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[MasterCornholio]

That was times financial.

It was times financial. Everyone was quoting them.

Don't believe they were the only ones. Many thought it would go through after Sonys argument was dropped.

Of course, this remains a rumor, but The Financial Times usually has excellent sources. If the UK approved the deal, Microsoft would be very close to succeeding in its goal. The European Union is also expected to share its ruling shortly, but previous rumors also suggested they would approve it.

I don't know if the Financial Times made the claim that they had inside sources. However it seems like sites quoting are assuming they did.

 

[feynoob]

Don't believe they were the only ones. Many thought it would go through after Sonys argument was dropped.

Because people were quoting them nonstop.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/wccfte...izzard-expected-to-be-approved-in-the-uk/amp/

 

[MasterCornholio]

Because people were quoting them nonstop.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/wccfte...izzard-expected-to-be-approved-in-the-uk/amp/

Why are you ignoring me?

You do know I've been quoting those sources right?

 

[feynoob]

Why are you ignoring me?

You do know I've been quoting those sources right?

Blame the late edit.
I only got first part of your post.

 

[MasterCornholio]

Blame the late edit.
I only got first part of your post.

Nah I'm blaming you for this.

 

[Ronin_7]

Some hopium written by someone from purple town


https://gameranx.com/updates/id/465...egically-steer-the-cma-to-not-get-in-the-way/

This shit is just insanity at this point

 

[MasterCornholio]

This shit is just insanity at this point

British businesses?

Doesn't sound like they are talking about the ABK deal.

 

[feynoob]

Do you fking job. End this shit and free us from this hell.

 

[harry mason 1989]

Do you fking job. End this shit and free us from this hell.

I still think this drama will end before July even if the eu approve this deal

 

[MasterCornholio]

I still think this drama will end before July even if the eu approve this deal

True that ABK would have to want to continue this past July. Something that might not happen IMO especially if the chances of approval are low.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Do you fking job. End this shit and free us from this hell.

No!
Approve it!
Let MS and ATK go at it for years!
Sage is going to look like a bald 90 year man with skin like parchment by the end of it from so much crying and jerking off at the same time.
I wanna see ERA slowly burn from despair and have their hopes completely shattered.
I hope this drags for 10 years! (pun intended)

 

[MasterCornholio]

No!
Approve it!
Let MS and ATK go at it for years!
Sage is going to look like a bald 90 year man with skin like parchment by the end of it from so much crying and jerking off at the same time.
I wanna see ERA slowly burn from despair and have their hopes completely shattered.
I hope this drags for 10 years! (pun intended)

You know that's probably how Microsoft will beat the CMA. In 10 years they will sabotage their cloud business and then try to aquire ABK again.

 

[Ar¢tos]

You know that's probably how Microsoft will beat the CMA. In 10 years they will sabotage their cloud business and then try to aquire ABK again.

They might sabotage it without even knowing that they are doing it....

 

[Ronin_7]

No!
Approve it!
Let MS and ATK go at it for years!
Sage is going to look like a bald 90 year man with skin like parchment by the end of it from so much crying and jerking off at the same time.
I wanna see ERA slowly burn from despair and have their hopes completely shattered.
I hope this drags for 10 years! (pun intended)

Best scenario is this drags & Phil Spencer keeps doing a shit ass job at Xbox so we can laugh hard

 

[Thirty7ven]

Do you fking job. End this shit and free us from this hell.

EC will aprove, bet the house on it.

 

[MasterCornholio]

They might sabotage it without even knowing that they are doing it....

 

[Bernardougf]

Im going to bet that if the EU blocks the deal the thread in the lalaland forum will remain closed forever

 

[jarrichvdv]

Best scenario is this drags & Phil Spencer keeps doing a shit ass job at Xbox so we can laugh hard

Not sure why anyone would celebrate Xbox struggling. They'll be fine.

 

[jarrichvdv]

I still think this drama will end before July even if the eu approve this deal

Even with all the FTC stuff that's scheduled for August?

 

[MasterCornholio]

Even with all the FTC stuff that's scheduled for August?

