It’s no secret that Microsoft lost this generation's console war, however the company is hell-bent on not repeating the same mistake. For the last few years, Microsoft has been buying several development studios and making them a part of Xbox Game Studios.
Xbox Game Studios is going to become even stronger in the coming years. Microsoft's Head of Gaming, Phil Spencer, gave an interview with GamesIndustry where he talked about how Xbox isn’t going to slow down anytime soon.
“We acquired quite a few new studios in a short amount of time, and we want to make sure that those studios are on-boarded in the right way. As Matt [Booty, Microsoft Studios head] and I were talking about it, we just wanted to make sure that we treated the incoming studios as full parts of the organisation. That they felt supported.” Spencer said in the interview. “The first priority was making sure the studios had the things that they needed to build the best versions of their games. That means extending some of the timelines, and giving them more budgets. We have really strong support from Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, and Amy Hood, the CFO. And there's been no signal at all that we should be slowing down, but just to go at a pace that is maintainable for us as a leadership team. We're always out there talking to people. But it has to be the right opportunity.”
If what the Spencer said is true, then we can expect Microsoft to buy even more game development studios. Microsoft is also in a bidding war with other major publishers, as they are aiming to buy Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. If Microsoft wins the bidding war then their roster of studios will increase significantly.
So what do you think? Do you think buying this many development studios is a good choice? Do you think PlayStation will have some tough competition this time? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
