Support NeoGAF

[Panajev2001a]

Again, the bulk of their revenue comes in from Azure and Windows/Office licenses to businesses.

… and that is one of the problems with this deal. Thanks for recognising it .

 

[Panajev2001a]

I bet Elder Scrolls VI and Fallout 5 were also meant to come to Playstation but now Microsoft owns them then they are Xbox/PC exclusive. People wanted Xbox to have more exclusive games and that's what Microsoft done. If the Activision deal ever goes through then more games will be taken away from Playstation.

Yeah it sucks for Playstation owners but that's how things work. I don't think Sony would want to put their games on Xbox so can't really complain about it.

Mmmh… $70 Billion to boost their own software output and getting new games or to buy the biggest multiplatform publishers to content starve their competition and give your customers the same games they were getting anyways… .

The fact some people have no problem with this shows their true color quite a bit and some deal of shortsightedness (which becomes true irony when they start painting MS as the poor bullied company and this as a necessary move just to keep the market competitive).
More reasons the scorched earth approach these kind of super big corporations do should be regulated and strictly so.

 

[Silent Viper]

No shit they were multiplatform devs and no deals were signed plus there's also no evidence of PS5 version existed since platforms were officially announced only after acquisition was completed.

FTC fail.

 

[Putonahappyface]

All platforms or your platform?

"I want it to be on all platforms if possible". I'm not sure I can say that any clearer.

 

[Ozriel]

Oh, so MS is trying to destroy games’ perceived value and buy all the biggest multiplatform games publishers just to compete? The trials and tribulations of the poor $3 Trillion company fighting with a bully 1/30 of their size? Is this the argument now?

How exactly are they ‘trying to destroy games perceived value’?
How are they trying to buy *all* the biggest multiplatform games publishers?

Your arguments are based on wild hyperbole

 

[Pantz]

25 years in the making, sometimes plans change.

 

[Helghan]

Oh, so MS is trying to destroy games’ perceived value and buy all the biggest multiplatform games publishers just to compete? The trials and tribulations of the poor $3 Trillion company fighting with a bully 1/30 of their size? Is this the argument now?

When Xbox fanboys claim that they can use MSFT's cash warchest, they get laughed out of the room. But now people are comparing the whole $3T company to Sony where the Playstation division is king. Compared to Xbox being just a small portion of MSFT.

 

[Ozriel]

So they heard a rumour that Sony was looking at a deal. Nothing confirmed. Just a rumor. And based on that they decided to splash out 7bn on the whole publisher????

Sorry. I'm calling BS on that. Absolute, complete, grade A BS.

Probably wasn’t just a rumor they heard. MS, Sony and Nintendo most certainly have better sources than forum bros.

That’s why Microsoft’s logic here is dodgy. If they were worried about Starfield then they could have done a deal for that game, not bought the entire publisher and then cancelled versions of PS5 games too. That’s using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.

It’s classic 90s Microsoft again.

When your main competitor is extremely aggressive, I feel you’ve earned the right to up the scale on the aggression yourself.

Not to mention the purchase killed two birds with one stone. First to protect themselves from moneyhats, and secondly to expand their much smaller first party setup.

What stops MS from making better deals? In the meantime they ignored a lot of deals, like Spiderman, KOTOR, FF16 (their bid was bad compared to Sony, new marketing deal with CoD etc.

Their marketshare means they’d need to spend much more on timed exclusivity deals. They would have had to pay a crazy amount of money for FF16, for example.
By the same logic, what stopped Sony from buying Bethesda themselves?

So if the Acti-deal goes through, they have spent $85 BILLION just to fuck over Sony. That’s a lot of first party software their current studios could’ve made with that money.

Is there any of their first party studios that’s currently not funded and making games?
They’re still making games. They can’t make them any faster.

not to mention their first party wasn’t big enough to support their GamePass aspiration.

… and that is one of the problems with this deal. Thanks for recognising it .

Proton completely removes this as a ‘problem’.

 

[Jigsaah]

Is it true that Microsoft bought Bethesda because Sony tried to buy exclusivity for Starfield?

If this is the case, then isn't this the same thing the FTC is crying about but just not on a publisher level?

