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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HoofHearted said:
Aside from the CMA process details you've noted above…

Given all that has happened over the past 7 days and the various updates / changes in direction, especially over the weekend… what do you think is going to happen today?

Think about what happened last week… including the optics here..
  • Outside of CMA - FTC was the only remaining key block - CMA and FTC were aligned
  • there was a possibility that the FTC PI could be approved, it wasn't.
  • there was a possibility that the FTC appeal could be appealed, it wasn't
  • the courts unilaterally shut down FTC - in fact they actually rebuked FTCs core arguments and unilaterally agreed with MS arguments that this deal would actually promote competition
  • FTC was called to session and berated for their overall performance and decisions
  • in short - it wasn't a very good week at all for the FTC
  • CMA and MS subsequently agreed to pause / extend - and CAT setup the meeting for today

Up until Friday CMA had backing and alignment with FTC - that has all changed significantly.

Now - CMA really only has two paths:

  • stick to their original ruling and block the deal… full stop
  • or, pause and further reevaluate and revise their ruling with a way forward to allow the deal to progress and find some common ground to address the remaining concerns
If the CMA were of the opinion to not change their core ruling - why the pause? Why not just announce the block today and kill the deal?
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But the deal is still blocked by the CMA, that's why the CAT appeal happened. Only after the CAT appeal and if the CAT sends the case back to the CMA, the CMA can re announce a block or that they reached another conclusion.
 
Ar¢tos said:
But the deal is still blocked by the CMA, that's why the CAT appeal happened. Only after the CAT appeal and if the CAT sends the case back to the CMA, the CMA can re announce a block or that they reached another conclusion.
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Also old deal is still blocked and remedies cannot be applied to it after the final report.
 
Ar¢tos said:
But the deal is still blocked by the CMA, that's why the CAT appeal happened. Only after the CAT appeal and if the CAT sends the case back to the CMA, the CMA can re announce a block or that they reached another conclusion.
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Understood - and maybe I'm not following UK law and process here.. but this goes back to my question… it's blocked now, and if the intent of CMA is to not change their recommendations- then why announce the pause and also have the session today? Per my understanding- this isn't normal
 
ShaiKhulud1989 said:
Also old deal is still blocked and remedies cannot be applied to it after the final report.
Click to expand...

The old report technically wouldn't apply to a deal that was altered to be materially different from the original. They would do another review, they can however allow the deal to close while that review is happening, which may be the expected outcome for the parties involved.
 
HoofHearted said:
Understood - and maybe I'm not following UK law and process here.. but this goes back to my question… it's blocked now, and if the intent of CMA is to not change their recommendations- then why announce the pause and also have the session today? Per my understanding- this isn't normal
Click to expand...
That's because MS submitted changes to the deal. They are pausing so the CMA can reevaluate the changes, if they reject the changes the CAT appeal will continue.
 
HoofHearted said:
Understood - and maybe I'm not following UK law and process here.. but this goes back to my question… it's blocked now, and if the intent of CMA is to not change their recommendations- then why announce the pause and also have the session today? Per my understanding- this isn't normal
Click to expand...

I thought the text PaintTinJr PaintTinJr posted shows that the CMA had to consider the new submission from MS. It's not a choice but a requirement on the CMA to consider such submissions if I read it correctly.

And then the CMC today is for the CAT - the CAT hearing is requested to be delayed so they'll meet today to confirm the delay of proceedings.

Although we may find MS says they want to withdraw the CAT appeal entirely if they believe they've got an agreement with the CMA already. So let's see.
 
ToadMan said:
Although we may find MS says they want to withdraw the CAT appeal entirely if they believe they've got an agreement with the CMA already. So let's see.
Click to expand...

Seems like it would be a particularly stupid move on MS's part to outright cancel their appeal before anything was official, though I guess they could just restart the process again. I would think the pause would be enough.
 
Game Over Meme GIF by Travis


I'm pretty much convinced at this point.
 
DaGwaphics said:
Seems like it would be a particularly stupid move on MS's part to outright cancel their appeal before anything was official, though I guess they could just restart the process again. I would think the pause would be enough.
Click to expand...

Yes probably. The pause suits the CMA too so that's probably the way it goes.

But in that case I don't see why a CMC is necessary at all. Seems like it will be a 5 minute thing.
 
Last edited:
I don't understand anything anymore

We knew from the beginning that the FTC would lose, and the problem is the CMA

Why is everyone acting like the deal is done? The deal with playstation doesn't change much because consoles part was dropped by the CMA months ago
 
Bernoulli said:
I don't understand anything anymore

We knew from the beginning that the FTC would lose, and the problem is the CMA

Why is everyone acting like the deal is done? The deal with playstation doesn't change much because consoles part was dropped by the CMA months ago
Click to expand...

The signs are all there my man. FTC loses and then immediately CMA and MS announce they want to pause the appeal. A CMC is scheduled for the day before the deadline. And then Sony caves and signs the 10 year deal the weekend before. The tea leaves are their friend.

