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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Not open for further replies.
mckmas8808 said:
Anybody remember these days when the media decided to go on Anti-Playstation push?



uCvf498.jpg



Funny how we won't see anybody saying this about MS and Xbox.
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Paul Tassi literally runs articles like this against xbox all the time
 
I dont usually post in this thread (or even come in to be honest lol), but i just wanted to give my take with COD.
I feel COD will stay on Platstation. The main reason being that although Warzone has proven to be very popular on PC, the mainline COD games have never done well on PC compared to console. Things have improved slightly since Modern Warfare, but i'm pretty sure COD PC sales still lag behind consoles sales.

If COD was huge on PC like with consoles, maybe things would be different.
 
DeepEnigma said:
They did not say that. They said they would no longer get very early dev kits or design features before anything is finalized. It would be how they give devkits to Mojang.

Both MS and Sony does this to platform owned third party games. Trade secrets are a thing.
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NO Haven't you heard!? Only Sony tries to protect its revenue sources. MS is benevolent and gives away everything for free. That's how they became a 2.3 trillion dollar company
 
StreetsofBeige said:
End of the day deals can be done. Hey, no different than MLB The Show being on Xbox 3 years in a row. Nobody would had guessed that in a million years, but supposedly the MLB forced Sony to make Xbox games (and also Switch versions) in order to keep the license.

So Sony already knows sometimes you got to eat some pride and first party game exclusivity to see the bigger picture. If MS still has a COD extension deal on the table (it was there at some point before Jim publicly trashed it), then it might be worth doing a deal even if MS gets the better end of it. Sometimes taking any deal is better than no deal.
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You know if it's its indeed worse than the current 80 to 20 contract with avb than its probably not worth keep it. Running all those payments etc cost a shop a pretty big penny too.
 
DeepEnigma said:
Not a single article like this from Bethesda to Activision.

I wonder why that is?
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I will say this until someone on this forum dies from it. Paul Tassi is a hack journalist. The same guy who claimed Sony couldn't afford Bungie. When any actual journalist worth a damn would have either already known that to be false or at least looked at what Sony's financial capabilities were before opening his mouth. It was so bafflingly wrong. He actually slurped that narrative cock of Sony (a company with a couple hundred billion dollars in assets) being poor. Which was being asserted by certain circles and then worthless tools like himself perpetuated it. Giving it an air of authenticity. It was such sweet karma when Sony announced it.
 
adamsapple said:
It would help if you guys actually read the article from the image, it's not about acquisitions at all.

Let me link it for you.

www.forbes.com

A Narrative Of Sony And PS5 As ‘Anti-Consumer’ Is Starting To Take Shape

Sony is in a strong position with the PS5, but it's starting to feel like they know that a little too well.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com
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I knew that. I read the article. My point was the "narrative" was being constructed years ago. Around the same time MS wanted to spend Sony out of the gaming business. The narrative became so big that it became a known talking point by many podcasters and video game journalists by 2022.

While also the narrative that GamePass was the "Best Deal in Gaming" was constantly being said.
 
SlimySnake said:
I think its funny that they said that they need only 1-2 of their GaaS games to be successful. So even they know its a fucking gamble. I think everything except for Bungie's new IP flops. Factions wouldve been a minor success but its in dev hell and likely cancelled. Helldivers, that billionares are evil game, and the firewalk game look uninspired and will flop like Outriders.

The thing with Capcom is that they make relatively niche games. If you look at RE, SF and DMC sales, they are all around 5 millon. I think the best selling RE game just hit 10 million. SF6 sold just 2 million. RE4 sold 3.5 million in 3 months. These are actually lower numbers than what Sony does with their own games. It wont move the needle. It will not given any cod player any incentive to leave cod. It will not black mail Microsoft into putting cod on playstation. It will just make us feel good for a while and punt the problem down the road.
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While that is all true in theory, Capcom fits Sony's transmedia plans, which is a strategy of raising the value of their IP.

You are also neglecting the fact that even though a lot of people buy and play COD, the amount of people that mainly play COD is not that big. Which is how MS and the court, and EC and CMA reached the conclusion that if COD were to become exclusive, it would harm the IP more than anything. In fact, it has been concluded that only around 5% would switch platforms.

There's a lot of layers to this, but I fully agree that either Sony Tokyo opens their wallet, or they are relying on magical silver bullets. They need to acquire IP.
 
