bitbydeath
Gold Member
Xbox was announced a year before Dreamcast was discontinued. It became too crowded for Sega to compete.
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Microsoft / Activision Deal Approval Watch |OT| (MS/ABK close)
- Status
Xbox was announced a year before Dreamcast was discontinued. It became too crowded for Sega to compete.
Varteras
Member
It's financially impossible before the acquisition. MS just can ask for a fair price and they won't be able to pay. They're going to have to find other ways to make PS+ Extra more attractive.
XesqueVara
Member
The fact that Blizzard alone is Bigger than XGS+Bethesda combined is Bizarre
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Topher
Identifies as young
What is this? Fantasy League Gaming Studios? Some gamers out there are way too invested in this.
GHG
Gold Member
What is this? Fantasy League Gaming Studios? Some gamers out there are way too invested in this.
It's marketing material from klobrille, what do you expect?
Anyone who unironically reposts his material belongs in the gutter.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Today is not a good day for the gaming industry. A wave of consolidation is sure to follow from this. Microsoft will probably try to acquire EA or Take 2, and Sony may try to counter by trying to get one of these major American publishers first. No American company is off limits now that MSFT-ATVI has been allowed to go through. That said, I don't think any European or Japanese companies are likely to be acquired, absolutely not by Microsoft who are widely disliked outside of America and also unlikely from Sony either who would probably prefer to target an American company as a counter.
Sony should absolutely be in full panic mode at this moment. They are now being crushed by a monopolist with a long history of monopolizing markets and crushing competitors. The good news for Sony, if there is any to be had, is that Microsoft is like most monopolists in that they are utterly inept at competing. It's well known that if you're good at monopolizing, you're often a terrible competitor. The past 20 years of Xbox are proof enough of this. Sony still has a solid 50%+ chance of surviving, even when Microsoft takes Call of Duty away from PlayStation in 2033. Anyone who has followed Microsoft's attempts to monopolize the mobile phones business knows how that went. They spent billions on acquisitions of Danger and Nokia's phone division, pissed all that away with complete ineptness, and today Microsoft does not exist in phones which is dominated by Apple and Google.
So even though the gaming industry now faces it's greatest threat in history, the reality is that Microsoft is bad at everything that doesn't involve Windows and Office. They have to wait 10 years to take Call of Duty away from PlayStation. That is a very long time for Sony to shore up their defenses in preparation for that day, whether it be through a defensive acquisition of their own or through other business dealings. 10 years is both a long time and a short time for Sony, they can't bury their heads in the sand and pretend they aren't losing Call of Duty. They literally have a decade's notice. If they fuck it up and let Microsoft crush them, it's basically their own fault at this point.
Sony should absolutely be in full panic mode at this moment. They are now being crushed by a monopolist with a long history of monopolizing markets and crushing competitors. The good news for Sony, if there is any to be had, is that Microsoft is like most monopolists in that they are utterly inept at competing. It's well known that if you're good at monopolizing, you're often a terrible competitor. The past 20 years of Xbox are proof enough of this. Sony still has a solid 50%+ chance of surviving, even when Microsoft takes Call of Duty away from PlayStation in 2033. Anyone who has followed Microsoft's attempts to monopolize the mobile phones business knows how that went. They spent billions on acquisitions of Danger and Nokia's phone division, pissed all that away with complete ineptness, and today Microsoft does not exist in phones which is dominated by Apple and Google.
So even though the gaming industry now faces it's greatest threat in history, the reality is that Microsoft is bad at everything that doesn't involve Windows and Office. They have to wait 10 years to take Call of Duty away from PlayStation. That is a very long time for Sony to shore up their defenses in preparation for that day, whether it be through a defensive acquisition of their own or through other business dealings. 10 years is both a long time and a short time for Sony, they can't bury their heads in the sand and pretend they aren't losing Call of Duty. They literally have a decade's notice. If they fuck it up and let Microsoft crush them, it's basically their own fault at this point.
In Cold Blood
Banned
This thread delivers.
