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Microsoft / Activision deal prevented to protect innovation and choice in cloud gaming

zomboden

Banned
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001lbd3 BBC interview with Brad Smith Microsoft President over the Deal
I skimmed through it. Here's some tidbits.
He doubles down on the fact that this is bad for UK's economy and all the big tech was watching this deal and now they will avoid them UK because of the CMA "Shake the confidence among the business community" says CMA has extreme lack of understanding.

Says that cloud gaming is a small business and isn't going the direction they say it is. Says Microsoft's max streaming capacity (XCLOUD) is 5,000 people to the entire country.

"Torpedo a 68 Billion Dollar Global Transaction over a concern over a small part of the business. And rejecting all these proposals. It leaves people worried."

He is then asked if this changes his perspective or Microsoft's perspective of the UK. He says "We've been in the UK for 40 years, defended them using cyber security. This decision is the darkest day of the entire 40 years in britain. It shakes our confidence more than ever before."

"Will it affect Microsofts business in the UK?" "We will definitely keep it in mind" he responds

That was all in the first 7 minutes. I'll leave you the rest to listen to if you wish. Anyways the too long didnt listen/read is: Microsoft is pissed at the UK.
 
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So are we done for in the UK?

I'm thinking of sleeping on the pavement outside my house to prepare myself as homeless.

Although death valley does have a nice ring to it, might buy some new threads to go with that death valley look.
The blitz ain’t got nothing on Spencer coming at UK in the wake of this announcement.
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001lbd3 BBC interview with Brad Smith Microsoft President over the Deal
I skimmed through it. Here's some tidbits.
He doubles down on the fact that this is bad for UK's economy and all the big tech was watching this deal and now they will avoid them UK because of the CMA "Shake the confidence among the business community" says CMA has extreme lack of understanding.

Says that cloud gaming is a small business and isn't going the direction they say it is. Says Microsoft's max streaming capacity (XCLOUD) is 5,000 people to the entire country.

"Torpedo a 68 Billion Dollar Global Transaction over a concern over a small part of the business. And rejecting all these proposals. It leaves people worried."

He is then asked if this changes his perspective or Microsoft's perspective of the UK. He says "We've been in the UK for 40 years, defended them using cyber security. This decision is the darkest day of the entire 40 years in britain. It shakes our confidence more than ever before."

"Will it affect Microsofts business in the UK?" "We will definitely keep it in mind" he responds

That was all in the first 7 minutes. I'll leave you the rest to listen to if you wish. Anyways the too long didnt listen/read is: Microsoft is pissed at the UK.
What a shithead.
 

Reckheim

Member
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001lbd3 BBC interview with Brad Smith Microsoft President over the Deal
I skimmed through it. Here's some tidbits.
He doubles down on the fact that this is bad for UK's economy and all the big tech was watching this deal and now they will avoid them UK because of the CMA "Shake the confidence among the business community" says CMA has extreme lack of understanding.

Says that cloud gaming is a small business and isn't going the direction they say it is. Says Microsoft's max streaming capacity (XCLOUD) is 5,000 people to the entire country.

"Torpedo a 68 Billion Dollar Global Transaction over a concern over a small part of the business. And rejecting all these proposals. It leaves people worried."

He is then asked if this changes his perspective or Microsoft's perspective of the UK. He says "We've been in the UK for 40 years, defended them using cyber security. This decision is the darkest day of the entire 40 years in britain. It shakes our confidence more than ever before."

"Will it affect Microsofts business in the UK?" "We will definitely keep it in mind" he responds

That was all in the first 7 minutes. I'll leave you the rest to listen to if you wish. Anyways the too long didnt listen/read is: Microsoft is pissed at the UK.
its 5000 concurrent. Regardless, it is a small number yes. But this deal is not about stopping a current monopoly but the possibility of a future one.
 

