Starfield - The Bear and Badger

regmcfly

Sure have my wee boy brushes every day on it

LivDiv

I won't defend Microsoft's track record on studios they have bought out but this one I would put on Bethesda.

The game spent most of its dev life outside of MS and a lot of what is wrong with it, at least technically is textbook Bethesda.
They were also producing guff in the form of Fallout 76 before the buyout.

Love or hate Starfield it's on Bethesda for me.

digi

regmcfly wrote:

Sure have my wee boy brushes every day on it

Nice one, was gonna recommend it to a friends kid but haven't actually tried it myself.
Thanks pal.

SpaceGazelle

LivDiv wrote:

I won't defend Microsoft's track record on studios they have bought out but this one I would put on Bethesda. The game spent most of its dev life outside of MS and a lot of what is wrong with it, at least technically is textbook Bethesda. They were also producing guff in the form of Fallout 76 before the buyout. Love or hate Starfield it's on Bethesda for me.

Which begs the question on why MS spent 7.5 billion buying them in the first place. I think you're right, and it didn't really make much difference in this case but with that much cash they could've at least sorted out the clunky inventory. Maybe now Howard has an extra $150 million in the bank he's stopped giving a shit. I bet he steps down soon.

b0r1s

I'll say this for Davie, he's right about Death Stranding.

RamSteelwood

This thread is a like a forum in itself, let's close all the other threads and have every discussion in here

Minnesänger

What did he say about Death Stranding? Did he say it was a [10]?

b0r1s

Yup

Paul the sparky

RamSteelwood wrote:

This thread is a like a forum in itself, let's close all the other threads and have every discussion in here

I've never seen anything like it

RamSteelwood

Paul the sparky wrote:

RamSteelwood wrote:

This thread is a like a forum in itself, let's close all the other threads and have every discussion in here

I've never seen anything like it

How do you think the toon will get on today? And if we've got deep pockets does that make west ham sony?

b0r1s

Paul the sparky wrote:

RamSteelwood wrote:

This thread is a like a forum in itself, let's close all the other threads and have every discussion in here

I've never seen anything like it

TBF, we were expecting Starfield to be the biggest game of the year.

At least the thread has delivered on that ;-)

Spoiler:

Paul the sparky

RamSteelwood wrote:

Paul the sparky wrote:

RamSteelwood wrote:

This thread is a like a forum in itself, let's close all the other threads and have every discussion in here

I've never seen anything like it

How do you think the toon will get on today? And if we've got deep pockets does that make west ham sony?

We'll smash them, they're shite

RamSteelwood

Paul the sparky wrote:

RamSteelwood wrote:

Paul the sparky wrote:

RamSteelwood wrote:

This thread is a like a forum in itself, let's close all the other threads and have every discussion in here

I've never seen anything like it

How do you think the toon will get on today? And if we've got deep pockets does that make west ham sony?

We'll smash them, they're shite

Fanboy!

SpaceGazelle

Saudi vs Sony. C'mon The Hammers.

yourfavouriteuncle

SpaceGazelle wrote:

LivDiv wrote:

I won't defend Microsoft's track record on studios they have bought out but this one I would put on Bethesda. The game spent most of its dev life outside of MS and a lot of what is wrong with it, at least technically is textbook Bethesda. They were also producing guff in the form of Fallout 76 before the buyout. Love or hate Starfield it's on Bethesda for me.

Which begs the question on why MS spent 7.5 billion buying them in the first place. I think you're right, and it didn't really make much difference in this case but with that much cash they could've at least sorted out the clunky inventory. Maybe now Howard has an extra $150 million in the bank he's stopped giving a shit. I bet he steps down soon.

Imagine what this thing would have ended up like without MS backing. It would have been out 12 months earlier and oh so much worse for it. By all reasonable sources this is fine but hugely flawed and behind high level contemporary standards. Without MS and their big bucks it would have still been all these things but it’d also be full of a (tiled) galaxy full of bugs.

LivDiv

There are arguments for and against buying Bethesda.

The back catalogue packed out Game Pass nicely with games Xbox owners tend to like as well.
Skyrim had a prolonged shelf life and the lure of repeating that will have been attractive when trying to flog a sub service. I very much doubt Starfield is that game mind.

On the other hand. Despite those points Bethesda was struggling financially with Star-Scrolls being big financial millstones. MS haven't really done anything to change that, just pumped money in.

It has staved off what appeared to be a move towards favouring Playstation with Deathloop and Ghostwrite both being timed (?) exclusives. They have also now got Bethesda Soft games console exclusive which appears to have shifted hardware at least this time round, people may be more cautious when Scrolls 6 appears.

MS seem happy to pump money into Xbox regardless of return right now, maybe there is a longer strategy.
On the other hand serious money is getting pissed up the wall in the industry right now and that's not just MS. There have been a lot of really poor decisions by top level people that have resulted in $100mils being burnt in total.

SpaceGazelle

They could've spent 7.5 billion on a new in house studio. It seems lazy but on point with the current trend of big corp just buying the shit out of everyhing. They don't need to buy a firm out to get their games on gamepass.

