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

Do you believe the deal will be approved?


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It the sensible business decision, surely.

The value of having it as an exclusive must be far offset by the lost sales. Makes far more sense for the player base too.

But there'll definitely be exclusive goodies for the MS audience, goes without saying.
 
Sounds good in 2022.

I wonder if he'll still be saying it in 2027.
From the company that feels it must improve its presence on Mobile, you can bet your every last dollar that Microsoft is more concerned with putting its game division on every successful platform than it is about the actual Xbox platform. They care about Xbox, too, but Activision and CoD is all about improving their position as a games company. They see Age of Empires, and CoD, and Minecraft, and Flight Simulator all as properties they can leverage on Mobile and possibly some day even on Playstation if it's financially viable to do it.

I really don't think that Microsoft minds mixing dinner with breakfast as far as breakfast is concerned. They will put Xbox or Microsoft games anywhere.
 
Of course they'll keep it on playstation.
MS will continue to make money off of PS sales.

But what about other games like diablo, starcraft, etc?
 
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That is not a gatcha.
Phase 2 was bound to happen regardless. Whether the cma demands it or not.

He'll, they did the same thing to EU, who are much bigger than CMA.
Nope, that's not how it works.

We first carry out an initial review of the deal to determine whether there are any competition concerns. This is known as our Phase 1 investigation.

If we aren't concerned about the deal, we clear it. But if we have competition concerns that are not solved during our initial review, we carry out a more in-depth investigation, known as Phase 2. (Source - gov.uk)

The CMA asked MS to submit the remedy, but Microsoft chose not to.

Sorcha O'Carroll, senior director of mergers at the CMA, shared the concerns:

"Following our phase one investigation, we are concerned that Microsoft could use its control over popular games like Call Of Duty and World Of Warcraft post-merger to harm rivals, including recent and future rivals in multi-game subscription services and cloud gaming.

"If our current concerns are not addressed, we plan to explore this deal in an in-depth phase two investigation to reach a decision that works in the interests of UK gamers and businesses."

Microsoft didn't address the concerns, so the CMA started Phase 2. It wasn't bound to happen regardless. As mentioned above by the CMA itself, they could have cleared it in Phase 1, but Microsoft didn't co-operate and didn't submit all of this Phil's talk in writing.
 
Kinda weird to buy Activision then, I guess they really wanted that mobile power.
Money.
They really want money.

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Putting COD on Gamepass would be a huge incentive to subscribe to Gamepass for people who arent already on it.


Oh and Microsoft would also get King.
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The thing is Phil Spencer might not even be head of Xbox by next gen. Who knows whats the next person wants to do with all their studio and IP.

This is why Sony wants it in writing
And who knows that the next PlayStation and Xbox will be "twins" again. There's a reason independent entity Activision isn't putting CoD on Nintendo. The porting costs for dissimilar architecture and performance profiles don't scale.

There is nothing stopping Sony or Microsoft releasing their next consoles so different from each other, that Nintendo might as well insist it's in writing for them too.
 
Nope, that's not how it works.
You just described phase 2. That is how its going to work for a $68b deal. It wasnt going to be cleared out in 1 phase. Its why MS gave that date.

The CMA asked MS to submit the remedy, but Microsoft chose not to.

Sorcha O'Carroll, senior director of mergers at the CMA, shared the concerns:
Because companies dont to submit any remedy on phase 1 (I had the same view as you, but got insight from people who have information about these stuff).

Microsoft didn't address the concerns, so the CMA started Phase 2. It wasn't bound to happen regardless. As mentioned above by the CMA itself, they could have cleared it in Phase 1, but Microsoft didn't co-operate and didn't submit all of this Phil's talk in writing
Its not in the writing. Phil has mentioned COD on PS day1 after the purchase. That was always the intent.

The issue is the length. Sony wants life time, MS doesnt want to do that. They offered extra 3 years. Now they are trying to offer a longer term. Still, lifetime contract isnt on that table.
 
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I still think this is just "Phil talk."

Just a few weeks ago, the CMA asked Microsoft to submit all this in writing and gave them a deadline. Microsoft did not submit it in writing. As a result, the CMA started phase 2 of the investigation.

If there is no "gotcha" moment, and if that's what Microsoft/Phil really wants (COD on PS for perpetuity), just submit it in writing. What's stopping them? If they do that, I'm sure the acquisition will just go through almost immediately.
What's stopping them is Sony quite obviously. They have no idea what future Sony hardware may look like or what features Sony may try to block (remember cross play being blocked by Sony)?

