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Microsoft / Activision Deal Approval Watch |OT| (MS/ABK close)
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Cornbread78
Member
"Competition" lol.p
Hearing MS say this after Buying Beth and now Acti is funny as fuck. That's not "competition" that buying the market away from competition. Big brain MS just saying " fuck yo studio purchases Sony, we buy whole Pubs 'round here"
Go ahead, "compete"
Don't worry Nade' ol' boy, I bought MW2 for my SeX instead of PS5.... boom
Hearing MS say this after Buying Beth and now Acti is funny as fuck. That's not "competition" that buying the market away from competition. Big brain MS just saying " fuck yo studio purchases Sony, we buy whole Pubs 'round here"
Go ahead, "compete"
Don't worry Nade' ol' boy, I bought MW2 for my SeX instead of PS5.... boom
Hugare
Member
Mattrick shit the bed with the Xbox One, but what came before ins uderrated af and forgotten by peopleSo Satya believes competition in gaming is about who can acquire the most studios? Not about who can release great games? The last time I remember XBOX speaking consistently about pushing this hobby forward by releasing great games, was when Don Mattrick was in charge during the 360 era. A truly pitiful and void of understanding statement.
While he was there there were so many awesome first party titles: Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Alan Wake, first Forza Horizon game, Gears 2/3/ Judgement, Halos from Bungie, Fable 2/3, Dead Rising, Mass Effect 1 and so on
And never forget, he dropped 2 megatons with FF XIII coming to Xbox and Kojima appearing on stage at E3 to tell us that Metal Gear Rising would be coming to Xbox
Kinect was also a misstep, but its concept was awesome. Everyone was going for the casual market back then (PS Move, anyone?)
Xbox was way stronger in terms of first party titles than it's today
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Goalus
Member
Just checked, admittedly you seem to be pretty normal. My bad.
Iced Arcade
Member
"Nadella said. And the No. 1 player, Sony Group Corp., has made several recent acquisitions. “So if this is about competition, let us have competition,” he said."
StealthGoblin
Banned
The issue is GamePass. The regulators (and Sony) are rightly concerned that COD and other activision games going day 1 on Gamepass will harm competition and make it very difficult to compete with GamePass. How is a new sub meant to compete with it? That’s the issue.
blacktout
Member
They could, but that might be interpreted as a sign of caution or uncertainty, which might freak out investors. And investors are the targets of these boilerplate PR statements, not us. We're the ones who have the option to quietly ignore all of this obvious PR talk from both sides and just wait and see what happens without relitigating it on the daily with no new information.
Bernd Lauert
Banned
But Tencent would be #1 in that case. That's why it's weird.
Bernd Lauert
Banned
Isn't Sony working on 12 GaaS games, several of those being online shooters? Just make a COD killer, problem solved.
Thirty7ven
Banned
MS execs can’t help themselves but keep trying to trick others. If they are 4th or 5th then Sony isn’t 1st. And if they get AB they instantly jump ahead, some competition there buying the market.
This company keeps being run by trash.
This company keeps being run by trash.
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Sosokrates
Report me if I continue to console war
“So if this is about competition, let us have competition,”
Hell yes.
Hell yes.
Iced Arcade
Member
"their proposal was inadequate on many levels and failed to take account of the impact on our gamers. We want to guarantee PlayStation gamers continue to have the highest quality Call of Duty experience, and Microsoft’s proposal undermines this principle." - Jim Ryan
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Top Public Video Game Companies | By Revenue | Newzoo
Newzoo's Top Video Game Companies ranking is updated every quarter. Features the top public video game companies by revenues.
newzoo.com
tmlDan
Member
which was a response to MS going public, read what i wrote in this thread before saying dumb things.
SlimySnake
Flashless at the Golden Globes
They are 3rd. Just a couple of billion behind Nintendo. I dont have last years numbers but they were at $15 billion in 2020. Nintendo was at $17 billion and Sony $25 billion. Sony already dropped to $18 billion last year because of the poor yen performance. Adding $8 billion in Activision revenue and they overtake Sony.
They are counting Tencent and Apple which is ridiculous because Tencent and Apple arent in the console making business.
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DeepEnigma
Gold Member
They are being manipulative yes, just like the disingenuous "competition" quote
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ChiefDada
Gold Member
This deal and the related antitrust issues has plenty to do with Sony. One of the primary focuses of antitrust regulations is how prospective mergers could unduly harm competition. Sony is direct competition in this case. Additionally, Sony does have the right to an opinion, that is why regulators ask them for their thoughts on the potential impact of the deal and it's taken into consideration when they make a final decision.
