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[TheDreadLord]

No it's not. The UK would rather appease MS, which is one of the 5 biggest companies in the world and highly influential with the US. Why would the UK prioritise a tiny Japanese company in comparison.

Because people working there are probably right now posting on Sony GAF and Pony Era.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

And their stock took a beating, because at this point it's pegged to the deal and the chances of it happening, results irrelevant.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Sad day for freedom of private people and businesses.

It's a public company tho.

 

[diffusionx]

And their stock took a beating, because at this point it's pegged to the deal and the chances of it happening, results irrelevant.

That is temporary movement today, AB's fundamentals are still strong and the stock will go back to reflecting those fundamentals as opposed to the acquisition. Actually AB's stock hasn't reflected the realities of its business in a very long time, since it took a beating when California went after, before the acquisition (and MS arguably took advantage of that situation to put in a lowball offer).

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

That is temporary movement today, AB's fundamentals are still strong and the stock will go back to reflecting those fundamentals as opposed to the acquisition. Actually AB's stock hasn't reflected the realities of its business in a very long time, since it took a beating when California went after, before the acquisition (and MS arguably took advantage of that situation to put in a lowball offer).

Until they are released from the deal, the stock value is effectively capped.

I wonder when the board will decide it's time to drop the charade and let the stock float again.

 

[DJ12]

They can't take the L, can they?

Just received this actual footage of the first discussions of the appeal MS are working on.

And

 

[Baki]

That is temporary movement today, AB's fundamentals are still strong and the stock will go back to reflecting those fundamentals as opposed to the acquisition. Actually AB's stock hasn't reflected the realities of its business in a very long time, since it took a beating when California went after, before the acquisition (and MS arguably took advantage of that situation to put in a lowball offer).

ABK is a $50-60 stock based on the current stock market. Revenue and profit declined YoY and we're in a bear market. 2020-2021 was the era of cheap money and had highly inflated stock valuations. I would not use that as a reference for where ABK stock price would be, absent MS $95 offer.

 

[solidus12]

 

[DJ12]

"Phil Spencer says..."

Poor Phil, read the proverb wrong.

Phil it's Under PROMISE and over DELIVER

He's such a dalt...

 

[Humdinger]

Hopefully, they focus on executing well with the studios they've already acquired, rather than more more more.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Nah this is a CMA issue not because MS is big in the UK. Again, it is an influence game. The appeal is waste of time.

Once again, the scrutiny was always going to come down to the 4 largest markets, which is why those 4 had to be unanimous (yes) for this to proceed. The other markets where they do not exist or are irrelevant in, don't mean shit for this deal other than PR posturing to their base.

 

[Tg89]

Good.

They've already got plenty of studios, try getting some actual output from those before ruining others (not that there's much left to ruin with ActiBlizz).

 

[zomboden]

If I was Microsoft.
1. Drop out of this deal. It's a waste of resources and it doesn't seem to be happening. Cut the loss and move on.
2. Before the ink dries on the deal cancellation immediately start reaching out to third parties about exclusivity and game pass deals.
3. Start compiling a list of small-medium sized studios/development groups such as CDPR etc. that would not require much regulatory checks and start making offers to acquire now.
4. Any acquired studios will fall in line with Bethesda. No release on PlayStation. Forgo any potential PlayStation sales in hopes people will buy Xbox to play these games and it will shift marketshare in Xbox's favor. All games Day One Game Pass and all past games on the service too.

If they spend 2 more years trying to appeal this transaction and don't also improve the current first party output... well... RIP Xbox IMO

 

[bluecowboys]

Nah Sony didn't bribe the CMA with this. The UK likes competition and their consumers.

The CMA tossed Sonys argument in the trash with this one.

They don’t have to bribe if Sony is a major video game employer in UK. Also, CMA wants that sweet tax revenue from game sales that they won’t get from streaming.

I would call UK bluff. They won’t ban Xbox or its acquisitions. Worse they would do is fine MS.

 

[Humdinger]

Well, I'm glad about the decision. Squash these mega-mergers.

 

[bluecowboys]

If I was Microsoft.
1. Drop out of this deal. It's a waste of resources and it doesn't seem to be happening. Cut the loss and move on.
2. Before the ink dries on the deal cancellation immediately start reaching out to third parties about exclusivity and game pass deals.
3. Start compiling a list of small-medium sized studios/development groups such as CDPR etc. that would not require much regulatory checks and start making offers to acquire now.
4. Any acquired studios will fall in line with Bethesda. No release on PlayStation. Forgo any potential PlayStation sales in hopes people will buy Xbox to play these games and it will shift marketshare in Xbox's favor.

