BREAKING NEWS MICROSOFT BUYS ZENIMAX MEDIA FOR 7.5 BILLION

[croc_rock]

 

microsoft sucks but maybe they wont screw it up

[Mara]

6 hours ago, Edward850 said:

They could have dropped that java client like a hot potato the moment Microsoft bought the IP and I would have actually 200% understood. 

 

Considering the java version still has an insanely large playerbase, stopping development for it in favor of bedrock version would cause an enormous backlash.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about the news. I guess the time will tell what is going to happen. At the very least they didn't get bought by EA (as if it was going to happen anyway) just in line to be executed few years later.

[Edward850]

17 minutes ago, Mara said:

Considering the java version still has an insanely large playerbase, stopping development for it in favor of bedrock version would cause an enormous backlash.

You say that but the maintenance/benefit ratio for java edition is insanely bad, it's part of the reason why bedrock was held back for so longer because untangling everything was such a massive drag for them. 

 

Legit, Microsoft had every reason to just kill it and they didn't. Backlash would have been completely irrelevant. 

[Jonathan]

Because I can't stand people being Wrong On The Internet, I'm compelled to point out that the most popular consumer OS isn't Windows, it's Android, which is based on Linux. Like it or not, smartphones are the predominant personal computing and gaming platform for most of the world's population.

 

Regarding this acquisition, I think it's probably a good thing overall because of the relative incentives of Zenimax vs. Microsoft. Both want to make as much money as possible, but a standalone publisher's only way to do so is by exploiting its IP to the utmost. Whereas Microsoft's priority is the XBox brand, and they benefit more from having a diverse and high-quality library of games for it than from wringing every last dollar from a franchise like Doom.  

[seed]

19 hours ago, Doomkid said:

The ultimate goal of every corporation is the rule the entire planet, so no!

 

Not on my watch.

[MattFright]

2 hours ago, Maes said:

Again, been hearing these exact words for the last 20 years. How much more "slowly" are we talking about?

I'm not really one to speak about that, simply because they have probably been saying it since before i was even born (in 2002). Not that i doubt it or anything, i just wasn't there lol

 

My point is just that i've noticed several milestones in Linux working its way towards the mainstream and general market, albeit very slowly. It might have been even slower before i was born, but right now it is very noticeable. When i was younger (in 2008 or so) i never even knew about Linux, despite being born around PCs and having a few PC enthusiasts in my family (which is rare-ish for my country, or at least it was back then), and now recently i've been seeing large Youtubers recommending Linux and informing people about it, how to start using it, and some of its benefits over Windows, i've also seen big companies such as Steam, Google, Unity, and even Microsoft (kind of) investing on it, probably some others i'm forgetting about right now too, but you'd think that if these big names are investing on Linux, it's either because they expect Linux to catch on, and/or they plan on helping it catch on themselves (which would also benefit most of them instead of supporting mainly Microsoft), since now that they're working with Linux and more and more companies are seeking to support it, they only have to gain from assisting with Linux's development and making it more accessible. I'm just speaking off of what i've been *seeing* happening over the years, but if you see any sign of any of this slowing down rather than speeding up, i'd be glad to hear it

[Doom_Dude]

4 hours ago, Kristian Nebula said:

I'm not surprised of this development of Microsoft buying Zenimax/Bethesda, however I am a bit surprised that they paid so much for it. I guess they could have gotten it for a bit less... Well played (too bad I don't own any of Zenimax or Microsoft shares) :D

 

Considering they spent 2.5 Billion for Minecraft, then 7 Billion for eight studios seems very fair / in the ball park considering what's in the whole package.

 

1. Alpha Dog Games

2. Arkane Studios

3. Bethesda Softworks

4. id Software

5. MachineGames

6. Roundhouse Studios

7. Tango Gameworks

8. ZeniMax Online Studios

 

Just figured out that Roundhouse is essentially Human Head Studios. Bethesda hired the team after the studio closed.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Doom_Dude

[NoXion]

43 minutes ago, Jonathan said:

Because I can't stand people being Wrong On The Internet, I'm compelled to point out that the most popular consumer OS isn't Windows, it's Android, which is based on Linux. Like it or not, smartphones are the predominant personal computing and gaming platform for most of the world's population.

Is that why mobile gaming is such a massive steaming pile of ad-laden, monetisation-stuffed bullshit? Ugh.

[Maes]

4 minutes ago, MattFright said:

My point is just that i've noticed several milestones in Linux working its way towards the mainstream and general market, albeit very slowly.

