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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havoc00 said:
When parents left me alone for the first time for a trip I ate 4 day old left out pizza hut pizza and it was pretty good
Click to expand...
Did you end up like this?
lT5H315.jpg
 
Metacritic Top 5 publisher of the year wins since 2011. Sony has been near the top for years, but I was surprised that they only took 1st once in the 13th annual for last year, but ABK has been sleeper good as well.

Microsoft - 4th, 1st, 2nd, 1st
Sony - 4th, 3rd, 5th, 4th, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 2nd, 1st
ABK - 4th, 4th, 2nd, 5th, 4th, 3rd
Bethesda - 1st, 5th
 
So I haven't been following this news for a while. Can someone explain to me what's going on? Is the deal going through or not?
 
feynoob said:
Dont you guys want to punch jim ryan next gen?
Phil is too weak to face jim.
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All I will say is the current management strategy needs improvement. The situation at 343 proved that. Also they need to keep a closer eye on their studios. Give them some autonomy but don't just ignore them.
 
Corndog said:
All I will say is the current management strategy needs improvement. The situation at 343 proved that. Also they need to keep a closer eye on their studios. Give them some autonomy but don't just ignore them.
Click to expand...

Agreed here. Microsoft definitely needs to start being involved in their own studios more. It's like the wild wild west, and while a lot of people want publishers to give their studios freedom, Microsoft is a cautionary tale of maybe some more oversight would be bad, lol.
 
Jigsaah said:
Welp, I guess congrats to those who wanted this to go through. I leaned more against the deal, but what's done is done by Tuesday it seems.

All we can do is hope consumers do actually benefit from the deal. I'll definitely take advantage of the gamepass games cuz I'm not a sore loser. So I guess that's a start
Click to expand...

Yeah congratulations to our Xbox brothers and sisters. Y'all done it. So I tipped my cap to you all.

But this experience has hardened my beliefs on the gaming market. I will 100% dig in to the strategy that both PlayStation and Nintendo adhere to. I will be doubling down on buying my games both digital and physical.

And if in the far future Microsoft succeeds by putting game pass on PlayStation the only games I have promised myself to never buy our Games published by Microsoft themselves. I've decided I really need to put my money where my mouth is and if I truly believe Microsoft is on the way to ruining the industry with this level of consolidation but also setting up the so-called best deal and gaming with Game Pass, then the only way I can personally feel okay as a gamer is to support the companies that Supply the games that I like with the distribution models that I know supports the industry.

I'm looking at everything that's happening with Hollywood right now and it's very obvious how much subscription services and streaming has messed up the market when it comes to TV and movies. And it's only due to the fact that Hollywood has some of the strongest unions in America, that those creatives at least get to fight back against these greedy corporations. But the far majority of people who work in the video game industry do not have a union to fight for them. So here I stand vowing to never buy an Xbox branded Hardware or Microsoft published game. And if Microsoft succeeds and killing the PlayStation brand by choking them out of all third-party developers and publishers then I'll be joining my PC overlords in the master race. And I'll be asking my PC brothers and sisters what type of PC can I build for $2,000. Wow also refusing to ever spend a dollar on PC game pass.
 
mckmas8808 said:
Yeah congratulations to our Xbox brothers and sisters. Y'all done it. So I tipped my cap to you all.

But this experience has hardened my beliefs on the gaming market. I will 100% dig in to the strategy that both PlayStation and Nintendo adhere to. I will be doubling down on buying my games both digital and physical.
Click to expand...
For someone concerned with game preservation, wouldn't you rather be in an ecosystem that is clear about not just BC, but forwards compatibility?

Will PS4 games have hurdles running on PS6? Will you lose access to some classics you really enjoyed?

Gamepass is just an option.
 
93xfan said:
For someone concerned with game preservation, wouldn't you rather be in an ecosystem that is clear about not just BC, but forwards compatibility?

Will PS4 games have hurdles running on PS6? Will you lose access to some classics you really enjoyed?

Gamepass is just an option.
Click to expand...

PS4 games will 100% play on the PS6. Gone are the days of exotic hardware like the PS3. So no I don't worry about backward or forward compatiblity anymore.
 
feynoob said:
If Sony losses COD revenue, its a game over for them.
Click to expand...

It'd be a blow, but don't overstate its importance.

feynoob said:
That money helps them fund their marketing budget and timed exclusive.
It also helps Sony business keep afloat.
Click to expand...

Not every iteration of CoD does equally well, if it was that critical you'd see revenue drops on bad years and spikes on good. This doesn't happen.

feynoob said:
Look at Xbox. Without MS backing, it would have been closed long time.
Click to expand...

Yes, because its not a well run segment.

feynoob said:
Sony cant play those games. They need to keep the light for their company.
Click to expand...

No single franchise is irreplaceable. Objectively how many million consoles do you think not having CoD do you think its going to cost them? You really think its going to halve or more the install-base? Because that's the sort of apocalyptic scenario that it would take.

And honestly, thinking the CoD gravy-train is going to continue eternally is a real stretch. Its been dominant for a long time but you could argue that's because noones been motivated to compete head-to-head with it. And the second MS makes it known that they are abandoning the entire Playstation market I'm pretty sure there'll be several contenders for the newly vacant throne.

And I'm sure more competition would be welcomed by PC players too, because frankly there's been no shortage of discontent over the past few years with Activision's stewardship of the brand. The once pretty active CoD zombies streaming community has basically quit the game in disgust over the last couple of releases for example.
 
mckmas8808 said:
But this experience has hardened my beliefs on the gaming market. I will 100% dig in to the strategy that both PlayStation and Nintendo adhere to. I will be doubling down on buying my games both digital and physical.
Click to expand...
Don't be like that man.
All you are doing is wasting your money.

This is a hobby, not a war. You have 0 part in those companies.

You as a consumer is to enjoy your hobby.

I mean look at how many IPs is rotting by these companies. All they are doing is making games that makes more money to them, while leaving you alone with your old nostalgia.
 
mckmas8808 said:
Yeah congratulations to our Xbox brothers and sisters. Y'all done it. So I tipped my cap to you all.

But this experience has hardened my beliefs on the gaming market. I will 100% dig in to the strategy that both PlayStation and Nintendo adhere to. I will be doubling down on buying my games both digital and physical.

And if in the far future Microsoft succeeds by putting game pass on PlayStation the only games I have promised myself to never buy our Games published by Microsoft themselves. I've decided I really need to put my money where my mouth is and if I truly believe Microsoft is on the way to ruining the industry with this level of consolidation but also setting up the so-called best deal and gaming with Game Pass, then the only way I can personally feel okay as a gamer is to support the companies that Supply the games that I like with the distribution models that I know supports the industry.

I'm looking at everything that's happening with Hollywood right now and it's very obvious how much subscription services and streaming has messed up the market when it comes to TV and movies. And it's only due to the fact that Hollywood has some of the strongest unions in America, that those creatives at least get to fight back against these greedy corporations. But the far majority of people who work in the video game industry do not have a union to fight for them. So here I stand vowing to never buy an Xbox branded Hardware or Microsoft published game. And if Microsoft succeeds and killing the PlayStation brand by choking them out of all third-party developers and publishers then I'll be joining my PC overlords in the master race. And I'll be asking my PC brothers and sisters what type of PC can I build for $2,000. Wow also refusing to ever spend a dollar on PC game pass.
Click to expand...

Will be hilarious when it catches up to the devs. I'll be there telling them to eat shit and suck Ms's dick.
 
Clear said:
It'd be a blow, but don't overstate its importance.



Not every iteration of CoD does equally well, if it was that critical you'd see revenue drops on bad years and spikes on good. This doesn't happen.



Yes, because its not a well run segment.



No single franchise is irreplaceable. Objectively how many million consoles do you think not having CoD do you think its going to cost them? You really think its going to halve or more the install-base? Because that's the sort of apocalyptic scenario that it would take.

And honestly, thinking the CoD gravy-train is going to continue eternally is a real stretch. Its been dominant for a long time but you could argue that's because noones been motivated to compete head-to-head with it. And the second MS makes it known that they are abandoning the entire Playstation market I'm pretty sure there'll be several contenders for the newly vacant throne.

And I'm sure more competition would be welcomed by PC players too, because frankly there's been no shortage of discontent over the past few years with Activision's stewardship of the brand. The once pretty active CoD zombies streaming community has basically quit the game in disgust over the last couple of releases for example.
Click to expand...
Sony can't afford to take a hit on their revenue. They don't have a huge backing like MS who can take those hits.

PS3 almost sank PS brand. Losing that revenue will set a huge avalanche for their future revenue.

This is how much COD generated on PS.
Although the numbers in Ryan's letter are blacked out, eagle-eyed observers have noticed the information is see-through and the values can still be read. The main figure that has been pulled from this document, is that "in 2021, Call of Duty directly generated $800 million in United States spending for SIE."
Click to expand...

That is 240m for 1 year. That is how much Sony will lose from COD just from America alone.

Now imagine worldwide revenue.

Regardless of future COD output, Sony needs that revenue to bring more content to their system.
 
feynoob said:
Don't be like that man.
All you are doing is wasting your money.

This is a hobby, not a war. You have 0 part in those companies.

You as a consumer is to enjoy your hobby.

I mean look at how many IPs is rotting by these companies. All they are doing is making games that makes more money to them, while leaving you alone with your old nostalgia.
Click to expand...

I feel ya. But it's not like I'm going to be buying games I don't like lol.

There's been plenty of times where I was interested in a game and just borrowed from a friend for a few weeks. Now........ I'll buy it when it goes on sale to $30 or $40.

As an example, I probably would have borrowed or rented FF16 and Alan Wake 2 this year and bought Spiderman 2 and a few VR games this Fall. But now I'm 100% going to be buying FF16 and Alan Wake 2. Depending on how well AW2 reviews will determine how long I'll wait to buy it.

BUT I've loved this hobby too long (I'm 39 years old) to not fully support the games and business model that I like. I can't complain about it if I'm not putting my money where my mouth is.
 
Thirty7ven said:
As Gamepass grows third parties will lean more and more on platforms other than Xbox, it's funny how fans don't see this.
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There were ones here for years swearing that Yakuza and Persona weren't on Xbox because of these exclusive marketing deals. It turned out Sega didn't want to risk it with such poor interest in Japanese games, and MS paid for all the risk instead for Sega. Some fans want to see an answer and will block out the light.
 
Thirty7ven said:
As Gamepass grows third parties will lean more and more on platforms other than Xbox, it's funny how fans don't see this.
Click to expand...
????
Doesn't gamepass growth means more Xbox users?

Current situation is the result of Xbox not having enough userbase that buys those games. That affects the overall sales. 55+m won't be able to generate enough sales, especially when the majority of the userbase are from US and UK.

Plus those devs get money from MS. They aren't putting their games there for free. They will be dumb to do so.
 
mckmas8808 said:
Yeah congratulations to our Xbox brothers and sisters. Y'all done it. So I tipped my cap to you all.

But this experience has hardened my beliefs on the gaming market. I will 100% dig in to the strategy that both PlayStation and Nintendo adhere to. I will be doubling down on buying my games both digital and physical.

And if in the far future Microsoft succeeds by putting game pass on PlayStation the only games I have promised myself to never buy our Games published by Microsoft themselves. I've decided I really need to put my money where my mouth is and if I truly believe Microsoft is on the way to ruining the industry with this level of consolidation but also setting up the so-called best deal and gaming with Game Pass, then the only way I can personally feel okay as a gamer is to support the companies that Supply the games that I like with the distribution models that I know supports the industry.

I'm looking at everything that's happening with Hollywood right now and it's very obvious how much subscription services and streaming has messed up the market when it comes to TV and movies. And it's only due to the fact that Hollywood has some of the strongest unions in America, that those creatives at least get to fight back against these greedy corporations. But the far majority of people who work in the video game industry do not have a union to fight for them. So here I stand vowing to never buy an Xbox branded Hardware or Microsoft published game. And if Microsoft succeeds and killing the PlayStation brand by choking them out of all third-party developers and publishers then I'll be joining my PC overlords in the master race. And I'll be asking my PC brothers and sisters what type of PC can I build for $2,000. Wow also refusing to ever spend a dollar on PC game pass.
Click to expand...
Don't concern yourself so much, it's not worth it. You can reduce your gaming time and start a new hobby.

I used to play 6h/day until I got burned out and quit gaming for about 1 year.
I started new hobbies (some exercise and piano lessons) and got back to gaming 1-2h/day.
I stopped caring for AAA gaming, it became boring, pricey, so I'll just sit back playing indies and watch the gaming industry burn.
 
mckmas8808 said:
I feel ya. But it's not like I'm going to be buying games I don't like lol.

There's been plenty of times where I was interested in a game and just borrowed from a friend for a few weeks. Now........ I'll buy it when it goes on sale to $30 or $40.

As an example, I probably would have borrowed or rented FF16 and Alan Wake 2 this year and bought Spiderman 2 and a few VR games this Fall. But now I'm 100% going to be buying FF16 and Alan Wake 2. Depending on how well AW2 reviews will determine how long I'll wait to buy it.

BUT I've loved this hobby too long (I'm 39 years old) to not fully support the games and business model that I like. I can't complain about it if I'm not putting my money where my mouth is.
Click to expand...
I stand by the mantra of if you don't like something, then don't do it too. We may all very well just be a tiny demographic statistic pissing in the wind of change. But hats off and I respect your take. I'm the same. It may make no difference, but I'll die on the hill regardless. 😎
 
mckmas8808 said:
I feel ya. But it's not like I'm going to be buying games I don't like lol.

There's been plenty of times where I was interested in a game and just borrowed from a friend for a few weeks. Now........ I'll buy it when it goes on sale to $30 or $40.

As an example, I probably would have borrowed or rented FF16 and Alan Wake 2 this year and bought Spiderman 2 and a few VR games this Fall. But now I'm 100% going to be buying FF16 and Alan Wake 2. Depending on how well AW2 reviews will determine how long I'll wait to buy it.

BUT I've loved this hobby too long (I'm 39 years old) to not fully support the games and business model that I like. I can't complain about it if I'm not putting my money where my mouth is.
Click to expand...
My advice would be to enjoy it while you can.

This is nothing but a hobby. There will be a time when it becomes a meaningless hobby.

I went 2-3 years without playing any PC/console video games. Before that, I used to play video games nonstop.

That stop made me enjoy games less and less these days. I don't know if I will have the desire to play them in 10 years from now.

Don't care about these companies or their practices. Appreciate your hobby while you can.
 
mckmas8808 said:
PS4 games will 100% play on the PS6. Gone are the days of exotic hardware like the PS3. So no I don't worry about backward or forward compatiblity anymore.
Click to expand...
Can't you just see it.

"Some PS5 games will need a patch to run on the PS6. We're working hard to bring over some of the more popular PS4 games with patches, but for the most part, who'd want want to play games that look like that?!"

Think sony will really keep up with that in the long run?
 
93xfan said:
Can't you just see it.

"Some PS5 games will need a patch to run on the PS6. We're working hard to bring over some of the more popular PS4 games with patches, but for the most part, who'd want want to play games that look like that?!"

Think sony will really keep up with that in the long run?
Click to expand...
It was only 10 years ago that Microsoft didn't give a piss about backwards compatibility and thought Kinect and DRM were the best thing in the world.

In all likelihood, they'll change strategy as soon as they have a new management team in place.
 
Ass of Can Whooping said:
Satanic cult
Click to expand...
Nope, just gamers that appreciate not having to spend $70 on a new game and who live the variety offered in Gamepass.

Also, a much better collection of games when taking BC into account. Better MP games too. Halo MCC still is easily one of the best online experiences out there.

Sorry you have to try and use personal attacks to justify your emotions. Since you all don't care much about playing older games, maybe it will be an easy switch to Xbox?
 
93xfan said:
Nope, just gamers that appreciate not having to spend $70 on a new game and who live the variety offered in Gamepass.

Also, a much better collection of games when taking BC into account. Better MP games too. Halo MCC still is easily one of the best online experiences out there.

Sorry you have to try and use personal attacks to justify your emotions. Since you all don't care much about playing older games, maybe it will be an easy switch to Xbox?
Click to expand...

Would you like a meltdown?
 
Banjo64 said:
It was only 10 years ago that Microsoft didn't give a piss about backwards compatibility and thought Kinect and DRM were the best thing in the world.

In all likelihood, they'll change strategy as soon as they have a new management team in place.
Click to expand...

And as great as Microsoft's BC efforts are, they've abandoned the effort to bring more games to the offering. You could argue that Sony is doing more on this front these days thanks to their own Game Pass-like service. I just booted up Wild Arms on my PS5 which I purchased during the PS3-days.
 
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