So just like that all the people here saying how great the CMA was, how much they were over their breif of the console buisness, how they would make the right decision, they are now saying the CMA are fucked, have no idea what they are doing and have destroyed gaming.
Hey guys, remember, the CMA are all over this and know what they are doing.
So just like that all the people here saying how great the CMA was, how much they were over their breif of the console buisness, how they would make the right decision, they are now saying the CMA are fucked, have no idea what they are doing and have destroyed gaming.
Hey guys, remember, the CMA are all over this and know what they are doing.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
While what’s your saying might make sense, I doubt Sony Group’s CEO would agree with you
Here’s what he had to say about *PS4’s dominance*
Regarding Sony Group’s relationship with SIE
All the meanwhile other Sony divisions are making their own games, some of which are Literally Skipping Playstation outright like (Mamiya’s cooking being Switch Exclusive from Sony Music Japan, and Ghostbusters VR being Meta Quest Exclusive from Columbia pictures games, both of which areowned by Sony)
Mind you, to this day the Sony Group’s CEO (not Jimbo, aka the Sony’s Phil Spencer) Haven’t commented Even Once about the ABK Deal despite how much of an Existential Threat it is to his *main business as you say*
Meanwhile you have the 3 trillion Dollar CEO literally willing to Clown himself in mainstream media about Sony’s dominance in Japan just to get this deal done, Satya Nadella Sincerely got my utmost respect for that alone
(I bet he’s the one singing that awful MLB publishing deal /s)
Imo it’s very clear that Sony Group’s CEO and his board of directors doesn’t see Playstation and it’s business as a main Pillar of their Entertainment vision compared to Pictures/Music/Anime etc but rather a way to funnel its profits over the years into those businesses, unlike both Microsoft & Nintendo , Sony Group is a Conglomerate, their main relations with their subsidiary is nearly purely financial with little to no collaboration in many cases
This is thier Profit split between divisions just from last quarter Q3 FY2022, you can see how their other divisions are doing just about fine
And like i said, Sony selling SIE wouldn’t be the end for their gaming ventures, as they can acquire Bandai Namco, merge it with Crunchyroll/Aniplex and have them becoming an absolute behemoth in Anime & their game licenses with sustainable growth across all platforms & Streaming services without the headaches of maintaining a giant gaming platform that’s vulnerable when it comes to big 3rd party skipping the platform, the last time this happened was in 2011 when Monster Hunter Became a 3DS exclusive skipping the Vita and we all know what happend ever since, Sony quit the handheld business Entirely and eventually changed both their focus & Their Headquarters from Japan to the US, all because they didn’t have any idea (nor the support from Sony Group) how to compete with Pokemon or to compensate for the lack thereof ,and im sure CoD will follow
If that's how Sony Corp really feel about PlayStation, then they are bound to Sega themselves.
As in, damage the brand to the point of irrelevance and step out of hardware. It won't be a graceful exit, I can guarantee you that much. Of course, that's all assuming their views on PlayStation align with what you're speculating, though I have a very hard time seeing how Sony Corp would arrive at such a POV themselves.
TheGodfather07
Member
theres really no other way for sony to fight this but with publisher acquisitions of their own. this is how microsoft competing now. nadella said it himself. so sony have no choice but to compete the same way or become irrelevant when microsoft owns half the publishers in the west.
maybe this is part of microsoft strategy becuse they know sony literally cant compete with their wealth. thats why they were so against this. sony already know that microsoft will start eating into their marketshare. not right away but within the next 5 to 10 years. they have no real answer. how the hell do you compete with a company that can spend how much your entire company is worth in one acquisition? the answer is you dont. (ironic, conisidering this acquisiton was supposed to increase competition)
imo, this is the beginning of the end of sonys dominance. you cant compete with a trillon dollar corporation that have no leash on them and sony isnt like nintendo. they heavily rely on these 3rd party publishers. people will go where the ip is and all the big western ones are going to be owned by microsoft.
maybe this is part of microsoft strategy becuse they know sony literally cant compete with their wealth. thats why they were so against this. sony already know that microsoft will start eating into their marketshare. not right away but within the next 5 to 10 years. they have no real answer. how the hell do you compete with a company that can spend how much your entire company is worth in one acquisition? the answer is you dont. (ironic, conisidering this acquisiton was supposed to increase competition)
imo, this is the beginning of the end of sonys dominance. you cant compete with a trillon dollar corporation that have no leash on them and sony isnt like nintendo. they heavily rely on these 3rd party publishers. people will go where the ip is and all the big western ones are going to be owned by microsoft.
