Microsoft Announces Acquisition of Bethesda Parent Company ZeniMax Media

[lexluthermiester]

Rare is doing fine.

Rubbish, they've gone to crap. Rare has not released one single game in the last 10 years worthy of their past reputation. The last game they made that had any greatness to it was Starfox Adventures for the GameCube. Everything they have released under Microsoft ownership has been lackluster at best.

Sea of Thieves is massively underrated imo.

Perfect example. It's an interesting game but does not qualify as something the lives up to the Rareware legacy.

 

[neatfeatguy]

Performance of a game launcher ... are you kidding me

All the gimmicks associated with a launcher is another story, but EPIC launcher not being up to par with Steam is like a effing no brainer, ofcourse it's worse if it's brand new made from scratch and was released as v0.05 beta, but it still launches the game, that's the most important part everyone's missing, that's what it's all about. The dumb haters have no brains, if EPIC was clearly being serious then the whole thing should have been expected to be built up and be something like Steam, but in the end of the day, why does it have to be exacty like steam.

/rant

I see Steam new UI as a horrific step backwards as a platform for a game launcher. It's still buggy as hell since launch out of beta almost 1 year ago. I've had a long list of issues with the new UI across multiple computers - so much so that I uninstalled Steam about 4 months back and I haven't used it since. My brother still uses Steam and he said all the issues he's been having since the UI was pushed out, they are all still there and performance hasn't improved. I told him if he comes to find the Steam software fixed for him, to let me know so I can try it out again....but I won't hold my breath. It's a POS now. Bloated, social media wannabe format that tries to fist feed you stuff you don't need on top of performance issues, bugs and crashes.

My brother has picked up a couple of games on EGS and he said he'd rather use EGS over Steam because it doesn't crash or stutter or video goes to black screens when jumping around on the store or switching to his library.

Anyone that has issues with the new Steam UI and still uses steam....why they do it, that's beyond me. Those that have no issues with the new UI, good for you, I hope you keep having no issues and you enjoy your game library.

As for MS - years ago they had a knack for gaming and did it right. Maybe something will eventually click with them again and they'll start doing things right? I don't think it can be any worth than Bethesda and how they screwed the pooch with their latest Fallout games.

 

[Ravenas]

Rubbish, they've gone to crap. Rare has not released one single game in the last 10 years worthy of their past reputation. The last game they made that had any greatness to it was Starfox Adventures for the GameCube. Everything they have released under Microsoft ownership has been lackluster at best.

Perfect example. It's an interesting game but does not qualify as something the lives up to the Rareware legacy.

This is a perfect example of what I was referencing earlier in this thread... Wine / Craft Beer game review customers... According to these folks, nothing ever lives up to anything after purchased by another company. There is a word for this... Smug.

 

[robot zombie]

Shhhh... NV2 would make it all better.

Really though... mixed AF on this one. But at this point I'm not sure how much there could really be to lose. It's been a gradual tectonic shift with Bethesda for years anyway. The monolith was cracking... if not financially, then definitely with the quality of their games. Worse things could happen. Being under Microsoft's banyan tree might actually help them. Beth/Zeni never had problems making money, but nobody was ever happy with how they did it... generally because it tended to be at the expense of player experience. Working under Microsoft opens them up to other financial opportunities that may enable them to forego some of their old ways and focus a little more on the games.

Honestly, if they wanna seal this deal for people, get em together with Obsidian for a proper NV2. People will be in the streets chanting for Microsoft That's actually kind of an interesting scenario, though. Lets be real here... Bethesda's vision for Fallout is at this point far removed from the core of what Fallout originally was. They've been slowly gutting it for years. I've been saying for a while that they might as well call them something different - make them a different thing and leave the Fallout name to somebody who wants to make a bonafide Fallout title. There is a studio out there who's probably up to that task. Obsidian could do it. An under the new agreements, all 3 parties could benefit.

People get jumpy about Microsoft buying up studios. I get it. But I'm not going there yet. For now, I'm neutral. FO4 was kind of the last straw for me. And then 76 came and burnt that straw. I wasn't interested in buying another Bethesda game before. That hasn't changed now. Good, new Bethesda titles are the only thing changing that. And I didn't have much faith in that sans-Microsoft.

Lol. Never-ever have I expected to catch myself on a thought that Microsoft buying someone out like that may be a good thing )))
Maybe TES and fallout will finally get a proper engine upgrade after decade and a half, and decent studios like id and Arkane will get more leeway and better timelines to get their job done instead of rushing out half-assed sequels/prequels/DLCs.
Though, I'm still not sure whether Zenimax killed Bethsoft or Bethsoft killed Bethsoft

I've always assumed it was Zeni. 76 especially smells like them. Scotch and fast women.

