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 .
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Varteras said:
Yeah. splattered splattered is cool, butt fuck adamsapple adamsapple . I know what I said.
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Apple can be fine, just depends on whether he woke up taking the blue or the green pill.

acrobat GIF
 
F0xXh8mWAAUWang


See.... the Judge claims it's bad for Sony, yet it's apparently good for future gamers (can't be good for future games if you're singling gamers out). Even she knows that lying Phil is going to make it exclusive to just Game Pass.
 
So instead of console list wars...

Let's take bets on how long until we hear the next consolidation, no matter who it is.

I imagine all the big boys have been watching and waiting for this and drewling.

I think it won't even be longer than 2 months before we hear of the next retardation in gaming

So mark the date. Some time probably in October someone else is being consolidated, more 3rd party becoming exclusive
 
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splattered said:
Absolutely wild ride this has been... did NOT expect anything from the CMA so soon, especially not IMMEDIATELY. Insane!
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It isn't from the CMA. It is Microsoft seeing the CMA as the last remaining hurdle and rather than delaying that any longer it is saying OK CMA, let's not go down the long winded legal route get this done what do we need to do to make this happen.

The CMA is simply saying it is happy to hear what they have to offer to remedy the issues.

The FTC ruling has absolutely no bearing on what the CMA appeal outcome would be. Different countries. Different laws and regulations. Different people.
 
Solidus_T said:
They just need 20 more and then they will be able to compete.
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I don't want to give them ideas but...

www.ea.com

EA Studio – Discover the creators behind EA Games – EA Official

EA Studios is made up of over 20 studios and 6000 creators committed to building exceptional games.
www.ea.com www.ea.com

We are dedicated to creating new, innovative, and immersive gameplay experiences. Committed to building exceptional games, EA Studios is made up of over 20 studios and more than 6,000 creators globally.
Click to expand...
 
tmlDan said:
tbf, the lawyers on both sides and the judge were too ill informed on the gaming industry to be involved in this at all
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very much so.

at one point the FTC lawyer was saying this deal would result in "console specific character skins that may only be purchasable on one console type" - and the perfect rebuttal would have been - "sony already does that for COD and a number of other games" and the MS lawyer didnt even pick up on it.

That being said, i suppose the documents had a lot to do with it also. If the FTC was using COd as their example, then currently SONY wins on all the fronts, for skins, exclusive modes, etc.
It must have been shown in documentation vs the arguments.
 
we are considering how the transaction might be modified in order to address those concerns in a way that is acceptable to the CMA
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ready to consider any proposals from Microsoft to restructure the transaction in a way that would address the concerns set out in our Final Report.
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Curious to see how this pans out.

I'm assuming the original deadline is still in place.

What's a reasonable compromise if divestiture is off the table? A longer contract offer with a fairer financial model?

Ultimately the CMA were in a position where they didn't have to go back to the negotiating table (aside from good faith if Microsoft requested it), so it'll be interesting to hear the proposal.
 
Sony should buy Apple. It might be a little tough politically, but would be a good get for Sony.

edit: I immediately regret making this comment. I hope no one thinks i'm being serious
 
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One thing I will say, is that Xbox should see a noticeable bump in sales and Game Pass subs for the rest of the year. They only had to spend $70 billion for a single publisher to do it, but they did it.

(Pyrrhic) congrats.
 
Ogbert said:
Is it true that the CMA has released a statement saying they are open to revisions in the deal?

If so, this deal is done.
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It could actually just be a way of forcing them to obey the law, by negotiating all the way to the closure date, and then still blocking it, because Microsoft won't back down.

Being unable to get a schedule that would allow them to get suitable representation will also have been a factor, because it is a consenting delay from Microsoft, as the pause in legal action will cause that time table to move backwards to the CMA's advantage.

It might also be that their behind the scenes discussions with OFCOM means fighting this might be worthless if OFCOM are intending to legislate heavily for Cloud and Cloud gaming competition, so service costs might be a level playing field for all - including Microsoft as the old BT- just like access to the national telecoms network (OpenReach formerly BT) is the same to all least-cost-routing providers, today.

The pause in legislating might also mean the 10% fine issue would now be active, and no longer a new law, not applying to an old offense.
 
Vox Machina said:
Game Pass is profitable and they're already experimenting with ways to improve the profit margin with paid Early Access upgrades to the base game that comes included with Game Pass.



Game Pass is profitable.
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And Activision is even more profitable. That's why it won't be exclusive. This is about revenue.
 
Not_A-Cop_Maybe said:
at one point the FTC lawyer was saying this deal would result in "console specific character skins that may only be purchasable on one console type"
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We wont truly know if the gaming industry is finished until we pass Christmas. If they truly do decide to make exclusive Christmas skins, it's all over.
 
TheThreadsThatBindUs said:
What is even the point of regulators when they just bend over and take it up the ass by trillion-dollar corporations when the deal is big enough?

How can they claim to be protecting the public interest and consumers? Honestly, it's a joke.

This is essentially unregulated capitalism where multi-billion dollar corporations have more power than governments. We're not in for a good time.
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This is true. I think people really just do not comprehend how massive a 2 trillion dollar corporation is. 2 trillion dollars is so much money, if you are a millionaire and make 1 million dollars every year, it would take you 2 MILLION YEARS to reach 2 trillion dollars. Let that sink in.

