ChorizoPicozo
Member
No.
Your are only focused in Acti-Blizz.
This deal goes beyond them, outside Xbox.
Microsoft / Activision Deal Approval Watch |OT| (MS/ABK close)
- Status
SenjutsuSage
Banned
Wow, some of these posts are so long. Can you guys keep the walls of text to a minimum plz... That's why I never do stuff like that. I keep it nice, concise, and to the point.
clearly i'm joking. I'm pretty much subject zero on long posts that can be made a lot shorter.
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adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Damn......Ass of Can Whooping has some awesome moves, don't he?
CCTV footage of
Ass of Can Whooping
and
C
Cheezewizz
fighting in the pharmacy line on the way to get their meds
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feynoob
Banned
Am I an
?That is on me. I type fast, and sometimes I skip some words.
I like black holes. It's very useful in cleaning the universe.
It might help you honestly.
It will be better if you focus on the original topic.
Maybe go back with your debate with
Ass of Can Whooping
You are getting out of topic with me.
And as for your most important question. I am multi language guy. So no, English isn't my first language. Has nothing to do with our original point though.
SenjutsuSage
Banned
SenjutsuSage
Banned
CCTV footage of
Holy shit, lady in blue's counter-attack game is strong.
feynoob
Banned
MS was first to made offer, these companies meeting happened after that, then MS submitted their 95$ share.
Plus those companies didn't express interest. It's Activision who did. They wanted them to make higher offer than MS, but they said no. So they went to back to MS and demanded the $95.
Wish I had the article.
Ass of Can Whooping
Gold Member
Oi stop @me you fucking tossers. I'm not some backstreet hoe you can call up when you want a go.
Cheezewizz
Banned
See. You win with just that last paragraph alone buddy. I apologize for everything I said, as it wasn't my intent to pick on you if English wasn't your first language. You go ahead and cancel that refund request for your education, and I'll write them a lengthy commendation letter on their outstanding work.Am I an
That is on me. I type fast, and sometimes I skip some words.
I like black holes. It's very useful in cleaning the universe.
It might help you honestly.
It will be better if you focus on the original topic.
Maybe go back with your debate with
You are getting out of topic with me.
And as for your most important question. I am multi language guy. So no, English isn't my first language. Has nothing to do with our original point though.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
Just thinking of the consequences of this deal between Xbox-Playstation is the fascinating part:
If someone believes Playstation is going to be crossed-arm sad and defeated saying: "well boyz, we just lost, there is nothing we can do to compete"
Is living in a fan-fiction world.
I just want this irrelevant circus (of the acquisition drama) to be over and move to the actions each company takes.
I believe next year is going to be unprecedented with games/annoucments and corporate messaging (Marketing-PR).is going to be a bloodbath.
Banjo64
cumsessed
feynoob
Banned
Why throw the towel. We were just having fun.
PS don't take these stuff serious. We are just having fun here.
Cheezewizz
Banned
Oh don't be so dramatic. Nobody said you were backstreet hoe.
We all know you're the crusty rag hanging on the trashcan... next to the backstreet hoe.
feynoob
Banned
Explain this then?
Ass of Can Whooping
Gold Member
Explain this then?
I'm so glad I gave you my STD you little cunt
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feynoob
Banned
I am watching black hole Netflix documentary, while enjoying this.
Cheezewizz
Banned
You all have a Merry Christmas. All this backstreet hoe and black hole talk is gonna leave a stain on my holiday spirit.
DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
Just wanna say merry Xmas! I think you all are genuinely awesome. Hope you get everything you want for Xmas.
3liteDragon
Member
Same to you mate.
bender
What time is it?
The_Mike
I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
I don't blame you, reading your comments on the last couple of pages shows you haven't seen it for a while.
I beg to god, where is common sense these days.
SenjutsuSage
Banned
Explain this then?
Busted in the act!
If this was presented in court, the jury would find him guilty.
feynoob
Banned
feynoob
Banned
Iced Arcade
Member
Can't wait for this deal to go through so I can play the single player campaigns on gamepass.... And PS plus!
sister and brother in laws they got me for Christmas wooooo
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adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
My in-laws got me a pair of socks ..
Iced Arcade
Member
Yeah that would be normal. I'm convinced they became drug dealers to be honest.
