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[Pedro Motta]

this whole ordeal still makes no sense as there have been way bigger deals that went down without issue

Which ones? Many smaller deals didn't go though.. Like Nvidia buying ARM.

 

[StealthGoblin]

I cant think of a single company they have acquired that has released games on xbox after the fact.

Correct - but then those studios didn’t make multiplat IP. When they worked with Sony they worked on Sony IP.

Insomniac - Ratchet, Resistance are Sony IP.
HouseMarque - Sony IP
Media Molecule - Sony IP
Sucker Punch - Sony IP
etc
BluePoint - will keep making Sony IP, multiplat IP still owned by respective publishers.

By buying those studios, Xbox gamers did not have multiplat IP taken away from them. By buying Ninja Theory, Bethesda and Activision Blizzard King, Microsoft ARE taking multiplat IP away from gamers.

That is a huge difference.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I agree with Jez on this honestly

 

[Salty Popsicle]

Oh can you show me the contracts?

I can't, but I can show you where Bungie explicitly states that they retain publishing rights over all their games present and future even after the Sony deal. No such claim was made by Activision because Activision as an entity will no longer exist once the deal goes through.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

I can't, but I can show you where Bungie explicitly states that they retain publishing rights over all their games present and future even after the Sony deal. No such claim was made by Activision because Activision as an entity will no longer exist once the deal goes through.

Uh, yes Activision will still exist after the deal.

 

[FUBARx89]

I love how people say this as if Microsoft haven't done (and still don't do) their fair share of moneyhatting.

Selective memory is a hell of a thing.

Ya mean like GTA IV DLC, Bioshock 1, Ninja Gaiden 2, Lost Planet, Rise Of The Tomb Raider, Minecraft, Oblivion, Skyrim DLC etc etc.

Even recently you have Stalker 2, Warhammer 40k, Scorn, Ark 2, Yakuza LAD on next gen consoles.

Cause it seems like the people you're referring to definitely don't remember.

 

[Yoboman]

I cant think of a single company they have acquired that has released games on xbox after the fact.

Sony haven't bought any IP until Destiny. So the first multiplat IP they have bought stays multiplat. That's the difference

 

[SLB1904]

Man I hope this deal goes through just to watch YOU lose your mind lol.

i dont play cod in years my dude. and even if i did, i got 3 years of gamepass shrugs. the only entertaining thing coming out of it is the drama. the deal not going through would be the sweet spot.

 

[Alebrije]

So Sony has 3 years to develop a COD killer...

Well they can start with Socom ....

 

[bender]

If Take-Two was willing to sell itself or their assets, there is no chance in hell Sony would be able to outbid Microsoft.

I never said otherwise. I just don't think the current iteration of EA is attractive at all and hardly counters Activision's massive catalog. And EA's most profitable IP probably can't go exclusive anyway due to licensing restrictions. Take Two isn't for sale anyway, but someone acquiring them and the threat of making GTA exclusive could make the other side rethink their acquisition/exclusivity strategy.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

Uh, yes Activision will still exist after the deal.

Then that makes my point even stronger. MS had to make no concessions regarding publishing rights to acquire them the way Sony had to do to acquire Bungie.

 

[Yoboman]

I can't, but I can show you where Bungie explicitly states that they retain publishing rights over all their games present and future even after the Sony deal. No such claim was made by Activision because Activision as an entity will no longer exist once the deal goes through.

Activision will 100% still exist, same as Bethesda and Bungie. How embarrassing you think that

 

[Gudji]

I can't, but I can show you where Bungie explicitly states that they retain publishing rights over all their games present and future even after the Sony deal. No such claim was made by Activision because Activision as an entity will no longer exist once the deal goes through.

You're being naive my friend. No one pays almost 4 billion dollars to just get expertise on a genre. If Sony says jump they'll jump.

Doubt they'll do that tho because being on Xbox also makes them more money. Which at the end of the day its all they're looking for, these dudes don't care about console wars.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Then that makes my point even stronger. MS had to make no concessions regarding publishing rights to acquire them the way Sony had to do to acquire Bungie.

It has fuck all to do with your point.

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

Correct - but then those studios didn’t make multiplat IP. When they worked with Sony they worked on Sony IP.

Insomniac - Ratchet, Resistance are Sony IP.
HouseMarque - Sony IP
Media Molecule - Sony IP
Sucker Punch - Sony IP
etc
BluePoint - will keep making Sony IP, multiplat IP still owned by respective publishers.

By buying those studios, Xbox gamers did not have multiplat IP taken away from them. By buying Ninja Theory, Bethesda and Activision Blizzard King, Microsoft ARE taking multiplat IP away from gamers.

That is a huge difference.

I've said this before. It's fallen on deaf ears. Even studios that Sony have closed worked exclusively on their IP and haven't taken anything away from the wider market.

Also the rapid expansion Microsoft started was supposed to even things up in terms of first party development. This now is just greed. Can't succeed naturally then buy it.

