Putonahappyface
Gold Member
This thread has managed to stress me out more than the official acquisition thread.
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With the Activision deal possibly being approved, what could stop MS from literally buying the industry at this point
ulantan
Member
COD
gothmog
Gold Member
You tell me.
Lokaum D+
Member
Yeah, i m waiting to this date to be able to play Sunset Overdrive on my Playstation, but MS is looking for us poor gamers, such a saints over there.Because MS doesn’t do third party exclusives
They even call them Launch exclusives.
VideoGameEnjoyer
Member
Nothing at all. They just bought Zenimax and Activision back to back, if that goes through then there sure as hell won't be anything to stop them from getting Capcom and SE, or something like that (or just all of them). Which would really, really, suck.
Fredrik
Member
Yeah I know it’s a Trojan horse but I don’t really care to be honest. Worst case scenario I have to start buying games again - either if MS pull out or if they raise the subscription fee too much. Until that happens I’m leeching good.
And exclusivity don’t bother me, I already have all consoles, and with MS I get PC versions day 1 as well.
It’s much worse when it’s Sony doing it since I’ll either be stuck playing on console knowing I’ll likely double dip to play a PC version later or I’ll have to wait a year or more to play the game on PC. Nothing is optimal there for me.
Not sure what else could happen. Devalue games in general? More Gamepass like subscriptions by other publishers? It has already happened with music and movies/TV shows. It’s not too bad, I subscribe to 7 services there, I’m used to it and could be that in gaming too, already subscribe to both PS+ and GP.
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THE DUCK
Banned
Wait so competition is bad now? I though the whole objection to Activision being bought was the exclusives being taken away...... make up your mind.
twilo99
Member
Now's Nintendo treating them PC players?
Just saying that ms has been sharing their games with PC players on day one lately and now they are saying that some of their ABK games will end up on Nintendo as well, so its a win for a lot of gamers out there.
If Sony got ABK, i don't trust them with putting the games on PC and Nintendo.. not to mention xbox lol
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THE DUCK
Banned
As is Sony and Nintendo. So much bias in here. You do realize we can have all 3, right?
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
If you're going to use it as a jab against Sony, then be consistent when mentioning Nintendo in the same sentence.
Sanepar
Member
Well if their strategy is to push cloud why they will buy steam? If they consolidate enough Steam will not be relevant.
The future model for gaming that Ms desire is simple: cloud with rent(gamepass) that is it. They csn only enforce that consolidating.
twilo99
Member
Sure, they are worse than Sony... PC players get very little love from them
Lokaum D+
Member
of course competition is a good thing, but free market is a good thing too, if u have a better product y sell it for the same price as an inferior one ?
twilo99
Member
I think the fans made it a much bigger deal than it will end up being...
balls of snow
Member
Sony is not some lost puppy here, you dont get to be market leader without that killer instinct. Expect acquisitions and more 3rd party exclusives from house of blue. Anything is fair game here, hell they could work together with tencent for all we know.
Neo_game
Member
Yeah it depends on the owners or shareholders in other cases. They are happy to put their games on Steam whatever cut they have to pay. But if they could buy them they would have a huge marketplace that consist of millions of PC gamers rather than going GP route
Sleepwalker
Member
Its ok, Satya nutella is not giving his son Phil all his money to buy the whole industry. They have other interests lol
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
One game that’s still going over the last five years.
How many other developers can say that?
TwiztidElf
Member
I know I'm not the first to say it, but the industry could make no more good new games, and I'd still have enough quality games to try for the first time or replay my favorites to whenever I end.
So I guess fuck wherever this is all going. Don't care. I kinda feel like there are no new games to look forwards to already. Gaming peaked. This is it's rotting corpse shambling around.
So I guess fuck wherever this is all going. Don't care. I kinda feel like there are no new games to look forwards to already. Gaming peaked. This is it's rotting corpse shambling around.
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miklonus
Member
Microsoft's reputation is taking over a company/publisher/developer and making it worse. Buying a fledgling Ubisoft will practically kill Ubisoft.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
I agree. It’s not my cup of tea, but they’re shackled to it due to its success.
Gambit2483
Member
Good question.
How many other other developers have a multi-billion publisher pumping money into them for 4 years?
graywolf323
Member
yeah I noticed how all of Ubisoft is broken down yet ABK is somehow only represented by Activision, Blizzard, Activision-Blizzard, and King
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Nothing - although I'd venture a bet they'll never touch EA or Ubi - neither is worth much as is, and it's easier to just let them fall-over on their own, while they buy out the rest (starting with T2, presumably, although Sega could happen too).
That's not how 'size' of these entities is measured.
Melfice7
Member
It all started with buying their way to success with snatching halo from apple by buying bungie and soon after the at the time ridiculous amount of 375 million to buy rare...
Im surprised it took 20 years to get them to buy the biggest publisher in the industry, theres no stopping it now to continue to buy at least more american/european publishers, reckon japanese ones will be more difficult
Im surprised it took 20 years to get them to buy the biggest publisher in the industry, theres no stopping it now to continue to buy at least more american/european publishers, reckon japanese ones will be more difficult
Stare-Bear
Banned
Then why is all the talent leaving? The ink wasn’t even dry on the Rare deal and all the top talent walked out the door.
In Cold Blood
Banned
Talk about an over reaction. Geez.
Will MS buy more studios? Yes.
Why? Content for Gamepass. MS would rather own the IP than lease it.