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SportsFan581
Member
Double down on what?Yikes. You are doubling down on it.
I even said how nonsensical it was in today's global economy, but I did admit that it seemed to be a thing in both countries in the past. I have no idea if that is still an issue today or not, when you google for it you just get articles about marketing products in Japan (though most of them do reference it being one of the hardest global market for foreign companies to compete in - but that could be BS I have no idea).
I'll admit I did challenge the blanket statement that Japan just universally manufactures everything better, I'm not sure about that.
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Yoboman
Member
Well I agree, they are going to want Bungie to be as big and important of a multiplatform entity as possible for the next decade. But there will also be realistic talks between Sony and Bungie that depending on what MS do with COD after 10 years are up, Sony might be forced to react
Rac3r
Member
We've gone from Microsoft selling off Xbox, to Sony axing SIE, in a matter of weeks. Bruh, lol.
James Sawyer Ford
Member
They could run CoD into irrelevance like Halo. There’s still a pretty big lack of faith in their studio management.
It’s kinda bonkers how Halo went from one of the top IPs to where it is now.
I still think this industry can’t really be bought, if MS really wants to compete they will still need to earn it at the end of the day
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
It's unfortunate we could be in a reality where a platform holder is forced to exit not because they made terrible business decisions in terms of badly engineered hardware, or pissed off retail partners, or panic responded to dead competition while inhibiting themselves, or missing out on critical technical innovations at key moments, or not providing the 1P and 3P content the majority of the market wanted, or not being smart with their marketing money, or publicly belittling their own hardware at a massive trade show, or not ignoring the requests of 3P developers...
...but rather because they simply don't have as much money to spend in industry consolidation as the competitor taking as much non-Xbox money as possible to buy their way to the top. What remarkable "competition". Like I said, at this rate of things, the industry will be dead within 10 years. Just enjoy what you can for now...
...or step out early to save from the shock when things completely crash.
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adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I've always posted here that until the first Sony published Bungie game is announced for multiple platforms, I still believe it will be PS5/PC only. Their wording on the matter has not been any different than 'case by case basis'.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Sony can't allow MS to also acquire EA and Take 2, that would be the end of Sony. At some point Sony will need to take on the crushing debt necessary to at least get one of these publishers. They should really try for EA, since Madden and FIFA are also critically important annual release games for the American market. If they can hold Madden and FIFA for ransom when MS decides to take CoD away from PlayStation, they can at least guarantee mutually assured destruction and that's the best outcome Sony can hope for. As long as MS has Windows and Office, their financial position is invincible. All that Sony can do is threaten Xbox's destruction if MS do go forward with their plan to destroy Sony and monopolize gaming by taking CoD away in 2033.
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James Sawyer Ford
Member
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Please excuse me for waiting for something to get announced first before fully committing to it. Keep in mind they're already working on a game with Netease, their first sony published project will likely be after that.
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DarkMage619
$MSFT
Exactly. There is no guarantee that any non-Destiny 2 game will hit Xbox. I fully expect all future Bungie games to be PlayStation and PC potentially only. They committed to multi-platform and that sounds like PlayStation and PC to me. For the record I am OK with this because Sony has every right to do this with any and all of their studios. It's business.
splattered
Member
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Naughty_Dog_video_games
Extensive history?
Naughty Dog were platform agnostic developer until ~1994 where they began to "partner" aka accept money from Sony to develop games exclusively for their platform until they were outright purchased in 2001.
