3 ms·

This could be done without an acquisition though, no? There are a bunch of games on Game Pass from non-MS studios. They just need to draft an agreement with Act

by ollien 4y ago

This could be done without an acquisition though, no? There are a bunch of games on Game Pass from non-MS studios. They just need to draft an agreement with Activision, which would be far cheaper and less monopolistic.

theptip 4y ago
Perhaps, it's unclear to me what that would look like though. How would Activision bill Microsoft for N users playing M games? I think they would want $N*M*MSRP (perhaps * <small-bulk-discount>) for that. Which probably isn't viable for Microsoft to bootstrap their platform. Indeed, would Activision even cut a deal here? In some sense Microsoft's Game Pass is a direct competitor to them selling individual game SKUs, so why would they strengthen Microsoft's strategic position with a licensing deal? Whereas if Microsoft has a large library of first-party titles, they can take a loss on unit sales to grow the platform. At some point if they are successful they hope to get to a size where other AAA third-party publishers like Activision are willing to sign a licensing deal like "Microsoft agrees to pay $Xm / year for unlimited streaming of the CoD franchise". But it's not obvious to me that there's a viable path to getting Activision content on their streaming platform. (It's not available on GeForce Now, for example). Anyway, on this licensing point I'm not an expert, so I'm interested in others' thoughts here. Particularly what the current licenses for existing GeForce Now / Game Pass games look like.
- madeofpalk 4y ago
  > How would Activision bill Microsoft for N users playing M games? Isn't this Microsoft's job in building a valid product out of game subscription/streaming? What's the goal here - Microsoft owns every game developer to have on their subscription service? It's like saying Spotify must buy all the big labels because how else could they run a streaming business?
- Godel_unicode 4y ago
  We already know how this works though, some games are flat-fee, some are based on usage. https://www.pcgamer.com/xbox-chief-reveals-more-about-how-developers-earn-money-through-game-pass/ https://www.pcgamer.com/xbox-chief-reveals-more-about-how-de...

by ollien 4y ago

theptip 4y ago

Perhaps, it's unclear to me what that would look like though. How would Activision bill Microsoft for N users playing M games? I think they would want $N*M*MSRP (perhaps * <small-bulk-discount>) for that. Which probably isn't viable for Microsoft to bootstrap their platform. Indeed, would Activision even cut a deal here? In some sense Microsoft's Game Pass is a direct competitor to them selling individual game SKUs, so why would they strengthen Microsoft's strategic position with a licensing deal? Whereas if Microsoft has a large library of first-party titles, they can take a loss on unit sales to grow the platform. At some point if they are successful they hope to get to a size where other AAA third-party publishers like Activision are willing to sign a licensing deal like "Microsoft agrees to pay $Xm / year for unlimited streaming of the CoD franchise". But it's not obvious to me that there's a viable path to getting Activision content on their streaming platform. (It's not available on GeForce Now, for example). Anyway, on this licensing point I'm not an expert, so I'm interested in others' thoughts here. Particularly what the current licenses for existing GeForce Now / Game Pass games look like.

madeofpalk 4y ago
> How would Activision bill Microsoft for N users playing M games? Isn't this Microsoft's job in building a valid product out of game subscription/streaming? What's the goal here - Microsoft owns every game developer to have on their subscription service? It's like saying Spotify must buy all the big labels because how else could they run a streaming business?
Godel_unicode 4y ago
We already know how this works though, some games are flat-fee, some are based on usage. https://www.pcgamer.com/xbox-chief-reveals-more-about-how-developers-earn-money-through-game-pass/ https://www.pcgamer.com/xbox-chief-reveals-more-about-how-de...