Microsoft / Activision Deal Approval Watch |OT| (MS/ABK close)

Do you believe the deal will be approved?

  • Yes, will be approved without changes.

    Votes: 221 24.9%

  • Yes, will be approved but with structural changes to ABK.

    Votes: 102 11.5%

  • Yes, will be approved but only with behavioral concessions.

    Votes: 262 29.6%

  • No, will not be approved.

    Votes: 301 34.0%
  • Total voters
    886
  • Poll closed .
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I just hope that, if the deal is dead, Japanese regulators keep Microsoft greasy fingers away from CAPCOM, NAMCO, SEGA and SQUARE-ENIX. They can have Konami, please someone needs to rescue Konami IP's...
 
nikolino840 said:
Only if you believe in the future of gaming streaming...wasn't the gaming community laughing at Microsoft when started marketing the xCloud?
Now they are all screaming...
Click to expand...
MS has only themselves to blame for their lying to either gamers the past 10+ years about it, there is no shortage of articles a simple internet search away, lying to the regulators saying all these cloud deals were for the future to reach 200+ million gamers (which then was revealed "good guy" MS was keeping 100% of the revenue, honk honk)... only to backpedal when cloud was the reason it was blocked. Now saying they only will reach 5,000 in the region. All while threatening a country like a petulant child, and having the gall to say this was the darkest days in 4 decades for the UK.

They are not a victim.
 
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DeepEnigma said:
MS has only themselves to blame for their lying to either gamers the past 10+ years about it, there is no shortage of articles a simple internet search away, lying to the regulators saying all these cloud deals were for the future to reach 200+ million gamers... only to backpedal when cloud was the reason it was blocked. Saying they only will reach 5,000 in the region.

They are not a victim.
Click to expand...

Yep they've outed themselves here.

You can't say the deal is necessary because it will enable the Activision Blizzard portfolio to reach 150+ million gamers due to your cloud capability, only to then later turn round and say you don't have the capacity to actually fulfill that promise.

The whole thing stinks.
 
sinnergy said:
I don't even like most Activision games 🤣 but these threads are pure entertainment!!
Click to expand...

atSi7HF.png


Agreed.
 
Banjo64 said:
  • "Our focus is on bringing console quality games that you see on TV or PC to any device. [...] That is our goal: to bring high-quality games to every device possible on the planet." — Phil Spencer, June 2018
  • "The business is selling software and services. The business is not how many consoles you sell. The consoles are not where the profit in this side of the business is made, which is where the whole: 'Who's selling more consoles' at any one time as the kind of root good of who is doing well in the business is just not true. You have other companies entering gaming who don't even have a console as part of their equation. It's all about how many games are people playing. And how much people are spending playing those games and how often they play." — Phil Spencer, June 2019
  • "When you talk about Nintendo and Sony, we have a ton of respect for them, but we see Amazon and Google as the main competitors going forward," Spencer said. "That's not to disrespect Nintendo and Sony, but the traditional gaming companies are somewhat out of position. I guess they could try to re-create Azure, but we've invested tens of billions of dollars in cloud over the years." — Phil Spencer, Feb 2020
  • "So right now, we are the only platform shipping games on console, PC and cloud simultaneously." — Phil Spencer, June 2021
  • "We believe we can play a leading role in [the] future of interactive entertainment, quite frankly, at scale. There are three key areas where we have incredible competitive advantage. First is our leadership in cloud computing; second, the resources we have to build out the subscription value with Xbox Game Pass; and third is our overall focus on empowering creators." — Satya Nadella, June 2021
  • Microsoft's renewed focus on cloud gaming is similarly aimed at making games more accessible to people who don't have or want a gaming console or computer. [...] "Kim [Swift] is going to build a team focused on new experiences in the cloud, something that's going to support our mission of bringing our Xbox games to connect 3 billion gamers to play our games," said Wyse. "I do get super excited about the idea of high-fidelity gaming on a phone [...] that's the carrot I keep chasing, for sure." — Peter Wyse, June 2021
Click to expand...
Phil right now:

i did not say that donald trump GIF by Election 2016
 
nikolino840 said:
Click to expand...


I'm going to share something that's been highlighted to me regarding this so called "deal".

First of all it's important to establish exactly what Nware is in terms of a cloud gaming platform:

"At a first glance, many would assume that Nware would be similar to other services such as Boosteroid or GeForce NOW. Of course, Nware doesn't give access to their own gaming library like Blacknut or Amazon Luna. Rather, allow users to play the games they already own on Steam and other storefronts, via their virtual machines. Unlike GeForce NOW and Boosteroid, Nware doesn't have a proper "library" of compatible games. Rather, Nware gives its subscribers access to pretty much all the Steam games you can think of. Mainly, this works because Nware acts like a proper cloud desktop, letting users install pretty much any game they own on Steam, and play via their virtual machines. Of course. the vast majority of games haven't been tested, since it's not really a curated library."

https://clouddosage.com/nware-cloud-gaming-beta-first-impressions/

-----

Now that that's established you can probably guess where this is going, Nware already has access to the Activision Blizzard library and have previously named Call Of Duty as a playable game/franchise when advertising or announcing partnerships for their service. Example:

"Android TV users can join the Nware platform and access over 20,000 titles by syncing their game libraries with top titles including Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat 11, Doom Eternal, Rocket League, and God of War. Gamers also get to play free-to-play blockbuster hits including PUBG: Battleground, Apex Legends, and Destiny 2 all from their living room.

Users can access the Google Play app store on Android TV and download thousands of apps designed specifically for Android TV, now including Nware. This means family and friends can play video games together and connect any controllers from different platforms including PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and more via Bluetooth on their Smart TVs. In addition, thanks to Nware's feature to play on Local Multiplayer mode during the streaming sessions, gamers can play with their friends in the same room, thanks to the ability to sync up to four controllers."
https://www.marketwatch.com/press-r...ver-20000-titles-on-the-big-screen-2023-02-23




So in summary, yet another hollow "deal" done for no reason other than timely PR.
 
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GHG said:
Yep they've outed themselves here.

You can't say the deal is necessary because it will enable the Activision Blizzard portfolio to reach 150+ million gamers due to your cloud capability, only to then later turn round and say you don't have the capacity to actually fulfill that promise.

The whole thing stinks.
Click to expand...
This is also extremely hilarious 😄 The back pedalling.
 
DeepEnigma said:
MS has only themselves to blame for their lying to either gamers the past 10+ years about it, there is no shortage of articles a simple internet search away, lying to the regulators saying all these cloud deals were for the future to reach 200+ million gamers (which then was revealed "good guy" MS was keeping 100% of the revenue, honk honk)... only to backpedal when cloud was the reason it was blocked. Now saying they only will reach 5,000 in the region. All while threatening a country like a petulant child, and having the gall to say this was the darkest days in 4 decades for the UK.

They are not a victim.
Click to expand...


MS to the CMA: We're just a poor small family business that barely has any sales. The wife and I make consoles in the garage and the kids develop games. We aren't great at it, I'm not very skilled and the wife has taken to the bottle. We have many kids but they barely make games nowadays, you know, the kids have grown and ignore us, they want to party and enjoy life, the usual family stuff.
All we want, all we dream of, is to be able to take every game, including Activision/Blizzard huge massively profitable games, to every one in world, to every possible device, keeping 100% of the profit, using OUR massive cloud system. I repeat, OUR MASSIVE CLOUD SYSTEM.
But evil corporation Sony is outselling our consoles, blocking our sales in Japan, doing exclusivity deals that we can't afford and releasing games.
If you have a heart, please let us buy Activision for these measly pennies so we have a chance to survive!

CMA: Rejected, your CLOUD service current size and future plans won't allow the existence of competitors.

MS: WHAT?? That's irrational! That's ridiculous!
HOW DARE YOU??
DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?
I am Microsoft, the biggest and most powerful entity in the universe! Change your decision now or I will crush your little country of bad teeth jellied eel eaters!
You are NOTHING! Since you left EU you are less than a fart in the wind.
I eat countries bigger than you for breakfast!
Do it now or you will experience a thousand deaths of bone breaking agony and despair!

CMA: We are not part of the government....

Sony (lurking in a dark corner): Not what I had planned, but great anyway!

(meanwhile, in an abandoned landfill somewhere)
Nintendo: Where am I? That nice gentleman said I was the prettiest and asked me to sign a 10 year contract and said he would drive me straight to my first photo shoot and dropped me here...
Oh well... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.... I'll just hop home.
Tra, la, la, la-la, la, la
Oh look! A shiny object! Ohhhh Ahhhhh
 
Dick Jones said:
I trust Sage on the operation of the FTC before I'd trust the FTC. His name says Sage, why else is it there? He is so wise, haven't you read his tweets?
Click to expand...

