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

Do you believe the deal will be approved?


  • Total voters
    886
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.
7rnei5.jpg
 
Except that Phil said they are profitable. We don't have to guess.

Edit: also PlayStation made 1.85 billion last year. Look it up.

Yes, $1.85 billion, which means their operating expenses were $25 billion.

If PlayStation needs $25 billion per year to simply break even, how do you think Xbox is making profits with just $16.2 billion when it's now bigger than PlayStation?

(Please don't say, "Phil said". Phil says a lot of things. We are way past believing Phil at this point).
 
Yes, $1.85 billion, which means their operating expenses were $25 billion.

If PlayStation needs $25 billion per year to simply break even, how do you think Xbox is making profits with just $16.2 billion when it's now bigger than PlayStation?

(Please don't say, "Phil said". Phil says a lot of things. We are way past believing Phil at this point).

After this hearing, I don't know how anyone can say, "Phil said" without feeling like a tool. Sorry, but you gotta be pretty shameless to keep standing by his word.
 
A safe approach would be to quit guessing. But when you have an agenda I guess that's not an option.
A "safe approach" is actually not to hide numbers and show operating revenue, expenditures, and profits to the public every quarter -- like every other confident company does.

They haven't even shared Xbox GP subscriber numbers since January 2022 lol.
 
Yes, $1.85 billion, which means their operating expenses were $25 billion.

If PlayStation needs $25 billion per year to simply break even, how do you think Xbox is making profits with just $16.2 billion when it's now bigger than PlayStation?

(Please don't say, "Phil said". Phil says a lot of things. We are way past believing Phil at this point).
1. Sony isnt breaking even. They're making nearly 2 billion dollars. Assuming Xbox's profit per revenue is similar to Sonys, Xbox would make about 1.2 billion in profit.

2. Xbox isn't bigger than PlayStation.
 
Last edited:
1. They're not breaking even. They're making nearly 2 billion dollars. Assuming Xbox's profit per revenue is similar to Sonys, Xbox would make about 1.2 billion in profit.

2. Xbox isn't bigger than PlayStation.
Sony is making $1.85 billion profit only if they have $26.9 billion in revenue. They need $25 billion revenue to break even. Xbox is not making $1.2 billion in profit because their revenue is only $16.2 billion.

So either Xbox's operating expenditures are nearly 40% lower than PlayStation's (how?!) or Xbox is losing up to $8-9 billion every year.

There is no other explanation.
 
Sony could have not purchased them so it was up to them.

I think a big reason why they bought them was because Microsoft was looking to buy them as well. But it sounds like the deal wasn't satisfactory to them, whereas Sony agreed to the terms.

This seems to be something people like to overlook. Microsoft was trying to buy Bungie but didn't like what Bungie proposed. They likely either wanted exclusivity at a $3+ billion pricetag or wanted a lower price if Bungie was to remain multiplatform. Whatever the case, the reality is, Sony was willing to do what Microsoft wasn't. Which meant Bungie staying multiplatform at that price.

Do I think that will stay that way? No. I'm pretty confident that by the next generation, we'll start getting PlayStation exclusive Bungie games. Destiny and Marathon will likely stay put. Whatever Matter is, that's already rumored to be console exclusive to PlayStation. Even if that rumor is bogus, I feel it's only a matter of time. No pun intended.
 
Last edited:
A "safe approach" is actually not to hide numbers and show operating revenue, expenditures, and profits to the public every quarter -- like every other confident company does.

They haven't even shared Xbox GP subscriber numbers since January 2022 lol.
Why are you taking my post out of context?
I'm talking about posters like you guessing at Xbox's profitability, not Microsoft's financial disclosure details. And you're ignoring the information Microsoft has released.

As a publicly traded company Microsoft does disclose revenue, profit, etc. Its true they don't breakdown details for Xbox. I wish they did. But this is not unique to Xbox. Sony used to do the same thing in the ps3 era when their sales were poor.
I assume Microsoft is doing the same.

 
Sony is making $1.85 billion profit only if they have $26.9 billion in revenue. They need $25 billion revenue to break even. Xbox is not making $1.2 billion in profit because their revenue is only $16.2 billion.

So either Xbox's operating expenditures are nearly 40% lower than PlayStation's (how?!) or Xbox is losing up to $8-9 billion every year.

There is no other explanation.
Do you not understand basic math? It doesn't require a set amount of money to make a profit. There are some set costs. But typically you spend x amount of money to generate y amount of revenue to get z amount of income.

So z = y- x which is your income.
 
Last edited:
Why are you taking my post out of context?
I'm talking about posters like you guessing at Xbox's profitability, not Microsoft's financial disclosure details. And you're ignoring the information Microsoft has released.

As a publicly traded company Microsoft does disclose revenue, profit, etc. Its true they don't breakdown details for Xbox. I wish they did. But this is not unique to Xbox. Sony used to do the same thing in the ps3 era when their sales were poor.
I assume Microsoft is doing the same.

Yes, because Sony was hiding their losses. Why do you think Microsoft hides Xbox P&L?
 
Do you not understand basic math? It doesn't require a set amount of money to make a profit. There are some set costs. But typically you spend x amount of money to generate y amount of revenue to get z amount of income.

So z = y- x which is your income.
Everybody knows here how profit is calculated. Why are you even explaining it when that's not the discussion? lol.

I'm asking you a very simple question:
  • We know that PlayStation's operating expenses are $25 billion.
  • Xbox's entire annual revenue is only $16.2 billion.
  • If you suggest that Xbox makes $1.2 billion in profit, that means their operating expenses would be $15 billion, right?
If so, my question is, how can Xbox's operating expenses be 40% less than PlayStation's when they have more studios, developers, and games in development than PlayStation?
 
Everybody knows here how profit is calculated. Why are you even explaining it when that's not the discussion? lol.

I'm asking you a very simple question:
  • We know that PlayStation's operating expenses are $25 billion.
  • Xbox's entire annual revenue is only $16.2 billion.
  • If you suggest that Xbox makes $1.2 billion in profit, that means their operating expenses would be $15 billion, right?
If so, my question is, how can Xbox's operating expenses be 40% less than PlayStation's when they have more studios, developers, and games in development than PlayStation?
How did Nintendo make 5 billion dollars on 15 billion in revenue? According to you that's not possible.

 
How did Nintendo make 5 billion dollars on 15 billion in revenue? According to you that's not possible.

Because Nintendo doesn't make as many AAAs, their game development cost is cheap, their first-party games sales 20+ million copies for fun, and they don't bear up to $200 hardware loss for each Nintendo Switch sold.

Why are you even bringing up Nintendo? Do you think Nintendo is a more direct competitor to Xbox than PlayStation is?
 
Last edited:
How did Nintendo make 5 billion dollars on 15 billion in revenue? According to you that's not possible.


Nintendo isn't selling high end hardware at losses or just breaking even. They are also not spending tons of money to get Day 1 games on a sub service. They don't even run a comparable sub service to PS+ or GamePass. They likely are not spending nearly the kind of money to make their games either. No one believes that Super Mario Odyssey was a $200 million game. Probably not even $100 million. They also clearly don't spend much on their online infrastructure. They have been keeping their operating costs low for a while now. They have, historically now, shown a disinterest in spending the kind of money the other platform holders do to provide devices at that level of power, with online services anything like theirs, and the games that require the kind of expenditure that studios like Naughty Dog or Bethesda would ask for. And it shows.
 
Last edited:
Nintendo isn't selling high end hardware at losses or just breaking even. They are also not spending tons of money to get Day 1 games on a sub service. They don't even run a comparable sub service to PS+ or GamePass. They likely are not spending nearly the kind of money to make their games either. No one believes that Super Mario Odyssey was a $200 million game. Probably not even $100 million. They also clearly don't spend much on their online infrastructure. They have been keeping their operating costs low for a while now. They have, historically now, shown a disinterest in spending the kind of money the other platform holders do to provide devices at that level of power, with online services anything like theirs, and the games that require the kind of expenditure that studios like Naughty Dog or Bethesda would ask for. And it shows.
And Xbox isn't making 5 billion dollars.
They are just making some profit.
 
Because Nintendo doesn't make as many AAAs, their game development cost is cheap, their first-party games sales 20+ million copies for fun, and they don't bear up to $200 hardware loss for each Nintendo Switch sold.

Why are you even bringing up Nintendo? Do you think Nintendo is a more direct competitor to Xbox than PlayStation is?
You know why. I explained why.
And here's an older non phil(unfortunately unnamed) source of profitability.
 
I'm starting to think we ought to just lock this thread until the decision is handed down judging from the circular conversations you guys have been having the last 10 pages
 
Here's another older source from same court case. 1.6- 2.3 in 2019.
Edit: I have no idea how he knows blocked out portion.

Wrong. Daniel Ahmad reported that after you take out the expenses PS profit goes to about 2 billion and Xbox profit goes down and could be in negative range.
 
Here's another older source from same court case. 1.6- 2.3 in 2019.
Edit: I have no idea how he knows blocked out portion.

Both of these services talk profitability of games and services, not the entire division.

Games & services make profit, but hardware loses money. So what is the end net result? Is the net result a profit or a loss? Also, what about other expenses, such as admin, marketing, etc.?

By the way, you still haven't answered my question, which was about Xbox having an operating expenditure of merely $15 billion and how it's possible.

Unless I see actual, published data from Microsoft, I don't believe they make a profit. Because, again, one doesn't hide the financials of a profitable business, say that the business is not going strong, and suggest shutting it down.
 
Wrong. Daniel Ahmad reported that after you take out the expenses PS profit goes to about 2 billion and Xbox profit goes down and could be in negative range.

Those numbers are just profit from software and services. Doesn't factor in losses from hardware

Both of these services talk profitability of games and services, not the entire division.

Games & services make profit, but hardware loses money. So what is the end net result? Is the net result a profit or a loss? Also, what about other expenses, such as admin, marketing, etc.?

By the way, you still haven't answered my question, which was about Xbox having an operating expenditure of merely $15 billion and how it's possible.

Unless I see actual, published data from Microsoft, I don't believe they make a profit. Because, again, one doesn't hide the financials of a profitable business, say that the business is not going strong, and suggest shutting it down.

Doesn't Microsoft also like to obfuscate their Xbox numbers by rolling it under other divisions when talking financial numbers?
 
Doesn't Microsoft also like to obfuscate their Xbox numbers by rolling it under other divisions when talking financial numbers?

They do.

But should this acquisition close I don't see how MS can justify not reporting on their gaming division as a standalone entity.

Any knowledgeable investor should demand to know how $69bn of invested cash plus the other assets already in that division are performing, in order to make good investment decisions.
 
Last edited:
Why are we talking about the profitability of the platform holders? Is there any relevance to the acquisition at hand that we need to argue if Microsoft is or is not making money from the Xbox division?
 
Why are we talking about the profitability of the platform holders? Is there any relevance to the acquisition at hand that we need to argue if Microsoft is or is not making money from the Xbox division?
No relevance. There was already this conversation going in when I joined.
 


A very real possibility that the appeal deadline falls after July 18, 2022. Even the Gamers' Lawsuit got 20 days for appeal.

Assuming FTC fails to get the PI, does anyone know for sure if Microsoft will be able to close over FTC (let's ignore the CMA for a second) before the appeal period is over for the FTC?
 
Assuming FTC fails to get the PI, does anyone know for sure if Microsoft will be able to close over FTC
Yes. That's why the FTC needs a federal injunction at this stage, otherwise them putting their internal court date in August would have killed or at least heavily altered the deal on its own
 
Yes. That's why the FTC needs a federal injunction at this stage, otherwise them putting their internal court date in August would have killed or at least heavily altered the deal on its own
No, my question is:
  • If the FTC fails to get a PI, but
  • The court gives them, say, 30 days to file an appeal against the Judge's decision, e.g., the FTC has until July 30 to file an appeal.
Will MS be able to close the acquisition over the FTC before July 30th? Especially if the FTC files an appeal on the next day of the decision.
 
Last edited:
No, my question is:
  • If the FTC fails to get a PI, but
  • The court gives them, say, 30 days to file an appeal against the Judge's decision, e.g., the FTC has until July 30 to file an appeal.
Will MS be able to close the acquisition over the FTC before July 30th? Especially if the FTC files an appeal on the next day of the decision.
I still think yes.

This is what they were talking about when it comes to equities etc. Whether it's easy enough to just pull the two companies apart on appeal after they merge.
 


A very real possibility that the appeal deadline falls after July 18, 2022. Even the Gamers' Lawsuit got 20 days for appeal.

Assuming FTC fails to get the PI, does anyone know for sure if Microsoft will be able to close over FTC (let's ignore the CMA for a second) before the appeal period is over for the FTC?


If they appeal, they could request a hold on the original decision until a higher court has looked over the appeal. Which could include a temporary bar on the acquisition being legal. But those are just possibilities and there are multiple factors at play there which could work for or against the FTC. Including the perceived strength of the argument. The judge's comment at the end of the hearing saying that her decision will be hard could be an indication that the FTC, in her view, made a fairly good argument all in all. Either by their own words or the multiple reveals of Microsoft's internal workings. She also congratulated them on working against a stacked deck. The FTC MAY be able to seize on those words in an appeal.

In the end, though, this really boils down to the CMA and if Microsoft is willing to risk more or less going to war with UK authorities. It also requires ABK to agree to the acquisition despite contractual obligations not being met. Especially since their stock price is higher than it was for the majority of the process. Definitely holding much higher than it was pre-deal announcement. Their share price was in the mid-60s after having fallen into the 50s. Their stock price has been holding in the low to mid 80's now. If I'm an ABK shareholder, I'm watching that price go up and asking if it's even worth selling now. Considering the deal is worth $95 per share.
 
What happens in 10 years time if/when MS stops selling Activision games individually and the only way to play them is via Gamepass?

That future is far more likely to happen if this deal goes through. Then what options do you have?
Lot can happen in 10 years, what if CoD is not even thing? Popularity is already declining, maybe it will just die in 10 years ?

We cant start blocking mergers or stop growth of a company based on what will happen in 20 years ago.

Again, lot of what if or maybe, by everyone here. World dont work like that. What's the immediate harm to market with merger and that FTC failed to prove that in court.
 
They won't have to "lie" or "break" an agreement. They only have to find a way, a loophole, to circumvent it. That's what Phil was asking his team to find in the Minecraft Dungeons contract. They released the game on all platforms because they couldn't find it.

But if Phil is heading the contract, I'm sure he will plant a couple of backdoors.
We went lot back n forth over his. Now i want to ask you. Honest question, what do you think will be the decision?
Approve with concessions or blocked for good? If approved then what concessions will MS will be asked to give to sony?
 


A very real possibility that the appeal deadline falls after July 18, 2022. Even the Gamers' Lawsuit got 20 days for appeal.

Assuming FTC fails to get the PI, does anyone know for sure if Microsoft will be able to close over FTC (let's ignore the CMA for a second) before the appeal period is over for the FTC?


The parts can still submit stuff until tomorrow.
I wouldn't expect a verdict until next week.
Then of course there is the possibility to appeal from both sides so it will be interesting to see what happens.
 
Why are you taking my post out of context?
I'm talking about posters like you guessing at Xbox's profitability, not Microsoft's financial disclosure details. And you're ignoring the information Microsoft has released.

As a publicly traded company Microsoft does disclose revenue, profit, etc. Its true they don't breakdown details for Xbox. I wish they did. But this is not unique to Xbox. Sony used to do the same thing in the ps3 era when their sales were poor.
I assume Microsoft is doing the same.

I don't know man... but I am currently inclined to believe that MS is lying about Xbox being profitable. It wouldn't surprise me if they are using some sort of weird MS math to calculate profitability.

It's just common sense, MS has more studios, sells fewer games on their platform, and pays God knows what to get games on gamepass...etc.

But for me, the biggest giveaway is that they are not outright disclosing what those profits are. Who knows, maybe they aren't lying... they could be making a $10 (yes, ten dollars) profit on that $16B revenue and technically be telling the truth that they are profitable. So there's that.
 
The parts can still submit stuff until tomorrow.
I wouldn't expect a verdict until next week.
Then of course there is the possibility to appeal from both sides so it will be interesting to see what happens.

No matter what, they only have 12 days left to convince ABK to renegotiate a new deadline, which will cost Microsoft more now, or to agree to allow the sale despite contractual obligations not being met. ABK's share price is almost $20 higher now than it was before the deal was announced. Meaning, at this rate, they'll be getting an extra $10 per share instead of the $30 it was then. ABK shareholders might decide the sale is no longer worth it if it looks like they can get back to their shares being worth $90 to $100. Meaning they could actually end up losing money on the deal or simply breaking even while losing control of the company.
 
It's already on PC and they don't need Microsoft to put the game on Cloud.

Removing games off platforms doesn't benefit gamers and you're using the "if Sony card" when I'm saying it's better off staying multi-plat.
They don't need Microsoft to put games on cloud but Activision wasn't going to do it and definitely not on Nintendo . If they were they have yet to commit to it like Microsoft has.
 


A very real possibility that the appeal deadline falls after July 18, 2022. Even the Gamers' Lawsuit got 20 days for appeal.

Assuming FTC fails to get the PI, does anyone know for sure if Microsoft will be able to close over FTC (let's ignore the CMA for a second) before the appeal period is over for the FTC?

I think no...? I thought that winning this appeal with the ftc would allow microsoft to quickly renegotiate with activision before 18 july, in order to eliminate the approval of the cma and try to close the deal with changes to the original contract.

what is the point of closing in usa if the main agreement signed in january 2022 is not satisfied? also for this reason I couldn't explain the intervention of the ftc when the august case was almost there...
 
Last edited:
We went lot back n forth over his. Now i want to ask you. Honest question, what do you think will be the decision?
Approve with concessions or blocked for good? If approved then what concessions will MS will be asked to give to sony?
I still think the FTC may get the PI (although I can see it's very 50:50), which will put an end to the acquisition. Even if the FTC doesn't get the injunction, MS wouldn't be able to close because of the UK.

I think there is a less than 5% chance of this deal passing through. We have only 12 days left before the deal expires and so far, ABK shareholders have not amended the contract or renegotiated the deal.

That's where I am right now, but let's see what actually happens.
 
They don't need Microsoft to put games on cloud but Activision wasn't going to do it and definitely not on Nintendo . If they were they have yet to commit to it like Microsoft has.

Kottick admitted that skipping Nintendo was a mistake born out of his belief that the Switch would fail. By the time it became clear it was a huge hit, their production pipelines couldn't afford adding a platform that would require a lot of retooling. Considering just how different of a platform it is. Someone like him would not miss a chance to make money if he can. He said he's looking into supporting Nintendo's next console.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom