• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Wall Street was Betting That Microsoft-Activision Deal Will Fail

Status
Not open for further replies.

John Wick

Member
psygnosis had 20% of uk gaming market
Wow! That's huge.............The UK is the biggest single games market.........
Where did you get that figure from then?
It's laughable comparing Sony to buying Psygnosis to MS buying Act/Blizz. They are nowhere near the same or in the same realms.
Sony had no development studios or any game publishing experience. They bought Psygnosis to help launch the PS1.
 
Last edited:
Wow! That's huge.............The UK is the biggest single games market.........
Where did you get that figure from then?
It's laughable comparing Sony to buying Psygnosis to MS buying Act/Blizz. They are nowhere near the same or in the same realms.
Sony had no development studios or any game publishing experience. They bought Psygnosis to help launch the PS1.
When the guy had to go back all the way back to 1993 I already knew that some BS was coming our way.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Wow! That's huge.............The UK is the biggest single games market.........
Where did you get that figure from then?
It's laughable comparing Sony to buying Psygnosis to MS buying Act/Blizz. They are nowhere near the same or in the same realms.
Sony had no development studios or any game publishing experience. They bought Psygnosis to help launch the PS1.
MS has now purchased two publishers.

UKs largest, and now one of the world's largest.
 

The Alien

Banned
I don't know why it would fail to proceed TBH.
Of 3 console manufacturers, MS is solidly in last place. Of all the PC players, MS isn't on the radar.

The shareholders approved it late yesterday.
I'm sure it will recieve some federal grilling but MS has some great lawyers and will be able to defend this deal.
 
I don't know why it would fail to proceed TBH.
Of 3 console manufacturers, MS is solidly in last place. Of all the PC players, MS isn't on the radar.

The shareholders approved it late yesterday.
I'm sure it will recieve some federal grilling but MS has some great lawyers and will be able to defend this deal.
MS is slowly but surely establishing itself as second place, but your point is still valid.
 
I've said this before, anyone certain this will go through should be buying ATVI shares with everything they have.

Guaranteed 25% right guys?
I definitely wouldn't do this... if you do, I wish you lots of luck!

I think the bump from the "acquisition" news has already happened, it happened when it was announced. The price jump was damn good, it's come back down since then. There might be another bump if/when it goes thru, but nothing like the day of announcement bump. Be careful guys, the stock market is a fickle bitch. "trade with our head, not your feelings/emotions" - probably Hasan LOL
 

sainraja

Member
I remember playing on ps3, where you couldn't chat private with a friend and play together in game, you had to use Skype on a phone.
That isn't exactly true, at-least not the way you are stating it. I mean, OS wise, sure, but you could play together and chat in games. You couldn't chat while playing different games.
I remember ps3 was down for what, a week or a month and got compensated with the choice of three games or something like that. And deal with random outages. There's a reason so many people joked about psn being down at that time.
Oh you mean the time when PSN was targeted and attacked due to Sony's controversial decision to remove OtherOS? Why are you trying to use that to support that it was down often and suggesting Sony had to reward people with games for it being down on a normal basis?

I mainly played online on the PS3 that generation and you are exaggerating things a bit here. It wasn't down that often and most of the time it was just fine.

Meanwhile you could pay on xbox, true, but also get a service worth paying for. I could talk to my friend or in a party with few clicks, and easily join games together.
Believe it or not, XBL was also down during that generation at times. To completely gloss over that is a bit fishy.

I had both generations, and I went from 360 to ps3, and really felt the downgrade
I had both also. Your point?
Feature for feature is really the only area where PSN didn't compete. Uptime wasn't really that bad.

Sure, blame Microsoft for paying for online.
Blame them or credit them for it. Does it matter? They launched the XBL service with a yearly subscription.

But credit them for Sony upping their fucking game regarding online. Now Sony also needs to up their game about backward compatibility and preservation of gaming history.
That's usually what happens when there are competitors in the market.
 
Last edited:
MS is slowly but surely establishing itself as second place, but your point is still valid.
Who is MS overtaking? Nintendo or Sony?

That's usually what happens when there are competitors in the market.
There was plenty of competition in the market when MS tried to launch the Xbox One or when they introduced the online paywall. The pressure of a competitor alone doesn't necessarily results in things that are desirable to the players. There was plenty of pressure from Nintendo on the portable market but Sony still fumbled every decision they've made regarding the Vita.

When you look at it, other than the "2h trials" idea, Sony didn't do much other than just rearranging their offers (it was structured in a way that never made any sense to begin with). The new PS+ is pretty much just the old PS+ and PSNow combined into a single service with tiers, Sony is hardly reacting to the competition here, they made no commitment to day 1 games on their service (Gamepasses biggest draw).
 
Last edited:

MonarchJT

Banned
Wow! That's huge.............The UK is the biggest single games market.........
Where did you get that figure from then?
It's laughable comparing Sony to buying Psygnosis to MS buying Act/Blizz. They are nowhere near the same or in the same realms.
Sony had no development studios or any game publishing experience. They bought Psygnosis to help launch the PS1.
just using Google. Psygnosis was big and very famous (one of the most) the industry wasn't like is today there was hundreds of small devs dividing the business ...
 
Last edited:
just using Google. Psygnosis was big and very famous (one of the most) the industry wasn't like is today there was hundreds of small devs dividing the business ...
Are you saying the industry is more consolidated today or that it is less consolidated today? Can't really understand what you are trying to say, looks like you are making an argument against yourself.

There were plenty of people making games from their garages back in the day, it isn't a new thing.

I'm not even against the Activision Blizzard or the Bethesda acquisition I'm all for them, the more the merrier. I wish they would buy EA, Ubisoft, Take Two and WB as well while at it. As long as they don't buy Nintendo, Sony or other Japanese publishers (well, let them buy Konami if they want), let MS try to manage all these publishers, it would be entertaining to see.
 
Last edited:

Stuart360

Member
It will go through, i'd literally bet one of my fingers right now if it was in a cigar cutter lol.
I kind of wish it wouldnt though. The price is crazy and i'd much rather have Ubisoft, WB, and a few others for that price.

Having said that, this whole publisher firesale is starting to get old and a little tedious to be honest.
 

sainraja

Member
Who is MS overtaking? Nintendo or Sony?


There was plenty of competition in the market when MS tried to launch the Xbox One or when they introduced the online paywall. The pressure of a competitor alone doesn't necessarily results in things that are desirable to the players. There was plenty of pressure from Nintendo on the portable market but Sony still fumbled every decision they've made regarding the Vita.

When you look at it, other than the "2h trials" idea, Sony didn't do much other than just rearranging their offers (it was structured in a way that never made any sense to begin with). The new PS+ is pretty much just the old PS+ and PSNow combined into a single service with tiers, Sony is hardly reacting to the competition here, they made no commitment to day 1 games on their service (Gamepasses biggest draw).
Sure, yeah, I can see that. But I do think the competitive landscape had an influence over the need to restructure/reposition their offerings so they seem more competitive or better value overall. And having two entirely different services with a subscription modal wasn't working for them so they had to put it under the same branding.
 
Man I’ve never seen someone post so much about a company they clearly hate than the Russell Wilson Broncos guy. He’s in every single thread 😆

Anyways I don’t see any reason the deal won’t go through. Politicians here in the US have a tendency to talk tough but not act unless they can make money off of it.
 

