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Breaking: Microsoft to acquire Activision-Blizzard in near 70$ billion deal

Aenima

Member
I knew MS would try to get the gaming monopoly when they entered the console race. Just took them 4 gens to do it but they are actually doing it.
WIsh they tried to be competitive by building and creating they own studios and IPS and not stealing multiplatform franshises by buying publishers.
 
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TrebleShot

Member
One step closer to GamePass on PlayStation consoles.
No doubt this will happen.

COD will be exclusive to GamePass as will all the acquired franchises and eventually you will see first game pass come to Sony consoles for a nice wedge of shared cash and finally to the cloud where you won't need bespoke hardware.

The console war is over and Sony won, the streaming wars have begun and Sony doesn't even have a horse in the race (more of a donkey).
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Buying CoD and Crash?

Lol, they aren't kidding anymore. Things are starting to get serious over there. Wonder if this strategy can be counted as monopoly.

Its definitely questionable on those grounds, especially as there's more to a deal like this than say Disney buying Fox in terms of anti-competitive practice.

A deal like this is going to at least 18months to be ratified.
 
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kyliethicc

Member
yUhgnP9.gif


wait wrong one nevermind
 

Hunnybun

Member
I think these deals hurt Sony even just from a basic 'optics' POV: it just makes them look weak and small time. That's way before they even have to deal with the reality of COD not being on their platform anymore.

I really don't know about this tbh. I like what Microsoft have been doing lately (aside from these big acquisitions, which are kind of a separate thing), and things like game pass are imo a necessary corrective to bullshit like Sony charging £70 for games, but by the same token we don't want Xbox getting TOO dominant.

I've said for a while that GP is a huge threat to Sony, and they need to respond properly. Do they seriously think they can get away with the half-hearted shit this 'Spartacus' thing is suggesting? They're gonna have to go toe to toe and put all their first party games on it, at an equivalent price. It's the cost of staying in the race, now. I think they've been way too cautious in their response up to now.
 

MrTentakel

Member
Awsome, Fallout 86 and COD 1000 are Xbox exclusives now. Excite me more, buy EA for Fifa :messenger_poop:

P Phil Buy Ubisoft and bring back Rayman und Blood Dragon II.
(please?)
 
I don't believe Microsoft is removing Call of Duty from Playstation. This is a move purely for the overall money that it will bring in to Xbox for the big COD franchises, but it does mean that Game Pass is officially an unstoppable juggernaut of a service.
people said surely they won't remove Starfield or Elder Scrolls from Playstation.

people are delusional. MS just spend $70,000,000,000. you don't spend $7.5b nevermind $70b just to release those games to your competitor lmfao.

warzone will probably stay multiplatform but going forward Call of Duty will be Xbox/PC exclusive.
 
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dorkimoe

Member
I’m guessing activision price was at its lowest in awhile after the culture stuff and the lack of literally any game in awhile (not cod)
 
I don't believe Microsoft is removing Call of Duty from Playstation. This is a move purely for the overall money that it will bring in to Xbox for the big COD franchises, but it does mean that Game Pass is officially an unstoppable juggernaut of a service.
You’re out of your mind if you think they spent 7 billion dollars on bathesda and those games are exclusive but they are spending 70 billion to keep the games on PlayStation. What ever you’re smoking send me some.
 

saintjules

Member
Things are getting interestinnnnggg!!!
Hell yeah.

I might be in the minority here, but I love exclusives, competition, branding.
(Acknowledgement and action tied to it)
F' the kumbaya garbage from companies who are so obviously in competition with each other for the consumers dollar.

I think there is a whole swath of people who fundamentally can't understand the value of competition. (Par for the course when you hand out participation trophies for everything)

This whole melange of service and software these past 2 gens was boring asf.

Variety is the spice of life.

Compete for my dollar. Give me an exclusively funded JRPG from one of Japan's heavy hitters.

Good news today. I'm gonna pound back a bottle of Code Red and shove some Doritos Spicy variety down the gullet.

You're not alone. I love it. Especially when you have both Consoles.

Let the games begin!
 

reksveks

Member
people said surely they won't remove Starfield or Elder Scrolls from Playstation.

people are delusional. MS just spend $70,000,000,000. you don't need $7.5b nevermind $70b just to release those games to your competitor lmfao.

warzone will probably stay multiplatform but going forward Call of Duty will be Xbox/PC exclusive.
I don't think its about the business case in terms of revenue/profits, its might be about getting the deal through
 

Michele

you.
You know what, if industry consolidation is going down at this scale, I’ll take MS buying ActiBlizz rather than Tencent buying ActiBlizz any day of the week.

Tencent, urgh... is that the one with Pokemon Unite? Still can't get over the fact GF actually partnered with Tencent...
 

kyussman

Member
We all know when Microsoft take something really seriously they make sure they end up the only player in town......looks like they've decided to take gaming really seriously,lol.
 

cHaOs667

Member
After the cluster fuck that Activision Blizzard caused to themselves I bet that the shareholders have pushed the board for such an solution - otherwise the company structure and employee morale could have declined more and more.

Boss move by MS but without the cluster fuck before it would not have happened.
 

Nickolaidas

Member
Meh.
Unless this means that WarCraft 4/StarCraft 3 are coming, big meh. World of WarCraft is like, grandpa news - almost everyone has grown out of it.
But this is definitely in order to pull Call of Duty away from Sony, which IS huge for CoD fans.
However, I can't help but wonder whether this whole harassment campaign and slander happened in order to de-evaluate the company and make it more vulnerable to an acquisition.
 

Aretak

Member
I don't believe Microsoft is removing Call of Duty from Playstation. This is a move purely for the overall money that it will bring in to Xbox for the big COD franchises, but it does mean that Game Pass is officially an unstoppable juggernaut of a service.
People said the same thing about Bethesda games until Phil confirmed that they'd only be on platforms with Game Pass. Unless Sony accept Game Pass on PlayStation, I don't see them releasing there.
 

GasTheWeebs

Banned
Of course, those who bet on an Xbox with Gamepass this generation were completely right.
I don't know what those who spent €1,000 for a speculated PS5 feel now. Mother of God.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Well that's great. One master to rule them all, with the scraps left for Sony.

I personally don't really give a shit about any of Activision's games, but nobody should think this is a good thing. Microsoft is becoming a real danger for the entire gaming market. They don't innovate and create good development studios, they just buy already existing ones (and more often than not ruin them, at least going by their past record).

One company owning everything is not good.
 
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DarkestHour

Banned
I don't understand why Microsoft would restrict COD and other games to be Xbox only. They can easily have it on both platforms and rake in the money.
 
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