 

[Pedro Motta]

I agree with Jez on this honestly

Why?

So you agree that tech giants can buy whole publishers and take away the games from the competing platforms, while offering them for free in their service and the competition has to sell them for 70$ while they are available?

And don't come at me with Final Fantasy and the likes because it's not on the same scale. One is clearly a hostile takeover of the gaming industry.

 

[GHG]

I agree with Jez on this honestly

This is about respecting a regulatory process and doing it properly. If Phil didn't take it public Jim doesn't need to say anything.

And make no mistake, the desperate party in all of this right now is not the one most people are assuming.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Why?

So you agree that tech giants can buy whole publishers and take away the games from the competing platforms, while offering them for free in their service and the competition has to sell them for 70$ while they are available?

And don't come at me with Final Fantasy and the likes because it's not on the same scale. One is clearly a hostile takeover of the gaming industry.

Why shouldn’t they? If you buy a publisher, and now you own that publisher, don’t you get to decide which platforms to publish on?

 

[Salty Popsicle]

Why?

So you agree that tech giants can buy whole publishers and take away the games from the competing platforms, while offering them for free in their service and the competition has to sell them for 70$ while they are available?

And don't come at me with Final Fantasy and the likes because it's not on the same scale. One is clearly a hostile takeover of the gaming industry.

Are you saying publicly traded companies should not be able to be acquired under any circumstance unless all competitors are made whole? WTF

 

[Max_Po]

man I just have to say that COD should not be taken off on any platform. It is too huge and it is minecraft for adults.

 

[Arcadialane]

Jim probably just needs more time to get his COD killer ready for release.

Haze 2

The original killed halo, now it's cod's time.

 

[bender]

I agree with Jez on this honestly

He'd have a point if the acquisition was a done deal. It's not. Microsoft is making concessions for a reasons and it's not out of the kindness of their own heart.

 

[Yoboman]

Then that makes my point even stronger. MS had to make no concessions regarding publishing rights to acquire them the way Sony had to do to acquire Bungie.

They are all still fully owned self publishing subsidiaries and it's up to the discretion of MS or Sony in either case if they allow them to publish on rival systems

In Sony's case they have indicated so far they have no issue with that. In MSs case they are gatekeeping formerly multiplat games to their own system

 

[Salty Popsicle]

Why shouldn’t they? If you buy a publisher, and now you own that publisher, don’t you get to decide which platforms to publish on?

Apparently Sony should have special aura that protects them from any competitive edge that a rival may have.

 

[DangerDiabolik]

Jim against exclusivity all of a sudden? He's gonna be in for a shock when he sees what deals PlayStation has been making to keep games off Xbox.

And make no mistake, the desperate party in all of this right now is not the one most people are assuming.

Yeah, Jimbo sounds real chill about all this.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Why?

So you agree that tech giants can buy whole publishers and take away the games from the competing platforms, while offering them for free in their service and the competition has to sell them for 70$ while they are available?

And don't come at me with Final Fantasy and the likes because it's not on the same scale. One is clearly a hostile takeover of the gaming industry.

This is about respecting a regulatory process and doing it properly. If Phil didn't take it public Jim doesn't need to say anything.

And make no mistake, the desperate party in all of this right now is not the one most people are assuming.

Makes me no difference if they take it exclusive or not

And yes I feel if a tech giant can buy a publisher they have every right to dictate which platform those games end up on

 

[BennyBlanco]

 

[Abriael_GN]

Why?

So you agree that tech giants can buy whole publishers and take away the games from the competing platforms, while offering them for free in their service and the competition has to sell them for 70$ while they are available?

Why not?

Call of Duty isn't a social service nor a human right.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Sony seems concerned.

 

[Topher]

He'd have a point if the acquisition was a done deal. It's not. Microsoft is making concessions for a reasons and it's not out of the kindness of their own heart.

It is true. Microsoft has used Minecraft as their example of how they will treat CoD. This doesn't seem to be the case now though. The question is now how much weight does that contradiction carry with the FTC? Probably not enough to make a difference, but they could follow up and ask for clarification since this seems to have been a key point.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

They are all still fully owned self publishing subsidiaries and it's up to the discretion of MS or Sony in either case if they allow them to publish on rival systems

In Sony's case they have indicated so far they have no issue with that. In MSs case they are gatekeeping formerly multiplat games to their own system

Sony was already doing that...without purchasing the publishing entities.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Hey guys maybe if we elect Bernie Sanders, he can make it the law that any franchise that traditionally came to PlayStation must always come to PlayStation in the future.

We can call it Jimmy’s Law.

 

[Yoboman]

Sony was already doing that...without purchasing the publishing entities.

So was MS. Only one of the two has done that with the practice of acquisition

 

[Leyasu]

Activision will 100% still exist, same as Bethesda and Bungie. How embarrassing you think that

Whether they exist or not changes nothing. They like Bethesda will continue supporting some legacy service games on PlayStation. That is all

 

[Punished Miku]

Apparently Sony should have special aura that protects them from any competitive edge that a rival may have.