RickMasters said:
"I think you are living in a weird make-believe world if you think Microsoft Corp.....decided to spend $69 Billion just because Sony was going to get Starfield to be a timed exclusive."

I think your comprehension skills are terrible if thats what you got from my post.


lets try this again:

MS bought bethesda in response to sony buying exclusivity on two of their games and going for a third. we are clear on that part yes?

MS bought ABK because the opportunity was there...they made their offer. it was accepted. end of. Had nothing to do with starfield, in spite of the numerous times starfieild and bethesda was brought up in this case regarding the aquisition of ABK. clear enough for you, now?
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HELL NAH!!!! I do NOT for one second believe MS decided to buy Bethesda because of two "1-year" time exclusives and a potential 3rd. Are you crazy?
 
GHG said:
They need need to work on 2 things at the moment:
  • Maintaining their current momentum (in terms of console sales)
  • Retention
How much money COD makes them and how much revenue they stand to lose from subs is of zero importance right now. The reason I say that is because they are already investing tons of money into GAAS games. GAAS games are not cheap to make and they are even more expensive to maintain. That's why the GAAS failures we have witnessed have been so high profile and explosive. They are opting to invest in an area where they don't have the required level of expertise and nous because they are acting out of fear. The sudden shift in strategy once Microsoft started going on their acquisition spree is not a coincidence.

So ultimately it's a choice - do they double down and invest in the areas that they are best in class at, or do they take a gamble and invest in an area that historically they have been very poor at and is known to be a widow-maker across the industry? They are doing the latter at the moment and I think it could ultimately prove to be catastrophic for them.
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I dont disagree with you on their GaaS efforts. It will blow up in their face.

I just dont think CoD gamers value PS exclusives that much. it will come down to whether or not these players will stick around to play Sony exclusives. Aside from Spiderman which has a 17% share of console players, no other PS exclusive comes even close. CoD is at 55%, fortnite around 20% and GTA online 45%. Thats it. Thats the audience they need to get. Thats their trump card. They simply cannot retain these players next gen if they find out there is no CoD on PS or if COD is better on Xbox.

Just look at the Wii U. Probably the best Nintendo console in terms of first party exclusives and it was their last console. They couldnt survive without third party and have essentially bowed out of the console race. Sony investing in more AAA first party single player exclusives wont convince these casuals. It will just make you and I feel better, but we dont really give a shit about cod.

Besides, even if they invest in SP games again, they take 5-6 years to make. TLOU3 wont be done until 2026. Then their next game wont be done till 2031. SSMs new IP or the next GOW game wont come out till 2028. GoT2 is years away. They couldnt even announce these games they take so long to make. Why would people who are used to playing a new cod game every year wait 6 years to play 1 ND or SSM game?
 
tpieman2029 said:
e9NOswW.jpg
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Wow, what a soft headline in contrast.

One says "Anti-consumer"

The other,

"some concerns"

Do you even parse language, bro?

tpieman2029 said:
And just for fun here are a few more times he was against xbox, their arguments for the mergers and their past behaviors.
GuhZ4gM.jpg
dOKJyAa.jpg
zi3p3i1.jpg
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Where is the "Anti-consumer narrative"?

Those headlines are soft in comparison. We didn't say no criticism, but hard language perpetuating The Narrative™, nah.
 
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mckmas8808 said:
I knew that. I read the article. My point was the "narrative" was being constructed years ago. Around the same time MS wanted to spend Sony out of the gaming business. The narrative became so big that it became a known talking point by many podcasters and video game journalists by 2022.

While also the narrative that GamePass was the "Best Deal in Gaming" was constantly being said.
Click to expand...
I wonder where The Narrative™ originated from?
Ponder Denzel Washington GIF by Entertainment Tonight
 
Curious to know what microsoft will have to give for CMD to complete the purchase; Depending on the requirement, she may take the cherry but not the cake; would be the most expensive 70 billion in history for not being able to monopolize the cloud (which is its real intention)
 
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mckmas8808 said:
HELL NAH!!!! I do NOT for one second believe MS decided to buy Bethesda because of two "1-year" time exclusives and a potential 3rd. Are you crazy?
Click to expand...


Well at least you understood what I meant this time! 😅😅 it's cool.


That's just my view. I can't claim to know MS motivations for what they buy I can only take a guess like everybody else and that's just my theory. Bethesda are close to MS, always have been. Aside from seeing the value in making their games exclusive to Xbox I think those Sony deals had something to do with it.


