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[James Sawyer Ford]

very likely in appeal they will find remedies the CMA (and likely UK if they share the same concerns) will accept

Unlikely

Don’t think there’s ever been a successful CMA appeal

 

[Rebootizing]

He did it what a legend!

 

[Varteras]

Unlikely

Don’t think there’s ever been a successful CMA appeal

When it comes to antitrust concerns? None.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

When it comes to antitrust concerns? None.

I think their only way to successfully appeal is to comply with the original requirements of divesting CoD

Guess we’ll see how much Microsoft really wants candy crush

 

[Astray]

No, the deal was about ALL Xbox games. So services like Boosteroid should still get all current and future Xbox games for 10 years. Why would Microsoft backtrack if their goal is to "make games available to more players?"

Boosteroid just wouldn't be able to get Activision games via this deal. But they can always strike another with Activision for only those games.

Putting on my serious hat for a minute, this is a big part of why our analysis (and all youtubers') is ultimately doomed to stay surface level, the regulators have access to MSFT and ABK's internal emails, internal analysis documents and prospective contracts like the one with Boosteroid or Nvidia, this access gap alone makes our perception of things very skewed.

None of us here thought the cloud thing is serious, we all thought MSFT would blow past the CMA after they basically cockblocked Sony. Even paid reports by MLex etc didn't foresee it happening. Access is paramount when over 3 million documents were supposedly reviewed, we at best get redacted reports and filings.

 

[Roxkis_ii]

The Nintendo fans looking forward to COD are in shambles.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

Unlikely

Don’t think there’s ever been a successful CMA appeal

I've talked about it enough. We have all weighed in and understand our positions. Now we wait and see what happens, and depending on what happens we get to gloat about being right or laugh and say we were just kidding.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I've talked about it enough. We have all weighed in and understand our positions. Now we wait and see what happens, and depending on what happens we get to gloat about being right or laugh and say we were just kidding.

You have no basis to think it’s highly likely to win an appeal other than hopes and dreams

MS has to prove the CMA was not following their regulatory process

 

[TheGodfather07]

Microsoft doing what they do best... making people wait.

 

[bentanchorbolt]

You have no basis to think it’s highly likely to win an appeal other than hopes and dreams

We don't need to argue about this. I already said what I am saying should be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[Varteras]

No, the deal was about ALL Xbox games. So services like Boosteroid should still get all current and future Xbox games for 10 years. Why would Microsoft backtrack if their goal is to "make games available to more players?"

Boosteroid just wouldn't be able to get Activision games via this deal. But they can always strike another with Activision for only those games.

Not to mention, the CMA made its determination to deny them despite every other regulatory body in the world, who had already reached their conclusion, saying yes to it. The EC saying yes to it isn't going to sway them any more than that. The CMA doesn't care what some other body decided for its citizens. They decided for UK citizens, and in a way no one else tackled. If anything, the CMA may have just given the EC and FTC what they need to say no in their jurisdictions.

I think their only way to successfully appeal is to comply with the original requirements of divesting CoD

Guess we’ll see how much Microsoft really wants candy crush

I don't think that will work at this point. The decision was made. The appeal has to be on the grounds that the CMA did something wrong to overturn the decision and make them reconsider. It's not a second chance for Microsoft to say, "Hey, wait. Okay, fine. We'll sell CoD". That ship sailed. That would unnecessarily break up a company and force a hardship to find a buyer or make a new company.

 

[SneakersSO]

Putting on my serious hat for a minute, this is a big part of why our analysis (and all youtubers') is ultimately doomed to stay surface level, the regulators have access to MSFT and ABK's internal emails, internal analysis documents and prospective contracts like the one with Boosteroid or Nvidia, this access gap alone makes our perception of things very skewed.

None of us here thought the cloud thing is serious, we all thought MSFT would blow past the CMA after they basically cockblocked Sony. Even paid reports by MLex etc didn't foresee it happening. Access is paramount when over 3 million documents were supposedly reviewed, we at best get redacted reports and filings.

I actually did think the CMA's concerns on the cloud market were serious. In fact, one of the factors folks here have never given enough due credit, in part cause this is a gaming forum and more folks are focused on the gaming/console side of this deal, but Google was against the deal, and closed their market position in the Cloud market (Stadia), and blamed it on MS to the CMA.