SenjutsuSage
Banned
Can't wait for this deal to go through so I can play the single player campaigns on gamepass.... And PS plus!
sister and brother in laws they got me for Christmas wooooo
Awesome, congrats dude. Merry Christmas!!! Play Last of us Remake Part 1 and God of War: Ragnarok right away. And of course Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Spider-Man remastered, if you haven't played the original, but also even if you already have. And if you can, confirm your model number for me. I bought a few PS5s again this holiday for family and friends, and I noticed some strange new model numbers that haven't been reported on, and wanted to confirm something.
As for this deal's approval and PS Plus, pretty sure any arrangement for PS Plus will be for a limited quantity of games with a preset availability period that expires in about 6 months to a year. Don't expect an Activision Blizzard catalog as large as or equal to what's on Game Pass. Or any day one PS Plus launches of Activision Blizzard games.
The_Mike
I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
Damn man grats that's truly a keeper.Can't wait for this deal to go through so I can play the single player campaigns on gamepass.... And PS plus!
sister and brother in laws they got me for Christmas wooooo
gothmog
Gold Member
Congrats. It is the best time to be a gamer.Can't wait for this deal to go through so I can play the single player campaigns on gamepass.... And PS plus!
sister and brother in laws they got me for Christmas wooooo
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
Here I am reading through the thread (and yes I admit I stupidly called someone a pseudo-lawyer on Twitter who turns out to be an actual lawyer at ABK. I don't read Twitter bios. Still doesn't mean her arguments are accurate though or I should say, 100% right. I.e there's lots of half-truths in there), just having a good time, and then comes another post once again blaming Sony for Sega's mistakes. How. Does. This. Keep. Happening?
For the 9,342,364,224,575th time, can we look at all the mistakes Sega made themselves that were responsible for them leaving the market as platform holder?:
-Limited per-game marketing during Genesis outside of games like Sonic
-Lack of smart localizations of Mega CD imports (relied on FMV games instead)
-The entire existence of 32X pissing off lots of Genesis/MegaDrive owners
-Rushed surprise May launch of Saturn in NA
-High launch price of Saturn (even if it included a bundled game)
-Poor early marketing of Saturn
-Pissing off major retailers due to surprise May Saturn launch (KB Toys boycotting Sega products, etc)
-Poor early SDKs for Saturn development
-Discontinuing Genesis/MegaDrive more or less in 1995 to focus exclusively on Saturn
-Saying the Saturn "wasn't their future" at E3 1997
-Lack of smart localizations of many Saturn Japan-only games
-High reliance on off-the-shelf parts for Saturn production increasing production costs
-Not making Saturn sequels of key Genesis/MegaDrive IP (Streets of Rage, Eternal Champions etc.)
-No mainline Sonic on Saturn
-Going a WHOLE YEAR in the West with NO retail presence at all until Dreamcast released
-Rushing Dreamcast launch in Japan
-No DVD support in Dreamcast
-Turning down EA's sports exclusivity offer for Dreamcast
-Not acquiring Lobotomy Software (technical mavericks with Saturn and made very innovative FPS shooter/adventure games)
-Pricing Dreamcast too low at launch (meant to be $249)
-Leaving MIL-CD exploit buried in Dreamcast BIOS code
-Overspending on Shenmue development
-Too much sunk costs into Gameworks that could've gone towards Dreamcast
And yet somehow, in spite of ALL of that, people still want to believe it was mostly Sony's fault?
I'm sorry but that just isn't factually the case. Sony just capitalized on Sega's bad business decisions. The amazing thing is even while Sega were ruining themselves, they still got a LOT of really great 1P and 3P exclusives between late-life Genesis/MegaDrive, Saturn, Dreamcast and their arcade systems.Let's put away this myth Sony were responsible for Sega leaving as platform holder, once and for all, because it was never true. Same for explaining Microsoft's failures in the market as a platform holder: 90% of that is Microsoft's own fault, not Sony's. Or Nintendo moving out of the high-performance console market; that was Sony capitalizing off bad decisions Nintendo themselves had been making.
The funny thing is, whenever PS3 gets brought up, NO ONE rushes to blame Microsoft or Nintendo for Sony's failures with that system. I wonder why they don't keep that same energy when discussing Sega, Microsoft or Nintendo?
...
Fabieter
Member
To say that sony is the main reason that Sega and Nintendo changed isnt very truthful to what happened.
It amazes me that people think the Status quo is worse than micrisoft owning half the successful console ips, but like I said all the cheerleading will change in 1 or 2 decades and sony will be missed
.
Rac3r
Member
Can't wait for this deal to go through so I can play the single player campaigns on gamepass.... And PS plus!
sister and brother in laws they got me for Christmas wooooo
Nice! I actually got my sister and brother-in-law a PS5 for Christmas. Opposite of what happened to you lol.
Snowdonhoffen
Member
I know this ain't the thread for this, but whatever that happens with this next year, it has been a fun and insightful thread.
Remember not to take anything personal, it's just that some people are just really passionate about the industry, just like with everything but at the end of the day we are here to enjoy this beautiful hobby we all love, Gaming. Merry Christmas y'all!
Remember not to take anything personal, it's just that some people are just really passionate about the industry, just like with everything but at the end of the day we are here to enjoy this beautiful hobby we all love, Gaming. Merry Christmas y'all!
mansoor1980
Gold Member
not gonna lie , i initially thought it was a real cat
DarkMage619
$MSFT
People have been predicting doom and gloom because of MS being in the gaming industry for 20 years. At some point you get over it and realize they have just as much a right to be in the industry as Sony and Nintendo. They've been making consoles longer than Sega now.To say that sony is the main reason that Sega and Nintendo changed isnt very truthful to what happened.
It amazes me that people think the Status quo is worse than micrisoft owning half the successful console ips, but like I said all the cheerleading will change in 1 or 2 decades and sony will be missed
KingT731
Member
Where is this "Doom and Gloom" around MS? Not rooting for pointless consolidation doesn't mean people hate MS/Xbox. Nobody has to be a groupie for any of these companies regardless of their preference which is exactly how things get worse.
DarkMage619
$MSFT
The constant unfounded 'predictions' of MS 'buying' the industry for starters. It isn't just MS buying studios either so market consolidation isn't really an issue. Did you ever think that some companies WANT to be under a larger company to free them to be more creative rather than constantly being worried that their next title could be their last? The consolidation in some instances is giving gamers additional ways to play titles that previously were not available.
The industry getting 'worse' has not been borne by the facts. New companies pop up all the time and hit games can come from anywhere. The industry has never been larger and more dynamic than it has been today.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
To say that sony is the main reason that Sega and Nintendo changed isnt very truthful to what happened.
It amazes me that people think the Status quo is worse than micrisoft owning half the successful console ips, but like I said all the cheerleading will change in 1 or 2 decades and sony will be missed
And the main reason some of us have an issue with them buying up these IP, is because we know from prior experience that Microsoft has not managed the majority of their currently owned IP very well whatsoever. If they had their head in the right space, we would have gotten sequels to Jet Force Gemini and Conker's Bad Fur Day by now. A new Battletoads that actually looked decent and was better than what came out. Halo would be in a better place than it is today. Gears would be better off. We would've had a sequel to Quantum Break. Phantom Dust remake would have actually happened. Crackdown wouldn't be dead. We'd of seen them expand more on Viva Pinata. The list goes on and on.
Yes Sony has several legacy IP they have done nothing with and some of those they probably should have done more in, and I personally still think is the case but...at least they have managed their big IPs and some of the smaller ones very well. Several of them have grown in scale and quality over time, ambition, and popularity. They've grown and improved the vast majority of their internal teams and have helped 3P studios grow as well through strategic partnerships for 3P exclusives (unlike MS, see Remedy (openly admits they were bottlenecked by MS through a lot of Quantum Break's development) and Platinum Games (Scalebound outright cancelled)).
Microsoft's consistently failed in those ways outside of specific teams like Turn 10, Coalition (who at best have barely managed to maintain Gears' quality with minimum drops, but haven't managed to grow the IP's appeal) and Playground. The few times they did, like with Cuphead, they failed to solidify the relationship. They failed to be consistent with their marquee IP that weren't racing games, and even in that case outside of Forza Horizon, failed to really grow them in terms of successful scope, ambition, or mainstream appeal. I'd also say they ignored more obvious legacy IP (franchises that could obviously have worked for their brand in a modern context) than Sony did: a real Banjo-Kazooie sequel should have happened years ago if they really wanted to appeal to family audiences, even a BK/Minecraft crossover type of game. They could have done more with Perfect Dark after Zero, but simply abandoned the IP because they had Halo 3. They could have countered Sony getting FF VII remake by working with Obsidian on a KOTOR Remake, to play into their nostalgia and history.
