Hope it won’t end like the TRoS 
We will get something, god knows when though. Can’t really put a timeline on it, especially since MS is tighter than a corset when it comes to acquisition information.
Phil was Don Mattrick all along!
I try to remember or note a lot of what is said publicly, but not understood in the gaming media. A lot of which I could understand or relate to. A lot of the information can be gleaned from what Phil says and people (gamers + gaming media) don’t understand.
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He mentioned quality aspects in 2017-18 – “there is a quality problem” - which referred to tentpole game deficiency as opposed to QA,
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then he mentions things like “Horizon 0, Horizon 1, Horizon 2” plans. These are not Forza Horizon or HZD plans. These are strategy elements for roadmaps that they already have in place – upto 10 years ahead.
This would include things like supply strategy of game production, and what makes them come close to a Netflix model of 41 teams making original content. Though, gaming works very differently compared to the movie industry - having 41 external studios making games is certainly not a sustainable strategy - as Phil himself has commented as his critique on the 360 generation.
Which means – there has to be a small/medium/large buckets of acquisition sub-plans in place too. A lot of it is quite strategic with significant leeway given to tactical moves within the framework of achieving a certain objective. Example - what can give us more history and attachment – the answer could have been Bethesda IP.
There are other things that I can speak of as a regular MS follower. Like they are not ones to shirk from an acquisition. When Satya had taken over, they were nowhere really, and Google had become one of the most valuable companies around. This did not deter them from going in head on into a Minecraft, Linkedin or Github acquisition.
If you think Take2 is considered a hot-topic, you have not seen the Linux fanboi club talk about the Github acquisition.
Anyway, I wanted to give some context to how I perceive the way some of these might be operating.
My two cents.
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It’s suddenly revealed without any foreshadowing that Don Mattrick was still running Xbox from the shadows all along?
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Chill bro it will never get THAT bad
If they did buy WB without the licences (except MK, it would need to be a deal breaker that they got MK), it would actually make sense for Rocksteady to not do Perfect Dark, but to do a Perfect Dark.
By this I mean that Perfect Dark came about because Rare wanted to do a sequel to Goldeeye, but didn’t have the licence, so they just made up their own spy (Joanna Dark) and wrote their own story.
The game is still unmistably the sequel to Goldeneye, it’s just had a visual and story re-skin.
Getting Rocksteady an excellent Sci Fi writer in, then saying “Right, make your next Arkham game, but make up your own Batman” would be a smart move.
what if those studios dont want to work on these IPs ? Creative freedom ?
Ima be honest save Netherealm the interest from Me in WB without licenses is close to zero and the valuation of those studios drop by a couple billions.
I think they want their first-party games to be on GamePass forever. It’s tough to guarantee that with outside licenses.
It’s just a brainstorm, man… Jeez.
Imagine MS buys WB game studios without licenses and WB allows Sony to make exclusive DC PS5 games . 
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Like the creative freedom those teams have right now, working on IP they invented from the ground up … like Batman, Lego, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings? 
In seriousness, I love to see new IP, but there is nothing wrong with asking a team to work on an existing IP. They can still be creative within that brief.
“Somehow…Don Mattrick returned”
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That would be hilarious. Though I can see that happen. I mean, if MS is not interested in third party IPs, there are platforms that are interested in them. Exclusive Batman game for example.
If MS could buy the whole WB + Discovery they could stream Age of Empires videos on Discovery Channel
yup .
It would be beyond stupid, lol, it’s not realistic, come on.
its totally realistic . wtf ?
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