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

Do you believe the deal will be approved?

  • Yes, will be approved without changes.

    Votes: 221 24.9%

  • Yes, will be approved but with structural changes to ABK.

    Votes: 102 11.5%

  • Yes, will be approved but only with behavioral concessions.

    Votes: 262 29.6%

  • No, will not be approved.

    Votes: 301 34.0%
  • Total voters
    886
  • Poll closed .
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ManaByte said:
NFL =/= MLB. While Sony develops The Show, it's published by MLB Advanced Media. They technically own the game despite Sony making it, so they can put it wherever they want. EA publishes and owns Madden 100%. If Sony owned EA, then Sony would have to be the one to publish the game on Xbox, Switch, and PC.
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Yeah and?
 
Thirty7ven said:
They wouldn't because Sony would agree to have Madden on Xbox anyway. Like MLB. Precedence for that already. Try another.
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ManaByte said:
NFL =/= MLB. While Sony develops The Show, it's published by MLB Advanced Media. They technically own the game despite Sony making it, so they can put it wherever they want. EA publishes and owns Madden 100%. If Sony owned EA, then Sony would have to be the one to publish the game on Xbox, Switch, and PC.
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Totally correct, The Show was out of Sony's hands, the MLB forced this
 
GHG said:
Sure Jan GIF


qEmGMsw_d.webp
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Kotick already said Sony hasn't been returning Activision's calls. If the deal were to go through without them locking in a long-term COD deal like Nintendo and Nvidia did and they still ignore Activision's calls about the game, they could end up with an even worse situation. In that scenario, Sony corp will dump Jim fast.
 
demigod said:
Wtf I thought GeForce was $5. No way do they have 25mil subs at $20 monthly just to stream games you own. Who here even subbed to it?
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It was and still is if you're a founders subscriber. Was great to try out RT when I only had a 1080ti.
 
ManaByte said:
Kotick already said Sony hasn't been returning Activision's calls. If the deal were to go through without them locking in a long-term COD deal like Nintendo and Nvidia did and they still ignore Activision's calls about the game, they could end up with an even worse situation. In that scenario, Sony corp will dump Jim fast.
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Unfortunately for you, multi-billion dollar businesses don't operate like snotty nosed man-babies.

Enjoy that fantasy while it lasts.
 
ManaByte said:
Kotick already said Sony hasn't been returning Activision's calls. If the deal were to go through without them locking in a long-term COD deal like Nintendo and Nvidia did and they still ignore Activision's calls about the game, they could end up with an even worse situation. In that scenario, Sony corp will dump Jim fast.
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Consider for a moment that he was just lying. I know he's a great guy and all, but it seems unlikely that Sony execs would coordinate to never respond to Bobby Kotick, even to just keep up with where they are at.
 
ManaByte said:
Kotick already said Sony hasn't been returning Activision's calls. If the deal were to go through without them locking in a long-term COD deal like Nintendo and Nvidia did and they still ignore Activision's calls about the game, they could end up with an even worse situation. In that scenario, Sony corp will dump Jim fast.
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Its in MS interests to keep it on PS anyway and not appear misleading which would harm relationships with regulators across all MS departments outside gaming.
 
DrFigs said:
It's just not a very good threat. MS has been saying forever that they will continue to support COD on playstation (though without specific time frames). so what exactly does sony gain from signing this deal? It seems like there's no benefit to them, unless MS has been lying to regulators about their intentions.
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Exactly. If Microsoft is going to release it always on Playstation why sign a 10 year agreement?
 
Orbital2060 said:
In the CADE inquiry, Sony were the only one opposing the deal. I dont know when Google changed their mind, but it was aftee the deal was greenlit by the CADE.

As far as Drings tweet, it sounded like defending Sony as he always does. Sony are not the only one wauw wauw - there are three of them! Out of what - over a dozen other parties not opposing the deal. And now Nvidia is out of that with todays announcement. So only Google (if thats what Dring was referring to) and Sony are left opposing the deal. In the CADE case Google had no issues with CoD being exclusive and referred to existing franchsies like Battlefield that can compete with CoD. Maybe after they shut Stadia down.
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No one cares about CADE, dude.

Yoboman said:
Like what? Was this deal hinging on NVIDIA access?
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Cloud competition is a key point. I didn't say anything was "hinging on Nvidia". Microsoft doesn't have to have a slam dunk case here though. Just enough to appease regulators.
 