If he was so wise then he would have highlighted the co-operation between international agencies the monent the FTC made it clear they were interfacing with both the EC and CMA when they made it public that they were seeking to block the deal. All the information was right there but he was too busy trying to claim the EC didn't say what the FTC said they did regarding Bethesda.
 
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GHG said:
If he was so wise then he would have highlighted the co-operation between international agencies the monent the FTC made it clear they were interfacing with both the EC and CMA when they made it public that they were seeking to block the deal. All the information was right there but he was too busy trying to claim the EC didn't say what the FTC said they did.
Click to expand...
He did highlight it. That's why he's complaining. He doesn't want the FTC to work with the EC or CMA. He would prefer them to work with the CADE and those evil Japanese regulators protecting Sony who...check notes...approved the deal.
 
GHG said:
So in summary, yet another hollow "deal" done for no reason other than timely PR.
Click to expand...

Microsoft's 10 year deals with my local 7-11 were a parody before the CMA block. Knowing now that these 10 years deals were designed to cut Sony out of the 30% MTX makes the deals kinda nefarious.
 
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feynoob said:
Alot of talented studios is going to get pouched.
Click to expand...

Microsoft will have to pay through the nose to buy anyone now. The world and his wife all know how many billions MS have to purchase developers with. They will all hold out for the absolute maximum they can get, knowing MS can afford it easily.

Bad negotiating position for MS.
 
xiskza said:
Xbots on Era really think they will try to get Capcom next lol
Click to expand...

There's a word that era and XBOX guys don't understand and need to get familiar with. And that's Precedent.

The CMA ruling effectively ends Microsoft's "fuck creating games, I'll just buy publishers" strategy dead in its tracks. The CMA said no to the deal for specific reasons. Microsoft can't just turn around and insert another publisher name as if the deal is dependent on name alone. Microsoft knows that this sets a precedent.

But era is now swallowing Cope by the pound. And we know that the side effects of Cope is a distortion of reality. So lets let them dream...
 
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xiskza said:
Xbots on Era really think they will try to get Capcom next lol
Click to expand...

I don't think Capcom as a publisher of mainly single-player AAA games that take years to produce (RE) or games like Monster Hunter/Street Fighter is an attractive buy for Microsoft and Gamepass. Same for SE. Take 2, Ubisoft and EA would make more sense but the deal could be blocked.

Nothing is even remotely close to ABK in terms of IP strength anyway. They wanted IPs like COD, Diablo or Overwatch that even casuals not interested in gaming much might have previously heared about to attract those "billions" they keep talking about.
 
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Heisenberg007 said:
  1. Microsoft did not manage to get a deal from 2 of the 3 main cloud gaming competitors: Sony and Meta.
  2. Microsoft offers Sony a PS Plus contract that is so ridiculous in price that they had to ask Sony to redact the price.
  3. Microsoft offers cloud gaming providers ABK games but adds a clause that shares $0 of revenue with them, and MS gets 100% of the revenue.
CMA blocks the deal.

Microsoft and their fans:

r6JFjty.png


What "grave injustice" done by the CMA.
Click to expand...

Honestly that sounds like behavior a monopoly would have.
 
OK. The following is

1. NSFW - language
2. Not suitable for the green blooded among us
3. Gonna need a thick skin if you're neutral even...

So, duly warned, take a look if you've got CMA cajones. I Lol'd.

 
GHG said:
I'm going to share something that's been highlighted to me regarding this so called "deal".