 

You see, beyond (or beneath) a certain point of "slowly", just like an investment that has a "slow" payback period of, well, anything beyond your natural lifespan really, you can simply write it off/admit that it didn't catch on :-)

 

The major breakthroughs for acceptability/user friendliness were already met more than 15 years ago, at least for some distros (very friendly installers, LiveCD distros and good out-of-the-box hardware compatibility, plus a decent "app store" model). These are fine, but they merely mean that you don't need to be a 60 yo UNIX guru to install a randomly picked distro.

 

Binary compatibility between distros remains a huge issue (a reason why major application developers never liked UNIX-like OSes in general, you cannot expect/allow the user to compile everything from source, and ABI compatibility is not guaranteed). Backwards compatibility is also so-so you simply cannot run a program from 20 years ago directly like you can on Windows. You cannot do that on Mac either, but that's a whole other basket case of its own, let's not go down THAT rabbit hole. But for something wishing (?) to dethrone Windows, that's a pretty big deal.

 

But even without getting so technical, it all falls apart the moment Random Ass Guy X asks you "Can I run [insert random ass program here] on it?". Unless it's something cross-platform like GIMP or a browser-based application, you're screwed. The common example is "Can I work on Word documents?". LibreOffice? Bzzzt, you lose, for will fall flat on your face as soon are you're required to exchange documents with a "real" Word user without mangling everything. And let's not even talk about games, social media apps etc.

 

4 minutes ago, MattFright said:

i've also seen big companies such as Steam, Google, Unity, and even Microsoft (kind of) investing on it, probably some others i'm forgetting about right now too, but you'd think that if these big names are investing on Linux, it's either because they expect Linux to catch on, and/or they plan on helping it catch on themselves (which would also benefit most of them instead of supporting mainly Microsoft),

 

These companies need a solid infrastructure for servers, data farms and other things running in big, damp basements, so it's 100% understandable for them to be interested in it. Which is kinda what UNIX-like/Linux-like OSes are all about, once again. But nobody is pursuing the mythical Windows-killer/drop-in replacement anymore, AFAIK. That's a pipe dream that died (at least IMO) about a decade ago, as the usability never went beyond what was achieved back then, nor did it need to. The real (immovable) roadblock for the average user, will be software availability. Unless you can really do all of your work strictly using FOSS that's already in the repos, it simply won't work for you.

[MattFright]

8 minutes ago, Maes said:

But even without getting so technical, it all falls apart the moment Random Ass Guy X asks you "Can I run [insert random ass program here] on it?". Unless it's something cross-platform like GIMP or a browser-based application, you're screwed. The common example is "Can I work on Word documents?". LibreOffice? Bzzzt, you lose, for will fall flat on your face as soon are you're required to exchange documents with a "real" Word user without mangling everything. And let's not even talk about games, social media apps etc.

 

8 minutes ago, Maes said:

The real (immovable) roadblock for the average user, will be software availability. Unless you can really do all of your work strictly using FOSS that's already in the repos, it simply won't work for you.

 

Those are both things that we keep seeing more development upon, though. Three of the four examples i gave are huge milestones when it comes to that, and before there was also WINE, which is still kept maintained and updated. While i do agree that there are still many difficulties to make Windows software run on Linux, there are already many ways to achieve that (afaik most games nowadays are already capable of running on Linux, either natively or through WINE, and developers are even bothering to work on Linux specific bugs now), and where there aren't, there's usually an alternative. Windows clearly has a really strong foothold on the OS market, but i feel like it's too much to assume it's invincible, or that people simply would never look to alternatives just for the sake of convenience (especially after windows vista, 8, and how windows 10 is just windows 7 but worse and buggier in many ways).

[ZeroTheEro]

20 hours ago, Skullhacker said:

So let me get this straight:

Zenimax owned iD and Bethesda... So now Microsoft owns them? If that's true, that kinda stinks, because in Masters of Doom iD's dream was to be an independent company. Or are they still independent and I'm just being an idiot?

I thought that dream was long dead since the Zenimax acquisition happened

[Maes]

22 minutes ago, MattFright said:

 Windows clearly has a really strong foothold on the OS market, but i feel like it's too much to assume it's invincible, or that people simply would never look to alternatives just for the sake of convenience (especially after windows vista, 8, and how windows 10 is just windows 7 but worse and buggier in many ways).

 

Convenience actually has been, historically, a major factor in the commercial dominance of one form of technology over another. A simple example is cassette vs LPs nd open reel tape: even without taking recordability into account, the cassette was smaller, easier to use than R2R tapes, available in portable devices and cars and the public was willing to overlook its decreased (initially, at least, fidelity). Or VHS vs Betamax. Despite all the myths about better porn availabliity (for VHS) or greater picture quality (for Beta), the plain truth is that VHS was cheaper to make (the machines at least), and allowed greater recording time from the get go. The picture quality differences, while there, were nothing impressive, and so the deal was sealed.

 

Adoption inertia is also a major factor. Why change what works satisfactorily, unless the alternative has an undeniable, plain-for-all-to-see advantage. Which in the case of Linux vs Windows, simply isn't there. If you have to write a dissertation to convince someone to switch over, forget about it. TL; DR, and you already lost.

 

If you want a long-running and more relevant example of the latter, consider, ICE cars vs EVs. People are sold for more than a century to the clearly superior, effortless range advantage of ICE cars vs pretty much any EV, at a price and weight parity. People will switch if and when the tables are turned, but for now EVs are only gaining some traction thanks to gov't subsidies and "green shaming" campaigns, not because they are a clear-cut, superior or cheaper alternative for most drivers.

 

Oh and BTW, ICEs were better than the other alternative, steam. Plain and obvious for all to see ;-)

 

As for Windows being invincible...nah, it's clearly not, but it's like one of those relationships where you do acknowledge all of its flaws, but you also know that what's out there is probably worse, and with time you learn to appreciate it, and why not, love it for what it is ;-)

Edited September 22, 2020 by Maes

[Eurisko]

Oh Shit. I didn't want this to happen. Get ready for a very interesting ride.

 

So, without me jumping the gun or anything what do you guys think might happen with say the unity ports which I'm having a ton of fun with on PS4.

Will support stop with those titles at some point and just become an Xbox thing?

Edited September 22, 2020 by Eurisko

[Reisal]

I doubt they'll fuck over Elder Scrolls, that franchise is far too big and Bethesda got serious flak for their initial announcements on Creation Club a few years back..both times it was unfavorable to the consumer side. They wouldn't fuck over ESO either because of that reasoning of serious backlash.

If Microsoft did shaft Minecraft, there would be considerable anger towards them early on.

[lubba127]

On 9/21/2020 at 9:45 AM, cybdmn said:

Back in 2014 when Microsoft bought Mojang the whole world have speculated what may happen to Minecraft. Now, six years later it is still strong, and available on all major platforms.

I guess we have to wait and see what will happen to id Software and their franchises.

at the same time they bought rare software, and they've done butt fucking nothing with them so I'm worried and excited 

[Cacodemon345]

31 minutes ago, lubba127 said:

at the same time they bought rare software, and they've done butt fucking nothing with them so I'm worried and excited 

Most of Rare's pre-Microsoft employees flocked off the company after it was bought though.

[seed]

5 hours ago, ZeroTheEro said:

I thought that dream was long dead since the Zenimax acquisition happened

 

Even earlier, by the time of Doom 3 id stopped being the underdog it was in the early-to-mid '90s, and 98% of the staff at id now is different from the staff of that period. Only Kevin Cloud and Donna remain from that bygone era.

 

id Software of 2020 is not the same that gave us classic Doom, Commander Keen, Quake, and Wolf3D, accept that fact and move on. Or don't, so sorry, life moves on without you.

Edited September 22, 2020 by seed

[Dragonfly]

All this linux talk... might be worth it's own thread given how off of the OP topic it's gone. :P

 

 

 

 

22 hours ago, chemo said:

First of all, Zenimax was nowhere near the size of Microsoft. They actually seemed pretty small by AAA standards.

 

Second, even if both companies were equal in size, these mergers would be a dangerous path for the industry to go on. In fact, I'd say it's potentially even worse because this acquisition is of a much grander scale than many previous ones, and thus Microsoft is granted an even bigger market share. Microsoft may seem nice and friendly now, but this much power over the industry could be abused.

 

Did Disney's buyout of 20th Century Fox not rub you the wrong way at all?

 

The point still stands, if your concern is a company being above id and stifling their creativity, you should have been angry since 2009 when Zenimax got their grubby hands on id. MS's history shows much less meddling than Zeni ever did.

 

And no, the 20th Century Fox aquisition didn't bother me in the slightest because I don't care much for cinema. *shrugs*

 

 

22 hours ago, chemo said:

That's the thing; "reportedly". All official statements relating to the future of Bethesda-owned IPs on platforms other than PC and Xbox have been too vague and/or open to interpretation.

 

I'd only have faith in them if they said something along the lines of "Hey guys, don't worry, DOOM and all these other franchises will still have future entries available on PlayStation and Nintendo consoles wherever possible!" I think being a skeptic is reasonable when they're not just spelling everything out.

 

Dude it's early days, they've done what's necessary to imply that exclusivity won't happen. I don't get why you and an irritatingly vocal handful of people want it written out in the clearest definition. Why not save yourself the stress and only be angry once there's something to genuinely be angry about? Currently MS's aquisition has done absolutely nothing to negatively affect your ability to enjoy these games and services, and honestly it's quite unlikely it ever will.

