If anything thats the end game for them to make all their games avail on everything via xcloud eventually. Play cod streamed to you device of choice.
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Breaking: Microsoft to acquire Activision-Blizzard in near 70$ billion deal
- Thread starter Draugoth
- Start date
Memorabilia
Member
SonyGAF on swan dive watch!
Jokes aside, it’s always fun to come into various threads with popcorn in hand & remind others of all the people who seemed to legitimately think/wish/hope MS was getting out of the video game business “any day now” for the past 5-7 years.
It’ll be fun to see how Phil cleans up the rot at ActiBlizz & gets all the various IPs firing on all cylinders for Game Pass. This deal gives him - & us - a lot of toys to play with.
Jokes aside, it’s always fun to come into various threads with popcorn in hand & remind others of all the people who seemed to legitimately think/wish/hope MS was getting out of the video game business “any day now” for the past 5-7 years.
It’ll be fun to see how Phil cleans up the rot at ActiBlizz & gets all the various IPs firing on all cylinders for Game Pass. This deal gives him - & us - a lot of toys to play with.
Deerock71
Member
Sony will have to bend the knee. That's a tough ask for them.
Megatron
Member
They can’t afford to buy square. They would if they could. They paid square to keep the game off Xbox. This is just the big boy version of that.
And the game came out 2 years ago and no sign of an Xbox version So I am not sure you can call this a timed exclusive.
Brofist
Member
They may very well try but Sony has already tried launching their own competitor many times over the years. Killzone, Socom, Resistance, MAG, Warhawk etc.
Roronoa Zoro
Gold Member
They bought square stock and resold it to them to help them stay afloat. They could have bought many companies with the cash on hand they've had recently. Now that MS has made clear that things won't stay third party for long I guess they may have to but they certainly seemed fine with a more open industry
Sybrix
Member
The Bethesda buy was a North Korean missile launch.
This acquisition is the D-Day landings…
XBOX has just declared war on Sony and Nintendo
It’s a hell of a move and will dictate gaming for the next 10 years at least.
The games will be multiplat for sure, however you can bet your life MS will show the best place to play these games is on XBOX
This acquisition is the D-Day landings…
XBOX has just declared war on Sony and Nintendo
It’s a hell of a move and will dictate gaming for the next 10 years at least.
The games will be multiplat for sure, however you can bet your life MS will show the best place to play these games is on XBOX
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Yeah MS opened that warchest alright. Not sure what moves Playstation makes from this point on or even next gen honestly. Because holy shit 70 billion dollars is preposterous. No way Sony could compete with that even if they knew well ahead of time. Since we know the government isn't going to do much to stop this, don't be surprised when they buy up even more publishers like Ubisoft lol. And people will still try to say Sony buying small devs is the same equivalent. 
Roronoa Zoro
Gold Member
That part about cleaning out rot and firing on all cylinders is a lot to assume
BeforeU
Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
people keep saying this but its actually the opposite. Microsoft has realized that console business is deadend. Making people buy certain hardware to play something will not work. Xbox is essentially moving to complete software as service model. Content on cloud, accessible from any medium via subscription. They may take it away from Playstation, but will add it on many more devices over all. Will be evident in few years when we have 5G widely available, better cloud computing and playing on cloud is essentially same as playing it locally.
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Halo is Back
Member
This is pretty funny considering MS is an American company and Sony Japanese.You reap what you sow.
Megatron
Member
They can’t afford to buy square. They would if they could. They paid square to keep the game off Xbox. This is just the big boy version of that.
And the game came out 2 years ago and no sign of an Xbox version So I am not sure you can call this a time exclusive.
you mean when they were comfortably in first place and MS wasn’t able to pay companies to keep their games off PlayStation, but Sony could keep games off XBox? Yeah, no kidding they were fine with how things were.
Also Activision was for sale. If MS didn’t buy them then who would? Ten cent? Amazon? Apple? Are any of these better for us than it being Microsoft who bought them?
Deerock71
Member
With no agency, I could honestly take or leave this industry. I feel as if I'm not alone in my sentiment, either.
SentientStone
Member
Makes sense to me, I feel Activision games fit right into the Xbox brand of games.
If somehow MS makes Crash Bandicoot Xbox exclusive then it would just be hilarious, but I doubt they will do that. lol
If somehow MS makes Crash Bandicoot Xbox exclusive then it would just be hilarious, but I doubt they will do that. lol
Roronoa Zoro
Gold Member
Anybody without a platform to sell would be better. Those companies would keep selling it where it got its value from through that console's audience.
