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[Plantoid]

Except they did not make any commitment in the post. Like literally read the post really as the paragraph can literally means a lot of things there. I suggest to go through various lawyer documents - the word mastery their is crazy. The way they can twist the words is just mindblowing (especially recent one regarding ATVI lawsuits)


Literally the whole paragraph is about the games we release during contractual obligations won't be pulled off the platform later and we will continue to support those games.

Just like I said before, we went through that last year but I guess the lesson has not been learnt lol. Anyway, believe in whatever you want but history tells us otherwise.

For me this is clear as well, if they keep warzone and overwatch on ps and call it a day they wouldn't be lying, this is literally what they're saying

 

[iamvin22]

COD was a no brainer it was staying on PS

Called it several weeks ago I believe on one of your tweets just like this one.

 

[adamsapple]

It's really amusing how the same people that were ADAMANT on Bungie's messaging of keeping multiplat are now denying MS's own words.
You can't have one without the other.
Either both of them goes multiplat or both go exclusives.
C'mon, warriors, pick your narrative.

There's a pretty big difference in how they're worded.

Bungie says its games will remain multiplatform after PlayStation acquisition | VGC

“We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games”…

www.videogameschronicle.com

An FAQ published on Monday covered whether "future games in development" at Bungie will now become PlayStation exclusives.

"No," the answer begins. "We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games. We will continue to be self-published, creatively independent, and we will continue to drive one, unified Bungie community."

The Xbox article is vague as fuck and does not say anything nearly this concrete.

 

[elliot5]

Will future Bungie titles release on Xbox?

yes, at the very least the unrevealed titles currently being made

 

[Swift_Star]

There's a pretty big difference in how they're worded.

Bungie says its games will remain multiplatform after PlayStation acquisition | VGC

“We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games”…

www.videogameschronicle.com

The Xbox article is vague as fuck and does not say anything nearly this concrete.

Sure, sure. I knew it's only multiplat when it's sony.

 

[Fbh]

Meh, sucks. I wanted some pressure on Sony.

Now I kinda expect Sony/MS to release their big GaaS everywhere as they keep their single player exclusive to their respective consoles (but also on PC)

 

[SlimySnake]

I think you can. It's absolutely obvious what was happening.

Choosing to ignore it or coming up with some mental gymnastics for to cinvince themselves Microsoft is actually full of idiots does not absolve anyone of fault.

MS brought Activision for CoD and Candy Crush, everything else is garbage and makes little money. WoW has been in decline for years.

Got to be a clever MF if you honestly thought they'd throw CoD's biggest audience out the window first chance they get.

They had just bought Zenimax last year and announced they were making Starfield and Elder Scrolls exclusive. It's a fair assumption.

 

[Swift_Star]

Meh, sucks. I wanted some pressure on Sony.

Now I kinda expect Sony/MS to release their big GaaS everywhere as they keep their single player exclusive to their respective consoles (but also on PC)

That's a fair assumption.

 

[ChiefDada]

Yeah honestly the positive I saw from this is that it would pressure Sony to become less reliant on third party. They don't really need to worry about that now.

I think the Bungie deal, along with the 10 upcoming live service games are evidence of Sony aiming to become less reliant on 3rd party. In fact, I don't think there will be many large independent 3rd parties who aren't under the umbrella of Sony/Apple/Microsoft/Tencent in 2 years time.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

There's a pretty big difference in how they're worded.

Bungie says its games will remain multiplatform after PlayStation acquisition | VGC

“We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games”…

www.videogameschronicle.com

The Xbox article is vague as fuck and does not say anything nearly this concrete.

How is saying the cod franchise will continue to be available on PS less concrete than that? Whatever Bungie says means nothing just like how what Todd Howard said meant absolutely nothing

 

[NickFire]

I think the Bungie deal, along with the 10 upcoming live service games are evidence of Sony aiming to become less reliant on 3rd party. In fact, I don't think there will be many large independent 3rd parties who aren't under the umbrella of Sony/Apple/Microsoft/Tencent in 2 years time.

Possible. More likely though, I think they said "Look how much we get from 30% of Fortnite. Imagine if we had 10 Fortnite's of our own."

I laugh, but I'm being serious underneath it all.

