• 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.

Microsoft-Activision acquisition verdicts have been postponed pending further investigation by the governments of Australia and New Zealand

GHG

Gold Member
God this is all going so smoothly just like everyone said it would.

Sliding Utah Jazz GIF by NBA
 

Wulfer

Member
Where are you coming up with this ridiculous assertion?

Sony Acquisitions:
December 1, 2000 - Bend Studio
January 22, 2001 - Naughty Dog
August 7, 2002 - Incognito Entertainment
December 7, 2005 - Guerrilla Games
January 25, 2006 - Zipper Interactive
May 15, 2007 - Sigil Games Online Inc
September 20, 2007 - Evolution Studios, Bigbig Studios
March 2, 2010 - Media Molecule
August 2, 2011 - Sucker Punch Productions
January 8, 2019 - Audiokinetic
August 19, 2019 - Insomniac Games
June 29, 2021 - Housemarque
July 1, 2021 - Nixxes Software
September 8, 2021 - Firesprite
September 29, 2021 - Fabrik Games
September 30, 2021 - Bluepoint Games
December 10, 2021 - Valkyrie Entertainment
February 1, 2022 - Lasengle (gaming division of DelightWorks)
March 21, 2022 - Haven Studios
July 15, 2022 - Bungie
August 29, 2022 - Savage Game Studios

That is every video game acquisition by Sony to date. That is 21 acquisitions in almost 28 years, and over half of those were within the last five years. This is almost identical to Microsoft who is at 19 video game acquisitions in the same time frame (assuming the Activision/Blizzard acquisition goes through).

Microsoft Acquisitions:
January 11, 1999 - FASA Interactive
April 19, 1999 - Access Software
June 19, 2000 - Bungie
December 5, 2000 - Digital Anvil
May 3, 2001 - Ensemble Studios
September 24, 2002 - Rare
April 6, 2006 - Lionhead Studios
October 12, 2011 - Twisted Pixel Games
June 5, 2012 - Press Play
November 6, 2014 - Mojang
June 11, 2018 - Ninja Theory
June 11, 2018 - Undead Labs
June 11, 2018 - Compulsion Games
June 11, 2018 - Playground Games
November 10, 2018 - inXile Entertainment
November 10, 2018 - Obsidian Entertainment
June 9, 2019 - Double Fine Productions
September 21, 2020 - ZeniMax Media
January 18, 2022 - Activision Blizzard
I guess Liverpool didn't exist! (Psygnosis) You should turn in your Sony card like now!
 
Last edited:

DaGwaphics

Member
So did Nvidia

Too bad this isn't buying groceries

A bit of a difference between a console maker buying a game publisher in a sea of similar publishers vs. Arm (a company that openly licenses its designs, of which many are used in government contracts/defense) selling to Nvidia (a company with a history of either not licensing ip at all or being extremely restrictive and profiteering when doing so) in a market that is primarily built on just two technologies (ARM and X86/64). One case is just a lot more important than the other on the world stage.
 
Last edited:

Yoboman

Member
Didn’t they buy bungie after Microsoft announced the ABK deal. Plus tencent (I think) buying Lotr. I see this deal going through simply because worse things are happening lol. Would be pretty hypocritical.
How are you trying to compare buying the rights to LOTR to buying Activision Blizzard?

The Embracer purchase of LOTR rights was estimated at $780 million. Not even in the same ballpark
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
The good thing about this acquisition not being finalized?
No major acquisitions have happened ever since January in this industry, lmao.

Sony isn't going to do shit until this one is solved. They won't buy anything major that could potentially help MS right now for sure...and the other big played probably the same thing.




July.
 

Yoboman

Member
A bit of a difference between a console maker buying a game publisher in a sea of similar publishers vs. Arm (a company that openly licenses its designs, of which many are used in government contracts/defense) selling to Nvidia (a company with a history of either not licensing ip at all or being extremely restrictive and profiteering when doing so) in a market that is primarily built on just two technologies (ARM and X86/64). One case is just a lot more important than the other on the world stage.
And gaming is now a bigger industry than film and music combined. These moves aren't some small potatoes non factor. They are a massive implication on one of the biggest markets in the world, that is already limited in the number of players able to compete
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
You think Sony made the deal with Bungie in few weeks after MS announced their Acti acquisition?

They announced it after Acti/MS's deal. It's an acquisition done after January, unlike the post I quoted said.
 

GHG

Gold Member
Also happens to be the way it works out 9 times out of 10. LOL

Try again.

All the information you seek is publically available. The EU are significantly more stringent with their requirements.

Literally a couple of days ago:


If you want to delude yourself into thinking that the FTC approving something means everyone else will then be my guest. Fantasy is free.
 

DaGwaphics

Member
Try again.

