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[X-Wing]

I think some people need to chill with the Boosteroid thing and take the tinfoil hats off... They do seem to be Ukraine based.

Microsoft и сервис облачного гейминга, работающий в Украине, Boosteroid подписали соглашение на 10 лет. Microsoft предоставит партнеру игры для ПК Xbox и игры Activision Blizzard

Контракт предусматривает перенесение игр для ПК Xbox на облачную игровую платформу Boosteroid.

dev-ua.translate.goog

Boosteroid, which has its software development team in Ukraine, recently surpassed 4 million users worldwide and became the largest independent provider of cloud games in the world.

The company has offices in Kyiv and Kharkiv. Despite the fact that two offices in Kharkiv were damaged by Russian missiles, the company continued to operate during the last 13 months of full-scale war.

Boosteroid appeared in autumn 2019 in Romania. In the summer of 2020, the company placed new servers in Italy and Slovakia, and in September - in Great Britain, Spain and France (two points of presence). Since November 2020, the Boosteroid service has covered the entire territory of Europe. And in 2021, he earned money in North America.

В Україні скоро запрацює хмарний геймінг Boosteroid. Що це таке і скільки коштуватиме підписка

Один з найбільших сервісів хмарного гейминга Boosteroid в Європі розмістив сервери в київському дата-центрі «Парковий» і готує в Україні запуск послуг для геймерів в листопаді.

dev-ua.translate.goog

Boosteroid cloud gaming will soon start working in Ukraine. What is it and how much will the subscription cost

Boosteroid, one of the largest cloud gaming services in Europe, has placed servers in the Kyiv data center "Parkovy" and is preparing to launch services for gamers in Ukraine in November.

Now, being Ukraine based or not is irrelevant. A 10 year contract doesn't solve the monopoly risk issues.

 

[Wulfer]

True but it has become a MS vs Sony thing in the media. Wouldn't you agree? That's what i was referring too.

I remember saying the industry does things behind closed doors. Here's a good example of that:





Mainstream media has no clue what goes on in the gaming industry. Gaming "Press rely on access to make content and are unlikely to really grill an exec or big wig in an interview setting."

Closed doors approach!

 

[Bernardougf]

Parody account anyone?

No f... ideia why this warrior isnt banned yet .. completely delusional

 

[mansoor1980]

super phil , bringing joy and games to billions in a war torn universe

 

[nikolino840]

 

[reksveks]

Some lobbyists are taking the piss out of the decision to spend so much money and effort in the Meta case. I have some similar feelings re picking your battles. I would be interested to see their request for an increased budget this year are met.

OG source seems to be mlex.

 

[Topher]

I think some people need to chill with the Boosteroid thing and take the tinfoil hats off... They do seem to be Ukraine based.

Microsoft и сервис облачного гейминга, работающий в Украине, Boosteroid подписали соглашение на 10 лет. Microsoft предоставит партнеру игры для ПК Xbox и игры Activision Blizzard

Контракт предусматривает перенесение игр для ПК Xbox на облачную игровую платформу Boosteroid.

dev-ua.translate.goog

They have offices in Ukraine. Their twitter page showed their location to be Romania for months prior to the last week when it changed to Ukraine. It doesn't take a tinfoil hat to put that and today's announcement together, dude.

 

[adamsapple]

Nobody said that.

Just more proof MS is trash tier.

Very well may be the case, but changing your location on twitter so Microsoft can brag about a "victory for Ukraine" is shady bullshit. Beyond that, Microsoft trying to capitalize on a war for their own petty purposes is just absurd.

Wow so ms are using Ukraine now
Very disgusting move imo

Quite frankly, it's pathetic on all fronts. From anyone associated with MS trying to capitalize this as a big Ukranian win and from people using it as ammo to lambast the company for 'changing their location'.

 

[Elios83]

Mykhailo in that very thread is a Ukraine Government official.

To try and twist a positive that even official Ukraine Government officials recognize is a new low.

This helps Ukraine whether you like it or not.

This only helps Microsoft.
And it just shows they're willing to drag politics into this to reach their goals.
Ukraine is a country that is getting destroyed in a awful war with no clear end in sight.
Just imagine if they're concerned about getting Xbox games and COD on Boosteroid.

If Microsoft wants to help Ukraine they can donate the 70 billions to help reconstructing the country in the future.
What they did today was truly tasteless and it's probably the first PR move in handling this deal that truly stinks.
It also shows they feel things are not going their way and they need to increase the bar of what they're offering even last minute.
The problem is that if they do not give up on controlling COD it's unlikely the CMA will budge.

