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.
Chiggs said:
The Guardian, a notably left of center publication, weighs in with a decidedly critical piece on the CMA:

CMA is in danger of securing pyrrhic victory in Call of Duty battle

www.theguardian.com

CMA is in danger of securing pyrrhic victory in Call of Duty battle | Nils Pratley

Regulating Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard could make UK games market international outlier
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com





Ouch.
Click to expand...
Unsurprising.

We already saw lots of left and extreme left publications praise the GOP reps in the US during Lina Khan's congress hearing which was nothing short of hilarious.
Big corpo and capitalism are the center of all evil.. until the check clears and they have to do that proverbial blowjob the evil corps ordered them to.
 
Last edited:
PaintTinJr said:
Maybe I'm reading Bobby - with his plastic surgery wrong - but he handles himself like any of my friends in the past that had a penchant for gambling and winning, telling people that might bet £100 on two ants moving would cashout for $3b on a days work, every day of the week for the ego hit, even gambling other people's money where they didn't get the winnings.

But maybe that isn't Bobby
Click to expand...
Those attributes are probably correctly applied to Bobby, but in my lowely assessment, going through with the deal would be akin to him gambling with other people's money. He is in line for a big ole check if it does go through, and this is on top of his stock cash out. The financial incentive seems to be there.

Also, It seems to me that his ego would actually be pushing him to get the deal done. There has to be satisfaction from getting the deal done in the face of resistance from two governing bodies representing some largest economies on the planet. Though, that could just be my confirmation bias talking.
 
Last edited:
The Tourmaline Gorilla said:
It wasn't about people disagreeing with me.

You know, I absolutely abhor trying to have a civil discussion with people, when only one party is trying to be civil, or reasonable. And my post wasn't directed at you; it was a general post, simply to remind people that we need(ed) to continue to be civil, and that our opinions or understandings of the matter might be limited to (political) factors we are not aware of. Just a reminder for us to have some humility when dealing with others.
Click to expand...

Then reply directly to the people who were "mocking" and "heckling" you and explain it to them. You come across as wagging your finger at the entire thread while crying about how you were mistreated. This thread really doesn't need you to post "reminders" on how to behave.
 
The Tourmaline Gorilla said:
It wasn't about people disagreeing with me.

You know, I absolutely abhor trying to have a civil discussion with people, when only one party is trying to be civil, or reasonable. And my post wasn't directed at you; it was a general post, simply to remind people that we need(ed) to continue to be civil, and that our opinions or understandings of the matter might be limited to (political) factors we are not aware of. Just a reminder for us to have some humility when dealing with others.
Click to expand...

Practice what you preach and then you might be able to have this discourse you pretend you want
 
MarkMe2525 said:
Those attributes are probably correctly applied to Bobby, but in my lowely assessment, going through with the deal would be akin to him gambling with other people's money. He is in line for a big ole check if it does go through, and this is on top of his stock cash out. The financial incentive seems to be there.

Also, It seems to me that his ego would actually be pushing him to get the deal done. There has to be satisfaction from getting the deal done in the face of resistance from two governing bodies representing some largest economies on the planet. Though, that could just be my confirmation bias talking.
Click to expand...
I mean I don't think Bobby gets to make these decisions alone, there is a board of directors that is responsible for making these type of decisions although it is probably heavily stacked in his favor.
 
poppabk said:
I mean I don't think Bobby gets to make these decisions alone, there is a board of directors that is responsible for making these type of decisions although it is probably heavily stacked in his favor.
Click to expand...
Oh I am aware, we were just speculating on the mindset we believe Kotick to have regarding everything going on. I personally don't put much stock even in my assessment.
 
Topher said:
Then reply directly to the people who were "mocking" and "heckling" you and explain it to them. You come across as wagging your finger at the entire thread while crying about how you were mistreated. This thread really doesn't need you to post "reminders" on how to behave.
Click to expand...
The post that I quoted from you on the previous page, and my response under your quote shows that I came to the same conclusion you came to. I used your post to highlight my point (they were the same point). It wasn't in opposition to what you said. It was in support of what you said.

You saw one or two posts from me...perhaps reading the first few lines, ignored everything else and instantly settled on an opinion of me or what you think I represent, and thus, created an impression of me that you didn't like, which made being objective with my posts damn near impossible. Forget how I "came across" and actually read what was said. If you read what was said, you'd have seen that I didn't single myself out as being attacked (others were too, which I mentioned), and you would have seen that I didn't exclude myself from being biased, or misinformed either.

Again, the post wasn't directed towards you or everyone in this forum. I can go back to those previous pages, and I can see at certain points things became very toxic in this thread. So much shit was thrown (in both directions) needlessly. I'm just saying, if we (collectively) can avoid going down that path again, let's not. We're all not experts, and we don't all have the information, is all I'm saying. Let's leave some room for error in our own judgements, and not crucify anyone whose opinions or takes we don't like/agree with.
 
Ass of Can Whooping said:
Practice what you preach and then you might be able to have this discourse you pretend you want
Click to expand...
This will be last response on this particular matter; and it's a rhetorical question. Show me where, of late, in this thread that I've bullied, mocked or heckled anyone because they have a different opinion than mine, or came to a different conclusion from me.
 
The Tourmaline Gorilla said:
....
Click to expand...

Didnt Read Lol Storm Trooper GIF
 
It's over my friends. The deal will close and Microsoft will be on its way to total domination. I wish it wasn't true and Bobby just walked away but come on. No way he's walking after overcoming every development along the way. The precedent this sets going forward is scary and I think in the future this will be retrospectively referred to as the gaming industry's most dramatic turning point.
 
Three said:
I'm not sure what you're saying here. Let the big ones go but bully the smaller companies with smaller deals? Are you seriously suggesting this? How would the smaller deals be reasonably won if the big ones can't be?
Click to expand...
If the big ones are sapping resources and are losing causes then how many FTC wins are they going to get? Zero?
 
poppabk said:
I mean I don't think Bobby gets to make these decisions alone, there is a board of directors that is responsible for making these type of decisions although it is probably heavily stacked in his favor.
Click to expand...
This is actually something I completely overlooked; what do the board of directors want? That's actually a good question...

While I want to say they all want the same thing(s), that's speculation at best. I think they'll still hold through, and not abandon the deal, but we've certainly seen some surprise changes during the course of this acquisition, so no telling what could occur.

If MS has to sweeten the deal, if they're aware of any opposition from the remaining board to do so, I see them doing that.
 
The Tourmaline Gorilla said:
This is actually something I completely overlooked; what do the board of directors want? That's actually a good question...

While I want to say they all want the same thing(s), that's speculation at best. I think they'll still hold through, and not abandon the deal, but we've certainly seen some surprise changes during the course of this acquisition, so no telling what could occur.

If MS has to sweeten the deal, if they're aware of any opposition from the remaining board to do so, I see them doing that.
Click to expand...
They want the money, Bobby said so during FTC trial
 
The Tourmaline Gorilla said:
It wasn't about people disagreeing with me.

You know, I absolutely abhor trying to have a civil discussion with people, when only one party is trying to be civil, or reasonable. And my post wasn't directed at you; it was a general post, simply to remind people that we need(ed) to continue to be civil, and that our opinions or understandings of the matter might be limited to (political) factors we are not aware of. Just a reminder for us to have some humility when dealing with others.
Click to expand...
Eogkvqa.jpg
 
Last edited:
The Tourmaline Gorilla said:
This will be last response on this particular matter; and it's a rhetorical question. Show me where, of late, in this thread that I've bullied, mocked or heckled anyone because they have a different opinion than mine, or came to a different conclusion from me.
Click to expand...

You come back to this thread and your first intention to is whine about the sony echo chamber, but yeah keep crying wolf
 
Last edited:
Timberwolf25 said:
They certainly aren't, but people do keep track and point out their win-loss records.
It can be used to show successful or ineffectial they are. So far they are 0-4.
Click to expand...
Says more about what corporations and politicians on the take have done to neuter the agency and intentionally stifle their resources the past 40-50 years. It's a toothless tiger, only there for show.

Not working as intended. Needs a major overhaul patch.
 
Last edited:
Ass of Can Whooping said:
You come back to this thread after two months and your first intention to is whine about the sony echo chamber, but yeah keep crying wolf
Click to expand...
Where did I mention Sony anything? I got banned for a month, for saying it was an echo chamber. Fine. No posts from me during that period.

