These podcasts are terrible. A lot of people talking, but just not really saying much worthwhile. If I were to make a prediction for a final studio purchase, it would be Remedy.

No publisher should ever be "done"...

I don’t think so. Right now they have studios specialized in RPG, FPS, TPS, racers, cinematic game, and live service game. But there is one area they sorely lack, and that is JRPG. If they wish to compete with Sony, they need to cover all their ground. So I think (and hope) that at E3 next year, they will announce something regarding this.

M$ and EA have bought and closed down so many studios that there aren't many left.

As long as people are doing stuff better than them they will continue to buy studios, let them die and then perform necrophilia. Ms can only solve problems the American way (throwing lots of money at it)

Always keep a look out for good talent, but to say that they’re done looking wouldn’t be a smart choice for them.

7 more studios . I bet two weeks pay all games be some sort of military, open world, zombies , sandbox games.

How about a game you are able to walk around your OWN neighborhood. pass up your house, neighbor, wave at them. jump in car drive down the street, go to work in PJs . no need to get off the couch . yes this ALL sound dumb but hey it's Open World gaming.

Can they do, will they allow, anything creative with what they've got? Will what they do just be expressions of their services policies?

It doesn’t matter if you buy 30 studios, it’s what you do with them. Let hope we get some AAA games next gen.

This is one of the reasons why MS is behind this generation and why they will likely never dethrone Sony, you can throw money into these studios but it won't be as good as developing your own talent by giving them creative freedom. Time will tell but only a handful of theses studios have a legit shot of creating some cool games and that's only if MS can manage to not medel in the development process.

All this wishing and speculation on who they might buy next is laughable. I'm sorry. That's why I did an alternate universe post earlier.

You got guys hoping they buy scrub companies on the verge of bankruptcy. Or filing chapter 11 like tell tell games. It's crazy.

They should have bought Epic. They would have had gears. They should have bought bioware as they would have had mass effect. And not the poor version from EA. They should have allowed bungie to to make other stuff and maybe destiny would have been exclusive. They already had turn 10 and would have had playground games making forza horizon. They should have given mist walker money to stay making FF level rpgs for Xbox. They should have funded and managed lion head better. That's another rpg.

But instead, they're buying average to low average companies to make up for their stupidity in letting all that talent go. And all the hopes and dreams of xbox gamers are relying on companies like we happy to fill in that huge space. I'm sorry, it's laughable.

Those commentators in that video were lopsided and unknowledgeable with no counter point. A pitiful video from ign. The old ign before their souls sold out to advertising would have called it like I see it. Shame.

Depends what the big wigs at Microsoft say before they sign the cheque to buy another studio. I wouldn't be surprised from the big wigs train of thought let's see what our 7 new studios produce before we snag up more.

I don't think they are done. But its not just about the new studios they're acquiring, they have been picking up huge gems over the past year and adding them to their existing studios as well. Just look at the pick up 343 made in getting Naughty Dog's senior artist to join their team. We hear now that InXile is hiring and getting bigger now. It can't be overlooked that Microsoft is also wooing top talented individuals that have worked on many AAA games from other platforms and getting them to work on AAA and AAAA games of tomorrow for their own platforms. Exciting times.

If they are investing in new studios like this it is scary to envision what type of power/specs the next Xbox will have. You don't spend money on artists without giving them one hell of a canvas to paint on. That thing has to be a super beast.

Nah, expect two more at E3, because they will fill the games on types of games that no other as.

Tell me again how the multiplatform strategy was supposed to fix everything. Look at your results and compare them to Nintendo, which keeps thriving with exclusives. Your loyal fans are gone. And let’s not forget the pile of IPs you purchased only to let them rot.

The worst thing is this is down from last years numbers/expectations which was down from the previous years numbers/expectations. You think about how long “down” has been a consistent part of the communication and you realize those subscriptions are what’s holding that boat together. The price cut of gamespass is still a price raise in a string of price raises. They are trying to use players to offset the missing revenue. Now call of duty is out of gamespass, which is literally WHY they bought the company. To draw people to the subscription. They realized they missed a boatload of money and that wasn’t sustainable. Now you pay for it like you would have if they never bought the company… so why buy the company? Mind you those billions still need to be paid back. Yeah it gives you a chance to say we make the biggest FPS… but the internal conversations must be brutal at high level on topics that really matter. Like revenue. Profitability. And ROI for the shopping spree.

Is this like the 10th quarter in a row they're down 33% on hardware how is that even mathematically possible. You would think their mediocrity would Plateau