If they spent 2 more years trying to appeal this transaction and don't also improve the current first party output... well... RIP Xbox IMO

Nah, keep acquiring Activison. Those studios that you mentioned don’t make a fraction what activison makes. Also this goes beyond xbox.

 

[Unknown?]

Nah, keep acquiring Activison. Those studios that you mentioned don’t make a fraction what activison makes. Also this goes beyond xbox.

Better yet, Sony Corp!

 

[zomboden]

Nah, keep acquiring Activison. Those studios that you mentioned don’t make a fraction what activison makes. Also this goes beyond xbox.

It's not happening. The writing has been on the wall for months now. Stock price never went up til just recently. Went straight back down after the news. No sane investor is putting their money on this. It's dead.

The whole "we are appealing, this isn't over" is just PR speak to save face while they plan out their next moves.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

They don’t have to bribe if Sony is a major video game employer in UK. Also, CMA wants that sweet tax revenue from game sales that they won’t get from streaming.

I would call UK bluff. They won’t ban Xbox or its acquisitions. Worse they would do is fine MS.

 

[Badlucktroll]

 

[sachos]

This is what triggers me about all of this and the fanboy arguments, they are seriously acting as if Xbox CANT compete without Activision!
First of all they loose nothing, all of those games will still be available on Xbox and second they already have more than 20 studios! They own some of the biggest FPS IPs in Doom, Wolfenstein, Quake, Halo and WRPG with Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Take those 70 billion and invest it on those studios you already own.
Its kinda pathetic honestly.

 

[Pelta88]

The night before... An XBOX podcast was celebrating the win they convinced themselves was coming the next day. They were even planning on music to put on their timeline to, and i quote, "Piss off Ponies."




What a difference a day makes.

 

[zomboden]

This is what triggers me about all of this and the fanboy arguments, they are seriously acting as if Xbox CANT compete without Activision!
First of all they loose nothing, all of those games will still be available on Xbox and second they already have more than 20 studios! They own some of the biggest FPS IPs in Doom, Wolfenstein, Quake, Halo and WRPG with Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Take those 70 billion and invest it on those studios you already own.
Its kinda pathetic honestly.

How can you win against mindshare? People think of PlayStation they think of amazing exclusive video game series. When people think of Xbox they think of "game pass is the best value in gaming".

It sounds insidious but honestly taking stuff away from PlayStation and putting it only on Xbox is a viable way to force people to decide whether X video game series is worth selling their PlayStation for and buying Xbox.

But anyways this acquisition they made deals in place to keep games on PS/etc. for at least 10 years.

Microsoft knew Activision Blizzard was a profitable developer and they would gain.
A. Free revenue from owning them
B. Increased game pass subscriptions by putting their games on Xbox/PC pass.

It wasn't as much about taking away games from PlayStation as some people think. This acquisition wasn't anyways... Well see about what's to come.

 

[DeepEnigma]

The night before... A XBOX podcast were celebrating the win they convinced themselves was coming. They were even planning on music to put on their timeline to, and i quote "Piss off Ponies."




What a difference a day makes.

Grown ass men, folks.

 

[X-Wing]

70% of what market? It's just MS and Nvidia twiddling their thumbs hoping something happens.
Does anyone think that the cloud gaming market will expand to be worth annually almost 2 x ABK's revenue by 2026?

Apparently the CMA does, and since they have access to the projections of the companies that are making these huge investments in cloud gaming l’m willing to believe they might be onto something.

 

[Thirty7ven]

Love reading the Twitter fanboys and their unwavering belief that Microsoft will go to the ends of the earth to force this deal to go through.

Hide your wives, hide your kids, Microsoft is out there.

 

[graywolf323]

If I was Microsoft.
1. Drop out of this deal. It's a waste of resources and it doesn't seem to be happening. Cut the loss and move on.
2. Before the ink dries on the deal cancellation immediately start reaching out to third parties about exclusivity and game pass deals.
3. Start compiling a list of small-medium sized studios/development groups such as CDPR etc. that would not require much regulatory checks and start making offers to acquire now.
4. Any acquired studios will fall in line with Bethesda. No release on PlayStation. Forgo any potential PlayStation sales in hopes people will buy Xbox to play these games and it will shift marketshare in Xbox's favor. All games Day One Game Pass and all past games on the service too.

If they spend 2 more years trying to appeal this transaction and don't also improve the current first party output... well... RIP Xbox IMO

why? they already have the largest stable of first party development studios without buying anymore, why do they need to keep buying studios instead of just actually properly managing the ones they have? there’s nothing stopping them from releasing games at a clip like Sony does except their own incompetence

 

[Unknown?]