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ManaByte said:
NFL =/= MLB. While Sony develops The Show, it's published by MLB Advanced Media. They technically own the game despite Sony making it, so they can put it wherever they want. EA publishes and owns Madden 100%. If Sony owned EA, then Sony would have to be the one to publish the game on Xbox, Switch, and PC.
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No EA would because they'd exist as an independent entity under Sony like Bungie do

Its a dumb idea anyway, Sony and EA are not aligned at all
 
ToTTenTranz said:
Looks like they're trying to hurt Sony in the court of public opinion as much as they can.
And in the process of this 2 trillion company trying to show itself as weak, they're also passing as super incompetent. I hope they know what they're doing.
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Literally two good games will make people forget all that. It's genuinely baffling that Microsoft just seems to have given up on ever making anything new and worthwhile in the gaming market.

Look at how ppl are squealing with excitement about Diablo 4 despite all the Kotick bitching.
 
Had again a call today with Microsoft on a business deal for my work. Those guys are cancer and really act as the king of the hill. I would happily drop them except... They have a monopoly on a wide range of solution for business. Fuck those assholes.

Hope one day those cancer companies (google, meta, Amazon, etc) will be disbanded as they should.
 
Topher said:
No one cares about CADE, dude.



Cloud competition is a key point. I didn't say anything was "hinging on Nvidia". Microsoft doesn't have to have a slam dunk case here though. Just enough to appease regulators.
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The issues with Cloud was that it is a nascent market and the deal restricts new competitors from potentially accessing one of the most popular independent games in the world

They kind of do need a slam dunk at least with the CMA who were already unimpressed by the 10 year deals
 
Rick Dangerous said:
Had again a call today with Microsoft on a business deal for my work. Those guys are cancer and really act as the king of the hill. I would happily drop them except... They have a monopoly on a wide range of solution for business. Fuck those assholes.

Hope one day those cancer companies (google, meta, Amazon, etc) will be disbanded as they should.
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Damn this shit just got personal
 
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Is there a scenario where Sony refuses Xbox's concession to the point where they lose CoD within 5 years of the acquisition?

Does Sony have anything to lose from constant refusal, other than dignity.
 
ManaByte said:
Kotick already said Sony hasn't been returning Activision's calls. If the deal were to go through without them locking in a long-term COD deal like Nintendo and Nvidia did and they still ignore Activision's calls about the game, they could end up with an even worse situation. In that scenario, Sony corp will dump Jim fast.
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Why do you think it's only Jim making the decisions when they are people above him, just like there are people above Phil who are making the decisions?
 
ManaByte said:
Diablo 4 was in development long before MS decided to buy Activision.
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What I'm saying is, as long as you keep feeding the consumers then anything they are angry at you for will be forgotten. Ppl bitch a lot about Kotick but they will still buy Crash 5.

Even EA managed to rehabilitate its image with Jedi Fallen Order and Dead Space.

Perceptions are not permanent in the gaming space and you are always capable of turning things around with 1 or 2 well-placed titles.
 
FritzJ92 said:
But COD isn't being removed from PS, that's what you and everyone else complaining about COD is not realizing.
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MS has proven that they mercilessly scrap major AAA titles for other consoles after acquiring them.
And let's be honest: they would have reacted similarly with COD if the headwinds hadn't been so strong - at least in some form.
And this 10-year deal is a joke too. Why not just say "COD stays on all consoles forever, special deals for marketing are negotiated separately"?
 
ManaByte said:
Kotick already said Sony hasn't been returning Activision's calls. If the deal were to go through without them locking in a long-term COD deal like Nintendo and Nvidia did and they still ignore Activision's calls about the game, they could end up with an even worse situation. In that scenario, Sony corp will dump Jim fast.
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You are in dream land if you think there is still a scenario with this going through and MS switching up and pulling COD from PlayStation in the near term.
 
JLB said:
MS is probably open to offer Gamepass on Playstation. Is Sony the one blocking that.
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The difference is you need to own the game first, to use Nvidia streaming service. Sony would need to Pay Microsoft millions to have the latest games on PS Plus Subscription services.

That's the Difference....
 
