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Microsoft are going to announce The Acquisition of SEGA next Wednesday (Believe!)

iamvin22

Industry Verified
Oh then this might be true! MS clearly has $1 Billion they are willing to spend on ALL OF SEGA gaming. Like come on guys, it's a smart move if you truly want to be the Netflix of gaming. You have to spend money for content.



Okay I didn't know this. I'm back to thinking this can't happen now. Nothing here to see folks!

A buyout is possible but investors have to be given that information beforehand. You can't just show up to a show and announce a buyout with out the public knowing especially a foreign buyout through japan
 

Saber

Gold Member
Nah...hard for me to believe. Sonic is kinda too big for them to simply let them buy it. If anything, might be one of those time exclusive deals, like they did with Sonic Free Riders or Nintendo did with Boom.

It would be something really big if true. But not a good sigh though...they bought Banjo and Conker and look how much care they gave to them.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
I just wish there was someone or something that would shake Sega to do more with some of the awesome IPs they have. I'm stoked about all the Wonder/Monster Boy game remakes we've been seeing. Alex Kidd is coming too! I just remember playing Sonic Racing Transformed and wanting to rage because so many awesome Sega characters were present, and they hadn't done anything with them in YEARS.

I mean, how is it 2020 and we've still not had a proper 4-player coop beat-em-up Golden Axe? It's almost criminal.
 

quest

Not Banned from OT
A buyout is possible but investors have to be given that information beforehand. You can't just show up to a show and announce a buyout with out the public knowing especially a foreign buyout through japan
What are you talking about the warriors are expecting Phil to get on stage like this damn it

x6EtyBc.gif
 

Starfield

Member
Hold on, whoa...DIAL THAT SHIT BACK DOWN AGAIN

The others are right, social twitter accounts wouldn't "tease" a takeover by another company to fuck with people. Thats not how it works. Wishful thinking at best.
 

johntown

Banned
Sure it could happen but I just don't see it happening. Bethesda made sense but what are some big blockbuster games that Sega has that Microsoft would want to acquire? If there are some do they even appeal to most Xbox users (who are typically American)?
 

BlackGauna

Member
4chan leaks are always true, as we all now /s

Jokes aside, I would be pissed only because of the Yakuza series, if it were true.
 

McCarth

Member
$3.5b market cap, so a nice little MS special premium of 10-15% for roughly a cool $4b...

I could definitely see it happening.
 

zombrex

Member
Sega is probably "only" worth a few billion.
Yakuza, Total War, Persona, Project Diva, Sonic and Monkey Ball would be great to balance the portfolio of largely western FPS shooter games.
 

HarryKS

Member
A buyout is possible but investors have to be given that information beforehand. You can't just show up to a show and announce a buyout with out the public knowing especially a foreign buyout through japan

You are giving information that the recipient can't process.
 
Japan adheres to various investment standards in trade agreements with western countries. If sony was able to buy american studios, the reverse is similarly possible. Investment protection and encouragement is reciprocated.

This is the truth. Sony bought Columbia Pictures from Coca Cola in '89.

All this nonsense about American or Western companies being unable to buy Japanese companies due to the JP government is nonsense internet hubbub. Renault owns almost 50% of Nissan IIRC. Walmart bought Seiyu.

American and Western companies can buy Japanese companies if they so desire.
 

lock2k

Banned
This is the truth. Sony bought Columbia Pictures from Coca Cola in '89.

All this nonsense about American or Western companies being unable to buy Japanese companies due to the JP government is nonsense internet hubbub. Renault owns almost 50% of Nissan IIRC. Walmart bought Seiyu.

American and Western companies can buy Japanese companies if they so desire.

Thank you.

That narrative is ridiculous.

People seem to forget Ford-Mazda as well.
 

Schmick

Member
I've heard that a possible partnership is on the table. A way of re branding the Xbox Series S as a SEGA console for the Japanese market. If anything significant is happening between the two companies than its most likely a partnering up scenario.

However this could mean further good news for Game Pass with SEGA games guaranteed to be available.
 
It just boggles the mind to think MS paid at least 10 Billion dollars (Mojang and Bethesda acquisitions, probably way more if you factor all the small developers they also absorbed like NInja Theory / Rare / Obsidian) , not to make the game industry better / create new jobs / fund new studios or create new ips, but just to lockdown franchises on their own platform in hopes that one day they will finally get another monopoly like the did for PC. That's 10 000 000 000 dollars spent on absolutely nothing....