You can have a reasonable opinion for why the deal does/doesn't rise to the level of violating regulations but we should at least start from a foundation supported by facts.
You say this as if M&A deals in which the acquirer had the same caliber of legal council as Microsoft have never fell through.
Thirty7ven
Banned
They use Tencent(China) to scare people and create narrative on business tv -this actually happened, go watch CNN videos from when this was announced - but then forget they exist when it comes time to say Sony is number 2 behind Tencent.
Hope they get stopped in their tracks like Nvidia and eat shit. People who run MS are always a pack of dipshits.
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thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Gold Member
What is Satya looking at to get these positions? In console gaming, MS is currently either No.2 or No.3 when it comes to revenue; they're within $1 billion of Nintendo, while Sony is clearly further ahead revenue-wise. But he's getting his hairs crossed with the console gaming market and overall gaming market including mobile, because by that measure Sony are behind Tencent.
It's also very possible that after they acquire ABK, MS revenue-wise will be able to tie, if not beat, Sony in annual console gaming revenue. So if he's fixated on just wanting to match Sony's revenue in console gaming, then they shouldn't need any further acquisitions, should they? Because with that one completed they'll essentially accomplish that, unless suddenly franchises like COD and Candy Crush, or Minecraft start cratering in revenue. But that shouldn't suddenly be answered with "Oh, guess we need to buy another publisher!". No, you answer that by investing in what you already have and improving the product & its reach so that the revenue grows again.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Gold Member
But Satya, no one stopped MS from being competitive last generation except...you and other Microsoft board members. You didn't need to buy publishers to have Ryse, Dead Rising 3, Crimson Dragon, TitanFall etc as exclusives. You didn't need to buy Crystal Dynamics or Square-Enix to get Rise of the Tomb Raider. You didn't need to buy Platinum to get Scalebound (still disappointed it was cancelled), etc.
Yes getting more 1P games & exclusives from Microsoft for Xbox is a good thing, but there's no reason to conflate that to needing to buy large gaming publishers. That's the approach MS are choosing because results from the smaller devs they purchased in 2018 are taking longer than they'd like, and they don't seem to think they have the time afforded to them, to wait the 5-7 years or such for games from those studios to bear fruit.
But maybe if MS had purchased Ninja Theory, Double Fine, Obsidian etc. in 2013, we'd be looking at a very different picture and wouldn't need to turn to an acquisition model that could lead to severe contraction of the stability of the independent 3P market.
ChuckeRearmed
Member
I think Sony folks are afraid that Sony will make them pay even more when Playstation will start losing its marketshare That's why Sony appeals to "fair" competition.
Microsoft is just finally competing seriously and even Sony execs are waking up sweating.
That's why Sony appeals to "fair" competition.Microsoft is just finally competing seriously and even Sony execs are waking up sweating.
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Gavon West
Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
You sound salty bro. Ngl.
And aren't they buying developers who make good games? Your first statement is kind of conundrum, no?
They’re not wrong, though. This is clearly a response to a question asked and cannot reasonably be construed as a boast.
It really does seem like this triggers you for some reason, because there’s nothing there in the OP or linked article that you can point to as ‘high school behavior’.
Gavon West
Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
Every publisher they bought were looking to be bought. Not like they were forced or anything. You have two willing parties. One wants to sell. The other has the money to buy. I'm not seeing the issue.What else is he supposed to say?
And btw lol at the act "we are so small, others have been buying stuff as well, we just want competition" ....more like swallowing competition
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
“So if this is about competition, let us have competition,”
Banjo64
cumsessed
Their stance is more fluid than my bowels the morning after a lamb madras.“So if this is about competition, let us have competition,”
Iced Arcade
Member
relax, it's going to be ok.
TheGodfather07
Member
"Let us have competition"
buys call of duty, fallout, elder scrolls, doom, prey, dishonored and thats just naming a few.
If Microsofts idea of competition is who can spend more money, than sony are already out. Bungie is like a rice grain in sand compared to Activision and zenimax but isn't this why its being looked into? At what point do they actually step in and block Microsoft? whats stopping Microsoft from going for EA, ubisoft and take two and become the market leaders?
buys call of duty, fallout, elder scrolls, doom, prey, dishonored and thats just naming a few.
If Microsofts idea of competition is who can spend more money, than sony are already out. Bungie is like a rice grain in sand compared to Activision and zenimax but isn't this why its being looked into? At what point do they actually step in and block Microsoft? whats stopping Microsoft from going for EA, ubisoft and take two and become the market leaders?
