Chiggs
Gold Member
This is what I keep coming back to.
Microsoft / Activision Deal Approval Watch |OT| (MS/ABK close)
- Status
This is what I keep coming back to.
bender
What time is it?
I don't care what CADE has to say, they approved it unconditionally. The 3 major regulatory bodies all had objections to the deal, the FTC has sued to block it outright (the same FTC who fanboys thought would approve it by August of last year), the EU had objections to which Microsoft responded to, so we're waiting on a ruling for that & the CMA also had concerns regarding CoD & cloud gaming & offered divestiture as a remedy, to which Microsoft already said no. The CMA put out a well-detailed report & I was surprised by how much they understood the industry.
I don't know why you're acting like I'm refusing Sony played a big part in this, I remember the fanboys on this very forum were talking about how the deal was gonna through without a hitch & Sony wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it. And yet here we are, yea no shit it's not a shocker Sony's the main opposition to the deal for obvious reasons. That's been a well-known fact since the very beginning & their strategy is working so far, so much for the "Microsoft will bribe the regulators to get it through" crowd.
Lmao, "everything going your way." The bolded part still remains true, Sony heavily invested in their first-party over time & churned out some quality titles including some of the best games from last-gen. TLOU, TLOU2, God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel's Spider-Man, Death Stranding, Bloodborne & etc. Games like Returnal (new IP) & Spider-Man were funded & published by Sony themselves with Housemarque & Insomniac who were third-parties at the time before they got acquired after the games were successful. Look at how much of a powerhouse Insomniac became now with their insane output already this gen, an absolute steal for Sony for just $230M, that's how it's done.
The result of those investments they made paid dividends for them as the consumers (including me) & the market chose them over Xbox because of what they had to offer, they earned the market share they have today because they learned from their past mistakes & actually invested in their first-party output. All of these IP's (with the exception of Spider-Man which funny enough Phil passed on when Marvel asked) were formed under Sony, they weren't taken away from other platforms like you keep whining about. No one was complaining when Xbox acquired studios like Ninja Theory or Playground, PS players started complaining when publishers like Bethesda were acquired & they found out games like Starfield, the next Fallout & Elder Scrolls will be permanently yanked off PlayStation, which is exactly what Microsoft plans to do with Call of Duty if the deal goes through.
Now tell me, what major multiplat IP did Sony recently take away from Xbox permanently & called it first-party?
It ain't Sony's fault Phil sucked at his job when it came to investing in their own first-party output last-gen, take it up with him.
They've been in the industry for 2 decades now & have always been a major player alongside Sony, they didn't just become a "big deal" over night because of a $69 billion deal that has yet to even go through. No one's gonna care if MS continues acquiring studios the way Sony has been doing now, as long as big publishers aren't being bought out resulting in established IP's being taken away from the competing platform. I still don't know what the fuck Phil's doing & why Asobo Studio hasn't been acquired yet, they're a capable developer who have a lot of potential under Xbox first-party. I've played both Plague Tale games on PS & they were great.
Don't worry, regulators will do their jobs. They'll care then, just like how they went from thinking no concessions would be needed for ABK, to signing all these licensing deals with other companies & offering Sony a 3-year CoD licensing deal before upping that to 10 years after more unexpected regulatory scrutiny. I guarantee you they won't think about acquiring any major publishers after this ABK mess gets resolved, that's the one good thing to come out of this deal.
Not this shit again...
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feynoob
Banned
Phil's magic might have worked on him.
It's weird that you keep talking on behalf of MS.
I expected more from a veteran like who has been here for a long. You know how to navigate this forum more than all of us here, yet you keep making obvious mistakes.
It's not my business on what your views are, but maybe try to see this from outside prescriptive view, instead of just focusing on the positive side,
For me, it's all about that $68b price tag. It leaves a bad taste on me, when a company spends that much money buying another company, when they could use that money investing on their business in different ways.
MS could do EA/gamepass partnership with those money, instead of wasting them on 1 company. Look at how that deal is working for them. It's makes gamepass a great deal.
feynoob
Banned
He played with
emoji too much, just like Icarus.He should have paid more attention to the post he was giving emoji to.
PharaoTutAnchAmun
Member
I'am not gonna subcribe to a commercial website, write down whatthey have to say
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GHG
Gold Member
Some bullshit about how Sony have a monopoly and control 98% of the high end gaming market.
Didn't bother to read further, not going to waste my time.
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nikolino840
Member
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) criticized Sony Interactive Entertainment's "monopoly" control of the high-end gaming market during a hearing Thursday and called on U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to press Japan on the issue during ongoing trade talks.