So you are saying what Microsoft SHOULD have done here is gone out and moneyhatted a bunch of Activision games for roughly 3-5 years before they were given a free pass to purchase them and then it would have been perfectly ok? Electronics Arts, Capcom, and T2 too? If you look at the pattern here... Sony moneyhatts a brand agnostic studio (Some even making mostly Microsoft games prior) to make some exclusive games for it for maybe 3-5 years and then buys them.
Why does the same logic not apply to Bungie? Everyone seems to be perfectly ok with Sony's purchase even though there is an "extensive history" of them supporting the Xbox platform. But it's ok when Sony does it?
"But the scale of the acquisition isn't the same!"
Errr ok, and you don't think if Sony could freely afford to spend $69 billion to buy up someone like Activision they wouldn't do it? OF COURSE they would... they make smaller safer purchases because they can't afford a big splurge like this. Does it make Microsoft wrong because they CAN afford it? No, not really... as we are now seeing by the CMA's provisional findings amendments.
Yeah, Sony dropped bags of cash on smaller developers along the way eventually buying them after proven success. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that if it's what the purchased studios want. As i keep saying if Bungie makes their next franchise PS exclusive oh well. It is what it is and Sony and Bungie have every right to do so. Buy a Playstation if you want to play it. No biggie.
As for the "from the ground up" examples given, i didn't do the hiring... i don't know where all the employees came from. 200+ fresh brand new employees "from the ground up" for each of these new studios or simply shuffling of pre-existing employees or new employees from their various studio acquisitions? No idea.
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Thirty7ven
Banned
While what’s your saying might make sense, I doubt Sony Group’s CEO would agree with you
Here’s what he had to say about *PS4’s dominance*
Regarding Sony Group’s relationship with SIE
All the meanwhile other Sony divisions are making their own games, some of which are Literally Skipping Playstation outright like (Mamiya’s cooking being Switch Exclusive from Sony Music Japan, and Ghostbusters VR being Meta Quest Exclusive from Columbia pictures games, both of which are
Mind you, to this day the Sony Group’s CEO (not Jimbo, aka the Sony’s Phil Spencer) Haven’t commented Even Once about the ABK Deal despite how much of an Existential Threat it is to his *main business as you say*
Meanwhile you have the 3 trillion Dollar CEO literally willing to Clown himself in mainstream media about Sony’s dominance in Japan just to get this deal done, Satya Nadella Sincerely got my utmost respect for that alone
(I bet he’s the one singing that awful MLB publishing deal /s)
Imo it’s very clear that Sony Group’s CEO and his board of directors doesn’t see Playstation and it’s business as a main Pillar of their Entertainment vision compared to Pictures/Music/Anime etc but rather a way to funnel its profits over the years into those businesses, unlike both Microsoft & Nintendo , Sony Group is a Conglomerate, their main relations with their subsidiary is nearly purely financial with little to no collaboration in many cases
This is thier Profit split between divisions just from last quarter Q3 FY2022
And like i said, Sony selling SIE wouldn’t be the end for their gaming ventures, as they can acquire Bandai Namco, merge it with Crunchyroll/Aniplex and have them becoming an absolute behemoth in Anime & their game licenses with sustainable growth across all platforms & Streaming services without the headaches of maintaining a giant gaming platform that’s vulnerable when it comes to big 3rd party skipping the platform, the last time this happened was in 2011 when Monster Hunter Became a 3DS exclusive skipping the Vita and we all know what happend ever since, Sony quit the handheld business Entirely and eventually changed both their focus & Their Headquarters from Japan to the US, all because they didn’t have any idea (nor the support from Sony Group) how to compete with Pokemon or to compensate for the lack thereof ,and im sure CoD will follow
It’s pretty much true that higher ups at Sony don’t want the company to be too associated with console gaming. The only way that changes is if PlayStation expands, which it is right now. PC and transmedia presence.
Sony isn’t going to sell PlayStation though, you would be an idiot for believing it.
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TheGodfather07
Member
how can sony stop it though? thats supposed to be the regulatory bodies job but if they are letting activision be acquired, then they wont stop any others. microsoft can do it the exact same way with 10 year commitments. the cost is nothing to microsoft and thats why sony cant compete in this way. its not possible. microsoft are so rich they can buy earth itself.
