Wow, would be crazy. Makes more sense for amazon than launching a $300 android console if they really are serious about getting into gaming. Building their own 1st party stable and attracting 3rd parties would be a massive uphill climb, but here is a way to bypass that struggle. I actually kind of hope it happens.
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Rumour: Xbox being bought by Amazon?
- Thread starter Boy Wander
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Xbox has its own team, why do you and others foolishly think MS Office/Windows suffer because of Xbox? ....
dragonelite
Member
Interesting, cheaper games hopefully.
I will go where Halo will go
I will go where Halo will go
SymbiantXenos
Member
Can't see that one happening sorry.
It's hard to say how this will even benefit the brand. Microsoft is not really in their prime right now but there are a lot of great decisions they've made over the years to push gaming forward and helped found a lot of great IPs.
Amazon has a great reputation for being consumer friendly, but how well exactly does that translate into the gaming space? And if they've really been trying to work up an Android console recently, is that just a sign of how poorly they understand the market ATM?
Amazon has a great reputation for being consumer friendly, but how well exactly does that translate into the gaming space? And if they've really been trying to work up an Android console recently, is that just a sign of how poorly they understand the market ATM?
Dead Man Typing
Member
Y'know how sometimes someone just makes up a rumour for a laugh and then it turns out to be true? I don't think this is one of those times.
"He" would be pushing porn on everyone then.
I imagine it's something that could evaporate very fast, might even just be Microsoft investors pushing enough that Amazon notices, offers to talk, and Microsoft goes "well, we should at least hear what you want to offer" even if they're cold on the idea of selling it.
This is as much mid-gen as a toddler just learning to speak full sentences is middle aged. Buying the 360 in 2008 would've counted as "mid-gen" to me.
enanogrande
Member
To everyone saying "Xbox is everything now" (Music/Videos/etc) - while I don't think this will happen anytime soon, there is no company more willing to rebrand products as much as Microsoft.
Some vocal investors, their are millions of investors, its easy to get what ever opinion you want to hear from one!
Who knows how low February sales are tracking internally? MS would. Your bargaining power goes down as the sales drop. If you wanted to sell Xbox - or any brand - you do it while you're still coasting off the perceived success of the 360. Sales of last gen's box fell out of the bottom in January too, if you recall. I'm not sure how legit any of this is, but there is enough smoke to make a fire (or just to wonder who is smoking all the dope for these crazy rumors).
ehhhh i mean it looks kinda plausible at a glance, but given their investments in tv and black tusk and other xbox-specific stuff? why would amazon just buy double helix when they could get all that other stuff instead?
and why would microsoft invest in all that when they were really looking to sell this whole time?
and why would microsoft invest in all that when they were really looking to sell this whole time?
Dragon Puncher
Member
Seems unlikely to say the least. Xbox brand is in crisis and Amazon is making it's own game console already.
I meant because all it does is lose money. How long do you keep throwing good money after bad.
Damigos
Member
Famousmortimer's sources
Perfectly fitting pic
dragonelite
Member
Isn't Double helix an indie studio just working of contract?
Boy Wander
Member
Again, the idea of the thread is to discuss implications of this happening more than discuss whether this is made up bs or not.
shinra-bansho
Member
With all due respect to mort, this sounds like BS.
Arrogant Bastard
Banned
This isn't news. I'm sorry, but this is pure BS, it might be backroom whisper over drink BS...but still BS.
MS is not selling the Xbox division within six months of releasing a new console. Amazon does not have the infrastructure to support this move. You might as well say that Amazon is in the market to purchase time warner cable.
Plus, perhaps they'd just buy (most of) XBox R&D and game development without keeping the Xbox brand.
Simply Sami
Member
In crisis?
Considering their sales, I would say they far from in crisis. You could say Nintendo are in crisis. But MS have done well considering all the controversy.
MS has built a brand with value and investors want to cash it out.
lifeexpectancy
Member
This. Just because they're "talking" doesn't mean anything will come of it. A deal like this, even if it panned out, would likely mean Amazon would assume control and rights to content for the next generation Xbox console, not this gen. Microsoft would continue to develope the OS for it because their primary goal is to infiltrate Windows 8 into people's lives, and a gaming console that isn't as OS-focused as a phone or tablet is a great trojan horse for it. MS would possibly receive loyalties, or perhaps Amazon would continue to use Xbox Live infrastructure and pay for its use via licensing to MS, making it up by bundling Live and Prime into one service.
Also, considering Amazon has already been big into the digital distribution side of things and MS's aim to make what would have been an essentially digital-only console, it has even more substance to being a possibility in the future, just not now. At any rate, it's not completely outside the realm of possibility for a deal to be made somewhere in the 4-7 year timespan in the future, but like I said it would likely be for the next console, not the XB1.
