Rumor: MS to buy Epic Games?
by Xav de Matos 
{ Feb 18th 2008 at 8:45PM }
According to news posts on dbtechno.com and WRAL the latest issue of GamePro states that Microsoft is closing in on a deal to acquire developer Epic Games. The report states that Epic, known primarily as the developer behind Unreal Engine 3, would cost Microsoft upwards of $1 billion dollars. If true the acquisition would mean Microsoft would own Unreal Engine 3, the engine that powers most
We don't want to call out shenanigans immediately but this is hard to believe for a few reasons. One billion dollars to purchase Epic Games, who also own the rights to the Gears of War universe (Microsoft owns the current characters and title) and the Unreal franchise, seems like a bargain considering the value of the Unreal Engine licenses alone. This move would also put Microsoft at the forefront of current legal problems Epic is having with Silicon Knights, who has a publishing partnership with Microsoft. Also, Epic management don't seem like the kind of folks to let this thing slide considering how well they do financially on their own. We might be wrong on this one, but until we see the GamePro issue in question, talk to Epic's Mark Rein or hear about it from Xbox boss Don Mattrick we're not willing to call this one based on the fact that Epic has a booth next to Microsoft at GDC '08. But hey, crazier things have happened right and it really could happen couldn't it?
[Thanks, Deus Legend]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ccc @ Feb 18th 2008 8:53PM
MS makes money off Sony for games put on ps3 using the Unreal Engine and Sony makes money off MS eventually when MS throws a Blue Ray into the 360. Fair enough.
Xav de Matos @ Feb 18th 2008 8:59PM
Well lets just clear the air and remember, Sony does not own Blu-ray.
The Blu-Ray Disc Association is comprised of various companies, including: Sony, LG Electronics, Hitachi, Sharp, Matsuhita, Pioneer, Philips, Thomson, and Samsung.
Also, there are over 15 companies on the Blu-ray board of directors including Apple.
Microsoft owning Epic would equal all monies going to them but a X360 BD add-on would mean a lot of sprinkling around various organizations.
John McPoop @ Feb 19th 2008 1:27AM
Xav De matos
Sony does not "own" blu-ray but they do collect royalties for certain patents they created for Blu-Ray (I believe DRM and the disc coating). I think this would be a smack in the face to 360 exclusive owners. I mean at that point your having to spend much more money to get the system to spec with the PS3 out of the box. The best bet would be a new sku with a 40 GB Ps3 price point that had Blu-Ray built in for playbook.
Seriously though after you buy the Wi-FI adapter, HD DVD/ Blu-Ray add on, and upgrade the Hard drive (unless you have the 120 GB) and if you have an HDMi you also need to buy the cable your looking at a more premium price than PS3 out the box and that without paying for 1 year of LIVE, rechargeable battery pack for controller and any other accessories like faceplates or skins. And you still won't have a true web browser (I use it on PS3 to watch Youtube but other than that it weak)
Got lost on a tangent but point is Sony is not King Shit of Blu-Ray mountain. They do however collect royalties. Another external drive will be a failure b/c u can double the price and have a PS3 who can upgrade it's firmware to 2.0 wen released.
If they make it around $129.99 then its a solid buy.
PSWII60 TO INFINITY... BE A FAN OF GAMES NOT CONSOLES
Xav de Matos @ Feb 19th 2008 1:30AM
@John McPoop: I guess I wasn't clear but my points are the same as yours. Sony doesn't own Blu-ray (a point I've made on several comments and posts) but they are apart of the association that does. So, if someone were to license its use they would get some money (aka a sprinkle) from the license use.
Microsoft owning Epic outright though would mean all license fees are paid to Microsoft. That was the point I was trying to make.
Sorry if that wasn't clear, but thanks for throwing the comments some knowledge sir.
XdM out!
Tyler @ Feb 18th 2008 8:56PM
This would be huge for MGS. It is very unlikely but hey, it would be a giant announcement since GDC is right around the corner. I won't rule it out as stranger things have happend.
P.S-Where is the fancast? Delayed?
