Bookmarking this once Zenimax Online announces their New Title, and what platforms it’ll land on……
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Microsoft / Activision Deal Approval Watch |OT| (MS/ABK close)
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Bookmarking this once Zenimax Online announces their New Title, and what platforms it’ll land on……
feynoob
Member
That kind of advertisement works on gamers due to social media.
Unlike games, gamepass needs mouth to mouth advertising and showcase on how good it is.
But that kind of marketing is limited to gamepass, and won't work very well with games and console advertisement.
ManaByte
Gold Member
They’re already locked into a deal with MS for cloud.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
you don't understand the situation.
Jim Ryan is about to become Super Saiyan.
remember that Jim took over Shawn. (who knows if it was really a power struggle or not).
then Jim made those weird statements about Europeans being in positions of power inside PlayStation.
Jim was CEO of the European Division; a territory where Play Station has as 80% of the market share or something crazy like that.
Jim becoming president and CEO is more than likely their last position before retiring, now with this Xbox power move his entire legacy and reputation is in jeopardy.
zapper
Member
I feel like it's been quite a while since that deal was announced and it hasn't gotten much so far, with stadia shutting down and the activision/microsoft deal I think sony has no problem asking google
ManaByte
Gold Member
Really? The sort of improvements they get with Azure isn’t the sort of thing you’ll see like a streaming service. Stuff like the auto media upload to the PS App is from that.
Topher
Gold Member
Last I remember reading there wasn't a deal, just a MOU to explore the possibility. Someone posted in this thread that Sony was actually using AWS for PS5. So I'm not sure where any of this stand myself.
DaGwaphics
Member
EA is probably the most worthless of publishers as far as exclusivity goes. Most of their content is licensed IPs where the IP holders would force cross platform support anyway. Literally almost nothing gained to anyone there.
The Tourmaline Gorilla
Banned
Then follows it up with "I'm not a fanboy..."Well honestly speaking looking at the uturn from the regulators its back to reality for people thinking Microsoft will face any real opposition from these regulatory bodies. They have too much pull and too many resources for the courts to truly regulate them...honestly its kind of embarrassing how quickly they went from divesting or nothing to we see no problem here at all.
Sony were dealt a big blow here but the bigger issue is this basically gave Microsoft the go-ahead to go gungho. They have no opposition now before they were holding back because they were cautious regarding the regulatory bodies, but now they have the green light. They basically bought the biggest publisher in the world at an overinflated price which no competitor can hope to match and the regulators basically said this is healthy for competition. So essentially its open season now in Microsofts mind they can basically buy any of the major multiplatform publishers/studios and it wouldnt be much since the precedant has been set. If buying the biggest publisher right after zenimax is healthy for competition why would there be any problem when they buy others. Sony cant really compete in this arms race sadly since they cant afford to match bids here nor can they afford the giant publishers.
Lets say Sony are forced to contemplate buying Ea for example they have a market cap of 30+billion but will be forced to buy at at inflated price close to 40 which just isnt possible for them, meanwhile funnily enough the only ones in the market who can do so from now on are Microsoft so goodluck to Sony because sadly I just dont see them being able to keepup longterm with Ea/Activision/Taketwo games on gamepass. Imagine if Microsoft buys taketwo tommorow can you say with a straightface thats no problem and Sony can compete?
Im not a fanboy and enjoy games from all three of the console makers but people celebrating this as a short term win better keep that same energy after a generation when Microsoft has most major mainstream games locked behind gamepass where they start reving up the prices.
The mental gymnastics here astounds me sometimes. And they said I don't know about business... WOW!
DaGwaphics
Member
That's what people forget when they make fun of what users were prognosticating at the end of the ps360 era. If MS releases a gaming focused box that is on par with PS4 at that point, things likely look a lot different today.
Oddvintagechap
Member
I don’t think I can take this buffoonery take again and again.
Thirty7ven
Banned
Actually aside from Madden and UFC there’s nothing that needs to be multiplatform. Even their football game is free of FIFA demands now. Need for speed? Battlefield? Mass Effect? Dragon Age? Even Star Wars doesn’t need to be multi.
Their football game would keep MS in check that’s for sure. If I was in their position and I had the means I would get EA. Will it happen? I’m sure it won’t because those folks in Japan don’t think there’s enough prestige in Playstation. How else can you justify a big push to take videogame IP to cinema and streaming, but there’s no push to take their movie/anime IP to PlayStation?