John Wick

Member
just using Google. Psygnosis was big and very famous (one of the most) the industry wasn't like is today there was hundreds of small devs dividing the business ...
So basically Sony buying Psygnosis had no detrimental effect on games being taken away from other platforms or getting a large amount of developers. Huge difference to the Acti/Blizz deal
 

MonarchJT

Banned
So basically Sony buying Psygnosis had no detrimental effect on games being taken away from other platforms or getting a large amount of developers. Huge difference to the Acti/Blizz deal
wtf u talking about i said the opposite. Also because basically Sony destroyed Psygnosis.
The only reason why I am in favor of Microsoft acquisitions is because unlike the others and above all Sony it will release the titles on consoles, PCs, streaming, and even day one on gamepass (the latter would be enough to move the balance in favor of Ms) . Of all it is the best prospect for consumers. When Sony will do the same we will talk but until Sony insists on confining games only to their console it's a big no for me....and objectively a big disadvantage for the majority of gamers.
 
Last edited:

Ozriel

M$FT
So basically Sony buying Psygnosis had no detrimental effect on games being taken away from other platforms or getting a large amount of developers. Huge difference to the Acti/Blizz deal

Microsoft has long stated to the public and to regulators that it would keep putting Activision’s popular games on multiple platforms.

You’re here with bullshit claims of games being ‘taken away’. Why?
 

BabyYoda

Banned
XAnd0K6.jpg
Good luck with that honey bun, he can't even wipe his arse without assistance...
 

John Wick

Member
wtf u talking about i said the opposite. Also because basically Sony destroyed Psygnosis.
The only reason why I am in favor of Microsoft acquisitions is because unlike the others and above all Sony it will release the titles on consoles, PCs, streaming, and even day one on gamepass (the latter would be enough to move the balance in favor of Ms) . Of all it is the best prospect for consumers. When Sony will do the same we will talk but until Sony insists on confining games only to their console it's a big no for me....and objectively a big disadvantage for the majority of gamers.
Sony never destroyed Psygnosis. Most Psygnosis games before Sony acquired were for Amiga and ST which were graphically amazing but limited gameplay wise. The home computer gaming boom was dying as consoles started taking the spotlight. Sony bought them as they were on a downward trend anyway.
As for others? Tencent are multiplatform. Sony have started releasing PC as well. Only Nintendo are one platform.
 

MonarchJT

Banned
Sony never destroyed Psygnosis. Most Psygnosis games before Sony acquired were for Amiga and ST which were graphically amazing but limited gameplay wise. The home computer gaming boom was dying as consoles started taking the spotlight. Sony bought them as they were on a downward trend anyway.
As for others? Tencent are multiplatform. Sony have started releasing PC as well. Only Nintendo are one platform.
read the story of Psygnosis and what is the general consensus about it after so my y acquisition.
Sony started..yes okay we will talk about it when they start to release games day one on other platform (that I'm sure will come later in the gen). As right now for consumer and for most gamers Ms seem to be the best opt
 

BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
Schreier is almost consistently wrong. I would call his editor crazy for not firing him or at least reigning him in - but I suppose his brand of sensationalism-driven clickbait is what Bloomberg is after.
 

Jaybe

Member
Schreier’s time at Bloomberg is running out with articles like these. Plus the sad doubling-down tweets. I’m still surprised a business news company hired this schmuck.
 

CatLady

Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
Jason, please STFU. You're just making a fool of yourself acting like you know more than Buffet who is one of the richest men around and a top investor and Hoeg, who is the owner of law firm that handles M&A.

Ever since this deal was announced you've been desperate for this sale to fail. Sorry, but your blatant inner fanboy is showing.
 

Shmunter

Member
Xbox fans mortgaging homes to buy shares
Sony fans dumping all holdings

😂

More Sony fans as usual….todays 1M snapshot. Jason is a deplorable little skunk but is seemingly right in this instance, no one is following Buffet - is it even real news?

