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 .
Status
Not open for further replies.
Slicker than your average said:
Actually yeah I did think it through.

It's a very simple question. You can't afford to compete for exclusives but can spend 69 billion sounds so dumb. You know if they secured more and more exclusives they would have a bigger library and more exposure which means more customers...

You talk about rates of return and loss. So for you this unacceptable to lose money on buying the exclusives and hoping for profit . But it's ok to spend 70 billion that will take what 15 years to recoup at current Xbox levels of profit and revenue.

Oh wait apparently spending an insane amount doesn't count because they're buying assets but 100 million does.
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I would consider buying a major asset (a business with a consistent $1b+ rate of return) something easier to greenlight, yeah.

The other scenario is just of case of how Xbox wants to use the promotional money at the divisions disposal. I'm not against exclusivity deals at all, I can understand why it is done. It's also easy to see why it makes more sense to do it when you are 50/50 or better in console user base in comparison to your competitor vs when you have a lower %. A deal that costs the company with the 80% share $100m probably costs the company with the 20% share $500m, but that company will also have a lower return from any particular game, it just doesn't make sense. MS still does it, but they do it on smaller games for shorter periods of time because that makes the most sense.
 
Chiggs said:
Admittedly, Microsoft letting the deal slip between their fingers right now might very well be an incident their gaming division never recovers from.
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I looked up into the sky a few minutes ago. I don't see any planet-killer meteors coming our way. I think the deal is safe.
 
GHG said:
That's literally the position I'm in. It's not about justifying purchases, it's about seeing things for what they are. If Xbox (as a console) were competitive then you would have reason to use the Xbox alongside your PS5 and PC, I would too. But as it stands they are proving to be somewhat redundant for many gamers who have access to multiple platforms.

I'm with you when you say that Sony having competition will be good. However we need said competition to be of high quality and one that raises standards across the industry, one that gives people real reasons to engage on their platform. Not one that has been demonstrably poor for over a decade now, isn't interested in raising the barrier and uses their poor market performance as a justification to scoop up industry property on a mass scale when said industry property would have been fine as is. Yeh you might get your "free" call of duty for a while if you're a gamepass subscriber, but in the long run nobody wins unless these guys have a shift change in the way they're running the Xbox business. As it stands it's nothing but very expensive paper for the cracks.
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Agreed. This is why sometimes I feel like doom is going to happen to this industry more than its current state right now. Where are the awesome unique games from the PS1 and 2 days? all are we getting right now is just garbage compared to what we had before.

But as I said, I just feel like MS needs this push to give Sony some competition. MS just wants to be Netflix for games. I do not think they will win Sony not even in the next 10 or 15 years.

Ideally, they should have enough studios to push great games without Activision. but sadly, most of their studios are garbage compared to the talent Sony has. hopefully, Activision management stays the same. maybe this will give Xbox some decent games.
 
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Kilau said:
Guys, the deal doesn't go away at midnight PDT, nor "naturally extend". They just won't be locked in. Yes that would be interesting but it wouldn't be the end of it by itself.
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Given that ATVI can cash out with $3b how does that work?

By not cancelling the deal ATVI are losing interest per day on $3b..
That doesn't sound like an insignificant benefit for ATVI shareholders to let it go and give Microsoft a free extension
 
PaintTinJr said:
Given that ATVI can cash out with $3b how does that work?

By not cancelling the deal ATVI are losing interest per day on $3b..
That doesn't sound like an insignificant benefit for ATVI shareholders to let it go and give Microsoft a free extension
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I'm just saying, don't assume if midnight rolls around and there's been no word on extension that automatically means the deal died.
 
Kilau said:
I'm just saying, don't assume if midnight rolls around and there's been no word on extension that automatically means the deal died.
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But will a SEC filing immediately pop up here, like the one from yesterday - that looks like Warren Buffet/Hatheway cashed out completely?


edit: IIRC Bobby said Warren was like a mentor to him on cnbc news and was really proud Warren had bought a sizeable stake in ATVI.
 
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//DEVIL// said:
Agreed. This is why sometimes I feel like doom is going to happen to this industry more than its current state right now. Where are the awesome unique games from the PS1 and 2 days? all are we getting right now is just garbage compared to what we had before.

But as I said, I just feel like MS needs this push to give Sony some competition. MS just wants to be Netflix for games. I do not think they will win Sony not even in the next 10 or 15 years.

Ideally, they should have enough studios to push great games without Activision. but sadly, most of their studios are garbage compared to the talent Sony has. hopefully, Activision management stays the same. maybe this will give Xbox some decent games.
Click to expand...

Honestly I don't care who wins and loses, I just want some good games to play and more of them. I'm open to be proven wrong but I just don't see that if there is this industry-wide rush to be the "netflix of games" having seen what's happened to the TV/Movie industry in recent years along with the state of Netflix. The situation is further muddied by the fact that many of these companies seem to be doing everything in their power to push cloud adoption.

There's a reason why I no longer subscribe to Netflix and instead pick and choose the Movie/TV content I want to watch via outright purchasing them on the Apple TV, and I'm sad to say, most of it is older stuff. I'd hate to see gaming go the same way, but unfortunately we seem to be powerless to stop it.
 
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Mood today:
giphy.gif


Fingers crossed the negotiations go bad.
 
3liteDragon said:
Why 8 specifically?
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Marks the end of after hours trading.

PaintTinJr said:
But will a SEC filing immediately pop up here, like the one from yesterday - that looks like Warren Buffet/Hatheway cashed out completely?


edit: IIRC Bobby said Warren was like a mentor to him on cnbc news and was really proud Warren had bought a sizeable stake in ATVI.
Click to expand...

No, it's a 13G update which is required when there is a change in single shareholders who own over 5%. He's gone from owning over 5% to now 1.9% so that's a filing requirement.
 
DForce said:
1. Ask more from Microsoft to extend the deal.
2. Take 3 billion and accept another offer from someone else.
3. Take the 3 billion and just keep ABK and try to sell later.

1 will most likely happen.
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1 could still happen, but it would have already happened if both were fully committed.
 
GHG said:
Honestly I don't care who wins and loses, I just want some good games to play and more of them. I'm open to be proven wrong but I just don't see that if there is this industry-wide rush to be the "netflix of games" having seen what's happened to the TV/Movie industry in recent years along with the state of Netflix. The situation is further muddied by the fact that many of these companies seem to be doing everything in their power to push cloud adoption.

There's a reason why I no longer subscribe to Netflix and instead pick and choose the Movie/TV content I want to watch via outright purchasing them on the Apple TV, and I'm sad to say, most of it is older stuff. I'd hate to see gaming go the same way, but unfortunately we seem to be powerless to stop it.
Click to expand...
Besides the negative of decreasing quality there was a recent censoring of the French Connection digital copies. That fact that is even possible is Embarrassing.
 
//DEVIL// said:
I never said I am in favor of consolidation though. I said I am in favor of this merger. for personal reasons like :

- I like most Activison games but they are not worth 70$ for me, so at least I Can play them with a game pass for a month and then cancel my sub like I usually do when they have a high-profile game I want to play.
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Don't see how the same Activision games you love won't be subjected to budgetary restrictions that directly impact the quality of the game under a subscription model. This key concern of mine for Microsoft's approach to gaming has yet to be addressed.

//DEVIL// said:
- It's good to give Sony competition. they have been dominating the home console market for 20+ Years. How long you think Xbox will keep this loss if they didn't buy Activision? didn't at one point MS was about to give up during Xbox One era?
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As a PS fan, I would agree, so long as the acquisition actually leads to MS becoming more competitive with it's first party output (doubtful, imo). If that doesn't happen then all MS accomplishes is lessening Sony's ability to compete, resulting in net negative impact on gaming industry.

//DEVIL// said:
As far as Consolidation goes,Its happening regardless if we like it or not. if not MS then probably Tencent or Amazon or apple if they want to go to the gaming market. and frankly, I would rather MS have them over Tencent.
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Why? Tencent is a holding company, they're not trying to drastically alter the operations of the publishers they purchase.

ChorizoPicozo said:
wait a minute, people actually believe Activision is going to drop the deal?
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Well within the realm of possibility and wouldn't come close to the craziest thing that has happened throughout this entire ordeal.
 
8 has come and gone.

The deal has been extended naturally, just like the lifespan of this thread. (exclusive contract renewal with neogaf for marketing rights for an extra 2 months and 500 more pages)
 
Sleepwalker said:
8 has come and gone.

The deal has been extended naturally, just like the lifespan of this thread. (exclusive contract renewal with neogaf for marketing rights for an extra 2 months and 500 more pages)
Click to expand...

There's still time for them to do something in the next 4 hours but the most common times when things like this are announced have come and gone.

If anything is to happen today they really are taking it to the wire.

DIk5lNzW0AASA61
 
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GHG said:
There's still time for them to do something in the next 4 hours but the most common times when things like this are announced have come and gone.

If anything is to happen today they really are taking it to the wire.

DIk5lNzW0AASA61
Click to expand...

This is just an old soap opera technique. Eventually Phil is going to fall down an elevator shaft and it'll be revealed that Bobby was his long lost twin lover. I've seen it a million times.
 
havoc00 said:

22 House Republicans Call on FTC to Drop Opposition to Xbox's Activision Blizzard Merger


www.ign.com

22 House Republicans Call on FTC to Drop Opposition to Xbox's Activision Blizzard Merger - IGN

More than 20 Republicans in the US House of Reps penned a letter to the FTC, urging the regulator to drop its antitrust case against Microsoft.
www.ign.com www.ign.com
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"Instead of protecting competition as Congress intended, the FTC has spent taxpayer resources seeking to block a deal that promises to expand consumer choice and insulate a dominant foreign company from competition."
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0e4e68d3bbc776eb12f3b4ad3fbada6f.gif
 
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