Could Microsoft Buy EA?

[JayhawkerStL]

Quote: Originally Posted by DaveDQ

It leaves such a bad taste in my mouth whenever I see a game claim any type of exclusivity. All I see when I see "exclusive" is "we could never imagine this to happen on its own, but our pockets are deep enough to make it happen." As much as I enjoy Xbox, in particular, xbox live, I can't stomach the artificial love for gaming they claim. There has been, at least with the One X, a genuine nod to the gaming community, but even that comes across as an admission of guilt. This speculation of an EA buyout just follows suite. It reminds me of the kids that play sports but are disinterested. They have all the new equipment and go to all the extra training exercises. But when they step up to the plate, there's questionable interest and little passion.

Business is business. The only video game company I ever imagine doing it for the "right reasons" would be Nintendo.


But right now, Phil Spencer is in a very pro gamer mode. No, buying up exclusivity is not pro gamer, but it is in response the onslaught of game outrage about how many exclusive titles Microsoft releases. That's why this reaction from gamers is pretty sad.

The one huge weakness of gamers is how often we expect billion dollar businesses to act like they don't are about the money, when we all know that is all they care about. Every lament about the "right reasons" rings as hollow as when a contestant on the Bachelor utters it.

If Microsoft plays it "smart" and grabs a few studios, the same people will lament that Microsoft is still not doing enough. But potentially buy EA, and it's "Oh no, that's too much!"

There reality is, the men in suits, whether it be at Microsoft or Sony, are just trying to maximize their resources to generate as much revenue as they can. If MS buys EA, it's because they believe it will do that. And yes, they have to account for butt hurt Sony fans raging that it is so unfair.

In the end, as long as Microsoft keeps supporting the Xbox platform, I'm happy. I don't care where they rank among hardware or software sales. I like the controller, the OS and the ecosystem. If buying EA helps them continue, I'm okay with it.

[Junior Moe]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ivan71

If Microsoft were to buy EA, it would be smart to not to make EA games exclusive to Xbox only. Game sales is what makes the companies money, not system sells. Microsoft would be in a possible situation to have a better Bottom Line overall. If this happens it can be a win,win situation for Microsoft. They may not sale as many systems as Sony, but with the EA library in their ownership, and available on both systems, their game sales can be huge. They could even use this as leverage to kind of get Sony to port over some of their exclusives like "The Show". They way I see it, Microsoft may not win the Systems battle, but with this acquisition of EA, they can win the overall SALES war!

If this ever came to be it would be with an eye toward the next gen. Sony has rightly destroyed Xbox this gen after Microsofts "let's be everything but a videogame console and require you to be always connected online" launch. Microsoft has gotten their crap together over the years but I really believe that misstep at release did them in. People, Xbox fanboys like myself included, were pissed. Last gen the two systems were neck and neck in sales.

Now if Anthem ends up being the next big online IP then Mircosoft could use the sequel as a launch title for the next gen. It could be a smart move that pays higher dividends later. Then having Star Wars and Battlefield and the Other EA titles as Xbox exclusives to shore up things makes it more compelling.

[BQ32]

I just don't see how this makes any sense whatsoever if the intention is exclusivity. Say M$ bought them to create a dominant exclusivity library, they would actually in the short term be devaluing their new company by probably half or more since a large majority of their games are sold elsewhere. With the huge projection of lost sales the stock would drop off a cliff and the investors would rage. Even if this was a long term play, companies being beholden to stock holders almost never allow long plays and CEO's are way too concerned about their ridiculous short term bonuses and job security. Especially as there is no guarantee that Microsoft would suddenly dominate market share as they are currently far behind and other companies would jump at the chance to fill some of that void on the PlayStation ecosystem.*

[BQ32]

However, what would make a ton of sense is if Microsoft is deciding a completely new approach and bypass Sony as being a competitor all together. In this case they can move towards a games as a service model. They would no longer be interested in console generations and instead just offer the service of xbox game pass being available on their own systems/PC/ and maybe even Sony, but upcharging the amount that Sony would need to pay for the games. Instead of having a new generational system every 5+ years they can go to the cell phone approach with a* new version out every year or maybe every 2 years.* 2 years would make more sense as they could offer a subscription model with the game pass service locking people into a 2 year contract with the price of the system included. Example: If xbox game pass is now $10, buying EA would bolster their service to the point they could charge maybe 20/month. Then they would finance you the cost of the console over 2 years. So with maybe a total of 40/month you could own a new $500 console every 2 years with unlimited games full of current and past Microsoft and EA exclusives plus whatever other old games they make deals to carry. This would also allow for special promotions and trade up programs Where you can trade in your previous console, get a brand new system every 2 years and all those games for 30+ per month. Going forward M$ could look to start buying up other high caliber studios to add them to their service and create the must own ecosystem in gaming. Many people average buying one game per month, so if they could get this all under 50, or close to 40 I think it would be a real winner. This would be very appealing to the 20+ target market. They could also create family plans where the price of a subsidized second console is lower or more accounts can access the service simultaneously so each household only needs one plan such as Netflix. If I were the head of M$ this is the exact approach that I would take as being both the easiest and most innovative path forward to market dominance.*

[N51_rob]

Quote: Originally Posted by longway911

No. No. A thousand times no. As bad as EA can be, we don't need microsoft moving all of EA's games to xbox.*

Would they do that tho? They would lose millions of dollars in revenue. More likely would be them making some content XB1 exclusive, but to cut out a customer base of several 100 million end users is a pretty terrible business plan.

[Madden08PCgmr]

I'm all for it.

Anything that would take the future of Madden out of EAs hands is welcomed for me.

MS would also find a way to capitalize on the vast library of games.

.. in terms of gaming itself, I wouldn't view this as a good thing. But if this saves Madden football, so be it!

[c1979h]

Some people are saying that the PS4 install base is twice that of the xbox1, that is true. Every PS4 is not buying Madden, this is a US sport. I bet the Asia and Europe numbers on Madden are low, compared to Fifa numbers. Grab them up MS and correct the ship.

[SilverBullet19]

I see some concern that with the purchase, many EA titles may become exclusive. For just a moment, let's look at the bright side of this. Here's a couple possible scenarios:

-Madden becomes XBox exclusive. The NFL responds at the next opportunity by issuing a license to Sega again (or another developer) to create an NFL game in order to get Playstation sales again. We return to a time of both Madden and NFL 2k, and the competition makes both games better again.

-Microsoft makes a deal to make an MLB game. Now they have not only an answer for The Show (which I love, btw), but an MLB option for Xbox gamers.


Those are just a couple titles, really the only games I play. I may be incorrect, but I see those both as possible if EA titles became exclusive.