How can you win against mindshare? People think of PlayStation they think of amazing exclusive video game series. When people think of Xbox they think of "game pass is the best value in gaming".

It sounds insidious but honestly taking stuff away from PlayStation and putting it only on Xbox is a viable way to force people to decide whether X video game series is worth selling their PlayStation for and buying Xbox.

But anyways this acquisition they made deals in place to keep games on PS/etc. for at least 10 years.

Microsoft knew Activision Blizzard was a profitable developer and they would gain.
A. Free revenue from owning them
B. Increased game pass subscriptions by putting their games on Xbox/PC pass.

It wasn't as much about taking away games from PlayStation as some people think. This acquisition wasn't anyways... Well see about what's to come.

With good management. Sega did it in the 90s when Nintendo had a much larger marketshare than Sony ever did.

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

If I was Microsoft.
1. Drop out of this deal. It's a waste of resources and it doesn't seem to be happening. Cut the loss and move on.
2. Before the ink dries on the deal cancellation immediately start reaching out to third parties about exclusivity and game pass deals.
3. Start compiling a list of small-medium sized studios/development groups such as CDPR etc. that would not require much regulatory checks and start making offers to acquire now.
4. Any acquired studios will fall in line with Bethesda. No release on PlayStation. Forgo any potential PlayStation sales in hopes people will buy Xbox to play these games and it will shift marketshare in Xbox's favor. All games Day One Game Pass and all past games on the service too.

If they spend 2 more years trying to appeal this transaction and don't also improve the current first party output... well... RIP Xbox IMO

Or just make awesome games ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hopefully this serves as a wake up call for them.
Phil Spencer has been making empty promises for a decade. Time for him invest in his studios and get some quality games out there.

2014:

2015:

2016:

2017:

2018:

2019:

2020:

2021:

2022:

2023:

All those promises and still no game of the year candidate.

I think we're starting to see a pattern and a kinda Stockholm syndrom

 

[PropellerEar]

Apparently the CMA does, and since they have access to the projections of the companies that are making these huge investments in cloud gaming l’m willing to believe they might be onto something.

2-3billion gamers has been the MSFT tag line for cloud.

 

[DeepEnigma]

With good management. Sega did it in the 90s when Nintendo had a much larger marketshare than Sony ever did.

Then they screwed up when management from the East went behind the management in the West. Genesis/Mega Drive was GOAT Sega.

 

[Clintizzle]

Well that fucking sucks...

Question: Did anyone agree with the reasons CMA provided for blocking it? I recognise my own bias so was wondering if I find their arguement laughable because I wanted it to go through.

 

[Forsythia]

Man, this thread is becoming a copy of the other one. Same old arguments. Let it go folks, the deal is dead.

 

[zomboden]

why? they already have the largest stable of first party development studios without buying anymore, why do they need to keep buying studios instead of just actually properly managing the ones they have? there’s nothing stopping them from releasing games at a clip like Sony does except their own incompetence

With good management. Sega did it in the 90s when Nintendo had a much larger marketshare than Sony ever did.

Sega the company that notoriously had to drop out of the console business because they couldn't compete...

People will keep saying good management but realistically what do you expect management to do with game development?

You can't force the game's to be done early and have bugs or people will hate on them and rake them over the coals for not having a polished product.
You can't force the developers to crunch to finish games or the SJW mob will attack you for making your employees work too much. (plus might lower morale)
You can't cut features on the games to get them out the door sooner because then people will say your game is shit.

At what point does the responsibility fall on the teams to lower the scope of their games and create a realistic release pipeline instead of sucking up publishers money for 15 years and not releasing a single damn product?

 

[X-Wing]

This is what triggers me about all of this and the fanboy arguments, they are seriously acting as if Xbox CANT compete without Activision!
First of all they loose nothing, all of those games will still be available on Xbox and second they already have more than 20 studios! They own some of the biggest FPS IPs in Doom, Wolfenstein, Quake, Halo and WRPG with Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Take those 70 billion and invest it on those studios you already own.
Its kinda pathetic honestly.

That was the only argument that Xbox had to motivate the merger anyway, so it’s normal the fans actually believe it.

 

[zomboden]

Or just make awesome games ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Problem is people are already invested in the opposition more than ever. How many people do you think switched from X360 to PS4 and then do you think those same people went out and got Series X/S? No. They bought PS5. Sony has taken marketshare in a stranglehold several years ago. People say well PlayStation is the best place to play. How do you convince somebody who has spent the last 10 years building a games catalogue and getting invested in Sony's game series and ecosystem to go out and buy Xbox...