 

[adamsapple]

How is saying the cod franchise will continue to be available on PS less concrete than that? Whatever Bungie says means nothing just like how what Todd Howard said meant absolutely nothing

Well, for starters the Bungie quote directly talks about future games in development.

The Xbox.com article does not.

Anyway, this is an incredibly moot point to discuss over something we won't even know the extent of until next year at the earliest.

 

[ChiefDada]

Meh, sucks. I wanted some pressure on Sony.

Now I kinda expect Sony/MS to release their big GaaS everywhere as they keep their single player exclusive to their respective consoles (but also on PC)

What's wrong with this outcome?

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Even if you have a choice of hardware platform, the scenario that the FTC would be looking it is what options do consumers have outside of Microsoft. Even if you can play COD on a Samsung phone instead of an Xbox your options is ultimately still Microsoft via xCloud.

I suppose, but fundamentally I don't see how that's too different from, say, Epic providing access to Fortnite through their own client instead of, say, Apple's. You can play the game on an iPhone, PlayStation, Xbox etc. but ultimately you're forced to use Epic's client software to do so.

If that were a pressing concern in terms of potential monopolistic practice then it should've been Apple and Google taking Epic Games to court, not the other way around.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Well, for starters the Bungie quote directly talks about future games in development.

The Xbox.com article does not.

Anyway, this is an incredibly moot point to discuss over something we won't even know the extent of until next year at the earliest.

The article talks about the franchises as a whole. Which means future games.

 

[Plantoid]

How is saying the cod franchise will continue to be available on PS less concrete than that? Whatever Bungie says means nothing just like how what Todd Howard said meant absolutely nothing

Are you forgetting warzone? Isn't it a "COD"?

And for me the Bungie statement about multiplat meant PS5 + pc

 

[EruditeHobo]

We might not be far from seeing things like Spider-Man on Xbox? Both crazy and the sanest thing ever, at the same time.

You're missing the point.

Sony's brand, for now, is their exclusive games which power their platform.
Xbox's brand... is game pass.

That may change eventually, and with delayed PC releases we see Sony expanding/tweaking their brand to make some forays into the PC market. And maybe, one day, they will have a more direct day-and-date competitor to game pass! That kind of change might facilitate a shift in Sony's priorities in an overall way. But to suggest that means Sony games on Xbox, at least anytime soon.... nah. I don't think so.

This whole Act/Blizz thing is a whole different kettle of fish, because of gamepass, because of Xbox's focus.

And I don't even care, I don't have a dog in this fight. I said at the time I haven't bought a COD since AW & Diablo is a PC game for me. That all remains true, and that's just about the only thing I care about here. I'm just saying -- with regard to this issue, COD in particular, anyone who thought this was headed another way was kidding themselves at best.

 

[DJ12]

They had just bought Zenimax last year and announced they were making Starfield and Elder Scrolls exclusive. It's a fair assumption.

With respect, Zenimax is chump change, also pretty sure the only game they said was exclusive at this point was Starfield, but I have zero interest in Elder Scrolls so maybe I've missed that one. (To be fair I've also no interest in Starfield, but it's been mentioned on GaF many times so I know about that one)

MS don't give a shit about xbox as an ecosystem anymore. It's a burning cash pile and never seen a profit. It's pretty clear.

Content is king, and content needs to sell.

More platforms, means more money.

For anyone to convince themselves any different, first they need to believe MS have no business sense and PlayStation is not clearly the most dominant third party platform in the console space.

 

[adamsapple]

The article talks about the franchises as a whole. Which means future games.

We're diving into specifics again but this is the exact quote from the article:

To be clear, Microsoft will continue to make Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard titles available on PlayStation through the term of any existing agreement with Activision. And we have committed to Sony that we will also make them available on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement and into the future so that Sony fans can continue to enjoy the games they love.

It's taking about keeping games available, not developing new games like the Bungie's does.

Bungie's wording is very clear that future games in development will remain multi platform (who knows if they will for sure there either), while MS is only talking about keeping games on PS and Nintendo beyond the contracts, not that they will continue to develop future games for those platforms.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Are you forgetting warzone? Isn't it a "COD"?

And for me the Bungie statement about multiplat meant PS5 + pc

MS is addressing concerns of the COD franchise going exclusive. Not COD Warzone

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

We're diving into specifics again but this is the exact quote from the article:



It's taking about keeping games available, not developing new games like the Bungie's does.