This was a fact that was plain as day that we all turned a blind eye to, in part cause the speculation around the overall success of the cloud market is fairly negative in most gaming forums/circles. If you're the CMA, and you have a market competitor who is telling you that MS' current market position in this nascent market forced them to abandon their position, and MS is now trying to entrench themselves further by taking even more content off the table from potential entrants or participants in said market, then its easy to see why they sided with opposing it.

 

[X-Wing]

The Nintendo fans looking forward to COD are in shambles.

Yes, the two of them.

 

[Astray]

I actually did think the CMA's concerns on the cloud market were serious. In fact, one of the factors folks here have never given enough due credit, in part cause this is a gaming forum and more folks are focused on the gaming/console side of this deal, but Google was against the deal, and closed their market position in the Cloud market (Stadia), and blamed it on MS to the CMA.

This was a fact that was plain as day that we all turned a blind eye to, in part cause the speculation around the overall success of the cloud market is fairly negative in most gaming forums/circles. If you're the CMA, and you have a market competitor who is telling you that MS' current market position in this nascent market forced them to abandon their position, and MS is now trying to entrench themselves further by taking even more content off the table from potential entrants or participants in said market, then its easy to see why they sided with opposing it.

You have indeed been ahead of the pack on most things with MSFT and Xbox, hats off to you kind sir!

 

[bentanchorbolt]

I actually did think the CMA's concerns on the cloud market were serious. In fact, one of the factors folks here have never given enough due credit, in part cause this is a gaming forum and more folks are focused on the gaming/console side of this deal, but Google was against the deal, and closed their market position in the Cloud market (Stadia), and blamed it on MS to the CMA.

This was a fact that was plain as day that we all turned a blind eye to, in part cause the speculation around the overall success of the cloud market is fairly negative in most gaming forums/circles. If you're the CMA, and you have a market competitor who is telling you that MS' current market position in this nascent market forced them to abandon their position, and MS is now trying to entrench themselves further by taking even more content off the table from potential entrants or participants in said market, then its easy to see why they sided with opposing it.

Google blaming MS for their decision to shutter Stadia I always felt was extremely silly, because the product they offered was not a good value and was never going to see any meaningful adoption. Consumers do not want to buy games that can only be played on a streaming service from a company that is both not known for gaming and very well known for creating new services only to shutter them within a few years. It's not the job of the CMA to protect Google from making bad business decisions.

Stadia was an abject failure because it was not a good service, and from day one it was widely regarded as a joke by most serious gamers. Even giving away hundreds of thousands of Chromecasts and Stadia controllers was not enough.

 

[nikolino840]

 

[DeepEnigma]

The Nintendo fans looking forward to COD are in shambles.

 

[SneakersSO]

You have indeed been ahead of the pack on most things with MSFT and Xbox, hats off to you kind sir!

Thanks!

To be clear - part of the reason I was so unimpressed with what MS offered as remedials for cloud concerns that the EC and CMA had expressed back in February was because MS never addressed the scenario of new market entrants, and how young this market is relative to what everyone predicts it could grow and become one day with the right conditions.

The CMA kinda painted a path for MS on Cloud remedials in the PF. MS could have offered to have ATVI output served up, in perpetuity, to all market participants or entrants, a licensing agreement for any & all ATVI output, all at a fair market wage evaluation. This has the added bonus of giving MS a route by which they can price these license agreements so high, that they effectively get the benefit of them holding those licenses 'exclusively', while all regulators get to say the market is 'fair'. MS didn't offer this; instead, they pointed to the 10 year NVidia deal and prayed it would be enough.

 

[Astray]

This is actually something I found very illogical about MS's claims on King. People already play all their products on existing app stores, why would they move to Microsoft's for existing games? And conversely, why would Microsoft's supposed all new, starting from scratch app store be a good launching pad for King's new games when they could make tons of cash on existing platforms?

That idea had basically no real synergy besides just passively adding King's revenue to Microsoft's and using it to scale up their other operations.

 

[Solidus_T]

He did it what a legend!

Funny part is that he really didn't do it, but it works out in the end!

 

[ToadMan]

I was about to ask the same thing. Did they not know what they signed or something? When their deal was announced it read like they were going to get access to everything Microsoft have ownership of - therefore that should still be the case minus the ATVI content.

Did they really only sign something that was conditional to the deal going through?

At least they are now free to put their business locations back to their original (and correct) places though.

No, the deal was about ALL Xbox games. So services like Boosteroid should still get all current and future Xbox games for 10 years. Why would Microsoft backtrack if their goal is to "make games available to more players?"

