Your argument ends there...
Not at all, that's why you had to cut out most of my post. I won't engage you further since you're clearly not interested in my actual arguments.
What is twitter fantasy is assuming that companies don't break promises they made during court hearings regarding antitrust suits ALL. THE. TIME.
And nothing happens. A slap on the wrist at most. That's the whole point of this charade, do whatever it takes, say whatever it takes, sign whatever it takes so that Microsoft can buy Activision. Once the genie is out of the bottle and the company has been acquired/integrated, you can't put it back in. Regulators are notoriously WEAK when it comes to enforcing statements/promises made YEARS AGO.
10 years from now, when Microsoft forecloses on CoD, they will simply say "we wanted to put it on Playstation but couldn't come to an agreement". Microsoft can shift the blame on Sony for wanting to maintain certain terms when Microsoft tries to strong arm them into something more aggresive.
And NOTHING will come of it when they do. That's why it's important to block acquisitions like this before they ever are consummated.
You're all over the page here. You're claiming Microsoft is a liar... for honouring its 10-year contracts and under-oath statements? What? Reading your post, it's pretty clear what you want: an indefinite agreement for
PlayStation. You didn't list Nintendo, Steam, GeForce Now - any of the other parties who were offered 10-year deals and who took them (sans Steam, who said
it didn't even need a contract). You should take a step back and actually understand what you're saying. In reality, when the 10-year deals expire, Microsoft can make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox and not only is it legal, but I'd also argue it's actually pretty fair at that point. If the only party you clearly care about - PlayStation - is still
irrecoverably damaged by one game going exclusive in
2033, its leadership should be fired with prejudice and PlayStation's customers and shareholders should be happy to see them go. They've had
10 years to prepare - 10 years you've already admitted you believe they'll get. After
an entire decade of foreknowledge, that's on them.
just more evidence its closing monday. All the signs point to this.
A lot of the market runs on speculation. I wouldn't consider this move evidence - it's just speculators believing something is likely. They all thought the CMA would green light it, and they were blindsided by the CMA's block. It's not done until it's done.