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[Kilau]

Now that the industry is doomed, what hobby are you all moving to? I was thinking of quilting.

 

[sainraja]

I would take an iStation any day of the week!

Not with that name though.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

What does that mean to you exactly? Console history has enough case studies to tell you that means little in the long run.

the basis for regulators' analysis.

 

[DrFigs]

WTF, did they really say that? Selling off studios to invest in Crypto?

Really hope they aren't that dumb.

well i may be paraphrasing slightly...

 

[Banjo64]

He's just followed that tweet up with this one;

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

If this fully goes through, why wouldn't they? They'd be stupid not to.

And that's exactly what regulators are enabling. If MS can do these tepid behavioral remedies as acceptable concessions for an acquisition the size of ABK, they won't need to go nearly as far for a smaller publisher target, assumedly, and get approval.

More of importance though is now other big tech companies have a blueprint to work with. There is zero reason Apple should have an acquisition for EA rejected, for example. Or Amazon for Take-Two. You can see where this is going. As long as they placate similar behavioral remedies as MS did for ABK (and in some cases, they won't even need to go that far), they should expect their deals to be approved. If not, they'll sue the shit out of regulators and bring up MS/ABK as the reason why, then the regulators will have egg on their face and the courts will approve those deals.

Cue mass market consolidation. I'm now expecting Sony to make a couple of their own, I wouldn't even be surprised if Nintendo feels forced to. But it's all going to lead to the same thing, and I think eventually, combined with the big tech companies, it's going to cause an industry crash.

Good going, regulators

 

[Dick Jones]

WTF, did they really say that? Selling off studios to invest in Crypto?

Really hope they aren't that dumb.

He is heading out the gap in June. You can make him an offer before that of a six pack of beer and a pizza and you might get the Dragon Quest IP.

 

[Dick Jones]

And that's exactly what regulators are enabling. If MS can do these tepid behavioral remedies as acceptable concessions for an acquisition the size of ABK, they won't need to go nearly as far for a smaller publisher target, assumedly, and get approval.

More of importance though is now other big tech companies have a blueprint to work with. There is zero reason Apple should have an acquisition for EA rejected, for example. Or Amazon for Take-Two. You can see where this is going. As long as they placate similar behavioral remedies as MS did for ABK (and in some cases, they won't even need to go that far), they should expect their deals to be approved. If not, they'll sue the shit out of regulators and bring up MS/ABK as the reason why, then the regulators will have egg on their face and the courts will approve those deals.

Cue mass market consolidation. I'm now expecting Sony to make a couple of their own, I wouldn't even be surprised if Nintendo feels forced to. But it's all going to lead to the same thing, and I think eventually, combined with the big tech companies, it's going to cause an industry crash.

Good going, regulators

Nintendo are the types of fuckers who would sell studios during the period and end up stronger

 

[Thirty7ven]

the basis for regulators' analysis.

In the Uk and US? Gotta be kidding. They are way too close for it to mean anything to regulators.

 

[3liteDragon]

FT article linked in tweet. Two lawyers say this is a very unusual move by the CMA.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

In the Uk and US? Gotta be kidding. They are way too close for it to mean anything to regulators.

due diligence

 

[HerpDerpstreit]

Games take too long to build in current year now. Separate games would kill the pipeline, especially with focus to where to put your resources based on popularity, etc..

I understand the reasoning behind it. I personally travel a lot for work and always online DRM is just another pain in the ass I don't need when I want to run a race or play doom or any other game where there is an excuse but a flimsy one at worse (DOOM Eternal) or a required one like GT7. Flexibility and options are always going to be appreciated by the gamers.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I understand the reasoning behind it. I personally travel a lot for work and always online DRM is just another pain in the ass I don't need when I want to run a race or play doom or any other game where there is an excuse but a flimsy one at worse (DOOM Eternal) or a required one like GT7. Flexibility and options are always going to be appreciated by the gamers.

Can't disagree there.

