Support NeoGAF

[DeepEnigma]

There's a factor you are not considering. If the deal is legally blocked, Activision cannot be sold to MS. So making COD exclusive to MS would jeopardize billions in Activision stock value. Activision would never intentionally sink their own stock value.

Heads would roll, and orange jumpsuits would be in fashion if they intentionally tanked their stock.

 

[dotnotbot]

If MS make an announcement to kill the deal, may I suggest this man to play at that event

He is available on Friday if needed at short notice

Can someone explain to me why Sting is used as a meme now? I must've missed something.

 

[Dick Jones]

Can someone explain to me why Sting is used as a meme now? I must've missed something.

Microsoft held a Sting concert less than 24 hours before sacking 10k staff

 

[Baki]

On second thought, I think I'm personally for this acquisition but only if Sony makes a defensive acquisition with T2. I think MS needs this acquisition to remain competitive but the deal is too lopsided without Sony acquiring another major IP (GTA) to make sure they have leverage in COD multi-platform conversations. At the current sales momentum of the XSX, I fear MS will lose further ground this gen, and I think it benefits consumers for MS to remain competitive with Sony. But ABK acquisition is an overcompensation, so Sony buying T2 will level the playing field again.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Microsoft held a concert less than 24 hours before sacking 10k staff

With only like 50 people. It was that private and that expensive.

 

[X-Wing]

Can someone explain to me why Sting is used as a meme now? I must've missed something.

Because MS executives were having fun on a company paid Sing concert right before Microsoft went the poor route and fired 10 thousand people.

 

[GHG]

Can someone explain to me why Sting is used as a meme now? I must've missed something.

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/micr...avos-hours-before-announcing-layoffs.1650385/

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

For how long have we heard the mantra "nooooo giving free games does not reduce sales of games!" "Phil said it therefore is right!" "AAA games can still be produced and be viable under gamepass conditions".

Straight from the horses mouth.

 

[solidus12]

Frustration must be killing her

 

[zizou6971]

Read the document and Chris Dring's tweets. It's all in there.

• In the UK, Xbox has a 40% console market share, while PlayStation has a 60% console market share.
• According to the survey by the CMA, 24% of PlayStation owners will switch to Xbox if Call of Duty were made an Xbox exclusive.
• So the new console market share will become 64% for Xbox and 36% for PlayStation.

And that's just from one game.

That's as anti-competitive as it can get. That's why the CMA made this decision, which makes total sense.

That’s not how percentage calculation works.

 

[Aguero9320]

Alright, seriously now. I can't imagine the EU coming with a much different conclusion than the CMA. So the FTC, CMA and EU are against the deal. The chance of this thing going through is minimal, or am I missing something?

Yes, you’re missing the concept of process - ‘against without remedies’ is where we are right now. But we don’t know whether the already proposed remedies will be enough, or if they need to do more.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

I think they will give up on acquisitions for other 2 big publishers (EA, T2) depending on how this deal is rejected. I'm not sure on MS path forward without a big acquisition. Which is why all the publishers are for this acquisition. They don't want to block any future acquirers from considering them.

Easy. They already have Zenimax studios, right? They have Ninja Theory, Double Fine, inXile, Obsidian...they have Playground, Rare, 343i (even with the massive restructuring), Compulsion, Mojang...

Just invest in your current studios. Help them with tech & resources, have strong creative leadership. That's literally all they need to do. That, and put some real marketing effort behind the big games. Scale back on the Game Pass stuff (either stagger new releases for later into it, remove all the cheap pricing options/loopholes, introduce new premium tiers etc.). Work with 3P devs to bring back IP that make sense, like the High on Life dev working with Conker (as an example).

That's what Microsoft have always needed; buying giant 3P publishers won't resolve core issues if those are down to lack of creative leadership and bad upper management who don't know how to build on momentum or real audience wants organically. It just means that many more teams MS have to spread out budgets and salaries to, possibly meaning more job cuts and reduced resources per team as the belt tightens.

They can make Xbox a huge deal without needing another publisher. They just need to actually try competing, and buying publishers & IP in itself is not competition.

 

[NickFire]

With only like 50 people. It was that private and that expensive.

So much toxicity. You should walk a mile in the shoes of people spending 80 billion before you criticize them for enjoying a private concert on the eve of a mass firing. That shit is hard man.