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Topher
Identifies as young
ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
Because the truth is that "regulatory bodies" like the CMA and FTC don't really exist to do what they say they will do. They're a government call for the corporations they're "regulating" to start paying the piper. As it pertains to the FTC, or whatever senator is looking for some publicity and maybe some campaign finances, literally.
Remember when Zuckerberg was getting shipped around from Capitol Hill to the EU when they had a convenient excuse to make a scapegoat out of Facebook (e.g. the election didn't go the way it "should've" in 2016)? Remember Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders talking about how much they want to break Facebook up? Remember how quickly that shit dissipated into thin air? It's no coincidence that Facebook went from spending next to nothing on lobbying to going spending millions and millions more within a few years.
The CMA and the FTC were always pump-faking their resistance. But it doesn't take away from the reality that there is no viable way to create a comparatively successful CoD alternative in and of itself. It doesn't mean that Microsoft isn't a titan amongst vertical megacorps that is willing and able to spend out their competition for no reason other than their money.
Andodalf
Banned
If sony can’t make the mlb agree to an exclusive release, what the hell makes you think the far larger NFL and NBA will give in?
Unknown Soldier
Member
All they need to do is not interfere with Activision and let them make Call of Duty the same way the next 10 years.
In 2033, it goes Xbox exclusive.
That's literally it, they win.
Yeah, MS could still fuck it up somehow, they have a history of ruining every company they acquire. But let's see how this one goes.
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SportsFan581
Member
Which I acknowledged. Lol
DarkMage619
$MSFT
The regulators don't appear to be stopping this acquisition because there is nothing illegal about this deal. Protecting market leaders isn't a regulators job.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Simple. Who the hell else are the NFL and NBA going to find to make their annual video game? The reality is that today only EA has the competence to make sports games. Every other publisher and studio has basically dropped out. Look at how FIFA is faring trying to find someone to take on the FIFA license during their licensing spat with EA. FIFA is kinda fucked, they will have to go crawling back to EA in a year or two because there's literally no one else left.
Yoboman
Member
COD has had plenty of below average entries and is still on top
The real dominance for COD is nobody is taking it on in the military shooter space. Battlefield flopped all over the place and EA split DICE priorities with BF and Star Wars and the recent games have been mediocre
As long as nobody is competing for that then COD has free reign at something 20+ million people are willing to buy every year
James Sawyer Ford
Member
That's also possible. It's so entrenched the quality doesn't matter. And the demand will always be there.
But who knows? Tastes can change over time.
ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
Anybody with a brain doesn't need the CMA to validate reality. Perhaps it was those who were so adamant about the deal meeting zero resistance, or who were sure the CMA were being stupid (and I'm sure you'll see the kind of flip-flop you're referring to now on that side) who needed telling that they didn't know what they were talking about.
Fact is that Microsoft is still unable to compete without throwing money around. Fact is that Microsoft and Sony are not at all the same. It's pretty funny they claim that all Sony needs is 10 years and some pep in their step to come up with a CoD competitor as they buy CoD and the machine that produces it after more than 20 years in the industry.
Warablo
Member
Is it that Ybarra and Ferguson ex-Xbox employee's sabotage their new company for a takeover?Not a chance. I'll leave the sharing of wacky theories to @SenjutsuSage
I have shame, not everything that pops into my head needs to be said or written down.
Nothing to do with money exchanging hands at all.
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RickMasters
Member
You should have said that to the people who were certain that the CMA was either gonna kill the deal or demand divestiture about 50 pages ago.
Yoboman
Member
Its not that COD is infallible, it's that being the top military shooter is infallible
Like sports games, there is always going to be people ready to buy it every year.
And when you can more or less make yourself the defacto game in that segment like COD or FIFA then you are not going to fall off
Only way COD takes a hit is if somebody does something better and does it every year
Unknown Soldier
Member
Even when Battlefield was good, it never made a dent in CoD's dominance. I'm just saying.
TheGodfather07
Member
but this isnt increased competition because sony cant compete with acquistions like this. how is it competition? look up the definition of the word competition.
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ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
Dooooooooom....
Listen guys, some of you need to put this into perspective. Sony cannot and will not go on anything near as much of an acquisition spree. At best, you can imagine they make a bid for Square Enix or Sega. But I don't even want that, and I'm not sure why anyone would.
Frankly, the same goes for Microsoft (who are actually the desperate ones here). Why anyone thinks that they're going to be able to manage 30+ studios and 2 publishing arms when they're having trouble with their current number, and have had trouble with a number that could be counted on less than 2 hands is beyond me.
TheGodfather07
Member
you think microsoft are just gonna stop now after getting activision? they are literally rubbing their hands together right now. they are probably already planning on who they can get next.
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Scratch that, Sony can’t even convince Valve to make a PSVR2 Port of HL Alyx, oh god i even forgot PSVR2 even exist, why they’re making it ?
ulantan
Member
But that's the competition owning the most content Microsoft has no interest in managing their studios, when they can own the majority of content.
Activision gives Microsoft an injection of competent management into it's gaming division. The Activision side should be able to get the rest of Xbox on track again after the years of hands off management
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
Prior to Crash, their games were on microcomputers and their few console outings like Way of the Warrior were complete garbage. Had they stayed going that direction, Naughty Dog would have died before the end of the '90s. So Sony stepping in to provide them funding and technical assistance (not just to money hat the games away from other platforms because when was Crash ever claimed to be coming to other consoles or even computers before Sony, Naughty Dog & Universal partnered to make the games?) actually saved Naughty Dog.
But go ahead, call it a money hat, anti-competitive means to prevent them from making games on other platforms. Sure.
What studio did Sony "money hat" to make games for them that made games mostly for Microsoft prior? Because I can guarantee you can't find a single example and any of the few poor examples you try to pull up will get summarily blown out & open the moment you post them.
Because Microsoft & Bungie had a VERY public falling out? When Bungie wanted to make non-Halo IP, Microsoft told them no. Bungie didn't like the lack of creative freedom, and I'm sure there were a few other problems ongoing between them, so Microsoft let Bungie go. You're acting like Sony swooped in to undermine a perfectly healthy relationship when the truth is, Bungie was on the rocks with Microsoft well before they actually left.
This is pure whataboutism. "W-what if Sony were in MS's position? They'd do it TOO!". Yeah well, the reality is they aren't, so how about we focus on what is actually happening and not some hypothetical.
And you highlight a big issue I personally have with the way MS are going about some of these acquisitions: this is MS as a company taking profits from everything but Xbox (because Xbox has not generated enough profits to produce a cash reserve anywhere near large enough for this type of purchase) to purchase once-independent 3P publishers. None of these publisher acquisitions are off the merits of Xbox's own success. That's something even regulators are seemingly having a problem recognizing.
You seem to fail to understand I specified that to show the difference in approach. And I asked: what extensive development partnership history has Microsoft had with any of the ABK teams? Seems you can't answer that, because the answer is non-existent.
Are we really counting employee hirings as a negative factor against organic studio growth? Well by that logic, every developer in the industry would be guilty of "buying" growth, or buying their way to it.
That is such a ridiculously reductive viewpoint to have, though.
Iced Arcade
Member
fight what? Sony is good, they have established games and studios that are not just going to go poof!
"the beginning of the end of sony dominance"
No real gamer should be cheerleading for any company to dominate, competition might mean a company needs to spend more, get agressive and get creative but gamers benefit a lot more from competition. fuck worrying about some operations bottom line.
Wrong on both accounts.
SoloKingRobert
Banned
Game On! Microsoft is about to reboot True Crime SeriesSony can offer a 10-year deal to Microsoft for GTA. I'm sure Microsoft can come up with a GTA competitor in 10 years
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Warablo
Member
I think a lot of third party devs are in support of the deal, while only Sony is against the deal. In their "recent evidence findings".
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