Would XBox be considered more desirable if it had, exclusively, all Half-Life and Counter-Strike titles?
For some months now it has been known that the games division of the Vivendi empire, Vivendi Games, is struggling. As soon as it became apparent that the company is heading for a break-up, rumours of Microsoft interest begun to circulate. Other rumours of prospective buyers also surfaced but were soon dismissed. The only story that has persevered is that concerning a successful bid by Microsoft. A relevant announcement may appear before the end of this week.
The simple facts, even though far from being confirmed by official lips, point out that Microsoft are not going to let such an opportunity go by. Vivendi are selling and Microsoft are definitely buying. Many MS sources did claim that the Rare buyout was only the beginning, well Vivendi are certainly a step up.
The acquisition of a giant like Vivendi Games would give XBox an immense advantage. The game publishers arsenal includes titles such as : the Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo series of games from Blizzard. Other significant Vivendi licenses include Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, the literary Lord of the Rings license, a wide array of Universal Pictures film rights and most importantly, Half-Life and Counter-Strike.
The implications of exclusive rights for the XBox for Half-Life and Counter-Strike would alone be enough to justify the buyout. Both titles have, highly anticipated, games in development, a Half-Life sequel is being prepared and Counter-Strike: Condition Zero is also on its way. Counter-Strike is also, by far, the most popular online game and would offer Microsoft a perfect tool for pushing its XBox Live service even further.
One point against such an acquisition might be the poor record of recent Vivendi games, with the thrashing of its LOTR title by EA's version during the holiday season, only too recent a memory. Such cases however, are more likely to have served as a negotiation advantage for Microsoft rather than a reason to miss such an opportunity.
Vivendi will not go cheap but if Microsoft do succeed in acquiring it, they will serve their XBox cause in two important ways. They will finally have extremely desirable titles, exclusively on their console and they will confirm their, all too frequent, comments about their dedication to making XBox the number 1 console.