What if Sony creates an exclusive COD clone that competes directly with COD?
 
lol Then put it in writing like CMA wants him to do and last I checked he didnt want to do that.
CMA scared them for sure. They're feeling the pressure. Good.
This has been said ever since the acquisition. Are you now pretending that Xbox said they will keep it exclusive.
Yeah, right.
I hope they stop anyway, take this trash with you and put pressure on Sony to go big.

Don't believe these pigs Jim.
That does not look like a green rat to me.
I remember when the deal was announced, and I would get lols for saying COD will be multiplat
COD will never be exclusive. They made that clear.
 
Microsoft didn't address the concerns, so the CMA started Phase 2. It wasn't bound to happen regardless. As mentioned above by the CMA itself, they could have cleared it in Phase 1, but Microsoft didn't co-operate and didn't submit all of this Phil's talk in writing.
Phase 2 was always going to happen hense the June 2023 expected close of the acquisition. A 70 billion dollar acquisition was not going to end in only a phase 1 review. MS was not going to submit formal concessions in a negotiation with themselves. Once a regulatory agency releases formal ways to address their concerns MS can then get into a real negotiation with said agency.
 
And that's fine, but what does that do for us core gamers on an enthusiast board?
Mobile users are going to dominate us sooner.

They have no issue spending $100 like its nothing. And most of these people are rich people, who have no time for consoles. So mobile games is their escape.

Here is just an example of your "Average Mobile gamer"
 
Mobile users are going to dominate us sooner.

They have no issue spending $100 like its nothing. And most of these people are rich people, who have no time for consoles. So mobile games is their escape.

Here is just an example of your "Average Mobile gamer"

Good for their low brow stimuli. I'm okay with being niche at that point, or not gaming at all ever again in life.

But that won't be for quite some time still.
 
Good for their low brow stimuli. I'm okay with being niche at that point, or not gaming at all ever again in life.

But that won't be for quite some time still.
How about I introduce you to youtubers and streamers?
These guys spend too much money on console games. Mostly on games with mtx. Sadly, their users try to copy them, and spend way too much money in the process.

You are facing 2 groups of people.
 
How about I introduce you to youtubers and streamers?
These guys spend too much money on console games. Mostly on games with mtx. Sadly, their users try to copy them, and spend way too much money in the process.

You are facing 2 groups of people.
I'm good, thanks.

We know these companies were playing the long game with MTX and generational conditioning that would eventually pay off, as we become the old men adage yelling at clouds. They've admitted to that much in the past. About ignoring the short term old school complainers, and conditioning the new generation of "gamer."
 
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What's stopping them is Sony quite obviously. They have no idea what future Sony hardware may look like or what features Sony may try to block (remember cross play being blocked by Sony)?

What if Sony creates an exclusive COD clone that competes directly with COD?

Well MS would have the ACTUAL COD devs to create their own game beyond COD that could be exclusive to XB? The possibilities for all involved are endless haha
 
What's stopping them is Sony quite obviously. They have no idea what future Sony hardware may look like or what features Sony may try to block (remember cross play being blocked by Sony)?

What if Sony creates an exclusive COD clone that competes directly with COD?
For all Phil knows, the PS6 is a ARM-based wireless VR headset with a performance profile closer to Nintendo.

If anyone is insisting on contractual obligations extending beyond this generation, I think it's within reason they share their future hardware plans. If it's not AMD x86 cpu/gpu then they can't have their cake and eat it too.
 
For all Phil knows, the PS6 is a ARM-based wireless VR headset with a performance profile closer to Nintendo.

If anyone is insisting on contractual obligations extending beyond this generation, I think it's within reason they share their future hardware plans. If it's not AMD x86 cpu/gpu then they can't have their cake and eat it too.
And CoD is on mobile, so next horrible analogy.
 
How about rephrasing your argument instead of the usual shitposting then?

What makes the deal extending to the end of the generation a "Trojan horse" and why is Phil a "used car salesman" for not wanting to be mandated by the full force of the law to pony up porting costs for CoD, when Activision currently gives evidence it's not viable for them to do so with the Switch? There's bound to be proviso's and clauses.
 
How about rephrasing your argument instead of the usual shitposting then?

What makes the deal extending to the end of the generation a "Trojan horse" and why is Phil a "used car salesman" for not wanting to be mandated by the full force of the law to pony up porting costs for CoD, when Activision currently gives evidence it's not viable for them to do so with the Switch? There's bound to be proviso's and clauses.
Go write him a love letter.
 
How about rephrasing your argument instead of the usual shitposting then?

What makes the deal extending to the end of the generation a "Trojan horse" and why is Phil a "used car salesman" for not wanting to be mandated by the full force of the law to pony up porting costs for CoD, when Activision currently gives evidence it's not viable for them to do so with the Switch? There's bound to be proviso's and clauses.
Because MS can use any excuse not to release on that gen. Just like psychonauts 2 not being optimized for ps5.
They needed a longer term, which the last interview gave us.

