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[Mr Moose]

Let's hope they put Sledgehammer in charge of all future CoDs

 

[Topher]

Phil says a lot of things.

He does. Now he has to back up everything he said.

 

[RoboFu]

had to cut down on file size.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Phil says a lot of things.

He's just holding Phil's words to task. Let's see if the man sticks to his words, or in several years time, things ambiguously change with more PR marketing and ambassador amnesia.

 

[akaFullmetal]

If this now passes, then all bets are off. Any one can come in and buy any developer or company. The industry will be consolidated very fast. Ubisoft going to something like tencent. Ea going to apple or Disney, cdpr going somewhere. Square soft going to Sony or something. We are going to probably see lots of games being taken away from PC or consoles in the next 5 years.
Can't believe people have been cheering for this or ignorant what this all means to the industry.

 

[tpieman2029]

Certain Affinity, INTERIOR/NIGHT, Squanch. That's all I would ever expect. Small shit, or nothing.

Well until one day it's not just a Wednesday but THE Wednesday

 

[StueyDuck]

After getting Zenimax and Activision, no regulator will allow MS to buy another big publisher.

I mean why not? If having the biggest publisher with the biggest brands in all of gaming didn't move the needle.

Why would Ubisoft be blocked?

The only one really is EA and I guess a bit of take 2 because of the sports brands but by the time MS would have gotten around to it they'd probably lowered the competition to such a small percentage that those sports titles probably don't even waste time developing for other platforms

The argument is "WeLl WhY dOnT tHeY maKe TheIR oWN CoD". Because no one has ever tried to dethrone call of duty before hahahaha. So what would be the sticking point for say 505 or Sega or Capcom or Gearbox etc

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

If Sony doesnt go and buy Take2 and use GTA as a bargaining chip then I just dont see Sony continue to be the force they are today.

lets imagine this happens (Sony announcing Take 2 acquisition)

dont you think it will triggger Regulators Investigation?

and with sony's Market Share their odds at that acquisition being approved will be lower.

The CoD pie affects everything from their PS+ subs to their digital store sales to ALL the F2P and other shooter audience cod has helped them cultivate. Will fortnite be as big on PS with half of the CoD audience gone? Doubt it.

wat? there are places aroud the word where CoD is not even that popular.

Sony will have to severely downscale their operations to match what Nintendo is doing. Cheaper hardware. Way fewer AAA first party games. Way cheaper games. They wont have any money for third party exclusives like FF which is a good thing for those of us who hate moneyhats but you just know MS will sweep in to get those moneyhats so I dont see Sony getting many more FF games, at least on day one.

What are you smoking?

Nintendo is still very successful with their handheld only approach, but tbh, they are as irrelevant to me as ouya. I want big AAA exclusives, not the small quirky stuff they put out nowadays with their only AAA games like Zeldas, Metroids and Marios taking 6+ years to make. If thats the Sony we have to settle for in the future then thats a depressing thought.

you are not the market.

The most interesting thing to see would be exactly how soon this happens. Sony will be in denial for the first few years. they might even go buy Square Enix or some other smaller FPS studios. But everyone other than CMA knows that Sony is now on borrowed time. Without CoD, their revenue drops by 30% minimum and that will affect their bottomline. Investors will know this. I wonder if pressure is put on Sony to sell to Apple or Amazon.

GTA acquisition is the only thing that can help them retain their dominance but as of right now, even if Sony isnt going to die anytime soon and might even reinvent themselves like Nintendo did, they simply wont be the juggernaut they are today.

yisus the drama

i will say this:
to me, to the most cost-efficient short term srategy for sony is not buying publishers but signing even more third party exclusive deals. there...i can see GTA6 being in the mix for sure.

 

[GHG]

Phil says a lot of things.

Phils job might be safe now at least.

 

[feynoob]

Losing cod revenue is likely to be bigger than the long term benefits re new users and gp revenue.

MTX is the bigger reason for that loss.
MS would lose a huge amount of users that would have spent money on mtx.

 

[Little Mac]

Name a first party published MS title not on GP.

If the buyout goes through, I think the base game will eventually hit gamepass but not by June 6th launch. I would love to be proven wrong and get refunded $100 bucks though. TBH I don't think MS has even charged D4 digital buyers for their preorders yet.

Diablo's General Manager Rod Ferguson:

"It's awesome seeing the excitement around the Diablo IV Beta, and our Wolf Pack puppy! We've been getting some questions about D4 on Game Pass and I want to let you know we have no plans for that. See you in Sanctuary during the Beta Early Access weekend starting on March 17."

https://www.gameinformer.com/2023/03/14/there-are-no-plans-for-diablo-4-on-game-pass

 

[Punished Miku]

Phils job might be safe now at least.

