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.
demigod said:
You got served by 2 people with receipts and links and all you did was reply back with your own feelings. Now you're moving the goal post. You'd probably be better off posting a meme earlier to save yourself the embarrassment.
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No, all I got was "ignoring everything that disproves my story, you'll find my story is absolutely true", accompanied by some blue coloured words leading to pages that didn't agree with their stories. I haven't really made any claims, so, what goal posts did I set and how did I move them?
 
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Fredrik said:
Why even single out anyone? Everybody is dishonest, there is always an agenda, even when it's just jokes the armour is on, I can seriously guess the angle a poster will have just by seeing their names, everybody is transparent. This deal turned everybody into warriors.
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Are you joking?

Look at the thread of the conversation he was replying to.

There are plenty of regular fans and "fanboys" who are simply passionate about what they like and believe in, sometimes they will get things wrong. However the likes of the individual I quoted consistently lie through their teeth, even when it is clear they are wrong and have been wrong, they will never admit so nor will they be candid and pragmatic in their discussion. All that serves to do is drag the overall level of discussion down to a level whereby they can dictate things via whatever PR they are being shovelled at the time.
 
GHG said:
Well let's take a look through history here shall we? :

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/our-...-of-duty-on-playstation-phil-spencer.1628180/

Here is DarkMage619 DarkMage619 sowing FUD on behalf of playstation:

85dEJP8.jpg


https://www.neogaf.com/threads/our-...n-phil-spencer.1628180/page-16#post-265420086

Here he is again sowing FUD on behalf of Playstation:



https://www.neogaf.com/threads/our-...n-phil-spencer.1628180/page-17#post-265421558

And here is one of the many examples of him supporting FUD being sowed on behalf of playstation:

1b2GMwt.jpg


And here is Tom Warren, the guy who Microsoft were willing to quote in their official response to the CMA, sowing FUD on behalf of playstation:

L8Mmpsc.jpg


Astonishing, all of these people in support of sowing FUD on behalf of playstation, including Microsoft's most reliable mouthpieces in the media and on forums. They never stood a chance really.
Click to expand...

DarkMage619 DarkMage619

Ice Cube Knockout GIF
 
GHG said:
There are plenty of regular fans and "fanboys" who are simply passionate about what they like and believe in, sometimes they will get things wrong. However the likes of the individual I quoted consistently lie through their teeth,
Click to expand...

Just like their idol, Phil.
 
Sony's conclusion:
Transaction should be prohibited or subject to a structural remedy.

MS's co conclusion:
These RCBs are substantial compared with any adverse effects of the Merger, and these benefits would be largely preserved by behavioural remedies but not by structural remedies. Microsoft therefore believes that the criteria for the CMA to consider behavioural remedies are met in this case.
 
Just for completeness
MS response to the remedies
https://assets.publishing.service.g...n_-_Response_to_Remedies_Notice_-_NCV__2_.pdf
Game Pass prices will not increase as a result of the Merger, and certainly will not increase to a point that offsets the substantial benefits of Activision titles coming to Game Pass on a day and date basis. This is especially so given Game Pass will continue to be constrained by B2P
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Will let others have a look. They have shared the key terms for the Nvidia deal with the CMA,

ChorizoPicozo said:
Sony's conclusion:
Transaction should be prohibited or subject to a structural remedy.

MS's co conclusion:
These RCBs are substantial compared with any adverse effects of the Merger, and these benefits would be largely preserved by behavioural remedies but not by structural remedies. Microsoft therefore believes that the criteria for the CMA to consider behavioural remedies are met in this case.
Click to expand...
Basically.
 
Hendrick's said:
As I've said all along. This is a battle against Game Pass or services like it. Sony does not want to change their business model to compete, yet somehow MS should? It's such a weak argument.
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'Sony does not want to earn less money than they currently do, more at 11'
 
Banjo64 said:
Fantastic post that sums up why it's been so hard to have any sort of honest dialogue on here about this deal. Some people have been consistent with their views throughout and address things they get wrong. Other people just say anything that tows the party line. It is pointless trying to engage posters like Mage and Sage because because they aren't honest in their approach.
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You guys happily remove Nintendo from the industry in one post and laugh at Xbox being in third place in the next yet you want to talk to me about 'towing the party line'? Bad comedy.

This deal was never illegal and PlayStation was never in jeopardy of being in anything but first place afterwards yet people here are talking about eee and things Steve Balmer and Bill Gates did like those guys are still in charge or like Xbox hasn't been in third place for 20 years.

You are absolutely right about lacking honesty in discussions with some people but that wasn't coming from me. Perhaps you should look in the mirror.

Hendrick's said:
As I've said all along. This is a battle against Game Pass or services like it. Sony does not want to change their business model to compete, yet somehow MS should? It's such a weak argument.
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This is an excellent point. Sony does not want to change their business model. No one is forcing them to. They'd prefer to not offer their customers alternative payment methods for new games that's fine. MS does and I like the options.
 
Activision games are not currently available on any cloud gaming service. The CMA provisionally considers that in the counterfactual at least some cloud gaming providers—especially those with a buy-to-play ("B2P") or bring-your-own-game ("BYOG") offering—would have Activision's most valuable games available on their platforms on the date of their release in the next five years. In particular, the CMA provisionally considers it likely, in particular, that Activision would [] in the near future absent the Merger.The CMA provisionally considers that the availability of Activision content, in particular CoD and World of Warcraft ("WoW") would be a particularly important input to cloud gaming services.

To resolve the Cloud Gaming SLC, Microsoft will commit to license Activision games, including CoD and WoW, [] to cloud gaming providers with a B2P or BYOG offering for a period of 10 years
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Should go back to work now.
 
Hendrick's said:
As I've said all along. This is a battle against Game Pass or services like it. Sony does not want to change their business model to compete, yet somehow MS should? It's such a weak argument.
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That's not the case though.

Sony is not forcing Microsoft to change their business model through acquisitions. However, Microsoft is.

Microsoft can make a $70 billion acquisition of a multiplatform publisher (news flash: Sony can't), and then bear the costs of putting those games on a subscription service and let go of a billion $ in sales (again, Sony can't), and then push Sony out of the market by cutting the costs of access for users significantly (from $70 to $1).

Sony, of course, does not want that to happen. Because they cannot compete at that ground at all.
 
bxrz said:
They just said to regulators that they won't do it...
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Technically, they haven't said that. They said "Game Pass price will not increase as a result of the Merger."

It can still go up after the acquisition because of inflation or the company losing money, which had absolutely nothing to do with the Merger. *wink wink*.

But it will go up; it's clear as daylight. Even Phil Spencer kind of hinted that prices of one or all of the following -- games, consoles, and sub -- will have to go up. They've already upped game prices. I bet console price and sub price are going up next.
 
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Heisenberg007 said:
Technically, they haven't said that. They said "Game Pass price will not increase as a result of the Merger."

It can still go up after the acquisition because of inflation or the company losing money, which had absolutely nothing to do with the Merger. *wink wink*.
Click to expand...

And there also may or may not be bugs in the final level of the next CoD on PS5 which may have absolutely nothing to do with the Merger either *winkety wink*

:messenger_winking:
 
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GHG said:
Well let's take a look through history here shall we? :

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/our-...-of-duty-on-playstation-phil-spencer.1628180/

Here is DarkMage619 DarkMage619 sowing FUD on behalf of playstation:

85dEJP8.jpg


https://www.neogaf.com/threads/our-...n-phil-spencer.1628180/page-16#post-265420086

Here he is again sowing FUD on behalf of Playstation:



https://www.neogaf.com/threads/our-...n-phil-spencer.1628180/page-17#post-265421558

And here is one of the many examples of him supporting FUD being sowed on behalf of playstation:

1b2GMwt.jpg


And here is Tom Warren, the guy who Microsoft were willing to quote in their official response to the CMA, sowing FUD on behalf of playstation:

L8Mmpsc.jpg


Astonishing, all of these people in support of sowing FUD on behalf of playstation, including Microsoft's most reliable mouthpieces in the media and on forums. They never stood a chance really.
Click to expand...
His title checks out.
 
Hendrick's said:
As I've said all along. This is a battle against Game Pass or services like it. Sony does not want to change their business model to compete, yet somehow MS should? It's such a weak argument.
Click to expand...
So dumb. Of course Sony would have to pay Market Rate to put it on PlayStation Plus Extra. MS paid 68 Billion to be able to do the same.
 
bxrz said:
They just said to regulators that they won't do it...
Click to expand...
We need to stop spreading half truths. The second half of the sentence literally says "and certainly will not increase to a point that offsets the substantial benefits".

The price will go up. They just plan to blame something other than the merger. It's right there.
 
reksveks said:
zxflT7A.jpg


Boo, give us the juicy stuff.

