3 ms·

why would they even need to get in the streaming service anyways ? They do have gamepass which stream games and is the #1 in that area.

dtagames 4y ago
Because streaming makes money. In almost every industry, two big players make most of the money and the others divide the rest between them. In streaming, Netflix is a biggie. If MS owned them and cut the costs (and, hopefully, changed the content), it could be bigger. It's a theory anyway.
- angryasian 4y ago
  interesting, getting into an area of business just because "it makes money" doesn't make a lot of sense. All of these streaming businesses need content. They are large money pits as well. Look at the spend on original content every year. What does it really drive in addition for MS ? Amazon did it as another benefit for Prime members. Google already has Youtube. Apple pushes hardware. Just curious what the net benefit for MS would be. Their xbox sells well alone, not sure if it makes a difference.
  - dtagames 4y ago
    The big moneymaker in Xbox has always been content, not the boxes. At first, those were even sold at a loss. In this scenario, Xbox just gives MS another box on which to stream whatever content they offer -- and one that is not controlled by Roku or Samsung. It could be argued that "because it makes money" is the only valid reason to go into a business. Certainly Microsoft can afford to buy any content at all that comes to market, just like Amazon and Netflix do. There's no special recipe here and in the age of cord cutting, consumers are extremely fickle about where they stream. MS also has the unique experience of vast profits from Xbox Game Pass, another decision which has costs them millions in content acquisition (by buying studios) yet returned many more millions as profits from recurring monthly subscriptions. Sound familiar? This is Netflix's model, too, MS has shown they can already play that game profitably.

dtagames 4y ago

Because streaming makes money. In almost every industry, two big players make most of the money and the others divide the rest between them. In streaming, Netflix is a biggie. If MS owned them and cut the costs (and, hopefully, changed the content), it could be bigger. It's a theory anyway.

angryasian 4y ago
interesting, getting into an area of business just because "it makes money" doesn't make a lot of sense. All of these streaming businesses need content. They are large money pits as well. Look at the spend on original content every year. What does it really drive in addition for MS ? Amazon did it as another benefit for Prime members. Google already has Youtube. Apple pushes hardware. Just curious what the net benefit for MS would be. Their xbox sells well alone, not sure if it makes a difference.
- dtagames 4y ago
  The big moneymaker in Xbox has always been content, not the boxes. At first, those were even sold at a loss. In this scenario, Xbox just gives MS another box on which to stream whatever content they offer -- and one that is not controlled by Roku or Samsung. It could be argued that "because it makes money" is the only valid reason to go into a business. Certainly Microsoft can afford to buy any content at all that comes to market, just like Amazon and Netflix do. There's no special recipe here and in the age of cord cutting, consumers are extremely fickle about where they stream. MS also has the unique experience of vast profits from Xbox Game Pass, another decision which has costs them millions in content acquisition (by buying studios) yet returned many more millions as profits from recurring monthly subscriptions. Sound familiar? This is Netflix's model, too, MS has shown they can already play that game profitably.