Acquisitions felt kinda cool when 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Microsoft was dishing them out like nobody’s business prior to the pandemic. Xbox was committed to this new vision where it would offe𒈔r developers we knew and loved unlimited resources and time to create the masterpieces we knew they were capable of.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Embracer Group and Sony followed suit, hoovering up countless studios with a promise that they would not only be secure, but have more opportunities than ever. A few years on, and it is abundantly clear that it was all a big 🔯fat lie. We’ve seen 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:studio closures, mass layoffs, and a growing pile of c❀ancelled projects because the pandemic boom led nowhere, and now those at the bottom must suffer the consequences. But despite all this, rumours of acquisitions are still rife, .
No, Microsoft Probably Isn’t Going To Buy Valve
It seems incredibly far-fetched, especially considering the rumour claims that an offer of over $16 billion in cash was being entertained, which is both not enough for a company like V♊alve and sounds more l🍬ike something out of a Batman movie than actual reality. Why not burn up this giant pile of money while you’re at it, since you’re such a bloody joker?
Valve is also a privately owned 🙈company that isn♎’t traded on any public market. It has no shareholders to please beyond Gabe Newell. They aren’t constantly after more and more profit to the detriment of their employees, knowingly giving them the freedom and time to work on whatever project tickles their fancy.
It’s why we hardly get any Valve games these days, because Steam practically prints money and it would rather spend time working on products like the Steam Deck and Valv🍃e Index than pumping millions into a new triple-A blockbuster, although♒ the likes of Half-Life: Alyx and leaks of an upcoming hero shooter has me thinking times might be changing.
Much like Nintendo, Valve has persisted over the past several decades simply by doing its own thing. Sometimes this strategy hasn’t paid off, like with the Wii U or Steam Machines, while others have seen both companies rule their respective worlds, like the Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck. Both machines have sold millions of units and present a fascinating new way to consume the games we love, while also having little concern about the cꦡompetition that surrounds them. Nintendo obviously has shareholders to appease, but it also has so many iconic brands and characters beneath its feet that it rarely has to abide by their whims.
But Why? It Sounds Like A Brilliant Idea
When this rumour first emerged and went♌ viral earlier this week, there was a justifiable fear that Microsoft would soon have a monopoly on the PC market. If a d🐲eal like this ever came to pass, it would own the Blizzard, Windows, and Valve storefronts, which, as we’ve learned from previous acquisitions, is only a recipe for disaster. Consolidation of a market stifles competition and discourages innovation and creativity, not to mention it only takes a single massive failure to sink a ship containing thousands of employees.
We saw t𝓡his with Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin, two beloved st💯udios closed not because they failed to give us great games or make a profit, but because they happened to be ripe for the chopping block when Microsoft needed to save money. People don’t want those same masters with their hands on Valve, a company that, 🌼by and large, is well liked in the eyes of the public.
Besides, what’s in it for Valve? The company is thriving on its own, and the freedom granted by the lack of investors allows it to keep its own identity. Microsoft opted to start putting its own exclusives on Steam a♋s it hoped to garner extra sales that Xbox Game Pass was taking away, rather than the other way around. There would be an incentive for Microsoft to try to acquire this revenue stream it offers in its entirety, but there’s no motivation for Valve to say yes.
After picking up Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, I was convinced that anything was possible, but apparently, I wasn’t factoring Valve into that equation. Trading bodies would reject proposed acquisitions like this too, especially after the long-winded debacle of Xbox getting its hands on Activisio▨n Blizzard, which for a long time I wasn’t sure was going to happen.
Microsoft isn’t going to buy Valve, and even if it tried to, I’m not sur♏e such a deal would ever make it out the door. There are too many factors, both economical and practical, that stop it from becoming reality. So don’t worry about it taking place, but if it did, I’d be the first one to start kicking and screaming about it.
