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[coffinbirth]

CRINGE.

On both sides, but that being said, I'm not sure what else they're expecting their rival to do??? It's surprising Microsoft even went as far as to do that if we're being real here. Wonder if it's off the table now once the deal(s) are done?

Honestly though, the only people that I have empathy with are the gamers. Both of these companies can fuck right off as far as I'm concerned, and any good will that MS have earned with me the last couple of years vaporized when faced with the proposition that several of my friends in our group are not going to be able play CoD with us unless they get different hardware. That's fucking bullshit. We JUST FINALLY got cross-play the last few years and now this happens. HORSESHITTERY.

I personally think this is a major misstep and hopefully it will get sorted out....but this kinda seems like the dawn of WW3 for console wars, and I don't mean the online squabbling between fans. I mean full-blown "Sega does what Nintendon't" type shit. It might get pretty ugly, folks, and I'm not looking forward to all the petty bullshit that will inevitably occur on both sides that will just result in all of us getting fucked over in some capacity.

Now is the time to speak with our wallets more than ever and just go PC, IMHO. Fuck it, right? Microsoft and Sony have both made it pretty clear that PC is the platform that will get all of their games anyways....and now with Steam Deck we have a handheld option that console players have been wanting since forever. Fuck these clowns.

 

[FritzJ92]

Yah. No idea why are they acting as if they will go bankrupt or sell less Playstation than Xbox without CoD. They have numerous studios and franchises under Playstation, and PS5 will continue to sell comfortably well without CoD

I think they are worried about the consumers that spend money on COD every year. The average consumer loves COD (look at their sales numbers), with the majority being on PlayStation. If 10% of Sonys COD buyers go to Xbox that's a lot of lost revenue for Sony, and a lot of new customers trying Xbox out and could potentially encourage friends to follow so they can play together and "save" money together on the same game that would cost them $70 on PS.
I do think Playstation will continue to sell well, regardless of with or without cod this generation, but I don't think that sentiment will exist into next gen and consumers will actually have good reasons for both brands, not so much one sided.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

You made FF 16 exclusive along with other games and you have BLOCKED other games coming to xbox/ xbox game pass.. Sucks when it happens to you Jim Crying.

I hope xbox and Phil says fuck you and makes COD exclusive out of spite (they wont as that's billions they'd lose)

All this drama about an IP that I bet the vast majority of GAF 'Hates'.

The issue here is that. FF ain't making CoD numbers. FF ain't a yearly franchise.

CoD was associated with Xbox back in the 360 era. (Just like FF, Residet Evil or Metal gear with the PlayStation brand)

In the PS4 era, Xbox lost that association. (They are even in this regard).

Both are clowns. And is funny that they are acting like literally fanboy warriors.

 

[Hestar69]

All this drama about an IP that I bet the vast majority of GAF 'Hates'.

The issue here is that. FF ain't making CoD numbers. FF ain't a yearly franchise.

CoD was associated with Xbox back in the 360 era. (Just like FF, Residet Evil or Metal gear with the PlayStation brand)

In the PS4 era, Xbox lost that association. (They are even in this regard).

Both are clowns. And is funny that they are acting like literally fanboy warriors.

Agreed and same for the sony fan boys mad about this.

FF for sure doesn't do COD numbers,But them paying to keep the game/other games off xbox,even paying devs to NOT put their game on game pass is trashy..

I have both systems thankfully so I can play FF,but I have a few friends that are xbox only/huge FF fans that can't play ff16 next year now.

 

[The Inventor]

Business is Business. Get over it.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Agreed and same for the sony fan boys mad about this.

The minions on each side are pathetic BUT they are doing what they are supposed to do. Like little worker ants. Which at the end of the day very entertaining.

FF for sure doesn't do COD numbers,But them paying to keep the game/other games off xbox,even paying devs to NOT put their game on game pass is trashy..

Is bussines. MS could easily offered 2 or 3 times more what Sony offers to negate the deal or make similar moves.

MS is not your Innocent and pure benevolent Angel.

I have both systems thankfully so I can play FF,but I have a few friends that are xbox only/huge FF fans that can't play ff16 next year now.

Sorry, but I find these kind of comments sus af. If someone is a huge FF fan for example, you buy a Play Station. That's it.

 

[Rykan]

This won't look good for Microsoft. Call of Duty is something else for gamers. It's not like God of War or something. There are people just buys a console for Cod or Fifa alone. You can't just take away something from these people and look gamer friendly at the same time. 3 years is bullshit. Hide your Starfield where ever you want, but you can't/shouldn't make Cod an exclusive game.

I'm a Pc gamer so I don't care that much about it, in case you think I'm crying next to my Ps 5 lol. Fck them if they make it Xbox only though

And they can still do that?

 

[kyliethicc]

It's a level of boldness I've rarely ever seen from Jim

yeah tell me about it

in bed I can’t even get him to get on top

 

[Bernd Lauert]

20 pages in and nobody can explain how Phil was supposedly lying here. Is it some kind of mass hallucination induced by blue sock skin contact?

 

[Chronicle]

Just think in 3 years this product will be 'free'.

 

[twilo99]

The corporate world is so bizarre. Why does Microsoft have to deal with Sony at all regarding a company Sony has no stake in..

 

[modiz]

See Jim, nobody cares if you think it is "inadequate". You wanted to curb stomp Xbox this generation, by doing what Sony did in the past: Buy exclusivity deals for crucial IP so that Xbox does not even get a mention for these titles.
You wanted to achieve >50% market share. You won't get it. You will not reach your goals as a CEO? You need to spend more money to keep competitive? Cry me a river.
We know Sony wanted to operate differently this generation but Microsoft serious'd in terms of Xbox and this is Playstation's childish reaction? Sorry no sorry. You poked the bear too much in the past and now you cry foul.

 

[Snowdonhoffen]

20 pages in and nobody can explain how Phil was supposedly lying here. Is it some kind of mass hallucination induced by blue sock skin contact?

I think the issue is that he should've been direct from the start. Like from day 1 say "Look, we acquired Activision because we want some exclusive content to boost our Xbox sales and Gamepass subscriptions" and all this exclusivity talk would be long gone by now. But instead he's been just working his way around to avoid saying "Xbox" and "exclusive" in the same sentence. Literally he just needs to set the record straight instead of being vague but we're probably going to get another multiple interpretation answer from him.

 

[levyjl1988]

Well fuck Sony for making multi platform games with PS exclusives. Microsoft can keep Call of Duty. Sony has Bungie anyways.

 

[Sacred]

Now the deal goes through and MS give Sony nothing. This is an idiotic move by Sony.

 

[cireza]

Sony buying (temporary) exclusives from third parties has been perfectly adequate for the last 25 years though.

 

[bender]

Sony buying (temporary) exclusives from third parties has been perfectly adequate for the last 25 years though.

It's a good thing Microsoft never engaged in this horrible practice.

 

[Snowdonhoffen]

Sony buying (temporary) exclusives from third parties has been perfectly adequate for the last 25 years though.

I just found out Sony has been the only one buying temporary exclusives in the last 25 years

 

[Yoboman]

It's a good thing Microsoft never engaged in this horrible practice.

Yeah I'm glad I'm playing High on Life and STALKER 2 on PS5 in the coming months and that they haven't been put into exclusive deals

 

[cireza]

It's a good thing Microsoft never engaged in this horrible practice.

Of course. It is totally comparable to Sony...

 

[Panajev2001a]

It's a good thing Microsoft never engaged in this horrible practice.

Yeah, but as always:

Also… temporary vs permanent being a concept some people pretend not to understand just as they see no issue somehow with Phil’s promise not to reduce the number of gamers having access to Bethesda games but to increase it… salesman like math to allow excluding PlayStation players permanently . It is actually understandable why they see no issue but it is Dan to bring it out when they go on the next Sony Anti Consumer storm in a teacup.

(“ah well if you could increased reach of Xcloud and GamePass the math checks out” is likely how he would weasel his way out of the issue, but )

 

[Ozriel]

Phil said they offered CoD for several years past the current deal.

Jim confirms it.

They are being disingenuous says Neogaf poster.

You can't make this shit up.

After all the hysteria, this sums it up.

Not to mention Phil specifically says “at least several more years”. Meaning it’s certainly not a closed chapter. And his comments refer to the signed agreement that’s legally binding.

They’ve said they plan to keep COD on Playstation, but what they’ll commit to in a legally binding agreement is three years post the expiry of Sony’s marketing deal. That does seem fair.

Should be easy enough for Sony to do some trade/exchange to keep COD on PlayStation permanently

 

[Yoboman]

Of course. It is totally comparable to Sony...

You're right, Sony have done nothing on the scale of buying two publishers

 

[Slothbeing1209]

 

[bender]

Of course. It is totally comparable to Sony...