Awkward John Krasinski GIF by Saturday Night Live


Of course I haven't exactly batted .1000 during this thing so....
 
Bernoulli said:
I don't understand anything anymore

We knew from the beginning that the FTC would lose, and the problem is the CMA

Why is everyone acting like the deal is done? The deal with playstation doesn't change much because consoles part was dropped by the CMA months ago
Click to expand...
I'd agree, but more because I'm surprised how the absolute vehemence that the FTC was irrelevant from those opposing the deal crumbled so fast.

All indicators since the FTC lost their injunction attempt have pointed to supreme confidence that the deal is about to go through. The CMA coming back to the table, the stock price, the tone of the execs, then Sony signing their deal. It seems everyone in the know knows something we don't at this point.
 
Iced Arcade said:
Hope they make a crash, spyro, conker, blinx mash up.
Click to expand...
Why everyone thinks Microsoft is going to make these games come back?

We saw with bethesda that they do nothing new, everything is Still decided by Activision and MS only cares about money the won't bring back some games just for a small nostalgic public
 
Bernoulli said:
I don't understand anything anymore

We knew from the beginning that the FTC would lose, and the problem is the CMA

Why is everyone acting like the deal is done? The deal with playstation doesn't change much because consoles part was dropped by the CMA months ago
Click to expand...
People think some shady shit is going on behind the scenes.


I'm one of them lol
 
Topher said:
The signs are all there my man. FTC loses and then immediately CMA and MS announce they want to pause the appeal. A CMC is scheduled for the day before the deadline. And then Sony caves and signs the 10 year deal the weekend before. The tea leaves are their friend.

Awkward John Krasinski GIF by Saturday Night Live


Of course I haven't exactly batted .1000 during this thing so....
Click to expand...
Oh i missed the news where the CMA and Microsoft wanted to pause the appeal
Was this decided by both of them?
 
Bernoulli said:
I don't understand anything anymore

We knew from the beginning that the FTC would lose, and the problem is the CMA

Why is everyone acting like the deal is done? The deal with playstation doesn't change much because consoles part was dropped by the CMA months ago
Click to expand...

Activision is comfortably trading above $93 a share. It's done bro.
 
Sanepar said:
If MS fuck them well keep Marathon out of Xbox.
Click to expand...



Never refer you yourself and a company you do not work for as "we" or "we'll"….



Also. Neither is taking anything of anything that is already there on the other platform. They are both gonna make their money and still compete with each other, like they always do. PS players will still get to play COD, ESO:online, fallout76, Minecraft, Diablo and all the DLCs. Xbox owners will still be playing marathon. Relax. Some of you get way too worked up over this. I mean no offence when I say that.👊🏿
 
GHG said:
Meltdown? I've heard we're all supposed to be going AWOL from this thread.

Disappear Episode 1 GIF by UFC
Click to expand...

lol.....I can't keep up with the desired outcome of the emotive types. Only thing I can say for certain, is the ALT death count could be huge.

first time GIF
 
RickMasters said:
Some kind of multiverse platform game….. throw banjo and kazooie in there too! And the character from psychonaughts and we have a party!


And double fine should make it!
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This is...perhaps...a great idea. And with a model like Game Pass, it provides a huge safety net for these companies to experiment with certain ideas. I like this idea, a lot. MS now have the mascots/characters to make something like this happen, with a solid roster.

Some cool cameos; Lego Master chief, Super Lucky's Tale (many people forget about this game), Minecraft dude, Ori (along with some other characters from Ori), maybe some characters from Fable? (That chick from the trailer would be perfect for a game like this), a Grunt from Halo, Gears Pop characters...

Someone Tweet this to Phil, please!
 
buenoblue said:
To my o

To my original question, do you think this puts added pressure from Microsoft big bosses for Xbox brand to do better sales and revenue. Genuine question
Click to expand...
Yeah for sure, nobody wants to see money invested wrong, they'll have a ROI plan for sure and the division need to deliver, in a way or another. They have the money warchest still they're not giving away money for free, now that the money has been granted they'll wanna see the results.
 
havoc00 said:
Apologize to this man

pachter-factor.png
Click to expand...
For mr patcher I would say this: even a broken clock gets the time right twice a day! 😅😅😅


Either way. Looking forward to the next COD on gamepass next year and all the last ones on there, that I skipped. Im looking forward to playing the tony hawk remaster on GPU by the end of the month.



Long term I want to see them do some interesting stuff with some of the dormant IP and expand the WoW and StarCraft universes into single player games aswell as updates to the Core RTS games that they are known to make.
 
I don't know if there are companies in the UK capable of offering the same service as azure in the cloud (maybe google);
in streaming, it is not enough just to transmit data, low latency is required
Here in Brazil, there is only Azure and Google capable of doing this, so much so that Sony never brought PS Now; and we are the second largest gamepass market
Microsoft already monopolizes game streaming infraestructure here
 
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