GHG

Member
Rishi and his office claps back:

RafTrb5.jpg


https://m.economictimes.com/tech/te...for-britain-official/articleshow/99816327.cms
 

Topher

Identifies as young
You mean like sega and the dreamcast. They produced great game after great game. But couldn't over come the mindshare of Sony. It will take more than great games to defeat that mindshare. Nintendo produces great games but had to leave the high performance console market because of Sony mindshare.

That might be comparable if Microsoft had already created "great game after great game" but they just haven't.
 

zomboden

Banned
its 5000 concurrent. Regardless, it is a small number yes. But this deal is not about stopping a current monopoly but the possibility of a future one.
yes and only the people who wanted to this deal to fail for any reason whatsoever with every fiber of their being are championing the CMA's reason. Cloud gaming is a joke and everyone knows it. Stadia was a joke. Luna is a joke. Geforce Now is only good if you have extreme internet connectivity and even then you can't play games competetively ever because it has added latency and input delay. xCloud is 1080 60 at a low bitrate and it looks and runs like absolute garbage. worse than stadia/luna/geforce by far. It's by far the most accessible but worse quality streaming service.

xCloud is simply an accessory to Xbox Game Pass to entice people to play on the go and stuff. Everybody knows it. Damaging their relationship with Microsoft and the entire big tech industry over that reasoning makes no sense.

Every single content creator I follow that I've seen react to this decision that already wanted this deal to fail said "I dunno why cloud was their reasoning, but good cause I dont like big companies combining."

Not a single person was like "omg omg the incoming cloud gaming monopoly".
 
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quest

Not Banned from OT
its 5000 concurrent. Regardless, it is a small number yes. But this deal is not about stopping a current monopoly but the possibility of a future one.
So the total market is a few hours of ps5 sales lol. So predicting a market that small is a joke. It would need to grow exponentially to even be viable. So taking away any incentive of a company to grow it is the cma deciding a market should die. If they attempt this with every market in its infancy your just killing innovation and protecting the status quo. Why start a new market or grow it if your going to be punished for it.
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001lbd3 BBC interview with Brad Smith Microsoft President over the Deal
I skimmed through it. Here's some tidbits.
He doubles down on the fact that this is bad for UK's economy and all the big tech was watching this deal and now they will avoid them UK because of the CMA "Shake the confidence among the business community" says CMA has extreme lack of understanding.

Says that cloud gaming is a small business and isn't going the direction they say it is. Says Microsoft's max streaming capacity (XCLOUD) is 5,000 people to the entire country.

"Torpedo a 68 Billion Dollar Global Transaction over a concern over a small part of the business. And rejecting all these proposals. It leaves people worried."

He is then asked if this changes his perspective or Microsoft's perspective of the UK. He says "We've been in the UK for 40 years, defended them using cyber security. This decision is the darkest day of the entire 40 years in britain. It shakes our confidence more than ever before."

"Will it affect Microsofts business in the UK?" "We will definitely keep it in mind" he responds

That was all in the first 7 minutes. I'll leave you the rest to listen to if you wish. Anyways the too long didnt listen/read is: Microsoft is pissed at the UK.

Bloody hell....

MS isn't going to let this go are they? Can't they just give up?

So what, now xbox in the UK ends up being even more shite as we get a spin off of the box box devision with a seperate store, not the same game pass games....different deals for us as Microsoft operates internationally?

I guess we gotta hope the EU blocks it too, to stop this deal dead?
 

Honey Bunny

Member
You realize the cma blocked a 70 billion dollar deal over their definition of cloud gaming being its own market instead of just another way to sell access to games?.
Maybe they used MSes own definition?

>“When you talk about Nintendo and Sony, we have a ton of respect for them, but we see Amazon and Google as the main competitors going forward,” says Spencer. “That’s not to disrespect Nintendo and Sony, but the traditional gaming companies are somewhat out of position. I guess they could try to re-create Azure, but we’ve invested tens of billions of dollars in cloud over the years.”
 

zomboden

Banned
Do the total market is a few hours of ps5 sales lol. So predicting a market that small is a joke. It would need to grow exponentially to even be viable. So taking away any incentive of a company to grow it is the cma deciding a market should die. If they attempt this with every market in its infancy your just killing innovation and protecting the status quo. Why start a new market or grow it if your going to be punished for it.
Just pulled up some random 2022 numbers. PS5 took 98 weeks to get to 2 mil sales in UK. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ps5-h...rth-fastest-selling-games-console-of-all-time

2,000,000/98 = 20,408 per week

20,408/7 = 2,915 sales per day... and this was like 2022 sales numbers it's probably higher now. And that's assuming that UK shops are even open 7 days a week.