ManaByte
Gold Member
They'll have Battlefield 2042!
DryvBy
Member
None of what you explained answered my question. I'm asking how does a company buying up brands to keep off of other brands bring more competition to the table and you're telling me about a Microsoft business plan. If this worked, we would have seen this happen with Bethesda. So why does Nintendo and Sony not have to buy entire publishers to compete against one of the richest companies in the entire world?
Remove your favorite brand for a moment. 7/11 starts buying up every gas station around, is this making it more competitive or is it removing options?
DaGwaphics
Member
I did forget about forget about all the console makers lining up to spend billions for Battlefield, Mass Effect and Dragon Age in 2023. My bad.
EA Sports is where EA money is printed, divest that and there isn't much left of EA to justify the money spent.
I don't want anyone buying anyone but EA IPs are far from worthless. They have Apex Legends, Battlefield, NFS, Dead Space, The Sims, Dragon Age, Command and Conquer, It Takes Two as well as the licenced stuff like FIFA, NHL, NFL, NBA, Star Wars etc.
DaGwaphics
Member
I wasn't belittling their content at all, just looking realistically at the numbers of it. EA without EA sports isn't worth the asking price, same as ABK without CoD.
HoofHearted
Member
Lol… I think we are now in the “shock and awe“ phase of this deal… many are still processing that response.
The recent CMA reversal was somewhat surprising to me… before it was posted I was 50/50… now it’s appearing to be heading to approval…
I still don’t care though, and all of this chatter and bickering around a single game (that, IMHO, most likely will become irrelevant in 10 years time) is quite hilarious.
Gotta refill my bourbon supplies for the impending caravan ….
DaGwaphics
Member
There is no official decision yet. The CMA hasn't offered anything yet.
POKEYCLYDE
Member
Damn, that is some doom and gloom. Microsoft was always going to keep acquiring even if this acquisition was blocked/required divestment of Activision.
I suspect you'll see Microsoft continue to do what they were always going to do. Getting ABK doesn't automatically change their focus to giant publishers. They'll go for the smaller publishers like they probably already had planned on.
Microsoft's future goals involve acquisitions. That fact alone will guarantee they won't violate any behavioral remedies they agree to.
As for your "content will be put in a vault" worry... that wasn't an issue when ABK was independently operated? They weren't solely focused on their few mega popular IP? Under Microsoft you'll at least have a better chance of IP revival and/or new IP in the AA space. As maximizing profit from singular releases isn't a priority.
Lets wait to see what consolidation woes come from the aftermath of this acquistion. Bearing in mind Microsoft said they weren't done acquiring, Sony said they weren't done acquiring, Tencent have always acquired whole companies or large stakes in companies.
If someone like Amazon, Facebook or Google goes for Take 2 or EA, then we can worry. But as of right now, the passing or blocking of ABK being acquired doesn't change the likely course of consolidation.
ManaByte
Gold Member
Spencer has already said he wants to revive StarCraft and some of the old Sierra IPs.
ABK didn't even know they owned the Sierra IPs.
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DaGwaphics
Member
True. Plus any kind of doom and gloom surrounding an acquisition and buried IPs and publishers producing fewer games with a laser focus on big franchises completely ignores the last 10 to 15 years of AAA game production anyway. News flash, we've already been losing the IP diversity for years with origins in the ps360 gen. No acquisitions required for that.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Hoeg's video on the latest premiers in 2~ hours.
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ToadMan
Member
Sony were in the negotiations with Bungie months before the ABK acquisition started.
Yet they were announced just days apart.
I don’t think MS will wait the 10 years. Assuming the 8 year console cycle is accurate, and if MS is able at the time, they’ll make COD exclusive to GP platforms at that time - 2028-ish - and if necessary pay damages for breaking the contracts they made.
The damages are just a band aid for the recipients, but the jump of new consumers from PS/Nintendo to GP platforms will be enough to warrant that maneuver.
If this acquisition goes ahead that is…
ReBurn
Gold Member
It's not going to make anyone sell their PlayStation for an Xbox. There's just a bunch of histrionics on display because people are feeling betrayed by the regulators they were stanning for.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Why is everyone so quick to jump to this conclusion ? The regulatory bodies work doesn't stop after the acquisition is complete. They can break it up later as well.
Zenimax did not have any such requirement from any regulatory so it wasn't the same case, but with this so far it seems like a 10 year parity clause is MS's own offer to further the acquisition dealings along.
Why would they want to jeopardize the acquisition 3, 4, 6, or 8 years later ?
You said they are worthless in terms of exclusivity. So would ABK be worthless without COD exclusive or would EA without EA Sports licences?
I would have thought things like The Sims, Battlefield, Apex Legends, NFS, and their other games wouldn't be that worthless to a potential buyer.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Imagine MS commissioning Relic to make a new Starcraft, like their fantastic AoE4 ?
DaGwaphics
Member
In comparison to the price paid? Sure. I don't see MS paying $70b for ABK and not getting CoD, which is why they laughed at that notion.
Same situation for EA and EA Sports. Those are all great games, but other than the Sims, those other IPs don't bring in that much of EA's revenue. The sales price would be far too high to divest the sports franchises. The only option would be to keep EA sports and keep it multi platform, but that doesn't do too much for exclusivity. Same as ABK is not going to do much for MS in regards to exclusivity because almost the entire company is a machine for CoD or PC/Mobile where exclusive isn't a thing anyway.
If someone just wanted to run EA with the status quo, sure it would be a good investment the company is profitable after all. But through an exclusivity lens it doesn't seem like a great deal.
Ubi would be a better target for exclusive content IMO.
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The Tourmaline Gorilla
Banned
He mentioned Spyro and Heretic as well.
As a kid growing up, I loved Heretic, but they'll have to do some serious revamping if they revive it; in it's original form, it's too much like Doom, the only difference being you're wielding a magic staff instead of a gun. To really differentiate from Doom, they'll have some work to do.
Personally, I find MS should really invest into more All-ages IPs, especially for kids. While Minecraft is a giant, it's still just Minecraft. I'd love to see a new Spyro and suped up Super Luck'y Tale II released on Nintendo's platform.
For PlayStation gamers, it's a big loose
I suspect that if people feel Phil is lying then what is to say everyone here isn’t a liar as well. It seems that way to me.Then Phil Spencer should make sure those contracts are in line with what he has stated publicly. It is up to him to keep his word.
Gravemind
Member
splattered
Member
Yeah but Microsoft isn't buying up ALL the gas, just some of it. Plenty of fuel out there from other gas stations to go around
Even if a handful of gas stations go out there and start buying other gas stations up and your town is left with only 3 or 4 gas station companies to choose from they still have to compete with each other. And this is the point that we usually see smaller gas stations start to crop up so now we have NEW hungry small business gas stations bringing competitive prices and newer ideas. Your welcome. hahah
Thirty7ven
Banned
Divest what?
Their football game doesn’t have the FIFA license anymore, and Madden/F1 can keep being multiplatform. Football game too of course, but with the option to remove if MS removes COD.
Am I missing something here where it’s ok for COD to keep being multiplatform but somehow EA sports would have to be divested?
If the games keep being multiplatform then it’s ok right? That’s what everyone is saying about ABK including regulators. So you buy revenue, like MS is doing with ABK.
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Nah we didn’t “loose” a thing.
poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Yep they sure are loosing.
7/11 is a $40 billion dollar convenience store/gas station company that buys its gas from multiple $100s of billion dollar gas conglomerates who also sell their gas through their own exclusive partner gas stations. The more 7/11 buys up gas stations the more bargaining power they have with the much larger gas companies benefitting competition and helping reduce prices.
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The Tourmaline Gorilla
Banned
I don't know what the future holds, but I do know, generally, businesses do what's best for business. Whatever MS deems is best for their Xbox goals (long-term) is what they'll do. What that is, is yet to be determined and can only really be determined by them.
That said, there are a few common sense things that seem glaring. Making CoD exclusive, to me, doesn't make a lot of sense. It never did. I think there's more money to be had by allowing everyone to buy it. That said, if it were me, while I'd make it accessible to everyone, Game Pass members would be getting all the treats (first access, first access to DLC, campaigns, exclusive DLC, etc). Maybe that was there plan all along (it seems the obvious way to go with this), but they had to make some changes on the fly, due to regulator concerns, and offer parity to everyone else. They can still perhaps offer "Day 1 on GamePass", while others get a normal release, but I'm not sure.
