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[Black_Stride]

Sony checking their pocket book to see if they have enough to buy Rockstar..

Please Sony...... make a counter buy

Take-Two just bought Zynga....they aint getting bought up anytime soon.
Lest Microsoft releases the Kraken for real and we start seeing triple digit billions purchases.
But I really wouldnt want to lose Private Division to any company....let them keep doing what they are doing.

The only real counter buy I could even see being a thing Sony would do is to buy SquareEnix.
Take-Two is massive and I dont think really wants to be bought up.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Don't do this to yourself James, please don't

Eagerly awaiting your 100 page manifesto on why this is good for the industry and an amazing deal for MS

 

[JayK47]

I am no fan of mergers. They tend to be bad for consumers. But Activision is a hot mess, so maybe in this case it could be better.

 

[Punished Miku]

Take-Two just bought Zynga....they aint getting bought up anytime soon.
Lest Microsoft releases the Kraken for real and we start seeing triple digit billions purchases.
But I really wouldnt want to lose Private Division to any company....let them keep doing what they are doing.

The only real counter buy I could even see being a thing Sony would do is to buy SquareEnix.
Take-Two is massive and I dont think really wants to be bought up.

Take-Two will get bought after GTA VI shits the bed.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

Now it makes sense why E3 this year might be cancelled. With the amount of studios, games, and franchises under their roof now, Microsoft can hold a 3-day game event themselves that would rival/beat any E3 event. The Microsoft Games Showcase...now wouldn't that be something.

 

[TheGodfather07]

There is zero chance of MS dropping COD on Playstation. Trust me on this. In 2019, COD WWII sold 13.4 million units on PS4 alone. There is no way MS drops this.

As I said, the Gamepass thing is extremely likely though.

But hey, I'm an Xbox and PC gamer anyway.

now microsoft will get those 13.4m customers. which is the point!

 

[Tams]

MS bought Linkedin for $26 billion.

There's got to be a reason why they bought as there's no way that website makes giant profits.

Only MS knows.

It's simple.

Money sitting idle losses value due to inflation, it attracts the taxman, and it makes investors tetchy.

 

[jshackles]

I never thought (and still don’t) that MS would bring the Bethesda games to PlayStation. I know Elder Scrolls is a big title. But I can’t see them keeping CoD off PS. Why would they mess with that franchise? CoD is the best selling game of the year every year. Elder Scrolls will get it’s huge sales once a generation (or less) coD gets those every year. I’m not sure you risk devaluing your up by keeping it off the most popular platform. If CoD still gets any timed exclusive stuff, I expect that to end. And of course it will never be on PSNow or any other Sony service. But if you want to pay MS $70 per copy of CoD I think they will still let you.

It's a catch-22 though. If you keep selling Call of Duty on PlayStation, then it will enable PlayStation to continue outselling you in the hardware department. You're also giving your competition 30% of your digital sales on their platform, even for DLC and microtransactions purchases.

It's a lot of money to leave on the table, but my guess is that this year's Call of Duty will arrive as expected on PS5 but that next year (after the ink dries on the sale) it'll be Xbox exclusive. That gives people almost two years to be prepared as well.

 

[Elder Legend]

So MS now owns... Diablo, Starcraft Warcraft, Destiny, Sekiro, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Call of Duty, Tenchu, Hearthstone, Candy Crush, what else am I missing?

Ridiculous. KEKW.

 

[Dr Kaneda]

I want to know how close Microsoft has been to aquiring EA and Ubisoft...
There has been strong rumors of this in the past... but EA in particular was almost unthinkable.

I think it was a lot closer to reality than people realize.

EA stock is currently trading at $140. Activision stock was trading at ~$60 and MS offered them $95 a share which is over 50%.

Looking at numbers like that you'd think we'd be approaching "biggest acquisition in history" territory if MS tried to buy EA.

 

[Dream-Knife]

I wonder how this factors in with Phil talking about how they do business with them.

Antitrust needs to step in, but they won't.

 

[Boglin]

If Microsoft gets enough quality titles on gamepass then it's possible that its subscribers will start to only consider playing other titles within that library for both convenience and to save themselves money. If that mentality becomes widespread, then many games will be forced to publish to gamepass in order to have any chance of reaching that audience.
This really could be a colossal change in the industry.

 

[Mister Wolf]

You already know Diablo 4 will be exclusive.

 

[dem]

EA stock is currently trading at $140. Activision stock was trading at ~$60 and MS offered them $95 a share which is over 50%.

Looking at numbers like that you'd think we'd be approaching "biggest acquisition in history" territory if MS tried to buy EA.

That's not how the stock market works...

EA market cap is 39 billion currently..

 

[Punished Miku]

Bungie a few months ago.

 

[OverHeat]

MS will force sony in having gamepass available on PS with this move if COD is exclusive.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Always about the war for some folk.

 

[Banjo64]

How many first party studios do they own now?

 

[nemiroff]

What in the fucking fuck..

 

[amigastar]

Maybe Diablo 4 development will be sped up now.

 

[Dlacy13g]

I didnt think their next move would be a power move like this. DAMN! Now to sit back and watch the meltdowns occur.... Where did I leave that popcorn?

 

[Graciaus]

Put all battle.net stuff on steam then.

 

[Basil King]

So MS now owns... Diablo, Starcraft Warcraft, Destiny, Sekiro, Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Call of Duty, Tenchu, Hearthstone, Candy Crush, what else am I missing?

Ridiculous. KEKW.

Not Destiny, Bungie left activision a couple years ago.

 

[chonga]

Provided this deal goes down...

Please someone explain to me one thing: How the fuck does Microsofts Xbox business make any sense? I mean, isn't the goal of a company to actually make money and be profitable?

If they buy them for 70 billion, then that's money that they have spent, not made (duh).

In 2021 Activion Blizzard had a net income of 639 million U.S. dollars. In order to just break even (provided Activison Blizzard continues to generate a net income of 700 million to 1 billion every year), they would need 70 years to do so.

Well if they continue to charge current GP prices then it will take a lot longer than that!

But keep in mind the business doesn't become worth $0 once you buy it. Think about a savings account. If you open a savings account with $1,000 in it the interest you receive is essentially your profit. But you don't say 'I need to get $1,000 interest to cover my initial cost'. Your $1,000 investment is still sat there available to convert back into cash.

 

[Thanati]

now microsoft will get those 13.4m customers. which is the point!

Agreed, 100% but they won't drop them from Playstation is what I'm saying. For MS, it's another source of revenue. They don't need to force exclusivity onto Xbox/PC.

 

[Elder Legend]

Not Destiny, Bungie left activision a couple years ago.

Ahh you are right. I forgot about that.

 

[Banjo64]

MS will force sony in having gamepass available on PS with this move if COD is exclusive.

I mean, I agree. Taking TES, Fallout and CoD from PS will cost PlayStation millions and millions. If Microsoft say let us put Game Pass on PS and you’ll get 40% of sub fees for anyone who signs up via PlayStation or something like that - it’d be a money maker for Sony.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

I never thought (and still don’t) that MS would bring the Bethesda games to PlayStation. I know Elder Scrolls is a big title. But I can’t see them keeping CoD off PS. Why would they mess with that franchise? CoD is the best selling game of the year every year. Elder Scrolls will get it’s huge sales once a generation (or less) coD gets those every year. I’m not sure you risk devaluing your up by keeping it off the most popular platform. If CoD still gets any timed exclusive stuff, I expect that to end. And of course it will never be on PSNow or any other Sony service. But if you want to pay MS $70 per copy of CoD I think they will still let you.

Yeah this is a really interesting situation. COD is basically in Minecraft territory at this point, in a way you kinda can't take it off the other platforms. So I'm still expecting CoD to come out on PlayStation for the near future. However, the days of PS having marketing rights are absolutely done, same with exclusive DLC, timed DLC etc. as you've mentioned.

All of that stuff, though, I 100% expect to become Xbox going forward. Marketing rights (obviously), timed DLC exclusivity, Xbox (and PC) being tournament-standard for COD tournaments, etc.

 

[jshackles]

Put all battle.net stuff on steam then.

I have to believe this is part of their long-term strategy.

 

[Dthomp]

Lol, after years of gaffers shitting on Overwatch, WoW, and CoD, console warriors acting like they are excited about this because their favorite box bought more studios…to continue making games that they don’t care about.

 

[intheinbetween]

The PC platform isn't owned by any one company, why you out that there is beyond me. And over half of the theoretical number you threw out of gaming studios aren't nowhere near the value of Activision Blizzard combined.

I get it, people like you, want this to happen because it will force more companies to submit to a GAAS/subscription future or get ran over if you ain't with it. However I still stand on what I said said initially. The US is the land of capitalism, meaning for the right price anything can be allowed to slide.

Either way we will see how this affects the industry soon enough.

PC is a platform, with many customers not interested in consoles, plain and simple.

Btw, I couldn't care less about this acquisition, I have 0 interest in Activision's offering other than a few exceptions.