I believe that's due to how the deal is structured. The due date for all the regulators approval is in July. If they all approve before then the merger will go through. If not (in this case) they need to renegotiate with ABK to extend it.

 

[reinking]

EC will aprove, bet the house on it.

I will bet your house on it.

 

[Iced Arcade]

Week before the decision, the CMA was expected to pass So wouldn't go all in on the EU passing it.

 

[Bernardougf]

Not sure why anyone would celebrate Xbox struggling. They'll be fine.

Anyone who thinks they were doing a hail mary and trying to buyout the industry with big daddy MS money to push even harder this gamepass nonsense ... so yes IF this is their goal and mentality they can go fuck off and die

And MS will be fine .. xbox ? Not so much

 

[jarrichvdv]

Week before the decision, the CMA was expected to pass So wouldn't go all in on the EU passing it.

That was mostly within the online community. There was not a lot of insider reporting around the CMA.

 

[reinking]

I believe that's due to how the deal is structured. The due date for all the regulators approval is in July. If they all approve before then the merger will go through. If not (in this case) they need to renegotiate with ABK to extend it.

With little understanding, I still believe the deal is on life support since the CMA has blocked but if the EC approves maybe it gives ABK hope and they extend.

 

[feynoob]

He is alive everyone
DarkMage619

 

[MasterCornholio]

He is alive everyone
DarkMage619

He's watching us I bet.

Just waiting for his moment when positive ABK news comes out.

 

[Dick Jones]

He's watching us I bet.

Just waiting for his moment when positive ABK news comes out.

Like Diablo 4 being good. That's positive ABK news

British businesses?

Doesn't sound like they are talking about the ABK deal.

Microsoft will send an email to the CAT explaining their original submission contained errors. They meant this is the head of Xbox Division.

 

[jarrichvdv]

Anyone who thinks they were doing a hail mary and trying to buyout the industry with big daddy MS money to push even harder this gamepass nonsense ... so yes IF this is their goal and mentality they can go fuck off and die

And MS will be fine .. xbox ? Not so much

What's wrong with Game Pass? Do you also hate Netflix for giving people more options to watch their favourite content?

 

[Topher]

Even with all the FTC stuff that's scheduled for August?

It is possible. July is the deadline for the deal based on the agreement. Could be AB takes the $3 billion and runs.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

It is possible. July is the deadline for the deal based on the agreement. Could be AB takes the $3 billion and runs.

It’ll be interesting seeing what Kotick does after July

Guy made the easiest $3B of his life while he could wait out the scandal

 

[Heisenberg007]

Damn....sorry. I misread.

 

[Heisenberg007]

What's wrong with Game Pass? Do you also hate Netflix for giving people more options to watch their favourite content?

Nothing is wrong with Game Pass. Microsoft can always sign a deal with ABK to get their games on Game Pass, day one or later.

However, acquisitions prevent those games from coming to other consoles. And that's fewer options for gamers. Do you support Microsoft's acquisitions that reduce options for hundreds of millions of gamers?

 

[demigod]

What's wrong with Game Pass? Do you also hate Netflix for giving people more options to watch their favourite content?

“I’ll wait until it hits gamepass”. That’s whats wrong with it. Folks still go to the theaters and i never hear folks saying “I’ll wait until it hits Netflix”. Gamepass has taught their customers not to buy games. Have you seen Redfall? That’s another issue. When folks don’t have to buy games, the quality goes down. It allows the publisher to release buggy games.

 

[geary]

https://gameranx.com/updates/id/465...egically-steer-the-cma-to-not-get-in-the-way/

 

[Bernoulli]

https://gameranx.com/updates/id/465...egically-steer-the-cma-to-not-get-in-the-way/

Sunak suggests that the CMA will make new decisions moving forward that will make it easier for the Microsoft - Activision deal to go through.

Microsoft and Activision just received a powerful new ally in their quest to finalize their merger acquisition deal. It’s no less that the prime minister of the UK.