Boosteroid just wouldn't be able to get Activision games via this deal. But they can always strike another with Activision for only those games.

I think the MS response to the CMA PF, listed all of these deals as contingent on the acquisition being approved... although that was submitted before the Boosteroid deal was inked.

MS wanted to make these a "relevant consumer benefit" of the acquisition same as their plan for a mobile storefront and Nintendo COD port - presumably to try and twist the arm of the regulator. There's nothing stopping MS proceeding - they could probably even fund a Nintendo port.

But the CMA are regulating the UK market so signing deals overseas is irrelevant to them.

 

[SportsFan581]

This was a fact that was plain as day that we all turned a blind eye to, in part cause the speculation around the overall success of the cloud market is fairly negative in most gaming forums/circles. If you're the CMA, and you have a market competitor who is telling you that MS' current market position in this nascent market forced them to abandon their position, and MS is now trying to entrench themselves further by taking even more content off the table from potential entrants or participants in said market, then its easy to see why they sided with opposing it.

You can't just take anything that anyone says at face value though. I don't believe MS pulled any of the Bethesda games from Stadia and Stadia died before Bethesda released any games that would have even been eligible to be on there. To seriously consider the idea that MS was the primary catalyst for the failure of Stadia you'd have to be somewhat crazy (plus it would require ignoring that major publishers (like EA) that had been supporting Stadia were deciding to pull away because there was no financial return).

 

[MasterCornholio]

He did it what a legend!

He had no influence in blocking the merger with this one. His arguments were tossed out the window by the CMA.

 

[Varteras]

Funny part is that he really didn't do it, but it works out in the end!

All kings take credit for dragons they didn't kill. Haven't you seen Dragonslayer?! COME ON!

 

[The Shepard]

I would expect every company that stood to gain from the acquisition is going to disagree with the CMA. It really sucks for them but maybe MS can still work on deals to bring Xbox/Game Pass games to those services.

In 11 years time they would have ended up with none of the games anyway. They would have pulled them so you'd have to get an xbox or sub to gamepass, it's obvious what they was up to the whole 10 years thing was a scam to get the deal past the finish line.

 

[Heisenberg007]

I think the MS response to the CMA PF, listed all of these deals as contingent on the acquisition being approved... although that was submitted before the Boosteroid deal was inked.

MS wanted to make these a "relevant consumer benefit" of the acquisition same as their plan for a mobile storefront and Nintendo COD port - presumably to try and twist the arm of the regulator. There's nothing stopping MS proceeding - they could probably even fund a Nintendo port.

But the CMA are regulating the UK market so signing deals overseas is irrelevant to them.

Yes but if Microsoft backtracks from these deals, and if these deals were indeed conditional, that only exposes Microsoft's hypocrisy.

 

[Astray]

You can't just take anything that anyone says at face value though. I don't believe MS pulled any of the Bethesda games from Stadia and Stadia died before Bethesda released any games that would have even been eligible to be on there. To seriously consider the idea that MS was the primary catalyst for the failure of Stadia you'd have to be somewhat crazy (plus it would require ignoring that major publishers (like EA) that had been supporting Stadia were deciding to pull away because there was no financial return).

Bethesda pre-acquisition had a relationship with Stadia (5 games launched in total, take the link and sort by publisher) and their games had some degree of traction there (how strong it ultimately was, we don't know), to the point where Bethesda bothered to help users move their ESO Stadia saves to PC.

Bethesda’s letting people rescue their Elder Scrolls Online games from Stadia

You can simply log onto the game on your PC or Mac.

www.theverge.com

Yes but if Microsoft backtracks from these deals, and if these deals were indeed conditional, that only exposes Microsoft's hypocrisy.

Yep, they could theoretically still honor those deals on their existing library, which is quite significant.

 

[feynoob]

GHG it started.
Our dream is over man.

 

[Banjo64]

GHG it started.
Our dream is over man.

 

[Edmund]

Look at this clown

 

[ToadMan]

Putting on my serious hat for a minute, this is a big part of why our analysis (and all youtubers') is ultimately doomed to stay surface level, the regulators have access to MSFT and ABK's internal emails, internal analysis documents and prospective contracts like the one with Boosteroid or Nvidia, this access gap alone makes our perception of things very skewed.

None of us here thought the cloud thing is serious, we all thought MSFT would blow past the CMA after they basically cockblocked Sony. Even paid reports by MLex etc didn't foresee it happening. Access is paramount when over 3 million documents were supposedly reviewed, we at best get redacted reports and filings.

