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Microsoft / Activision Deal Approval Watch |OT| (MS/ABK close)

Do you believe the deal will be approved?


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mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Phil said no i cannot legally bind for Microsoft? Or did he pause the answer before the subject was changed? He was being led down a slippery slope and he recognized this and acted and spoke accordingly. FTC was trying to pull a fast one in Sony's favor and he was probably right in pausing his answers there.

He didn't confirm that his words "WERE" legally binding either. That's the point.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Some of you are worried Sony can no longer dominate.

MS staying in the console space will be a big win for BC, forwards compatibility, and competition.

I’ll be interested to see what exclusive CoD skins and modes will do for Xbox now that Sony won’t have that anymore.

it isn't about Sony dominating. I just want Sony to be able to literally have 3rd party games. Is that too much to ask?
 

POKEYCLYDE

Member
September NPD: ps5>switch>xbox let's bet?
I'm not confident that Xbox will outsell the Playstation in any given month, but I am confident that Starfield has proven to be a console seller, which in my eyes reduces the possibility of a Playstation port to essentially 0.

Edit: If you want to explain why you think Starfield will eventually come to Playstation, I'll hear your argument out.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
Some of you are worried Sony can no longer dominate.

MS staying in the console space will be a big win for BC, forwards compatibility, and competition.

I’ll be interested to see what exclusive CoD skins and modes will do for Xbox now that Sony won’t have that anymore.

Definitely want to see Microsoft stay in the console space, but I don't think they need to gobble up big chunks of the industry to do that. As far as Sony is concerned, I personally don't worry about them dominating anything. I just want them to continue making great games. I think Sony and Nintendo are the ones excelling in that area while Microsoft is playing catch up (still, after over 20 years) and that is reflected in their respective positions in the market.
 

ulantan

Member
Some of you are worried Sony can no longer dominate.

MS staying in the console space will be a big win for BC, forwards compatibility, and competition.

I’ll be interested to see what exclusive CoD skins and modes will do for Xbox now that Sony won’t have that anymore.
What could that possibly do for xbox if they don't remove CoD entirely from playstation then they aren't competing with sony. Xbox already has vastly more money than them what is competition without full foreclosure?
 
Fair enough.

I’m worried that assholes like Jim Ryan will continue to shit on old games, that some PS5 and many PS4 games will require a patch to work on PS6.

I don’t like cloud saves behind a paywall, I don’t like how frugal they are about servers.

Maybe now Sony can listen to their dedicated base a bit more. How about some Socom? How about reviving amazing classics like Jumping Flash and Jet Moto? Don’t just make mostly AAA games and also respect your legacy.

Listen to the Sony dedicated base in flesh 93xfan 93xfan !
He knows what the Sony dedicated base want and deserve.:messenger_weary::messenger_ok:
 

Sanepar

Member
Some of you are worried Sony can no longer dominate.

MS staying in the console space will be a big win for BC, forwards compatibility, and competition.

I’ll be interested to see what exclusive CoD skins and modes will do for Xbox now that Sony won’t have that anymore.
Tell me why I will want a company that can't delivery one great aaa besides forza, halo, gears in the last 13 years? Instead of a company that delivered more than 30 great aaa games last 10 years and doing this delivering new ips?
 

PaintTinJr

Member








That's a wrap guys, this one way or the other will be history. Judge complimented FTC and said it will be difficult to decide

If the judge is still feeling the same, today I think the FTC did a good job - even if we all think they did badly.

I still think the judge will ultimately find in favour of the Warren Buffet hedge fund managers for pension pots by denying the PI, but if the judge is already at the point she can't instantly dismiss the FTC's case for a PI because "it is tough", I think that says a lot about the quality of the FTC argument as she saw it.

The inference from her saying it won't take 2-3months is surely that it could take a month, which then also ties in with the gamers lawsuit that has ~18 days left to amend their suit while she spends those weeks working through this argument.

The FTC's expert Dr Lee seemingly got destroy in cross-examination going by this thread that day, yet when the FTC lawyer referenced Dr Lee's evidence in summary the Judge sounded like she held it in high esteem, as though she'd remembered some stats and the importance of analysis durations and was maybe even assured by his inability to answer questions that his research hadn't provided evidence for him to meaningfully answer, or at least that was the impression I got when Microsoft's lawyer tried the buddy tactic with the judge, yesterday saying "wet both asked him three times and he couldn't answer", and the judge's tone in following comment suggested there was no "we" situation.