 

[X-Wing]

Activision's reply sounded like a threat to the UK's economy though...

We hope between now and April we will be able to help the CMA better understand our industry to ensure they can achieve their stated mandate to promote an environment where people can be confident they are getting great choices and fair deals, where competitive, fair-dealing business can innovate and thrive, and where the whole UK economy can grow productively and sustainably.

 

[X-Wing]

Yes, you’re missing the concept of process - ‘against without remedies’ is where we are right now. But we don’t know whether the already proposed remedies will be enough, or if they need to do more.

Not all 3 regulators will accept the same remedies. It's is literally hell to please all 3.

 

[Banjo64]

Frustration must be killing her

Agreed. She sounds like she just needs a good hard dick.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Not all 3 regulators will accept the same remedies. It's is literally hell to please all 3.

I thought we didn't hear yet from EU or did I miss it?

 

[Baki]

Easy. They already have Zenimax studios, right? They have Ninja Theory, Double Fine, inXile, Obsidian...they have Playground, Rare, 343i (even with the massive restructuring), Compulsion, Mojang...

Just invest in your current studios. Help them with tech & resources, have strong creative leadership. That's literally all they need to do. That, and put some real marketing effort behind the big games. Scale back on the Game Pass stuff (either stagger new releases for later into it, remove all the cheap pricing options/loopholes, introduce new premium tiers etc.). Work with 3P devs to bring back IP that make sense, like the High on Life dev working with Conker (as an example).

That's what Microsoft have always needed; buying giant 3P publishers won't resolve core issues if those are down to lack of creative leadership and bad upper management who don't know how to build on momentum or real audience wants organically. It just means that many more teams MS have to spread out budgets and salaries to, possibly meaning more job cuts and reduced resources per team as the belt tightens.

They can make Xbox a huge deal without needing another publisher. They just need to actually try competing, and buying publishers & IP in itself is not competition.

Fair. They have some big IPs under their belt:

• Forza
• Gears of War
• Halo
• Fallout
• Doom
• Elder Scrolls
• Sea of Thieves

They have new IPs like Starfield that should be big. They also have some top tier talent:

• Bethesda
• ID Software
• Playground
• Rare
• Obsidian

These 5 can put out games with comparable quality to Sony's best studios.

 

[X-Wing]

I thought we didn't hear yet from EU or did I miss it?

The EU issued a list of concerns, it's confidential, but Microsoft will have to present remedies for that too.

 

[Dick Jones]

Agreed. She sounds like she just needs a good hard dick.

 

[Baki]

Now it makes sense why Microsoft was guilt-tripping Sony into putting their games on PS Plus day one.

Sony Wants To Grow PlayStation By Making Xbox Smaller, Phil Spencer Says

"There has really only been one major opposer to the deal, and it's Sony."

www.gamespot.com

As we know from Phil by now, whatever he attributes to Sony, is actually how Xbox feels. They want to grow by making PlayStation smaller. That's why they're throwing around $70B (which is 70% of the total value of Sony lol) like it's nothing.

 

[recykle]

MS said marketing deals have little impact though, so....

It would be full out console exclusivity.as in CoD isn't avaliable on PS.

Lol yeah, can definitely see this happening alongside all the budget cuts

66Bil for ABK also looks like a crazy price with the budget cuts, yet there open to it.

They can try, but considering how fast PlayStation 5 is selling right now that will be irrelevant by then.

If Sony has more consoles it's only going to lose even more potential income, because so much money goes to ABK through Sony's store from which they get a cut from.

There's a factor you are not considering. If the deal is legally blocked, Activision cannot be sold to MS. So making COD exclusive to MS would jeopardize billions in Activision stock value. Activision would never intentionally sink their own stock value.

That's why you pay a huge exclusivity deal for consoles you can be even more sinister by only buying "next-gen" exculsivity. CoD Makes between 2Bil to 3Bil per year from all platforms PS4/5 probably make up 50% of that so your looking at an exclusivity deal that might cost you 1Bil to 1.5Bil per year, with out hurting the tsock value if anything stabilizing it due to guaranteed income from CoD, while still being able for the game to grow on PC and Xbox.

 

[Baki]

It would be full out console exclusivity.as in CoD isn't avaliable on PS.

66Bil for ABK also looks like a crazy price with the budget cuts, yet there open to it.