First of all it's important to establish exactly what Nware is in terms of a cloud gaming platform:

"At a first glance, many would assume that Nware would be similar to other services such as Boosteroid or GeForce NOW. Of course, Nware doesn't give access to their own gaming library like Blacknut or Amazon Luna. Rather, allow users to play the games they already own on Steam and other storefronts, via their virtual machines. Unlike GeForce NOW and Boosteroid, Nware doesn't have a proper "library" of compatible games. Rather, Nware gives its subscribers access to pretty much all the Steam games you can think of. Mainly, this works because Nware acts like a proper cloud desktop, letting users install pretty much any game they own on Steam, and play via their virtual machines. Of course. the vast majority of games haven't been tested, since it's not really a curated library."

https://clouddosage.com/nware-cloud-gaming-beta-first-impressions/

-----

Now that that's established you can probably guess where this is going, Nware already has access to the Activision Blizzard library and have previously named Call Of Duty as a playable game/franchise when advertising or announcing partnerships for their service. Example:

"Android TV users can join the Nware platform and access over 20,000 titles by syncing their game libraries with top titles including Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat 11, Doom Eternal, Rocket League, and God of War. Gamers also get to play free-to-play blockbuster hits including PUBG: Battleground, Apex Legends, and Destiny 2 all from their living room.

Users can access the Google Play app store on Android TV and download thousands of apps designed specifically for Android TV, now including Nware. This means family and friends can play video games together and connect any controllers from different platforms including PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and more via Bluetooth on their Smart TVs. In addition, thanks to Nware's feature to play on Local Multiplayer mode during the streaming sessions, gamers can play with their friends in the same room, thanks to the ability to sync up to four controllers."
https://www.marketwatch.com/press-r...ver-20000-titles-on-the-big-screen-2023-02-23




So in summary, yet another hollow "deal" done for no reason other than timely PR.
Click to expand...

That is hilarious. Just a handout to some service no one has ever heard of to generate some headlines then? No shame.....
 
GHG said:
Yep they've outed themselves here.

You can't say the deal is necessary because it will enable the Activision Blizzard portfolio to reach 150+ million gamers due to your cloud capability, only to then later turn round and say you don't have the capacity to actually fulfill that promise.

The whole thing stinks.
Click to expand...
I believe the 150 million was Switch userbase combined with Nvidia's. Wouldn't need their own cloud capabilities to reach those gamers.
 
GHG said:
allow users to play the games they already own on Steam and other storefronts, via their virtual machines. Unlike GeForce NOW and Boosteroid, Nware doesn't have a proper "library" of compatible games.
Click to expand...
Geforce now last time I used it (been a while now maybe it's changed) let you play your steam/origin/uplay games on a vm aswell. The problem was publishers started stopping them from letting you play your games on geforce now, how is this nware place getting around this? are they just too small that publishers havn't caught on yet?

edit: this is what I was talking about with regards to publishers stopping them.
www.pcguide.com

Another wave of titles removed from Geforce Now.

Microsoft, Warner Brothers and Codemasters are the latest publishers to pull their games from Geforce Now Seems like Nvidia can't catch a break, as more major publishers have made the decision to remove their games from their GeForce Now streaming service, as the latest update confirmed that...
www.pcguide.com www.pcguide.com
 
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hlm666 said:
how is this nware place getting around this? are they just too small that publishers havn't caught on yet?
Click to expand...

The same way that Shadow do. There will be some legal intricacies around the remote desktop/VM, interface and advertising side of things which mean they won't be beholden to publishers giving them permission for users to access their libraries on their services.
 
POKEYCLYDE said:
I believe the 150 million was Switch userbase combined with Nvidia's. Wouldn't need their own cloud capabilities to reach those gamers.
Click to expand...

Where's the Switch version of call of duty then?

If you think it was going to be anything other than some form of cloud streaming for the current iterations of the game then I have a bridge to sell to you.
 
FunkMiller said:
Microsoft will have to pay through the nose to buy anyone now. The world and his wife all know how many billions MS have to purchase developers with. They will all hold out for the absolute maximum they can get, knowing MS can afford it easily.

Bad negotiating position for MS.
Click to expand...
Microsoft would make an offer to a publicly traded company. That company would have to do it's fiduciary duty and shop around for a better offer, if no one came forward, that company would have to take Microsoft's offer to the shareholders. If a majority agree, then the company would be sold. And usually at a 30% premium (around what ABK's was), a typical shareholder would say yes to that return.
 
GHG said:
The same way that Shadow do. There will be some legal intricacies around the remote desktop/VM, interface and advertising side of things which mean they won't be beholden to publishers giving them permission for users to access their libraries on their services.
Click to expand...
Why couldn't Nvidia use these legal intricacies? It was exactly the same as shadow and I guess this nware. I would log int my geforce now vm install steam, install my game and play on the VM. I don't get why these other places apparently can get around it but Nvidia couldn't?
 
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