Rumor: Obsidian "letter of intent" for MS Acquisition has already been signed, same person who leaked Playground Games

Recloud seems to be triggered 100% of the times lately.

hmmm.

from MSs point its a good move. obsidian make great games. having that content exclusive to Ms platforms would be good for them.

i dont play games on windows much though and obsidian support linux :(. i dont seem them continuing that support if MS buy them. obsidian games exclusive to the windows store/xbox running on UWP would be a bummer.

If by multi-platform you mean Xbox and windows only, ok, because other OSs will be out of the picture, as will sony's and nintendo's platforms. Reducing considerably the number of people that will have access to the games.

Hence we can all agree that you're a pro multiplat among Windows platforms, not among all of the platforms, therefore, you're a Microsoft shill.

You can hope that they allow for a certain level of independence to support Linux. At the end of the day, deals need to be more or less mutual agreed upon by both parties. If Obsidian really wanted to support Linux, they should bundle it with their agreement. At the end of the day, the more systems a game is supported on the bigger the win for developers, publishers and gamers.

Sure, reducing the number of systems supported from all of them to two is a win, RIGHT?

LOL. Look at how hard you are trying to change the meaning of multi-platform games to push an agenda. I love your dedication.

Who said its a win?

@Pedro: You're the one claiming that.

Developers that used to make games for all platforms, Ninja Theory and Obsidian, were bought by Microsoft, reducing the number of platforms from all to two.

Can't you understand this? If there is a Hellblade 2, Sony's platform will be out of the picture, Hellblade 1 is avaliable for all platforms.

THIS is what I'm saying and you won't undersand.

You! You've been cheering for Microsoft for days and now are happy with this acquisition when you shouldn't, since it contradicts everything you say you stand for.

From the thread, I gather you really don't care about multiplatforming, you care only about Microsoft. You outed yourself as a Microsoft shill. Suck it up.

So you're supporting that more gamers be able to access any game from their platform of choice and at the same time you support that a developer stops supporting more gamers through their platforms of choice? So either you're a hypocrite or you have a serious case of split personality because you're supporting two actions that contradict themselves. You cannot support that gamers have access to games on their platform of choice while supporting a move by MS that limits that access. Is that so hard for you to understand?

Also my argument is sound. People that use Steam and GOG can access games through other operating systems like MacOS and Linux while if you restrict it to the Xbox Store only gamers with Windows can access them which again contradicts your statement that your interest is to support gamers accessing any game in their platform of choice.

So gamers will have to choose only between Windows or Xbox to access their games and the rest of them are out. So it is not the platform of choice for the gamer the thing you're defending, it is basically YOUR platform of choice the thing you are defending and supporting.

That's fine, but then don't pretend to be something you're not because it makes you look like a hypocrite.

In other words, all your argument is a huge contradiction.

@Pedro: i think dream would be more like it. as far as gaming goes i think the chances of MS tolerating linux/mac development (especially if MS are thinking AAA budgets) in any way would be very very slim. about as much as PS4/switch development. sooooo....minecraft :P.

your last sentence is mostly true. however if you are a platform holder (MS, sony, nintendo, apple etc.) then releasing your software on other devices is a conflict of interest. they may make more money off the individual title by making it multiplat but if they make something exclusive they can attract more people to their platform and their platform generates revenue.

at the end of the day if MS can attract more people to xbox/windows/uWP/the windows store (im justing going to refer it it as windows) by locking content to it then thats more valuable to them than releasing games on all platforms. more people use windows. more people buy stuff from the store (ms get a cut). more people use MS services (money, generating user data to be analysed/sold) and so on.

this is true for all platform holders of course. not just MS. not great for consumers though and can backfire on developers.

MS has been promoting services as their main venture, independent of platform. This is currently being fully explored with most if not all of their services outside of gaming. I believe the top heads understands this thus the reason for the shift from Xbox exclusives to Xbox and Windows, with mobile being next. Minecraft, Fortnite and Rocket League are all great but exceptional examples of the benefits of that shift. It is my hope that with the success of Gamepass and Xbox Play Anywhere that gaming can move away from hardware locks with the exception of hardware constraints. Gaming as a whole can benefit from moving away from the current exclusive structure. There is simply more to gain on the consumer, publisher and developer side. Currently its pretty messy and the resitance to change is intense.

Then don't support Obsidian games from now on if you really mean that because they're going precisely in the opposite direction. If gamers support Obsidian more now that means a move towards more exclusivity is more beneficial than a move towards more universal compatibility. Which I suspect is the case for many devs and that's why they sell their companies. So there's not always a gain for a developer to not be in a platform exclusively which translates into not always a gain for the consumer or publisher. Sony understands this too.

I buy games that are exclusives and have very little chance of being multi-platform. Why would I not support Obsidian when they at the very least would be supporting two platforms? That wouldn't make any sense whatsover. I would like a lot of things from the industry, all games being multiplatform (hardware capabilities being the only limiting factor), crossplay, free online gaming and xbox play anywhere account management for all digital purchases so that gamers can buy once and play on any platform. Are these things going to happen? Most likely NOT. Crossplay is probably the most likely of the list. Am going to stop playing games because what I want isn't being implemented? No. That's just silly.

@recloud said:@daniel_su123: I don't see how 3rd parties will make more money on a $10 subscription than selling games, since they'll barely see the color of that $10. It makes no sense.

Hence why Microsoft is aggressively buying studios and IPS. You need to be first party provider for Game Pass to work. However I'm not going to lie, there's going to be an Arms race going on and that the Game Industry will increasingly consolidate.

@Pedro: i agree with your overall point. a world with no exclusives, where anyone could play the games they want on any platform they want using the services they prefer is better for the consumer.

but i dont agree that MS are going to go down this road with gaming. there is nothing to indicate that they would...except minecraft....for now.

the whole reason play anywhere exists is for one reason: risk mitigation. modern AAA development is expensive and the xbox 1 is not the hit MS were hoping for. the only reason they are releasing these games for windows (and only windows, not even PC as a whole. no PS4, no switch, no mac or linux) is risk mitigation. if the xbox was pulling PS4 numbers then play anywhere would not exist. it would be more like the 360 where MS would focus all their gaming efforts on xbox and only on xbox. if the xbox 2 is a runaway success then i fully expect MS to pull the plug on the play anywhere idea. want to play obsidians latest AAA exclusive? get an xbox 2 and enjoy.

obsidian being purchased by MS would lead to vendor lock in to MSs platform. their games would only be sold on the windows store/live store. they would only run on windows and the xbox. this is the opposite of what you hope for. MS have absolutely no interest in being a 3rd party multiplat publisher.

i hope im wrong. i would love to see MS, Sony and nintendo release games on more platforms. but thats not their M.O.

I disagree. Microsoft will likely just lock to their store, but they are open to have games accessible to other platforms via Streaming, that's the most likely route.

Sony or Nintendo will never go down that route.

Lol lemmings desperate to grab for any good news about their system ? that they’ve turned to rumors to satisfy their thirst for good news ?

@daniel_su123: "Sony or Nintendo will never go down that route"

Eh Sony already went that route with PSNow

:( thanks!..Doh!...

Wait, MS now wants to buy Obsidian after turning down their last pitch by trying to convert it into 'Million man raid' GaaS shit?

Lol, no sh*t... he's completely lost his mind since E3.