• 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 Deal Approval Watch |OT| (MS/ABK close)

Do you believe the deal will be approved?


  • Total voters
    886
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.

reksveks

Member
Hoeg's value doesn't come from guesswork of nice PR words. Hence it's being dismissed
I think most positions regarding what Sony are going to do with Bungie is extremely speculative just similar to the speculation that people had about why Mojang continues to be publishing games everywhere.

I was just commenting on the general topic of people dismissing opinions and telling people to 'read it for themselves'. We seen it in more important topics than Gaming.
 
I think most positions regarding what Sony are going to do with Bungie is extremely speculative just similar to the speculation that people had about why Mojang continues to be publishing games everywhere.

I was just commenting on the general topic of people dismissing opinions and telling people to 'read it for themselves'. We seen it in more important topics than Gaming.

Yeah no one knows what Sony is actually going to do with Bungie.

As far as what Sony CAN do with Bungie should be pretty cut and dry though. They own them. They're a wholly owned subsidiary, with everything we know that comes with it. Taking some PR words and extrapolating that to some contract that might say Bungie can tell Sony to F off is ridiculous and is no less ridiculous coming from a lawyer.
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
I love how people are arguing about whether sony killed sega or not, while no one talks about how Sony screwed over Nintendo.
That article is word salad without any specifics.

At the time Nintendo controlled the cart software 100%. Sony wrote it into the contract that they would control the Super Disc software. When Yamauchi read that in the contract, he went with Philips but didn’t tell Sony. They didn’t find out about the Philips deal until they were int he audience at CES.
 

Rykan

Member
Yeah no one knows what Sony is actually going to do with Bungie.

As far as what Sony CAN do with Bungie should be pretty cut and dry though. They own them. They're a wholly owned subsidiary, with everything we know that comes with it. Taking some PR words and extrapolating that to some contract that might say Bungie can tell Sony to F off is ridiculous and is no less ridiculous coming from a lawyer.
- Dr. Ass of Can Whooping, 5 minute google search extraordinaire, when commenting on a lawyer that made a video he didn't watch.

Promises as a formality aren't uncommon in these situations to get people on board.
I love your logic in this. Bungie being totally on board with an acquisition and potentially losing all control over their extremely profitable live service model, because Sony said "We Promise!" is believable, but the very thought that Bungie would go "Oh hey great, Can we maybe put that in the contract?" is inconceivable to you.
 
Last edited:
- Dr. Ass of Can Whooping, 5 minute google search extraordinaire, when commenting on a lawyer that made a video he didn't watch.

I don't need to watch his video when I have access to all the information he has and capable of forming my own conclusions from it.
I love your logic in this. Bungie being totally on board with an acquisition and potentially losing all control over their extremely profitable live service model based because Sony said "We Promise!" is believable, but the very thought that Bungie would go "Oh hey great, Can we maybe put that in the contract?" is inconceivable to you.


Such a stipulation isn't enforceable. That's what you're not getting here. If they didn't want to lose control they shouldn't have sold all of it to Sony
 
Last edited:

feynoob

Banned
This thread so far
chaos GIF
 

Rykan

Member
I don't need to watch his video when I have access to all the information he has and capable of forming my own conclusions from it.



Such a stipulation isn't enforceable. That's what you're not getting here. If they didn't want to lose control they shouldn't have sold all of it to Sony
And what you're not getting here is that a lawyer that specializes in acquisitions and mergers says that it COULD be part of the contract.
 

Rykan

Member
Right, so what we have to go on are facts and precedence, and none of which supports your or Hoeg's "theory"
You don't know what precedence is, because you don't know the first thing about acquisitions. Your 5 minute google search does not rival an acquisition lawyer's expertise. If he makes the comment that there could be contractual grounds, then there is probably a good reason he makes that comment.
 
Last edited:

Godot25

Banned
Questions for Xbox bros:
  • What do you think Sony will do to respond to this acquisition once approved?
  • What would you be okay with? And what would you be not?
A few examples to clarify the questions:
  • Sony may stay the course: increase current studios organically by adding more developers and buying smaller studios every now and then.
  • Sony may start acquiring smaller publishers (< $10 billion): SquareEnix, Capcom, CDPR, FromSoftware, Ubisoft, Sega, etc.
  • Sony may attempt a bigger publisher (> $10 billion): Take-Two, EA, etc.
  • Sony may go all in timed-exclusivity deals.
  • Sony may go all in on full-exclusivity deals for major multiplatform franchises
  • Other stuff like this that I didn't list here.
What do you think they are most likely to do? And what would you be okay with/not okay with?
It's business. If they want to buy Ubisoft, go for it. But the thing is...Sony probably can't afford to go big (Take 2/EA). And not only because they cost too much, but also because it could wake up other huge companies (Amazon/Apple) who then can outbid Sony if they go for megapublishers.
I think they will go for Square. And while I don't think they need Square (their games are defacto PlayStation exclusives), I see it as a logical next step. Square is clearly preparing for buyout and they are trimming fat everywhere they can. Ubisoft if too unwieldy to buy tbh. They are not that expensive but to get them into good order would be few years worth of work. ABK/Bethesda are good because they are literally "plug and play". I think that Tencent won't allow From Software going to Sony especially after Elden Ring. And Sega? They are too PC focused to have real value for PlayStation. Capcom would be good get, but I doubt Microsoft would not fight this merger by trying to outbid Sony. And since they will have similar size in terms of revenue postABK-merger, they are on same playingfiled in terms of regulators.

Problem for Sony is that IF ABK merger would have desired effect for Microsoft (Call of Duty on Game Pass will draw players from PlayStation onto Xbox), it will cause many problems for Sony in the future. Outside of missing revenues, closer marketshare position between Xbox and PlayStation would have negative effect on ability of Sony to enter into timed-exclusivity deals and full exclusivity deals, because they will become more expensive for them.

I know that many PlayStation diehards won't agree with me, but I think that Sony just need to expand more aggressively on PC. Bring on own launcher, so you can keep 100% revenue from selling games. Consider day one PC releases. It clear, that huge majority of people are playing on console because they want and not because "XYZ games are only available on PlayStation." Make other mid-sized purchases and also try to go harder into mobile gaming where real money lies.
 
Last edited:

KingT731

Member
It went from harming the competition to no impact and trusting MS words to not remove the game from ps.
Complete 180 degree.
To be completely fair that isn't what was stated though. They said it doesn't make /financial sense/ for MS to foreclose on Sony but also noted that there is "uncertain future incentive" to do so based on the vague Financials provided.
 

Rykan

Member
Don't answer my question with a question. It's not a good look
You’ve dismissed a merger and acquisition lawyer’s opinion after acknowledging that you never even watched his video in the first place. Not a good look? Please. I’m not answering your question because it’s already blatantly obvious what the response will be: You’re going to respond with another absolute take on acquisitions because you think that every acquisition is the same and that no contractual conditions can be made for an acquisition, even though an actual acquisition lawyer tells you you’re wrong

Peace.
 
Last edited:
You’ve dismissed a merger and acquisition lawyer’s opinion after acknowledging that you never even watched his video in the first place. Not a good look? Please. I’m not answering your question because it’s already blatantly obvious what the response will be: You’re going to respond with another absolute take on acquisitions because you think that every acquisition is the same and that no contractual conditions can be made for an acquisition, even though an actual acquisition lawyer tells you you’re wrong

Peace.

No worries. When you've educated yourself on what subsidiaries are i'll be happy to continue.
 

modiz

Member
Sony changed the gaming landscape in the 90's and Microsoft will now change the gaming landscape again. As gamers we should embrace changes, not celebrate the status quo. Companies investing so much money into gaming can only mean a good thing for all of us. Just go where the games are and you are set to have great games.
 
I know that many PlayStation diehards won't agree with me, but I think that Sony just need to expand more aggressively on PC. Bring on own launcher, so you can keep 100% revenue from selling games. Consider day one PC releases. It clear, that huge majority of people are playing on console because they want and not because "XYZ games are only available on PlayStation." Make other mid-sized purchases and also try to go harder into mobile gaming where real money lies.
Pc gamers don't want another launcher so it's steam or bust for everyone who enters the pc game market and it won't work for Microsoft either .
 

Godot25

Banned
Pc gamers don't want another launcher so it's steam or bust for everyone who enters the pc game market and it won't work for Microsoft either .
I didn't said "pull your games from Steam." I said "Bring on own launcher." Of course, pulling games from Steam would be stupid (even Microsoft/ABK and EA realised that). But you can still have incentives for players to prefer "your" launcher.
 
I didn't said "pull your games from Steam." I said "Bring on own launcher." Of course, pulling games from Steam would be stupid (even Microsoft/ABK and EA realised that). But you can still have incentives for players to prefer "your" launcher.
I know you didn't I just don't see a Sony launcher being successful at all, I guess it would also be too costly to offer incentives that'll make the difference just seems better to stay exclusively with steam imo we'll see .
 

SomeGit

Member
Sony’s biggest incentives would be cross purchases (or even discounts if you owned it already on another platform) or to expand ps plus to PC. I’m not convinced they want either to be honest.
 