Yeah. Makes you wonder what MS internal documents and the various third parties had to say about the potential for cloud services going forward.

Something has caused the CMA (and the other regulators of course) to pause at the cloud stuff. What do they see coming down the pipe that we gamers don't at the moment?

 

[DeepEnigma]

Look at this clown

Screenshot-20230427-030905-2 hosted at ImgBB

Image Screenshot-20230427-030905-2 hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

I'm surprised he was even warned for that. That does not sound that far out there from the clown world shit that is spewed on the regular over there.

 

[feynoob]

 

[Edmund]

I'm surprised he was even warned for that. That does not sound that far out there from the clown world shit that is spewed on the regular over there.

Someone should compile a "Best Of" copium posts on Resetera and post it here.

 

[Baki]

And to finally end the discussion about Sony being the only one against the deal:



Credits to Idas from REE

I wonder who? Sony, Google, probably Amazon and maybe even Meta.

 

[GHG]

 

[feynoob]

We missing saliba badly .

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

And to finally end the discussion about Sony being the only one against the deal:



Credits to Idas from REE

No credit should be given that shill lol. I think Idas is on MS' payroll. Already he's leading them down the garden path of this acquisition still being feasible. 'Ring fence' UK operations he said...oh dear.

 

[Astray]

Has anyone posted this piece of hilarity yet?

People literally staying up for an antitrust decision.

 

[Sleepwalker]

Someone should compile a "Best Of" copium posts on Resetera and post it here.

Well man, you're in charge of the tier lists already. Just take one more for the team.

 

[Varteras]

S SneakersSO What do you think Sony's move is after this? Chill out on acquisitions or continue? I recall you talking about Sony beefing up its first party for more reasons than just Microsoft. Quite frankly, I think it'd be foolish for them to stop just because of this. Microsoft will probably get back on the hunt for other companies and now Tencent is on the prowl again as well..

 

[feynoob]

Has anyone posted this piece of hilarity yet?

People literally staying up for an antitrust decision.

I did. I was restless all night.

 

[ToadMan]

Yes but if Microsoft backtracks from these deals, and if these deals were indeed conditional, that only exposes Microsoft's hypocrisy.

Well yes - I agree.

But I went back and had a look at those responses to the CMA PF again.

MS lists the deal with Nvidia as being a "merger-specific RCB" for ABK content. It doesn't refer to other xbox gaming content - I suppose it wouldn't since the inquiry was about the ABK acquisition.

So let's see if MS tied all these deals up with acquisition approval. I guess it's what many speculated - these deals were just for the acquisition purpose and MS wouldn't be doing them if not for the scrutiny. If they don't go ahead with deals now then I guess we know MS really thought those deals would be enough to get over the line, but now it's back to exclusivity on their own platform.

 

[Astray]

I did. I was restless all night.

I stayed more restless about Arsenal-Man City than this tbh.

 

[feynoob]

S SneakersSO What do you think Sony's move is after this? Chill out on acquisitions or continue? I recall you talking about Sony beefing up its first party for more reasons than just Microsoft. Quite frankly, I think it'd be foolish for them to stop just because of this. Microsoft will probably get back on the hunt for other companies and now Tencent is on the prowl again as well..

No big acquisition after this.
Square and others are off the table for Sony.

They are the market leader currently.

 

[Edmund]

No big acquisition after this.
Square and others are off the table for Sony.

And that's how it should have always been.

 

[feynoob]

I stayed more restless about Arsenal-Man City than this tbh.

I knew we won't get anything from arsenal-man city with us having holding as CB.
I am still hoping, but that is it.

 

[Edmund]

Awww Poor baby.

 

[Varteras]

No big acquisition after this.
Square and others are off the table for Sony.

They are the market leader currently.

And that's how it should have always been.

I would agree. But I think Sony should remain concerned and defensive over big players. Like I said, Microsoft will probably try again with something else and Tencent has made clear intentions to start acquiring and investing again. That may cause Sony to react strongly for fear of losing substantial software streams.

 

[ToadMan]

No big acquisition after this.
Square and others are off the table for Sony.

They are the market leader currently.

Not in cloud - which is the sticking point for MS/ABK.

In fact, the CMA conclusion that there is no console SLC for even COD, makes Sony acquiring anyone a fairly easy pass by regulatory scrutiny.

But despite that, I doubt Sony go for those kinds of acquisitions for reasons other than regulatory pushback.