Love the 2 hr note.
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Sounds like a Sony problem. If this is really their business model and they depend on third party games to survive this badly that's their problem, not Microsofts. They are complete morons if this is true and need to do a top down re-organization of the company & fire lots execs that made these dumb decisions years ago.
 
Heisenberg007 said:
Technically, they haven't said that. They said "Game Pass price will not increase as a result of the Merger."

It can still go up after the acquisition because of inflation or the company losing money, which had absolutely nothing to do with the Merger. *wink wink*.

But it will go up; it's clear as daylight. Even Phil Spencer kind of hinted that prices of one or all of the following -- games, consoles, and sub -- will have to go up. They've already upped game prices. I bet console price and sub price are going up next.
Click to expand...
You just read them say they won't do it and your takeaway is "They will still do it"

That is literally peak delusion
 
BeardGawd said:
So dumb. Of course Sony would have to pay Market Rate to put it on PlayStation Plus Extra. MS paid 68 Billion to be able to do the same.
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Yep. Microsoft is only trying to make it impossible for Sony to compete with them on this. why is that so bad?
 
NickFire said:
We need to stop spreading half truths. The second half of the sentence literally says "and certainly will not increase to a point that offsets the substantial benefits".

The price will go up. They just plan to blame something other than the merger. It's right there.
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Yall have been saying the price will go up for 5 years. Maybe if you wait another 5 years it will go up 1$. Then the world will blow up
 
fred420170 said:
Sounds like a Sony problem. If this is really their business model and they depend on third party games to survive this badly that's their problem, not Microsofts. They are complete morons if this is true and need to do a top down re-organization of the company & fire lots execs that made these dumb decisions years ago.
Click to expand...

Xbox and PlayStation both rely on third party games in their business models. This isn't new.
 
bxrz said:
They just said to regulators that they won't do it...
Click to expand...
I expect them to raise it. I'm fine with that. The amount of content that has been releasing on the regular is nuts and it's only the beginning of March. If the ABK deal goes through the catalog is going to be next level!
 
NickFire said:
Read the entire sentence. It's not hard. Dont stop at commas. Commas are not periods.
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I did. And they said it won't go up because of this acquisition. But you live in a fantasy world where what you read means the complete opposite so I don't know what to tell you lol
 
DarkMage619 said:
You guys happily remove Nintendo from the industry in one post and laugh at Xbox being in third place in the next yet you want to talk to me about 'towing the party line'? Bad comedy.

This deal was never illegal and PlayStation was never in jeopardy of being in anything but first place afterwards yet people here are talking about eee and things Steve Balmer and Bill Gates did like those guys are still in charge or like Xbox hasn't been in third place for 20 years.
Click to expand...
I've never said any of that so again, not sure who you're talking to or about.

Completely evading your previous contradictory position just proves my point (y)
 
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DrFigs said:
Yep. Microsoft is only trying to make it impossible for Sony to compete with them on this. why is that so bad?
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Quit with the dumb arguments. Activision refused to put any COD games on subscriptions. MS is being more than amicable by opening this up to everyone. Of course it would be at fair market rates.
 
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NickFire said:
We need to stop spreading half truths. The second half of the sentence literally says "and certainly will not increase to a point that offsets the substantial benefits".

The price will go up. They just plan to blame something other than the merger. It's right there.
Click to expand...


Han Solo Optimism GIF by Star Wars
 
bxrz said:
Yall have been saying the price will go up for 5 years. Maybe if you wait another 5 years it will go up 1$. Then the world will blow up
Click to expand...
it'll probably go up when Xbox starts releasing games. yeah it would have been insane for them to increase the price of gamepass while delivering a minimal amount of games. but probably when they start to do more, we'll see an increase. not sure why a 1 dollar rise is ridiculous. people are not saying they're going to triple the price of gamepass overnight.
 
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Basically CMA has fully embraced Sony's position in their preliminary findings.
Deal blocked or with structural remedies.

I find interesting and relevant that Microsoft has proposed Sony to get COD day one on Playstation Plus if they pay proper price.
Sony of course is stating it would ruin their business anyway, it would cost too much and whatever but that is just posture.
The important element is that if Microsoft is offering this possibility it is a significant step up in the remedies that are being offered compared to just the 70$ version dollars of COD.
At this stage they only need to secure the possibility to get the 10 years contract renewed after a re-evaluation of the market and even if this isn't blocked Sony would have neutralized the possible damage to them from this acquisition.
 
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