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[JaseC]

MS should just pump that money into Rare, add more teams and designers and watch the magic happen.

I don't think Rare's Natal PR division needs any more resources.

 

[Lagspike_exe]

$200 million for a company with 20 employees? :lol

 

[GDJustin]

ITT: most of GAF reveals that they think a winning business model is making games that appeal to them and them alone.

Also ITT: Most of GAF reveals they don't know a thing about FB games.

 

[watkinzez]

MS should just pump that money into Rare, add more teams and designers and watch the magic happen.

The world would be a better place with daily Scribes.

 

[Monty Mole]

Surely for $200m, MS could set up their own development super-team and make some original Facebook games?

 

[iceatcs]

Could have built more first party developer company. Oh well.

 

[DiscoJer]

I dunno what they are buying this for though?

The IP? Doesn't the top company in FB gaming make clones of any other game that gets popular? Seems like the concept is more valuable than the name.

The staff? 20 people at 10 million each doesn't seem too cost effective.

I think the idea is probably a good one, I've always thought that the console makers need to try to appeal more to the casual gamer market, but I was thinking more like the stuff BFG carries.

I'm not sure the stuff on FB could ever be played on anything but a computer (or I guess phone), since it's mostly just clicking on buttons (or the ones I've played, which admittedly isn't many).

 

[NemesisPrime]

Can't be any worse spent than the $370m they doled out on Rare.

Oooohhh please. One of those again.

 

[trinest]

Farmville for XBLA confirmed?

Windows Phone 7 Series.

 

[TommyTomsten]

It seems that Microsoft may be trying to buy CrowdStar, and perhaps for $200 million.

CrowdStar is best known for the facebook game Happy Aquarium.


Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aUYXtsK5u5uw


Source: http://www.industrygamers.com/news/...in-talks-to-buy-social-games-maker-crowdstar/

The "could" buy any studio in the world.
Yeah, let's buy CrowdStar.....

WTF...

 

[Prine]

Can't be any worse spent than the $370m they doled out on Rare.

Get out of here.

Rare have contributed enough on 360 and XBL. Their backlog of games that will see releases on future MS platforms is far more interesting to me then these facebook guys.

 

[DarkoMaledictus]

So if they do sell for $200 million that would be $10 million per employee...
Or are they paying for all their well established surefire money-making IPs?

Lol dont think it works that way ! I would imagine a lot of employees jumping ship after this happens. Probably one of the reasons rare is shit right now: all the good programmers, artists probably got jobs elsewhere! Kind of pointless if you ask me... abour rare anyway.

 

[Linkified]

Lol dont think it works that way ! I would imagine a lot of employees jumping ship after this happens. Probably one of the reasons rare is shit right now: all the good programmers, artists probably got jobs elsewhere! Kind of pointless if you ask me... abour rare anyway.

Actually it's more likely the opposite will happen where essentially MS has guaranteed their jobs in case the facebook gaming goes tits up.

Plus it's not the IP they want it's the ability to offset loses either now or futher down the line.

 

[A Human Becoming]

Next day: Microsoft layoffs 1,000 Microsoft Game Studios employees.

Lol dont think it works that way ! I would imagine a lot of employees jumping ship after this happens. Probably one of the reasons rare is shit right now: all the good programmers, artists probably got jobs elsewhere! Kind of pointless if you ask me... abour rare anyway.

I'm fairly sure that's untrue. A GAF user from Rare (George?) said most employees stayed after Microsoft bought them.

 

[Pachael]

Could Crowdstar be classified as PC gaming? ;p

 

[HungryHorace]

This is redolent of the dotcom bubble with investors, paranoid about being left behind, paying over the odds for ephemeral companies & neglecting existing, proven businesses.

In MS's case, the latter is Ensemble & 'neglecting' is a massive understatement.

 

[Nimyh]

Maybe MS is having a hard time finding that unique kind of people who are just shameless enough to create successful casual games... the Carnival Games kind of people. Seeing as their previous family-friendly attempts were flops this can't be far from the truth.. if the rumor has anything to do with reality.

 

[spwolf]

You're making a lot of assumptions here. You think these companies don't have a development roadmap? They're not throwing darts at a board to see what sticks, these guys have real world experience in catering to and maintaining large social gaming groups successfully. That's valuable right now.

Of course they'll move on from Farmville at some point, and the smart companies will have product waiting for them.

indeed, it is not as if 12m per year is just waiting for anyone who wants to develop anything :lol

There is some belief here as if developing these "casual" games is below belt, which is ridicilous.


12m per year profit is very healthy business for any developer, let alone one with 20 employees. Return on investment is huge. You are buying minds here, not games. Imagine what you can do with same people managing larger company which develops for more platforms.

 

[spwolf]

Right, and typically companies are bought at 7x their annual profit. So this is probably a bit overvalued.. likely because people are expecting explosive growth in this space.

there are a lot of assumptions is what you just wrote. First of all, this is internet based business.

