At the end of the day... not matter the outcome, it's pretty clear gaming is kinda fucked, like we'll get a good 4-6 years when all is said and done.
But with all documents and emails and depositions etc it's pretty clear things are gonna get crappy before they get any better and by that time I'll be in my 40s. Think I'll be OK with giving up the Controller then.
It's going to get nasty and whatever precedent is set here (most likely that nothing is going to stop Microsoft from doing what they want and be regulated) is going to have lasting effects on the industry.
Either studios are just going to die because they can't sell with stricter rules or Microsoft are just going to outspend their competitors from the market to create essentially a stranglehold (which they've confirmed is their goal)..
Honestly I'm hating Microsoft for starting this shit, nothing good comes from this, one precedent is set it's extremely difficult to undo
TBF Microsoft did not start these consolidations; Embracer Group was going big with them (mostly smaller studios though), and Tencent were buying shares in a lot of companies.
But Microsoft did technically kick off this idea that buying large 3P publishers altogether was okay. And yeah, better believe other big tech companies are looking at the proceedings here to see how they can move with their own acquisition strategies in gaming.
And, obviously, Sony will also respond with more publisher acquisitions. Even Nintendo might try acquiring one, or at least more 3P developer studios. There's a small bit of hope that given the scrutiny MS have gone through for this, they basically are demotivated from making further big 3P acquisitions and stick to working with what they already have. And, maybe it makes other companies a lot more cautious with the idea of wanting to do big gaming acquisitions of their own.
That is a hopeful outlook, but that could easily not happen, too.
You're disagreeing with Sony's strategy because it drives you up the wall that these games are no longer exclusive like all the other brand worshippers on twitter and youtube. It's sad tbh.
That's a part of it, won't lie. Not due to brand worshipping, but because I understand the actual value exclusive content brings to a platform culturally and in terms of reinforcing the value of that brand in the market. Again, we see this in practice with Nintendo.
However another reason is because Sony could in fact drive down demand for their own hardware if cross-pollination between console & PC gaming audiences are to a point where they unable to drive value to the console to support sufficient sales. And, that affects things like what type of actual software the platform holder can make, if sales revenue on PC isn't enough to make up for the revenue drops elsewhere.
So, I'm looking at it as part gamer, and part business.
gamerant.com
. I'm just speaking about what would be best for the PlayStation brand in terms of the console, which is the main part of that ecosystem. This particular argument doesn't factor any impact on my wallet, that would only happen if Sony decided to raise prices and even then, it'd have to be for stupid or greedy reasons.