DarkBatman said:
MS has proven that they mercilessly scrap major AAA titles for other consoles after acquiring them.
And let's be honest: they would have reacted similarly with COD if the headwinds hadn't been so strong - at least in some form.
And this 10-year deal is a joke too. Why not just say "COD stays on all consoles forever, special deals for marketing are negotiated separately"?
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I guess this is what's weird with the nintendo 10 year deal. I think if MS is for real about it, it puts them at a lot of risk. What if the next nintendo console bombs? Are they really going to support it for 10 years anyway. Seems unwise to make these types of agreements. So i don't think think they should be expected to make 10 year deals or deals for any length of time if it doesn't make financial sense. I don't know how regulators approach these things, but I would not accept this as a remedy for a lot of reasons.
 
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gothmog said:
I think you misunderstand. Agreeing to an enforceable behavioral remedy means way more than just saying words.
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Behavioral remedies are between Microsoft and the regulators, not Microsoft and competitors
These 10 year contracts are pointless because MS will need to abide by the remedies agreed with the regulators
 
FritzJ92 said:
But COD isn't being removed from PS, that's what you and everyone else complaining about COD is not realizing.
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Yeah i will believe in MS after this 10 year deal. If MS wants to keep cross platform like they said all games from abk would be available. They are offering only Cod and only for 10 years. That would be middle of next gen.
Diablo is huge on consoles.
 
DrFigs said:
I guess this is what's weird with the nintendo 10 year deal. I think if MS is for real about it, it puts them at a lot of risk. What if the next nintendo console bombs? Are they really going to support it for 10 years anyway. Seems unwise to make these types of agreements. So i don't think think they should be expected to make 10 year deals or deals for any length of time if it doesn't make financial sense. I don't know how regulators approach these things, but I would not accept this as a remedy for a lot of reasons.
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Of course, we do not know the components of these deals. The general "MS makes 10-year deal with Nintendo for COD" is just a phenomenal headline for the PR stunt. What exactly happens in these 10 years, whether really every COD content appears or only selected ones... we don't know such things.
 
thicc_girls_are_teh_best said:
Not even just that; the Nintendo offer in particular is the exact same that was already offered at least two months ago. There's really nothing new there from what seems made available.



The question is how could MS go full 3P on Nintendo? They won't be able to bring all of their 1P games natively to future Switch devices, some games just may not scale down to that level. If their solution is to rely on a mix of native & cloud versions, does Nintendo get distribution of the cloud versions through NSO/NSO+ or does Microsoft retain those distribution rights in Game Pass?

Because if the latter, then you still have some of the same regulatory concerns of Microsoft being a dominant cloud provider (mainly through means of buying their way to the position, not earning it in the market by customers favoring their solution over competitors) going unaddressed.

Anyway I have to head out for now; this was already a lot to take in and I don't think Sony's response has happened yet (same for the other companies). This thread's probably going to be another 10 pages deep by the end of Wednesday.
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I've always thought a dedicated Game Pass xCloud app for Nintendo. Xbox first party only, £7.99 a month, Nintendo get 30%, Nintendo Switch Online needed for online play.

If Microsoft want to break their current subscriber plateau they could do with getting a Game Pass app directly in to the hands of Nintendo's 100m player base, a lot of whom are crying out for the types of game Microsoft make. Would easily add an additional 10m subscribers IMO.
 
Gobjuduck said:
Is there a scenario where Sony refuses Xbox's concession to the point where they lose CoD within 5 years of the acquisition?

Does Sony have anything to lose from constant refusal, other than dignity.
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No. Sony is refusing the deal cause they are opposed to the purchase. The moment they accept a deal, the only major opposition to it will be vacated in front of regulators. What MS and ATVI are doing now is called a public pressure campaign. The fact that they are leaning so hard on this indicates this is really their only recourse left - it seems like MS leadership is not interested in divestment as a structural remedy, per Brad Smith's comments today, so that only leaves convincing opposition to come to the table.

The fact that Sony has yet to sign anything doesn't indicate that Sony will lose CoD. Kotick is saying that Sony is not returning their calls, knowing full well that as per the purchasing agreement he signed, ATVI is not allowed to make any deals with anyone while this acquisition is going through regulators, so even if he wanted to make a deal, he couldn't. In fact, the reason why its MS making these deals with Nintendo and NVidia and not ATVI themselves is because ATVI *cannot make deals while they are being acquired*.

Kotick and ATVI and Lulu are all fully aware of this. They just know its a PR war they have and not much else now.

Sony refusing the deal doesn't lose them anything, including dignity (they are a multi-billion dollar company, not a child - who gives a fuck about dignity in the corporate world? LOL).
 
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