I also think the judge is in a pretty solid situation for not getting this overturned on appeal if she rules in the FTC's favour, because MSFT and ATVI's acquisition clock will have run out

edit
Another thought IMO about why the order might be sealed, is that if she finds in the FTC's favour the information has immediate stock market impact, and so she'd need to leave it for MSFT to inform the stockmarket
 
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FoxMcChief

Gold Member
We worry that IPs tht have been the legacy of our hobby and that have been available on every system possible like doom, fallout, the elder scrolls, call of duty, overwatch, diablo, etc will be foreclosed to everyone but those who buy into one particular ecosystem, thus punishing gamer choice.

We worry that subscriptions are not economically viable and such it will push premium gaming into what mobile gaming has become. We like how things are, and we all would prefer if Microsoft was interested in nurturing talent and creating masterful games, instead of trying to corner the market with the weight of their wallet.
Very well said, but you have to know things like this won’t last forever. But I understand not wanting to get there at the pace it’s currently going.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I think FTC should've just argued that if MS bought Activision, Sony might have Take2 and take GTA off Xbox. Sony wins that scenario but the consumers dont.

Or just tell them that Take2, Capcom, Square Enix and Ubisoft combined make up half of the $70 billion MS is paying for Activision, if Sony buys them all to fight MS on CoD, would that be allowed?
 

FoxMcChief

Gold Member
I think FTC should've just argued that if MS bought Activision, Sony might have Take2 and take GTA off Xbox. Sony wins that scenario but the consumers dont.

Or just tell them that Take2, Capcom, Square Enix and Ubisoft combined make up half of the $70 billion MS is paying for Activision, if Sony buys them all to fight MS on CoD, would that be allowed?
I wouldn’t be opposed to your scenario.
 
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Reactions: GHG
I think FTC should've just argued that if MS bought Activision, Sony might have Take2 and take GTA off Xbox. Sony wins that scenario but the consumers dont.

Or just tell them that Take2, Capcom, Square Enix and Ubisoft combined make up half of the $70 billion MS is paying for Activision, if Sony buys them all to fight MS on CoD, would that be allowed?


Remember about the acquisition war that could start from this passing that I posited--I said some time ago(and I think it's in their recent financials) that Sony has begun clearing other things off for more acquisition capabilities.

I'm not saying they'll run off and grab all of those. Many publishers can choose not to sell, etc. But you'd be foolish to think they won't retaliate in some form. One company has now thrown *two* punches in the form of entire publishers. Not developers, PUBLISHERS.

But this scenario(to a modicum of extent) is a VERY real possibility. Consolidation and foreclosure of third party content on BOTH SIDES where no one wins.
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Remember about the acquisition war that could start from this passing that I posited--I said some time ago(and I think it's in their recent financials) that Sony has begun clearing other things off for more acquisition capabilities.

I'm not saying they'll run off and grab all of those. Many publishers can choose not to sell, etc. But you'd be foolish to think they won't retaliate in some form. One company has now thrown *two* punches in the form of entire publishers. Not developers, PUBLISHERS.

But this scenario(to a modicum of extent) is a VERY real possibility. Consolidation and foreclosure of third party content on BOTH SIDES where no one wins.
yeah, my guess is ubisoft or capcom+square enix. But i dont think they will move the needle or give them any leverage against MS holding back CoD. Only GTA can have that effect but Take2 just bought zynga and is probably worth $25 billion on its own.
 

Astray

Member
Another thought IMO about why the order might be sealed, is that if she finds in the FTC's favour the information has immediate stock market impact, and so she'd need to leave it for MSFT to inform the stockmarket
Whoever wins this decision will absolutely run to announce it to anyone who will care.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
I still think Elder Scrolls 6 will be multiplat. I think any IP that has existed on Playstation will continue to exist on Playstation in future iterations. It may not be locked in now, but I think it will be in the future.







I also believe in ghosts, Santa Claus, Peter Pan and the Power Rangers. So I mean what do I know.
 
