Microsoft / Activision deal prevented to protect innovation and choice in cloud gaming

analog_future said:
The worst part is it's not over. If anything this drags the whole process out exponentially longer. We're going to still be hypothesizing about this into 2024 now.

Ugh.
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We won't, if the EU reaches the same conclusion and if the FTC succeeds in the US then Microsoft won't have a choice but to drop it.
 
quest said:
You mean like how those small cloud companies were going to get abk games and now they won't. Yes that is great for them 😆.
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Extortionate reasoning. Nothing is preventing Activision from doing that. You can't justify monopolization because of the potential trickle down effect.
 
X-Wing said:
We won't, if the EU reaches the same conclusion and if the FTC succeeds in the US then Microsoft won't have a choice but to drop it.
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Ftc just needs to look at cma and build their case around it which will make it pretty hard for Microsoft to go against that.
 
cireza said:
Good. I play on Xbox and I have zero interest in Activision. Yes, this is 100% subjective lol.

Put the money elsewhere.
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Yeah, except...

There's another path they can take now.
Imo... If they locked in Act/Blizz they would be invested and forced to keep supporting the Xbox brand.

Now... they could take that $70 billion and just pump it into Azure or do something windows related with it. Especially considering Xbox has been falling flat in console sales recently. They could literally put Xbox on life support because they don't see a future for it.

That $70 billion is not guaranteed to go to Xbox anymore. It won't go to Xbox. Things are NOT GOOD.
 
Bo_Hazem said:
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I should copyright my screenshots.

Pondering Anthony Anderson GIF by BET


LordOfChaos said:
Ah damn it, the same day as futures were up 10% after the earnings beat lol...Could have let me have my monies first!
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Microsoft will be unaffected.

If anything this will have a positive impact on Microsoft's stock.
 
M1chl said:
Good finally, is this dead then? Can we get them to actually deliver some goods, from the massive farms of studios they have?? PLS
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Unfortunately for everyone involved Microsoft has a long-standing history in gaming of innovation in services but also mismanaging studios. Except Turn10 and The Coalition, who seem to always do good (seriously Turn10 is a god tier developer).
 
analog_future said:
The worst part is it's not over. If anything this drags the whole process out exponentially longer. We're going to still be hypothesizing about this into 2024 now.

Ugh.
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Microsoft is only going to be distracted and busy if they continue to pursue this. They will lose this gen at an even faster pace if they don't regroup and focus instead of chasing after ABK.
 
I don't care one way or another how this goes. If they successfully appeal then good for them. If it's dead then fine. Microsoft need to move on.

We're going to be hearing about this shit for a long time yet.
 
Only 2 MS studios put out any work for past two years, first party I mean, Obsidian (you can't hate even if the games aren't for you) and Playground games. So maybe they can now get the more attention.
 
zomboden said:
Yeah, except...

There's another path they can take now.
Imo... If they locked in Act/Blizz they would be invested and forced to keep supporting the Xbox brand.

Now... they could take that $70 billion and just pump it into Azure or do something windows related with it. Especially considering Xbox has been falling flat in console sales recently. They could literally put Xbox on life support because they don't see a future for it.

That $70 billion is not guaranteed to go to Xbox anymore. It won't go to Xbox. Things are NOT GOOD.
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Why does xbox need the 70b?

They have great hardware, a vision and alot of studios to back that vision.
 
Evil Calvin said:
From the Polygon article today:

An Activision Blizzard spokesperson issued an even punchier, almost threatening response. "The CMA's report contradicts the ambitions of the U.K. to become an attractive country to build technology businesses," it said. "We will work aggressively with Microsoft to reverse this on appeal. The report's conclusions are a disservice to U.K. citizens, who face increasingly dire economic prospects. We will reassess our growth plans for the U.K. Global innovators large and small will take note that - despite all its rhetoric - the U.K. is clearly closed for business."

Wow!
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That's not "a spokesperson".

That's a tweet from Lulu. I don't understand polygon being coy about it.
 
Zok310 said:
"The deal would reinforce Microsoft's advantage in the market by giving it control over important gaming content such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft. The evidence available to the CMA indicates that, absent the merger, Activision would start providing games via cloud platforms in the foreseeable future.

The cloud allows UK gamers to avoid buying expensive gaming consoles and PCs and gives them much more flexibility and choice as to how they play. Allowing Microsoft to take such a strong position in the cloud gaming market just as it begins to grow rapidly would risk undermining the innovation that is crucial to the development of these opportunities."

Sounds like MS knew Bobby was going to put his games on cloud services at some point and said nope thats our playground and we dont want to compete against abk in cloud so we will just buy yall for a ludicrous amount of cash.
MS was trying to buy out a future cloud competitor and the biggest one at that, then use its library to dictate to smaller cloud platforms. This would have absolutely killed cloud gaming imo.

Good fucking work cma.

MS after the console concerns were dropped thought the cma was feeling them and decided to offer the least they could offer for cloud remedies as a result, and the cma even called them out on that general demeanor also.
MS fangs came out once Sony was no longer an issue and the cma saw that ugly, hideous beast finally revealed, with blood dripping from its mouth and decided the best thing to do was to slew this beast and put its carcass out on display in the town center.
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This is substantial. Where is it from?
 
Bitmap Frogs said:
Unfortunately for everyone involved Microsoft has a long-standing history in gaming of innovation in services but also mismanaging studios. Except Turn10 and The Coalition, who seem to always do good (seriously Turn10 is a god tier developer).
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They have a lot of talent, it is problem when they somehow are unable to manage studios which they are buying for big bucks.
 
DonJorginho said:
I'm on no side here as someone who plays on both platforms, but it is hilarious seeing how all the Xbox Console Warriors were gloating childishly only to be left with their pants down.