Hero of Legend
Member
IF this even close to true, what does this mean for developers and IPs?
Like Rare, Banjo-Kazooie, etc? MS would have NO need for them if they're out of the gaming business which is what Xbox is for them. But can Amazon REALLY afford everything?
Maybe they'll let go some assets to potential buyers, like say Amazon buys everything, and then sells unwanted assets to 3rd-parties for profit, did that not happen with THQ and Atari?
Like Rare, Banjo-Kazooie, etc? MS would have NO need for them if they're out of the gaming business which is what Xbox is for them. But can Amazon REALLY afford everything?
Maybe they'll let go some assets to potential buyers, like say Amazon buys everything, and then sells unwanted assets to 3rd-parties for profit, did that not happen with THQ and Atari?
On the other hand there's something to be said for cutting your losses, and had Microsoft only kept going up and up they'd definitely want to hold onto Xbox. But it probably looks like they threw in a LOT of effort and money to break in, only to not only fail to truly dominate last gen even with Wii factored out, but are looking to lose what ground they made to the PS4 to possibly end up only marginally ahead of where they were when they entered. Combined with Apple showing where the real battleground is and it starts to look superfluous.
Rocket Scientist
Member
If Microsoft is selling, would Nintendo buy?
justsomeguy
Member
Edit: Imagine amazon drm on a games console...
Doubt it. Xbox doesn't have any relevance in their home country.
Unknown One
Member
If it was Google I would believe it.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
I heard this recently as well, but dismissed it out of hand. Amazon do not have the finances to buy the Xbox division. The asking price would be too high for them and they would have to drain at least a third of their cash since MS are unlikely to accept shares in a volatile company like Amazon.
If MS are looking to sell then private equity is a more likely buyer. I could see a joint PE-AMZN consortium getting together to buy the division, but I don't know if Bezos would be interested in that.
If MS are looking to sell then private equity is a more likely buyer. I could see a joint PE-AMZN consortium getting together to buy the division, but I don't know if Bezos would be interested in that.
B1gg_Randall
Member
Seems unlikely although Microsoft Devices & Services have been in a pretty dire space for some time, they seem to have no clear vision of what they want to do or how to achieve it.
Maybe Amazon somehow starting a partnership with that stuff would be beneficial for Microsoft, it could still carry the same branding but day to day strategy could be handled by Amazon as they seem to be well ahead of Microsoft in this area at the moment.
Still think it's very unlikely though as business relationships like this tend to not do well unless both companies are aiming in exactly the same direction. The Sony Ericsson relationship is a recent example of how badly relationships like this can go if you both have different goals.
Maybe Amazon somehow starting a partnership with that stuff would be beneficial for Microsoft, it could still carry the same branding but day to day strategy could be handled by Amazon as they seem to be well ahead of Microsoft in this area at the moment.
Still think it's very unlikely though as business relationships like this tend to not do well unless both companies are aiming in exactly the same direction. The Sony Ericsson relationship is a recent example of how badly relationships like this can go if you both have different goals.
People are fond of Amazon!
But honestly we'd have to see this actually gain traction and what the consequences are before we go pro- or anti-. If Sony and Nintendo decide to play hardball and remove their stuff, uhh, yeah, I'm inclined to say this isn't good for any of us that wanted an alternative to the likes of GameStop or Walmart and weren't full Xbox, and on the flipside we probably don't want to see Xbox stuff vanish from GameStop or Walmart because THEY decide to play hardball. And that's a concern I've kind of had with Amazon, they're an ONLINE STORE. Being neutral in this sort of stuff is generally for the best, they were probably already pushing it getting into Android tablets.
geordiemp
Member
Anyone laughing at the possibility, watch this Bloomberg on Amazon, a USA company who has the biggest cloud service world wide.
http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2013-06-27/from-the-cia-to-your-freezer-how-big-is-amazon
Big in servers, online, computing and USA based.....
Don't be fooled into thinking they are just a web site to buy things from....
http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2013-06-27/from-the-cia-to-your-freezer-how-big-is-amazon
Big in servers, online, computing and USA based.....
Don't be fooled into thinking they are just a web site to buy things from....
lifeexpectancy
Member
Nintendo doesn't seem to have much relevance in their home country either lately.
I'm not saying Nintendo is going to buy the Xbox brand, mind you, but they could certainly do worse things at this point. They don't need relevance in Japan to be relevant worldwide. Anyway that's a whole difference discussion. The Amazon thing, at least at face value, looks more realistic as a future possibility, but in no way an immediate future one.
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