Though it's kind of a little of both. Maybe that's what you meant. Considering Zenimax is child that became the parent. I always got the sense that they created a monster there. I suspect that that a lot of the bad choices made by Bethesda have been on behalf of Zenimax. And the ole Todd has to get up there and lie to people about what their vision is and how they've attained it. Bethesda used to be all about putting in the love and perfecting whatever they most leaned for. This resulted in games that lacked polish in some areas, but had a lot of depth when it came to the stuff they felt defined their games. Oblivion went down as one of the best of all time. The only thing I see that could've changed that was who they had to answer to, and how big they got. It's sort of the EA effect. When you work under EA, you do things EA's way and the creative aspect suffers. And every release from every franchise winds up having that same vibe. Zeni's been looking to that model for a long time.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Maybe now Obsidian can make a sequel to Fallout New Vegas.

That occurred to me as well! Now Bethesda are just Microsoft employees, just like Obsidian.

Fallout wasn't a cool game ...more like a cheap rip off of Far cry open world adventure

What are you talking about? You’ve got your totally dissimilar games in reverse order.

Elder scrolls started in 1994, Fallout didnt start until 1997

But it was separate companies. Bethesda bought the rights to Fallout after 1, 2, and Tactics, and THEN made new Fallout games that were cutouts if Elder Scrolls titles.

This goes along with what I've been saying about Microsoft's mentality since they bought Bungie: if you're not talented and creative, but have plenty of money, just buy it.

That’s been Microsoft’s mentality since they started. They have always bought out tech they wanted or software which might be a threat.

 

[R-T-B]

We're fucked. Fucked.
But someone gaming/economically educated please explain why would anyone sell out like this. You own a company like that. Why would you sell it to Microsoft?

I'll give you a hint.

In America, it's green and is exchanged for goods and services.

 

[Octopuss]

Let me put it in another way. You have prospering company that turns in obscene amounts of money (Skyrim alone supposedly brough $1,5 billions in) on regular basis.
Why would you sell it?

 

[kiriakost]

Let me put it in another way. You have prospering company that turns in obscene amounts of money (Skyrim alone supposedly brough $1,5 billions in) on regular basis.
Why would you sell it?

The after Covid-19 period this killed allot of industry sectors profitability, there is a bunch of investors betting their money in something else.

 

[Caring1]

The after Covid-19 period this killed allot of industry sectors profitability, there is a bunch of investors betting their money in something else.

After Covid?
Did it finish and nobody told the rest of us?
If anything gaming became more popular due to Covid as people stayed home, this also means people in I.T. related fields worked from home so the Game industry increased profitability.

 

[hardcore_gamer]

Rubbish, they've gone to crap. Rare has not released one single game in the last 10 years worthy of their past reputation. The last game they made that had any greatness to it was Starfox Adventures for the GameCube. Everything they have released under Microsoft ownership has been lackluster at best.

Perfect example. It's an interesting game but does not qualify as something the lives up to the Rareware legacy.

That's your opinion. I'd rather have a totally different gaming experience like the Sea of Thieves than games from any of the well established genres such as the the 3rd person interactive movie kinda games that get 10/10 from critics these days. This shows that they kept their creative freedom and not afraid to experiment, just like they did in the Silicon Graphics era. This single game sold me on Game Pass and it's one of the few games that I regularly go back to playing these days. The community around it is still growing, hitting 3 million active players back in July.

 

[dragontamer5788]

If anything gaming became more popular due to Covid as people stayed home, this also means people in I.T. related fields worked from home so the Game industry increased profitability.

Given how quickly the PS5, XBSX, and RTX 3080 sold out, methinks you're onto something here.

 

[ValenOne]

I am worrying of Microsoft upcoming New Error message ......This game require W10 to be installed.
They can do anything they like with their new property.

Windows 7 product keys can be used to activate Windows 10. What's your problem?

 

[lexluthermiester]

This is a perfect example of what I was referencing earlier in this thread... Wine / Craft Beer game review customers... According to these folks, nothing ever lives up to anything after purchased by another company. There is a word for this... Smug.

Nice insult. No, the word you're looking for is objectivity. Rare had been consistently making quality games since the NES days. That stopped when Microsoft bought them. Since that purchase, Rare has put out but 1 title that had any level of objective quality, the 2013 Killer Instinct reboot, which was well made but lacked anything that made the game stand out.

