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[Inuhanyou]

But that doesn't make sense. If that's the type of games they want why cancel Fable Legends, or Project Spark, or that Press Play project that was heavily mp focused and could be a ongoing service. And at the same time they greenlit Recore, moneyhatted DR4, which doesn't fit this narrative.

Even Scalebound was a coop game, and an action open world rpg. Huge potential for DLC if The Witcher is anything to go by. Or even Destiny shows how they could monetize heavily with that game.

It might be because they wanted these games out in a specific timeframe at a specific pace according to their specifications inside a specific budget, and the development teams could not live up to those expectations.

The Xbox division i assume, has to prove their worth to MS in general. That means less time for being a game division and more priority to be risk averse, safe and generally failure proof

 

[HeisenbergWW62]

After E3 2015 no games as a service were announced either, better yet, the ones there were announced were no services at all.

Ms has always had a soft eye for mp, that's very true. But that usually means coop too, and they have many games that has a strong campaign that can be played in coop, heck even Scalebound was supposed to (still hurts )

And contrary to them, I don't think it makes sense for Ms to make that push now. They need to attract users to xbox and the store, and successful games as services are so few and between (but they are usually huge when they hit) it worked for Valve to focus on that because their platform was already the most supported game platform in the world. It worked for blizzard because they are a developer/publisher and don't need to draw consumers to a platform that sells games.

So far I'm very content for what they have in store for 2017 (a lot less now that scalebound is gone, but that took their lineup from fantastic to great at the moment), a little preoccupied to not hear anything for 2018, but seeing the reactions to last year and this cancellations I would guess it's more because they probably don't want to announce games too early just to cancel, than making a hypothetical switch to games that aren't being announced either XD

I somewhat agree with the bolded, but if the games aren't bringing in the dough it makes sense to try to maximize profits

As per your other points, like I alluded to in my previous post, their problem is that their lineup isn't bad for people who are already fans of the Xbox ecosystem, but won't bring in many new fans. Hopefully they have some stuff up their sleeves for E3

 

[Montresor]

Alright I'm going to pull out the "Best Case Scenario" E3:

1) E3 starts with Scorpio reveal. Priced at $399. Designed to look like Xbox One S, but slightly bigger. Sleek, runs cool, with internal power supply, 6.5TF, Zen processor.

2) Atlus CEO comes on and says "We are pleased to announced we've been purchased by Microsoft".

*Persona 5 not cancelled for PS3 or PS4 (because Microsoft is such a good guy).
*Persona 5 port announced for Xbox One.
*Persona 4 Golden remastered announced for Xbox One.
*Atlus announces they are also working on a brand new JRPG IP (exclusive to Xbox).

3) Microsoft announces they have bought Thekla (Jonathon Blow studio) and Playdead (Inside and Limbo devs) to join 1st-party stable.

*The Witness and Inside are announced to have standalone disc releases.
*Thekla and Playdead are both working on new exclusive puzzle-game IPs for Xbox.
*Braid is announced as BC on 360, and Braid Remastered is available for download at E3 (at a cost of $4.99 for anyone who owns the 360 version) with a new 1000 gamerscore.

4) Microsoft announces the creation of a new JRPG 1st-party dev based in Osaka, called Microsoft Osaka Studios.

*The studio is comprised primarily of former devs that made Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey
*Their first game is an original JRPG IP.

5) Bonnie Ross from 343 comes on stage with the head of Rare.

*They announce that 343 Studios is working on Perfect Dark 3, developed 100% by 343 with some key Rare employees providing input
*Rare shows off Sea Of Thieves and confirms it's not free-to-play, not an MMO, and will have a massive single player campaign with dungeons similar to Wind Waker.
*343 announces that half their team is hard at work on Perfect Dark 3, with the other half spending significant resources to fix Master Chief Collection

6) Bonnie Ross stays on stage but the heads of Rare leave, replaced by the heads of Bioware

*They announce a Halo WRPG similar to Mass Effect 1. Developed by Bioware with input from key 343 members. You play exclusively as a female Spartan.
*The game will take place during the original Halo 1, 2, and 3 trilogy.
*You visit Halo rings, Earth, different human colonies, and various Covenant planets. No Prometheans.

7) Then Bonnie + Bioware guys leave, and Rare heads come back on stage with Playtonic Devs

*They show a Yooka-Laylee trailer (and at the end of the trailer it says coming out April 2017 on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Switch) because Microsoft is such a good guy and won't obfuscate the details of any third-party partnerships.
*After the Yooka-Laylee trailer, we hear a banjo tune and the familiar banjo guffaw. Then a Banjo Kazooie 3 trailer shows.
*Co-developed by Playtonic and Rare

8) Sam Lake from Remedy comes on stage with Phil Spencer. Microsoft announces they've purchased Remedy.

*Quantum Break story expansion DLC is announced. You play exclusively as Beth Wilder.
*$30. Can be purchased standalone. Has its own 1000 gamerscore. Can be launched within Quantum Break.
*Alan Wake 1 Remastered, with 2000 gamerscore. Has all DLC and American Nightmare.

9) The Coalition come on stage with Rod Fergusson

*Public apology from Rod Fergusson re: microtransactions. The cost of microtransactions is dramatically reduced.
*Confirmed that game has been changed so that the possibility of duplicate skins/characters is now ZERO.
*Currency drops for normal game play dramatically improved.
*New story DLC announced where you play as Kait and JD. Kait is the default player one character. Takes place shortly after the end of Gears 4. Titled "Kait's Epilogue". $20.

10) Microsoft announce they have purchased Twisted Pixel and they are working on Splosion Man 2.

11) Microsoft announces there will be no Forza in the year 2017. Instead, the Turn10 and Playground teams are hard at work on Scorpio patches for Forza Motorsport 5 and 6, and Forza Horizon 2, 3, and Fast/Furious.

12) Cuphead has a trailer and release date (July 2017). It wins game of the show. Platforming levels are dramatically improved.

13) Then, Phil Spencer says, "and one more thing". The auditorium goes dark. You hear a chainsaw and you see The Coalition's logo, and it says "The Coalition and Microsoft Studios present Shangheist". 2-minute trailer. The NY Times and Washington Post says "They did it!!! The sons of bitches actually did it!!!" on their front pages.