I mean, people expected this to happen, since corruption is strong in our world, but the blatant argument that Xbox is the "little guy in third place" and needs this to compete is fucking absurd when they use papa Nadella's money to buy up the industry.

It seems people on a certain side clearly seem to prefer a short-term jerk, but fail to realize they get ass fucked long-term.
 
A prime example where the rhetoric that justifies the existence of regulatory bodies and courts like this falls apart. Going by the standards set up by the FTC and by the court, this decision flies in the face of the facts of the evidence. That said, not surprising. Microsoft is a megacorp amongst megacorps.

I don't even think this changes the game in the long term. In fact, I think Microsoft pushed Xbox nearly entirely off the brink. But there's going to be a lot of stuff that could've been avoided in this industry before its all said and done.

PlayStation is going to have to be even more strategic and competitive though, so there's that to look forward to.
 
StueyDuck said:
So instead of console list wars...

Let's take bets on how long until we hear the next consolidation, no matter who it is.

I imagine all the big boys have been watching and waiting for this and drewling.

I think it won't even be longer than 2 months before we hear of the next retardation in gaming

So mark the date. Some time probably in October someone else is being consolidated, more 3rd party becoming exclusive
Click to expand...
Tomorrow is a Wednesday so Sega is on the table or something.
 
nightmare-slain said:
That's a studio. CD Projekt is the publisher.

And they are apparently the biggest publisher in Europe and own Witcher and Cyberpunk rights. They have the GOG Store. Loads of development studios.

Would be a good buy!
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The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 both had marketing deals with Xbox, and most recently the upcoming expansion for Cyberpunk was shown off at Xbox's Summer Event. I wouldn't be surprised at all.
 
TheThreadsThatBindUs said:
What is even the point of regulators when they just bend over and take it up the ass by trillion-dollar corporations when the deal is big enough?

How can they claim to be protecting the public interest and consumers? Honestly, it's a joke.

This is essentially unregulated capitalism where multi-billion dollar corporations have more power than governments. We're not in for a good time.
Click to expand...
This isn't capitalism. In a true free market, Microsoft wouldn't have this amount of power. Don't get me wrong, they'd still be big, but they wouldn't be the monolith that they are.

What you're describing is regulatory capture. And it must be said that Microsoft's lobbying arm made that into an art long before this deal was on the table.
 
Gojiira said:
Who cares, no legal ground, no rhetoric, nothing can block Playstation purchasing Capcom, or Kadokawa, or Konami, or whoever else now
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Sony must be put them as a different sector instead of being inside SIE itself.

I think they are writing to buy a publisher as we speaks, oh well, it is just a bad future for gaming ahead.
 
In your opinion, when ms will announce the success of the deal, how much will Sony shares drop? how financially endangered is sony? lately they had slowed down for this deal, if the shares fall they will have to react in some way..?
 
Aguero9320 said:
I'll rephrase. You think any case set that precedent?
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It's the biggest case of its type... of course it did, until MS are a monopoly you can always argue they aren't a monopoly.

It's a self fulfilling prophecy, again if this was Bethesda then no it wouldn't set that. But this was 70billion dollars the biggest ever of its type and it barely had any pushback from anyone except ftc and cma and even they didn't do shit
 
Now we can enjoy the whole thing dying because of the CMA.

Anyone who is a fan of this acquisition needs to really quell their excitement.

The chance of it going through went up, but those chances still have a HUGE hurdle. The deal is currently BLOCKED lol

I'm dumb, holy shit, CMA is going to probably compromise?
 
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ProtoByte said:
A prime example where the rhetoric that justifies the existence of regulatory bodies and courts like this falls apart. Going by the standards set up by the FTC and by the court, this decision flies in the face of the facts of the evidence. That said, not surprising. Microsoft is a megacorp amongst megacorps.

I don't even think this changes the game in the long term. In fact, I think Microsoft pushed Xbox nearly entirely off the brink. But there's going to be a lot of stuff that could've been avoided in this industry before its all said and done.

PlayStation is going to have to be even more strategic and competitive though, so there's that to look forward to.
Click to expand...
A few more exclusive GAAS games in PlayStation's line-up should be enough to counter this huge Microsoft win today.
 
StueyDuck said:
So instead of console list wars...

Let's take bets on how long until we hear the next consolidation, no matter who it is.

I imagine all the big boys have been watching and waiting for this and drewling.

I think it won't even be longer than 2 months before we hear of the next retardation in gaming

So mark the date. Some time probably in October someone else is being consolidated, more 3rd party becoming exclusive
Click to expand...
I'm sure Jim Ryan pulled people into rooms earlier this year to discuss who they buy and how else they mitigate this and those plans will start going into effect. He's a moron but he won't be *that* asleep at the wheel.

And Microsoft will see that there's no one they won't be allowed to buy, so they'll have the next purchase lined up from their list.

September for Sony, October for Microsoft.
 
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ProtoByte said:
This isn't capitalism. In a true free market, Microsoft wouldn't have this amount of power. Don't get me wrong, they'd still be big, but they wouldn't be the monolith that they are.

What you're describing is regulatory capture. And it must be said that Microsoft's lobbying arm made that into an art long before this deal was on the table.
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yep, people love to complain about capitalism but the actual problem is crony capitalism where these large corporations work with the government to either suppress or buy out competition

it's why you see the large companies usually cheering on new regulation because they know they will either get loopholes for themselves or it'll prove more costly to their not as wealthy competitors
 
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