Literally 3/5th of PS5 daily sales is almost the entirety of Microsoft's xCloud gaming capacity in the country.

WHEW LADS! GOOD JOB EVERYONE!
 
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yes and only the people who wanted to this deal to fail for any reason whatsoever with every fiber of their being are championing the CMA's reason. Cloud gaming is a joke and everyone knows it. Stadia was a joke. Luna is a joke. Geforce Now is only good if you have extreme internet connectivity and even then you can't play games competetively ever because it has added latency and input delay. xCloud is 1080 60 at a low bitrate and it looks and runs like absolute garbage. worse than stadia/luna/geforce by far. It's by far the most accessible but worse quality streaming service.

xCloud is simply an accessory to Xbox Game Pass to entice people to play on the go and stuff. Everybody knows it. Damaging their relationship with Microsoft and the entire big tech industry over that reasoning makes no sense.

Every single content creator I follow that I've seen react to this decision that already wanted this deal to fail said "I dunno why cloud was their reasoning, but good cause I dont like big companies combining."

Not a single person was like "omg omg the incoming cloud gaming monopoly".
Rishi Sunak take note - disband the CMA, hire youtube content creators to oversee your markets.

This legal judgement was brought to you by Monster Energy and Clutch Chairz.
*gaming-lit courtroom with gaming chairs pulses excitedly*
 
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azertydu91

Hard to Kill
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001lbd3 BBC interview with Brad Smith Microsoft President over the Deal
I skimmed through it. Here's some tidbits.
He doubles down on the fact that this is bad for UK's economy and all the big tech was watching this deal and now they will avoid them UK because of the CMA "Shake the confidence among the business community" says CMA has extreme lack of understanding.

Says that cloud gaming is a small business and isn't going the direction they say it is. Says Microsoft's max streaming capacity (XCLOUD) is 5,000 people to the entire country.

"Torpedo a 68 Billion Dollar Global Transaction over a concern over a small part of the business. And rejecting all these proposals. It leaves people worried."

He is then asked if this changes his perspective or Microsoft's perspective of the UK. He says "We've been in the UK for 40 years, defended them using cyber security. This decision is the darkest day of the entire 40 years in britain. It shakes our confidence more than ever before."

"Will it affect Microsofts business in the UK?" "We will definitely keep it in mind" he responds

That was all in the first 7 minutes. I'll leave you the rest to listen to if you wish. Anyways the too long didnt listen/read is: Microsoft is pissed at the UK.
So it is nice to know that low supply of XSX aren't to build their cloud infrastructure then since they can only provide for 5000 people in the US.
 
Well this is worse for Sony. MS will then make many exclusive deals with Activision then, and make games not even playable on the Playstation. Before, MS agreed to put them on the system. Sony just fucked themselves.
Sony just fucked themselves.
I don't know how much the rest of you know about English culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is in America where you can become successful by being an asshole. If you screw someone over in the UK, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.
What this means is the English public, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase a PS5, nor will they purchase any of PlayStations games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Sony has alienated an entire market with this move.
Sony, publicly apologize and beg for Activision-Blizzard games for PS5 or you can kiss your business goodbye.
 

zomboden

Banned
Bloody hell....

MS isn't going to let this go are they? Can't they just give up?

So what, now xbox in the UK ends up being even more shite as we get a spin off of the box box devision with a seperate store, not the same game pass games....different deals for us as Microsoft operates internationally?

I guess we gotta hope the EU blocks it too, to stop this deal dead?
I don't know how mad Microsoft and Activision really are. Behind closed doors I mean.

But let's just say... you better hope the CMA isn't the only regulatory body stopping the deal. All I'm saying.

You might be getting an OBOX with Xbat game ticket subscription and call of shooty.
 
Bloody hell....

MS isn't going to let this go are they? Can't they just give up?

So what, now xbox in the UK ends up being even more shite as we get a spin off of the box box devision with a seperate store, not the same game pass games....different deals for us as Microsoft operates internationally?

I guess we gotta hope the EU blocks it too, to stop this deal dead?

They would be doing Microsoft a massive favour cause this is getting embarrassing now. Microsoft are making themselves look awful from all this. Why not just be professional and say they were disappointed in the decision and will appeal? Instead of bizarre statements attacking the UK?
 

Interfectum

Member
Well this is worse for Sony. MS will then make many exclusive deals with Activision then, and make games not even playable on the Playstation. Before, MS agreed to put them on the system.
No they won't. Games sell like shit on Xbox, there's only so many deals MS can make before Acti-Blizz potentially fade into irrelevance. Activision needs Sony just as much as Sony needs Activision.
 

reinking

Gold Member
You mean like sega and the dreamcast. They produced great game after great game. But couldn't over come the mindshare of Sony. It will take more than great games to defeat that mindshare. Nintendo produces great games but had to leave the high performance console market because of Sony mindshare.
Dreamcast could not overcome the mindshare of Sega which they destroyed.
 

BbMajor7th

Member
Well this is worse for Sony. MS will then make many exclusive deals with Activision then, and make games not even playable on the Playstation. Before, MS agreed to put them on the system.
Good to see NeoGAF's fan fiction community blossoming. Peeps need to rewatch earlier seasons though. Microsoft had co-marketing partnerships on Call of Duty for most of the seventh generation and some of the eighth. PlayStation grew rapidly as a brand during that time and MS began to lose the advantage. Activision switched allegiances shortly into the eighth generation and hasn't looked back.
 

Fabieter

Member
I don't know how mad Microsoft and Activision really are. Behind closed doors I mean.

But let's just say... you better hope the CMA isn't the only regulatory body stopping the deal. All I'm saying.

You might be getting an OBOX with Xbat game ticket subscription and call of shooty.

You think they will close their whole uk devs?
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
They would be doing Microsoft a massive favour cause this is getting embarrassing now. Microsoft are making themselves look awful from all this. Why not just be professional and say they were disappointed in the decision and will appeal? Instead of bizarre statements attacking the UK?
Yup!

No idea what they are doing, I'm not going to pretend I understand what these slime balls think is the right way to go about this shiz.
 

Three

Gold Member
Cloud gaming is a joke and everyone knows it. Stadia was a joke. Luna is a joke. Geforce Now is only good if you have extreme internet connectivity and even then you can't play games competetively ever because it has added latency and input delay. xCloud is 1080 60 at a low bitrate and it looks and runs like absolute garbage. worse than stadia/luna/geforce by far. It's by far the most accessible but worse quality streaming service.

xCloud is simply an accessory to Xbox Game Pass to entice people to play on the go and stuff. Everybody knows it. Damaging their relationship with Microsoft and the entire big tech industry over that reasoning makes no sense.

Every single content creator I follow that I've seen react to this decision that already wanted this deal to fail said "I dunno why cloud was their reasoning, but good cause I dont like big companies combining."

Not a single person was like "omg omg the incoming cloud gaming monopoly".
The CMA has internal data from MS, ABK, and other parties about the trajectory of multigame subscription services and cloud gaming. Their decisions are based on more information than what you and I have.

The FTC even has information about a codenamed next generation gaming ecosystem that MS is planning to launch, which everyone is speculating is a cloud platform.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
You think they will close their whole uk devs?

I think with how they are talking, if every other governing body passes it...they will absolutely look to spin off the 🇬🇧 or turn even more shite and start threatening possible actions....I feel if other countries don't block it and we (UK) will get skanked...it will be well poo.
 

zomboden

Banned
You think they will close their whole uk devs?
No, but I think they can find a way around it.

Like letting somebody else manage their studios/IP's in UK while secretly managing them.

Trillion dollar companies can do just about anything they want. At this point with the statements Microsoft has been putting out I would not be surprised if they didn't try to strong arm UK into approving the deal.

I don't like the idea of companies being able to bully entire countries into doing what they want. BTW.

and I think the EU will block it because UK did now too.

But there's a chance Microsoft is like "Hey, we will invest in EU more than ever if you help us pass this." And then will say well we are pulling everything out of UK and into EU.

It's unlikely.
 
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What is it with the continual hate for Xbox controllers and batteries? Are people seriously that hurt by having to buy some rechargeable ones that end up lasting longer then the PlayStation controller's battery? How is this still an argument that carries weight to it?

Microsoft does indeed have many resources, and I'm not arguing against internal revision to realign development mentalities. What I'm arguing against is the CMA decision, which is based on an industry that "may" be worth €1 billion by 2026. Maybe, if people actually shift to that consumer style and the infrastructure is available to do so. Right now, and I really can't see it changing in less than three years time, that isn't there so the decision is based on hypothetical stretches.

Would the content library be massive for Xbox and Microsoft? Most definitely, can't argue against that. However there would be severe cannibalism if Microsoft decided to foreclose any IP's of significance that can move the needle in game sales. It'd be like setting on fire truck loads of money to pamper a brand that doesn't need it, instead the association is key. That's how CoD got so big and is why Sont focused so much on it, because it is PlayStation now in the eyes of the consumer.

I didn't ignore Switch, and know very well Nintendo is actually the number one in console space. However Nintendo operates on an entirely different stratosphere of thinking, and you can't deny that at all. Heck even the CMA agrees there. I will just be very interested how this all plays out in the coming remainder of year, as we have some big titles coming from Sony that will continue to bolster their lead. Whether that upsets the industry or not, who knows 🤷
It's the fact that the type of battery in controllers is brought up at all and used as some kind of boasting point. The controller could be wired for all I care. It's silly and few people care. That's why it's embarrassing when threads like that crop up.

I got nothing but love for Xbox but this Activision thing has really brought out the worst when it comes to console warriors. The whole acquisition is pure laziness on behalf of Xbox because they can't get their shit together and deliver the goods for their fans.

I'd say the same thing if Sony tried to buy Capcom, or Square, etc. Sony has shit the bed numerous times too. Dummies helped develop Demon's Souls for the PS3 and then couldn't bother to bring it to NA. So insanely dumb.
 
They would be doing Microsoft a massive favour cause this is getting embarrassing now. Microsoft are making themselves look awful from all this. Why not just be professional and say they were disappointed in the decision and will appeal? Instead of bizarre statements attacking the UK?
Yup!

No idea what they are doing, I'm not going to pretend I understand what these slime balls think is the right way to go about this shiz.
It's true. I actually don't really care either way - I thought it was not great, but assumed it was just happening anyway - I'm just deeply enjoying the chance to make and laugh at my own jokes.

I really didn't expect MS to come out and act like huge asshole babies. I assumed they'd be professional and say, "Well...we're disappointed, but we'll be getting on with it. We believe in XBOX, and we've got plenty in the future for you to look forward to."

Fuck 'em.
 

Fabieter

Member
No, but I think they can find a way around it.

Like letting somebody else manage their studios/IP's in UK while secretly managing them.

Trillion dollar companies can do just about anything they want. At this point with the statements Microsoft has been putting out I would not be surprised if they didn't try to strong arm UK into approving the deal.

I don't like the idea of companies being able to bully entire countries into doing what they want. BTW.

and I think the EU will block it because UK did now too.

But there's a chance Microsoft is like "Hey, we will invest in EU more than ever if you help us pass this." And then will say well we are pulling everything out of UK and into EU.

It's unlikely.