Rare has objectively suffered from the purchase by Microsoft.

That's your opinion.

As was yours. The only issue here is that my opinion is based on objective merit. Yours is based on feelings.

 

[hardcore_gamer]

As was yours. The only issue here is that my opinion is based on objective merit. Yours is based on feelings.

Rating a game is always based on feelings. In this case, I have 300hrs on it and you probably haven't even played it.

There's no scientific equation to measure legacy and if they're still performing according to it. What other game from a different developer that came out in the last console generation would you consider being on par with "Rare legacy"?

 

[lexluthermiester]

and you probably haven't even played it.

That's an assumption on your part.

There's no scientific equation to measure legacy and if they're still performing according to it.

Sure there is, sales numbers and popularity.

What other game from a different developer that came out in the last console generation would you consider being on par with "Rare legacy"?

There's a fricken long list...

 

[Ravenas]

Nice insult. No, the word you're looking for is objectivity. Rare had been consistently making quality games since the NES days. That stopped when Microsoft bought them. Since that purchase, Rare has put out but 1 title that had any level of objective quality, the 2013 Killer Instinct reboot, which was well made but lacked anything that made the game stand out.

Rare has objectively suffered from the purchase by Microsoft.


As was yours. The only issue here is that my opinion is based on objective merit. Yours is based on feelings.

I objectively stand by what I said. Smug. Having or showing an excessive pride in oneself or one's achievements. So much so, that any game released just doesn't quite live up to your excessive pride. God forbid they release a game that isn't an instant classic, it must be MS fault. Not sure how that is an insult, more so a fact by admission through your own comments. If you consider it an insult, then you consider your own thoughts insulting to yourself. It's defining what you are stating through an adjective.

 

[kapone32]

Rating a game is always based on feelings. In this case, I have 300hrs on it and you probably haven't even played it.

There's no scientific equation to measure legacy and if they're still performing according to it. What other game from a different developer that came out in the last console generation would you consider being on par with "Rare legacy"?

It is more than that it is also nostalgia factor in terms of the experience. Why is the Mandalorian so successful? It is because it exudes Star Wars nostalgia throughout. Historically Microsoft Games have been for the most part meh with a few good ones. To me now is different because PC Gaming is now Gaming around the World. Every geographical area of Gaming has been effected by Covid. Whether it's North America, Europe, South East Asia or Oceania Gaming is higher now probably than it's ever been. The quality of Games that have been released and on the horizon is increasing as well. No one including Microsoft is sleeping anymore in this field. I expect that we will see some changes for good and bad for some Bethesda properties but they really don't have to do anything other than gain access to their servers to gain a stronger foundation for their platform.

 

[hardcore_gamer]

Sure there is, sales numbers and popularity.

Got it. Since Rare didn't make anything like league of legends or fortnite, their legacy is dead.

You're making the typical "x" bought "y", now "y" is dead argument we see on the internet pretty much every time a company is acquired. Companies change over time, people leave, people come, release different games. Not everything may be related to an aquisition. You can cherry pick examples to "prove" that microsoft aquired studios are doing bad.

Phil Spensor repeatedly reconfirmed the creative freedom of first party studios. Rare is still taking risks and experimenting like they did with 3D sprites during the SNES era, coming up with innovative games and creating new genres. Moon Studios was bought before they created a single game, and gave them time to polish both Ori and the blind forest, and Ori and the will of the wisps to near perfection. Asobo is now punching way above their weight with the release of Flight Simulator 2020.

But yeah, I'll buy your version of legacy vs time graph of the studios before and after Microsoft's acquisition. My favorite equation in physics is Drake's equation.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I objectively stand by what I said. Smug. Having or showing an excessive pride in oneself or one's achievements. So much so, that any game released just doesn't quite live up to your excessive pride.

I have a word for that. Drivel.

Not sure how that is an insult, more so a fact by admission through your own comments. If you consider it an insult, then you consider your own thoughts insulting to yourself. It's defining what you are stating through an adjective.

Nice attempt at misdirection. There's a word for that too: lacking.

But yeah, I'll buy your version of legacy vs time graph of the studios before and after Microsoft's acquisition. My favorite equation in physics is Drake's equation.

Drake's equation? LOL! Nice attempt at being clever. You failed, but it nice attempt.

Now, would you two like to present an argument of logic and merit to substantiate your perspective? Or are you going to continue with the less than subtle nonsense?