It literally depends on the contract, they absolutely could have made autonomy a part of the contract. It’s definitely more provable than anything you have said. Theres actual evidence supporting it, you just have your opinion based on fanboy nonsense.

There is no evidence. I'll ask you the same question. What's a wholy owned subsidary
 

The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
Sony totally screwed over Nintendo when Nintendo went behind their backs and made the 3DO and abandoned the Nintendo Playstation project. /s

Seriously - not gonna let you rewrite history to suit a narrative here
- complains about someone with source "rewriting history"
- basically rewriting history himself with zero source.

I can find a million articles about Sony doing this against Nintendo.

I ain't nitpicking, do a Google search yourself.

I don't care either way that you or someone else doesn't like what Sony did.

I just find it funny that people are arguing about Sega and Sony, when Sony stabbed Nintendo in the back.

That's all.
 

Yoboman

Member
It literally depends on the contract, they absolutely could have made autonomy a part of the contract. It’s definitely more provable than anything you have said. Theres actual evidence supporting it, you just have your opinion based on fanboy nonsense.
Please post the contract
 
Sony changed the gaming landscape in the 90's and Microsoft will now change the gaming landscape again. As gamers we should embrace changes, not celebrate the status quo. Companies investing so much money into gaming can only mean a good thing for all of us. Just go where the games are and you are set to have great games.
Microsoft actually changed the gaming landscape once or twice already - with Xbox Live first and online game stores second (though arguably maybe Steam was first in that regard). And Sony pushed disks and 3D in 90s.

I didn't said "pull your games from Steam." I said "Bring on own launcher." Of course, pulling games from Steam would be stupid (even Microsoft/ABK and EA realised that). But you can still have incentives for players to prefer "your" launcher.
Yeah, stuff like crossplay, crossprogression and maybe saves. I do think that Sony will introduce its own launcher sooner or later.

some people here want playstation to die :messenger_grinning_smiling:
the hate runs deep
Yet the discussions about Microsoft going third party or leaving the console market appear more often. Like we literally had a week or two ago articles about how Microsoft was going to leave the console market if ABK deal would not pass. Now Sony is on its deathbed :messenger_tears_of_joy:

I do maintain my stance that ABK deal will have serious ramifications for Sony. Not in a short-term (at least not completely), but with ABK Microsoft will have a very strong negotiation position. Especially with them pushing for a mobile store. And that's without "What about Sony's monopoly in Japan" :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
Last edited:

Yoboman

Member
- complains about someone with source "rewriting history"
- basically rewriting history himself with zero source.

I can find a million articles about Sony doing this against Nintendo.

I ain't nitpicking, do a Google search yourself.

I don't care either way that you or someone else doesn't like what Sony did.

I just find it funny that people are arguing about Sega and Sony, when Sony stabbed Nintendo in the back.

That's all.
I'm not seeing where Sony stabbed them in the back? By having a licensing fee?
 

Solidus_T

Member
- complains about someone with source "rewriting history"
- basically rewriting history himself with zero source.

I can find a million articles about Sony doing this against Nintendo.

I ain't nitpicking, do a Google search yourself.

I don't care either way that you or someone else doesn't like what Sony did.

I just find it funny that people are arguing about Sega and Sony, when Sony stabbed Nintendo in the back.

That's all.
Not only does that article have no details of any incident where "Sony stabbed Nintendo in the back," it also details how Nintendo was in charge of the decision making regarding PlayStation.

From the article "Nintendo had clearly become uncomfortable with the idea of giving Sony a leg-up into the video game market and creating a rival in the process, and had unceremoniously pulled the plug – little did it know, it had also unwittingly brought an end to its dominance of the domestic hardware arena at the same time."

Funny enough, I and many others know that what Nintendo did was sign a deal with Phillips, completely ghosting Sony. IIRC, Sony didn't know about the CD-i until it was announced. Who stabbed who in the back?
So yes, you are actually trying to rewrite history and I am calling you out.
 

NoobSmog

Member
In some ways, the MS ABK merger has the possibility to be the start of Xbox downfall.

There is the risk of MS screwing up the management of ABK like they have been doing with their studios and MS will eventually get tired of Xbox division fails.

Then there is Sony reaction to it, it can go from nothing to serious damage to the Xbox division.

It's a guessing game at this point.
I'm honestly really curious if they are going to keep kotick or not. The obvious PR move, which xbox seems to love, is to fire kotick. This would be a massive mistake because as much as I hate him, he got ABK to where they are at now.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom