Microsoft sees Sony with many in-house developers who create AAA hype and profit, like Naughty Dog or Guerilla Games, and they want the same. But instead of growing their own teams, like Sony did, they are buying any reasonably sized developer with the hope that the purchase doesn’t affect the final product. Microsoft has been very hands off with the studios that it buys, except Bethesda because Todd needs a babysitter, which reflects this approach of owning but not controlling the studio.

Microsoft doesn’t seem to think that firing the people who make the games we love, like Tango Softworks and Arkane, will cause any harm to their brand because they are the monolith Microsoft.