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Microsoft / Activision deal prevented to protect innovation and choice in cloud gaming

Sleepwalker

Member
At the risk of trashing my youtube feed, I'm going to lookup some unhinged rants during lunch. All over not being able to permanently deny games to the other team. Talk about guilty pleasure.
im getting tired of mine being all re4 so I might go for the same
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
That's silly. And we know Activision is open to making these kinds of deals due to the info we got from his investigation.

I don't recall the reports making specific mention that Activision is open to making these kinds of deals.

Microsoft on the other hand ..

Where is the guy that has Phil's balls in his throat? Philsapple or whatever?


Stop It Neil Patrick Harris GIF
 
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Crayon

Member
im getting tired of mine being all re4 so I might go for the same

F****** creepy how fast it reacts. I tried that nebula streaming service, and one of the best things about it was how it doesn't have that hyperactive algorithm feeding you s***. Didn't really notice till it was wasn't there.
 
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Can someone explain why Microsoft can't buy activision if they want to sell ?
If it was a buyout... then sure. But if activision wants to sell?
And if really UK can block it.. so what? it's just uk.
I'm not sure if you're serious. If so, Google it, educate yourself. There are tons of reasons.

And, yes, it's "just UK". But, I have to assume Microsoft would like to do continue to business there.
 
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GHG

Member
Yep. If you can follow the money, you'll find that he and his company had a vested interest in the deal going through.

As an analyst of a fund holding ATVI it would be negligent for him to be anything but bullish.

He would only take a negative stance if they were already out cleanly.

You can easily tell which hedge funds are still in it and which ones are already out based on what they are saying to the press.
 

GHound

Member
So now we also know the sort of stance Microsoft likely took when trying to get Game Pass on PS and Switch.

And then they play the public to try and make it sound like Sony are unreasonable in not wanting Game Pass on PS.
This isn't the dirty laundry I was promised, but I'll take it.
 

//DEVIL//

Member

I really wonder what kind of relationship Activison will have with Sony when this completely fails.

Common sense would indicate that once the marketing deal is done, Acticvison won't renew with Sony ever again. probably even to Xbox game pass as well ( with profit sharing with MS on subs or some deal of sort ) Edit post : Not talking about personal feelings. but more of the bitterness of losing a 60+ B$ sale.

But then again, Sony is where Activision makes most of its sales on Call of Duty. I am not sure if Xbox and PC combined are close to half of how much it sells on Sony.

So will Activison have any dignity left in them and stop any marketing deal with Sony, or will they pretend Jim didn't crush them?
 
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GermanZepp

Member
Just a couple of days ago ( or yesterday ¿?) unignored hundred of users and 'trolls' from this forum. Myyyy goodness what a timing. XD
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
So now we also know the sort of stance Microsoft likely took when trying to get Game Pass on PS and Switch.

And then they play the public to try and make it sound like Sony are unreasonable in not wanting Game Pass on PS.
Isn't this exactly how GeForce Now works? You buy your game elsewhere and they let you stream it. The alternative model has already failed dramatically in Stadia.
 

WildBoy

Member
Read the CMA answer, and the points they raise make a lot of sense. If MS were to be allowed to absorb ABK, they would have ZERO competition in the cloud market the moment it takes off. Sony has the games, but not the infrastructure; Google and Amazon the infrastructure, but not the games. MS would have some of the most powerful IPs, the largest stable of developers, and Azure to dominate the scene, unchecked. MS as one of the players is good for the industry...MS given carte blanche to create another Windows scenario is a nightmare.
What you on about MS already said they gonna put their games out on all cloud platforms too.
 

//DEVIL//

Member
That's not common sense, at all. You don't put personal feelings ahead of money if you are a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company.

Not to mention, the blockage actually had nothing to do with Sony.

Not talking about the personal feelings of executives, they can fuck off. but more like They were getting all the money from the sale and now they won't.

And while the end result of CMA rejection was the cloud, Sony did also talk about the cloud in their lobbying. so it's not like are innocent. same goes of why it might rejected in US ( not just related to cloud gaming in US as a reason its getting rejected so far )
 

Corndog

Banned
in addition to Sony and Microsoft there is also Nintendo as well as PC and various other players. if Microsoft disappeared tomorrow there are enough interested players that competition isn't in any kind of danger of going away. video games are very profitable, and they've been that way for longer than Microsoft has existed for (re: Periscope, circa 1965, while Microsoft was founded in 1975!)
Do you think Sony will continue to put games on pc if they are the only game in town?
 

Elios83

Member
I really wonder what kind of relationship Activison will have with Sony when this completely fails.

Common sense would indicate that once the marketing deal is done, Acticvison won't renew with Sony ever again. probably even to Xbox game pass as well ( with profit sharing with MS on subs or some deal of sort )

But then again, Sony is where Activision makes most of its sales on Call of Duty. I am not sure if Xbox and PC combined are close to half of how much it sells on Sony.

So will Activison have any dignity left in them and stop any marketing deal with Sony, or will they pretend Jim didn't crush them?

Business is business. It's all based on money.
How many companies go to court because one sues the other (and that's not even the case here) then they settle and become "best friends" because they find a way to make money together?
Kotick did not care about their relationship with Sony when he decided to sell to Microsoft, he knew that Microsoft would use the acquisition to damage Sony.
Sony didn't think about them when they thought they had to defend their own business.

But it's likely that Microsoft will get the COD marketing rights anyway not because of "feelings" but because they will be willing to pay more and because the breakup fee they'll end up paying to Activison will be so high that behind the scenes they'll probably ask to consider that part of the payment.
 
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jm89

Member
I really wonder what kind of relationship Activison will have with Sony when this completely fails.

Common sense would indicate that once the marketing deal is done, Acticvison won't renew with Sony ever again. probably even to Xbox game pass as well ( with profit sharing with MS on subs or some deal of sort )

But then again, Sony is where Activision makes most of its sales on Call of Duty. I am not sure if Xbox and PC combined are close to half of how much it sells on Sony.

So will Activison have any dignity left in them and stop any marketing deal with Sony, or will they pretend Jim didn't crush them?
Marketshare could play a huge factor in them still staying with Sony for future deals.

If Xbox lose marketshare this gen, then sony could serously start playing hardball with Activision. It was revelead in the CMA docs that Sony take a smaller cut on cod sales for the deal, they could ask for higher
 
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I really wonder what kind of relationship Activison will have with Sony when this completely fails.

Common sense would indicate that once the marketing deal is done, Acticvison won't renew with Sony ever again. probably even to Xbox game pass as well ( with profit sharing with MS on subs or some deal of sort ) Edit post : Not talking about personal feelings. but more of the bitterness of losing a 60+ B$ sale.

But then again, Sony is where Activision makes most of its sales on Call of Duty. I am not sure if Xbox and PC combined are close to half of how much it sells on Sony.

So will Activison have any dignity left in them and stop any marketing deal with Sony, or will they pretend Jim didn't crush them?
well, if Succession taught me anything I would say...someone is going to suck dick....and ain't gonna be Jim Ryan.
 
So I've been out of the loop here. Is the CMA that powerful of an entity that they can kibosh this whole thing?

Like if the EC and FTC hypothetically say go ahead(but i figure theyd just follow the CMA ruling but need clarification here), it still can't because of the CMA? I'm really confused how this whole thing works.

If they were to reject, would Microsoft then have to appeal to *all* of them individually?
 

quest

Not Banned from OT
Microsoft to their cloud competitors:

sad on a budget GIF
Yes Microsoft and other companies should give away thier hard work for nothing. I guarantee this is cheaper than licensing per user or lump sum per game. A game with zero dlc they get for free under this agreement. There is a reason the other cloud providers happily took this deal. If 2 re games were 10 million COD is going to be 5 times that. Pay 50 million or give up dlc money gee what is cheaper.


Google allegedly paid $10 million to bring Resident Evil 7 and Village to Stadia.
 