But Microsoft simply didn't care to compete. And THAT would have been real competition. Not simply buying up big publishers. So people will have to forgive some of us if we're weary about their plans with these publishers and their IP/franchises when MS's own history with IP they've owned forever is woefully behind Sony's and Nintendo's. The fear is that the same thing will befall the new IP being acquired, and that would lead to a reduction in viable IP franchises in the market.
Technically any company that wants to make a platform has a right to be in the industry, which makes one of the original reasons MS gave for making these acquisitions (to shut out Google, Apple etc. they said this back in 2020/2021 before the deal was approved) questionable. What gave Microsoft the right to decide to buy publishers to prevent other companies from having a viable means of accessing 3P content for platforms of their own so should they have wanted to enter the market?
They still don't have an answer for that and neither do the people cheerleading for the deal with ABK to go through.
Basically. I may be really critical of a lot of what they're saying and doing these days, especially with rhetoric around the acquisition and them enabling parts of their fanbase to perpetuate falsehoods in support of it etc. But there are still things about Xbox that I think they're doing well and that I like. Games like Grounded & Pentiment don't do anything on their own to help the brand's wider appeal in terms of mainstream cache, but it's nice to see MS funding those kind of games as a 1P publisher. Being able to preview games without a download through xCloud is a great feature to have, if you only need a few minutes of play to determine if a game's worth buying or downloading locally. And even though they want to pretend they don't do 3P exclusivity deals, the fact is they do, but it's generally a good thing they do when you can help bring out games like High on Life.
Conversely, I think Sony could really benefit from investing in a wider gauntlet of games, either making them 1P or licensing select IP out to 3P devs, to cover genres they did in the past but don't really do anymore. Or do the same with 3P IP that are strongly tied to their brand, but haven't seen new stuff in a while. UmJammer/Parappa, Tomba!, Sly Cooper, Jet Moto etc....I think more can be done with those IP. Maybe a polished AA Sly Cooper sequel or Jet Moto 1-3 remake collection, a new Parappa/UmJammer sequel (it wouldn't even need a huge budget, obviously) or Paper Mario-style JRPG but with rhythm mechanics. They could do more stuff like that for sure and actually when Sucker Punch mentioned they had "no current plans" with Sly Cooper I thought that kind of sucked. Like if they themselves aren't working with the IP I can understand, but can't Sony even work with a talented 3P developer team to do something on the smaller scale that's nonetheless high-quality? Why not do like Sega has with SoR4 & Sonic Mania, or maybe partner with Annapurna and the studio that made Stray to work with a suitable legacy Sony IP (or similar with Ember Lab)?
But one thing very obvious is, none of my suggestions really involve either MS or Sony buying up publishers or even developers. It's not that I'm inherently against the concept, but the fact a lot of people are going to it as the very first suggestion to resolving content issues, instead of an avoid-as-much-as-possible last resort that's rarely ever the answer, is troubling.
Fabieter
Member
Really great comment.
akimbo009
Gold Member
SenjutsuSage
Banned
I get where you're coming from, but Microsoft and Xbox have clearly demonstrated they are nothing to fear in the gaming space. They're committed to gaming and have been for a number of years now. As committed as any other player in the entire industry, including Sony, Nintendo, EA, Ubisoft, Steam, Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, and all the rest of the major players. And certainly far more than the likes of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, or whoever else could have been the one making make this exact transaction.
This transaction is nothing to fear. Here is when it would be a bridge too far even for someone like me who wants this thing to go through. If after acquiring Activision Blizzard Microsoft then makes an attempt for EA, Take Two, or Ubisoft. That's when we would be entering excessive and dangerous territory, but this specific transaction isn't that. This transaction is very much a major balancing of the power structure in gaming. It doesn't significantly change anything materially that hurts Playstation as a business or any other gaming customer anywhere else, but it dramatically enhances the experience of Xbox console owners and PC gamers, especially Game Pass subscribers. It even brings major benefits to people who don't own Xbox consoles based on the range of devices Game Pass cloud streaming is available on. It's something that helps game developers as well by allowing their games to be available to be played across many more devices. Having more people who can potentially end up trying out and becoming fans of a developer's work is a net positive for game developers. There are many games where streaming will be absolutely a viable alternative to a native experience. It will never be as good as native, but no one is ever expecting that. It's a compliment to the main experience.
That's the primary test for deals like this: Does it bring real benefits to consumers and people who are already in the target market for the products that are being acquired? The answer is a resounding yes. I also get excited at the possibility the studios will be granted a little more freedom to explore different types of products once the technical foundation of the new Call of Duty titles is settled, and it appears as if it will be now for a number of years. The primary reason so many studios had been switched over to Call of Duty was that the franchise was in a technical and design transition that required all hands on deck. I foresee some of that loosening up to allow other developers to pursue different games in time. I don't assume that these studios under Activision Blizzard will never touch other Xbox or even Bethesda IP. Activision Blizzard could easily end up with a Halo spin-off, they could help with the development of titles from other xbox first-party games. Create tech, produce art, share tech and tools, help optimize, everything is on the table with the acquisition. I don't think it's impossible that a studio internally at Activision Blizzard could get to work early on building content for a future Fallout 5, that way when Bethesda is ready to get around to it, there's a lot more content ready than typically be there had Bethesda not had the extra help. I'm just spitballing, but anything is possible.
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
See, this is where you and I have something in common. While I don't agree MS "need" ABK in order to "balance out the power structure in gaming" (because that sounds like others are being punished for winning the free market where customers speak with their wallets), I do agree that after ABK, MS need to chill out and focus on getting everything they have under some sense of order. Their plate is pretty full as-is, and will risk spilling over if/when the ABK deal is approved.
Any other big publisher after that should be called out for exactly what it will look like, especially if it's well before we start seeing consistent results and growth with what's already had: corporate greed and monopolization of power through resource hoarding. Because that's what it's going to end up looking like. You may end up with all the ABK studios and their IP. You already have Zenimax and their IP. You have Ninja Theory, Compulsion, Double Fine, inXile, Playground, Turn 10, Coalition, 343i, Rare, Mojang....
That aught to be well more than enough for ALL of their current and future gaming ambitions. That includes console, cloud, and mobile. Outside of maybe some smaller indie dev here or there (like the dev for High on Life, considering they'd seem like a shoe-in for a new Conker game), Microsoft shouldn't need any other developers or publishers IMHO. And no, they don't "need" a Japanese publisher for Japanese content; they already have Tango (a Japanese developer) and games like Minecraft are already pretty popular over there.
My other issue with the ABK acquisition though is, should it go through, if there's not enough stipulated in terms of guidelines or potential concessions, it'll make things a lot easier for other companies to just outright buy up many of the other big 3P publishers. A domino effect of mass, rapid consolidation, which would be horrible. If the ABK deal gets approved, I think it should come come with some limitations. Whether those be concessions like divesting a part or two of it, or wherein companies can't acquire additional devs or pubs of certain sizes for a period of some years and where their overall output with previous acquisitions are reviewed to determine if they have a legitimate reason to make a new acquisition, there needs to be something along those lines.
There's two questions here not answered though. First is, what are the "real benefits" to consumers in ABK being acquired that aren't reliant on the content being very cheap in GamePass? And, could those benefits have been had without ABK being acquired? From the things you mentioned:
-More studio freedom: I mean, maybe? But why have we still not necessarily seen that with some of MS's current studios? Coalition are nothing but a Gears studio, 343i are nothing but a Halo studio. I wouldn't be surprised if members from both have pitched new IP but were rejected. My understanding about so many ABK studios being put on COD was that ABK wanted a ton more content, and they needed those studios to create the content.
While having more teams via MS's teams to help create that content is a real thing, ABK could have also just hired more contractors or hired additional people for those positions. Granted, if some of them were hired away from say MS studios, that's a net negative for MS and there'd be a lot more steps involved in being able to work with those individuals (if at all), so that's a case where the acquisition could help with workforce flexibility of teams between studios.
-ABK studios helping XGS & Zenimax studios with dev: I mean this is also a potential benefit, but unfortunately for MS they already have a situation where they prove you don't NEED to acquire in order to facilitate this: Perfect Dark reboot. That's a co-development between The Initiative (a studio MS owns) and Crystal Dynamics (a dev they very much don't own), and seems to be going well.
Also unfortunately for Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo (but particularly Sony) can be used as counter-examples where you can get really deep co-development of games, sharing of resources etc. without a platform holder needing to acquire publishers or even developers. Games like Bayonetta 2 & 3 (co-developed by Nintendo & Platinum Games, Sega owning the IP but licensing it out to Nintendo), Bloodborne (Sony Japan Studio & From Software co-developed), Callisto Protocol (Sony VASG helping with mo-cap work & tech, in spite of the game being multiplat PS/Xbox/PC) etc. are all counter-examples to this idea.
ChuckeRearmed
Member
I hear that every generation
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