So Ps5 and Ps6 is covered now. Before, it was only ps5.
 
Because MS can use any excuse not to release on that gen. Just like psychonauts 2 not being optimized for ps5.
They needed a longer term, which the last interview gave us.

So Ps5 and Ps6 is covered now. Before, it was only ps5.
And this has nothing to do with "PlayStation loyalists" ... it's about how they're perceived to the CMA.

All of these clarifications and backtracking came in response to that.
 
not wanting to be mandated by the full force of the law to pony up porting costs for CoD, when Activision currently gives evidence it's not viable for them to do so with the Switch? There's bound to be proviso's and clauses.

It's not viable for them to do so with the switch because the hardware is lower than the minimum spec requirements on PC. That means any port to the switch would require special treatment and a rewrite/reworking of key features and assets.

But fundamentally I'm not sure what the switch has to do with anything here?
 
It's not viable for them to do so with the switch because the hardware is lower than the minimum spec requirements on PC. That means any port to the switch would require special treatment and a rewrite/reworking of key features and assets.

But fundamentally I'm not sure what the switch has to do with anything here?
That the same exact reason why CoD doesn't exist on the Switch, can be extrapolated as a future clause for any 'generation-extending' contracts making future PlayStation releases less pragmatic.

We're talking about obligation with unseen future hardware.
 
That the same exact reason why CoD doesn't exist on the Switch, can be extrapolated as a future clause for any 'generation-extending' contracts making future PlayStation releases less pragmatic.

We're talking about obligation with unseen future hardware.

So basically you're creating "problems" that don't exist yet? Why?

Im pretty sure Microsoft would be able to handle things appropriately should such a fictional scenario arise.
 
Windows phone was for sure high end hardware for much cheaper than the competitors.

So sad that they abandoned it.
No Shit. Loved my Lumia. Now MS is making phones with Android SkyNet OS. I have an iTard phone now and absolutely hate it. It has the most retarded, convoluted software and OS, especially the actual phone app. It takes 10 steps to do what you could in 1 with Windows phone, but it's still preferable to Google tracking and selling everything you do.

I'm not sad, I'm really pissed at Microsoft for abandoning Windows phone.
 
So basically you're creating "problems" that don't exist yet? Why?

Im pretty sure Microsoft would be able to handle things appropriately should such a fictional scenario arise.
I'm talking about "makes business sense" with vertical alignment vs contracts stipulating 'you're on the hook for this commitment' when associated reworked assets and features make development costs skyrocket.

As I said, Nintendo might as well insist on a contract.
 
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And this has nothing to do with "PlayStation loyalists" ... it's about how they're perceived to the CMA.

All of these clarifications and backtracking came in response to that.
They already made their point day1.


The issue was term contract. It was creating too much drama.
I dont think CMA or EU has anything to do with that. MS is still with their stance. Not doing long term contract(Lifetime).
 
They already made their point day1.


The issue was term contract. It was creating too much drama.
I dont think CMA or EU has anything to do with that. MS is still with their stance. Not doing long term contract(Lifetime).

And what happened after he said this? Jim Ryan called his ambiguous bluff.
Ryan also took the moment to call out Spencer for making the situation a public spectacle. "I hadn't intended to comment on what I understood to be a private business discussion, but I feel the need to set the record straight," he said. "Their proposal was inadequate on many levels and failed to take account of the impact on our players."
In which after the CMA, they changed the tune to "as long as there is a PlayStation."

This drama would not be as such, if Phil didn't talk talk talk so much. The question still would have arose and still would have been a point of consumer concern by the CMA, however.
 
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No Shit. Loved my Lumia. Now MS is making phones with Android SkyNet OS. I have an iTard phone now and absolutely hate it. It has the most retarded, convoluted software and OS, especially the actual phone app. It takes 10 steps to do what you could in 1 with Windows phone, but it's still preferable to Google tracking and selling everything you do.

I'm not sad, I'm really pissed at Microsoft for abandoning Windows phone.

I had a Lumia 720 and then a 950 XL. 2 of my favourite phones I've ever owned alongside my Huawei P10. I have an unfortunate habit of supporting phone brands that seem to go to the wasteside. The only reason I retired the 950 was because I dropped it and cracked the screen.

I blame Phil Spencer

But in all seriousness get yourself an android phone and then install the square home launcher or the Microsoft launcher. Apple vs Android is a case of pick your poison, but at least with Android you can decide how it tastes, with Apple you have to take what you're given.
 
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