Edited September 22, 2020 by Dragonfly

[seed]

56 minutes ago, Dragonfly said:

The point still stands, if your concern is a company being above and id stifling their creativity you should have been angry since 2009 when Zenimax got their grubby hands on id. MS's history shows much less meddling than Zeni ever did.

 

And no, the 20th Century Fox aquisition didn't bother me in the slightest because I don't care much for cinema. *shrugs*

 

 

Dude it's early days, they've done what's necessary to imply that exclusivity won't happen. I don't get why you and an irritatingly vocal handful of people want it written out in the clearest definition. Why not save yourself the stress and only be angry once there's something to genuinely be angry about? Currently MS's aquisition has done absolutely nothing to negatively affect your ability to enjoy these games and services, and honestly it's quite unlikely it ever will.

 

B-but... muh corporations :( .

 

They may not be one's friend, fair enough, but these "ugly corporations" have surely put out something we all enjoy, whether we like to admit that or not is irrelevant. Funny how that works, doesn't it?

[Gez]

2 hours ago, seed said:

id Software of 2020 is not the same that gave us classic Doom, Commander Keen, Quake, and Wolf3D, accept that fact and move on. Or don't, so sorry, life moves on without you.

And I'd even say that the id Software of Quake was not the id Software of Doom.

 

In Doom you had a team that (mostly) worked well together. They did Tom Hall dirty but that was it. In Quake they were severely dysfunctional, and the game was good despite the team rather than thanks to it. Lots of interpersonal drama, some people in particular being complete assholes to their coworkers, etc. Read David Craddock's book Rocket Jump about it, it's basically Masters of Doom's sequel (so, "Masters of Quake" maybe) and it's pretty interesting.

[seed]

18 minutes ago, Gez said:

They did Tom Hall dirty but that was it.

 

Nah they did the same with Sandy, but everyone seems to hate him... And of course Carmack fired Romero for allegedly playing too much multiplayer during the work hours.

 

18 minutes ago, Gez said:

Read David Craddock's book Rocket Jump about it, it's basically Masters of Doom's sequel (so, "Masters of Quake" maybe) and it's pretty interesting.

 

Duly noted.

[lubba127]

2 hours ago, Cacodemon345 said:

Most of Rare's pre-Microsoft employees flocked off the company after it was bought though.

oh really? i didn't know that. hopefully they make another banjo kazooie for the series x 

[Gez]

25 minutes ago, seed said:

Nah they did the same with Sandy, but everyone seems to hate him... And of course Carmack fired Romero for allegedly playing too much multiplayer during the work hours.

But not, was my point, during Doom's development. Petersen and Romero both stayed long enough to work on Quake.

 

After that, yeah, Sandy Petersen, John Romero, American McGee, Adrian Carmack, all fired or made to leave through harassment.

[seed]

8 minutes ago, Gez said:

made to leave through harassment.

 

I'm interested.

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

I hope this will lead to a new Doom game with a bigger budget. I thought 2016 was good, but found Eternal underwhelming. Hopefully they will do something different with the series now, and hopefully the next Doom game will focus more on atmosphere, which could be bolstered by a bigger budget and better graphics. This is my optimistic side talking.

[snapshot]

2 hours ago, seed said:

They may not be one's friend, fair enough, but these "ugly corporations" have surely put out something we all enjoy, whether we like to admit that or not is irrelevant. Funny how that works, doesn't it?

Meh, If you really hate ugly corporation just don't support them and stop using or getting their products

 

Another day, another futile "corporation bad" argument.

[seed]

6 minutes ago, sluggard said:

Meh, If you really hate ugly corporation just don't support them and stop using or getting their products

 

Another day, another futile "corporation bad" argument.

 

Which is exactly what I was saying.

[RemoveUwU]

Y'all I came here to read some Mars Wars jokes send them all

But dor real tho, I remember that one time Microsoft bought Mojang and people were mad about it thinking it'd be the end for Minecraft (Maybe I'm going a bit off-topic here idk), and look now, they've done quite a decent job, heck, even the Bedrock version with all its microtransactions doesn't have anything too crappy and doesn't leave out some core features, you can still play the vanilla game and it's kinda better optimized for that matter

Only thing I think they might do, but even then it's such an extreme case, it's putting Final Doom out of the Addons for Doom 2 and selling them separately

[snapshot]

2 minutes ago, RemoveUwU said:

Y'all I came here to read some Mars Wars jokes send them all

Spoiler

 

[Gamer Derp]

9 minutes ago, sluggard said:

  Hide contents

 

I Think i have a "better" one: 


 

Spoiler