Probably will get an award for this. One of the most transformative gaming execs in history.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Just reading this is an awful experience.

If all this stuff happens -- which it will -- the industry will be in a horrible, horrible shape.

• Zenimax / ABK games exclusive to Xbox.
• SE / Capcom games exclusive to Sony.
• Ubisoft / Take Two owned by Tencent. (could possibly become exclusive to Tencent HW).
• Other IPs exclusive to Amazon Luna and Meta.

Yes.

But inexplicably we have people cheering it.

 

[Pelta88]

It's best you read the document:

https://assets.publishing.service.g...ion_Addendum_PFs__For_Publication_230324_.pdf

Looks like a green light. Pun included.

 

[GHG]

Probably will get an award for this. One of the most transformative gaming execs in history.

Yeh for Sony, considering their 98% monopoly.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

So they're saying that they did the math wrong the first time. Interesting.

Checks hadn't cleared yet

 

[Dick Jones]

Yes.

But inexplicably we have people cheering it.

No new games that wouldn't already be on the platform anyway, just cheering the removal from other platforms.

 

[Ozriel]

If the buyout goes through, I think the base game will eventually hit gamepass but not by June 6th launch. I would love to be proven wrong and get refunded $100 bucks though. TBH I don't think MS has even charged buyers for the preorders yet.

Diablo's General Manager Rod Ferguson:

"It's awesome seeing the excitement around the Diablo IV Beta, and our Wolf Pack puppy! We've been getting some questions about D4 on Game Pass and I want to let you know we have no plans for that. See you in Sanctuary during the Beta Early Access weekend starting on March 17."

https://www.gameinformer.com/2023/03/14/there-are-no-plans-for-diablo-4-on-game-pass

The day the deal gets signed and approved, This decision stops being up to Rod Ferguson.

I don’t think they’ll have finalized the deal by June 6 anyway. Especially if the FTC tries to draw things out.

 

[adamsapple]

Probably will get an award for this. One of the most transformative gaming execs in history.

He's on the verge of securing the biggest acquisition in gaming history, you can bet if this goes through he's gonna be getting a lot of coverage/awards/interviews out of this.

 

[Kvally]

Ghostwire isn’t even out on Xbox.

Forza is a delisted game due to car licenses.

The question was asked, and I answered.

 

[feynoob]

Phils job might be safe now at least.

I swear to God, That guy is immune from getting fired. Like wth.

 

[lh032]

I mean why not? If having the biggest publisher with the biggest brands in all of gaming didn't move the needle.

Why would Ubisoft be blocked?

The only one really is EA and I guess a bit of take 2 because of the sports brands but by the time MS would have gotten around to it they'd probably lowered the competition to such a small percentage that those sports titles probably don't even waste time developing for other platforms

The argument is "WeLl WhY dOnT tHeY maKe TheIR oWN CoD". Because no one has ever tried to dethrone call of duty before hahahaha. So what would be the sticking point for say 505 or Sega or Capcom or Gearbox etc

i dont mind Ubisoft acquired by Microsoft.

 

[RGB'D]

Well until one day it's not just a Wednesday but THE Wednesday

 

[Kvally]

Phil says a lot of things.

Phil and Jim are the king of swing! And king of PR!

 

[reksveks]

If, major if this goes through in the UK.

I am looking forward to parliamentary investigations (someone said/implied it will happen)

I am still not sure.

 

[StueyDuck]

i dont mind Ubisoft acquired by Microsoft.

I mean that's not really the point of what I was saying. You can insert any pub

 

[DeepEnigma]

Phil and Jim are the king of swing! And king of PR!

One talks way more than the other, however.

He's on the verge of securing the biggest acquisition in gaming history, you can bet if this goes through he's gonna be getting a lot of coverage/awards/interviews out of this.

This changes from the normal output, how?

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Make it happen, Phil

I still dream of Starcraft Ghosts. By Coalition.

 

[Banjo64]

Banjo64 do you want to tell him?

Coming soon to a Series S near you…

True Crime: Nuts & Bolts.

 

[Kvally]

One talks way more than the other, however.

Phil talks way more than any other gaming exec, ever. Then again, I think he is approached for more interviews than any other gaming exec ever. My favorite exec what actually Shawn Layden. I liked him a lot.

 

[reforen]

I still dream of Starcraft Ghosts. By Coalition.

I think that spin off will be better on Arkane hands

 

[SlimySnake]

lets imagine this happens (Sony announcing Take 2 acquisition)

dont you think it will triggger Regulators Investigation?

and with sony's Market Share their odds at that acquisition being approved will be lower.


wat? there are places aroud the word where CoD is not even that popular.



