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[Hitchyhero]

Already posted here.

Yes I know I'm a little late

 

[feynoob]

Topher

 

[Banjo64]

I know it's hard to get a decent conversation on this topic without fanboy extremism... But I just read what an EU commissioner said on the topic. There's a lot of people that think politicians are out of touch with Tech but I have to say I do agree with his assessment.

CMA ‘Overstated’ Microsoft’s Cloud Gaming Share in Activision Blizzard Decision, EU Says

An EU official states that the CMA may have ‘overstated’ Microsoft’s cloud gaming share when blocking the Activision Blizzard acquisition.

gamerant.com

An EU official, on the other hand, said that the UK regulator had “overstated” the position that Microsoft held in the cloud gaming market. In its report, the CMA had declared that the gaming giant already "accounts for an estimated 60-70% of global cloud gaming services." However, it seemed to many people that the regulator had included all Xbox Game Pass subscribers in its calculation, which is not necessarily an accurate interpretation of the numbers.

Xbox Game Pass offers a variety of perks to subscribers, mainly access to a rotating selection of games, including first-party day-one releases. Ultimate members also receive access to EA Play's exclusive library of titles, two free games a month via Xbox Live Gold, discounts, and the ability to stream games using Xbox Cloud Gaming. The CMA’s analysis did not seem to take into account that many gamers who subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate do so for the free games and sales, and a lot of people have no interest in and don’t use the cloud gaming service.

As far as I saw yesterday when I skimmed the 400 page CMA report they had MAU figures (not total subscriber counts) and were also taking in to account internal projections and the opinion of external parties

 

[Topher]

Topher

I usually wear more lipstick than that

 

[Goalus]

The CMA woman needs to publicly state her pronouns NOW before this can go any further.

 

[Bernoulli]

I know it's hard to get a decent conversation on this topic without fanboy extremism... But I just read what an EU commissioner said on the topic. There's a lot of people that think politicians are out of touch with Tech but I have to say I do agree with his assessment.

CMA ‘Overstated’ Microsoft’s Cloud Gaming Share in Activision Blizzard Decision, EU Says

An EU official states that the CMA may have ‘overstated’ Microsoft’s cloud gaming share when blocking the Activision Blizzard acquisition.

gamerant.com

An EU official, on the other hand, said that the UK regulator had “overstated” the position that Microsoft held in the cloud gaming market. In its report, the CMA had declared that the gaming giant already "accounts for an estimated 60-70% of global cloud gaming services." However, it seemed to many people that the regulator had included all Xbox Game Pass subscribers in its calculation, which is not necessarily an accurate interpretation of the numbers.

Xbox Game Pass offers a variety of perks to subscribers, mainly access to a rotating selection of games, including first-party day-one releases. Ultimate members also receive access to EA Play's exclusive library of titles, two free games a month via Xbox Live Gold, discounts, and the ability to stream games using Xbox Cloud Gaming. The CMA’s analysis did not seem to take into account that many gamers who subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate do so for the free games and sales, and a lot of people have no interest in and don’t use the cloud gaming service.

Fake "insider" news, Post the EU official stating that officially

Here are some official news for you

Expanding Xbox to new players is central to our ambition of helping games and developers find an easy path to the world’s 3 billion gamers. We are doing this by embracing multiple devices and providing a consistent Xbox experience wherever you log in, whether that’s on your Xbox Series X|S, PC, Xbox One, Android device or – starting in Spring 2021 – your Windows PC and iOS device from the cloud.

Players Drive Record Engagement as Xbox Expands Cloud Gaming to More Devices in 2021 - Xbox Wire

Thanks to you, we’ve kicked off a new generation of gaming and can now share more about what comes next in 2021. If the last year has taught us anything about the future, it’s that the joy of play and its power to connect us to family, friends and newly joining members of Xbox is […]

news.xbox.com

 

[Banjo64]

H Hitchyhero not sure why the EU commissioner is spreading disinformation however the CMA did not just look at total Game Pass Ultimate subscribers for their calculations.