Can you imagine how many great first-party studios / jobs / great new ips they could have created with that money if they used that pc monopoly cash to actually bring something positive to the gaming industry , instead of spending 10 000 000 000 dollars just to secure existing content that would have been made anyway without their involvement ?

Just to put in perspective. Sony Paid 230 Millions for Insomniac Games, after years of nurturing and working with them to deliver great games ... Meaning Microsoft Paid the equivalent of 43 Insomniac Games Studios to Bribe Bethesda Games on their gamepass service and get some cash off of Minecraft ... Can you imagine if they spent a fraction on that cash actually making great new studios / ips instead ? How many great IPs they would have this gen ? But yeah , it's always easier to use your PC monopoly money to bribe existing successful devs to join your console, even if you're paying more cash that some small country's GMP for timed exclusives...
 
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HarryKS

Member
It just boggles the mind to think MS paid at least 10 Billion dollars (Mojang and Bethesda acquisitions, probably way more if you factor all the small developers they also absorbed like NInja Theory / Rare / Obsidian) , not to make the game industry better / create new jobs / fund new studios or create new ips, but just to lockdown franchises on their own platform in hopes that one day they will finally get another monopoly like the did for PC. That's 10 000 000 000 dollars spent on absolutely nothing....

Can you imagine how many great first-party studios / jobs / great new ips they could have created with that money if they used that pc monopoly cash to actually bring something positive to the gaming industry , instead of spending all that cash just to secure existing content that would have been made anyway without their involvement ?

Just to put in perspective. Sony Paid 230 Millions for Insomniac Games... Meaning Microsoft Paid the equivalent of 43 Insomniac Games Studios to get Bethesda Games on their gamepass service and get some cash off of Minecraft... Can you imagine if they spent a fraction on that cash actually making great new studios instead ?

Surely, in COVID times, it bodes well for existing Zenimax employees to be under the banner of a financially sound behemoth.
 

PhaseJump

Banned
SEGA is in a good position, probably the best they've ever been since the Dreamcast days.

They are taking losses and game sales are under performing. The pandemic stopped pachinko and arcade tourism. They continuously restructure and consolidate the subsidiaries. Sega Sammy is lost, muddling around with merchandising it's Sega brand, and it is ripe for acqusition.
 
It just boggles the mind to think MS paid at least 10 Billion dollars (Mojang and Bethesda acquisitions, probably way more if you factor all the small developers they also absorbed like NInja Theory / Rare / Obsidian) , not to make the game industry better / create new jobs / fund new studios or create new ips, but just to lockdown franchises on their own platform in hopes that one day they will finally get another monopoly like the did for PC. That's 10 000 000 000 dollars spent on absolutely nothing....

Can you imagine how many great first-party studios / jobs / great new ips they could have created with that money if they used that pc monopoly cash to actually bring something positive to the gaming industry , instead of spending 10 000 000 000 dollars just to secure existing content that would have been made anyway without their involvement ?

Just to put in perspective. Sony Paid 230 Millions for Insomniac Games, after years of nurturing and working with them to deliver great games ... Meaning Microsoft Paid the equivalent of 43 Insomniac Games Studios to Bribe Bethesda Games on their gamepass service and get some cash off of Minecraft... Can you imagine if they spent a fraction on that cash actually making great new studios / ips instead ?

A video game IP is not a static thing. MS purchasing and funding these studios can really change things up. Established IPs are a no-brainer but it doesn't mean that they will be the same games they always were. Also, there is only so much you can do in a video game - fantasy sword and magic stuff, modern military shooter, stealth game, sci-fi rpg, etc. What distinguishes them as games has little to do with the visual and narrative dressing.
 

Komatsu

Member
All this nonsense about American or Western companies being unable to buy Japanese companies due to the JP government is nonsense internet hubbub. Renault owns almost 50% of Nissan IIRC. Walmart bought Seiyu.

It's not as straightforward, no. Japan's Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act (FEFTA) dictates that foreign direct investment into certain business sectors is subject to screening by the relevant ministries. Not sure if SEGA would fall under FETA but Sony, for example, absolutely would.
 
Crazy Taxi, Daytona USA, Condemned, Ecco The Dolphin, Football Manager, House Of The Dead, Jet Set Radio, NiGHTS, Panzer Dragoon, Shinobi, Sonic, Space Channel 5, Space Harrier, Virtua Fighter, Virtua Striker, Virtua Tennis, Yakuza and fuking god tier Seaman.
Theres value there.
Most of those frachises - aside pachinko machines and Yakuza (probably sonic) are dead or niche.
 