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
Another gem:


https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/06/10/ ... microsoft/

Phil Spencer said:
As a company, Microsoft's all-in on gaming. We believe we can play a leading role in democratizing gaming and defining that future of interactive entertainment, quite frankly, at scale. There are really three, I think, areas or key areas where we believe we have incredible competitive advantage. First is our leadership in cloud computing; second, the resources we have to build out the subscription value with Xbox Game Pass; and third is our overall focus on empowering creators. I'm really excited about the opportunity in gaming.


So the first key area is now no longer key and inconsequential. Sure then.


Some sort of collective memory loss going around.

MS and Activision burning all their chances and good will down by losing their fuckin minds.

It all makes sense now.....

Can you blame some of their fans ....MS are leading by example. :pie_thinking:
Like Jim Ryan said "inadequate"

Oohh, this is amazing with the added context.
If Sony had to give 100% of streaming revenue to ms for abk titles then i can't blame Sony for calling MS out and screaming at the top of their lungs to regulators. Geforce, Nintendo and nvidia was ok with this say a lot about them. Finally, ABK, after working so closely with Sony for so long made a frigg ton of money together and bobby still could not go to MS and say hey we have to offer sony a fair trade on COD?

Can't blame if they burned all them bridges.
Agree. Really shocked Nintendo agreed to this, unless there's something else we dont know.
 

drganon

Member
It's not just adamsapple adamsapple

There are a lot of Xbox guys that normally post 50+ times a day, that have completely vanished since this news.

I haven't seen a CatLady CatLady reaction in days.
There was this one guy in the other thread who was bragging about how much he was going to enjoy the meltdowns when it got approved. It was Jimmy something or other, but he like a lot of the other cheerleaders have since vanished.
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
If Sony had to give 100% of streaming revenue to ms for abk titles then i can't blame Sony for calling MS out and screaming at the top of their lungs to regulators. Geforce, Nintendo and nvidia was ok with this say a lot about them.

That is literally the GeForce business model, so yeah it says that Nvidia want to keep their business model. You buy the game elsewhere and pay to 'rent' a computer to play it on.
 
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Nydius

Member
So I've been out of the loop here. Is the CMA that powerful of an entity that they can kibosh this whole thing?

Like if the EC and FTC hypothetically say go ahead(but i figure theyd just follow the CMA ruling but need clarification here), it still can't because of the CMA? I'm really confused how this whole thing works.

If they were to reject, would Microsoft then have to appeal to *all* of them individually?
Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer:
In Microsoft’s filings regarding the merger to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, they discuss regulatory oversight and state that they need to be approved in all markets or the merger may be halted entirely. They specifically list a big four: United States, United Kingdom, European Union/Commission, and China. Because those are the biggest four, that’s where the bulk of their lobbying efforts lie, but they make it clear they need approval everywhere.

The relevant section is on pages 68-70 of the SEC filing if you wish to find it yourself. I’ve copied what I think is the most relevant paragraph from that section:

The merger is also subject to clearance or approval by competition authorities in certain other jurisdictions. The merger cannot be completed until Microsoft and Activision Blizzard obtain clearance to consummate the merger or applicable waiting periods (or any extension thereof) have expired or been terminated in each applicable jurisdiction. Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, in consultation and cooperation with each other, will file notifications, as required by competition authorities in certain other jurisdictions, as promptly as practicable after the date of the merger agreement. The relevant competition authorities could take such actions under applicable competition laws as they deem necessary or desirable, including seeking divestiture of substantial assets of the parties or requiring the parties to license, or hold separate, assets or to terminate existing relationships and contractual rights. Any one of these requirements, limitations, costs, divestitures or restrictions could jeopardize or delay the completion, or reduce the anticipated benefits, of the merger. There is no assurance that Microsoft and Activision Blizzard will obtain all required regulatory clearances or approvals on a timely basis or at all. Failure to obtain the necessary clearances in any of these jurisdictions could substantially delay or prevent the consummation of the merger, which could negatively impact both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard.
 
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