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I missed that one

 

[Vox Machina]

Sure thing Phil

We'll see soon! I'm pretty sure Tom would have some well-placed sources that he confirmed this with.

It is absolutely bonkers that people are still saying the bolded part when it was revealed during the hearing that Phil Spencer tried everything he could to remove Minecraft from Playstation and it's only multiplatform because Mojang's agreement with Notch

I still have yet to see any evidence of this "Notch agreement" I tried searching around for the Mojang Purchase Agreement and couldn't find anything, and the only references to this particular "multi-platform in perpetuity" section seem to be from this very forum. If this is actually true and real the FTC should have entered it into evidence. Seems like folklore to me.

 

[Ansphn]

I thought consolidation was bad?

It's very bad but what choice does Sony have? Sit around and eventually die or control what you can? The big boys are jousting for positions in gaming. Microsoft made their move, Tencent will soon, Saudi princes have been making small moves but the flood gates are open now. Look for Google, Amazon and Apple to make their moves. Sony has the most pull in Japan besides Nintendo so both companies need to at least lock up their home turf.And so the gaming arms race has begun. The victor tell their truth and that truth becomes absolute truth.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Maybe MS changed their mind? People keep thinking that CMA agreeing to negotiate is them giving up and I'm just not so sure about that. Doesn't look good I'll admit but it didn't look good when they dropped the console SLC either.

I kinda doubt MS changed their mind.

Any structure remedies would be incredibly difficult to pull off and super expensive and time consuming.

 

[LordCBH]

Actually it's funny that Microsoft will spend 80 billion on activision but won't give developers like redfall extra time to make their games

What pisses me off is, as a concept, I like a good chunk of stuff they out out. But holy balls stuff like Redfall or Crackdown 3 should have never released like they did.

 

[howitis3]

The CMA are pussies and Microsoft are just going to buy most of the top 3rd party studios/publishers instead of making their own fucking games,Sony are fucked

Sony is fine. and its not the government's job to try and protect a billion dollar company that owns 80% of the market share.

 

[user friendly]

The bright side about this acquisition is that Activision management will inevitably change for the better because it cannot be worse.

Halo and Redfall could be used as examples that MS has no bearing on what it takes to push out a quality experience any longer.

 

[havoc00]

How does he always win?

 

[Historia]

Ybarra lies again. Shades of Nokia.

Does anything truthful ever come out of them?

I hope it will goes down like Nokia though.


Microsoft get booted from gaming industry and Activision Blizzard becomes a husk of it sell that they have to sell to garbo collector like Embracer Group

 

[DeepEnigma]

that owns 80% of the market share.

Citation needed.

 

[mayham2199]

I kinda doubt MS changed their mind.

Any structure remedies would be incredibly difficult to pull off and super expensive and time consuming.

I doubt it to but I see no reason for the CMA to agree to this. Either they are doing it since it will by them more time for the case or they really are about to cave.

 

[Not_A-Cop_Maybe]

343 shows it can get a lot worse

Every 343 Game has made bank and sold millions.

Regardless of what people on neogaf and whereever feel about the quality of the game or the studio compared to previous titles, every game 343 has put out, has made money.

At the end of the day, thats all that matters.

 

[Clear]

For the fools who LOL'd at my last post pointing out that the FTC may opt to continue opposing the deal, here's a CNBC article outlining the process of what's actually happened and what might happen next.

As the title of the article states, today's decision moves the deal closer, but suggesting its done is quite a leap legally speaking.

I'd stress that people might want to consider the politics as to why the FTC under Lina Khan might decide to press onward. This is a symbolic bloody nose in their stated aim to rein in big-tech.

 

[Danwan224]

We'll see soon! I'm pretty sure Tom would have some well-placed sources that he confirmed this with.



I still have yet to see any evidence of this "Notch agreement" I tried searching around for the Mojang Purchase Agreement and couldn't find anything, and the only references to this particular "multi-platform in perpetuity" section seem to be from this very forum. If this is actually true and real the FTC should have entered it into evidence. Seems like folklore to me.

Both Phil Spencer and Jim ryan said there was a contract in the hearing but we won't get an actual transcript yet

 

[wolffy66]

And if Sony customers end up with a lesser quality of choice & options by being forced to turn to a direct competitor who pursued strategies in M&A to push a company like Sony out of the market, then it still negatively impacts customers.

But these regulatory bodies aren't suited to reviving dead companies and divisions after the fact now are they?

That's not the govts problem. Sony is free to compete however they see fit. if customers don't like they can go elsewhere BECAUSE there are other places to play video games. This deal offers no harm to that model.

 

[mayham2199]

Every 343 Game has made bank and sold millions.

Regardless of what people on neogaf and whereever feel about the quality of the game or the studio compared to previous titles, every game 343 has put out, has made money.

At the end of the day, thats all that matters.

Yea that's all that matters to MS execs and share holders. The rest of us here who are gamers actually care about the quality of games being released.

 

[DrFigs]

For the fools who LOL'd at my last post pointing out that the FTC may opt to continue opposing the deal, here's a CNBC article outlining the process of what's actually happened and what might happen next.

As the title of the article states, today's decision moves the deal closer, but suggesting its done is quite a leap legally speaking.

I'd stress that people might want to consider the politics as to why the FTC under Lina Khan might decide to press onward. This is a symbolic bloody nose in their stated aim to rein in big-tech.

The whole anti-big tech thing has been a big dud. Seems like the FTC is always losing.

 

[Solidus_T]

I still have yet to see any evidence of this "Notch agreement" I tried searching around for the Mojang Purchase Agreement and couldn't find anything, and the only references to this particular "multi-platform in perpetuity" section seem to be from this very forum. If this is actually true and real the FTC should have entered it into evidence. Seems like folklore to me.

You have missed out on pretty much everything. This was revealed IN THE HEARING for the PI.

 

[ToadMan]

Aren't people kinda overlooking that what was denied here was merely a preliminary injunction, the FTC can I believe continue to oppose the deal via administrative litigation, especially when the CMA ruling still stands.

They can continue with the August hearing, but on balance of probabilities they won't.

They have a few days to mount an appeal and get a new TRO up if they want to try that.

But, the way things moved today this must've been orchestrated, which means that the FTC has been in the loop for at least 24 hours and maybe longer.

 

[GHG]

How does he always win?

He was going to win here regardless of the outcome.

Some people just have a knack for navigating the corporate world with brutal efficiency. It's all a game and he knows how to play it.

 

[graywolf323]

Citation needed.

the best you'll get is a picture of that pie chart Microsoft made

 

[gothmog]

I doubt it to but I see no reason for the CMA to agree to this. Either they are doing it since it will by them more time for the case or they really are about to cave.

I think it's a calculated olive branch. Keeps the pressure off the CMA by forcing MS to the table.

 

[wolffy66]

This is my vibe the entire time. Without actually locking COD to XBOX or any other exclusives as a result of this merger, what is this actually bringing short-term or even long for XBOX and XBOX gamers? I feel like COD is on the downturn as well. If MS had a bunch of good games coming out and this merger was in addition to that, I think it would be different. This all feels very empty at this point.

Yeah honestly if I'm xbox, I'm seriously concerned about COD going forward. That game is played out

 

[ToadMan]

You seen his salary?

No!

Do I need the James Webb telescope to take a picture from Space to get all the zeroes in a single shot?

 

[user friendly]

Every 343 Game has made bank and sold millions.

Regardless of what people on neogaf and whereever feel about the quality of the game or the studio compared to previous titles, every game 343 has put out, has made money.

At the end of the day, thats all that matters.

Is the current 343 still the same team? Weren't there layoffs earlier this year?

 

[PharaoTutAnchAmun]

What did I miss?

Hendrick's is in love with LuLu....

 

[aliadiere25]

It is absolutely bonkers that people are still saying the bolded part when it was revealed during the hearing that Phil Spencer tried everything he could to remove Minecraft from Playstation and it's only multiplatform because Mojang's agreement with Notch

This is why the judge hasn't got a clue what's good for future gamers. Imagine if Microsoft made Minecraft totally exclusive to Game Pass, it would have taken the game away from millions of users from the PlayStation side. A game that wasn't exclusive before should never be exclusive after the fact. Phil claims when everybody plays, we all win. But as you said, he tried his best to block that deal. So, he doesn't give a crap if everybody does play.

I have no clue how she can sit there and say it's good for future gamers when she has no clue if Microsoft will stick to its word and keep it on other platforms. If Microsoft does make it exclusive, they are taking the game away from millions of users. How the hell is that good for future gaming if you have to spend a shit load of money just to play that franchise you love on another platform?

If this was the other round and Sony was the one trying to buy Activision, I have no doubt that this deal would have collapsed. As people as said, Microsoft has a lot of money and money talks. But Microsoft might have opened a crap ton of worms and they might not like where it's headed.

 

[tmlDan]

Sony is fine. and its not the government's job to try and protect a billion dollar company that owns 80% of the market share.

Math isn't your strong suit

 

[ToadMan]

So when does this finalize and when can I expect cod's and blizzard titles on gp ?

2 weeks to a month I'd guess.

 

[Solidus_T]

Yeah honestly if I'm xbox, I'm seriously concerned about COD going forward. That game is played out

COD is absolutely not on a downturn. MWII sold over 11 million copies in its first week, mostly on PS4/5 just last year. The "bad" one, Vanguard, still topped charts until the release of MWII. It sells more than passion projects on its name alone.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Math isn't your strong suit

It's just fanatic 'ganda.

 

[Kataploom]

So then Phil, SEGA tomorrow?

Tomorrow? What kind of 4D chess is this? THEY REALLY WERE READY FOR WEDNESDAY.

 

[wolffy66]

Right, that's so naive of you

They just protect megacorps like MS so they can gobble up everyone in existence and there's no competition at all

Gobbling up devs doesn't make Sony, Nintendo, PCs, or mobile games go away. You need some sort of legal argument to win on an argument of monopoly. It simply doesn't exist.

 

[LordCBH]

Yeah honestly if I'm xbox, I'm seriously concerned about COD going forward. That game is played out

Lots of potential for good entries, but another "playing it safe" game like MW2 won't cut it. For what it's worth, I did really enjoy Cold War. It did enough to stay interesting to me.

 

[M1987]

Sony is fine. and its not the government's job to try and protect a billion dollar company that owns 80% of the market share.

I never said that,but Sony got there by making great games.What Microsoft are doing is trying to be the market leader by buying up everything and it will create a monopoly because they are the only ones who can afford it

 

[mckmas8808]

Just going over through the history and it's remarkable how it lines up.

The year in which Matt Booty is talking about spending Sony out of business, is the year in which an investigation starts about ABK work culture. Two years later shit hits the fan, Mike Ybarra joins, Phil Spencer starts talking about changing relationship with ABK as if MS is out there in shining armor, and then they start the acquisition process with the media and reetards like spreading the word about MS saving the world from bad actors.

It's all connected.

I agree

 

[Historia]

Is there a possibility Activision flip the table to and demand more. Their shares at 92 USD and net worth at 71B, more than MS proposed.

 

[GHG]

Yeah honestly if I'm xbox, I'm seriously concerned about COD going forward. That game is played out

Nah it's a juggernaut and a cash cow.

It would take something monumental for them to screw it up in the short term. The long term is a different story though, give Phil and Booty enough time and I'm sure they can work something out.

 

[Ansphn]

None of those game publishers compete with CoD. CoD players couldnt care less about FF16 or RE4. Just look at the sales. 3 million each. CoD sells 15 million in a weekend.

Cyberpunk + Witcher are WRPGs that have a completely different audience primarily on PC anyway. The only purchase sony can make is Rockstar/Take2 for GTA. Bungie, CD Project, Ubisoft, are all B players when it comes to CoD and GTA domination.

If sony is interested in saving their business, thats their only play. The other purchases are going to be a bandaid that will not stop the bleeding. If they dont go and buy Rockstar/Take2, they are probably looking to sell their PS division to tencent or apple/amazon. At the hearing, they effectively argued that they couldnt survive without the CoD userbase so maybe they have already thrown the towel behind the scenes. I guess we will find out if they make a play for Rockstar in the next few days.

Nothing can compete with COD besides GTA. Sony has to take a different strategy and buy up publishers that their base supports. They can't buy COD or GTA. Either buy those publishers or someone else will. Like I said, the flood gates are open. Amazon, Tencent, Microsoft, Saudi princes, Google, Meta, Apple are eyeing the tasty morsels across the gaming industry. Sony needs to take their share or the food will be gone and they are left to starve.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Gobbling up devs doesn't make Sony, Nintendo, PCs, or mobile games go away. You need some sort of legal argument to win on an argument of monopoly. It simply doesn't exist.

Do you consider windows or office a monopoly?

 

[tmlDan]

Nah it's a juggernaut and a cash cow.

It would take something monumental for them to screw it up in the short term. The long term is a different story though, give Phil and Booty enough time and I'm sure they can work something out.

Long term i could see it exclusively on mobile, it cuts down dev costs and increases profits with much less invested compared to console and PC versions.

 

[Clear]

The whole anti-big tech thing has been a big dud. Seems like the FTC is always losing.

Isn't this more of a reason for them to persevere though? Its why I mentioned the politics of the matter, the FTC I'd imagine would not want to be seen to be toothless? Hence they would press on for something, maybe a minor divestiture that the CNBC article mentions to mollify the CMA?

Just saying, even the EU ruling held up the option for behavioural remedies down the line, whereas the CMA's position was that the implementation of the same sort of arrangement in the UK placed unreasonable demands on them to enforce the ruling, and hence they opted to block straight off.

 

[ToadMan]

As funny as this is, there are people (fanboys) who literally think this means MS will bring back their favorite series from whatever studio years ago.

I know! MS haven't been able to keep Halo or Gears alive with their existing resources, but people want them to spend $70bn to revive long dead stuff that wasn't setting the charts on fire even back then?!

I think MS will be doing great if they can just keep CoD, Diablo and WoW (King does Candy Crush I 'spose - that too) ticking over after this.

 

[wolffy66]

It's very bad but what choice does Sony have? Sit around and eventually die or control what you can? The big boys are jousting for positions in gaming. Microsoft made their move, Tencent will soon, Saudi princes have been making small moves but the flood gates are open now. Look for Google, Amazon and Apple to make their moves. Sony has the most pull in Japan besides Nintendo so both companies need to at least lock up their home turf.And so the gaming arms race has begun. The victor tell their truth and that truth becomes absolute truth.

So you support consolidation if it protects Sony. Or are you opposed in principle?

 

[Elios83]

They can continue with the August hearing, but on balance of probabilities they won't.

They have a few days to try and mount an appeal and get a new TRO up if they want to try that.

But, the way things moved today this muist've been orchestrated which means that the FTC has been in the loop for at least 24 hours and maybe longer.

Judge says Microsoft-Activision deal can proceed, Activision Blizzard stock soars 11%

Microsoft won a court fight against the FTC, paving the way for its Activision Blizzard deal to move forward.

finance.yahoo.com

"We are disappointed in this outcome given the clear threat this merger poses to open competition in cloud gaming, subscription services, and consoles," FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar said in a statement. "In the coming days we'll be announcing our next step to continue our fight to preserve competition and protect consumers."

They might try to appeal in the next days but IMO as you say the whole PI was an orchestrated plan and last ditch effort with the CMA to block the deal. CMA had already decided and told the parts that if the FTC lost they would consider to settle.
Now it's more about what the CMA will ask Microsoft to concede to save face and allow to merger to close.
I expect something a bit stronger than what they gave to EU but the deal will close.

 

[HundredThousandTrillion]

Knew it. Let's get this shit show on the road.

 

[Raven77]

FTC hearing was another in a long line of wins for MS. They've got the U.S. side of this locked up.

Next, they tackle the CMA, Rogan style:

MS next move - use political and legal clout gained through FTC impending win to sway the CMA. CMA will resist but eventually call for a redo to their decision with something like "In revisiting or decision we were too hasty. MS has taken great strides to correct all of our inertial concerns. MS please proceed with our blessing."

How funny is my post now???

"Minutes after a US court handed a defeat to Lina Khan's FTC, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority says it "stands ready" to consider any proposals from Microsoft to restructure the transaction in a way that would address the regulator's concerns, according to an emailed statement.

Microsoft, Activision and CMA have made a joint submission to the Competition Appeal Tribunal to stay litigation in the UK."

 

[Astray]

More importantly, who the fuck is Mayor Pete??

Pete Buttigeg, current US Secretary of Transportation and former mayor lol.

Is there a possibility Activision flip the table to and demand more. Their shares at 92 USD and net worth at 71B, more than MS proposed.

No, the terms of the merger have been set from the beginning.

 

[TheHighFlyingBirds]

Still super curious WTF will come out of the CMA negotiations.

Just behavioral remedies or structural?

From what I understand MS has basically already said structural are off the table from the start.

Maybe MS changed their mind? People keep thinking that CMA agreeing to negotiate is them giving up and I'm just not so sure about that. Doesn't look good I'll admit but it didn't look good when they dropped the console SLC either.

Yes, its interesting to see what comes from this next round with the CMA. I will be a little disappointed if the CMA bends and lets it pass with minimal changes after having a strong stance they have repeated multiple times. If they do, then what is the point of having them, they will become a laughing stock to any big company. I certainly agree with others that if this goes through then the floodgates could open, as it will be used as the benchmark, i.e. if the largest 3P publisher can be bought then everything else will be no trivial.

As a side question, wasn't the FTC cased primarily based on consoles as opposed to the cloud, whilst the CMA focused on the cloud.

Anyway, its nearly over, so time to go play cod on my ps5, as cant see it being available on the ps6.

 

[Ansphn]

So you support consolidation if it protects Sony. Or are you opposed in principle?

I'm a man with a brain who is willing to adapt to the current rules if need be. I'm not going to sit around while my world burn overs principals if no one else follows that same principle.