It's a lack of innovation that I find weird. They got wealthy because of it and now seem content to just get a guy in that likes shopping.

SpaceGazelle

Apple, Nvidia, SpaceX and the like are the execeptions. Yes they do a little bit of buying but know it'll only get you so far.

afgavinstan

Love this thread. Multiple times it threatens to boil over but then the love of puns and throwback in-jokes across threads brings us back together. Truly sensational, thank you all.

regmcfly

SpaceGazelle wrote:

They could've spent 7.5 billion on a new in house studio. It seems lazy but on point with the current trend of big corp just buying the shit out of everyhing. They don't need to buy a firm out to get their games on gamepass.

It's a lack of innovation that I find weird. They got wealthy because of it and now seem content to just get a guy in that likes shopping.

That seems to avoid the ips that come with an acquisition and ms seek to want some proper names, hence doublefine et Al.

Microsoft owns Doom now

SpaceGazelle

regmcfly wrote:

SpaceGazelle wrote:

They could've spent 7.5 billion on a new in house studio. It seems lazy but on point with the current trend of big corp just buying the shit out of everyhing. They don't need to buy a firm out to get their games on gamepass. It's a lack of innovation that I find weird. They got wealthy because of it and now seem content to just get a guy in that likes shopping.

That seems to avoid the ips that come with an acquisition and ms seek to want some proper names, hence doublefine et Al. Microsoft owns Doom now

I'm not sure you're getting the point.

bad_hair_day

SpaceGazelle wrote:

bad_hair_day wrote:

poprock wrote:

There’s no such thing as a ‘good’ corporation.

Don’t rock the boat.

Is that a new aquisition?

1974

Minnesänger

SpaceGazelle wrote:

They could've spent 7.5 billion on a new in house studio. It seems lazy but on point with the current trend of big corp just buying the shit out of everyhing. They don't need to buy a firm out to get their games on gamepass. It's a lack of innovation that I find weird. They got wealthy because of it and now seem content to just get a guy in that likes shopping.

It's not lazy, it's in line with their strategy and it makes sense. I don't necessarily think Zenimax was the best buy for that money but the Zenimax acquisition solved a few issues:

1. They needed content on gamepass

Yes, they could make a new studio and pump that money into making brand new super original IP buuuuuuuut the scale up time on that is 4-6 years before they see returns i.e. games.

1.1 Bethesda have a decent back catalogue

Lots of games to put on Gamepass now.

1.2 Zenimax have a stable of studios

It's not just Bethesda, it's Tango, and iD, and Tango and Arkane...

1.3 Consoles aren't the endgame

Phil (who I think sucks) has talked a lot about how the xbox isn't gonna sell more consoles than Sony or Nintendo. That's true and that's reality. They're looking at the sub model and subs rely on content (outlined above). Their major internal KPIs are based on things like Gamepass subs - hardware is just the current delivery method for a lot of that. But their focus on mobile (see the recent K part of the ABK acquisition) should tell you where their focus is.

2. They're not great at studio management

Matt Booty is their studios guy now, and he might be able to turn things around, but these things take time. MS have been really, really, really bad at managing internal teams. The Coalition and Turn 10 are the only no-qualms success stories but Rare, 343, Bungie, The Initiative, Ninja Theory and the others...these have not been managed well, and they recognise it. It's not their strength, and buying an established setup like Zenimax helps here.

3. It gives them an established stable of IP to compete

Yes, new IP would be lovely. But new IP at the 100-200 USD range is a hard sell. MS have struggled to ditch the Halo, Forza, Gears criticism. Now they have DooM and Scrolls and Fallout and...the point is, MS could never make a new IP like TLOU or Splatoon. Again, not a criticism, it's not their strength. But they need IP. Now they have some more.

4. Overlap with other acquisitions

tl;r Zenimax works well with acquisitions like Obsidian and Arkane - there's a possibility to give critical darling studios some chunky IP to work on and then gamepass it. Win, win, win.

Minnesänger

SpaceGazelle wrote:

regmcfly wrote:

SpaceGazelle wrote:

They could've spent 7.5 billion on a new in house studio. It seems lazy but on point with the current trend of big corp just buying the shit out of everyhing. They don't need to buy a firm out to get their games on gamepass. It's a lack of innovation that I find weird. They got wealthy because of it and now seem content to just get a guy in that likes shopping.

That seems to avoid the ips that come with an acquisition and ms seek to want some proper names, hence doublefine et Al. Microsoft owns Doom now

I'm not sure you're getting the point.

Naw, Reg is right. It's good business and not "lazy".

Paul the sparky

Has anyone found a fucking beach yet?

Minnesänger

Paul the sparky wrote:

Has anyone found a fucking beach yet?

LivDiv

That's not a beach.

FranticPea

I thought we'd established that beaches don't exist full stop?

GurtTractor

Know what game has a good beach? Death Stranding.

Wouldn't want to go on me hols there though.

FranticPea

Death Stranding has zero beaches.

Howdy, Stranger!

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