 

[MarkMe2525]

Exactly. The game goes exclusive then. That's why it's only a 10-year deal and not a "forever" deal. And 10 years are nothing in the video game industry when a AAA title can take 5-6+ years to develop.

Simply put, a business can't make a "forever" deal. There are unknown variables that could account for the platform becoming unprofitable to distribute on. You are stating that MS should make a commitment that is unprecedented in any business venue, then using the lack of said commitment to draw unfounded conclusions.

 

[Topher]

Yes, I'm sure that in nothing you quoted did anyone say a company was paid to pretend to be Ukrainian.

 

[tpieman2029]

No, they were not. I know, reading comprehension is hard in current year.

 

[adamsapple]

Yes, I'm sure that in nothing you quoted did anyone say a company was paid to pretend to be Ukrainian.

changing your location on twitter so Microsoft can brag about a "victory for Ukraine" is shady bullshit. Beyond that, Microsoft trying to capitalize on a war for their own petty purposes is just absurd.


There's not really many other ways to interpret this even if someone doesn't include dollar signs in the message to signify it specifically.

 

[Jimmyisback]

I think some people need to chill with the Boosteroid thing and take the tinfoil hats off... They do seem to be Ukraine based.

http://[URL]https://dev-ua.translat..._sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=nl&_x_tr_pto=wapp

[/URL]

http://[URL]https://dev-ua.translat..._sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=nl&_x_tr_pto=wapp

[/URL]








Now, being Ukraine based or not is irrelevant. A 10 year contract doesn't solve the monopoly risk issues.

Is it possible boosteroid built a time machine to go back in time to create offices in Ukraine to later be able to claim they have a presence there?

 

[tmlDan]

Quite frankly, it's pathetic on all fronts. From anyone associated with MS trying to capitalize this as a big Ukranian win and from people using it as ammo to lambast the company for 'changing their location'.

huh? nobody said they were paid to say they're based in Ukraine...since when?

 

[Topher]

changing your location on twitter so Microsoft can brag about a "victory for Ukraine" is shady bullshit. Beyond that, Microsoft trying to capitalize on a war for their own petty purposes is just absurd.


There's not really many other ways to interpret this even if someone doesn't include dollar signs in the message to signify it specifically.

Bullshit. If I wanted to say Microsoft paid Boosteroid to change their location on Twitter from Romania to Ukraine then I would have said exactly that.

 

[X-Wing]

They have offices in Ukraine. Their twitter page showed their location to be Romania for months prior to the last week when it changed to Ukraine. It doesn't take a tinfoil hat to put that and today's announcement together, dude.

Which is irrelevant, they operate from Ukraine. It was an official from the Ukrainian government that actually aluded to the deal (because It's a good thing for a company operating in Ukraine since it's probably a nice flow of cash in such a terrible period for them) and Brad Smith only said that it was a good thing for gaming (PR, but it is what it is) and a good thing for the developers working there - which there are since the development team is based in Ukraine.

This is really not the big deal people are making it to be.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Quite frankly, it's pathetic on all fronts. From anyone associated with MS trying to capitalize this as a big Ukranian win and from people using it as ammo to lambast the company for 'changing their location'.

That's not what you say it is. Criticizing MS is not saying "they were paid to say they were based in the Ukraine."

 

[FritzJ92]

If they call themselves a Ukrainian company, whats the argument here?

Are we really not letting the pot call itself black?

 

[BeardGawd]

This only helps Microsoft.
And it just shows they're willing to drag politics into this to reach their goals.
Ukraine is a country that is getting destroyed in a awful war with no clear end in sight.
Just imagine if they're concerned about getting Xbox games and COD on Boosteroid.

If Microsoft wants to help Ukraine they can donate the 70 billions to help reconstructing the country in the future.
What they did today was truly tasteless and it's probably the first PR move in handling this deal that truly stinks.
It also shows they feel things are not going their way and they need to increase the bar of what they're offering even last minute.
The problem is that if they do not give up on controlling COD it's unlikely the CMA will budge.

A company can be both self serving while also creating a benefit for society.

Companies donate to charities all the time just for Tax purposes.

Doesn't change the benefit for the ones in need.

 

[Gobjuduck]

This is really not the big deal people are making it to be.

This discussion is filled with Microsoft doubters.

Desperate for any bit of information that paints Microsoft as liars. This Ukrainian topic is a stretch, even for them.