If Sony has more consoles it's only going to lose even more potential income, because so much money goes to ABK through Sony's store from which they get a cut from.

That's why you pay a huge exclusivity deal for consoles you can be even more sinister by only buying "next-gen" exculsivity. CoD Makes between 2Bil to 3Bil per year from all platforms PS4/5 probably make up 50% of that so your looking at an exclusivity deal that might cost you 1Bil to 1.5Bil per year, with out hurting the tsock value if anything stabilizing it due to guaranteed income from CoD, while still being able for the game to grow on PC and Xbox.

Long term brand harm. By making COD exclusive to the less popular console, they risk making COD less popular and could impact future COD releases on PS if something like BF becomes the shooter of choice on PS. That's why exclusivity deals are hard for MS when they're in 3rd place.

 

[Yoboman]

I now present to you, how to lie with statistics 101:

All of this just undermines them and shows how big of a game COD is that it retains the top selling title year after year no matter what conditions change in terms of hype, reception, promotion or macroeconomic market factors

Truly a rare evergreen product and more proof how insanely unrealistic the proposition of just making a competitor to it is

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

The EU issued a list of concerns, it's confidential, but Microsoft will have to present remedies for that too.

Thank you.

So it's official then eh? all 3 have said no. They have 2 months to negotiate an acceptable solution for all parts involved.

 

[JLB]

For how long have we heard the mantra "nooooo giving free games does not reduce sales of games!" "Phil said it therefore is right!" "AAA games can still be produced and be viable under gamepass conditions".

Straight from the horses mouth.

what %?

 

[Draugoth]

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

66Bil for ABK also looks like a crazy price with the budget cuts, yet there open to it.

Because it's an M&A by the parent company. A COD exclusivity deal would require an increase in Xbox's budget, which they're obviously not getting.

 

[Yoboman]

All this push back is doing is pissing off ABK and MS. If this merger fails the legal way, be prepared for a significantly uglier and much more anti-consumer approach from MS and ABK towards Sony. I wouldn't be surprised if when the exclusive marketing deal expires with Sony in 2024 MS just straight up buys CoD exclusivity for consoles for a couple of years, which would truly screw Sony over.

MS is being sued for anti competitive practices. Your big brain solution is even more anti competitive practices

 

[DeepEnigma]

Can't talk about "future opportunities" until the deal is cancelled. This is as disingenuous as they come.

 

[X-Wing]

Kotick is desperate and losing it. They should keep him away from the media.

In a less polite interview with the Financial Times, though, Kotick accused Sony of "trying to sabotage" the merger deal, in part by refusing to talk with Microsoft about it. Kotick added that the CMA is "not really using independent thought" in evaluating how the deal "would positively impact the UK." And Kotick also went after the government of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, which he said doesn't have "any real vision in the leadership for pursuing these kinds of opportunities... It seems like a bit of a fragile government. Where’s the leadership?”

Yeah, a government that doesn't bend over to big corps is a bad government for Kotick.

 

[Yoboman]

Jimbo left Chucky on read

 

[mansoor1980]

kotick calling sony for future partnerships and oppurtunities...................

 

[Yoboman]

Kotick is desperate and losing it. They should keep him away from the media.



Yeah, a government that doesn't bend over to big corps is a bad government for Kotick.

Bobby will be out of a job with no golden parachute if the deal fails

 

[Edmund]

Personally I think if the deal happens to fall through, MS will use the vast majority of that $70 billion and invest it into AI, Azure, Windows, Office and the EV market. They're not going to put that type of money on Xbox after (potentially) losing an acquisition that would've made the whole company look like a fool.

Hopefully MS will use some of that money to wipe off the tears of Jez Corden.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Hopefully MS will use some of that money to wipe off the tears of Jez Corden.

A complete waste of time. They would be better off trying to urinate into a crocodiles mouth.

 

[recykle]

Long term brand harm. By making COD exclusive to the less popular console, they risk making COD less popular and could impact future COD releases on PS if something like BF becomes the shooter of choice on PS. That's why exclusivity deals are hard for MS when they're in 3rd place.

CoD is bullet proof thats been established by now.

Because it's an M&A by the parent company. A COD exclusivity deal would require an increase in Xbox's budget, which they're obviously not getting.