If you feel otherwise just say your reasons why…. . I'll entertain other theories. It remakes for better and more interesting reading than "nah, your crazy" differing points of view are just that… no need get emotional about it 🤷🏾‍♂️



What's your theory on why they bought Bethesda then? I
 
SlimySnake said:
I dont disagree with you on their GaaS efforts. It will blow up in their face.

I just dont think CoD gamers value PS exclusives that much. it will come down to whether or not these players will stick around to play Sony exclusives. Aside from Spiderman which has a 17% share of console players, no other PS exclusive comes even close. CoD is at 55%, fortnite around 20% and GTA online 45%. Thats it. Thats the audience they need to get. Thats their trump card. They simply cannot retain these players next gen if they find out there is no CoD on PS or if COD is better on Xbox.

Just look at the Wii U. Probably the best Nintendo console in terms of first party exclusives and it was their last console. They couldnt survive without third party and have essentially bowed out of the console race. Sony investing in more AAA first party single player exclusives wont convince these casuals. It will just make you and I feel better, but we dont really give a shit about cod.

Besides, even if they invest in SP games again, they take 5-6 years to make. TLOU3 wont be done until 2026. Then their next game wont be done till 2031. SSMs new IP or the next GOW game wont come out till 2028. GoT2 is years away. They couldnt even announce these games they take so long to make. Why would people who are used to playing a new cod game every year wait 6 years to play 1 ND or SSM game?
Click to expand...

If they have other options, like Destiny, Concord, Apex, Fortnite, XDefiant, Battlefield, Marathon, and others, many probably won't bother buying a whole other console just to play CoD. Some will, sure. But you could also very easily see a player shift to other FPS games.
 
Varteras said:
If they have other options, like Destiny, Concord, Apex, Fortnite, XDefiant, Battlefield, Marathon, and others, many probably won't bother buying a whole other console just to play CoD. Some will, sure. But you could also very easily see a player shift to other FPS games.
Click to expand...
And yet despite all these options, CoD still has 110 million monthly players. I bet all those games combined dont hit 50 million players.
 
Pipoqueiro said:
Curious to know what microsoft will have to give for CMD to complete the purchase; Depending on the requirement, she may take the cherry but not the cake; would be the most expensive 70 billion in history for not being able to monopolize the cloud (which is its real intention)
Click to expand...
Do you honestly think the real intention of the deal is to monopolize Cloud gaming, a segment where MS is already dominant (according to the CMA at least)?

Even in internal documents Cloud isn't MS' priority.
 
Varteras said:
Was I dreaming when they tried to double the price of Xbox Live during a pandemic? And only walked it back because of the massive backlash? I must have been dreaming. Surely.
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The weirdest part was MS doubled Xbox Live and then after the backlash they said the prices went back to the same prices but they removed the year option so the price of Xbox Live still went up yet no reporter mentioned that fact.
 
SlimySnake said:
And yet despite all these options, CoD still has 110 million monthly players. I bet all those games combined dont hit 50 million players.
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Sure, but how many of them are willing to buy a whole other console and have to now invest in a whole other ecosystem of games, just to keep playing CoD when now the other options are presented to fill the void? Options that many may have neglected because CoD was just always there.
 
Chukhopops said:
Do you honestly think the real intention of the deal is to monopolize Cloud gaming, a segment where MS is already dominant (according to the CMA at least)?

Even in internal documents Cloud isn't MS' priority.
Click to expand...

Cloud is end-game. They don't want people having control of their hardware or their games.

Cloud is the ultimate DRM, it's the final frontier.

They even want to transition the operating system (windows) to cloud ffs.
 
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Varteras said:
Sure, but how many of them are willing to buy a whole other console and have to now invest in a whole other ecosystem of games, just to keep playing CoD when now the other options are presented to fill the void? Options that many may have neglected because CoD was just always there.
Click to expand...
All those cod bros on the 360 moved to the PS4. I am with Jim Ryan when he says no one gives a shit about BC. If people cared about eco systems and previous purchases so much they would've bought the Xbox one and xsx which have way better BC than the PS consoles.

When the gen ends, it will start fresh. If MS didnt believe that they wouldnt have spent $70 billion on CoD.
 
People saying that it is Sony's fault to put all eggs in a basket forget that nobody expects Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard, 10 times what Zennimax worth. It is an insane deal
 
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