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After their recent acquisitions, Microsoft owns a huge chunk of the history of Computer Gaming

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Dr.Social

Dr.Social

Member
Oct 25, 2017
961
I was looking at some of the franchises that Microsoft now owns and realized they have a huge number of classic computer games.

Here's the list I came up with:

Zork (and the rest of the Infocom catalog)
The Bard's Tale
Rare's classic microcomputer games (Jetpac, Knightlore, Sabre Wulf, etc.)
The Quest Games (King's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Quest for Glory)
Gabriel Knight
Commander Keen
Wolfenstein
Doom
Quake
Heretic/Hexen
Wasteland
Fallout
The Elder Scrolls
Warcraft
Starcraft
Diablo
Call of Duty
Age of Empires
Microsoft Flight Sim
Minecraft

Crazy (and slightly scary) to think these are all owned by the same company. I'm sure there's more that's missing too.
 
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LongDongJunon

LongDongJunon

Member
Nov 13, 2017
1,459
I'm starting to think they are lelouching their way to ensure game preservation one way or another. If it means conquering everything in the end remains to be seen

Edit:

Like for example a large hurdle with the BC program and fps boost in general were the licensing issues and they just solved that issue for a possible quake 4, singularity and wolf 09 bc update in one fell swoop
 
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Plinkerton

Plinkerton

Member
Nov 4, 2017
6,061
Yeah I said this in the main thread on the acquisition but I find it really ironic that Microsoft was so crap with PC gaming back in the 90s and now they own so many classic PC gaming IPs.
 
Thorn

Thorn

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
24,446
We all get to be one big happy family under the monopoly that is Microsoft :D
 

slothrop

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Aug 28, 2019
3,877
USA
Don't forget SkiFree :)

MS Solitaire is also probably the most iconic and well known PC game of all time
 
Wrexis

Wrexis

Member
Nov 4, 2017
21,247
Microsoft has a good history with backwards compatibility and preservation so I'm not too worried about this. For now.
 
Phellps

Phellps

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,810
I remember chuckling at the idea of Microsoft acquiring EA. I would not chuckle at it anymore...
 
CloseTalker

CloseTalker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,658
And while everything could change and this much control isn't usually a good thing, it's a testament to them that I generally consider all those franchises in good hands.
 
dgrdsv

dgrdsv

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,885
Watch them do absolutely nothing with them all.
The bigger the holding company is the less incentive it has to pursue anything outside of its current major franchises.
 

francium87

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,041
Rare Replay was a good package, wouldn't mind more stuff like that

They are probably not doing much with the PC games though, since GOG had that covered
 
iamsirjoshua

iamsirjoshua

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,026
Dr.Social said:
I was looking at some of the franchises that Microsoft now owns and realized they have a huge number of classic computer games.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Worth noting that they don't yet own any of Activision-Blizzard. They announced their intent to acquire them but this has at least a year in front of regulatory bodies before anything is final.
 
ABK281

ABK281

Member
Apr 5, 2018
3,004
LongDongJunon said:
I'm starting to think they are lelouching their way to ensure game preservation one way or another. If it means conquering everything in the end remains to be seen

Edit:

Like for example a large hurdle with the BC program and fps boost in general were the licensing issues and they just solved that issue for a possible quake 4, singularity and wolf 09 bc update in one fell swoop
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yeah, that's definitely why Microsoft is doing this.
 
Onebadlion

Onebadlion

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,189
I don't think a reboot of Leisure Suit Larry would be a wise move in this day and age. Some things are best left behind.
 
Patitoloco

Patitoloco

Member
Oct 27, 2017
23,691
Onebadlion said:
I don't think a reboot of Leisure Suit Larry would be a wise move in this day and age. Some things are best left behind.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
A reboot of LSL has been done and was very well received (and got a sequel last year), and again, it's not owned by Activision since years ago.

store.steampowered.com

Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Don't Dry on Steam

My new adventure takes me from the end of the ’80s directly into the 21st century and wow, how the world has changed! While my view of the world and women from way back in the 1980s collides with modern reality, I’m all set to date my way across the modern world!
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com
 
Filipus

Filipus

Prophet of Regret
Avenger
Dec 7, 2017
5,132
I made this spreadsheet of Microsoft owned IP (lacking Activision stuff right now of course).
docs.google.com

Xbox Studios owned IP

Welcome! 🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮 This spreadsheet contains a list of every IP owned by Xbox. Feel free to leave a comment if there's corrections to be made or sources to add! Check our Resetera Xbox OTs for more information on studios and great discussions about Xbox and gaming in general. 🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮...
docs.google.com docs.google.com
Yea, they have a ton of gaming history in it.
 
OP
OP
Dr.Social

Dr.Social

Member
Oct 25, 2017
961
Patitoloco said:
Leisure Suit Larry is definitely not owned by them, as the IP license has moved many times.

www.pcgamesn.com

Activision halts auction of Leisure Suit Larry’s source code despite not owning the IP

Al Lowe's auction of the Leisure Suit Larry source code was killed by Activision lawyers
www.pcgamesn.com www.pcgamesn.com
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I'll remove it then. I wasn't sure of the status of the Sierra games, like Gabriel Knight 20th anniversary was published by another company.

iamsirjoshua said:
Worth noting that they don't yet own any of Activision-Blizzard. They announced their intent to acquire them but this has at least a year in front of regulatory bodies before anything is final.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You're right, but I'm just assuming the deal goes through because I have no faith in the US government to stop corporate acquisitions.
 
Goldenroad

Goldenroad

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Nov 2, 2017
9,475
They own Tony Hawk as well. Now he has to come to Phil's office and do a kickflip any time the he beckons.
 
ciddative

ciddative

Member
Apr 5, 2018
4,631
I'm sure Microsoft will do right by these historical franchises, they're all about preservation! /s
 
Dark Ninja

Dark Ninja

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,071
Watch out Uncharted!

hqdefault.jpg



Besides that all of these

CYGbi9mWYAAyA8N.jpg
 

Deleted member 8752

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,122
I'd love to see some retro PC titles ported to modern consoles. Elders Scrolls 1 and 2, Fallout 1 and 2, StarCraft, WarCraft etc.
 

bastardly

Member
Nov 8, 2017
10,582
man i would love to mess around with the old police quests, used to play that during computer lab when we were kids
 
Servbot24

Servbot24

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
43,138
Nice. Microsoft is now officially the most important and creatively successful company in video game history.
 

Wiggle

Member
Nov 25, 2019
377
Filipus said:
I made this spreadsheet of Microsoft owned IP (lacking Activision stuff right now of course).
docs.google.com

Xbox Studios owned IP

Welcome! 🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮 This spreadsheet contains a list of every IP owned by Xbox. Feel free to leave a comment if there's corrections to be made or sources to add! Check our Resetera Xbox OTs for more information on studios and great discussions about Xbox and gaming in general. 🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮🎮...
docs.google.com docs.google.com
Yea, they have a ton of gaming history in it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Is there a reason Commander Keen is not in the list?
 
Filipus

Filipus

Prophet of Regret
Avenger
Dec 7, 2017
5,132
Wiggle said:
Is there a reason Commander Keen is not in the list?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

List is community made. Once the Bethesda buy happened it was hard for me to track every single IP.
If you could add a comment to it I would appreciate it and ill add it to the list :) (I never fully allowed people to just edit it themselves because the internet is full of console warrior trolls)
 
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