I returned, looked at the current developments and saw certain political plays at work, between MS, the CMA and perhaps other political influencers. Shortly before I was banned, the CMA head was grilled by a certain political figure... At that time, I stated I'm not surprised to see politics coming into play here, given the size of this deal and all the parties affected. I stated then, the same thing I'm stating now; there are other (political) variables that might throw some curve balls in these proceedings.

Now, please show me where, since I've returned, I've mentioned, whined or complained about the Sony echo chamber.

Edit to add: Since I've returned to this thread, most of my posts haven't been pro-Sony or pro-MS. The only thing my posts are advocating is civility and humility. Why? Because when I expressed certain views or made certain observations, I was mocked and heckled. I didn't like that, at all. No one would. I wasn't the only one either. But when these things happen, it acts counter to progressive discussion. It drives people away, and some of those people (it turns out) had some valid points or contributions to make. It detracts from the conversation, which is the point of a forum; progressive conversation.
 
Last edited:
Can't see Bobby Bigdick pulling out, when you look at it ABK has sort of hit their ceiling there's no new IP on the horizon and the COD machine requires a lot of developers. And what are they supposed to do? Slow down the COD train, risk people moving to other live service games, and what putting mediocre devs working on new sp IP that will most likely bomb critically and commercially or bet even bigger on new live service IP that might bomb even harder?

It's a 400 million pay out. Now maybe he doesn't want the train to stop and has a devilish plan in place and maybe that will sway the shareholders but from where I'm standing there's a higher probability of COD going down in popularity this gen than anything else.

Talking seriously? MS forfeiting their pursuit for more hardcore IP and devs and getting a hard on for easy money ABK is the least shit outcome of this whole consolidation nonsense.
 
Ozriel said:
Microsoft will fail to achieve their goals if they do achieve their goals but fall short of your own targets?
Click to expand...

I'm sure their goals FAR out do what I posted here. Unlike some of you guys, I actually believe MS has confidence in their product and recent purchases. I don't believe the Xbox team is moping around thinking so low of themselves like yall.
 
boomcrab said:
It's over my friends. The deal will close and Microsoft will be on its way to total domination. I wish it wasn't true and Bobby just walked away but come on. No way he's walking after overcoming every development along the way. The precedent this sets going forward is scary and I think in the future this will be retrospectively referred to as the gaming industry's most dramatic turning point.
Click to expand...
I love me some manufactured meltdown!
Sad Will Ferrell GIF
 
Thirty7ven said:
Can't see Bobby Bigdick pulling out, when you look at it ABK has sort of hit their ceiling there's no new IP on the horizon and the COD machine requires a lot of developers. And what are they supposed to do? Slow down the COD train, risk people moving to other live service games, and what putting mediocre devs working on new sp IP that will most likely bomb critically and commercially or bet even bigger on new live service IP that might bomb even harder?

It's a 400 million pay out. Now maybe he doesn't want the train to stop and has a devilish plan in place and maybe that will sway the shareholders but from where I'm standing there's a higher probability of COD going down in popularity this gen than anything else.

Talking seriously? MS forfeiting their pursuit for more hardcore IP and devs and getting a hard on for easy money ABK is the least shit outcome of this whole consolidation nonsense.
Click to expand...
I agree, he would have made the biggest blunder in history if he pulls the plug tomorrow morning. His talent wont make anything new, senior management are retiring in the next few years, (look at Even Wells at naughty dog), 99% of their ip are irrelevant, outdated and folks are going to leave as they get pouched by SIE, Bungie, EA, Ubi you name it. Best chance see ths to the finish line than to walk away now then try to manage through this change.
 
Last edited:
Ass of Can Whooping said:
Yeah maybe when you've been here a little longer you can let your true colours show.
Click to expand...
What "true colours"? That I'm pro-MS? Almost everyone who can read my post history knows this. I've mentioned it a few times, earlier in this very thread. I am certainly pro-MS and pro this deal. That's not inherently a bad thing. That's not some display of evil. While I've been here, although I've been very matter-of-fact with certain things, I've never bullied or heckled or belittled anyone specifically.

And just because I'm pro-anything, doesn't mean I don't have a right to an opinion. It doesn't mean I can't be objective. It doesn't mean I can't make a contribution. There are many people here who aren't fans of this deal, and they've made very strong and valid points. They've made contributions that add value to the conversation. They've made points I hadn't considered. Being pro-anything isn't inherently bad.
 