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Wow, that is extreme fanboying right there. Those YouTubers waking up today to

t3T8eOE.jpg
 
Evil Calvin said:
From the Polygon article today:

An Activision Blizzard spokesperson issued an even punchier, almost threatening response. "The CMA's report contradicts the ambitions of the U.K. to become an attractive country to build technology businesses," it said. "We will work aggressively with Microsoft to reverse this on appeal. The report's conclusions are a disservice to U.K. citizens, who face increasingly dire economic prospects. We will reassess our growth plans for the U.K. Global innovators large and small will take note that - despite all its rhetoric - the U.K. is clearly closed for business."

Wow!
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To be fair, the U.K. is suffering pretty badly right now economically. Losing MSFT / Activision could hurt them significantly.
 
FANtastic news.

HA!

Made my day.

I was frankly disgusted by all the gamers out there who wanted to see MS just gobble up mega corporations in order to "compete".

I was also in shock to see so many so called smart people wonder why Sony was trying so hard to get it blocked. Hmm I wonder, why would anyone want their main competitor to have complete control over the biggest annual IP in gaming?...

Anyways, this was the result of them applying pressure.

You have 23 studios, you lazy motherfuckers, make some games. You don't need to buy fucking Call of Duty.

Get to work, make new IP and COMPETE.
 
Nvzman said:
If Microsoft does not end up owning Activision after all of this, some heads are going to roll internally.

No joke but I think this actually has a chance to kill Xbox.
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For a normal company, selling 50-60 million of consoles in a generation of 6-7 years should be profitable. The console online store take 30% of any games or DLC sold there. It's a very comfortable position to be in. A lot of companies would buy the position MS is currently at.

It's just that Microsoft is greedy and does not want to waste time earning less than a billion for a division (profit). Gaming does not make sense for them unless it's earning (profiting) 10 billion and cornering the market. That's why they want to monopolize the market.
 
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X-Wing said:
Yes, I'm sure that that was the main reason people were rooting for the acquisition…
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What a weird take you have there, not like I was dying on that hill but there is fallout either way. Hopefully with Sega QA staff championing unions it is aomething ABK will deliver too.
 
I don't care either way.

But Ill say, Xbox doesn't even deserve all of those studios until they show the can produce consistently with what they have.

Xbox's being reward for their consistent mismanagement was the most concerning part of all of this to me.
 
XXL said:
I don't care either way.

But Ill say, Xbox doesn't even deserve all of those studios until they show the can produce consistently with what they have.

Xbox's being reward for their consistent mismanagement was the most concerning part of all of this to me.
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Xbox doesn't even deserve to be around
 
ShaiKhulud1989 said:
They are really bad at reading the room with politicians, it seems. If anything, this will provoke even harsher responce for the UK governing bodies. And same could be said abouth the EU.

But I guess American-style lobbying is the only thing that MS is good at.
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Mentioning you already signed contracts with the company you're not allowed to buy out is also pretty stupid. It shows you don't care at all about the regulators, making it just more certain this deal will never see the day of light. Second, it's not even an argument. You can't sign contracts with something that doesn't exist yet.
 
Represent. said:
FANtastic news.

HA!

Made my day.

I was frankly disgusted by all the gamers out there who wanted to see MS just gobble up mega corporations in order to "compete".

I was also in shock to see so many so called smart people wonder why Sony was trying so hard to get it blocked. Hmm I wonder, why would anyone want their main competitor to have complete control over the biggest annual IP in gaming?...

Anyways, this was the result of them applying pressure.

You have 23 studios, you lazy motherfuckers, make some games. You don't need to buy fucking Call of Duty.

Get to work, make new IP and COMPETE.
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Yeah and like 20 of those are indie studios. Sure gonna compete against Last of Us Part 3 etc with another Ori game. LMAO idiot. Personally I couldn't give less of shit about CoD. I want the purchase to go through so we hopefully can see some great blizzard games being made. I must be clueless af thinking blizzard will improve if the purchase go through right?
 
PlayStation gamer's will be really happy when all the benefits of having competition disappear. Like how you got PS+ catalogue because of Game Pass. or how the PlayStation network came to exist because Sony needed to match Xbox Live. Can't wait for PlayStation to enjoy a monopoly of zero innovation because they don't have to innovate because they're the only option for a powerful home console.

Or how the IP's would die if Microsoft completely exits gaming (unlikely). There's a slim chance that there is never another Fallout or Elder Scrolls game made, ever.
 
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Noxxera said:
Yeah and like 20 of those are indie studios. Sure gonna compete against Last of Us Part 3 etc with another Ori game. LMAO idiot. Personally I couldn't give less of shit about CoD. I want the purchase to go through so we hopefully can see some great blizzard games being made. I must be clueless af thinking blizzard will improve if the purchase go through right?
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Part 3 could release around elder scrolls 6. Pretty good competition imo.
 
Mr Moose said:
Xbox's 2nd biggest market, and the largest gaming market in Europe. MS losing UK would hurt Xbox significantly.
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It isn't just about Xbox consoles. It is about cloud service and subscriptions.

The fact is Blizzard / activision will make them more money than MS as a whole in the U.K.
 
Ozzy Onya A2Z said:
What a weird take you have there, not like I was dying on that hill but there is fallout either way. Hopefully with Sega QA staff championing unions it is aomething ABK will deliver too.
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Oh here he is.

Remember when you spit your dummy out months ago when I brought up MS's OS monopoly in gaming? Read the CMA's reasoning for the decision they mention specifically that.
 
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Heisenberg007 said:
Microsoft is only going to be distracted and busy if they continue to pursue this. They will lose this gen at an even faster pace if they don't regroup and focus instead of chasing after ABK.
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There are tens of thousands of people working there. This should not be a problem.
 
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