But according to many GamePass is a money sink yet it keeps getting pushed instead of pushing all the titles they have bought up to be sold individually and across ALL platforms especially a game such as Starfield.

 

[Yoboman]

Personally I think if the deal happens to fall through, MS will use the vast majority of that $70 billion and invest it into AI, Azure, Windows, Office and the EV market. They're not going to put that type of money on Xbox after (potentially) losing an acquisition that would've made the whole company look like a fool.

Maybe they can invest into AI lawyers and CEOs who can close a deal

 

[Pelta88]

What happened to R reksveks

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

But according to many GamePass is a money sink yet it keeps getting pushed instead of pushing all the titles they have bought up to be sold individually and across ALL platforms especially a game such as Starfield.

For their FP games yeah, not for the rubbish third party deals they do for GP.

 

[Banjo64]

Flashback to last year when Jimbo refused the 3 year extension and called it inadequate. Sony have played their hand perfectly throughout.

 

[SneakersSO]

Bobby will be out of a job with no golden parachute if the deal fails

Out of a job? High, high doubt on that. He'll just stick as CEO of ATVI. Most of the choppy waters that forced him to seek a buyer to prevent him from getting the boot have came to pass. Sure, the fundamentals of CoD are still quite shaky, but he won the vote from shareholders to remain CEO last year, and some of their big investments (Warzone 2, Diablo 4, OW2) are set to have some strong returns this year.

Kotick is desperate and losing it. They should keep him away from the media.



Yeah, a government that doesn't bend over to big corps is a bad government for Kotick.

What is increasingly clear between the legal head of this deal at ATVI, things Kotick has said, and some things from some of MS legal on this, is that they truly believe that the CMA just doesn't understand the business fundamentals of the videogame industry, but everything i've read from today's report indicates that the CMA understands this market unbelievably well.

 

[recykle]

MS is being sued for anti competitive practices. Your big brain solution is even more anti competitive practices

That's the whole point. Their basically saying let me get my fix the legal way or I will fix it they way I can do with out you in a much worse way for my competition.

 

[Baki]

CoD is bullet proof thats been established by now.

But according to many GamePass is a money sink yet it keeps getting pushed instead of pushing all the titles they have bought up to be sold individually and across ALL platforms especially a game such as Starfield.

GP revenue can be subsidised with MTX revenue. MTX revenue is 30% of PS revenue, probably the same split for Xbox.

 

[recykle]

For their FP games yeah, not for the rubbish third party deals they do for GP.

Your argument is that they don't want to leave any money on the table, yet are doing it with their own titles, why not do it with the biggest console game out there.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Your argument is that they don't want to leave any money on the table, yet are doing it with their own titles, why not do it with the biggest console game out there.

You don't know what my argument is because you're not reading it. This has fuck all to do with leaving money on the table

 

[X-Wing]

That's the whole point. They’re basically saying let me get my fix the legal way or I will fix it they way I can do with out you in a much worse way for my competition.

As if regulators couldn’t intervene then

 

[SneakersSO]

Flashback to last year when Jimbo refused the 3 year extension and called it inadequate. Sony have played their hand perfectly throughout.

Like I said in an earlier post here, but when I saw Sony refuse both the 3 year extension and the 10 year deal, I knew that Sony had correctly gamed out the outcome of this regulator fight.

What MS doesn't realize yet is that even if they do find a way to get this deal approved, it really won't solve the fundamental issues their gaming division faces. It gives them a single marketplace to grow their audience on (Battle.Net) and gives them a massive spike in revenue generated (King, CoD Mobile, CoD). But it just allows them to kick their business plan's fundamental issues down the road even further.

Like I said - should the deal be allowed to go through, Sony will be given a blank check to go ahead and buy a publisher group or two, nearly uncontested. And if the deal does get blocked, it puts an end almost overnight to the consolidation arms race that Sony never even wanted to be a part of, which will bake in their market position (given nothing drastic changes both in and out of said market). Opposing the merger was always a Win/Win for Sony.

 

[recykle]

GP revenue can be subsidised with MTX revenue. MTX revenue is 30% of PS revenue, probably the same split for Xbox.

Xbox CoD exculsivity would be subsidized by new people coming into their ecosystem.

 

[mansoor1980]

Bobby Kotick says UK will be the “Death Valley” of tech if the Activision deal isn’t approved​