"I'm told that Sony controls a monopoly of 98% of the high-end game market, yet Japan's government has allowed Sony to engage in blatant anti-competitive conduct through exclusive deals and payments to game publishers," Cantwell said during a Senate Finance Committee hearing.
Cantwell noted that Japan's Fair Trade Commission has "failed to investigate these exclusionary conducts" before posing a question to Tai: "So what do you think we can do to [better] address these issues and create a level playing field with the [Indo-Pacific Economic Framework] on something as important as this issue?"
Tai declined to discuss Sony directly but noted that IPEF, an economic initiative that includes Japan and 12 others countries in the region, is expected to address both competition and digital issues. "That is absolutely an area that we are primed to address," Tai said. "This one is new for me, but let me take this back. I'm happy to follow up with you and your team on this."
Dick Jones
Banned
98% Really? Really?
Why not 100% as in "I'm 100% sure that lawmaker took a fucking bribe to claim 98%"
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Topher
Identifies as young
"I'm told that Sony controls a monopoly of 98% of the high-end game market, yet Japan's government has allowed Sony to engage in blatant anti-competitive conduct through exclusive deals and payments to game publishers"
graywolf323
Member
obviously Microsoft told her and conveniently left out how they do the same damn thing"I'm told that Sony controls a monopoly of 98% of the high-end game market, yet Japan's government has allowed Sony to engage in blatant anti-competitive conduct through exclusive deals and payments to game publishers"
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skit_data
Member
I got it to around 94% Playstation vs 6% Xbox via some very rough math from Gematsus numbers if those consoles are all that's being compared to each other but I don't know how relevant it really is since that market seems to become smaller and smaller. I also don't really see what Japan is to do about it? Stopping exclusive deals between Playstation and publishers?
Edit: might add that those percentages might be off, I'm just about to sleep and I'm very tired
Edit: might add that those percentages might be off, I'm just about to sleep and I'm very tired
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DrFigs
Member
I'm pretty sure, unless this person is totally insane, that they mean specifically in the japanese market. this is partly what the ipef and japanese trade talks are about. how there are all sorts of barriers for u.s. companies who want to sell to a japanese audience. so in that sense sony buying exclusivity harms microsoft since their presense their is so small. but it's still silly since Sony doesn't really have a large presence in japan.
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Dick Jones
Banned
MS offered her a 10 year COD deal if she states 98%
A victory for incorruptible public officials
DarkMage619
$MSFT
This is silly. I am not speaking on behalf of anyone but myself. I just disagree with the silly and hyperbolic takes some have taken with regard to this acquisition. Odd you single me out when I never claimed Nintendo wasn't part of the industry while laughing at Xbox for being 3rd or that because MS in the 90s did things people didn't they are exactly the same company today despite having entirely new leadership.
I don't think that just because this transaction is large that it is bad. That seems pretty short sighted. Someone mentioned that if MS was spending $70B on a small indie developer that never made any PlayStation games no one would even bat an eye. It is not my place or anyone here to dictate what MS should do with their resources or how they should compete in this industry. As long as they aren't breaking any laws this deal is fine. No one has been able to show the laws broken.
The detractors tend to focus solely on PlayStation and not the cloud providers, Nintendo, Activision employees, and unions that are all supportive of this deal. Thanks for being concerned about my opinions but I am hardly the only person supportive of this deal. My position is just as valid as anyone else's.
I'd love to see any gaming market MS has 98% control of.
Companion Cube
Member
A flimsy argument from Cantwell but it brings attention back to the fact that Sony actually has a much smaller hold on the market compared to what regulators are looking at. What does this mean for the deal? In this 30 page essay I
![[Sigma]](/data/avatars/m/701/701747.jpg?1726376545){kind=avatar}
[Sigma]
Member
I'm going to need that bank account checked for the next 5 years.,
Topher
Identifies as young
Yeah, a bullshit spoon-fed line with a nice campaign contribution attached, I'm sure.
Bernoulli
M2 slut
nothing to see here guys
Dick Jones
Banned
Topher
Identifies as young
He is referring to the portion he highlighted in bold.
reinking
Gold Member
nothing to see here guys
Topher
Identifies as young
bitbydeath
Gold Member
JFC, have they no shame?nothing to see here guys
jm89
Member
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DarkMage619
$MSFT
Doesn't that remove the context of the broader statement? The 98% is tied to the governmental actions. The US government certainly isn't protecting MS. They are suing them.
bitbydeath
Gold Member
I can't fathom how any of that is legal, it's no wonder nobody has faith in the US justice system.