 

[LRKD]

Is this supposed to be some major ownage and gotcha moment? Microsoft owes PlayStation nothing here past current contracts, to even receive an offer further past that at all is incredibly generous imo.

And to be clear I think that applies both ways Sony owes xbox absolutely nothing when it comes to the bungie acquisition as well. If a studio gets snatched up by any side, sucks to suck. Start putting out your own game to compete instead. Crying about it is absolutely pathetic.

 

[cireza]

Munch Odyssey is definitely comparable to Final Fantasy and Street Fighter, to only name two longtime multiplatform series.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Literally birthed the Moneyhat term .

 

[Orbital2060]

When I said give Jim a break, I didnt expect him to go full retard.

 

[bender]

Is this supposed to be some major ownage and gotcha moment? Microsoft owes PlayStation nothing here past current contracts, to even receive an offer further past that at all is incredibly generous imo.

And to be clear I think that applies both ways Sony owes xbox absolutely nothing when it comes to the bungie acquisition as well. If a studio gets snatched up by any side, sucks to suck. Start putting out your own game to compete instead. Crying about it is absolutely pathetic.

It has zero to do with generosity or Microsoft/Phil Spencer looking out for PlayStation gamers and everything to do with getting the Activision acquisition football over the goal line with as little resistance as possible. Likewise, Jim Ryan is posturing to best serve Sony's self interests.

 

[bender]

Literally birthed the Moneyhat term .

People have real shitty or real selective memories.

 

[Ozriel]

This does seem like it, and it’s sensible business.

Why would anyone imagine MS would provide a signed and legally binding agreement to Sony to keep COD on PlayStation in perpetuity?

 

[intheinbetween]

Sony, the company which is the market leader, is playing the victim when they are known for shady tactics close to monopoly for years, acquiring studios and publishers, blocking games from other platforms and services, exclusive content from cosmetics to DLC, even language dubs, ok.

But hey if the third player in the market tries to acquire one of the many current publishers is so inadequate it shouldn’t be allowed.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Jim Ryan be like

Make Phil give you a better deal, Jim. The current one is inadequate on many levels. They can do better

 

[Yoboman]

Sony, the company which is the market leader, is playing the victim when they are known for shady tactics close to monopoly for years, acquiring studios and publishers, blocking games from other platforms and services, exclusive content from cosmetics to DLC, even language dubs, ok.

But hey if the third player in the market tries to acquire one of the many current publishers is so inadequate it shouldn’t be allowed.

We just making shit up now?

 

[Helghan]

There's only 1 thing inadequate here Jimbo, and that's you in your role. PS5 is an amazing console, and Sony makes amazing games, but that's it. The policies that came through during his start as a CEO aren't 4thegamers, mostly just for Sony

 

[Panajev2001a]

People have real shitty or real selective memories.

Yep still funny when the next fake drama is started over something where they want to paint others as anti consumer or to show support for the beauty of competition (when it is meant more like “what keeps us from being declared a legal monopoly and risks being punished when we abuse of it” ).…

It still somehow almost fun to see people constantly trying to compare the moneyhats both companies have used (worse thing is that one of them was doing that while crying against the practice) and the dev purchases made to compare with almost $70+ Billion spent on Zenimax/Bethesda (and all the studios they own) + Activision-Blizzard (and all of their studios) with the purchase of essentially always exclusive teams like Naughty Dogs or Insomniac . Yep, totally comparable.

 

[Ozriel]

We just making shit up now?

From Wikipedia, “Psygnosis was a British video game developer and publisher…”

 

[vkbest]

Since when has Sony considered their impact on gamers with all their timed exclusivity bullshit? Did locking Spiderman down to PlayStation in a third party game matter to them? How about locking down Final Fantasy? Sony never gave a shit until Microsoft brought a bazooka to a knife fight.

Let me get my tiny violin, because the ball isn’t in your court Sony. Don’t like it? Too bad.

You are comparing buying a game exclusive, with using the money you cant produce in one division to buy other companies to kill the competence? Lol

 

[Panajev2001a]

We just making shit up now?

Shady tactics, monopolist, buying publishers…

I see a fan of an actual monopolist that abused its market power on the PC side, to look at a quite famous trial and punishment they got across the EU area too, coined the embrace/extend/extinguished terminology (for their support of standards and now with OSS they are doing it again), and just bought two of the biggest publishers projecting onto other companies… sure .