Sony and MS doing single game deals is so much better than simply buying a company and locking all franchises in. Besides Sony got most of their deals during ps2 and ps4 because of market share. Not because they signed a big check.
Dave_at_Home
Member
However this shakes out, it certainly is the biggest balls out move by team green. Just get Tony Hawk on Game Pass. Stat.
Deerock71
Member
Could there possibly be Microsoft ads of Crash yelling at Sony HQ with a bullhorn and talking smack? lol
Memorabilia
Member
No it’s really not. Given ActiBlizz’s recent PR, legal & employee morale issues, there’s exactly zero chance anyone sensible does this deal without a major housecleaning if not total restructuring as part of the of agreed upon conditions.
MScarpa
Member
Last 5 years running COD has been best selling game on Playstation.
Clintizzle
Lord of Edge.
MScarpa
Member
You have a choice. What are you talking about? Buy on PC, XCloud, XBOX. Or don't buy it and don't play it. Pretty simple.
Rivet
Member
It's well documented they actually thought about giving up though. They just ultimately chose the other option, trying to build a Netflix of gaming.
Phil Spencer: Microsoft Nearly Gave Up on Xbox After Xbox One Launch
Spencer: Microsoft almost abandoned Xbox brand after the Xbox One launch
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BeforeU
Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
doesn't matter if you like it or not. This is natural progression of the tech. People loved to own physical media not too far ago, now Netflix, Prime, HBO Max, Disney+ and countless services disrupted the market. People hated Kinect because of it was always on, listening, NSA and what not BS. Now almost every household has Google, Alexa or Home Pod lol Soon your cars will be subscription based as well, few companies have already started
Anyways bottom line is, people who wants to think old school, may stop playing games all together. But streaming and subscription is inevitable future. And Microsoft is miles ahead of everyone. If I had more money, I would buy as much as MSFT I could. If netflix is worth $300B, gamepass alone could be valued more than that eventually.
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HUELEN10
Member
Been trying to get caught up with everything and want to make sure I've got this right.
So when completed, this deal means ActiBlizzKing will be a part of Microsoft under the Microsoft Gaming Umbrella. The Microsoft Gaming umbrella will then have 3 main factions:
1. Xbox Game Studios
2. Bethesda
3. ActiBlizzKing
Bethesda and ActiBlizzKing are fully owned by Microsoft but are not part of Xbox Game Studios.
Am I understanding things right?
Also, what happens with Major League Gaming then?
So when completed, this deal means ActiBlizzKing will be a part of Microsoft under the Microsoft Gaming Umbrella. The Microsoft Gaming umbrella will then have 3 main factions:
1. Xbox Game Studios
2. Bethesda
3. ActiBlizzKing
Bethesda and ActiBlizzKing are fully owned by Microsoft but are not part of Xbox Game Studios.
Am I understanding things right?
Also, what happens with Major League Gaming then?
Deerock71
Member
I still buy physical, and I feel as if I'm not alone.
MScarpa
Member
But they can't so not really a conversation worth having. Literally they don't have the funds. They aren't MS.
Banjo64
cumsessed
MS don’t own Sekiro, From kept ownership of the IP (Sony own Bloodborne and Bandai own Dark Souls). Activision just own the publishing rights to the game, much like how Microsoft only own the publishing rights to Sunset Overdrive, but Sony own the IP. The distinction is that MS couldn’t just decide to make a Sekiro 2 tomorrow without From.
BeforeU
Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.
Companies don't make $70B bet on now or on a shrinking market. You can buy physical and continue to do so in future, but as I said its a shrinking market. They are betting everything on Gamepass. And so far people love it and subscribers only increasing. You don't have to like it, but eventually with this mentality, you may be forced to stop gaming its just a reality. Every industry is moving to software as service model. EVERY.
Memorabilia
Member
My comment was more specifically aimed at the fact that many of the usual suspects in SonyGAF have for years been gleefully talking out of their asses, seemingly hoping for less competition in the market with zero foreknowledge of what was actually happening behind the scenes at MS. The fact that MS higher ups who didn’t know their ass from a hole in the ground when it comes to gaming may have given thought to exiting the business after Mattrick’s colossal fuck up should not be surprising to anyone. In business, small or large, there are always discussions about potential financial & strategic forks in the road. This is normal, from the largest multinational right down to individual households. And, ultimately, they chose to stay the course as some of us predicted they would after righting the ship. Ultimately, as per usual, most of the people who were hoping for MS to exit were talking out of their asses. When Phil oversees a $7B and then $70B acquisition to cement their position in the market it tends to drive that point home.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
thebigmanjosh
Member
Pretty much. Too much of a hassle and would make no sense to pause developments/integrate the teams right away. Better to take a financial hit on some redundancy and keep the orgs largely the same. Budgets, leadership reporting, and marketing strategy will likely be the only things impacted in the short-term.
I'm surprised MLG wasn't highlighted earlier but it will become part of MS as well. Who knows if/how it will remain under MS Gaming or be spun into a different division, but my guess is they'll remain autonomous and report directly to Phil.
Hinedorf
Banned
Am I crazy or does this seem like a horrible idea. All the Blizzard games have sucked or at least have been significantly inferior to their products 10+ years ago. CoD is a complete regurgitation that's been stale for a long time. WoW is losing market to FFXIV now.
Why would MS want to buy products that are all past their success feeding on remakes/remasters to fuel new content.
70 Billon for has been content......I don't get it
Why would MS want to buy products that are all past their success feeding on remakes/remasters to fuel new content.
70 Billon for has been content......I don't get it
JLB
Banned
Dont forget Wolfenstein.
ReBurn
Gold Member
I guess Microsoft will just have to buy From next.
Sosokrates
Report me if I continue to console war
JLB
Banned
Candy Crash alone makes 1B+ per year. I mean, just to put in on perspective.
Let me tell you the thing about all of this: Sony and others will jump to subs similar to Gamepass. For subs, third party is key to succeed. Now, MS just bought a big chunk of third parties. I mean, if MS at this point buys EA and Ubi it will basically own the whole 3rd party market. Its a matter of secure games that will only be on your sub. Thats the key.
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fart town usa
Gold Member
This, it really is heading this way.
Eventually you'll just buy a controller and just log into your subscription of choice via the TV. I mean shit, I'm assuming Sony is still making TVs, what if the PS6 is literally a television, lol.
It does seem like a bummer but honestly, it's hard for me to get worked up about the future of gaming cause the most important games to me are older ones and I own all those consoles and a CRT. Once the consoles/CRT dies, I'll just get a FPGA device.
It will be interesting though to see how big or how niche Sony will be in 10 years. There's all kinds of niche subscription services like the Arrow Player (horror, art house stuff) and Shudder. Die hard fans eat that stuff up. If 10 years from now Sony has their subscription service with less games than MS, so be it. As long as they can be profitable and maintain some kind of presence, I'm alright with that. You could even have developers do a Patreon type thing and just self release games via their own service. So many different ways the future of gaming could go.
I definitely don't think this is some kind of kill shot though for Nintendo or Sony. It is a big deal, that can't be denied, but I think people are kind of overstating what the long term effects might be for companies competing with MS in the gaming sphere.
Sybrix
Member
COD makes $5 million a day…
What you’ve said is opinion and the reality is that yes the quality of games has blown hard over last few years.. they make a lot of money… so much money that Microsoft, one of the worlds most profitable
companies decided to buy them for $70 billion.
However you look at it, it’s an investment they will see a huge return on.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
OK Let's start the drama with this fact:
Series S will get more Activision Blizzard games in the future than the PS5.
Banjo64
cumsessed
Hope not.
tommib
Member
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!OK Let's start the drama with this fact:
Series S will get more Activision Blizzard games in the future than the PS5.
Kokoloko85
Member
I hope Nintendo will carry on doing what they do best, yes there more safe without 3rd Party than anyone else but still games like Monster Hunter and Namco add to their collection
Rivet
Member
Has anyone checked in on our boyRivet to see if everything's OK ?
I posted like 10 times today, just search my posts. I had good fun in today's threads I must say. I already said multiple times I have a PC and no money problem if upgrades are needed. I play Wasteland 3 right now, a PC (Gamepass) game, and Quest 2 with my friend. But Sony games will be fine too.
Now I'm not sure it's a good thing for us all if MS starts buying every major publisher, I'm actually pretty sure it's bad on the long run. Ultimately, we're the ones who'll pay with higher subscription prices or lower game quality if there are less corporations in gaming.
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Kokoloko85
Member
FromSoft is a part of Kadokawa Corporation, which has some kind of partnership with Sony
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