 

[Topher]

Which is irrelevant, they operate from Ukraine. It was an official from the Ukrainian government that actually aluded to the deal (because It's a good thing for a company operating in Ukraine since it's probably a nice flow of cash in such a terrible period for them) and Brad Smith only said that it was a good thing for gaming (PR, but it is what it is) and a good thing for the developers working there - which there are since the development team is based in Ukraine.

It isn't irrelevant. It looks bad if Brad Smith is talking about a "victory for Ukraine" and then people go that company's twitter page and see this....

If you want to pretend the change from that to Ukraine is entirely coincidental then that's up to you.

 

[Foilz]

Regulators should be checking what these deals with the other cloud providers entail e.g. licensing costs, cause i bet that's where we found out all of this is just PR bluster and when we get down to the nitty gritty it ain't gonna look good.

But keep shouting "Available on more devices" as if that will change things.

The contents of the deals should be meaningless if both parties are agreeing to them

 

[adamsapple]

That's not what you say it is. Criticizing MS is not saying "they were paid to say they were based in the Ukraine."

The "paid" argument is not the strict linchpin. Just the posts implying that MS 'made' them change their location for PR win are as bad. Additionally so in light of X-Wing 's post on top of this page.

 

[Jimmyisback]

This discussion is filled with Microsoft doubters.

Desperate for any bit of information that paints Microsoft as liars. This Ukrainian topic is a stretch, even for them.

Part of what makes this thread so entertaining though... Some I think are too emotionally invested in this deal failing.

 

[gothmog]

The "paid" argument is not the strict linchpin. Just the posts implying that MS 'made' them change their location for PR win are as bad.

Or maybe have some dignity to not use a war for PR? Add in some due diligence and you might have a winning combo avoiding a dumb PR blunder. Brad Smith is a lawyer, right?

 

[tmlDan]

Which is irrelevant, they operate from Ukraine. It was an official from the Ukrainian government that actually aluded to the deal (because It's a good thing for a company operating in Ukraine since it's probably a nice flow of cash in such a terrible period for them) and Brad Smith only said that it was a good thing for gaming (PR, but it is what it is) and a good thing for the developers working there - which there are since the development team is based in Ukraine.

This is really not the big deal people are making it to be.

The company's terms of use on its website say its headquartered in Romania, their Instagram posted they support Ukraine and their war and defending their homeland. The owner is Russian, went to Moscow University, State University, and Military school. (Obviously he could still be from Ukraine and studied and worked in Moscow)

It's not very far fetched to say its unusual, especially that the owner now lives in UAE

Receipts below:

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Cats out of the bag for smaller pub acquisition because of the Bethesda acquisition by MS. I think it's fair and even healthy for PS to acquire a publisher that will address the games that PS users will miss out on due to MS spending spree.




From has a 10 year track record of excellence and officially has the highest selling Japanese 3rd party title ever. From is the least risky buy for Sony.

CPDR value is inflated by being on a low volume stock exchange (Polish exchange) and therefore their stock value is not representative of their actual price (basically, if they wanted to sell 100% of their shares today, you're not going to find a buyer at that price). They do $200m revenue but are valued at $3B. Insane. They know it and that's why they're not trading on NASDAQ.

Not risky? What happens if Miyazaki quits or is hit by a bus?

You can't look at their annual revenue, they put out a game every 4-5 years and those games consistently sell like gangbusters. Not many studios have multiple 30 million copy sellers.

 

[jm89]

The contents of the deals should be meaningless if both parties are agreeing to them

Well in the context of this acquistion being approved it does matter what is in the contents of this deal, as microsaft are throwing these deals out to sway regulators and they aren't approving without assessing the contents.

 

[Iced Arcade]

That darn Microsoft and it's scandalous ways going back in time to fit agendas.

 

[wolffy71]

Just like how MS cares less about COD and is only focusing on mobile section of this deal.

No, more like how the world doesn't really care about COD, Activision, Xbox, or PS.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

I think some people need to chill with the Boosteroid thing and take the tinfoil hats off... They do seem to be Ukraine based.

Microsoft и сервис облачного гейминга, работающий в Украине, Boosteroid подписали соглашение на 10 лет. Microsoft предоставит партнеру игры для ПК Xbox и игры Activision Blizzard

Контракт предусматривает перенесение игр для ПК Xbox на облачную игровую платформу Boosteroid.

dev-ua.translate.goog

В Україні скоро запрацює хмарний геймінг Boosteroid. Що це таке і скільки коштуватиме підписка

Один з найбільших сервісів хмарного гейминга Boosteroid в Європі розмістив сервери в київському дата-центрі «Парковий» і готує в Україні запуск послуг для геймерів в листопаді.

dev-ua.translate.goog

Now, being Ukraine based or not is irrelevant. A 10 year contract doesn't solve the monopoly risk issues.