Twitter and Facebook and heck Playfish never made so much money as these guys :lol
Yet they were sold for more.

You act as if these guys pressed an button and created audiences for these games. If anything, they had harder time that typical game development company that pitches their product to publishers - they had to do it all on their own, with unknown ips, company, people.

 

[Winterblink]

how do these facebook games even make money? is this in-game dlc stuff that they were talking about in this week's bonus round really such a strong money-making vehicle?

Bonus Round described it well enough, you're really only spending money to either a) be different, b) save yourself some time, or c) a combination of both.

They make money in much the same way as mobile providers do with their bite sized content. There's plenty of people willing to drop a couple of bucks on a ringtone, wallpaper, etc. with barely a thought. Personally, I wouldn't bother -- but there's tons of people out there who do, as evidenced (in FB's case at least) of immensely successful companies raking in the dough.

 

[Pachael]

To follow that up, with Microsoft's track record with these buyouts, in a number of years the personnel would have left or moved on, the studio absorbed or shutdown. Microsoft also doesn't have the most shining record with regards to using existing IP (Still waiting for another Madness game ;_

I also agree about the commodisation of the market, and unless they're getting them to make Facebook/Windows Phone7/XBL mini 'casual' games with lots of available DLC, then Microsoft are better off putting $200m into developers, developers, developers for Windows Phone7.

 

[spwolf]

Bonus Round described it well enough, you're really only spending money to either a) be different, b) save yourself some time, or c) a combination of both.

They make money in much the same way as mobile providers do with their bite sized content. There's plenty of people willing to drop a couple of bucks on a ringtone, wallpaper, etc. with barely a thought. Personally, I wouldn't bother -- but there's tons of people out there who do, as evidenced (in FB's case at least) of immensely successful companies raking in the dough.

they develop subscription free games that sell some virtual items to their users. From my experience playing Travian, some of these games make casual gamers more hardcore than anyone ;-).

Heck, only adds i see these days are targeted free game ads, those are the people that even target ads for eastern european countries. cha-ching.

 

[JaseC]

Oooohhh please. One of those again.

It's not as though you could say with any amount of certainty that Rare's releases have seen Microsoft recoup the ~$375m cost of the studio.

 

[mujun]

Can't be any worse spent than the $370m they doled out on Rare.

No wonder you made the 3rd post in the thread this one, you obviously sacrificed forethought in favor of speed (and stupidity).

 

[itxaka]

1 million Per month on profits with only 20 employes? Perfect company

 

[Dark Machine]

This is redolent of the dotcom bubble with investors, paranoid about being left behind, paying over the odds for ephemeral companies & neglecting existing, proven businesses.

In MS's case, the latter is Ensemble & 'neglecting' is a massive understatement.

My thoughts exactly, this whole thing stinks of the .com era and the race for a fickle, casual and bored userbase.

Maybe this is the dinosaur in me talking but browser based gaming isn't the future. Hell mobile gaming isn't the future really, more convenient would be putting something like 3G onto a PSP and adding a phone hands-free set to make an all in one device, the iPhone is pretty close to that, it's less of a phone and more of a 'mobile media consumption device' as some blogger I can't remember put it.

Anyway, these people are going to move on from game to game and site to site very quickly, they're using stuff like this to distract themselves at work or wherever...I just couldn't see microtransactions lasting as long as you can get A) A similar experience elsewhere for free on the net or B) A much better experience on a console game or PC.

Having played a couple of these games at the insistance of friends. I can safely say I'd rather read a book or magazine than waste my time with them. I'm in the camp saying this can't and won't last.

 

[Doffen]

okay, one quick question: why?

Windows Phone 7 Series games and Xbox Live Arcade.

 

[spwolf]

My thoughts exactly, this whole thing stinks of the .com era and the race for a fickle, casual and bored userbase.

Maybe this is the dinosaur in me talking but browser based gaming isn't the future. Hell mobile gaming isn't the future really, more convenient would be putting something like 3G onto a PSP and adding a phone hands-free set to make an all in one device, the iPhone is pretty close to that, it's less of a phone and more of a 'mobile media consumption device' as some blogger I can't remember put it.

Anyway, these people are going to move on from game to game and site to site very quickly, they're using stuff like this to distract themselves at work or wherever...I just couldn't see microtransactions lasting as long as you can get A) A similar experience elsewhere for free on the net or B) A much better experience on a console game or PC.

Having played a couple of these games at the insistance of friends. I can safely say I'd rather read a book or magazine than waste my time with them. I'm in the camp saying this can't and won't last.

racism at its best! .

p.s. during dot com era, nobody made any money... so this is significantly different. Maybe kiddies do not remember, but even these days, it is rare to see internet based company to actually make money. They usually try to grow at crazy pace, spending VC money... then try to sell the company. And most of those companies never made an penny.

 

[Meier]

$200 million is a drop in the bucket for them. It gets them into the Facebook gaming world and that's where they need to be as well. It'd be a smart move.