DeepEnigma said:
Says more about what corporations and politicians on the take have done to neuter the agency and intentionally stifle their resources the past 40-50 years. It's a toothless tiger, only there for show.

Not working as intended. Needs a major overhaul patch.
Click to expand...
Yep, scrap it and start over. Giving the current institution more power would be a worse outcome. Already way too much picking winners and losers by the government.
 
The Tourmaline Gorilla said:
What "true colours"? That I'm pro-MS? Almost everyone who can read my post history knows this. I've mentioned it a few times, earlier in this very thread. I am certainly pro-MS and pro this deal. That's not inherently a bad thing. That's not some display of evil. While I've been here, although I've been very matter-of-fact with certain things, I've never bullied or heckled or belittled anyone specifically.

And just because I'm pro-anything, doesn't mean I don't have a right to an opinion. It doesn't mean I can't be objective. It doesn't mean I can't make a contribution. There are many people here who aren't fans of this deal, and they've made very strong and valid points. They've made contributions that add value to the conversation. They've made points I hadn't considered. Being pro-anything isn't inherently bad.
Click to expand...

You don't need to defend yourself this badly. Just don't let the mask slip like last time and you'll be good
 
The Tourmaline Gorilla said:
What "true colours"? That I'm pro-MS? Almost everyone who can read my post history knows this. I've mentioned it a few times, earlier in this very thread. I am certainly pro-MS and pro this deal. That's not inherently a bad thing. That's not some display of evil. While I've been here, although I've been very matter-of-fact with certain things, I've never bullied or heckled or belittled anyone specifically.

And just because I'm pro-anything, doesn't mean I don't have a right to an opinion. It doesn't mean I can't be objective. It doesn't mean I can't make a contribution. There are many people here who aren't fans of this deal, and they've made very strong and valid points. They've made contributions that add value to the conversation. They've made points I hadn't considered. Being pro-anything isn't inherently bad.
Click to expand...
Imagine admitting you're pro-MS. At least go with being pro-Xbox like I do. Corpo ball washing is the absolute lamest shit ever.
 
Kilau said:
Yep, scrap it and start over. Giving the current institution more power would be a worse outcome. Already way too much picking winners and losers by the government.
Click to expand...
This brings up a whole different, much deeper topic. When politicians overstep their boundaries, and it is the politicians who set these institutions up, where exactly do we go from here?

How do we ensure it doesn't happen again, even after it's scrapped and rebuilt? On a personal level, I don't like when politics becomes a factor in things that shouldn't be political. But exactly how do you deal with such things going forward, to ensure politicians remain neutral/impartial. I'm sure certain people in MS knew political factors would come into play, for their benefit and were perhaps banking on that. But, when you're dealing with trillion dollar companies that provide jobs and economic growth, how exactly do you leave the politics out of it? That's very tricky to navigate around.
 
Kilau said:
Imagine admitting you're pro-MS. At least go with being pro-Xbox like I do. Corpo ball washing is the absolute lamest shit ever.
Click to expand...
It is what it is. I use MS and Xbox interchangeably, in this case. I'm pro-Xbox. I really don't care about MS-anything, other than Xbox. Not even a big fan of Windows. But, I don't hide or lie about where my desires are; I see no point in that.
 
MarkMe2525 said:
Those attributes are probably correctly applied to Bobby, but in my lowely assessment, going through with the deal would be akin to him gambling with other people's money. He is in line for a big ole check if it does go through, and this is on top of his stock cash out. The financial incentive seems to be there.

Also, It seems to me that his ego would actually be pushing him to get the deal done. There has to be satisfaction from getting the deal done in the face of resistance from two governing bodies representing some largest economies on the planet. Though, that could just be my confirmation bias talking.
Click to expand...
But that is still potentially a long term bet, which is more like weather modelling science IMH, I don't think my friends ever cared about long term betting. In fact they would have found 18months without betting very uncomfortable.
 
The Tourmaline Gorilla said:
What "true colours"? That I'm pro-MS? Almost everyone who can read my post history knows this. I've mentioned it a few times, earlier in this very thread. I am certainly pro-MS and pro this deal. That's not inherently a bad thing. That's not some display of evil. While I've been here, although I've been very matter-of-fact with certain things, I've never bullied or heckled or belittled anyone specifically.

And just because I'm pro-anything, doesn't mean I don't have a right to an opinion. It doesn't mean I can't be objective. It doesn't mean I can't make a contribution. There are many people here who aren't fans of this deal, and they've made very strong and valid points. They've made contributions that add value to the conversation. They've made points I hadn't considered. Being pro-anything isn't inherently bad.
Click to expand...
This thread is so long that people here have made posts that were informative AND made contributions AND also mocked people as well. On both sides. It's been going on for a looooong time and the conversation has gone many a place here and there.
You're coming across like you're lecturing though. At least to me. Just yesterday someone tried calling out a poster here who is pro Sony. I don't recall seeing you call that person out. Not that any one needs you to. See what I'm saying?
 
ArtHands said:
Because it takes more than that to change things around or even move the needle. Especially when COD is still on Playstation in the coming decade. Really not hard to figure it out
Click to expand...

My point about xbox's future takes into account their purchase of Bethesda\Zenimax. It shouldn't take more than that.
 
The Tourmaline Gorilla said:
This brings up a whole different, much deeper topic. When politicians overstep their boundaries, and it is the politicians who set these institutions up, where exactly do we go from here?

How do we ensure it doesn't happen again, even after it's scrapped and rebuilt? On a personal level, I don't like when politics becomes a factor in things that shouldn't be political. But exactly how do you deal with such things going forward, to ensure politicians remain neutral/impartial. I'm sure certain people in MS knew political factors would come into play, for their benefit and were perhaps banking on that. But, when you're dealing with trillion dollar companies that provide jobs and economic growth, how exactly do you leave the politics out of it? That's very tricky to navigate around.
Click to expand...
Term limits and cluster bombing K street would help.
 
The Tourmaline Gorilla said:
This brings up a whole different, much deeper topic. When politicians overstep their boundaries, and it is the politicians who set these institutions up, where exactly do we go from here?

How do we ensure it doesn't happen again, even after it's scrapped and rebuilt? On a personal level, I don't like when politics becomes a factor in things that shouldn't be political. But exactly how do you deal with such things going forward, to ensure politicians remain neutral/impartial. I'm sure certain people in MS knew political factors would come into play, for their benefit and were perhaps banking on that. But, when you're dealing with trillion dollar companies that provide jobs and economic growth, how exactly do you leave the politics out of it? That's very tricky to navigate around.
Click to expand...
Democracy and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.
 
Zheph said:
They want the money, Bobby said so during FTC trial
Click to expand...
But he can't know that. Unless I'm mistake 240 trading days per year for 18month merger, $69B valuation @ $95 per share would mean every share could trade hands every ~150days assuming their average of 5M trades per day.

The shareholders he got the mandate from, are a different mix, maybe with a different view - maybe all new shareholders - over these 18months. doesn't seem like a solid position to make a decision from without balloting them again IMO.
 
Last edited:
PaintTinJr said:
But he can't know that. Unless I'm mistake 240 trading days per year for 18month merger, $68B valuation @ $95 per share would mean every share could trade hands every ~150days assuming their average of 5M trades per day.

The shareholders he got the mandate from, are a different mix, maybe with a different view - maybe all new shareholders - over these 18months. doesn't seem like a solid position to make a decision from without balloting them again IMO.
Click to expand...
I agree that a new process should probably take place but if you just go by what he said and how the execs at ABK are acting (on twitter) I don't think that will be an issue for them
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

  • Locked
‘Microsoft’ said they were streamlining 9000 people across XGS/ABK/ZM
Rumor 
19
453
Topher replied
Microsoft wins FTC appeal challenging $69 billion Activision Blizzard deal
News Business  2 3
125
3K
Unknown? replied
MS/ABK is advertising games that don't exist for data collection
46
3K
POKEYCLYDE replied
My apologies to Ubisoft, Sony, Activision, EA, MS etc. for making a big deal out of $70 games
2 3 4
156
8K
MDSLKTR replied
Battlefield 6 Beta |OT| Open Beta/Closed Weapons.
|OT|  60 61 62 63 64
3K
5K
EDMIX replied
Top Bottom