Interesting read. So many went straight to attacking the messenger. As if the Senator from the state of Washington isn't going to have contributions from her constituents.
Thirty7ven
Banned
It's amazing. The land where bribery is legal folks. Girl went out there with an envelope full of notes signed by Brad Smith.
Topher
Identifies as young
Yes, it removes it. And addresses the point he is talking about specifically. Thus.....the bold.
ChuckeRearmed
Member
As FTC decided to define the high end console market, then obviously Nintendo will be excluded now. Funny to see it during trade talks, but regulators went off deep end in their market definitions anyway as they excluded Nintendo in the first place.
Considering the upcoming trade agreement between UK and USA, this ABK deal might bring some interesting stuff too as CMA excluded Nintendo too.
Considering the upcoming trade agreement between UK and USA, this ABK deal might bring some interesting stuff too as CMA excluded Nintendo too.
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ChorizoPicozo
Member
it seems like MS/Xbox and their influencers think "gamers" have the same expectations across the different facets of "gaming".
listening to the drama around Disney is clear how the size of a company, rapid expansion, and aggressive pivoting can create an environment where making the necessary money to keep shareholders happy, requires a synergy between departments and leadership to work super efficiently and with harmony.
Disney is having a lot of issues (in the game where they are kings). what is the future of MS/Xbox in an industry where (it seems) they don't have any proficiency at all?
MS is chasing growth for growth's sake. spending a lot of money to expedite such growth acquiring consumers and studios/publishers. what is the issue with this?
you cannot expedite AAA game development. (especially when you don't have the know-how). I saw a boom of memes from the latest HellBlade tech demo...When is this game coming out? it better come out this year.
MS is a tech company, not an entertainment one. Apple spending 1B a year to make movies theatrically is understanding the industry in which they are playing, disney had the same realization (the importance of quality over quantity and the theatrical window).
this acquisition has been truly strenuous to the fans, media, and of course, the companies involved...what is next for MS after this acquisition? Phil said acquisitions will continue....well, after all of this circus i bet we are not going to talk about publishers anymore.
it said that "content is king". and the content MS is buying is content firmly established in the videogame culture already. meaning; Xbox/MS is a zero to the left.
the approval of this deal is going to have such an entertaining outcome that is going to last the entire generation. and looking at the pool, it seems the vast majority realize this.
BrutalTruth_
Banned
FIREKNIGHT2029
Member
Best post in this thread. You went in like Kratos in Spartan Rage Mode.I don't care what CADE has to say, they approved it unconditionally. The 3 major regulatory bodies all had objections to the deal, the FTC has sued to block it outright (the same FTC who fanboys thought would approve it by August of last year), the EU had objections to which Microsoft responded to, so we're waiting on a ruling for that & the CMA also had concerns regarding CoD & cloud gaming & offered divestiture as a remedy, to which Microsoft already said no. The CMA put out a well-detailed report & I was surprised by how much they understood the industry.
I don't know why you're acting like I'm refusing Sony played a big part in this, I remember the fanboys on this very forum were talking about how the deal was gonna through without a hitch & Sony wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it. And yet here we are, yea no shit it's not a shocker Sony's the main opposition to the deal for obvious reasons. That's been a well-known fact since the very beginning & their strategy is working so far, so much for the "Microsoft will bribe the regulators to get it through" crowd.
Lmao, "everything going your way." The bolded part still remains true, Sony heavily invested in their first-party over time & churned out some quality titles including some of the best games from last-gen. TLOU, TLOU2, God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel's Spider-Man, Death Stranding, Bloodborne & etc. Games like Returnal (new IP) & Spider-Man were funded & published by Sony themselves with Housemarque & Insomniac who were third-parties at the time before they got acquired after the games were successful. Look at how much of a powerhouse Insomniac became now with their insane output already this gen, an absolute steal for Sony for just $230M, that's how it's done.
The result of those investments they made paid dividends for them as the consumers (including me) & the market chose them over Xbox because of what they had to offer, they earned the market share they have today because they learned from their past mistakes & actually invested in their first-party output. All of these IP's (with the exception of Spider-Man which funny enough Phil passed on when Marvel asked) were formed under Sony, they weren't taken away from other platforms like you keep whining about. No one was complaining when Xbox acquired studios like Ninja Theory or Playground, PS players started complaining when publishers like Bethesda were acquired & they found out games like Starfield, the next Fallout & Elder Scrolls will be permanently yanked off PlayStation, which is exactly what Microsoft plans to do with Call of Duty if the deal goes through.
Now tell me, what major multiplat IP did Sony recently take away from Xbox permanently & called it first-party?