 

[Ozriel]

Yeah seems like the moneyhat man must have showed up because this is a complete 180 from their original findings

They clearly detail the mistakes they made in their calculations. No need for these conspiracy theories.

They’ve blocked multiple major deals in the past. Why would it be this one they’d be bribed into silence ?

Tencent have a green light now and fuck it when they enter the console market and or streaming side.

‘now’? They’ve been free to acquire all they wanted for years now.

 

[PharaoTutAnchAmun]

Dont light your cigar before the fat lady sings.....Thats al i have to say...

 

[GHound]

Good is winning, and sony extending this purchase just made everyone aware of their anti-consumer practices of pulling cross-platform AAA games from other consoles, and their hypocrisy. And the media covers up its practice, while Ms who hasn't made a big exclusivity contract since Tomb Raider where she was crucified, for the same ones who applaud the attitudes of the Japanese company today, not openly because they don't want this to be an argument for acquisitions of the company of Redmond.

Last I checked you have to be over 13 to make an account on this forum.

 

[GHG]

New Phil interviews when?

Come on Phil, the world is waiting. We know you want to.

 

[Dick Jones]

‘now’? They’ve been free to acquire all they wanted for years now.

They never really went for a real big fish. Now they can switch it up to bigger publishers and devs.

 

[Tomeru]

The real question is where is Geoff Keighley? Is he safe? I'm worried about him...

Soneone call Kojima fast!

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Good is winning, and sony extending this purchase just made everyone aware of their anti-consumer practices of pulling cross-platform AAA games from other consoles, and their hypocrisy. And the media covers up its practice, while Ms who hasn't made a big exclusivity contract since Tomb Raider where she was crucified, for the same ones who applaud the attitudes of the Japanese company today, not openly because they don't want this to be an argument for acquisitions of the company of Redmond.

I've noticed a strange, almost quasi-xenophobic uptick in rhetoric around a certain company in this whole sage of late. As usual, I lay the blame at Microsoft and their politicalizing of this deal, especially in the past couple of weeks.

 

[Iced Arcade]

Alright let's wrap this up so I can play more games on my dirty lil subscription.

 

[Astray]

while MS can just buy multiplatform publishers and IPs.

Buying IP is also a risk.

 

[Kvally]

Buying IP is also a risk.

True. Check out "Bleeding Edge" .

 

[GHG]

Dont light your sigar before the fat lady sings.....Thats al i have to say...

I have a theory, but I'll only elaborate if/when it comes to fruition.

We will know everything in just over a month's time.

 

[wolffy71]

And that's exactly what regulators are enabling. If MS can do these tepid behavioral remedies as acceptable concessions for an acquisition the size of ABK, they won't need to go nearly as far for a smaller publisher target, assumedly, and get approval.

More of importance though is now other big tech companies have a blueprint to work with. There is zero reason Apple should have an acquisition for EA rejected, for example. Or Amazon for Take-Two. You can see where this is going. As long as they placate similar behavioral remedies as MS did for ABK (and in some cases, they won't even need to go that far), they should expect their deals to be approved. If not, they'll sue the shit out of regulators and bring up MS/ABK as the reason why, then the regulators will have egg on their face and the courts will approve those deals.

Cue mass market consolidation. I'm now expecting Sony to make a couple of their own, I wouldn't even be surprised if Nintendo feels forced to. But it's all going to lead to the same thing, and I think eventually, combined with the big tech companies, it's going to cause an industry crash.

Good going, regulators

Those deals would have never been blocked.

It's not the govts job to lead the way free markets go. They simply protect the economy and its citizens. But they don't decide if gaming is more fun with 3rd party devs or not.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

They clearly detail the mistakes they made in their calculations. No need for these conspiracy theories.

From the FT.

The CMA said on Friday it had received a “significant amount of new evidence in response to its original provisional findings” that indicated any move by Microsoft to withhold Call of Duty from PlayStation to make it exclusively available on Xbox would be “significantly lossmaking under any plausible scenario”.