Hell, look at the thread today where somebody asked what platforms do you own on here. More people owned a damn PS5 than a PC....

 

[mckmas8808]

This is what triggers me about all of this and the fanboy arguments, they are seriously acting as if Xbox CANT compete without Activision!
First of all they loose nothing, all of those games will still be available on Xbox and second they already have more than 20 studios! They own some of the biggest FPS IPs in Doom, Wolfenstein, Quake, Halo and WRPG with Elder Scrolls and Fallout. Take those 70 billion and invest it on those studios you already own.
Its kinda pathetic honestly.

Kinda Funny still thinks MS will still get Activision at the end of the day.

 

[sachos]

How can you win against mindshare? People think of PlayStation they think of amazing exclusive video game series.

Well isnt that the answer you are looking for? Make amazing games that only a first party would be able to make and people will come. They have a chance with all the IPs they acquired in recent years but they have to get better at delivering. If they manage to take those IPs to the next level, people will come. Or even better, show you can create NEW IPs on the level only a first party could achieve.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Sega the company that notoriously had to drop out of the console business because they couldn't compete...

Because their global management back stabbed each other and screwed up. They sat on a wealth of IPs and could have stayed in if they kept the focus on a single device/machine.

 

[Unknown?]

Sega the company that notoriously had to drop out of the console business because they couldn't compete...

People will keep saying good management but realistically what do you expect management to do with game development?

You can't force the game's to done early and have bugs or people will hate on them and rake them over the coals for not having a polished product.
You can't force the developers to crunch to finish games or the SJW mob will attack you for making your employees work too much. (plus might lower morale)
You can't cut features on the games to get them out the door sooner because then people will say your game is shit.

At what point does the responsibility fall on the teams to lower the scope of their games and create a realistic release pipeline instead of sucking up publishers money for 15 years and not releasing a single damn product?

Nintendo had over 95% market share in 89 and in four years were actually less market share than Sega. They dropped out because of poor management due to being split between east and west and the poor management undermining good management. Microsoft doesn't have that problem.

Also Nintendo has been able to come back from the abyss several times now.

 

[StealthGoblin]

They will release their games but not hire or invest into the UK.

All because an independent regulatory body didn’t approve their sale to a global monolithic entity. Boo hoo.

It’s insanely childish.

 

[killatopak]

I think I had enough fun poking Microsoft.

They should move on and focus on what’s next for them. Surely, they have a plan B if ever the deal doesn’t fall through. I hope they didn’t put all their eggs on the ABK basket.

 

[Moriarty1889]

I’m glad this happened. MS has enough studios after purchasing Bethesda Zenimax. They should spend some of that money towards creating new AAA first party IP instead like Sony does. They have so much money yet they can’t seem to create anything new of AAA type magnitude. Let this light a fire for them to try and do just that. Again, they have enough studios and plenty of money. If they can’t do that with all they possess then they shouldn’t bother with gaming anymore. Just my two cents.

 

[zomboden]

Because their global management back stabbed each other and screwed up. They sat on a wealth of IPs and could have stayed in if they kept the focus on a single device/machine.

Nintendo had over 95% market share in 89 and in four years were actually less market share than Sega. They dropped out because of poor management due to being split between east and west and the poor management undermining good management. Microsoft doesn't have that problem.

Also Nintendo has been able to come back from the abyss several times now.

Okay I can understand the divide between Japan and US management causing issues. Honestly Dreamcast was before my time so I was speaking out of ignorance.

I really just don't know what to say. I think Microsoft is a risk averse company and instead of fixing issues they would rather close down the operations altogether. I'm fearful for Xbox's future. I'm invested in Xbox and I do not want them to fail.

 

[GHound]

Fanboy retards already concocting more revenge fanfiction? Embarrassing beyond compare. Please take a shower and go outside.

 

[Mr Moose]

They will release their games but not hire or invest into the UK.

I heard they are closing down Rare, Ninja Theory and Playground right after the CMA announced this. Those fucking Brits!

 

[PSX]

Hello I am back!

 

[kyussman]

What does CMA stand for, anyway? Country Music Association?

Cancelling Microsoft Aquisitions.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

 

[bitbydeath]

I’m glad this happened. MS has enough studios after purchasing Bethesda Zenimax. They should spend some of that money towards creating new AAA first party IP instead like Sony does. They have so much money yet they can’t seem to create anything new of AAA type magnitude. Let this light a fire for them to try and do just that. Again, they have enough studios and plenty of money. If they can’t do that with all they possess then they shouldn’t bother with gaming anymore. Just my two cents.

It'd be great if they even just put 2 billion into Elder Scrolls so they could get that out ASAP.