It just boggles the mind to think MS paid at least 10 Billion dollars (Mojang and Bethesda acquisitions, probably way more if you factor all the small developers they also absorbed like NInja Theory / Rare / Obsidian) , not to make the game industry better / create new jobs / fund new studios or create new ips, but just to lockdown franchises on their own platform in hopes that one day they will finally get another monopoly like the did for PC. That's 10 000 000 000 dollars spent on absolutely nothing....

Can you imagine how many great first-party studios / jobs / great new ips they could have created with that money if they used that pc monopoly cash to actually bring something positive to the gaming industry , instead of spending 10 000 000 000 dollars just to secure existing content that would have been made anyway without their involvement ?

Just to put in perspective. Sony Paid 230 Millions for Insomniac Games, after years of nurturing and working with them to deliver great games ... Meaning Microsoft Paid the equivalent of 43 Insomniac Games Studios to Bribe Bethesda Games on their gamepass service and get some cash off of Minecraft... Can you imagine if they spent a fraction on that cash actually making great new studios / ips instead ?
I find it interesting that games are apparently taking a very different approach to this than movies/tv. When Netflix or Disney+ is looking for content they don't go around buying the shows outright, they purchase the streaming rights. Like, HBO didn't buy the damn Friends property, they paid for the rights to exclusively stream the show for a few years. And once that is up, there will be another bidding war to for another company to get the rights.

I guess that would be the equivalent of "moneyhatting" in the games industry, but its strange because while buying the companies sounds more "pure" it actually is way, way worse for consumers.

Even the production of new content - Netflix isn't out there creating every single Netflix original with their own production studios. They are contracting outside production companies to do it for them. Insomniac was a perfect example of a contracted production company, but they have now been bought, so there is one less potential content creator out there. Just very interesting how this is playing out so differently.
 

Teslerum

Member
Just a while ago there were like 3 threads lamenting Microsoft as bad because they didn't have a lot of upcoming exclusives and now we have people lamenting about exclusives in general because Microsoft has now more exclusives.

NEOGAFTM
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
It just boggles the mind to think MS paid at least 10 Billion dollars (Mojang and Bethesda acquisitions, probably way more if you factor all the small developers they also absorbed like NInja Theory / Rare / Obsidian) , not to make the game industry better / create new jobs / fund new studios or create new ips, but just to lockdown franchises on their own platform in hopes that one day they will finally get another monopoly like the did for PC. That's 10 000 000 000 dollars spent on absolutely nothing....

Can you imagine how many great first-party studios / jobs / great new ips they could have created with that money if they used that pc monopoly cash to actually bring something positive to the gaming industry , instead of spending 10 000 000 000 dollars just to secure existing content that would have been made anyway without their involvement ?

Just to put in perspective. Sony Paid 230 Millions for Insomniac Games, after years of nurturing and working with them to deliver great games ... Meaning Microsoft Paid the equivalent of 43 Insomniac Games Studios to Bribe Bethesda Games on their gamepass service and get some cash off of Minecraft ... Can you imagine if they spent a fraction on that cash actually making great new studios / ips instead ? How many great IPs they would have this gen ? But yeah , it's always easier to use your PC monopoly money to bribe existing successful devs to join your console, even if you're paying more cash that some small country's GMP for timed exclusives...
Don't worry.

I'm sure most Bethesda games will be multiplatoform. They sell a lot.

But the more copies you buy on PS5 for $70, the more it subsidizes Game Pass gamers who paid $1 for 3 years like me.

So buy up!
 
A buyout is possible but investors have to be given that information beforehand. You can't just show up to a show and announce a buyout with out the public knowing especially a foreign buyout through japan
But they can have an agreement with the board and this is secret. Could also be that MS will be buying shares of Sega. Who knows...
 
If this is legitimate which I’m doubting, I really don’t think Sega and Microsoft are a good fit for each. Bethesda pretty much makes sense, but I’m not sure about Sega. Xbox’s demographic probably wouldn’t embrace most of their games. Yakuza, Persona, Sonic, Sakura Wars, Virtua Fighter, Shining Force, Shenmue, Phantasy Star, etc.

If the aquisition of Sega by MS means we will get a new Seaman, I'd be fine with it.
 
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