The biggest publishers left are EA, Ubisoft, T2 and Embracer. Microsoft won't buy any of those. Not because they can't afford it, but first they had this much trouble getting ABK through, there is no way they could get another through.
Secondly, if they did buy another major publisher, it would become too unwieldy, too expensive to maintain.
So who will they buy? Most likely they will continue to buy studios who they rely on, like Certain Affinity, Asobo, Edios and CD.
On top of they they would look at companies like Avalanche, IO, Platinum etc, to continue to add both GP content and exclusives for Xbox.
Finally they would look at buying a major presence in Japan, such as Sega, Square or Capcom. These companies have tons of IP, tons of back catalogue to go on GP, and great new games and possible exclusives for Xbox.
That's about all that will happen now.
Will MS buy more studios? Yes.
Why? Content for Gamepass. MS would rather own the IP than lease it.
The biggest publishers left are EA, Ubisoft, T2 and Embracer. Microsoft won't buy any of those. Not because they can't afford it, but first they had this much trouble getting ABK through, there is no way they could get another through.
Secondly, if they did buy another major publisher, it would become too unwieldy, too expensive to maintain.
So who will they buy? Most likely they will continue to buy studios who they rely on, like Certain Affinity, Asobo, Edios and CD.
On top of they they would look at companies like Avalanche, IO, Platinum etc, to continue to add both GP content and exclusives for Xbox.
Finally they would look at buying a major presence in Japan, such as Sega, Square or Capcom. These companies have tons of IP, tons of back catalogue to go on GP, and great new games and possible exclusives for Xbox.
That's about all that will happen now.
Gojiira
Member
They cant buy Japanese companies, a lot of them are protected due to their cultural importance to Japan itself. Even beyond that Japanese law makes it very difficult for a foreign company to buy them outright.
Beyond all that, buying Acti/Blizz may have been considered not Anti-competitive but further purchases will be scrutinised further.
More than likely Sony will purchase a Japanese publisher like Capcom or Kadokawa and bring its studio count up to par with Xbox, thats the most likely prospect. Personally I see them going after Kadokawa but we’ll see
TrueGrime
Member
Wouldn't a better thread title be...
Doesn't it still take two to tango, or are people still of the mind that Microsoft orchestrates hostile takeovers by flashing cash at these companies? ABK was in a shit spot and rather than seeing their stock continue tank with scandals, an offer was proposed that the shareholders couldn't refuse. You've got to want to sell in order to be bought.
With the Activision deal possibly being approved, what could stop companies in the industry from wanting to sell at this point?
Doesn't it still take two to tango, or are people still of the mind that Microsoft orchestrates hostile takeovers by flashing cash at these companies? ABK was in a shit spot and rather than seeing their stock continue tank with scandals, an offer was proposed that the shareholders couldn't refuse. You've got to want to sell in order to be bought.
Unknown Soldier
Member
MS cannot buy the entire industry, because Sony would never sell to MS. If push comes to shove, any one of Amazon, Google, Apple, Tencent, etc. could acquire Sony.
Amazon in particular has been aggressively pushing into media and entertainment, so getting Sony would be great for integration into their nascent TV and movie business.
Apple has worked with Sony frequently in the past and Sony would be very helpful for Apple's media ambitions too.
Google and Tencent should fuck off though. No one wants a company as inept as Google or for China to control Sony.
Nintendo is the wild card here, who would try to acquire Nintendo?
Amazon in particular has been aggressively pushing into media and entertainment, so getting Sony would be great for integration into their nascent TV and movie business.
Apple has worked with Sony frequently in the past and Sony would be very helpful for Apple's media ambitions too.
Google and Tencent should fuck off though. No one wants a company as inept as Google or for China to control Sony.
Nintendo is the wild card here, who would try to acquire Nintendo?
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Drizzlehell
Banned
The power of friendship!
Dick Jones
Gold Member
Are Google or Tencent any worse than MS in the current market?
THE DUCK
Banned
Honestly, if that's the case even now, most EA or Ubisoft games should come out for $20 and some other first party games from MS or Sony should be $120. That's not the case, it's now how it works.
Bumblebeetuna
Member
In their defense, we don’t have the crystal balls that the worriers have.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Google Stadia should be the answer this question.
China is also the answer to your question. Do you really want China to control video gaming?
Lord Malachite
Member
It has essrntially been decided that platform holders buying out the industry is neither anti-competitive nor anti-consumer, so expect a breakneck race to the bottom as Microsoft, Sony, and possibly other players attempt to buy up everything in sight to content starve their competition and put up iron curtains between ecosystems.
Microsoft didn't win, consumers and especially gamers everywhere lost. Across most of the globe, save the UK, every check and balance to the free market failed. And the CMA will inevitably relent and sell its population out to the highest bidder as well.
Microsoft didn't win, consumers and especially gamers everywhere lost. Across most of the globe, save the UK, every check and balance to the free market failed. And the CMA will inevitably relent and sell its population out to the highest bidder as well.
ByWatterson
Member
I dunno but Sony's gonna Square and I'm gonna keep saying so until I'm right.
docchicken
Member
They will be live service games aimed at making up for the lost revenue from losing COD MT revenue, and eventually all ABK games. They won't be the types of games you or any gamer will like. This was and remains to be a major issue with massive unprecedented market consolidation like MS is doing here.
lh032
I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
groundbreaking games takes alot of risk and alot of time.
Not really an easy task even for Sony.
No, they can't.