Xav de Matos @ Feb 18th 2008 9:01PM
We're hoping to get the fancast out tonight, maybe tomorrow. The chief (aka Richard), edits it himself and was on a plane to GDC today so it's possible for a launch today.
jtedesco33 @ Feb 18th 2008 8:56PM
There is no way in hell this is true, no matter how awesome it would be for MS.
shay07 @ Feb 18th 2008 9:00PM
This deal would be....EPIC. Haha i made a pun
srt4rider @ Feb 18th 2008 9:03PM
Wow seeing my local news station getting in the video game rumors thats odd. But from MS's stand point i can see it, from Epic i am not so sure just because they are rolling in cash already. I guess we will see.
mark @ Feb 18th 2008 9:03PM
It'd certainly be very shady of M$ considering it would probably lead to M$ stopping support for the unreal engine with all non-360 games.
Xav de Matos @ Feb 18th 2008 9:05PM
If this were true that would probably be the last thing that would happen.
But I wouldn't expect Sony to tout their Unreal Engine 3 tech in their dev kits anymore as a selling point.
mark @ Feb 18th 2008 9:12PM
why wouldnt M$ do it? They might lose money at first from the loss of games and profits from that. But M$ would recoup the lost money by selling more consoles by having better exclusives. If i was a business thats what i would do.
Xav de Matos @ Feb 18th 2008 9:16PM
So is your "S" key not working or... lol, I joke... I joke...
Swampfox @ Feb 18th 2008 10:33PM
Why wouldn't microsoft hold the unreal engine ransom? Isn't that the core engine for graphic technology? It may seem unfair but still, I would feel bad for Sony as much as i hate them. This looks like a gamebreaker to me so I rather just see both sides be competitive rather than one annihilate the other...
Xav de Matos @ Feb 20th 2008 6:06AM
Holding anything ransom to a proud company like Sony would just piss off detractors, give people a real reason to hate them and send them off to using the Resistance 2.0 engine for future titles.
Let them pay you and don't say a word, that's how it should pan out.
Adam @ Feb 18th 2008 9:19PM
Its as simple as this.Ms can buy whoever and what ever they want.Everyone has thee price.Maybe the price given was inaccurate but i see it as possible.As for lawsuits etc ms has seen its share and a opertunity to one up sony by snatching the rights to the unreal engine would be a huge plus on ms's part.
Not that its gonna happen it could.
Mr Khan @ Feb 18th 2008 9:26PM
It would certainly help secure their grasp on GoW, so that the franchise could never get into the legal limbo that, say, Goldeneye has gotten into
Developer defections have caused trouble before
Killer @ Feb 18th 2008 9:35PM
Out with Bungie in with Epic...
Why not? As long as they do the same thing they did with Bungie. I'm fine with this.
Killer @ Feb 18th 2008 9:38PM
Hey, At least it's better than EA buying Epic....
Deus Legend @ Feb 18th 2008 9:39PM
YAY I got noticed, thanks X360F!!!
Efeez1986 @ Feb 18th 2008 9:46PM
I can't predict the future, but i highly doubt Epic would let anybody buy them out. Epic has seen too much success being their own boss to let somebody buy them out now. Epic has also stated that they love the PS3, and they probably wouldn't want MS to limit them when it comes to working with the PS3. They would be better of staying on their own and working equally on both consoles.
DownwardMonkey @ Feb 18th 2008 9:55PM
I doubt MS can afford it right now, given that they have had to ask for a loan so they can force buy Yahoo.
Jcarpio @ Feb 19th 2008 12:18AM
44 billion dollars is a little more money than 1 billion. I doubt they'll have trouble coming up with that amount.
And I forsee this being half right. MS would probably pay Epic for first look rights. I don't see Epic losing their independence.
SharpBlade @ Feb 18th 2008 9:56PM
Who knows, stranger thing's have happened. MS and Epic do seem to have a good chemistry together. But something tell's me this won't happen just because Epic has been an independent for so long. I think MS should go and buy Insomniac if Epic isn't in the cards. Now that would cause some fanboys to spontaneously combust!
MS needs to do something with their first/second party games. They are looking rather thin on the exclusive side of things compared to the competition.
George Arauz @ Feb 18th 2008 10:43PM
Wow.. if that happened.. holy S^@%
Anticrawl @ Feb 18th 2008 10:39PM
This happening could actually be a great thing for all consumers. With MS aquiring EPIC developers willl finally have to start looking to other game engines or developing their own. Then perhaps we will have more diverse games.