Software development, maybe. But the headquarters itself seems based in Romania.

Usually companies have their base of operations referred to depending on where their main headquarters are located.

changing your location on twitter so Microsoft can brag about a "victory for Ukraine" is shady bullshit. Beyond that, Microsoft trying to capitalize on a war for their own petty purposes is just absurd.


There's not really many other ways to interpret this even if someone doesn't include dollar signs in the message to signify it specifically.

Waw a whole one person! That's like a whole one dollar!!

Smoking gun evidence. Buy the world. Shut it down!!!

 

[feynoob]

No, more like how the world doesn't really care about COD, Activision, Xbox, or PS.

Real-world cares about the stock of the company who owns these IPs.
People will make/lose bucks if this deal is successful/failure.

 

[Topher]

The "paid" argument is not the strict linchpin.

No, the "paid" argument was simply the fiction in which you eagerly went along with. Factually the location on twitter was changed this past week directly prior to this announcement. That's the linchpin here. Making this about myself, GHG and others who are pointing it out doesn't change the facts.

 

[demigod]

"Microsoft Corp. and Boosteroid on Tuesday announced a 10-year agreement to bring Xbox PC games to Boosteroid's cloud gaming platform. Boosteroid, which has its software development team in Ukraine, recently surpassed 4 million users globally and has become the largest independent cloud gaming provider in the world. The agreement will also enable Activision Blizzard PC titles to be streamed by Boosteroid customers after Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard closes."

Comes across as incredibly self-serving.

Wait a minute. They're telling us the Stalker 2 devs left Ukraine for their own safety but these dudes stayed in Ukraine? Yeah right.

 

[adamsapple]

No, the "paid" argument was simply the fiction in which you eagerly went along with. Factually the location on twitter was changed this past week directly prior to this announcement. That's the linchpin here. Making this about myself, GHG and others who are pointing it out doesn't change the facts.

The 'paid' argument is as much fiction as saying or implying that MS 'made' them change the location for a PR win.

 

[NonPhixion]

It's really nice that MS and that Romanian company are partnering to bring war games to Ukraine.

 

[mansoor1980]

It's really nice that MS and that Romanian company are partnering to bring war games to Ukraine.

 

[Banjo64]

Part of what makes this thread so entertaining though... Some I think are too emotionally invested in this deal failing.

And you don't think the opposite is also true?

 

[GHG]

I think some people need to chill with the Boosteroid thing and take the tinfoil hats off... They do seem to be Ukraine based.

http://[URL][URL][URL][URL][URL][UR..._sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=nl&_x_tr_pto=wapp

[/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL]

http://[URL][URL][URL][URL][URL][UR..._sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=nl&_x_tr_pto=wapp

[/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL]

Couple of things to correct here.

They were founded in 2013, in Romania:

This information is consistent across 2 Romanian business directories:

https://www.romanian-companies.eu/boosteroid-games-srl-31715471/

https://www.lista-firme-romania.ro/en/company/reland-activ-srl-31715471-sxsgin/


Their presence became public around 2016, this is verified across both linkedin and crunchbase:

They didn't even launch their service in the Ukraine until 2021 by way of a partnership with Kyivstar:

https://good-time-invest.com/blog/boosteroid-cloud-gaming-service-launched-in-ukraine/

They are still headquartered in Romania, this is referenced several times in their terms and conditions that can be found on their website but they do have operations in Ukraine. Nobody is disputing their current operations in the Ukraine however it is both timely and highly convenient from a PR perspective to define them as a "Ukrainian" business despite the location of their headquarters and the fact that they have a scattered presence across Europe and the Middle East.

It's also worth mentioning that when they signed a deal with Huawei back in 2020 they were happy to be defined as a company "headquartered in Dubai":

https://e.huawei.com/en/case-studies/industries/2021/boosteroid-cloud-gaming

Also note the reference to their Ukraine operation here.

So it seems that they are happy to go where the wind blows in order to secure business deals.

Nothing wrong with the business deal, especially considering they are a company that was previously singled out by regulators, but everything wrong with the political framing of it by Microsoft and their willingness to go along with it. This is about having a factual discussion, a regulatory process is a factual one, but Microsoft are attempting to sway opinion through emotion by weaponising the current war in Ukraine. That's wholly unnecessary and poor taste.

 

[laynelane]

Yes they were listed as follows:

But what the document doesn't state is that they should attempt to politicise things should they manage to strike a deal with any of the companies listed as examples by the CMA.

