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

Do you believe the deal will be approved?


  • Total voters
    886
  • Poll closed .
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Hudo

Gold Member
What if Sony and Microsoft each inva... bought half of ActivisionBlizzard and constitute a.. I dunno, some form of "Non-aggression-pact".
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Sure, will see. I haven't read yet the opinion of any lawyer who thinks the FTC will be able to obtain a preliminary injunction let's say it seems highly probable the opposite as many are already saying
That is fine, and was never any of my arguments. Personally, I don't trust our legal system, a neutered FTC over the decades, our political system, or judge who's son works for MS. But I am open to a welcoming surprise. Maybe the appointment wild card will come through the most in the end of these few days.

But, this has been an entertaining ride, at least Day 1.
 
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RedC

Gold Member
Oh, it’s a classic one.

Somehow it never feels like the feeling would translate the same if it were Sony doing it. Why is that?
I wouldn't give a fuck either however I could at least understand why the feeling wouldn't translate the same if it were Sony doing it due to them being viewed as kicking the shit out of Xbox's ass.
 

splattered

Member
Are there any MS studio games on PS now since Bethesda buyout? There are none. Crazy they get a free pass from their own fans for snatching these multiplat titles away from the biggest chunk of the market.

Bungie putting Marathon on Xbox without a call from Herman Hulst to 'kill it now" tells you everything about their respective strategies.

Not really, to be fair Bungie would not sign under Sony unless they could remain multiplatform. you better believe Sony would have preferred to have them become exclusive if it were possible. In fact they probably are hoping they can strengthen their relationship with Bungie and eventually renegotiate making them an exclusive in house studio sooner rather than later.
 

VinnyG

Banned
You should justify all your points about why the FTC should be asphalted when it already hasn't happened in the first day (quite the opposite tbh), how you have calculated the 99.9% chance of FTC dropping the case if they fail to get the PI (when the first thing they can do is to appeal the PI verdict) and so on.

Instead I see we're just parroting the usual Microsoft's propaganda points my dear Neo Member with 3 posts since 2017.
we really have a different opinion on how things went yesterday. I've seen the ftc scamper from point to point looking like it's at the mercy of the wind. without obtaining anything concrete and above all giving the idea of not having a precise route. Ok maybe they wanted to pass microsoft as a "liar"? this could help the FTC, again assuming they don't retire early and want to continue, during the process but will never, ever get a preliminary injunction this way. Especially when in the US legal system it is allowed to reverse the acquisition if the actual process proves right the FTC. in conclusion this is not the way to get a PI and this is the only thing Ms is interested in at the moment. As soon as it's Ms turn, the differences in approach to the process will need to be evaluated. I, like many others, see it highly uphill for poor Lina and the FTC
 

NickFire

Member
Not really, to be fair Bungie would not sign under Sony unless they could remain multiplatform. you better believe Sony would have preferred to have them become exclusive if it were possible. In fact they probably are hoping they can strengthen their relationship with Bungie and eventually renegotiate making them an exclusive in house studio sooner rather than later.
All speculation. Equally possible Sony wanted nothing to do with spending that much to then throttle revenue for the company they were buying. And if that was a concern, publicly attributing the continued 3rd party (sorta) status to Bungie would give Sony cover when it keeps its other stuff exclsuive.
 

Ar¢tos

Member
Thank you. I see your reasoning, I just think there is not any legally sound argument here for Sony to have this deal blocked cause of you know, Xbox game pass in the event it ever becomes "a big deal". We will see I guess. It's funny that Xbox is being villified for making Starfield "exclusive" to console and PC, but Sony is not vilified for doing the same with studios they own. It's like this huge sticking point by the FCC re the acquisition, yet Sony is the world fucking leader in this by example. And this practice has immeasurably contributed to Sony's market domination. Yet MS are the ones being scolded for it. And, again, MS already put it in legally binding contracts for a decade that COD would never go xbox exclusive.

If a court compels MS to release its biggest games on their rivals console, like to get this deal done... some day a ruling might be required on whether the rival too should be compelled to release their biggest games for MS's console. Or Nintendo's console. It certainly opens the door. What if a studio Sony owns or buys (Bungie) comes out with a new game t hat's bigger than COD? No one blocked Sony from buying Bungie. It's a slippery slope there and I'm surprised Sony is even trying the tactic. COD isn't what it was. I just can't buy that COD is the sticking point in any way here. And if the sticking point is Game Pass or the sticking point is Cloud, I don't think any of Sony's arguments stand up.

"If you allow this deal then MS might apply a feature to some of the games, a feature we chose not to invest in!" Again there was a time I could steam Destiny 1 on my PS4 to my Xperia phone. It's all BS imo. And I'm still not convinced this is deal is even good for MS! Not unless there's still "something bigger" we all don't know about.

I love the discussion. I'm legit surprised Sony, the dominant market leader, has managed to successfully lobby so many influential regulators to its side here, with these flimsy arguments that don't pass the smell test.
What have you been smoking?
Xbox isn't being vilified for making Starfield exclusive. They are being vilified for saying to regulators that they had no incentive to take Bethesda games away from Playstation in order to get approval and then doing the opposite of what they said.

Sony is not doing the same with studios they own because they have never made such promises and Bungie is still multiplatform and is going to release Marathon on Xbox.

Are you really comparing Bungie to Activision/King?!?
For fuck sake, drop the Xbox discord guidelines.
Comparing a 2bn company with a 67bn company??
If MS wasn't blocked from buying Zenimax for 7.5bn with lots of IPs why would Bungie be blocked for 2bn with a single IP? (2bn + 1bn for talent retention)

Sony became market leader BY CONSUMER CHOICE , there is nothing any regulator can do about that because there is nothing wrong or illegal with it.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Yes, attack the person rather than the statement or argument.

Classic fallacy.

Feel free to not believe me.

I'll get over not getting people's validation. :messenger_crying:
I made a generalized observation. Laws of averages and all that malarkey.

This is not good for the industry, so why hope for it's consolidation by mega corp #2?
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
i think Nintendo should buy Kadokawa. u guys might laugh but it would be nice for them to bury Sony and M$ once and for all and establish the world wide Nintendo-Reich
 

splattered

Member
All speculation. Equally possible Sony wanted nothing to do with spending that much to then throttle revenue for the company they were buying. And if that was a concern, publicly attributing the continued 3rd party (sorta) status to Bungie would give Sony cover when it keeps its other stuff exclsuive.

You mean like Microsoft is doing with Bethesda content? Yeah like i said... two sides of the same coin.
 

FrankWza

Member
Philly left his leather and xbox t shirt costume behind this morning like...
Ben Affleck Superman Vs Batman GIF by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
Not really, to be fair Bungie would not sign under Sony unless they could remain multiplatform. you better believe Sony would have preferred to have them become exclusive if it were possible. In fact they probably are hoping they can strengthen their relationship with Bungie and eventually renegotiate making them an exclusive in house studio sooner rather than later.

The only thing that happened was they wanted assurances that they would stay independent or they would walk out of Bungie post acquisition. The entire deal is structured to appeal to the talent.

And honestly, why would Bungie be used for exclusives? Their strength is multiplayer games with transmedia potential, and you want as many players as possible for that.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
i think Nintendo should buy Kadokawa. u guys might laugh but it would be nice for them to bury Sony and M$ once and for all and establish the world wide Nintendo-Reich
From struggles enough with technical performance in their amazing games. Please don't murder them to the Switch only.
 
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RedC

Gold Member
I made a generalized observation. Laws of averages and all that malarkey.

This is not good for the industry, so why hope for it's consolidation by mega corp #2?
I honestly don't know if it's bad or good for the industry in the short and long term. However I do think with Xbox's expansion into PC, console, mobile, and cloud along with Game Pass, this acquisition will be hugely disruptive and vastly increase competition in the industry.
 
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splattered

Member
What have you been smoking?
Xbox isn't being vilified for making Starfield exclusive. They are being vilified for saying to regulators that they had no incentive to take Bethesda games away from Playstation in order to get approval and then doing the opposite of what they said.

Sony is not doing the same with studios they own because they have never made such promises and Bungie is still multiplatform and is going to release Marathon on Xbox.

Are you really comparing Bungie to Activision/King?!?
For fuck sake, drop the Xbox discord guidelines.
Comparing a 2bn company with a 67bn company??
If MS wasn't blocked from buying Zenimax for 7.5bn with lots of IPs why would Bungie be blocked for 2bn with a single IP? (2bn + 1bn for talent retention)

Sony became market leader BY CONSUMER CHOICE , there is nothing any regulator can do about that because there is nothing wrong or illegal with it.

But they haven't removed any Bethesda games from Playstation? Anything that was available pre-acquisition is still available and supported on Playstation. Future games will also be released on Playstation and Nintendo on a case by case basis as stated. Does that mean no more Bethesda Xbox exclusives? Of course not. But there will be games released on multiple platforms which are most likely live service type stuff or smaller community driven games like minecraft/legends etc. No lies here, just not what Sony fans want to hear because they want ALL the games on their platform.
 

NickFire

Member
But they haven't removed any Bethesda games from Playstation? Anything that was available pre-acquisition is still available and supported on Playstation. Future games will also be released on Playstation and Nintendo on a case by case basis as stated. Does that mean no more Bethesda Xbox exclusives? Of course not. But there will be games released on multiple platforms which are most likely live service type stuff or smaller community driven games like minecraft/legends etc. No lies here, just not what Sony fans want to hear because they want ALL the games on their platform.
That's not true. We want nothing to do with Redfall. Don't you put that voodoo on us Ricky Bobby!
 

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
i think Nintendo should buy Kadokawa. u guys might laugh but it would be nice for them to bury Sony and M$ once and for all and establish the world wide Nintendo-Reich
Nintendo didn't even buy the Pokemon devs. So I think we are good on that front.

I don't want any of the big 3 to purchase any big publishers/devs. I don't want MS to get this deal, and I don't want Sony to try the same with a Japanese company, I'll throw a fucking fit, if Sony tries to buy like Capcom or something. No buying! At all, IMO. Concentrate on your first party games and Capcom, if MK1 can get a native version on Switch, then make a SF6 for Switch.

This was my TED talk. Thank you.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Nintendo didn't even buy the Pokemon devs. So I think we are good on that front.

I don't want any of the big 3 to purchase any big publishers/devs. I don't want MS to get this deal, and I don't want Sony to try the same with a Japanese company, I'll throw a fucking fit, if Sony tries to buy like Capcom or something. No buying! At all, IMO. Concentrate on your first party games and Capcom, if MK1 can get a native version of MK1, then make a SF6 for Switch.

This was my TED talk. Thank you.
The Office Thank You GIF
 

Astray

Member
Whoever looks like the winner after FTC case should get to trade Activision one of their PR people for Lulu. Shes got good energy and the Diablo joke post was promising for future non-console war console war posts from corporate figureheads.
The funniest thing involving Lulu is when that ResetEra poster confused her with some adult actress.

The rest of her output should be thrown into the nearest garbage can imo, she is the very personification of "how do you do, fellow kids?" energy.
i think Nintendo should buy Kadokawa. u guys might laugh but it would be nice for them to bury Sony and M$ once and for all and establish the world wide Nintendo-Reich
I believe Sony has a share in that company (which gives them some holdings in From Software iirc), but not sure.
 

VinnyG

Banned
Vinny, you have 6 messages. How do you know what I’m better than?

I am the bottom of the barrel G.
Because I'm here from lots of years ? you so good at looking at people messages history but not so good at looking at the year? I repeat, why do you use the m$ symbol? it's famous for being used only by haters and opposite fanboys and i think it's banned on neogaf like all the other meme names ,you look smart you should know that.
 

Elios83

Member
we really have a different opinion on how things went yesterday. I've seen the ftc scamper from point to point looking like it's at the mercy of the wind. without obtaining anything concrete and above all giving the idea of not having a precise route. Ok maybe they wanted to pass microsoft as a "liar"? this could help the FTC, again assuming they don't retire early and want to continue, during the process but will never, ever get a preliminary injunction this way. Especially when in the US legal system it is allowed to reverse the acquisition if the actual process proves right the FTC. in conclusion this is not the way to get a PI and this is the only thing Ms is interested in at the moment. As soon as it's Ms turn, the differences in approach to the process will need to be evaluated. I, like many others, see it highly uphill for poor Lina and the FTC

It was the first day.
They were able to paint Microsoft like a bunch of liars that have used a previous acquisition in anticompetitive ways.
What point Microsoft was able to prove yesterday in their defense?
Nothing?
FTC just needs to raise enough anticompetitive concerns to justify a PI.
They will need to leverage what the CMA has done and all the anticompetitive concerns raised by other regulators including EU itself.
I'm looking forward to see what happens, you have already decided they'll get asphalted.
Those are just Microsoft’s propaganda mantras that we have been hearing for months.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Do you really think those fines are gonna come off easy?

We are talking about the CMAs very existence here, MS basically ignoring them and getting off easy will set a path for other companies to ignore the CMA going forward.

UK regulation is basically dead.

And if UK regulation is dead, next will be the EU and the FTC. And if all three of them are dead, then regulation basically any and everywhere is dead.
 

RedC

Gold Member
Nintendo didn't even buy the Pokemon devs. So I think we are good on that front.

I don't want any of the big 3 to purchase any big publishers/devs. I don't want MS to get this deal, and I don't want Sony to try the same with a Japanese company, I'll throw a fucking fit, if Sony tries to buy like Capcom or something. No buying! At all, IMO. Concentrate on your first party games and Capcom, if MK1 can get a native version on Switch, then make a SF6 for Switch.

This was my TED talk. Thank you.
The problem is the assumption that these studios/publishers will exist in the same way in the future as they are now when we know that's highly unlikely.
 
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