It ain't Sony's fault Phil sucked at his job when it came to investing in their own first-party output last-gen, take it up with him.
They've been in the industry for 2 decades now & have always been a major player alongside Sony, they didn't just become a "big deal" over night because of a $69 billion deal that has yet to even go through. No one's gonna care if MS continues acquiring studios the way Sony has been doing now, as long as big publishers aren't being bought out resulting in established IP's being taken away from the competing platform. I still don't know what the fuck Phil's doing & why Asobo Studio hasn't been acquired yet, they're a capable developer who have a lot of potential under Xbox first-party. I've played both Plague Tale games on PS & they were great.
Don't worry, regulators will do their jobs. They'll care then, just like how they went from thinking no concessions would be needed for ABK, to signing all these licensing deals with other companies & offering Sony a 3-year CoD licensing deal before upping that to 10 years after more unexpected regulatory scrutiny. I guarantee you they won't think about acquiring any major publishers after this ABK mess gets resolved, that's the one good thing to come out of this deal.
Not this shit again...
Nothing but facts and spitting straight fire. The MS shills and people fighting for the deal to go through for their selfish reasons in this thread don't wanna admit it but everything you said here is the truth.
MS has been in the industry for two decades, they've mismanaged damn near everything they've touched and they wanna shortcut their way to success by buying multiplatform publishers that have always put their games everywhere and yank their games away from Playstation. It's pretty much the nuke option that MS has picked since they completely suck at making their own games. People comparing the bullshit MS is doing right now to Sony signing third party one time deals with publishers and nurturing and buying studios like Insomniac are being intentionally dumb and dishonest
They all know it's not true but they want MS to get an upper hand no matter what and they don't care if MS has to break the industry to do so. Publisher consolidation is fine by them because they know Sony can't do it and "daddy MS" can swing their money around and buy every publisher in the industry with money to spare. It's their ultimate fanboy wetdreams come to life. I'm glad regulators are seeing this bullshit for what it is and offering resistance to MS. MS doesnt give a shit if the industry burns, they just want to win no matter what and their cheerleaders are cheering them on.
None of the regulators or even Sony cared when MS was buying studios like Ninja Theory because everyone thought they were trying to nurture studios and grow organically. It came as a shock to everyone when they bought Bathesda but people believed Phil Spencer and his lying ass when he said the deal wasn't done to take away games from Playstation and that's why none of the regulators protested the Bathesda purchase. Only for him to turn around make all Bathesda games exclusives going forward. The 180 on the Bathesda purchase is why MS is meeting such stiff resistance from Sony and the regulators now.
I brought all these points up on Ree and they banned my ass for a few days and banned me from posting in the acquisition thread. It's the uncomfortable truth that these clowns don't want to admit. I don't give a shit about the ABK deal from a personal standpoint, I own a high-end PC and PS5 so I don't miss any games I want to play but I still frown against industry consolidation. It's bad for the gaming industry and everyone knows it but these shills don't care as long as Microsoft "wins".
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bender
What time is it?
nothing to see here guys
DarkMage619
$MSFT
Well I was commenting on the entire comment not just the out of context bolded part. Clearly there are big differences between how Japan treats Sony and how the US treats MS.
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Nadella got somebody to ask the question. To be honest she has a point blocking Japanese games from coming to xbox should be investigated but I see barely any effort from MS to enter the Japanese market too and feel this is just to stir up some jingoism to help an acquisition that has nothing to do with their performance there. Greenlight some Japanese-centric games. Invest in creating IPs that would do well there.
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Bernardougf
Member
There is some shills lining up to take it in the face smiling to uncle Phils ballsTruly beneficial to gamers.
jm89
Member
Goalus
Member
Wow, Satya is better informed than I thought. Good speech.
Unknown Soldier
Member
I have voted against re-electing Cantwell every time she comes up but the Democrats control Washington state as completely as they control California. She's not going anywhere until the day she feels like retiring.Read the preview of the politico article earlier today. Found it somewhat suspicious that Cantwell represents the state of Washington (of all states), but I wrote it off as a coincidence. Good to see my suspicions confirmed.
Dolomite
Member
Goalus
Member
As a non-US citizen so far I thought that I'd be leaning to the Republican side if I had to vote, but boy do the Democrats look fine now all of a sudden.
Topher
Identifies as young
Right….you ignored the bold and focused on the part that fit your narrative.
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Chiggs
Gold Member
Well, that's interesting....
Malak
Member
That doesn't change the fact that she's right, and sony buys exclusives to maintain their monopoly, including taking games not only from the Xbox but also from the Switch.nothing to see here guys
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