Bungie's wording is very clear that future games in development will remain multi platform (who knows if they will for sure there either), while MS is only talking about keeping games on PS and Nintendo beyond the contracts, not that they will continue to develop future games for those platforms.

No, it's not "keeping" games available. It's "making" games available.

Once again, Bungie's PR is meaningless until we get specific platforms and it comes directly from Sony.

 

[NickFire]

With respect, Zenimax is chump change,

A year ago I would have thought you were either Elon or crazy to be saying that. But yup, MS has actually proven that anything under 10 B is chump change for them after Activision. Crazy times man. How long before a trillion dollar purchase occurs?

 

[Bernkastel]

Hey adamsapple give it up. COD will be multiplat. What they do with Blizzard and the COD devs in future will be interesting to see.

 

[Mr Moose]

Are you forgetting warzone? Isn't it a "COD"?

And for me the Bungie statement about multiplat meant PS5 + pc

Warzone is already out, this is future CoD titles.
It says games.

First, some commentators have asked whether we will continue to make popular content like Activision's Call of Duty available on competing platforms like Sony's PlayStation. The obvious concern is that Microsoft could make this title available exclusively on the Xbox console, undermining opportunities for Sony PlayStation users.

To be clear, Microsoft will continue to make Call of Duty and other popular Activision Blizzard titles available on PlayStation through the term of any existing agreement with Activision. And we have committed to Sony that we will also make them available on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement and into the future so that Sony fans can continue to enjoy the games they love. We are also interested in taking similar steps to support Nintendo's successful platform. We believe this is the right thing for the industry, for gamers and for our business.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Will future Bungie titles release on Xbox?

I expect Matter IP be multiplatform (and GaaS titles in general) as considering that Bungie even made a FAQ regarding that addressing exclusivity question - not contractual obligations and support - they might be. Though I don't expect Bungie making a lot of games in general - they 600+ already on Destiny already.

 

[Banjo64]

MS is addressing concerns of the COD franchise going exclusive. Not COD Warzone

If there's one thing I've learned over the past month, it's that the average level of reading comprehension on GAF is a lot lower than I initially thought. You could be here explaining basic English all night and not make any headway. Just sit back and have a beer and watch the Nintendo Direct instead x

 

[Topher]

I don't have a source handy but I recall reading that part of the deal for selling was that Mojang wanted to keep the game on all platforms.

I'll see if I can find it.

Don't know about that, but here is what Phil Spencer said after Microsoft bought Mojang:

"At Microsoft, we believe in the power of content to unite people. Minecraft adds diversity to our game portfolio and helps us reach new gamers across multiple platforms. Gaming is the top activity across devices and we see great potential to continue to grow the Minecraft community and nurture the franchise.

"That is why we plan to continue to make Minecraft available across platforms - including iOS, Android and PlayStation, in addition to Xbox and PC."

Microsoft buys Mojang and Minecraft for $2.5bn

Microsoft has bought Mojang and Minecraft in a deal worth an incredible $2.5bn, it's announced.

www.eurogamer.net

Microsoft used Minecraft as an example in their SEC filing.

It's taking about keeping games available, not developing new games like the Bungie's does.

Just like what they said with Minecraft. And then there was Minecraft Dungeons, also on PlayStation.

 

[DJ12]

We're diving into specifics again but this is the exact quote from the article:



It's taking about keeping games available, not developing new games like the Bungie's does.

Bungie's wording is very clear that future games in development will remain multi platform (who knows if they will for sure there either), while MS is only talking about keeping games on PS and Nintendo beyond the contracts, not that they will continue to develop future games for those platforms.

Works if you ignore the first line blatantly stating it's not going to be xbox exclusive or pulled from PlayStation, and the part at the end when they court Nintendo.

Face it CoD is staying multiplatform while it remains desired.

You can selectively read the line you've quoted until the cows come home if you like, whatever makes you sleep better at night.

It's not like you'll be here in 2 or 3 years when the first CoD lands on PlayStation that there wasn't a deal in place for.

 

[SportsFan581]

For anyone to convince themselves any different, first they need to believe MS have no business sense and PlayStation is not clearly the most dominant third party platform in the console space.