All the information you seek is publically available. The EU are significantly more stringent with their requirements.

Literally a couple of days ago:


If you want to delude yourself into thinking that the FTC approving something means everyone else will then be my guest. Fantasy is free.

Who said anything about the EU. I said there would be many markets that follow the US lead, and almost always do. LOL
 

GHG

Gold Member
Who said anything about the EU. I said there would be many markets that follow the US lead, and almost always do. LOL

Because in reality the only ones that matter are the US, EU, UK and China. Typically if any one of those reject it then the deal is on shaky ground (usually it's toast, but there are still some things that can be done and it can take years for a resolution).
 

DaGwaphics

Member
Because in reality the only ones that matter are the US, EU, UK and China. Typically if any one of those reject it then the deal is on shaky ground (usually it's toast, but there are still some things that can be done and it can take years for a resolution).

And this is a thread about Australia and New Zealand, go figure.
 
Try again.

All the information you seek is publically available. The EU are significantly more stringent with their requirements.

Literally a couple of days ago:

[/URL]

If you want to delude yourself into thinking that the FTC approving something means everyone else will then be my guest. Fantasy is free.
Sounds like Illumina got blocked out of butthurt because the absolute madmen just went through with the acquisition without waiting for approval :messenger_beaming: very weird flex indeed.
 
  • LOL
Reactions: GHG
They announced it after Acti/MS's deal. It's an acquisition done after January, unlike the post I quoted said.
You do know acquisition takes months/years?
And you're comparing a studio to one of the biggest publisher in the world?
Not to mention Sony is done acquiring Bungie while MS isn't with theirs?
 
Last edited:

theclaw135

Banned
Try again.

All the information you seek is publically available. The EU are significantly more stringent with their requirements.

Literally a couple of days ago:


If you want to delude yourself into thinking that the FTC approving something means everyone else will then be my guest. Fantasy is free.

So what. Other countries should not have the authority to block mergers of US firms.
 

GHG

Gold Member
And this is a thread about Australia and New Zealand, go figure.

This was your original statement:

The US will probably have 10x more influence than anywhere else, tbh. Whatever concessions (if any) that the FTC and MS agree to, I would expect to see mirrored in many other markets.

And now you want to say you meant everywhere but the EU? Don't waste my time.

So what. Other countries should not have the authority to block mergers of US firms.

But they do, time and time again. If you sell products overseas then that's how it works. Whether you like it or not the economy is global.

There's an easy way round that though - only do business in the US.
 
Last edited:

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
You do know acquisition takes months/years?
And you're comparing a studio to one of the biggest publisher in the world?

I don't know why you're taking it to different tangents.

The user I quoted said there hasn't been a major acquisition since January. Bungie is a fairly major company, their acquisition was *announced* and *closed* after January. I don't know or care about how long they had been having back channel conversations.
 
I don't know why you're taking it to different tangents.

The user I quoted said there hasn't been a major acquisition since January. Bungie is a fairly major company, their acquisition was *announced* and *closed* after January. I don't know or care about how long they had been having back channel conversations.
Yeah, Sony's deal with Bungie went through and is done with while MS' isn't.
 
Didn’t they buy bungie after Microsoft announced the ABK deal. Plus tencent (I think) buying Lotr. I see this deal going through simply because worse things are happening lol. Would be pretty hypocritical.
They bought Bungie a week or 2 after the Activision deal was on. They wouldn't stop this one so close to the MS acquisition for sure
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
How many mergers approved in US were rejected abroad? Do we know of any major ones?

I always thought this was a formality. No idea why this is even taking this long. Since when did these people start giving a shit about the gaming industry?

It’s wishful thinking but maybe it’s a sign of regulators getting fed up with Silicon Valley’s practice of buying the industry when they can’t get to first place by themselves. A regulator who takes time to learn about this industry can’t look at MS’s practices and say “yup this is normal market competition” because it isn’t.
 

ZehDon

Member
… Very concerning since Microsoft was hoping to get this deal done quick, many red flags are showing up and now I'm starting to wonder if the deal will go through at all.
Where are you pulling this non-sense from? They were clear on literally the day the sale announced that they expect it to close middle of next year. There hasn’t been a single thing yet that indicates there’s a problem. Government agencies dragging their feet so they look busy isn’t a red flag in anyone’s book.
 
I don't even understand how things were allowed to get this far. There's a massive difference between buying a developer and buying a publisher that controls multiple development studios. Why even have anti-trust laws if you are going to sit on your hands when it comes time to use them?
 
Last edited:

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Where are you coming up with this ridiculous assertion?

Sony Acquisitions:
May 21, 1993 - Psygnosis
December 1, 2000 - Bend Studio
January 22, 2001 - Naughty Dog
August 7, 2002 - Incognito Entertainment
December 7, 2005 - Guerrilla Games
January 25, 2006 - Zipper Interactive
May 15, 2007 - Sigil Games Online Inc
September 20, 2007 - Evolution Studios, Bigbig Studios
March 2, 2010 - Media Molecule
August 2, 2011 - Sucker Punch Productions
January 8, 2019 - Audiokinetic
August 19, 2019 - Insomniac Games
June 29, 2021 - Housemarque
July 1, 2021 - Nixxes Software
September 8, 2021 - Firesprite
September 29, 2021 - Fabrik Games
September 30, 2021 - Bluepoint Games
December 10, 2021 - Valkyrie Entertainment
February 1, 2022 - Lasengle (gaming division of DelightWorks)
March 21, 2022 - Haven Studios
July 15, 2022 - Bungie
August 29, 2022 - Savage Game Studios

That is every video game acquisition by Sony to date. That is 22 acquisitions in almost 29 years, and over half of those were within the last five years. This is almost identical to Microsoft who is at 19 video game acquisitions in the same time frame (assuming the Activision/Blizzard acquisition goes through).

Microsoft Acquisitions:
January 11, 1999 - FASA Interactive
April 19, 1999 - Access Software
June 19, 2000 - Bungie
December 5, 2000 - Digital Anvil
May 3, 2001 - Ensemble Studios
September 24, 2002 - Rare
April 6, 2006 - Lionhead Studios
October 12, 2011 - Twisted Pixel Games
June 5, 2012 - Press Play
November 6, 2014 - Mojang
June 11, 2018 - Ninja Theory
June 11, 2018 - Undead Labs
June 11, 2018 - Compulsion Games
June 11, 2018 - Playground Games
November 10, 2018 - inXile Entertainment
November 10, 2018 - Obsidian Entertainment
June 9, 2019 - Double Fine Productions
September 21, 2020 - ZeniMax Media
January 18, 2022 - Activision Blizzard

You can't list PUBLISHERS with the same weight as individual developers!

Zenimax alone is/was:

Bethesda
ID
Arkane
Machine Games
Tango Gameworks
Zenimax Online Studios

At the time of its acquisition it had 2300 employees!

By comparison ABK has nearly 10,000 employees.
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
You can't list PUBLISHERS with the same weight as individual developers!

Zenimax alone is/was:

Bethesda
ID
Arkane
Machine Games
Tango Gameworks
Zenimax Online Studios

At the time of its acquisition it had 2300 employees!

By comparison ABK has nearly 10,000 employees.

The purpose of my post was that Sony and Microsoft are about even in total acquisitions. Therefore, my post accomplished exactly what I set out to do. I clarified in a later post that even though Sony has a measly three additional acquisitions, Microsoft's cumulative acquisitions were far larger than Sony's.
 

Menzies

Banned
It’s wishful thinking but maybe it’s a sign of regulators getting fed up with Silicon Valley’s practice of buying the industry when they can’t get to first place by themselves. A regulator who takes time to learn about this industry can’t look at MS’s practices and say “yup this is normal market competition” because it isn’t.
As much as they'll learn it's as normal as having such market powers as raising prices and still out selling competition?
 

Flakster99

Member
Some of you want to jump the gun and assume the worst - Microsoft said from the very beginning this may take until the middle of next year to be completed.

You have to anticipate, and I'm 100% sure Microsoft did, that this is a normal part of the process that will take time to iron out the details, perhaps even a court battle or two may be in the cards if a Country denies the purchase. This is a unique time in the industry that's for sure lol.
 
Last edited:

Lasha

Member
Comparing Nvidia's ARM acquisition to ATVI kinda shows ones lack of understanding of a regulator's role. Controlling ARM would afford Nvidia disproportionate control over the chip market since many devices only function because of ARM chips. The deal represented a potentially dangerous centralization of the market which is why the major regulators paid close attention.

Regulators are allowing major consolidations in critical sectors like agriculture to go unchecked. Why would they block the comparatively meaningless ATVI acquisition?
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
Comparing Nvidia's ARM acquisition to ATVI kinda shows ones lack of understanding of a regulator's role. Controlling ARM would afford Nvidia disproportionate control over the chip market since many devices only function because of ARM chips. The deal represented a potentially dangerous centralization of the market which is why the major regulators paid close attention.

Regulators are allowing major consolidations in critical sectors like agriculture to go unchecked. Why would they block the comparatively meaningless ATVI acquisition?
I think the CMA are arguing that owning Activision & CoD, alongside their existing first party/brand recognition and cloud infrastructure, will make them the defacto major player in the future cloud streaming race and will make it borderline impossible for future entrants to make a dent.
 
Top Bottom