James Sawyer Ford
Member
He's a bit harsh on Microsoft, but he does have a point that their history with cultivating studios isn't the best. Granted, Phil's hands may have been tied by upper management and only recently was given the green light. I think acquisitions like Double Fine and Ninja Theory can make sense for their GamePass strategy. I actually think it makes more sense for Microsoft to go after smaller studios rather than the AAAA like Take2 precisely because their strategy hinges more on volume and quantity of regular releases on GamePass (smaller titles, still can be AA or even AAA, but not necessarily mega-AAAA titles like GTA).
Zenimax kind of fit that bill. Outside of Bethesda, most of their studios produced smaller budget type titles. So I'm not going to be too quick to judge Microsoft's recent moves just yet. By having such a long history of failing to build their own studios Phil wasn't left with too many options other than external growth instead of what Sony is doing with organic growth. But historically Microsoft hasn't done that well manging the studios they have externally acquired, so hopefully they do a better job nurturing recent acquisitions through good times and bad. You never know how management will react when stock prices take a tumble. Right now the environment is "risk on" so to speak and so management isn't as critical about studios that may make great games but underperform whatever metrics they prioritize.