Then the OP will be fucking epic. The list of first party devs will be:

343 Studios (working on Halo 6 and Perfect Dark 3)
Rare (working on Sea of Thieves and Banjo Kazooie 3)
Atlus (working on Persona 5, Persona 4 Remastered, and new JRPG IP)
Thekla (working on new puzzle game from Jonathan Blow)
Playdead (working on new puzzle game similar to Inside)
Microsoft Osaka Studios (working on new JRPG IP)
Remedy (working on Quantum Break DLC and Alan Wake Remastered)
The Coalition (working on Shangheist and Gears 4 DLC)
Twisted Pixel (working on Splosion Man 2)
Turn 10 / Playground (working on legacy Forza patches)
Mojang (working on Minecraft expansions)

 

[bidguy]

i bet my account that not even one of those is gonna happen

edit: ok, maybe 12 has a chance of happening

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Alright I'm going to pull out the "Best Case Scenario" E3:

1) E3 starts with Scorpio reveal. Priced at $399. Designed to look like Xbox One S, but slightly bigger. Sleek, runs cool, with internal power supply, 6.5TF, Zen processor.

2) Atlus CEO comes on and says "We are pleased to announced we've been purchased by Microsoft".

*Persona 5 not cancelled for PS3 or PS4 (because Microsoft is such a good guy).
*Persona 5 port announced for Xbox One.
*Persona 4 Golden remastered announced for Xbox One.
*Atlus announces they are also working on a brand new JRPG IP (exclusive to Xbox).

3) Microsoft announces they have bought Thekla (Jonathon Blow studio) and Playdead (Inside and Limbo devs) to join 1st-party stable.

*The Witness and Inside are announced to have standalone disc releases.
*Thekla and Playdead are both working on new exclusive puzzle-game IPs for Xbox.
*Braid is announced as BC on 360, and Braid Remastered is available for download at E3 (at a cost of $4.99 for anyone who owns the 360 version) with a new 1000 gamerscore.

4) Microsoft announces the creation of a new JRPG 1st-party dev based in Osaka, called Microsoft Osaka Studios.

*The studio is comprised primarily of former devs that made Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey
*Their first game is an original JRPG IP.

5) Bonnie Ross from 343 comes on stage with the head of Rare.

*They announce that 343 Studios is working on Perfect Dark 3, developed 100% by 343 with some key Rare employees providing input
*Rare shows off Sea Of Thieves and confirms it's not free-to-play, not an MMO, and will have a massive single player campaign with dungeons similar to Wind Waker.
*343 announces that half their team is hard at work on Perfect Dark 3, with the other half spending significant resources to fix Master Chief Collection

6) Bonnie Ross stays on stage but the heads of Rare leave, replaced by the heads of Bioware

*They announce a Halo WRPG similar to Mass Effect 1. Developed by Bioware with input from key 343 members. You play exclusively as a female Spartan.
*The game will take place during the original Halo 1, 2, and 3 trilogy.
*You visit Halo rings, Earth, different human colonies, and various Covenant planets. No Prometheans.

7) Then Bonnie + Bioware guys leave, and Rare heads come back on stage with Playtonic Devs

*They show a Yooka-Laylee trailer (and at the end of the trailer it says coming out April 2017 on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Switch) because Microsoft is such a good guy and won't obfuscate the details of any third-party partnerships.
*After the Yooka-Laylee trailer, we hear a banjo tune and the familiar banjo guffaw. Then a Banjo Kazooie 3 trailer shows.
*Co-developed by Playtonic and Rare

8) Sam Lake from Remedy comes on stage with Phil Spencer. Microsoft announces they've purchased Remedy.

*Quantum Break story expansion DLC is announced. You play exclusively as Beth Wilder.
*$30. Can be purchased standalone. Has its own 1000 gamerscore. Can be launched within Quantum Break.
*Alan Wake 1 Remastered, with 2000 gamerscore. Has all DLC and American Nightmare.

9) The Coalition come on stage with Rod Fergusson

*Public apology from Rod Fergusson re: microtransactions. The cost of microtransactions is dramatically reduced.
*Confirmed that game has been changed so that the possibility of duplicate skins/characters is now ZERO.
*Currency drops for normal game play dramatically improved.
*New story DLC announced where you play as Kait and JD. Kait is the default player one character. Takes place shortly after the end of Gears 4. Titled "Kait's Epilogue". $20.

10) Microsoft announce they have purchased Twisted Pixel and they are working on Splosion Man 2.

11) Microsoft announces there will be no Forza in the year 2017. Instead, the Turn10 and Playground teams are hard at work on Scorpio patches for Forza Motorsport 5 and 6, and Forza Horizon 2, 3, and Fast/Furious.

12) Cuphead has a trailer and release date (July 2017). It wins game of the show. Platforming levels are dramatically improved.

13) Then, Phil Spencer says, "and one more thing". The auditorium goes dark. You hear a chainsaw and you see The Coalition's logo, and it says "The Coalition and Microsoft Studios present Shangheist". 2-minute trailer. The NY Times and Washington Post says "They did it!!! The sons of bitches actually did it!!!" on their front pages.

0_0.....hahahahaa. Phew, gave me a good laugh!

 

[Samurai G0SU]

Damn. The hobbisitses are going to have a rough time getting into that mount mordor.

 

[Patapwn]

Alright I'm going to pull out the "Best Case Scenario" E3:

1) E3 starts with Scorpio reveal. Priced at $399. Designed to look like Xbox One S, but slightly bigger. Sleek, runs cool, with internal power supply, 6.5TF, Zen processor.

2) Atlus CEO comes on and says "We are pleased to announced we've been purchased by Microsoft".

*Persona 5 not cancelled for PS3 or PS4 (because Microsoft is such a good guy).
*Persona 5 port announced for Xbox One.
*Persona 4 Golden remastered announced for Xbox One.
*Atlus announces they are also working on a brand new JRPG IP (exclusive to Xbox).

3) Microsoft announces they have bought Thekla (Jonathon Blow studio) and Playdead (Inside and Limbo devs) to join 1st-party stable.

*The Witness and Inside are announced to have standalone disc releases.
*Thekla and Playdead are both working on new exclusive puzzle-game IPs for Xbox.
*Braid is announced as BC on 360, and Braid Remastered is available for download at E3 (at a cost of $4.99 for anyone who owns the 360 version) with a new 1000 gamerscore.

4) Microsoft announces the creation of a new JRPG 1st-party dev based in Osaka, called Microsoft Osaka Studios.