 

[Pelta88]

I'm getting the sense, on socials, that people believe the EU regulators have some type of sway over the UK regulators. They don't.

In fact, the UK actually left the EU to make that specific point about their sovereignty.

 

[Topher]

H Hitchyhero not sure why the EU commissioner is spreading disinformation however the CMA did not just look at total Game Pass Ultimate subscribers for their calculations.

Section 8.91 explicitly talks about the MS numbers being said to have been "overstated" and "misleading". And......

"In any case our concern is about Microsoft’s future position based on our assessment of its strength, and its substantial number of users now indicates that it may continue to attract a large number of users as cloud gaming grows."

It is irrelevant either way.

 

[Bernoulli]

H Hitchyhero not sure why the EU commissioner is spreading disinformation however the CMA did not just look at total Game Pass Ultimate subscribers for their calculations.

Don't bother answering it's the only narrative they have and when you prove that it's wrong they ignore the message and repost the same thing pages later

 

[TheRedRiders]

In fact, the UK actually left the EU to make that specific point about their sovereignty.

This.

 

[Kilau]

Poor MS isn’t competitive in any market they enter. Bless them for always trying so hard.

 

[Neofire]

is this real?

Who is thos lady and why should anything she says be taken as gospel?

 

[adamsapple]

Who is thos lady and why should anything she says be taken as gospel?

It shouldn't, the dedicated topic made for it was already closed because of that. As Bernoulli said, it gets reposted a few pages later again.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Who is thos lady and why should anything she says be taken as gospel?

Yet another moot 'insider' with horoscope-level tweets. Shame that people slightly forgot the GAF insider drama around 'Tidux'.

 

[Astray]

I am %100 positive that someone at Microsoft is ruing the decision to make gold convert to GPU instead of normal Xbox Gamepass.

That small decision alone probably accounted for GPU being a hard to ignore percentage in Microsoft's GP customers, taking the number of cloud customers up with it and resulting in getting flagged by whatever analysis the CMA did.

 

[jm89]

I am %100 positive that someone at Microsoft is ruing the decision to make gold convert to GPU instead of normal Xbox Gamepass.

That small decision alone probably accounted for GPU being a hard to ignore percentage in Microsoft's GP customers, taking the number of cloud customers up with it and resulting in getting flagged by whatever analysis the CMA did.

On the flip side whoever at sony decided to make ps+ premium meh should be asking for a promotion.

 

[adamsapple]

I am %100 positive that someone at Microsoft is ruing the decision to make gold convert to GPU instead of normal Xbox Gamepass.

That small decision alone probably accounted for GPU being a hard to ignore percentage in Microsoft's GP customers, taking the number of cloud customers up with it and resulting in getting flagged by whatever analysis the CMA did.

 

[feynoob]

I am %100 positive that someone at Microsoft is ruing the decision to make gold convert to GPU instead of normal Xbox Gamepass.

That small decision alone probably accounted for GPU being a hard to ignore percentage in Microsoft's GP customers, taking the number of cloud customers up with it and resulting in getting flagged by whatever analysis the CMA did.

Normal gamepass doesn't have online mode.

 

[Bernoulli]

I am %100 positive that someone at Microsoft is ruing the decision to make gold convert to GPU instead of normal Xbox Gamepass.

That small decision alone probably accounted for GPU being a hard to ignore percentage in Microsoft's GP customers, taking the number of cloud customers up with it and resulting in getting flagged by whatever analysis the CMA did.

Would have made for sense to completely drop Xbox live gold and go gamepass only
BUT with online play
If they make online play without subscription they will lose every gamepass and gold subscriber because the Majority of the subscribers either on PS+ or Gold are just For games like COD and Fifa

 

[Edmund]

 

[SportsFan581]

As far as I saw yesterday when I skimmed the 400 page CMA report they had MAU figures (not total subscriber counts) and were also taking in to account internal projections and the opinion of external parties

The issue with that is just what was stated. The MAU on GPU likely contains a healthy amount of players that never used cloud gaming at all. Given the numbers Nvidia has posted, you can almost guarantee that Nvidia dominates MS in minutes played per month on the cloud.