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Chukhopops
Member
When the market leader makes acquisition there is a risk of abusing its dominant position by raising prices arbitrarily or trying to lock out their competitors using their profit to remove the competition (just a hypothetical of course). When a non-market leader makes acquisitions the impact is not the same, that’s what he’s saying and he’s correct.I don't get it? Are they saying competition buying up full publishers vs studios?
But of course he's gonna say he's confident. Can you imagine the scenes if he said he was unsure it was gonna happen?
IN“So if this is about competition, let us have competition,”
THE
CLOUD
WORLD
You guys deliberately ignore any context even when it’s right in front of your faces.
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SenjutsuSage
Banned
When was the last time that CEO was the CEO of Microsoft? There's levels.
Edit: On a serious note, he's confident because, unlike most who comment on this deal, he's aware there are factors at play far beyond just Call of Duty and whether it stays on Playstation. There are major economic and global factors far beyond just game consoles tied to this deal. It's why there was never any chance of it being blocked. See those interest rates continuing to being raised by the U.S. Federal Reserve? All of that stuff actually matters. Yes, even in England. Microsoft deals like the one with Activision is what's considered a "good news" story for markets, and factors well above the head of Jim Ryan and what us gamers think will see this deal through to approval.
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You spent a whole paragraph talking about how Microsoft should create their own studios. Then used Sony purchase of insomniac as an example which contradicts all those words you wrote.
If building a studio from scratch was simple Sony and Microsoft would go that route. However it makes more sense to purchase talent. Welcome to the world of business.
eastcoastkody
Member
waiting for all those BC COD games, and all these Diablo games to hit gamepass soon
DaGwaphics
Member
“So if this is about competition, let us have competition,”
Maybe they ultimately will be. Only time will tell.
If streaming does disrupt console as the #1 gaming device for the TV (at some point way in the future), those probably would be the strongest competitors right there.
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tmlDan
Member
the quote about competition sounds snarky does it not? im not triggered, it seems like MS is with Sony going after them tho.
if you think that's normal behavior I have concerns with your maturity
geary
Member
I wonder who raised the game prices to 70 euro and locks game francises through exclusive deals…I bet is MS
drganon
Member
Yeah, levels of how cringey you are.When was the last time that CEO was the CEO of Microsoft? There's levels.
But this gen, they’re doing pretty much what you recommend. they’re investing heavily in growing their existing studios, funding new IP and boosting their publishing efforts. Along with purchasing studios with a history of making good games.
Not sure why you’re still so unhappy.
Not sure why you’re so worried since you’re so sure they don’t make good games. Surely, they won’t be able to ‘own the industry’ in that scenario?
Notable that Nintendo hasn’t filed any complaints for the regulators. Surely, if your claims are valid, Nintendo should be worried too?
There is no credible logic behind this assumption, and you have no insider information to back this up.
“Sony isn’t doing this” isn’t a credible argument for Gamepass being unprofitable.
I suppose you imagine the NVIDiA-ARM deal failed because NVIDiA couldn’t come up with the required bribes?
Unsurprising to see you resort to baseless conspiracy theories. Especially in a thread about an article that clearly shows there’s investor skepticism about the deal being approved.
They ARE funding their own studios. They set up The Initiative. Grew another team within Rare and Playground games to make Everwild and Fable. Provided AAA funding to Compulsion games and Undead Labs. Grew headcount at Obsidian to allow them work on multiple projects - Grounded, Avowed, TOW2. And that’s just the tip of what we know.
Yes, Sony got a great deal for Insomniac. So did Microsoft for Obsidian, InXile and Playground.
No. It sounds like he’s responding to some regulatory concerns about the deal being ‘anti-competitive’, the precise reason why investors believe the deal might be in jeopardy and why he’s being asked the question.
How do you not see this?
SenjutsuSage
Banned
The cringe is how personally you're taking all this. It's just games. Does it bother you that I say the deal is absolutely going to close, and that nothing can or will stop it? That's my belief of the realities at play for what's going to go down. I guess you don't have to like the inevitable outcome, but I suggest start acclimating to a the real world scenario in which Microsoft is the owner of Activision Blizzard come March-June 2023, this way you won't be caught off guard.
Pelta88
Member
No doubt he damaged the brand with the XB1 at the end of his tenure.
But Don was about games. He brought a lot to the forefront and in turn gave us 360 gamers confidence. XB and PS was a 1-2 punch that pushed this hobby forward. Now we get execs doing meaningless PR, almost daily.
And an exec thinking that being able to spend more than Sony, is competition. Truly sad shit.
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SlimySnake
Flashless at the Golden Globes
I had to google it. now im intrigued.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
SlimySnake
Flashless at the Golden Globes
Wrong. Blops 3 came out in 2016.
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