It’s no secret that Microsoft’s Xbox One has been lagging behind their rival, Sony’s PlayStation 4, in terms of the global install base. With Sony set on releasing some major exclusives in 2018, such as the highly anticipated God of War and The Last of Us Part 2, this trend is set to continue, unless Microsoft does something drastic to improve their exclusives offering. Microsoft seems to be well aware of this as a new rumour suggests that the company might be making some key acquisitions to boost their exclusives game catalogue. While Microsoft has done this in the past by acquiring Mojang, the studio behind the popular Minecraft game, it seems they might have a bigger fish in mind this time around.
According to Polygon, Microsoft could be interested in acquiring gaming giant Electronic Arts, or even Valve, as a way to gain access to more exclusives for their console. Although this might seem unthinkable, the mere fact that these rumours are doing the round suggests that there might be some truth to this, especially since Microsoft’s Phil Spencer indicated last year that the company would need to focus more on expanding their first-party development.
In the aftermath of the rumours, EA’s stock gained more than 2%. EA’s value is estimated at around $35 billion, which is no small sum of money. However, thanks to some recent tax breaks that favour large corporations, it’s an amount that Microsoft does have access to.
If these rumours are true, it would be a move that could drastically change the gaming industry landscape with both positive and negative impacts, depending on how you look at it. For instance, having games such as the upcoming Anthem or any of the myriad of EA Sports titles (like FIFA) as Xbox One exclusives could boost the value (and attractiveness) of the console. On the other hand, this could also mean that the wide-reaching market share could shrink and decrease the publisher’s value. This will surely be bad news for both PlayStation 4 and Switch owners as many of the current EA published titles would most probably not be available on these consoles anymore.
With regards to Valve, an acquisition by Microsoft could in effect see the company returning to making games or see Microfost combine their Xbox Game Pass subscription service with their Steam service. This is probably the less likely acquisition of the two.
Whatever the future holds for the gaming industry, it’s important to note that these are just rumours and should be treated as such. Although, as the saying goes, where there’s smoke there usually is a fire.
This would certainly change things.
Go Microsoft. Can you imagine what their next console is going to be in 2020/2021. Cannot wait, The X is a Beast!!! Keep it up Microsoft, we behind you all the way.
They can have Fifa PES is way better anyway
Hey, if you can have exclusive Titles like God of War on PS4 (which is the only reason I’d Buy a PS4) ,why can’t Microsoft Buy EA to get exclusive titles on XBOX.
Hai noh Microsoft mustn’t do that Lesego Motshaisa
They are crazy. They are trying by all means to make people join their platform
Imagine having Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Anthem, etc. as Xbox exclusives
Fifa, Titanfall, Battlefield, UFC, NBA, BATTLEFRONT,etc. 🙆🏾♂️
lol bruh, this must never happen, because if it does then they’ll be problems for other consoles
I think because of EA access that’s why they are going up a notch to buy the whole thing 🙆🏾♂️
I saw a trailer for the PS5 I don’t know if it’s official or not(apparently it’s a leak) but apparently gameplay will run at 120FPS.
fuck year, that EA access now it makes sense and remember they always had serious relationship, remember even Titanfall 1 was their exclusive, but they mustn’t do it
damn imma check it but I don’t think we are ready for 120fps lol because even a high end pc can’t run games at 120fps on 2160p resolution
maybe rock solid 60fps at a higher resolution
We’ll see what happens
True. but it will set some crazy standards
Lol you know how Sony rolls they were only surprised by the XB1X
lol but Microsoft only flopped with Xbox one, 360 was thrashing Ps3 hard time
Not thrashing, it had a tad bit more sales that’s all, but with features PS3 had an upper hand.
it was more powerful
Not true. Their capabilities were equivalent. While PS3 had more better looking games than the xbox and a blu ray drive
check specs and also check fps consistency you’ll see
It all depends on game.