 

[jm89]

What's the old saying? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree?

Phil could leave, but he wouldn't really.

 

[Goalus]

Why are doing this even though the acquisition is blocked as of now?
Do they already know that this will change in the future?

Gears 5 works exceptionally well on xCloud by the way. I played through half the game via cloud and experienced maybe about 10 brief moments of noticable lag.

 

[Topher]

Why are doing this even though the acquisition is blocked as of now?
Do they already know that this will change in the future?

Looks to me like Nvidia made a deal that wasn't dependent on the acquisition at all.

 

[gothmog]

Why are doing this even though the acquisition is blocked as of now?
Do they already know that this will change in the future?

Gears 5 works exceptionally well on xCloud by the way. I played through have the game via cloud and experienced maybe about 10 brief moments of noticable lag.

Because Microsoft has a plan and this is part of it. They may replace the people at the top from time to time but they still follow the same playbooks around FUD and EEE.

 

[wolffy66]

Please, for the love of Christ, leave these braindead responses on Twitter where they belong with the rest of the low IQ Xbox shills.

This agreement cannot be amended until it reaches its conclusion in July at which point both parties have to decide whether to extend the agreement or not.

So it can be amended. Spare me the fake hostility next time

 

[GHG]

Why are doing this even though the acquisition is blocked as of now?
Do they already know that this will change in the future?

Because gamers having access to stream their games via other services shouldn't be dependant on the deal. People should have freedom of choice in terms of which cloud streaming service they want to use, especially so given the huge factor that server proximity plays in the overall experience for an individual.

So much for being pro-consumer, the facade slips time and time again:

Luckily MS are not enganging in anti-consumer practices and let me play their games on the hardware of my choice instead.

Anti-consumer like forcing me to buy the latest piece of hardware to play their games.

Now that we have a rare instance where they are actually behaving in a pro-consumer manner you are questioning it? Ridiculous.

 

[Bernoulli]

Because gamers having access to stream their games via other services shouldn't be dependant on the deal. People should have freedom of choice in terms of which cloud streaming service they want to use, especially so given the huge factor that server proximity plays in the overall experience for an individual.

So much for being pro-consumer, the facade slips time and time again.

and the EU believed the PR that it was possible only by approving the deal

 

[Thirty7ven]

Looks to me like Nvidia made a deal that wasn't dependent on the acquisition at all.

Could it be? And could the trade off be Nvidia publicly supporting the deal?

Very interesting. If so it was all to put pressure on regulators.

 

[DeepEnigma]

The CMA woman needs to publicly state her pronouns NOW before this can go any further.

Blocked/Deal

 

[GHG]

and the EU believed the PR that it was possible only by approving the deal

I think they knew but just didn't care enough. Not sure why that would be...

 

[DeepEnigma]

I think they knew but just didn't care enough. Not sure why that would be...

 

[Goalus]

Blocked/Deal

Sounds biased and would suggest that the woman is not up for the job.

Now that we have a rare instance where they are actually behaving in a pro-consumer manner you are questioning it? Ridiculous.

I am not questioning it, I am wondering what the reason might be. Because there is none (from MS' perspective) unless the deal is approved.

 

[FritzJ92]

H Hitchyhero not sure why the EU commissioner is spreading disinformation however the CMA did not just look at total Game Pass Ultimate subscribers for their calculations.

The issue is how they separated GPU users that use cloud gaming vs those that do not. Everyone on Gampass is paid, and everyone with GPU has access to cloud gaming but this does not make them all users of cloud gaming. I also think Sony's percentage dropped because they changed their Subscription tiers, separating cloud gaming into something specific

 

[Topher]

Could it be? And could the trade off be Nvidia publicly supporting the deal?

Very interesting. If so it was all to put pressure on regulators.

Pretty much. Nvidia came into this whole thing against the acquisition. And based on Nvidia's reputation I'm pretty sure they were angling for a deal the whole time. Now if the other cloud providers get the go ahead and put MS games on their services then that's one thing, but otherwise it seems to me Nvidia said if you want our endorsement then we get the deal no matter what happens with Activision. Purely speculation on my part, obviously.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Sounds biased and would suggest that the woman is not up for the job.

Pretty much. Nvidia came into this whole thing against the acquisition. And based on Nvidia's reputation I'm pretty sure they were angling for a deal the whole time. Now if the other cloud providers get the go ahead and put MS games on their services then that's one thing, but otherwise it seems to me Nvidia said if you want our endorsement then we get the deal no matter what happens with Activision. Purely speculation on my part, obviously.

mUsT bE sOmE sTrAnGe cOiNcIdEnCe

 

[jm89]

The issue is how they separated GPU users that use cloud gaming vs those that do not. Everyone on Gampass is paid, and everyone with GPU has access but does not make them users of cloud gaming. I also think Sony's percentage dropped because they changed their Subscription tiers, separating cloud gaming into something specific

I'm running out gifs that visualise the word repeat.

 

[Topher]

The issue is how they separated GPU users that use cloud gaming vs those that do not. Everyone on Gampass is paid, and everyone with GPU has access but does not make them users of cloud gaming. I also think Sony's percentage dropped because they changed their Subscription tiers, separating cloud gaming into something specific

Read section 8.91

 

[GHG]

I am not questioning it, I am wondering what the reason might be. Because there is none (from MS' perspective) unless the deal is approved.

Give me one good reason why they shouldn't be doing that regardless of the Activision Blizzard acquisition.

 

[Goalus]

A reasonable assessment:

Give me one good reason why they shouldn't be doing that regardless of the Activision Blizzard acquisition.

In order to promote their own cloud offering.

 

[GHG]

A reasonable assessment:

So now you're for this happening regardless of the deal? Because Florian told you it was good?

In order to promote their own cloud offering.

But Mr. Pro-consumer, please explain to us how consumers only having one cloud streaming service as an option for certain games is a good thing.

Do you only care about what's good for Microsoft or do you care about what's good for you? (maybe this is a stupid question given what I've witnessed)

 

[TheRedRiders]

A reasonable assessment:




In order to promote their own cloud offering.

holy shit dude is actually trying to manifest the deal lmao

"After the consummation of the #ActivisionBlizzard deal"

 

[DeepEnigma]

 

[drganon]

Foss

Reasonable

Pick one.

 

[zapper]

what's the point of celebrating these deals if activision and bethesda games were on geforce now in the past and then they removed them? at now, with no permanent time constraints, these agreements just look like a trojan horse for microsoft imo
there is no guarantee that microsoft will take them down in the future..?

 

[mansoor1980]

florian mueller makes lulu look tame
that twitter of his is comedy gold

 

[DeepEnigma]

a trojan horse for microsoft

That's all this is, and all it ever was.

 

[GHG]

what's the point of celebrating these deals if activision and bethesda games were on geforce now in the past and then they removed them?

I'm glad someone else has realised this.

There was also the fact that Nvidia were in positive negotiations with Bethesda to get their catalogue on GeForce Now and that all went to shit as soon as the acquisition happened.

 

[Goalus]

So now you're for this happening regardless of the deal? Because Florian told you it was good?

But Mr. Pro-consumer, please explain to us how consumers only having one cloud streaming service as an option for certain games is a good thing.

Why would I be for this? You seem to be seriously lacking the necessary reading comprehension.

First, I was questioning MS' decision process, and now I am commenting on FOSSpatents' assessment of the situation.

Do you only care about what's good for Microsoft or do you care about what's good for you? (maybe this is a stupid question given what I've witnessed)

Ask yourself and the usual suspects the same question and replace "Microsoft" with "Sony".