Boff @ Feb 19th 2008 4:39AM
Yep good point. I just can't see it happening though, UE3 is Epic's cash cow and I can't see MS offering them anything to make them sell up.
ExMcloud @ Feb 18th 2008 11:16PM
Could it happen? Yes but not for that price...Way to low....It would be a good addition if they did buy them...More power to them if they achieve that miracle...lol
chathampax @ Feb 18th 2008 11:33PM
Ok guys so we all agree that this is most likely not legit. However, I believe for the right price and a contract that Epic can live with that takes advantage of their independence, this could become reality. Then I thought of this:
Microsoft announces Halo 4 (since they own the IP) from you guessed it...Epic! It would be the first game to use Unreal Engine 4! Remember, although Microsoft owns the Halo IP, Bungie has gone on the record saying that even if they don't make the next Halo game they would have input on the game because after all, it is their baby. I'm sure Bungie and Epic could work together since they have a lot of respect for each other. Although the game would be made by Epic and Bungie would just be a "consultant." I would predict this would be coming holiday 2010 when the 360 is down to $200. They could also cross promote GoW and Halo together. Imagine Chief in a GoW game and vice versa!
Crazy I know but I can dream can't I?
Delgado @ Feb 19th 2008 12:56AM
No, no in fact you can't dream those sick, nasty dreams.
John McPoop @ Feb 19th 2008 1:35AM
I don't see Epic selling it's soul at this point. After all they are developing UE4 now and almost every big game uses the UE3. Just seems that 1 billion for Epic is not enough unless it is not a total buyout but rather and ownership / managing stake in the company.
It would be pretty crazy if it did happen and Epic made Halo 4!!!! If Microsoft can do i they need to jump on this deal because Epic i worth so much more looking ahead.
I would say Capcom is the #1 3rd party developer and Epic is right up there with them. Ubisoft, EA, Valve and Konami aew up thee for me as well..........
Xav de Matos @ Feb 19th 2008 1:37AM
There's a lot of talk about Halo 4 here... I think everyone might like this weeks WOULD YOU RATHER ...
FEATURE TEASE.
CONFIRMED.
TORO @ Feb 19th 2008 9:59AM
Ooorr
WOULD YOU RATHER...
-Death of HD DVD
or
-Death of PS3 (with the purchase of Epic)
haha
John McPoop @ Feb 19th 2008 9:42PM
@Xan de Matos
I just wanted to let you know I appeciate you coming to the boards and interacting with fans of the site. The other writers on this site ( joystiq, engadget and PS3 FB as well). I hope you keep it up because its very refreshing to chat with you and everyone else tht contributes to blog smith.
CharleyTony @ Feb 19th 2008 1:56AM
every body has their price... yes. One thing you might remember is that recently Epic told some people that they were going to focus on console games because they felt ( like a lot of people out there) that pc game sales arent as hot as they used to be. Maybe MS will buy Epic, maube MS will annouced a really super tight partnership with Epic.
Epic has to know that the the future of game making is in their middleware ( and making it even better than it is ) and that when they make games, they cant lose sales to pirates so the only option for them are "closed ecosystems" (consoles that detect pirated games online ... which would also include Games for Windows and Steam)
If Epic is going to become exclusive ( by partnership or by selling the company, I would think that the natural place to go would be the Xbox/GamesForWindows combo...
PSN: KillaKornbread @ Feb 19th 2008 4:48AM
dear god.....Microsoft really does want to rule the world! i wouldnt be surprised if they tried to scoop up Nintendo or something next.....
SadisticHam @ Feb 19th 2008 6:05AM
Why would you care? Epic gave you UT3 and from my understanding barley any of you brought it.
----
This isn't very likely, although them announcing their going to focus on consoles and then this popping up could mean there's something to it.
john paul @ Feb 19th 2008 7:41AM
well mark rein just said "we're not that cheap"
so im guessing either there is nothing or there is something but with much MUCH more money
mike @ Feb 19th 2008 8:54AM
"The report comes from the latest issue of GamePro magazine which stated that by this summer, Microsoft plans to finish a deal to buy Epic Games"
Considering that issue is probably the april issue, we know this is 100% false. Dont you know that in gaming, april issues are always filled with retarded lies and nothing in them is worth reading at all.
horngreen @ Feb 19th 2008 9:32AM
If true it would be a bargain considering what they paid for RARE.