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PaintTinJr

Member
Whoever wins this decision will absolutely run to announce it to anyone who will care.
Yeah, I just envisioning a scenario where the judge summons them to chambers for the order, then has them all wait while in the room until Microsoft goes through the official process of informing the stock market first, knowing that no one outside of the room knows, and no one in the room can communicate it before the stock market is informed.

although...it could just be that she's already envisioning using redacted info to justify the decision, which still would remain redacted.
 

PaintTinJr

Member
yeah, my guess is ubisoft or capcom+square enix. But i dont think they will move the needle or give them any leverage against MS holding back CoD. Only GTA can have that effect but Take2 just bought zynga and is probably worth $25 billion on its own.
They'd buy Konami if they had to and get them :) ) Kojima and Cerny) to build a new MGS online in the style of CoD and make it exclusive to PlayStation/PC/mobile under the guiding hand of Bungie for the service aspect.
 

FUBARx89

Member
I still think Elder Scrolls 6 will be multiplat. I think any IP that has existed on Playstation will continue to exist on Playstation in future iterations. It may not be locked in now, but I think it will be in the future.







I also believe in ghosts, Santa Claus, Peter Pan and the Power Rangers. So I mean what do I know.

MS said ALL games exclusive. I don't think PS owners will see another big Bethesda published game again.

We will see if they will allow anything not a main release on PS5 when they formally announce Quake 2 remaster that was just leaked.
 
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Three

Member
I think FTC should've just argued that if MS bought Activision, Sony might have Take2 and take GTA off Xbox. Sony wins that scenario but the consumers dont.

Or just tell them that Take2, Capcom, Square Enix and Ubisoft combined make up half of the $70 billion MS is paying for Activision, if Sony buys them all to fight MS on CoD, would that be allowed?

I find how they kept mentioning Fifa during the hearing kind of weird. Could the redacted acquisition target have been EA?
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
MS said ALL games exclusive. I don't think PS owners will see another big Bethesda published game again.

We will see if they will allow anything not a main release on PS5 when they formally announce Quake 2 remaster that was just leaked.
Being serious though. Here is what I remember.

Phil Spencer did say he wanted to let Xbox fans know that the purchase of Bethesda was definitely about securing exclusives. If Phil is to be believed then yea, Sony probably won't get those

UNLESS. They can work out a deal. Maybe gimme a lil Final Fantasy Rebirth, maybe we might slide you a lil bit of that Elder Scrolls.

That's really the only way I see it happening. I think it's somewhat telling that with quotes like this, Phil still says under oath that there has been no decision on TES6.
 
Shower thoughts - When Phil dies, do you think he'll go to hell for lying so much? 🤔

Or will Saint Peter allow him into the pearly gates of heaven?
He will be stuck in one of the circles of hell where he bites his tongue until it falls off, then he will have the urge to take a shit in a special hole in the center of the circle...this hole connects to the mouth of Colt, Jezz and the like
 

Pollux

Member
We worry that IPs tht have been the legacy of our hobby and that have been available on every system possible like doom, fallout, the elder scrolls, call of duty, overwatch, diablo, etc will be foreclosed to everyone but those who buy into one particular ecosystem, thus punishing gamer choice.

We worry that subscriptions are not economically viable and such it will push premium gaming into what mobile gaming has become. We like how things are, and we all would prefer if Microsoft was interested in nurturing talent and creating masterful games, instead of trying to corner the market with the weight of their wallet.
As much as I would love to see COD or other A/B titles on gamepass - this man is 100% correct.
 

Vognerful

Member
I actually think you have a really good point here.

I disagree.

If there is one thing has been made abundantly clear is that Microsoft's values great PR above all else. They do not care about the cost. Their main gaming avenue is literally a sink hole in terms of money spent with next to no return. In fact, it "cannibalises" itself. But because Microsoft can create "Number of players" sound bites, they keep it around for PR purposes.

Which is important to note because the uproar from their own community would be deafening if Starfield were to ever appear on PS. Couple that with a gaming strategy which by their own definition is losing billions it's hard to see how any XB exclusive goes multiplat.