So, basically, CMA believes that Microsoft is now unwilling to withold CoD because it would "cost Microsoft too much money". That's a pretty big blind faith statement from a company valued at $2T and can afford much more massive "losses" to usher in long term objectives. And has already spent billions on the Xbox project with much lesser ROI than other divisions. I am not suggesting any conspiracy, but their reversal is not only odd, it is EXTREMELY rare. I don't know how compelling that data truly is.

 

[Thirty7ven]

due diligence

You’re not saying anything. Hell you think MS is simply going to ruin ABK. Good luck with that. Kotick will be running Xbox inside 5 years.

 

[Astray]

True. Check out "Bleeding Edge" .

I didn't mean it in that sense, but placing 69bn on the table is a major risk in any industry.

 

[Thirty7ven]

From the FT.




So, basically, CMA believes that Microsoft is now unwilling to withold CoD because it would "cost Microsoft too much money". That's a pretty big blind faith statement from a company valued at $2T and can afford much more massive "losses" to usher in. I am not suggesting any conspiracy, but their reversal is not only odd, it is EXTREMELY rare. I don't know how compelling that data truly is.

It’s hilarious. Because they didn’t lose a ton of money on Xbox, on gamepass, and now they aren’t spending 70B to force success of their own platform no sir.

 

[Astray]

Good luck with that. Kotick will be running Xbox inside 5 years.

I firmly believe this btw.

Kotick is the biggest winner here and will devour Spencer and co within 3-5 years imo.

 

[Kenshin775]

probably not Microsoft but it’ll be interesting to see what happens with the price of GamePass after this closes

I’d be highly surprised if it stays $9.99 ($14.99 for GPU) for long


so did Microsoft without buying ABK, so why do they need ABK exactly?

It may go up but the options for $5 Gold or $10 GP or $15 GPU will stay for a long time. They can keep those prices that low because they are planning on adding an advertisements tier. Maybe without advertisement they will raise it a couple bucks per month.

I think they will just get rid of Gold and add a new game pass tier for $5 with advertisements and delayed first party releases.

 

[Kvally]

I didn't mean it in that sense, but placing 69bn on the table is a major risk in any industry.

I know. I just wanted to make a funny

 

[Ozriel]

From the FT.




So, basically, CMA believes that Microsoft is now unwilling to withold CoD because it would "cost Microsoft too much money". That's a pretty big blind faith statement from a company valued at $2T and can afford much more massive "losses" to usher in. I am not suggesting any conspiracy, but their reversal is not only odd, it is EXTREMELY rare. I don't know how compelling that data truly is.

Some of that data includes Microsoft pointing out their mathematical illogicality in estimating whether or not COD acquisition would constitute an SLC.

Basically, enough data in to make them realize that their initial objections centered around the console market were not making sense. Microsoft were clearly third place, with significantly lower revenue and mindshare than Sony.

They did the math. They’re running with data, not ‘blind faith’

 

[BeardGawd]

New Phil interviews when?

Come on Phil, the world is waiting. We know you want to.

Uncle Phil will maintain his composure and not stoop to the console war fray.

He will be smiling on the inside tho.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

I have a theory, but I'll only elaborate if/when it comes to fruition.

We will know everything in just over a month's time.

Phil bribed them. Is that your theory?

 

[BennyBlanco]

I think a square acquisition has already been in the works. Slimming down cutting out studios, exclusive deals, CEO's stepping down

Sony would be dumb to buy Square. They are a mess. Much smarter to pick and choose which games to moneyhat.

 

[GHG]

Uncle Phil will maintain his composure and not stoop to the console war fray.

He will be smiling on the inside tho.

Is that the official word or unofficial one?

Phil bribed them. Is that your theory?

Not even close. That would be too obvious.

 

[Murdok]

I've noticed a strange, almost quasi-xenophobic uptick in rhetoric around a certain company in this whole sage of late. As usual, I lay the blame at Microsoft and their politicalizing of this deal, especially in the past couple of weeks.