 

[Panajev2001a]

From Wikipedia, “Psygnosis was a British video game developer and publisher…”

Yeah totally comparable lol (and which still published new ganes on other consoles, but go on comparing it to making Elder Scrolls titles unavailable on PS5 or future Doom titles, etc…).

It would be easier if you just went with the “my dad is richer than your dad and can just buy him out of the market, who cares about competition on the marketplace and anti-monopoly laws, those are for the poor fools”. That would be clear, direct, and sounds a lot more honest than that.

 

[RobRSG]

Well played, Jimbo.

 

[Leyasu]

Jim Ryan be like

Make Phil give you a better deal, Jim. The current one is inadequate on many levels. They can do better

Jim Ryan be like

“Nobody fucks Sony gamers, except for Sony”

But in all seriousness, Microsoft doesn’t have to do anything past the original contracts.

 

[bender]

Sony, the company which is the market leader, is playing the victim when they are known for shady tactics close to monopoly for years, acquiring studios and publishers, blocking games from other platforms and services, exclusive content from cosmetics to DLC, even language dubs, ok.

But hey if the third player in the market tries to acquire one of the many publishers in the market is so inadequate and it shouldn’t be allowed.

How are they playing the victim? How have they been "close to monopoly for years"? Who else acquires studios and publishers? Who else blocks games from other platforms and services? Who else has exclusive content from cosmetics to DLC? And even if these shady tactics were one sided, and they most certainly are not, why would it make it less shitty for the opposing side to engage in those same practices? Beyond all that, comparing the acquisition of one of the largest publishers in the world to the past sins of money hating timed exclusivity and content is as dumb as carrying the water for these companies in the first place.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Jim Ryan be like

“Nobody fucks Sony gamers, except for Sony”

But in all seriousness, Microsoft doesn’t have to do anything past the original contracts.

As Jim said, they need a better deal. Current one is inadequate

 

[Ozriel]

Yeah totally comparable lol (and which still published new ganes on other consoles, but go on comparing it to making Elder Scrolls titles unavailable on PS5 or future Doom titles, etc…).

Company needed exclusive content and acquired previously multiplatform developers for that purpose. Same principle, different scope.

You’ve been making your ‘moneyhat’ argument in the past few pages with principle in mind. Why change now? There’s literally an image above bringing up purchased exclusivity of Munch’s Odyssey in response to comments about purchased exclusivity of the likes of FF 7R and SF5. Is the impact the same?

Look at principle and intent. There’s credible info that Sony bid over $1bn to buy Leyou, a publisher. So it’s clear both companies see acquisition as a viable strategy for first party expansion.

 

[Leyasu]

As Jim said, they need a better deal. Current one is inadequate

They might not even get another deal. Sony could have used that deal as a basis, to try and negotiate a better deal.

I can’t see how going public is really going to change anything at the moment.

 

[Rykan]

It has zero to do with generosity or Microsoft/Phil Spencer looking out for PlayStation gamers and everything to do with getting the Activision acquisition football over the goal line with as little resistance as possible. Likewise, Jim Ryan is posturing to best serve Sony's self interests.

This is exactly what's going on. The only reason MS is committing to a several years of guaranteed Playstation support for Call of Duty is to get the acquisition done. There is zero reason why MS should express a commitment to indefinite Playstation support for Call of Duty. There's no reason to give up that negotiation leverage.

 

[bender]

You’ve been making your ‘moneyhat’ argument in the past few pages with principle in mind. Why change now? There’s literally an image above bringing up purchased exclusivity of Munch’s Odyssey in response to comments about purchased exclusivity of the likes of FF 7R and SF5. Is the impact the same?

To be fair to me, bender, the image was posted because of the turnabout is fair play sentiment that some folks around here have because Sony's done shitty moneyhatting in the past. If you want comparable impact, Microsoft paid for GTA IV's episodes to have one year of timed exclusivity in the 360 era and of course the recent Tomb Raider games. The reason the term 'money hat' is popular is because of a launch title on the OG Xbox.

The comparison is dumb in the first place, but pretending that Microsoft hasn't done this since their inception is turning a blind eye.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

They might not even get another deal. Sony could have used that deal as a basis, to try and negotiate a better deal.

I can’t see how going public is really going to change anything at the moment.

Jim Ryan trying to get pity points from the public.

It's funny how there's tons of deals done by game companies all the time and nobody can say anything about it, or the losing side coming out saying it sucks the other guy has a year long deal for a game.

Yet Jim Ryan of all people gets on the bullhorn telling the world about his woes about Call of Duty wheeling and dealing.