Rumor: Microsoft considering acquisition of EA, Valve, or PUBG Corp

midian182

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Rumors of massive acquisitions surface all the time, so take this with a heavy pinch of salt. Citing an anonymous source close to Microsoft, Polygon writes that the Windows maker is looking to purchase gaming giant Electronic Arts.

It’s no secret that the Xbox One isn’t the best platform when it comes to exclusive games, and the cancelation of Scalebound and Fable Legends, along with the Crackdown 3 delay, haven’t helped the situation.

To try and address the problem, Microsoft is reportedly looking at buying entire publishers, much like it did with the $2.5 billion acquisition of Minecraft developer Mojang back in 2014. One of the names supposedly being thrown around is EA.

The rumors have caused EA’s stock price to jump, increasing its market cap to over $36 billion. But with a reported $130 billion in its cash reserves, it’s a price Microsoft could afford. Such an acquisition does seem unlikely, but the deal might bring advantages beyond more Xbox One exclusives.

Phil Spencer recently announced that Microsoft’s Netflix-for-gaming-style Game Pass is to feature Xbox One exclusive games on the day they release—something that hasn’t gone down well with some retailers. If it were to buy EA, Microsoft could add extra launch-day titles from the likes of BioWare and Dice to Game Pass, thereby encouraging more people to sign up to the $9.99 per month subscription service.

Another company Microsoft is rumored to be eyeing, one that seems even less likely to be acquired than EA, is Valve. But a more plausible scenario is the buyout of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds developer PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of Korean publisher Bluehole. The companies already have an established relationship following the release of PUBG as a timed exclusive on the Xbox One last year.

We’ll just have to wait and see if any of these rumors turn into reality, but don’t hold your breath.

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Well surely they wouldn't purchase EA? No offense to EA but they're latest "AAA" games have been a bit rubbish. None of them would make me want to purchase an Xbox just to play them.

Valve haven't made a game in a long while, I'm not sure what Microsoft would be purchasing there?

PUBG Corporation though, I could see that happening.
 
If I were ea I would turn down that offer, microsoft has too much stuff and too many problems going on to handle them.
 
Buy EA and keep their games off PC!
^ This. Given modern Microsoft is all about "we actively despise PC gamers but have a console to sell you!", please, please buy EA then make their games so "exclusive" they're never seen of again...
Where do you get that from? Microsoft's PC gaming track record isn't good, but they're doing more for PC games than they've done in a long time.
 
I don't know how much Valve is worth, but it has to be very significant. MS would need to cut one huge check to acquire them. And I'd rather they wouldn't - Valve, Bethesda and RockStar seem to be the only gaming companies who are doing it right. MS would surely mess them up.
 
Microsoft is low, but EA is lower. Maybe Microsoft can raise the games from a "F" to a "D" grade? If they make them exclusive to their console or the Microsoft Store, they won't get a penny from me.
 
Microsoft has enough money to buy valve or ea... what since when? I want some of the stuff the exec's at microsoft are smoking because it seems hella good. Pubg corp is really the only company they can afford and even then it isnt worth it.
 
They should (probably will) buy valve, especially the steam game distributing platform, it's the only way they could sell PC games in their app store; merge it with steam. They want forcefully to monopolize gaming industry on their platforms so it would be in their best interest.
 
I would hope they'd buy EA and maybe make it suck a little bit less. I would think this might be somewhat how when Disney bought Lucas Arts, now star wars doesn't suck so much... so hopefully they'd do the same.
I would be very sad if they bought Valve, because I could only imagine how they would monopolize on that and make it suck more (even though it'd probably be more of a money maker for them).
 
The only thing that reasonably could happened is that PUBG get bought by Microsoft. All this news is meant to do is to temporarily raise the stock value for all parties involved.
 
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I don't think Valve would be receptive to a merger. They've carved out a very, very successful niche for themselves and their players love them, for the most part (exceptions to every rule, but they are generally considered the well-meaning lesser of many evils). I doubt they'd see any reason to mess with that, which Microsoft would absolutely do if they acquired them.

EA probably would be receptive to such an offer but out of the three, I think PUBG is the most likely. Microsoft bought Minecraft due to its explosive popularity, it would not surprise me at all to see them do the same thing with PUBG.

I would hope they'd buy EA and maybe make it suck a little bit less. I would think this might be somewhat how when Disney bought Lucas Arts, now star wars doesn't suck so much... so hopefully they'd do the same.

Ehh.... This is debatable. I think the new movies are kind of bad and at least we got Star Wars games before. Now the only Console/PC Star Wars games we will receive are ones from EA because of their exclusive rights. Pretty terrible feeling...

I would be very sad if they bought Valve, because I could only imagine how they would monopolize on that and make it suck more (even though it'd probably be more of a money maker for them).

You and me both. Fortunately, as I said, that is very unlikely.
 
Better to buy the whole Sony Playstation division. Once and forewer. And make XBox Playstation.
 
Where do you get that from? Microsoft's PC gaming track record isn't good, but they're doing more for PC games than they've done in a long time.
I was suggesting that since MS wants more exclusives on Xbox then buying EA means less EA games on PC
 
What this probably amounts to is Microsoft being frustrated by its complete failure to become just another distributor, rather than a creator. They want to sit back and watch the percentages roll in like Apple, Google and Valve. Since their fundamentally incapable of building a quality user experience or respecting customer privacy (you need at least one of these to make a store work), Big M is probably going to go on a frantic buying spree soon. Expect them to grab up the next flash-in-the-pan MOBA, FPS and whatever else that's already peaked and try to make them Windows Store exclusives.
 
Well surely they wouldn't purchase EA? No offense to EA but they're latest "AAA" games have been a bit rubbish. None of them would make me want to purchase an Xbox just to play them.

Valve haven't made a game in a long while, I'm not sure what Microsoft would be purchasing there?

PUBG Corporation though, I could see that happening.


Steam is what they're after. MS is trying to distribute their games through MS store but are failing due to the widespread popularity of Steam. They'd probably rebrand Steam to something related to xbox and keep the service as it is minus the frequent deals, all the while pushing for paid online services and having their games plastered everywhere.
 
MS needs to buy PUBG and redo the game which they can. They have all the means to fix the game and it's issues. At this point, the game needs all the help it can get since it's obvious that Bluehole aka PUBG Corp just can't get the job done.
 
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