cdj
01-29-2018, 05:43 PM
We spoke to four analysts who all agreed that Microsoft needs to act soon, and that major acquisitions are by far the most likely route.
“Microsoft recognizes this as an important issue,” said Piers Harding-Rolls, director of research and analysis at IHS. “Hence, Phil Spencer’s comments about investing more in delivering first-party content.”
“Sony’s going to be aggressive at this stage of the hardware cycle,” said SuperData Research CEO Joost van Dreunen. “It gives the impression that Microsoft’s exclusives portfolio is pretty meager. They haven’t had that consistent content agenda like Sony has and so that’s why I think they now come up [a] little short. Some of their titles didn’t perform all that well.”
Microsoft has a cash pot of at least $130 billion, boosted by recent tax cuts that heavily favor large corporations. When you consider that the market capitalization of a company like Electronic Arts is around $35 billion, it looks like a handy war chest.
Some of the names being thrown around as possible acquisitions by Microsoft are, frankly, astounding, even unthinkable. But the fact that they are doing the rounds is instructive. The most recent one we heard (from a reliable source close to Microsoft) was, in fact, Electronic Arts. We also heard a whisper about Valve and about Korean outfit PUBG Corp., which Microsoft last year signed to a timed exclusive for its hit survival shooter, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
Courtesy: Polygon (https://www.polygon.com/2018/1/29/16930892/xbox-one-exclusive-games-analysis-microsoft)
“Microsoft recognizes this as an important issue,” said Piers Harding-Rolls, director of research and analysis at IHS. “Hence, Phil Spencer’s comments about investing more in delivering first-party content.”
“Sony’s going to be aggressive at this stage of the hardware cycle,” said SuperData Research CEO Joost van Dreunen. “It gives the impression that Microsoft’s exclusives portfolio is pretty meager. They haven’t had that consistent content agenda like Sony has and so that’s why I think they now come up [a] little short. Some of their titles didn’t perform all that well.”
Microsoft has a cash pot of at least $130 billion, boosted by recent tax cuts that heavily favor large corporations. When you consider that the market capitalization of a company like Electronic Arts is around $35 billion, it looks like a handy war chest.
Some of the names being thrown around as possible acquisitions by Microsoft are, frankly, astounding, even unthinkable. But the fact that they are doing the rounds is instructive. The most recent one we heard (from a reliable source close to Microsoft) was, in fact, Electronic Arts. We also heard a whisper about Valve and about Korean outfit PUBG Corp., which Microsoft last year signed to a timed exclusive for its hit survival shooter, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
Courtesy: Polygon (https://www.polygon.com/2018/1/29/16930892/xbox-one-exclusive-games-analysis-microsoft)