 

[Ar¢tos]

https://gameranx.com/updates/id/465...egically-steer-the-cma-to-not-get-in-the-way/

I don't get this way of thinking. How would the merger be such a big change for the UK's economy, that even the PM would need to be involved?
MS staff and business will still be there with or without the merger, ATK staff and business the same, the merger would probably cut redundant jobs between the two companies, more unemployed people.
Where is the massive benefit for the UK that would require the government to step in?

 

[MasterCornholio]

https://gameranx.com/updates/id/465...egically-steer-the-cma-to-not-get-in-the-way/

So the Prime Minister will declare a state of emergency and allow the deal to go through?

That's how I'm reading this because I don't see how the Prime Minister will interfere otherwise.

 

[DJ12]

I don't get this way of thinking. How would the merger be such a big change for the UK's economy, that even the PM would need to be involved?

Maybe ms could promise to pay uk tax.

But as the statement is about British business, sadly for MS, this is completely irrelevant.

 

[Ronin_7]

I believe that's due to how the deal is structured. The due date for all the regulators approval is in July. If they all approve before then the merger will go through. If not (in this case) they need to renegotiate with ABK to extend it.

The extension is a moonshot and will require probably 18months and of course 5/6B new break up fee.

 

[Bernoulli]

So the Prime Minister will declare a state of emergency and allow the deal to go through?

That's how I'm reading this because I don't see how the Prime Minister will interfere otherwise.

they just twisted the UK news using this fanboy as a source

Now, PM Sunak shared a new message on his LinkedIn page. As reported by IdleSloth, Sunak claims he wants to “make it as easy as possible for British businesses to thrive.”

Sunak’s message directly and indirectly referring to the CMA, in talking about his office’s planned reforms to government regulation.

 

[MasterCornholio]

they just twisted the UK news using this fanboy as a source

It's dumb. How people associate this with the ABK deal I have no idea. They are obviously talking about British businesses and neither Microsoft or ABK are that.

With this the CMA are looking at the impact that two foreign companies will have on the British market. It's more about protecting the market in the UK than protecting foreign businesses from each other.

 

[Stardust_Dragon]

The extension is a moonshot and will require probably 18months and of course 5/6B new break up fee.

I just don't get it, if Microsoft is willing to risk a couple of extra billion dollars on top of the $3 billion termination fee to keep extending the merger agreement with ABK all for just a hail mary shot at getting the CMA to accept only behavior remedies and/or clear without any concessions, why couldn't they just use that money to instead hire more support staff to help push their existing projects out the door like Starfield and so many other projects they have in the pipeline?

Like, I would think that amount of money would be useful in getting Fable, Everwild, Avowed, and other games to release perhaps 2-4 months ahead of schedule if they had more employees working on their games. You would think that Microsoft would be cognizant of their home console continuing to bleed market share to PlayStation, especially in the US for this console generation, and try to do something to stop the bleeding without being so reliant on fighting an extremely uphill battle against the CMA over ABK that has no (good) end in sight.

But nope, looks to me like Microsoft would rather slash spending on employees to make their financial metrics look better to shareholders, as evidenced by their recent layoffs in 343 Industries, The Coalition, and Bethesda studios earlier this year. Yeah, my expectations here are that Microsoft will indeed extend the merger agreement by roughly doubling the termination fee to ABK to entice ABK to sign on board to an extension to the deal, and it just feels frustrating to know that extra couple of billion dollars could have been used in a much better way to improve Microsoft's production pipeline with all their studios that they have now, even without ABK.

 

[MasterCornholio]

I just don't get it, if Microsoft is willing to risk a couple of extra billion dollars on top of the $3 billion termination fee to keep extending the merger agreement with ABK all for just a hail mary shot at getting the CMA to accept only behavior remedies and/or clear without any concessions, why couldn't they just use that money to instead hire more support staff to help push their existing projects out the door like Starfield and so many other projects they have in the pipeline?

Like, I would think that amount of money would be useful in getting Fable, Everwild, Avowed, and other games to release perhaps 2-4 months ahead of schedule if they had more employees working on their games. You would think that Microsoft would be cognizant of their home console continuing to bleed market share to PlayStation, especially in the US for this console generation, and try to do something to stop the bleeding without being so reliant on fighting an extremely uphill battle against the CMA over ABK that has no (good) end in sight.