Apart from that though, people need to remember that it's not just IP MS will own; they'll have all of AKB resources and talented teams. You see, 10 years is a long-time in the gaming world; CoD may not even be as big or relevant 10 yrs from now (or, it could be bigger). No telling what the landscape will look like 10 yrs from now. But, with the resources and talent pool MS will have from this deal, I'm pretty sure they can and will release entirely new IPs...created, directed and managed by the same teams responsible for CoD success, and AKB general success. All they need is one of these new IP to be a huge success, and there's no stipulation that new (currently non-existent) IP have the same parity and multi-platform status. MS will play their hand as they see fit, when that time comes. It if it makes sense to keep things exclusive to Xbox and GamePass, they will do that. If it makes sense to release on all platforms, they will do that. If it makes sense for the business to release on all platforms, with exclusive content and Day-1 releases coming to GP (which to me, is the only obvious choice) they will do that.
In the end, this is not the end. This is what people don't realise; this is just the beginning for MS. They will continue to purchase developers. They may go after one or two more big publishers. They won't stop here. They have long-term plans of making their platform (GamePass, not just Xbox) into the premiere place for gaming, whether on a console, your phone, your TV, your laptop, tablet, browser... They don't care where you play, just that you play on their platform, and in order to play, you have to subscribe. That's all this is about...your money.
It's not and never was about "starving PS", or "taking away from PS". That's short-term thinking. Yes, PS is in their line of fire because PS is their number 1 competitor, but the vision isn't to destroy PS. If PS wasn't number one, it would be someone else. Their vision and goal, is to completely dominate the gaming market, for the sake of profit. They don't need you to stop gaming on Sony's platform, or to stop you from buying a PS. What they need is for PS buyers to ALSO be Xbox buyers or GamePass subscribers. What they need is people who play exclusively on Nintendo, to also be subscribed to GamePass, and playing there.
They could care less about another company's financials. They don't need the other companies to fail. What they need is for the people who play exclusively on other platforms, to also become customers of MS/Xbox. And that is how I know, that while they're offering access to everyone, right now, they will do everything in their power to better their GP offerings to entice people who aren't subscribed, to subscribe and keep renewing their subscriptions.
poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Ex-Fifa football game has about a hundred other licenses that you would have to overcome to make it exclusive. But I don't think you would need to divest, the requirement to not foreclose is built in to their biggest titles.
Gamepass isn't the platform, it's the MS store and specifically the gaming section of that they are looking to grow but agree with most/all of the rest.
Dick Jones
Gold Member
Because, according to the dev for Redfall, MS didn't wait a month until they wanted the PS5 version shitcanned. This was after their statements to regulators to the contrary, and the public statements by Phil Spencer that it was not bought to take games away from Playstation. This happened this console generation. Xbox management have lied before and it would take proof of keeping their word before they regain any trust.
Re EA, I know that a sizable chunk of thier revenue is mtx so assuming it's FUT and the Madden version.
I would wonder two things:
- would ea under Sony want to give an potential publishers the ability to have a competitor across all platforms? One that could maybe get the fifa ip and match the club rights?
- would Madden be another MLB? Which is fine really but still interesting to think about.
I would wonder two things:
- would ea under Sony want to give an potential publishers the ability to have a competitor across all platforms? One that could maybe get the fifa ip and match the club rights?
- would Madden be another MLB? Which is fine really but still interesting to think about.
Snake29
RSI Employee of the Year
Aah hahahaha. So this is about owning all major IP’s isn’t it? How many years do we hear the words “once MS has bla bla bla”.
You are fooling yourself. Didn’t you learned that at the start of this gen MS was chestbeating? 3 years later, nothing has materialised.
reinking
Gold Member
Tomeru
Member
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jshaver488
Member
I think the games are already coming. Their first party quality this gen has been a big step up vs last gen. 11 first party games since the new consoles launched, with an average aggregate review score of 86.6. Which is in the top 5%
zapper
Member
well, according to the latest reports both the ec and the cma shouldn't ask for remedies on consoles, so after the acquisition they could also make xbox exclusive cod the next day, like zenimax.
there would be the contract with nintendo which, however, I fear will not legally bound by the regulators after yesterday. then I always thought of a snub from nintendo towards sony rather than wanting cod on switch, if it doesn't arrive on switch or next nintendo console or microsoft go back on their word hardly anyone would complain imho
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