Major Bethesda games will remain exclusive, as will ABK games, including COD, after a time, in case this deals goes through... all the lies and bullshits have been exposed

Anyone advocating still that CoD will never leave playstation or bethesda major franchises will launch on playstation should just bet a permanent ban at this point or stfu

Obs.: and please dont bring Phils bullshit testimony with vague words like "thats my plan" , and especially not wanting to bind his words to the company when asked directly by the FTC

Need to clarify few things and how I disagree with some of you

First of all, no. You can think and say that MS are laying based on their emails or whatever, but their emails and actions prove to me one thing: they would never pull CoD of Playstation consoles. They are not fucking dump to let go of 1.7 billion dollars of annual revenue from that platform. How much do you think Zenimax makes in a year? it is peanuts compared to ABK. The whole point of buying ABK is so that they can go full exclusive with Zenimax titles (I still feel however that some titles will release multiplatform). I am not basing this on testimony, the emails and reports that we have seen show that they are serious in going multiplatform with ABK or at least CoD.

Add to that, they are not stupid enough to leave that market wide open to Sony, who are developing 10 GaaS games as we speak and are have more to gain now if their shooter games have no competitor.

Which is important to note because the uproar from their own community would be deafening if Starfield were to ever appear on PS. Couple that with a gaming strategy which by their own definition is losing billions it's hard to see how any XB exclusive goes multiplat.

We heard about this when they released their games on PC. Some people will cry but it won't matter in the long run. Most people buy these consoles without thinking what exclusives are there anyway.

Anyone advocating still that CoD will never leave playstation or bethesda major franchises will launch on playstation should just bet a permanent ban at this point or stfu

steps grass GIF by A24
 
So many of the complaints Microsoft have against Sony have been caused by their own ineffectiveness.

Sony are able to leverage deals with publishers or benefit from preferential treatment because they are incredibly good at selling consoles. And not only that, but they are very good at selling them in a variety of markets.

Some of this is down to their own internally developed IP being very desirable for gamers.

Some of this is down to Sony treating markets with respect and providing decent localisation, funding gaming initiatives, and having grassroots marketing intitiatives.

Some of this is Sony having excellent and broad external developer relations.

Some of this is because Sony have successfully made themselves synonymous with gaming. Their symbols are known worldwide. They’ve always put a great emphasis on gaming on their consoles - when they did step away from that with the PS3 they course corrected in the same generation.

They’ve also spend the entirety of their existence promoting and showcasing 3rd party content and have made third party publisher IP a lot more valuable as a result. This has been a consistent thread of PlayStation.

Microsoft on the other hand squandered their gains with the 360 (who early on out playstationed playstation). In that generation they were developer friendly, actively reached out to a wide range of publishers and built strong business relationships and began to build out their worldwide marketing.

After the early part of the 360 gen they failed to capitalise by investing in more internal studios (of consequence), didn’t keep their marketing going with publishers and instead recycled the same IP repeatedly, went all in with Kinect and began to eye controlling the living room. The Xbox One speaks for itself.

It’s very bizarre to see and hear Phil Spencer lamenting their position in the market and almost always laying it squarely at Sony’s door.

If they had kept the momentum of the 360 gen going then we’d be in a very different gaming market right now.
 
Minecraft was the biggest anomaly, but I think that, in my opinion, had to do with Notch's wishes.

Also, purely speculation on my point, but Minecraft is beloved by so many people, a great deal of whom are children or families.

My family plays it often and I credit that game with the explosion of creativity it helped bring out in my kids.

I don't think Microsoft wanted the PR backlash by just sucking it into the exclusivity fold. I think it would be been spectacularly bad.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Need to clarify few things and how I disagree with some of you

First of all, no. You can think and say that MS are laying based on their emails or whatever, but their emails and actions prove to me one thing: they would never pull CoD of Playstation consoles. They are not fucking dump to let go of 1.7 billion dollars of annual revenue from that platform. How much do you think Zenimax makes in a year? it is peanuts compared to ABK. The whole point of buying ABK is so that they can go full exclusive with Zenimax titles (I still feel however that some titles will release multiplatform). I am not basing this on testimony, the emails and reports that we have seen show that they are serious in going multiplatform with ABK or at least CoD.

Add to that, they are not stupid enough to leave that market wide open to Sony, who are developing 10 GaaS games as we speak and are have more to gain now if their shooter games have no competitor.

Yall keep saying Zenimax doesn't make money so MS doesn't mind losing money on it, but COD makes too much money. You are missing the point. If MS is willing to neglect $500 Million from Playstation in one year, then they are also okay with losing $1 billion in a year from Playstation, IF.....................

One of their main goals is to eliminate Sony from the competition.
 

GHG

Gold Member
Fair enough.

