Spark

Where dem new IPs at? I'll tell you where, in my Xbox, or will be when they launch. All of those launched in 2013 or later btw.

PGR4 suffered from Forza 2s delay and then being out quite soon after Halo 3, that said, Bizarre got bought by Activision before PGR4 came out so PGR was dead anyway.
 
I don't see what difference the Forza branding makes, if anything it will have helped the game. Its not like it is another Motorsport game, if you're upset at them "milking" the Forza name (a very well established brand, too) then just called it Horizon, I really don't see what difference it makes. You got a couple of great games that are different to Motorsport, splitting hairs over having the name "Forza" in front of it seems like an utterly useless point.

I bet Playground were delighted that they got to use the Forza name and assets too, for what its worth.

We got Judgment after Gears 3, its not like Gears hasn't been used like any of the others, the only reason we have a gap now is due to the acquisition, moving development to Black Tusk. We'll get a Collection this year.

I agree, but the original question Was about milking and using the Forza name is milking It. I've no issue with Horizon existing since I actually prefer it to mainline Forza title. It'd be like if Sony named DC Gran Turismo: Driveclub

I tried playing Judgement, I don't really consider it part of the franchise (or rather I don't care for it at all). Collection this year, Gears 4 next year would work out great.

I'd love to reply the trilogy 1080/60 FPS (and given that it's UE3, I think they can pull it off on the X1)
 

magnumpy

Member
I thought it was confirmed that MS bought minecraft because it would be good for their mobile platforms... minecraft is already available for windows. but then again it's also on Xperia PLAY (sony), Google Play, android, so I dunno.
 
Shadowrun
Mechwarrior
Mech Assault
Age of Empires
Did major damage to the halo series with masterchief collection
Project Gotham Racing
Perfect dark
Banjo-kazooie
Crimson Skies
Fable is a shell of what it was especially after Fable 2
Yearly releases of Forza isn't doing a favor to that franchise.

This isn't everything as well just some of the bigger titles that they have forgot existed or did harm to.

This was not the list I expected, as I believe my quoted post was about studios and not franchises. Every publisher has a list like this. A new Age of Empires game would be pretty sweet, though.
 
Really wish it was one of them. Or some other 3rd party.
As long as they keep their word on continuing to support all platforms. If they don't, I'll be mad, but I'll also understand why. They spent the money, it's their franchise to do what they want with.
Except they haven't been... There's a ton of dlcs that haven't made it to playstation before and after the acquisition and the other day I made a thread about the Simpsons dlc which is exclusive to xbox
 

Lothars

Member
Ryse
Sunset Overdrive
State of Decay
Scalebound
Powerstar Golf
Crimson Dragon
Quantum Break
Ori and the Blind Forest
D4
Kalimba
Screamride
Lococycle
Project Spark

Where dem new IPs at? I'll tell you where, in my Xbox, or will be when they launch. All of those launched in 2013 or later btw.

PGR4 suffered from Forza 2s delay and then being out quite soon after Halo 3, that said, Bizarre got bought by Activision so PGR was dead anyway.
Good point about the list, I think there's a fair amount of pretty terrible games on that list but they are new ips.
 
Good point about the list, I think there's a fair amount of pretty terrible games on that list but they are new ips.

The only questionably terribly one I see was Lococycle, I enjoyed all the rest that I have played, I haven't touched D4 yet so I can't comment on that.
 
Dude, MS is charging for skins, texture packs, everything. Minecraft has so much DLC it's crazy.

I don't care who bought it, because the game has been community driven for such a long time, it's impossible to topple.

Oh, you're adding that to the game Mojang? The community added that last year.

The DLC in Minecraft existed way before Microsoft.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
What's funny is MS isn't really the main focus of the article in the OP

people really see red lol

I would love to know how they will ever recoup that expense

Probably mostly through merchandising. But if they paid cash they really don't need to recoup it. It was probably as much a strategic decision in regard to influencing their overall competitive position as much as it was a way to earn additional revenue.
 
Top Bottom