I don't know where you saw xenophobia in the comment, I even mentioned Japanese so the text doesn't get verbose. And I like Nintendo which is Japanese, I would like Sony more if it weren't for their hypocrisy and fanboys. And it's no use making Ms villain, when sony with money would do worse than her. In fact, it already does.

 

[sainraja]

We can all speculate about what might happen now for the rest of our lives but given that this is basically a done deal, we can take MS at their word, or wait and see when they break it.

I do think this puts MS in a much stronger position gaming wise, even more so than they were letting on by stating they will still remain third — as with most things, the landscape isn't going to change in a day, you make certain moves, take specific steps to get there and this was MS's first, well, technically their second, since they did acquire a big publisher before it.

Let's see what happens.

 

[SteelCurtain 59]

This is the biggest acquisition in Microsoft history (not just Xbox Microsoft as a whole) and almost triple 2nd highest, sure they could continue buying big publishers but this large of an acquisition is an outlier so I doubt they go after any more big ones after this (especially after the hassle involved with this acquisition)

 

[Dick Jones]

I have a theory, but I'll only elaborate if/when it comes to fruition.

We will know everything in just over a month's time.

The CMA think the addition of the console argument might sully the cloud market monopoly argument and better to close one off and concentrate on the cloud issue?

 

[splattered]

People shouldn't have clung so hard to the initial provisional findings, the process was barely out of the starting gates at that point. Of COURSE they wanted to show strength and authority immediately.. but they owe the process their due diligence with further exhaustive investigation before any real decisions could be made.

Is that the official word or unofficial one?

Not even close. That would be too obvious.

Ok so... Sony failed to bribe them?

 

[bentanchorbolt]

Not even close. That would be too obvious.

Ok. MS told the regulators they plan to abandon Xbox after this gen and go 3rd party entirely.

 

[Morrie’s wig shop]

FT article linked in tweet. Two lawyers say this is a very unusual move by the CMA.

I suspect someone fucked up behind the scenes and at some point someone was going to find out?
What other reason could there really be “we fucked up our numbers, sorry”

 

[sainraja]

This is the biggest acquisition in Microsoft history (not just Xbox Microsoft as a whole) and almost triple 2nd highest, sure they could continue buying big publishers but this large of an acquisition is an outlier so I doubt they go after any more big ones after this (especially after the hassle involved with this acquisition)

Microsoft as a company has acquired other big business prior to this (perhaps not in gaming), have they not?

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Some of that data includes Microsoft pointing out their mathematical illogicality in estimating whether or not COD acquisition would constitute an SLC.

Basically, enough data in to make them realize that their initial objections centered around the console market were not making sense. Microsoft were clearly third place, with significantly lower revenue and mindshare than Sony.

They did the math. They’re running with data, not ‘blind faith’

No, this has nothing to do with their primary decision if you read the FT report.

It was that they did not believe it would harm consumers because they now firmly believed MS had no "incentive" (lovely word, that is) to remove CoD from Playstation because they'd lose significant money in doing so.

 

[adamsapple]

I have a theory, but I'll only elaborate if/when it comes to fruition.

We will know everything in just over a month's time.

Don't keep us guessing, go on.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

You’re not saying anything. Hell you think MS is simply going to ruin ABK

not exaclty. is way more complex.

Good luck with that.

Xbox's track record and examples of big acquisitions back me up.

Kotick will be running Xbox for 5 years.

running Xbox?...

 

[GHG]

I've noticed a strange, almost quasi-xenophobic uptick in rhetoric around a certain company in this whole sage of late. As usual, I lay the blame at Microsoft and their politicalizing of this deal, especially in the past couple of weeks.

This is nothing new unfortunately. It became glaringly obvious during the early part of the Xbox One generation when some people where 100% happy to state they were continuing to support xbox due to jingoism alone.

 

[SteelCurtain 59]

Microsoft as a company as acquired other big business prior to this (perhaps not in gaming), have they not?

LinkedIn was 26 billion, and that is their biggest ever acquisition prior to Activision at 69 billion, this isn't a normal Microsoft acquisition