21lhzG1.jpg
 
Last edited:

Fredrik

Member
wtf u talking about i said the opposite. Also because basically Sony destroyed Psygnosis.
The only reason why I am in favor of Microsoft acquisitions is because unlike the others and above all Sony it will release the titles on consoles, PCs, streaming, and even day one on gamepass (the latter would be enough to move the balance in favor of Ms) . Of all it is the best prospect for consumers. When Sony will do the same we will talk but until Sony insists on confining games only to their console it's a big no for me....and objectively a big disadvantage for the majority of gamers.
Agreed, it’s certainly not as bad when MS are doing it as when Sony or Nintendo are doing it.
But it still sucks for those who don’t have a Xbox or PC, and I have friends like that so therefore I’m not going to praise this movement.

And to be honest I don’t see why they need Activision Blizzard. It’s like 6 Call of Duty studios, which are competing with 343 and Halo and will be multiplat, then it’s the shrinking World of Warcraft on PC, and Diablo which might be awesome but could be another case where they go multiplat, plus Spyro. Why are they paying so much?
 

reksveks

Member
Why are they paying so much?
COD is still the number one selling game most years, think its 7/10 of the top selling games in the last decade in the US. Being multiplatform doesn't make it less valuable and it also has an impact on thier platform growth (see the yougov poll).

Also the king that we are all forgetting is King and thier margin. That margin which in theory could get a decent boost if EU/US regulators get their way.

In total, very few gaming companies get to the revenue and the profit margins as ABK
 

Fredrik

Member
COD is still the number one selling game most years, think its 7/10 of the top selling games in the last decade in the US. Being multiplatform doesn't make it less valuable and it also has an impact on thier platform growth (see the yougov poll).

Also the king that we are all forgetting is King and thier margin. That margin which in theory could get a decent boost if EU/US regulators get their way.

In total, very few gaming companies get to the revenue and the profit margins as ABK
Nothing says they’ll keep on selling as much. And what’s their yearly profit? How long until they’ve recouped the money? 5 years? 10 years? And if this goes through, will this stop other better studio acquisitions?
 

Goalus

Member
Nothing says they’ll keep on selling as much. And what’s their yearly profit? How long until they’ve recouped the money? 5 years? 10 years? And if this goes through, will this stop other better studio acquisitions?
They transferred a huge amount of cash (which by itself loses 10% per year due to inflation) into an asset that makes money. Even if Activision Blizzard made zero profits from this day on, it would have been a better investment than holding onto $70 billion cash that will be half as valuable in five years. So I don't think they need to waste any thoughts on how to "recoup" the money.
 

reksveks

Member
Nothing says they’ll keep on selling as much. And what’s their yearly profit?
Last year it was like 3bn in profits (will need to double check when I get to a laptop), the Activision and Blizzard have issues in the short term imo but its not unrecoverable. King grew 10% YoY last quarter.

Nothing is certain that's true for everything though.

How long until they’ve recouped the money? 5 years? 10 years?

Need to stop thinking of it in this way, they don't need to recoup the money cause that cash on hand has been converted into asset, which if they wanted to they could sell on. The real question is what makes the most ROI? leaving the cash in a bank (in this inflationary environment) , buying ABK or spending the money on other companies.

And if this goes through, will this stop other better studio acquisitions?
That's a very good question. I think you would need to first define 'better', better in terms of generating a profit and causing a shift in user behaviour or better in terms of games quality.

I don't expect any big studios to be bought by MS after this. I think they will have to work via publishing deals or exclusivity deals.
 
Last edited:

Fools idol

Banned
Buffett seal of approval likely means he sees the FTC not being a road block. He still holds a lot of weight and friends in high places.

It's really quite simple, as most of Buffetts trades are... he probably sees if as arbitrage because the current share price is well below the $94 or so agreed sale. And given his huge bet he probably has insider information the deal is already a done done via FTC.
 
Last edited:

Goalus

Member
I don't expect any big studios to be bought by MS after this. I think they will have to work via publishing deals or exclusivity deals.
After Activision, the remaining interesting ones are Take Two and Epic (and Valve).
If Sony starts snagging Japanese publishers, I could see MS acquiring TTWO. Both Epic and Valve will be difficult to acquire, so there is no way to predict what will happen with them.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom