Interesting news indeed, though I am not interested in most of the Games.

While I don't think that Microsoft will actively try to sabotage Linux (at least not in their Games branch, the Server- and Development Software branches are probably different cases, because Linux is a big competitor in these), we will likely suffer from side-effects.

The things that worry me the most are:
- Monopolies and Oligopolies are always bad, don't believe all the journalists who think this is great news.
- After a phase of investment, big companies want to see revenue, so studios will suffer from it in the long-run (more "marketing" Games (=less creativity and creative freedom); less budget; and worst case: studio closures)
- Microsoft is obviously trying to establish itself as the Netflix for Games and ultimately this could mean that everything will only work in closed-environments in a few years (if Streaming becomes a sucess, both technological and financial).
Such a scenario is bad, because the companies can then control everything, including Availability (if they want to sell new Games, old Games will suddenly disappear or made less playable), Prices, Modding, Games-as-a-service, Shops, Advertising and worse stuff (we can see the tip of the iceberg right now).

A curiousity as a sidenote is that they bought Studios that are direct competitors to each other:
-Unavowed vs. Elder Scrolls
-Isometric RPG competitors (Obsidian, InXile)
and probably some more.
I don't think we will see this kind of competition in the future.
I would even assume that the unreleased Games will now change in a few ways, to make them less competetive to each other.
In the worst case, some studios are denied certain projects, because other studios already make such a project.

Last edited by dr_jekyll on 27 September 2020 at 3:22 pm UTC