I’m worried that assholes like Jim Ryan will continue to shit on old games, that some PS5 and many PS4 games will require a patch to work on PS6.

I don’t like cloud saves behind a paywall, I don’t like how frugal they are about servers.

Maybe now Sony can listen to their dedicated base a bit more. How about some Socom? How about reviving amazing classics like Jumping Flash and Jet Moto? Don’t just make mostly AAA games and also respect your legacy.

I take it that since you're so concerned about legacy IP that you're primarily a PC gamer right?

He's probably just an 18 month contractor intern anyhow. MS loves those more often than not.

Would be prefect timing if he was, very convenient.
 
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Vognerful

Member
As much as I would love to see COD or other A/B titles on gamepass - this man is 100% correct.
I shared my opinion earlier that even if the acquisition is done, Microsoft will find it hard to do it as they wll have to match whatever they are doing and offer it to sony, that is a lot of loss revenue that I dont think they can afford.
 

Rubim

Member
Major Bethesda games will remain exclusive, as will ABK games, including COD, after a time, in case this deals goes through... all the lies and bullshits have been exposed

Anyone advocating still that CoD will never leave playstation or bethesda major franchises will launch on playstation should just bet a permanent ban at this point or stfu

Obs.: and please dont bring Phils bullshit testimony with vague words like "thats my plan" , and especially not wanting to bind his words to the company when asked directly by the FTC
And if they dont make it exclusive do we ban you? Whats the time-frame?
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Those are only 1st party games because MICROSOFT LITERALLY BOUGHT THE PUBLISHERS!!!!! Stop acting as if Microsoft built those games. Got damn so of yall love to play stupid.
It's all semantics to people who don't see value in growing organically. The end result will be Microsoft will not have any DNA in their exclusives. Where as Sony definitely does. Like you can spot a Sony exclusive even if you never played or heard of the game. There's a level of quality that Sony demands of it's AAA exclusives that Xbox OBVIOUSLY does not require. That doesn't necessarily mean every Sony exclusive is a banger. However, you can tell Sony has it's hands in all of the games, be it just greenlighting already good ideas or hiring the right people to make visions come to reality.

Xbox just ain't got it. I don't think they ever had it. Even when Halo was popular, you could say that was Microsoft's flavor in-part, but it doesn't translate to these newer studios....yet. There's still a chance they wake the fuck up, hire the right people and are able to retain them long enough to see that Xbox flavor come out again. I think Playground Games has the best chance with Fable.
 

FUBARx89

Member
Being serious though. Here is what I remember.

Phil Spencer did say he wanted to let Xbox fans know that the purchase of Bethesda was definitely about securing exclusives. If Phil is to be believed then yea, Sony probably won't get those

UNLESS. They can work out a deal. Maybe gimme a lil Final Fantasy Rebirth, maybe we might slide you a lil bit of that Elder Scrolls.

That's really the only way I see it happening. I think it's somewhat telling that with quotes like this, Phil still says under oath that there has been no decision on TES6.

Spencer claims it would be a case by case thing, new evidence proves that was never going to happen.

FF7:RB would be up to SE though, it's pretty much guaranteed to be a timed exclusive like past SE games have been. Only reasons I can think of why they aren't offering MS them later down the line is they've evidently gone back to the very close relationship they had with Sony and want to keep that relationship as tight as possible

The problem is Phil is full of shit. He always has been.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Spencer claims it would be a case by case thing, new evidence proves that was never going to happen.

FF7:RB would be up to SE though, it's pretty much guaranteed to be a timed exclusive like past SE games have been. Only reasons I can think of why they aren't offering MS them later down the line is they've evidently gone back to the very close relationship they had with Sony and want to keep that relationship as tight as possible

The problem is Phil is full of shit. He always has been.
Yea FF7 Rebirth is up to Square Enix....but who helps them to make that decision. Sony and their wallet.
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
I think FTC should've just argued that if MS bought Activision, Sony might have Take2 and take GTA off Xbox. Sony wins that scenario but the consumers dont.

Or just tell them that Take2, Capcom, Square Enix and Ubisoft combined make up half of the $70 billion MS is paying for Activision, if Sony buys them all to fight MS on CoD, would that be allowed?

One of the arguments by the FTC, and they used case law, was that the idea that Sony can/should just do their own big acquisition actually works against MS’s case here.
 
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