But nope, looks to me like Microsoft would rather slash spending on employees to make their financial metrics look better to shareholders, as evidenced by their recent layoffs in 343 Industries, The Coalition, and Bethesda studios earlier this year. Yeah, my expectations here are that Microsoft will indeed extend the merger agreement by roughly doubling the termination fee to ABK to entice ABK to sign on board to an extension to the deal, and it just feels frustrating to know that extra couple of billion dollars could have been used in a much better way to improve Microsoft's production pipeline with all their studios that they have now, even without ABK.

The problem with all this is Activision cam lose a lot if they continue with the deal. Sure it will be great for them if it gets approved but the chances of that could be very low. And if they fail it could do some damage to the business as a whole if they are tied up with this for much longer.

Not sure if shareholders want that to be honest. They probably thought it was going to be easy but now they realize its going to be difficult. Not to mention the consequences for being tied up in this for a long time. That extra money from Microsoft might not be worth it in the long run.

 

[demigod]

So the Prime Minister will declare a state of emergency and allow the deal to go through?

That's how I'm reading this because I don't see how the Prime Minister will interfere otherwise.

they just twisted the UK news using this fanboy as a source

How quickly these clowns twists the word that they forgot the PM’s office already backed the CMA’s decision.

 

[MasterCornholio]

How quickly these clowns twists the word that they forgot the PM’s office already backed the CMA’s decision.

Definitely don't see the PM backing Microsoft after saying that. The PM was clearly not talking about ABK. However some people are desperately trying to make it like they were.

 

[Gurgeh]

I think the prime minister is probably more concerned by southampton ( who he supports ) being relegated

 

[Banjo64]

I think the prime minister is probably more concerned by southampton ( who he supports ) being relegated

He’s such a regular guy just like me and you.

 

[GHG]

No!
Approve it!
Let MS and ATK go at it for years!
Sage is going to look like a bald 90 year man with skin like parchment by the end of it from so much crying and jerking off at the same time.
I wanna see ERA slowly burn from despair and have their hopes completely shattered.
I hope this drags for 10 years! (pun intended)

So what you're saying is that we all get a 10 year deal?

 

[Bernardougf]

What's wrong with Game Pass? Do you also hate Netflix for giving people more options to watch their favourite content?

This is all my opinion, I dont want to pretend that Im some big shot MS/SONY executive "know it all" as some others do over here

Gamepass is ((( at is current state ))) an utopian unsustainable business model in this industry, giving AAA first party and some third party day one releases for dirty cheap, is a model that even ((( IF ))) it worked can only be sustained by MS and their deep pockets, XBOX division could not alone carry-on as cant nintendo or sony, so is a "trojan horse" model implemented to cannibalize the other brands, buying the bigger publishers and studios in this industry one by one to keep their games "rent almost free" and push people away from the other brands, more specifically SONY as their final objective for market dominance, and after this is achieved who knows what gamepass and gaming would really became, not cheap forever i can guarantee you that. MS is a monopolistic minded brand, always has and always will be.

Furthermore this "not sell only rent" business stimulate the current streaming theme "quantity over quality" as we are seeing oh so often with MS, with shit games been pumped out of the "gamepass game making machine" in ever more unfinished state and with just bad quality, none of the streaming "NETFLIX" services provide really AAA constant hollywood quality, is low budget shit after low budget shit, sprinkled with the occasional hit, but the feeling is quite different from a multi-million theater film.

So in resume, IMO, is an "Trojan Horse" unsustainable businesses that stimulate quantity over quality, creates a mentality that an AA or even an A game passing for AAA is ok because is "free" and also changes buying habits making people for obvious reasons dont buy their games, wich make developers lazy and uninspired because they have only to pumpout some shit that doesn't need to sell and only make the volume the platform needed for that time.

Didnt like gamepass inception and nothing that it did until now surprised me or changed my initial reaction to it, but it was OK, until MS decided to start buying off the industry.