If this deal goes through all gamers will be heading into a new golden age of gaming.

MS at their peak vs. Scared Sony. The best possible world for gamers. The opposite of arrogant.

Call of Duty will remain multiplat like Minecraft, like MS has publicly said a dozen times. All this means is they renegotiate in 3 years like literally every other third party deal.

 

[SLB1904]

Are you saying publicly traded companies should not be able to be acquired under any circumstance unless all competitors are made whole? WTF

context is very important, PlayStation has the biggest cod user base. Microsoft cant compete with sony that's why they are buying publishers to take away games from PlayStation.

 

[Bragr]

Jim Ryan sounds desperate and scared about losing Call of Duty.

 

[Daytonabot]

As someone who played through God of War with a Series X controller over the weekend, I find this whole thread hysterical.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

So was MS. Only one of the two has done that with the practice of acquisition

Nothing is stopping anyone else from doing the same.

 

[Punished Miku]

It is true. Microsoft has used Minecraft as their example of how they will treat CoD. This doesn't seem to be the case now though. The question is now how much weight does that contradiction carry with the FTC? Probably not enough to make a difference, but they could follow up and ask for clarification since this seems to have been a key point.

This deal goes FURTHER than Minecraft. There is no binding deals for Minecraft. Everyone is not grasping this.

 

[bender]

It is true. Microsoft has used Minecraft as their example of how they will treat CoD. This doesn't seem to be the case now though. The question is now how much weight does that contradiction carry with the FTC? Probably not enough to make a difference, but they could follow up and ask for clarification since this seems to have been a key point.

I'd also state that I don't think the deal is in any jeopardy. But if you work with your business partners (Jim and Sony in this instance) and make them feel comfortable with the future of these IPs, those business partners are less likely to object to the acquisition. Greasing the skids or however you say that.

 

[ManaByte]

Which ones? Many smaller deals didn't go though.. Like Nvidia buying ARM.

Disney/Fox was magnitudes bigger.

 

[Pedro Motta]

Makes me no difference if they take it exclusive or not

And yes I feel if a tech giant can buy a publisher they have every right to dictate which platform those games end up on

That's not the point, the point is not what they do when they buy them, is if they should be even able to buy them.

I'm not a fan of rug pulls, and this is one of the biggest yet, and I'm all for healthy organic competition, this is not it either.

 

[KingT731]

Makes me no difference if they take it exclusive or not

And yes I feel if a tech giant can buy a publisher they have every right to dictate which platform those games end up on

This is common sense. I think the issue seems to be the messaging of it. Saying one thing publicly/Bringing up behind doors discussions etc in effort to hide your actual intent. If you're gonna make them exclusive just say that then.

 

[Salty Popsicle]

context is very important, PlayStation has the biggest cod user base. Microsoft cant compete with sony that's why they are buying publishers to take away games from PlayStation.

Yes, context is important. Sony owns a larger share of the gaming console market and yet they are attempting to dictate what a rival with smaller share can and cannot do with their assets.

 

[Fredrik]

Sony have not permanently taken away any multiplat game series from gamers.

”permanently”
”game series”

What game serie can you say this about regarding Microsoft?

Do we know that The Elder Scrolls, Doom, Wolfenstein, Fallout IPs will permanently vanish from Playstation?

Nope.

All we know is that individual already announced games in certain game series will skip certain platforms. Which at this point is… uhm… what exactly?

We do know that Final Fantasy has been skipping MS and Nintendo platforms for awhile now though. Is it permanent? No idea.
And we know that Street Fighter 5 skipped everything except PS and PC. Permanently? No idea.
Insomniac was just starting to warm up as a multiplat dev and doing VR and new IPs when Sony bought them, they haven’t released a single game outside of Playstation since then. But is this permanent?

 

[Hawking Radiation]

Xbox loses out by taking COD away from PS player base and going exclusive. There's tons more money to be made by keeping the game multiplatform.

 

[Topher]

I have a question. What is even being negotiated here between Sony and Microsoft? Is Microsoft trying to get out of the marketing deal and making "concessions" as to CoD being on PS going forward? Wonder what the crux of the issue is here.

This deal goes FURTHER than Minecraft. There is no binding deals for Minecraft. Everyone is not grasping this.

Ok, but that's not what I said.

 

[GHG]

Yeah, Jimbo sounds real chill about all this.

Well if he wasn't he'd just accept whatever Phil is offering right now.

Not surprised people can't read the room, especially when people are talking as if it's a done deal.

Let me put it this way, if it were a done deal and there was nothing to worry about Phil doesn't circumvent the usual process and make the detailed statements he did to the press last week. There simply wouldn't have been a need.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

That's not the point, the point is not what they do when they buy them, is if they should be even able to buy them.

I'm not a fan of rug pulls, and this is one of the biggest yet, and I'm all for healthy organic competition, this is not it either.

I get your point but honestly I am in the camp I don't care who buys who and where they put their games