*The studio is comprised primarily of former devs that made Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey
*Their first game is an original JRPG IP.

5) Bonnie Ross from 343 comes on stage with the head of Rare.

*They announce that 343 Studios is working on Perfect Dark 3, developed 100% by 343 with some key Rare employees providing input
*Rare shows off Sea Of Thieves and confirms it's not free-to-play, not an MMO, and will have a massive single player campaign with dungeons similar to Wind Waker.
*343 announces that half their team is hard at work on Perfect Dark 3, with the other half spending significant resources to fix Master Chief Collection

6) Bonnie Ross stays on stage but the heads of Rare leave, replaced by the heads of Bioware

*They announce a Halo WRPG similar to Mass Effect 1. Developed by Bioware with input from key 343 members. You play exclusively as a female Spartan.
*The game will take place during the original Halo 1, 2, and 3 trilogy.
*You visit Halo rings, Earth, different human colonies, and various Covenant planets. No Prometheans.

7) Then Bonnie + Bioware guys leave, and Rare heads come back on stage with Playtonic Devs

*They show a Yooka-Laylee trailer (and at the end of the trailer it says coming out April 2017 on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Switch) because Microsoft is such a good guy and won't obfuscate the details of any third-party partnerships.
*After the Yooka-Laylee trailer, we hear a banjo tune and the familiar banjo guffaw. Then a Banjo Kazooie 3 trailer shows.
*Co-developed by Playtonic and Rare

8) Sam Lake from Remedy comes on stage with Phil Spencer. Microsoft announces they've purchased Remedy.

*Quantum Break story expansion DLC is announced. You play exclusively as Beth Wilder.
*$30. Can be purchased standalone. Has its own 1000 gamerscore. Can be launched within Quantum Break.
*Alan Wake 1 Remastered, with 2000 gamerscore. Has all DLC and American Nightmare.

9) The Coalition come on stage with Rod Fergusson

*Public apology from Rod Fergusson re: microtransactions. The cost of microtransactions is dramatically reduced.
*Confirmed that game has been changed so that the possibility of duplicate skins/characters is now ZERO.
*Currency drops for normal game play dramatically improved.
*New story DLC announced where you play as Kait and JD. Kait is the default player one character. Takes place shortly after the end of Gears 4. Titled "Kait's Epilogue". $20.

10) Microsoft announce they have purchased Twisted Pixel and they are working on Splosion Man 2.

11) Microsoft announces there will be no Forza in the year 2017. Instead, the Turn10 and Playground teams are hard at work on Scorpio patches for Forza Motorsport 5 and 6, and Forza Horizon 2, 3, and Fast/Furious.

12) Cuphead has a trailer and release date (July 2017). It wins game of the show. Platforming levels are dramatically improved.

13) Then, Phil Spencer says, "and one more thing". The auditorium goes dark. You hear a chainsaw and you see The Coalition's logo, and it says "The Coalition and Microsoft Studios present Shangheist". 2-minute trailer. The NY Times and Washington Post says "They did it!!! The sons of bitches actually did it!!!" on their front pages.

Hey like, what if Microsoft bought Nintendo AND Sony? Think about it

 

[ForkNetwork]

If like, a third of that is real, i would be okay with it. Aside from Perfect Dark 3, I think a full on reboot would be a better idea

 

[Humdinger]

^ Well that's optimistic (referring to Montresor's post).

I think this is probably more along the lines of what we'll see:

Here is my ms e3 prediction

Open with Scorpio hardware stuff
Sizzle reel with a bunch of already released games running in 4K like halo 5, gears 4, forza horizon 2, killer instinct, halo wars 2 etc....
Crackdown 3
Sea of thieves
State of decay 2
Ori 2
Forza 7
Halo 6
New Assassins creed and maybe one or two more third party fall games shown
Probably oculus/vive partnership with some vr games showcased
Cuphead, below and Tacoma coming out right away or very soon. Maybe a couple more new indie titles announced
Maybe square or Ubisoft do a timed exclusive game. I know people say square learned with tomb raider but I can see them doing it again with the next one or Ubisoft will do splinter cell timed exclusive but there will likely be some surprise third party game being timed exclusive.
Probably end with 399 price announcement for Scorpio

I honestly don't know what else they can do lol. I am sure hardcore Xbox fans would find that a good solid conference.

Yes, I think that would please the Xbox fans. It would probably stir some excitement in the press, too, especially at the $399 price tag.

However, as the gentleman below me states, the problem is that this is all old news, really. These are the games we know are coming. They are the ones we've heard about for years now, plus the usual Halo/Forza stuff, and not much else. They need some big surprises in addition to that.

Hardcore Xbox gamers (at least friends of mine who are Xbox only gamers) are fine with Halo-Gears-Forza and third party games with the occasional other exclusive, but the rest of gamers (aside from the cod-madden-2K casuals) will likely be looking for more variety. Microsoft seems content with just looking to make the crowd they already have happy

 

[CCIE]

Microsoft won't be purchasing anyone... sorry. The Xbox team doesn't have the budget these days

 

[2SeeKU]

Alright I'm going to pull out the "Best Case Scenario" E3:

Alot of it sounds good, but a true best case for me would include more games from their back catalog like Age of Empires, Rallisport Challenge, Project Gotham Racing ect.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

But that doesn't make sense. If that's the type of games they want why cancel Fable Legends, or Project Spark, or that Press Play project that was heavily mp focused and could be a ongoing service. And at the same time they greenlit Recore, moneyhatted DR4, which doesn't fit this narrative.

Even Scalebound was a coop game, and an action open world rpg. Huge potential for DLC if The Witcher is anything to go by. Or even Destiny shows how they could monetize heavily with that game.

Having been in the beta, and listening to some of the background of the game's development after they shut Lionhead down, I think it must have been a hard look at how sustainable supporting the game would be. The game as it was still needed a LOT of content (specifically levels) to meet market standards. This I imagine was very hard for LH because of the burden they had on them to make every facet of the game AAA. There's a reason most F2P games don't look like Halo 5 and that's because it's hard to crank out new content or even assets at that level in a small amount of time which is imperative for that type of game. Though Destiny isn't a F2P game, you only need to look at it and how hard it is/was to create enough new content in a timely manner to see the kind of problem you'd run in to, and they have I think 3-5x the staff that LH had at closing iirc. So basically I think MS just realized they weren't going to be able to create enough new content in a sufficient amount of time at the standard they had imposed on LH.

 

[sense]

Alright I'm going to pull out the "Best Case Scenario" E3:

I like how you started of as somewhat believable until the zen CPU part and then just went off the wall crazy

 

[Ushay]

*snip*

I'll be honest, most that list is underwhelming. I like some of but what MS need is to tap into territory th hay haven't. RPGs, Strategy, narrative heavy games. Games that will forge their identity in the new generation.

They certainly have the clout to do it. I want to see games like Jade Empire and KOTOR come back.

My best case would be.

- New open world WRPG, narrative heavy game.
- New MMO style shooter in the Halo world. Halo Chronicles.
- Spiritual successor to KOTOR is back on Xbox
- PHANTOM Dust true reboot. Single player game with deep arena multiplayer combat.
- Banjo, for fucks sake MS.. BANJO
- Coalition bring back Shangheist. Linear L, story heavy. Pseudo futuristic setting. Looks insane.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

I'll be honest, most that list is underwhelming. I like some of but what MS need is to tap into territory th hay haven't. RPGs, Strategy, narrative heavy games. Games that will forge their identity in the new generation.

They certainly have the clout to do it. I want to see games like Jade Empire and KOTOR come back.

Preach!

 

[Chris1]

Here is my ms e3 prediction

Open with Scorpio hardware stuff
Sizzle reel with a bunch of already released games running in 4K like halo 5, gears 4, forza horizon 2, killer instinct, halo wars 2 etc....
Crackdown 3
Sea of thieves
State of decay 2
Ori 2
Forza 7
Halo 6
New Assassins creed and maybe one or two more third party fall games shown
Probably oculus/vive partnership with some vr games showcased
Cuphead, below and Tacoma coming out right away or very soon. Maybe a couple more new indie titles announced
Maybe square or Ubisoft do a timed exclusive game. I know people say square learned with tomb raider but I can see them doing it again with the next one or Ubisoft will do splinter cell timed exclusive but there will likely be some surprise third party game being timed exclusive.
Probably end with 399 price announcement for Scorpio

I honestly don't know what else they can do lol. I am sure hardcore Xbox fans would find that a good solid conference.

Honestly I'd be disappointed but sounds about right. Well I say disappointed but I'd probably buy all those exclusives except Forza 7.


But damn that'd be a boring ass E3, the only new good things to come from it would be Ori 2 and $399.. Ori was leaked last year and what good is $399 if you're more or less giving up making AAA exclusives to actually make use of the power

 

[Inuhanyou]

I think the most likely thing to happen in that list is Scorpio being 399...but even that, i don't know if MS is willing to go the loss leading route again

 

[Kssio_Aug]

Montresor post was extremely optmistic! lol

Here is my ms e3 prediction

Open with Scorpio hardware stuff
Sizzle reel with a bunch of already released games running in 4K like halo 5, gears 4, forza horizon 2, killer instinct, halo wars 2 etc....
Crackdown 3
Sea of thieves
State of decay 2
Ori 2
Forza 7
Halo 6
New Assassins creed and maybe one or two more third party fall games shown
Probably oculus/vive partnership with some vr games showcased
Cuphead, below and Tacoma coming out right away or very soon. Maybe a couple more new indie titles announced
Maybe square or Ubisoft do a timed exclusive game. I know people say square learned with tomb raider but I can see them doing it again with the next one or Ubisoft will do splinter cell timed exclusive but there will likely be some surprise third party game being timed exclusive.
Probably end with 399 price announcement for Scorpio

I honestly don't know what else they can do lol. I am sure hardcore Xbox fans would find that a good solid conference.

But even this I'd call optmistic at this point. That's almost everything we could expect being revealed in one single event.

Below and Crackdown 3 have disappeared from the face of earth, and besides shinobi new twitter saying that the development of the latter is going fine, the lack of anything other than that tech demo gives me a Phantom Dust vibe. I'm apprehensive about these annoucements, this E3 may be interesting (for the better or worse).

If I had to guess, trying to be realistic (not so optmistic), I'd call:

• Scorpio reveal, nice specs, 399 USD.
• Forza M.7, Sea of Thieves and Crackdown 3 gameplay trailers and release dates for 2017.
• New Halo game (probably Halo 6) teaser - no gameplay yet. Scheduled for 2018.
• Cuphead and other indie titles (some with console exclusity deals) also for 2017.
• Multiplatform games.
• And maybe, just maybe, a new exclusive IP out of the thin air.

 

[daTRUballin]

I really hope Shinobi is wrong about Rare being a "new IP factory" from now on. They really need to revive some of those older IPs of theirs. It would certainly add more exclusives to the X1's first party lineup and would only bring back goodwill from fans. Though I'm not going to get my hopes up for E3. I expected some sort of Rare IP revival to happen these past two E3s, and I ended up disappointed. We'll just see what happens, but I'm not getting my hopes up again.

 

[Devilgunman]

I think the best MS could do right now is to ignore negativity and focus on what they have. Stop canceling shit and send more people to their first party studios and push stuffs out. Populate XB1 BC with more awesome games, increase GwG offer and improve Win10 store to be something slightly better than abomination.

That should be a good start.

 

[Kayant]

I see them probably doing only E3 again this year again, well and GDC or/and build but I don't see games being announced there.

I expect something along the lines of sense's list + phathom dust HD if that's since alive again.

 

[RPGamer92]

For a timed third party exclusive, what could you guys/gals see them try to get? Cyberpunk? Splinter Cell?

 

[Kastrioti]

Here is my ms e3 prediction

Open with Scorpio hardware stuff
Sizzle reel with a bunch of already released games running in 4K like halo 5, gears 4, forza horizon 2, killer instinct, halo wars 2 etc....
Crackdown 3
Sea of thieves
State of decay 2
Ori 2
Forza 7
Halo 6
New Assassins creed and maybe one or two more third party fall games shown
Probably oculus/vive partnership with some vr games showcased
Cuphead, below and Tacoma coming out right away or very soon. Maybe a couple more new indie titles announced
Maybe square or Ubisoft do a timed exclusive game. I know people say square learned with tomb raider but I can see them doing it again with the next one or Ubisoft will do splinter cell timed exclusive but there will likely be some surprise third party game being timed exclusive.
Probably end with 399 price announcement for Scorpio

I honestly don't know what else they can do lol. I am sure hardcore Xbox fans would find that a good solid conference.

I would hope they announce some sort of partnership with a Japanese developer but that would be a pretty decent showing for me.

A new Ninja Gaiden would be pretty damn awesome.

 

[Kssio_Aug]

For a timed third party exclusive, what could you guys/gals see them try to get? Cyberpunk? Splinter Cell?

If I had to bet in such a thing, I'd probably bet in a popular game such as CoD or something by Ubisoft. But I don't think they're gonna make this kind of deal.

 

[Nightengale]

E3 prediction:
- CD3 gameplay reveal. Fall 2017.
- SoD2 gameplay reveal. Fall 2017.
- Halo 6 announcement. MP Beta Fall 2017. Fall 2018.
- Halo 3 Anniversary announcement. Fall 2017.
- Ori 2 announcement. Fall 2017.
- Forza 7 announcement. September 2017.
- Sea of Thieves trailer. Release as EA during E3.
- New AAA IP announcement by new dev. 2018.
- New Fable game announcement by new dev. 2018. Actually a 2019 game.
- 3rd Party One Year Timed Exclusive #3. Early 2018.
- Indie Montage.
- Release date announcement for Below, Ashen & Cuphead.

I'm not talking hardware or VR games, just traditional games.

 

[Chris1]

I really hope Shinobi is wrong about Rare being a "new IP factory" from now on. They really need to revive some of those older IPs of theirs. It would certainly add more exclusives to the X1's first party lineup and would only bring back goodwill from fans. Though I'm not going to get my hopes up for E3. I expected some sort of Rare IP revival to happen these past two E3s, and I ended up disappointed. We'll just see what happens, but I'm not getting my hopes up again.

Is that new IP factory even still true? it sounds like if SOT is a hit they'll be on that for the longest time. New IP factory.. Until one of their games become a hit and can be a SaaS

For a timed third party exclusive, what could you guys/gals see them try to get? Cyberpunk? Splinter Cell?

Tomb Raider

 

[Wedzi]

Alright I'm going to pull out the "Best Case Scenario" E3:

1) E3 starts with Scorpio reveal. Priced at $399. Designed to look like Xbox One S, but slightly bigger. Sleek, runs cool, with internal power supply, 6.5TF, Zen processor.

2) Atlus CEO comes on and says "We are pleased to announced we've been purchased by Microsoft".

*Persona 5 not cancelled for PS3 or PS4 (because Microsoft is such a good guy).
*Persona 5 port announced for Xbox One.
*Persona 4 Golden remastered announced for Xbox One.
*Atlus announces they are also working on a brand new JRPG IP (exclusive to Xbox).

3) Microsoft announces they have bought Thekla (Jonathon Blow studio) and Playdead (Inside and Limbo devs) to join 1st-party stable.

*The Witness and Inside are announced to have standalone disc releases.
*Thekla and Playdead are both working on new exclusive puzzle-game IPs for Xbox.
*Braid is announced as BC on 360, and Braid Remastered is available for download at E3 (at a cost of $4.99 for anyone who owns the 360 version) with a new 1000 gamerscore.

4) Microsoft announces the creation of a new JRPG 1st-party dev based in Osaka, called Microsoft Osaka Studios.

*The studio is comprised primarily of former devs that made Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey
*Their first game is an original JRPG IP.

5) Bonnie Ross from 343 comes on stage with the head of Rare.

*They announce that 343 Studios is working on Perfect Dark 3, developed 100% by 343 with some key Rare employees providing input
*Rare shows off Sea Of Thieves and confirms it's not free-to-play, not an MMO, and will have a massive single player campaign with dungeons similar to Wind Waker.
*343 announces that half their team is hard at work on Perfect Dark 3, with the other half spending significant resources to fix Master Chief Collection

6) Bonnie Ross stays on stage but the heads of Rare leave, replaced by the heads of Bioware

*They announce a Halo WRPG similar to Mass Effect 1. Developed by Bioware with input from key 343 members. You play exclusively as a female Spartan.
*The game will take place during the original Halo 1, 2, and 3 trilogy.
*You visit Halo rings, Earth, different human colonies, and various Covenant planets. No Prometheans.

7) Then Bonnie + Bioware guys leave, and Rare heads come back on stage with Playtonic Devs

*They show a Yooka-Laylee trailer (and at the end of the trailer it says coming out April 2017 on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Switch) because Microsoft is such a good guy and won't obfuscate the details of any third-party partnerships.
*After the Yooka-Laylee trailer, we hear a banjo tune and the familiar banjo guffaw. Then a Banjo Kazooie 3 trailer shows.
*Co-developed by Playtonic and Rare

8) Sam Lake from Remedy comes on stage with Phil Spencer. Microsoft announces they've purchased Remedy.

*Quantum Break story expansion DLC is announced. You play exclusively as Beth Wilder.
*$30. Can be purchased standalone. Has its own 1000 gamerscore. Can be launched within Quantum Break.
*Alan Wake 1 Remastered, with 2000 gamerscore. Has all DLC and American Nightmare.

9) The Coalition come on stage with Rod Fergusson

*Public apology from Rod Fergusson re: microtransactions. The cost of microtransactions is dramatically reduced.
*Confirmed that game has been changed so that the possibility of duplicate skins/characters is now ZERO.
*Currency drops for normal game play dramatically improved.
*New story DLC announced where you play as Kait and JD. Kait is the default player one character. Takes place shortly after the end of Gears 4. Titled "Kait's Epilogue". $20.

10) Microsoft announce they have purchased Twisted Pixel and they are working on Splosion Man 2.

11) Microsoft announces there will be no Forza in the year 2017. Instead, the Turn10 and Playground teams are hard at work on Scorpio patches for Forza Motorsport 5 and 6, and Forza Horizon 2, 3, and Fast/Furious.

12) Cuphead has a trailer and release date (July 2017). It wins game of the show. Platforming levels are dramatically improved.

13) Then, Phil Spencer says, "and one more thing". The auditorium goes dark. You hear a chainsaw and you see The Coalition's logo, and it says "The Coalition and Microsoft Studios present Shangheist". 2-minute trailer. The NY Times and Washington Post says "They did it!!! The sons of bitches actually did it!!!" on their front pages.

Then the OP will be fucking epic. The list of first party devs will be:

343 Studios (working on Halo 6 and Perfect Dark 3)
Rare (working on Sea of Thieves and Banjo Kazooie 3)
Atlus (working on Persona 5, Persona 4 Remastered, and new JRPG IP)
Thekla (working on new puzzle game from Jonathan Blow)
Playdead (working on new puzzle game similar to Inside)
Microsoft Osaka Studios (working on new JRPG IP)
Remedy (working on Quantum Break DLC and Alan Wake Remastered)
The Coalition (working on Shangheist and Gears 4 DLC)
Twisted Pixel (working on Splosion Man 2)
Turn 10 / Playground (working on legacy Forza patches)
Mojang (working on Minecraft expansions)

 

[Devilgunman]

For a timed third party exclusive, what could you guys/gals see them try to get? Cyberpunk? Splinter Cell?

I think it's a waste of money at this point. The gap between PS4 and XB1 is ridiculously large that publisher would ask absurd amount of money from MS to cover potential PS4 sale loss and I don't think MS is willing or have money to pay.

 

[HeisenbergWW62]

For a timed third party exclusive, what could you guys/gals see them try to get? Cyberpunk? Splinter Cell?

Splinter Cell sounds like the most likely considering Ubisofts current situation. I don't see them moneyhatting anymore timed exclusives tho

 

[il Diavolo]

Having been in the beta, and listening to some of the background of the game's development after they shut Lionhead down, I think it must have been a hard look at how sustainable supporting the game would be. The game as it was still needed a LOT of content (specifically levels) to meet market standards. This I imagine was very hard for LH because of the burden they had on them to make every facet of the game AAA. There's a reason most F2P games don't look like Halo 5 and that's because it's hard to crank out new content or even assets at that level in a small amount of time which is imperative for that type of game. Though Destiny isn't a F2P game, you only need to look at it and how hard it is/was to create enough new content in a timely manner to see the kind of problem you'd run in to, and they have I think 3-5x the staff that LH had at closing iirc. So basically I think MS just realized they weren't going to be able to create enough new content in a sufficient amount of time at the standard they had imposed on LH.

this is a fairly damning indictment on microsoft as it shows a complete lack of understanding for how game development actually works. if they didn't have the foresight to predict that developing and curating a content rich title with AAA assets within a f2p business model wasn't sustainable than all i can do is shake my head. this sort of mismanagement seems to define ms games division currently.

 

[Bits N Pieces]

Microsoft won't be purchasing anyone... sorry. The Xbox team doesn't have the budget these days

Is your friend at MS called Phil?

 

[tiredheadcrab]

I think a Banjo game with Recore development funding wouldnt be bad at all actually. It would be $40 and it could a be a hug win for MS as thats a beloved franchise. I think a $60 banjo game would be a hard sell.

 

[RPGamer92]

I think a Banjo game with Recore development funding wouldnt be bad at all actually. It would be $40 and it could a be a hug win for MS as thats a beloved franchise. I think a $60 banjo game would be a hard sell.

Yeah, a new Banjo, Conker, etc game doesn't have to be a multi-million dollar AAA game.

 

[Shiggy]

I think a Banjo game with Recore development funding wouldnt be bad at all actually. It would be $40 and it could a be a hug win for MS as thats a beloved franchise. I think a $60 banjo game would be a hard sell.

It's very questionable that even something like Recore would be greenlit by Microsoft today.

 

[Jrs3000]

this is a fairly damning indictment on microsoft as it shows a complete lack of understanding for how game development actually works. if they didn't have the foresight to predict that developing and curating a content rich title with AAA assets within a f2p business model wasn't sustainable than all i can do is shake my head. this sort of mismanagement seems to define ms games division currently.

I think it's more of a internal priority change from higher up that's caused all these cancellations and closings. Its been said they are cracking down on Xbox division among the boards though I dont know how true it is.

 

[FinaruDensetsu]

Long Post

Wait so Microsoft buys Twisted Pixel again??? Why get rid of them in the first place then??

 

[CCIE]

No my friends at MS work for a different group. However, all of the "pillars" at MS have a strict budget to work with these days under the new leadership. So if Azure, for example, has a budget, you can be sure a group that is not part of the current strategy do as well, and one that is much stricter...

Like I said, it may not even be Phil's fault. I'm pretty sure he had to look at the numbers and go with what gives his division the best chance at survival. Scalebound was probably just too great of a risk. It's why I don't think the Xbox division has that much longer. They were in an uphill fight already, and now they don't have the budget they used to either. You will label me a fangirl, but I'm simply looking at it from a business standpoint.



I do know that MS tried to sell off the Xbox not too long ago, but couldn't get what they wanted


MS Corporate is watching very closely - that much I also know.

 

[tiredheadcrab]

Yeah, a new Banjo, Conker, etc game doesn't have to be a multi-million dollar AAA game.

I actually wouldnt mind if their SP games from big franchises like Banjo and Conker get rebooted like this. A $40 game can be as good as a $60 game.

 

[CCIE]

A quick and dirty reboot of something like Banjo would probably be a good use of limited budget. The Xbox division has to grow the business, not just maintain status quo.

 

[hanspampel]

Microsoft won't be purchasing anyone... sorry. The Xbox team doesn't have the budget these days

they bought minecraft
they would buy rockstar (including rockstar IPs) instantly if given the opportunity
they would maybe consider buying nintendo

everything else you're probably right

 

[digoutyoursoul]

No my friends at MS work for a different group. However, all of the "pillars" at MS have a strict budget to work with these days under the new leadership. So if Azure, for example, has a budget, you can be sure a group that is not part of the current strategy do as well, and one that is much stricter...

Like I said, it may not even be Phil's fault. I'm pretty sure he had to look at the numbers and go with what gives his division the best chance at survival. Scalebound was probably just too great of a risk. It's why I don't think the Xbox division has that much longer. They were in an uphill fight already, and now they don't have the budget they used to either. You will label me a fangirl, but I'm simply looking at it from a business standpoint.



I do know that MS tried to sell off the Xbox not too long ago, but couldn't get what they wanted


MS Corporate is watching very closely - that much I also know.

Why even bother with Scorpio then? In fact, why bother at all?

 

[Apathy]

Alright I'm going to pull out the "Best Case Scenario" E3:

1) E3 starts with Scorpio reveal. Priced at $399. Designed to look like Xbox One S, but slightly bigger. Sleek, runs cool, with internal power supply, 6.5TF, Zen processor.

2) Atlus CEO comes on and says "We are pleased to announced we've been purchased by Microsoft".

*Persona 5 not cancelled for PS3 or PS4 (because Microsoft is such a good guy).
*Persona 5 port announced for Xbox One.
*Persona 4 Golden remastered announced for Xbox One.
*Atlus announces they are also working on a brand new JRPG IP (exclusive to Xbox).

3) Microsoft announces they have bought Thekla (Jonathon Blow studio) and Playdead (Inside and Limbo devs) to join 1st-party stable.

*The Witness and Inside are announced to have standalone disc releases.
*Thekla and Playdead are both working on new exclusive puzzle-game IPs for Xbox.
*Braid is announced as BC on 360, and Braid Remastered is available for download at E3 (at a cost of $4.99 for anyone who owns the 360 version) with a new 1000 gamerscore.

4) Microsoft announces the creation of a new JRPG 1st-party dev based in Osaka, called Microsoft Osaka Studios.

*The studio is comprised primarily of former devs that made Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey
*Their first game is an original JRPG IP.

5) Bonnie Ross from 343 comes on stage with the head of Rare.

*They announce that 343 Studios is working on Perfect Dark 3, developed 100% by 343 with some key Rare employees providing input
*Rare shows off Sea Of Thieves and confirms it's not free-to-play, not an MMO, and will have a massive single player campaign with dungeons similar to Wind Waker.
*343 announces that half their team is hard at work on Perfect Dark 3, with the other half spending significant resources to fix Master Chief Collection

6) Bonnie Ross stays on stage but the heads of Rare leave, replaced by the heads of Bioware

*They announce a Halo WRPG similar to Mass Effect 1. Developed by Bioware with input from key 343 members. You play exclusively as a female Spartan.
*The game will take place during the original Halo 1, 2, and 3 trilogy.
*You visit Halo rings, Earth, different human colonies, and various Covenant planets. No Prometheans.

7) Then Bonnie + Bioware guys leave, and Rare heads come back on stage with Playtonic Devs

*They show a Yooka-Laylee trailer (and at the end of the trailer it says coming out April 2017 on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Switch) because Microsoft is such a good guy and won't obfuscate the details of any third-party partnerships.
*After the Yooka-Laylee trailer, we hear a banjo tune and the familiar banjo guffaw. Then a Banjo Kazooie 3 trailer shows.
*Co-developed by Playtonic and Rare

8) Sam Lake from Remedy comes on stage with Phil Spencer. Microsoft announces they've purchased Remedy.

*Quantum Break story expansion DLC is announced. You play exclusively as Beth Wilder.
*$30. Can be purchased standalone. Has its own 1000 gamerscore. Can be launched within Quantum Break.
*Alan Wake 1 Remastered, with 2000 gamerscore. Has all DLC and American Nightmare.

9) The Coalition come on stage with Rod Fergusson

*Public apology from Rod Fergusson re: microtransactions. The cost of microtransactions is dramatically reduced.
*Confirmed that game has been changed so that the possibility of duplicate skins/characters is now ZERO.
*Currency drops for normal game play dramatically improved.
*New story DLC announced where you play as Kait and JD. Kait is the default player one character. Takes place shortly after the end of Gears 4. Titled "Kait's Epilogue". $20.

10) Microsoft announce they have purchased Twisted Pixel and they are working on Splosion Man 2.

11) Microsoft announces there will be no Forza in the year 2017. Instead, the Turn10 and Playground teams are hard at work on Scorpio patches for Forza Motorsport 5 and 6, and Forza Horizon 2, 3, and Fast/Furious.

12) Cuphead has a trailer and release date (July 2017). It wins game of the show. Platforming levels are dramatically improved.

13) Then, Phil Spencer says, "and one more thing". The auditorium goes dark. You hear a chainsaw and you see The Coalition's logo, and it says "The Coalition and Microsoft Studios present Shangheist". 2-minute trailer. The NY Times and Washington Post says "They did it!!! The sons of bitches actually did it!!!" on their front pages.

Then the OP will be fucking epic. The list of first party devs will be:

343 Studios (working on Halo 6 and Perfect Dark 3)
Rare (working on Sea of Thieves and Banjo Kazooie 3)
Atlus (working on Persona 5, Persona 4 Remastered, and new JRPG IP)
Thekla (working on new puzzle game from Jonathan Blow)
Playdead (working on new puzzle game similar to Inside)
Microsoft Osaka Studios (working on new JRPG IP)
Remedy (working on Quantum Break DLC and Alan Wake Remastered)
The Coalition (working on Shangheist and Gears 4 DLC)
Twisted Pixel (working on Splosion Man 2)
Turn 10 / Playground (working on legacy Forza patches)
Mojang (working on Minecraft expansions)

lol "best case". More like "impossible in any reality"

 

[Chris1]

they bought minecraft
they would buy rockstar (including rockstar IPs) instantly if given the opportunity
they would maybe consider buying nintendo

everything else you're probably right

Don't think they'd buy Nintendo honestly. Nintendo makes single player games mostly. That doesn't seem to fit where Xbox is going. But Rockstar definitely if they had the chance.

 

[Mobile Suit Gooch]

Does anyone miss J. Allard?

 

[CCIE]

I actually have asked that question, and have gotten various answers. I believe it comes down to this. MS wants the Xbox to be successful, but isn't going to pump a lot of money into it. Therefore, it will have to do so under its own merits. I liken it to the Surface. The original was a total POS, but subsequent versions got better and better. Maybe the Xbox can do so as well.


But if the right buyer came along, MS would sell them off so fast it would make your head spin.

 

[Dabanton]

For a timed third party exclusive, what could you guys/gals see them try to get? Cyberpunk? Splinter Cell?

If it's anything it will be a new Splinter Cell.

Maybe that's why SC: Blacklist hasn't appeared on the backwards compatible list yet...

 

[hanspampel]

Don't think they'd buy Nintendo honestly. Nintendo makes single player games mostly. That doesn't seem to fit where Xbox is going. But Rockstar definitely if they had the chance.

it's about expanding xbox live to mobile via nintendo IPs. right now the just have minecraft
just think about 200m additional monthly active xbox live user on android and ios
but nintendo is to expensive ofc. 30bn cap + premium = not worth it

 

[AP90]

Alright I'm going to pull out the "Best Case Scenario" E3:

1) E3 starts with Scorpio reveal. Priced at $399. Designed to look like Xbox One S, but slightly bigger. Sleek, runs cool, with internal power supply, 6.5TF, Zen processor.