 

[Dr Kaneda]

That's not how the stock market works...

EA market cap is 39 billion currently..

Ah I see, didn't realise that EA would have significantly less shares than Activision

 

[cash_longfellow]

COD for $70 billion…hey Microsoft I have piece of trash I can dig out of my bin for you for $70 billion as well.

 

[frogger]

What happens to Bungie, isn't it publishing under Activision?

 

[SSfox]

Dunno if somebody pointed this out, but i have a feeling that Gamepass Sub service may increase with new tiers? Thoughts?

 

[Sybrix]

COD for $70 billion…hey Microsoft I have piece of trash I can dig out of my bin for you for $70 billion as well.

Does your trash make $5 Million dollars a day?

 

[trikster40]

This really sucks for the industry as a whole moving forward. There’s barely any major publishers outside of the console manufacturers now. You’ve got EA, Ubi, SquareEnix. TakeTwo, and I can’t think of anyone else. Theres Sega but they’re definitely on a different tier.

Kudos for MS for opening their checkbook, but it sucks.

 

[sergiovassari]

I knew MS would try to get the gaming monopoly when they entered the console race. Just took them 4 gens to do it but they are actually doing it.
WIsh they tried to be competitive by building and creating they own studios and IPS and not stealing multiplatform franshises by buying publishers.

"I really want to play this game.
Oh no. I changed my mind, because the company bought the studio instead of building it from scratch."

Say no one ever.

 

[Tams]

Lol, after years of gaffers shitting on Overwatch, WoW, and CoD, console warriors acting like they are excited about this because their favorite box bought more studios…to continue making games that they don’t care about.

Ngl, I don't think there's a single Activision-Blizzard game that I do or ever have cared about.

 

[Badlucktroll]

Sony is going to respond with what they can afford i think, like some timed exclusive deals.

 

[MatrixReloaded101]

What happens to Bungie, isn't it publishing under Activision?

Phil will walk into the Bungie office with a Halo T-shirt on and say "Time to finish the fight" ...

 

[TheGodfather07]

how can sony respond? a big ass timed exclusive like GTA? capcom or square enix buy outs? maybe even kadokawa, which will net them fromsoftware. or do they just accept it and double down on their own first party games? either way they are in a sticky situation because they have nowhere near the amount of money microsoft do.

 

[darrylgorn]

Take-Two just bought Zynga....they aint getting bought up anytime soon.
Lest Microsoft releases the Kraken for real and we start seeing triple digit billions purchases.
But I really wouldnt want to lose Private Division to any company....let them keep doing what they are doing.

The only real counter buy I could even see being a thing Sony would do is to buy SquareEnix.
Take-Two is massive and I dont think really wants to be bought up.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sony bought take two.

GTA is the only game I can see that would seem to fit with Sony as an exclusive property. Sony is in desperate need of an identity property, like Nintendo has Mario and MS has Halo.

 

[JLB]

Eagerly awaiting your 100 page manifesto on why this is good for the industry and an amazing deal for MS

Its an amazing deal for MS, thats for sure.

 

[octiny]

now microsoft will get those 13.4m customers. which is the point!

Yep

 

[sinnergy]

Sony is going to respond with what they can afford i think, like some timed exclusive deals.

Look we buy monster games for 200 million or some shit .. Sony has nothing on MS warchest .. all those threads and posts back then about how MS is bound by investors .. now look. Those threads now look silly in hindsight.

I even thought Bethesda sale was massive ..

 

[Thanati]

What happens to Bungie, isn't it publishing under Activision?

No, they left a few years ago.

 

[jshackles]

Dunno if somebody pointed this out, but i have a feeling that Gamepass Sub service may increase with new tiers? Thoughts?

Not likely to happen, given that Game Pass was structured from the beginning to be malleable for both first and third party games. They already have tiers in place, for Console / PC / Ultimate. I don't see that changing any time soon.

 

[SSfox]

Sony would be smart and really focus on the Japanese style market, Snatch up Square and really put some real focus on VR

This, i know Acti is huge but their games aren't my thing outside of exception like Crash, but it's another story when it comes to big Japanese companies. Bandai Namco, Capcom and SE would be the greatest acquisitions, heck they can even buy Konami and resurrect it into the gaming landscape, but Sony doesn't seem to be interested to acquire big publishers.

 

[JimRyanGOAT]

Only thing Sony could do is focus on creating big MP games alongside their major Singleplayer IP's

Then add Gamepass to Playstation, because sony already proved their utterly incompetent with PS now