What are you smoking?


you are not the market.



yisus the drama

i will say this:
to me, to the most cost-efficient short term srategy for sony is not buying publishers but signing even more third party exclusive deals. there...i can see GTA6 being in the mix for sure.

There were studies done that showed CoD is played by 55% of console players. Fortnite was just 17%. spiderman was 15%. GTA was next at 45%. The only thing that can compete with CoD is GTA.

And no, i dont think it will. Sony will simply point to the CoD acquisition as the reason why they are strengthening their portfolio. Had they tried to acquire it before the Activision deal, yes, it wouldve been blocked.

The time for cost efficient short term deals has passed. Investors dont give a shit about that. They look at the bigger picture. This deal is going to have some insane ramifications. I called this last year when everyone here was downplaying the deal. Then Sony strated fighting it tooth and nail like their life depended on it and only then did people realize just how important cod is to Sony. Some moneyhats are not going to please anyone other than their fanbase. People who play cod will switch. Investors know this and will begin to put pressure on Sony for either GTA or to restructure their business.

 

[adamsapple]

This changes from the normal output, how?

Oh it's only gonna get more in-light of the acquisition closing.

I can already see it on magazines "The man who closed the biggest deal in entertainment history - Phillious Spencerous"

 

[Topher]

If, major if this goes through in the UK.

I am looking forward to parliamentary investigations (someone said/implied it will happen)

I am still not sure.

I go back to the fact that everything was said to be "provisional". And actually, I believe this stuff today remains "provisional", isn't it?

 

[graywolf323]

This is a new benchmark that will accelerate the consolidation. Things were never this bad.

ABK is already the biggest acquisition in the gaming industry. If this was blocked, consolidation would have slowed down. No company would think of buying a publisher Take Two because ABK got blocked. Now you can bet that someone will approach and buy Take Two sooner or later, because ABK won't be independent.

this is one of the biggest acquisitions ever IIRC not just for gaming

 

[feynoob]

If, major if this goes through in the UK.

I am looking forward to parliamentary investigations (someone said/implied it will happen)

I am still not sure.

Who is getting investigated?

 

[adamsapple]

 

[graywolf323]

Who is getting investigated?

 

[Topher]

Jim Ryan ain't signing any deal.

 

[ManaByte]

The question was asked, and I answered.

With games that don’t even exist in the platform.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Jim Ryan ain't signing any deal.

cLeArLy hAs tO sIgN

Can't you read, mate?

 

[reksveks]

I go back to the fact that everything was said to be "provisional". And actually, I believe this stuff today remains "provisional", isn't it?

Yeah, third parties have a week to respond but the most likely issue is going to be around cloud market and whether the CMA find issues with the proposed remedies that MS have offered. MS had a good point that ABK weren't likely to offer their games in a MGS for cloud services in the short term and it was more likely to be BYOG.

Who is getting investigated?

Apparently the CMA, will find the post.

Does search work on people that I have ignored?

 

[Kvally]

Jim Ryan ain't signing any deal.

Maybe PS will just leave it status quo? Their marketing ends after the contract, and the games just come out on PS as normal? Maybe MS still reaches out to see about getting COD on PS+ later in the game life?

 

[Banjo64]

Just reading this is an awful experience.

If all this stuff happens -- which it will -- the industry will be in a horrible, horrible shape.

• Zenimax / ABK games exclusive to Xbox.
• SE / Capcom games exclusive to Sony.
• Ubisoft / Take Two owned by Tencent. (could possibly become exclusive to Tencent HW).
• Other IPs exclusive to Amazon Luna and Meta.

Don’t worry Heisenberg A. Daddy Nintendo laughs at the prospect of dirty foreign money. Yen 4 lyfe.

As long as we have Nintendo, we safe.

 

[Topher]

cLeArLy hAs tO sIgN

Can't you read, mate?

 

[DeepEnigma]

He gets these analysis's done quick, almost as if they're filtered down.

 

[Kvally]

With games that don’t even exist in the platform.

 

[FBeeEye]

Not really. Phil Spencer said multiple times publicly that they were not taking COD from PlayStation.

Every publisher has to sign a publishing agreement with every platform. They can't just make games and release them where they want. I can't make a Nintendo Switch game without an agreement from Nintendo.

So again, when Sony signs the agreement, they'll have COD on Playstation going forward. It's that simple.

 

[lh032]

cLeArLy hAs tO sIgN

Can't you read, mate?

Jimbo will sign but not his real signature

 

[Topher]

Maybe PS will just leave it status quo? Their marketing ends after the contract, and the games just come out on PS as normal? Maybe MS still reaches out to see about getting COD on PS+ later in the game life?

I think Sony just lets it play out and see if Phil Spencer is a man of his word. Like I said before, I think these deals were primarily symbolic for the sake of regulator's approval. I don't think we will ever see COD on PS+ though.