That's such a weird position to take. Almost like you think Sony was anointed in some way to be king of consoles. LOL

MS or another competitor could take first place the same way Sony did in the past, nothing is guaranteed. It just depends on when/if a competitor rises that believes in itself enough to allow itself to compete.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

For me this is clear as well, if they keep warzone and overwatch on ps and call it a day they wouldn't be lying, this is literally what they're saying

I mean we know they keep Warzone and Warzone 2, also COD MW2 and COD 2023 too. Overwatch 2 probably also coming considering that it is upgrade over Overwatch 1. Diablo 4 is an interesting case as it supposed to come to PS4 but I personally don't see it coming on PS4 anymore. WOW is also a question mark but it is MMO.

 

[NickFire]

That's such a weird position to take. Almost like you think Sony was anointed in some way to be king of consoles. LOL

MS or another competitor could take first place the same way Sony did in the past, nothing is guaranteed. It just depends on when/if a competitor rises that believes in itself enough to allow itself to compete.

By using temperature appropriate solder?

(Couldn't help it - pretending PS1 and PS2 didn't exist in my corny joke)

 

[adamsapple]

Hey adamsapple give it up. COD will be multiplat. What they do with Blizzard and the COD devs in future will be interesting to see.

I'm gonna bookmark this topic for late 2023.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Well it does say regulation in the headline lol, so perhaps.

Adapting ahead of regulation: a principled approach to app stores - Microsoft On the Issues

Today we’re announcing a new set of Open App Store Principles that will apply to the Microsoft Store on Windows and to the next-generation marketplaces we will build for games, in part to address Microsoft’s growing role and responsibility as we seek regulatory approval for our acquisition of...

blogs.microsoft.com

 

[DJ12]

That's such a weird position to take. Almost like you think Sony was anointed in some way to be king of consoles. LOL

MS or another competitor could take first place the same way Sony did in the past, nothing is guaranteed. It just depends on when/if a competitor rises that believes in itself enough to allow itself to compete.

They could....

Are you suggesting that they haven't been trying too?

 

[Fbh]

What's wrong with this outcome?

Nothing. I think it's fine.

I just wanted Sony to be put under more pressure as they've been annoyingly arrogant this gen with their extra expensive games, no free next gen upgrades and, as I've mentioned in other threads, being the only ones who are scalping their own console in my country with a MSRP of $650 (the Series X, for comparison ,is $520).

At least in my region I've been getting a strong "meh, we are playstation people will buy our console anyway" vibe from them. Kinda wanted MS to cut them off from COD so they'd felt forced to change their stance.

 

[Menzies]

So many questions Mr. Wayne.

Does this mean native ports to PS5 or just streaming?
Does this mean moving GamePass offerings to first-party only to sell to Sony/Nintendo?
What about Bethesda games?
What about what comes next after CoD popularity wanes and all those studios move to a new IP?

 

[SportsFan581]

They could....

Are you suggesting that they haven't been trying too?

All I'm saying is that the possibility exists. Everyone associated with this industry has been up, down, and all around. The success or failure you experienced 15 minutes ago isn't guaranteed to carry over for the next 15.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

I suppose, but fundamentally I don't see how that's too different from, say, Epic providing access to Fortnite through their own client instead of, say, Apple's. You can play the game on an iPhone, PlayStation, Xbox etc. but ultimately you're forced to use Epic's client software to do so.

If that were a pressing concern in terms of potential monopolistic practice then it should've been Apple and Google taking Epic Games to court, not the other way around.

Sure, fundamentally it isn't. But they're also not a conglomerate capable of flipping the industry on it's head

 

[Menzies]

Also there's a lot of shade thrown at iOS in his post. They are moving to clearly angle their position against Apple's abuse of platform powers.

 

[NickFire]

So many questions Mr. Wayne.

Does this mean native ports to PS5 or just streaming?
Does this mean moving GamePass offerings to first-party only to sell to Sony/Nintendo?
What about Bethesda games?
What about what comes next after CoD popularity wanes and all those studios move to a new IP?

MS would never destroy COD's reputation by limiting access to streaming on PS5. There's this thing called the internet where bad news travels fast. A couple million people tweeting about the experience in a single day would turn 80B into about 20B overnight.