So lets hope eu and ftc is blocking too so ms can stfu with their treats. Ms is really looking aweful with this. Way worse than jim during the last year.
 

zomboden

Banned
So lets hope eu and ftc is blocking too so ms can stfu with their treats. Ms is really looking aweful with this. Way worse than jim during the last year.
I personally want EU to block it so Microsoft can drop it and move on to using the money to make Xbox better in other ways. Buy smaller studios. Hire more teams. Whatever. I think it's an uphill battle that is causing more negative PR and draining peoples energy more than ever.

A loss is a loss and there's no way this regulatory body is going to change their mind because of some threats. At least I don't think so. Time to move on.

As clueless and dumb as I think the decision was. A decision is a decision.
 
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Unknown?

Member
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001lbd3 BBC interview with Brad Smith Microsoft President over the Deal
I skimmed through it. Here's some tidbits.
He doubles down on the fact that this is bad for UK's economy and all the big tech was watching this deal and now they will avoid them UK because of the CMA "Shake the confidence among the business community" says CMA has extreme lack of understanding.

Says that cloud gaming is a small business and isn't going the direction they say it is. Says Microsoft's max streaming capacity (XCLOUD) is 5,000 people to the entire country.

"Torpedo a 68 Billion Dollar Global Transaction over a concern over a small part of the business. And rejecting all these proposals. It leaves people worried."

He is then asked if this changes his perspective or Microsoft's perspective of the UK. He says "We've been in the UK for 40 years, defended them using cyber security. This decision is the darkest day of the entire 40 years in britain. It shakes our confidence more than ever before."

"Will it affect Microsofts business in the UK?" "We will definitely keep it in mind" he responds

That was all in the first 7 minutes. I'll leave you the rest to listen to if you wish. Anyways the too long didnt listen/read is: Microsoft is pissed at the UK.
Holy crap, that's incredibly infantile from a corporate executive.
 

Fabieter

Member
I personally want EU to block it so Microsoft can drop it and move on to using the money to make Xbox better in other ways. Buy smaller studios. Hire more teams. Whatever. I think it's an uphill battle that is causing more negative PR and draining peoples energy more than ever.

A loss is a loss and there's no way this regulatory body is going to change their mind because of some threats. At least I don't think so. Time to move on.

As clueless and dumb as I think the decision was. A decision is a decision.

We dont have the same data as the cma to call is clueless and dumb.
 

Bernoulli

M2 slut
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001lbd3 BBC interview with Brad Smith Microsoft President over the Deal
I skimmed through it. Here's some tidbits.
He doubles down on the fact that this is bad for UK's economy and all the big tech was watching this deal and now they will avoid them UK because of the CMA "Shake the confidence among the business community" says CMA has extreme lack of understanding.

Says that cloud gaming is a small business and isn't going the direction they say it is. Says Microsoft's max streaming capacity (XCLOUD) is 5,000 people to the entire country.

"Torpedo a 68 Billion Dollar Global Transaction over a concern over a small part of the business. And rejecting all these proposals. It leaves people worried."

He is then asked if this changes his perspective or Microsoft's perspective of the UK. He says "We've been in the UK for 40 years, defended them using cyber security. This decision is the darkest day of the entire 40 years in britain. It shakes our confidence more than ever before."

"Will it affect Microsofts business in the UK?" "We will definitely keep it in mind" he responds

That was all in the first 7 minutes. I'll leave you the rest to listen to if you wish. Anyways the too long didnt listen/read is: Microsoft is pissed at the UK.
i hope the european commision is watching how MS is making threats against the UK and block them too
they are finally showing the true colors behind all the PR "When everybody plays we all win"
 

zomboden

Banned
We dont have the same data as the cma to call is clueless and dumb.
I know the CMA is 100x more qualified than me to make regulatory based decisions. But my opinion as a life time gamer is cloud = nothing.

Cloud gaming = nothing so blocking it based on cloud gaming is nothing and will never be more than nothing but a huge joke to me. I'll gladly eat crow if in 10 years cloud gaming is the most popular way to play games.
 
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