2) Atlus CEO comes on and says "We are pleased to announced we've been purchased by Microsoft".

*Persona 5 not cancelled for PS3 or PS4 (because Microsoft is such a good guy).
*Persona 5 port announced for Xbox One.
*Persona 4 Golden remastered announced for Xbox One.
*Atlus announces they are also working on a brand new JRPG IP (exclusive to Xbox).

3) Microsoft announces they have bought Thekla (Jonathon Blow studio) and Playdead (Inside and Limbo devs) to join 1st-party stable.

*The Witness and Inside are announced to have standalone disc releases.
*Thekla and Playdead are both working on new exclusive puzzle-game IPs for Xbox.
*Braid is announced as BC on 360, and Braid Remastered is available for download at E3 (at a cost of $4.99 for anyone who owns the 360 version) with a new 1000 gamerscore.

4) Microsoft announces the creation of a new JRPG 1st-party dev based in Osaka, called Microsoft Osaka Studios.

*The studio is comprised primarily of former devs that made Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey
*Their first game is an original JRPG IP.

5) Bonnie Ross from 343 comes on stage with the head of Rare.

*They announce that 343 Studios is working on Perfect Dark 3, developed 100% by 343 with some key Rare employees providing input
*Rare shows off Sea Of Thieves and confirms it's not free-to-play, not an MMO, and will have a massive single player campaign with dungeons similar to Wind Waker.
*343 announces that half their team is hard at work on Perfect Dark 3, with the other half spending significant resources to fix Master Chief Collection

6) Bonnie Ross stays on stage but the heads of Rare leave, replaced by the heads of Bioware

*They announce a Halo WRPG similar to Mass Effect 1. Developed by Bioware with input from key 343 members. You play exclusively as a female Spartan.
*The game will take place during the original Halo 1, 2, and 3 trilogy.
*You visit Halo rings, Earth, different human colonies, and various Covenant planets. No Prometheans.

7) Then Bonnie + Bioware guys leave, and Rare heads come back on stage with Playtonic Devs

*They show a Yooka-Laylee trailer (and at the end of the trailer it says coming out April 2017 on PC, Xbox One, PS4, and Switch) because Microsoft is such a good guy and won't obfuscate the details of any third-party partnerships.
*After the Yooka-Laylee trailer, we hear a banjo tune and the familiar banjo guffaw. Then a Banjo Kazooie 3 trailer shows.
*Co-developed by Playtonic and Rare

8) Sam Lake from Remedy comes on stage with Phil Spencer. Microsoft announces they've purchased Remedy.

*Quantum Break story expansion DLC is announced. You play exclusively as Beth Wilder.
*$30. Can be purchased standalone. Has its own 1000 gamerscore. Can be launched within Quantum Break.
*Alan Wake 1 Remastered, with 2000 gamerscore. Has all DLC and American Nightmare.

9) The Coalition come on stage with Rod Fergusson

*Public apology from Rod Fergusson re: microtransactions. The cost of microtransactions is dramatically reduced.
*Confirmed that game has been changed so that the possibility of duplicate skins/characters is now ZERO.
*Currency drops for normal game play dramatically improved.
*New story DLC announced where you play as Kait and JD. Kait is the default player one character. Takes place shortly after the end of Gears 4. Titled "Kait's Epilogue". $20.

10) Microsoft announce they have purchased Twisted Pixel and they are working on Splosion Man 2.

11) Microsoft announces there will be no Forza in the year 2017. Instead, the Turn10 and Playground teams are hard at work on Scorpio patches for Forza Motorsport 5 and 6, and Forza Horizon 2, 3, and Fast/Furious.

12) Cuphead has a trailer and release date (July 2017). It wins game of the show. Platforming levels are dramatically improved.

13) Then, Phil Spencer says, "and one more thing". The auditorium goes dark. You hear a chainsaw and you see The Coalition's logo, and it says "The Coalition and Microsoft Studios present Shangheist". 2-minute trailer. The NY Times and Washington Post says "They did it!!! The sons of bitches actually did it!!!" on their front pages.

Then the OP will be fucking epic. The list of first party devs will be:

343 Studios (working on Halo 6 and Perfect Dark 3)
Rare (working on Sea of Thieves and Banjo Kazooie 3)
Atlus (working on Persona 5, Persona 4 Remastered, and new JRPG IP)
Thekla (working on new puzzle game from Jonathan Blow)
Playdead (working on new puzzle game similar to Inside)
Microsoft Osaka Studios (working on new JRPG IP)
Remedy (working on Quantum Break DLC and Alan Wake Remastered)
The Coalition (working on Shangheist and Gears 4 DLC)
Twisted Pixel (working on Splosion Man 2)
Turn 10 / Playground (working on legacy Forza patches)
Mojang (working on Minecraft expansions)

Were it so easy..

 

[tiredheadcrab]

I actually have asked that question, and have gotten various answers. I believe it comes down to this. MS wants the Xbox to be successful, but isn't going to pump a lot of money into it. Therefore, it will have to do so under its own merits. I liken it to the Surface. The original was a total POS, but subsequent versions got better and better. Maybe the Xbox can do so as well.


But if the right buyer came along, MS would sell them off so fast it would make your head spin.

IDK who would buy them. Let alone who could run XBL. Apple doesnt have a good cloud service, Amazon has their own thing going on, Samsung is too busy making smartphones and chasing Apple.

 

[Chris1]

it's about expanding xbox live to mobile via nintendo IPs. right now the just have minecraft
just think about 200m additional monthly active xbox live user on android and ios
but nintendo is to expensive ofc. 30bn cap + premium = not worth it

Oh I didn't think about it from that perspective, would make sense, but yeah like you said costs too much

IDK who would buy them. Let alone who could run XBL. Apple doesnt have a good cloud service, Amazon has their own thing going on, Samsung is too busy making smartphones and chasing Apple.

Nobody is gonna pay the billions required to buy xbox division. Samsung and Apple can get the livingroom via other means if they need it, not through gaming. And who else is gonna buy them? Amazon? I doubt they'd pay the billions for it.