 

[wolffy71]

Thag pretty much has to seal the deal for the US govt on this aqcusistion then right? Hard to argue against it at this point

 

[ZehDon]

Part of me wants to take this at face value, and conclude that indeed nothing will change with Call of Duty with regards to PlayStation - a win for PlayStation fans, to be sure.

The other part me, however, reads this is a blatant PR campaign. The opening paragraph of that blog post basically says "Ok, this one goes out to my homies at the regulators; love you boo". Had Phil Spencer written a blog post on the Xbox website and said - point blank - "nothing changes for Call of Duty", I'd have believed it. This... feels like something else.

Maybe I'm just being paranoid. In any case, at least right now, it sounds like PlayStation COD fans can sleep soundly.

 

[TLZ]

Were they pressured into this because of the FTC or whatever they're called?

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

There's a pretty big difference in how they're worded.

Bungie says its games will remain multiplatform after PlayStation acquisition | VGC

“We want the worlds we are creating to extend to anywhere people play games”…

www.videogameschronicle.com

The Xbox article is vague as fuck and does not say anything nearly this concrete.

Bungie: 'we will continue to drive one community'

Or

MS: 'We will release upcoming COD and other popular AB titles on Playstation and continue to release future COD games on those platforms as well as Nintendo Switch'

 

[Banjo64]

You'll get your CoD on PS5.

But, MS is going to have a 4k rule 34 splash screen when you load the game of Master Chief's big 13 inch dick pounding Crash Bandicoot in the ass hole whilst Spyro the Dragon lies spread eagle getting ran like a train by 4 COG soldiers.

Pick your poison.

 

[BlitzerRadic]

I mean we know they keep Warzone and Warzone 2, also COD MW2 and COD 2023 too. Overwatch 2 probably also coming considering that it is upgrade over Overwatch 1. Diablo 4 is an interesting case as it supposed to come to PS4 but I personally don't see it coming on PS4 anymore. WOW is also a question mark but it is MMO.

All future COD titles will be on PS. All sequels to popular ActiBlizz titles (eg: Diablo) that currently on PS will continue to be on PS. Everything else no guarantees. PS customers cant be harmed if they are exclusive to MS platforms because they never had those games in the first place.

 

[GHG]

I definitely support this, one step towards my dream of not being forced to buy hardware I don't want, and the end of 'exclusives' tied to consoles.

But Sony will have to play ball for it to continue. They must feel they can convince Sony to be more open with their content, and end the 'console launch exclusive' bs. Or perhaps have been told that they will be. To be fair, recent noises coming out of Sony have suggested as much.

We might not be far from seeing things like Spider-Man on Xbox? Both crazy and the sanest thing ever, at the same time.

Help me understand...

You buy gaming hardware to play games right? You want games that release on certain hardware but then at the same time you don't want the hardware? If you want to play the games enough then whats the problem?

 

[NickFire]

You'll get your CoD on PS5.

But, MS is going to have a 4k rule 34 splash screen when you load the game of Master Chief's big 13 inch dick pounding Crash Bandicoot in the ass hole whilst Spyro the Dragon lies spread eagle getting ran like a train by 4 COG soldiers.

Pick your poison.

I guess my kids PS5's won't be getting it after all. But that's bathroom viewing material for me.

 

[Dr Bass]

Well it does say regulation in the headline lol, so perhaps.

Adapting ahead of regulation: a principled approach to app stores - Microsoft On the Issues

Today we’re announcing a new set of Open App Store Principles that will apply to the Microsoft Store on Windows and to the next-generation marketplaces we will build for games, in part to address Microsoft’s growing role and responsibility as we seek regulatory approval for our acquisition of...

blogs.microsoft.com

MS making some great moves in terms of developer friendliness/freedom based on this post. I hope it pushes Apple and Google in the same direction, but it clearly seems like MS thinks its coming one way or another, regardless.

 

[Aguero9320]

Help me understand...

You buy gaming hardware to play games right? You want games that release on certain hardware but then at the same time you don't want the hardware? If you want to play the games enough then whats the problem?

I don't want to have to buy four different gaming systems to have the option to play anything I want, I don't think that's too hard to understand? In fact, I'd go further - I don't understand why anyone would want exclusives…

And I do own all 4 btw, so I don't spite myself because something isn't on my preferred hardware.

I don't have to buy four tvs to watch movies, or four sets of speaker to listen to music, or four ovens to cook four different meals, etc.