It's been clear for a while what certain execs and PR talking heads think about the collective intelligence of the general public, but what's been inexplicable to me is how they keep applying that low, low opinion to regulators too. And, of course, using a war to further your business deal is a new low even for MS.

 

[Topher]

The 'paid' argument is as much fiction as saying or implying that MS 'made' them change the location for a PR win.

Wrong again. My argument is based on the timing of the change in relation to this deal. That has basis in fact. Your "paid argument" does not.

 

[reinking]

The 'paid' argument is as much fiction as saying or implying that MS 'made' them change the location for a PR win.

I don't think anyone said they made them change their location or that they were paid specifically to do so. People are pointing out that the timeframe that they changed their location is a bit sus. That does not mean that Microsoft made them do it.

The criticism for MS using this as PR has more to do with calling it a "victory for Ukraine."

 

[jhjfss]

The same company that is arguing against behavioral remedies and a limited 10 year deal in the activation case is offering exactly that for their own merger with Zee entertainment in India. Keep in mind the combined market share of Sony pictures and Zee entertainment post-merger will be significantly greater than that of Xbox+ABK.

 

[GHG]

The same company that is arguing against behavioral remedies and a limited 10 year deal in the activation case is offering exactly that for their own merger with Zee entertainment in India. Keep in mind the combined market share of Sony pictures and Zee entertainment post-merger will be significantly greater than that of Xbox+ABK.

And Microsoft are the same company who were against Nvidia's acquisition of Arm.

Funny how that works.

But given the respective business areas (and the regional and jurisdictional difference in the case of Zee), neither are relevant to this case.

Edit:

That deal already went through and Sony agreed to divestments:

https://www.reuters.com/business/me...ee-divest-three-regional-channels-2022-10-26/

Not sure why you're wasting people's time with this by making it seem like it's still an ongoing case? Should have known better when you didn't even have the decency to post a source for that screenshot.

 

[adamsapple]

I don't think anyone said they made them change their location or that they were paid specifically to do so. People are pointing out that the timeframe that they changed their location is a bit sus. That does not mean that Microsoft made them do it. If you are reading that into it then maybe a little self-reflection is needed.

There's a dozen or so posts calling out Microsoft for 'using Ukraine' or using the war for PR. How can anyone see anything else as the implication is beyond me. Even you and Topher calling it 'sus' paints a very clear picture of what you guys are inferring.

It could be something as simple as the service's account changing its location independently as solidarity for their team and offices in Ukraine, why would they do it now ? cause they'll naturally have more eyes on them following the current agreement they've made.

But a lot of posters want to find something 'sus' about it and trying to correlate it to MS capitalizing on the war.

That's what I'm saying.

 

[Topher]

There's a dozen or so posts calling out Microsoft for 'using Ukraine' or using the war for PR. How can anyone see anything else as the implication is beyond me. Even you and Topher calling it 'sus' paints a very clear picture of what you guys are inferring.

It could be something as simple as the service's account changing its location independently as solidarity for their team and offices in Ukraine, why would they do it now ? cause they'll naturally have more eyes on them following the current agreement they've made.

But a lot of posters want to find something 'sus' about it and trying to correlate it to MS capitalizing on the war.

That's what I'm saying.

Going to quote the part you cut out because it is important.

The criticism for MS using this as PR has more to do with calling it a "victory for Ukraine."

 

[reinking]

There's a dozen or so posts calling out Microsoft for 'using Ukraine' or using the war for PR. How can anyone see anything else as the implication is beyond me. Even you and Topher calling it 'sus' paints a very clear picture of what you guys are inferring.

It could be something as simple as the service's account changing its location independently as solidarity for their team and offices in Ukraine, why would they do it now ? cause they'll naturally have more eyes on them following the current agreement they've made.

But a lot of posters want to find something 'sus' about it and trying to correlate it to MS capitalizing on the war.

That's what I'm saying.

You can thank @BradSmi for that....

This agreement is a victory not just for gamers and for regulators who want to ensure broad access to Call of Duty. It's a victory for Ukraine and the many talented software developers who work there. Including at
@Boosteroid_main
! Thank you
@FedorovMykhailo
for your leadership.

 

[DeepEnigma]

The "paid" argument is not the strict linchpin. Just the posts implying that MS 'made' them change their location for PR win are as bad. Additionally so in light of X-Wing 's post on top of this page.

Fucking mental gymnastics. Real talk.

 

[adamsapple]

You can thank @BradSmi for that....

He's replying to this tweet tho, not the one initiating it.

Fucking mental gymnastics. Real talk.