You can't cry about the accusation of COD exclusivity when you poke the bear like this.

If Sony did this, they simply got slapped.

 

[Ozriel]

It'll never stop being funny watching shills, as well as Xbox execs, cry about timed exclusivity deals that Sony make, when Xbox still makes those same deals, and made more of them than any company during the 360 years. Which you didn't see them crying about these deals when it benefited them.

Can’t be as hilarious as seeing you people go back all the way to the Xbox 360 days to justify stuff today.

You make a good point that MS still makes exclusivity deals, just like Sony. If you’re going to ignore scale and scope, then you might as well admit that Sony also makes acquisitions just like Microsoft.

Sorry, but it's not Sony's fault Xbox completely Amber Heard the bed with the XBO and XSX, with poor policies and mediocre game output, causing them to lose market share and make it harder for them to make these deals without spending more for them. They act like children who don't just want to take the ball and go home, they want MS to buy the ballfield and move it behind a walled off area they call home.

None of this is relevant, though. The important thing today is that MS finds themselves in a bit of a hole and are taking steps to climb out and compete better for a bigger presence in gaming.

At least with these deals, they’ll be able to improve their game output significantly. Why is that so repugnant to you?

Sony had to learn from their mistakes with the PS3 and get gud to become market leader, again. But, in shills' eyes, Xbox's mistakes mean it should be allowed for Papa MS to buy up the industry for baby Xbox.

The unanimous belief here on GAF is that MS biggest issue of the last gen was not having enough must play first party exclusives. This has been repeated over and over again, over the years.

Now they’re ‘learning from their mistakes’ as you say and growing their first party setup, and you’re upset?

All this long talk and still none of you can be arsed to explain how buying Bethesda and ABK equates to ‘buying up the industry’.

 

[Panajev2001a]

When Xbox fanboys claim that they can use MSFT's cash warchest, they get laughed out of the room. But now people are comparing the whole $3T company to Sony where the Playstation division is king.

Do you read how petty and childish this sounds? “See? How do you like it now? Eh? Eh?”…

I am not sure it is that great of a point. So, we should let corporations do what they want because their fans were laughed about when talking about warchests? It makes it ok to spend almost as much money as your biggest competitor with money they make in other monopolies is worth in buying up their suppliers to destroy their business model (the other part is a strategy that leads to devaluing software monetary value) instead of creating additional content?

Now they’re ‘learning from their mistakes’ as you say and growing their first party setup, and you’re upset?

If it was not ironic enough considering Xbox fans were always strongly adamant that first party exclusives did not matter (foxes… grapes… etc…), your stance here is incredibly disingenuous and you know it.

Is it true that Microsoft bought Bethesda because Sony tried to buy exclusivity for Starfield?

If this is the case, then isn't this the same thing the FTC is crying about but just not on a publisher level?

You can't cry about the accusation of COD exclusivity when you poke the bear like this.

If Sony did this, they simply got slapped.

“I was totally justified to smash their car with a bulldozer because they did not say “have a nice day” when they left”. With all the timed exclusives and exclusives MS got what do they deserve then?

“Poke the bear get mauled” this kind of language is basically justifying MS’s any action as a corp as if it were a playground game and they were this uncontrollable force of nature that just does thing outside of any law or reason. Great for MS corporate internal ego, but I think is not apt for much out here .

 

[Ozriel]

we should let corporations do what they want because their fans were laughed about when talking about warchests?

Regulators are the ones tasked with keeping corporations in check. Not you.
It should tell you something that there’s only ONE of numerous regulators that has an issue with the deal on the native gaming space, and that’s the FTC that’s currently floundering in court.

It makes it ok to spend almost as much money as your biggest competitor with money they make in other monopolies is worth in buying up their suppliers

Microsoft doesn’t have monopolies in Office or Cloud. No regulator is claiming that, so this is something you’ve made up.

There’s also no law saying you can’t take money from your parent company. You might as well argue that PlayStation drawing support from Sony Pictures, Anime and Music divisions is also morally wrong.

to destroy their business model (the other part is a strategy that leads to devaluing software monetary value) instead of creating additional content?

You’re actually saying when MS buys studios, they don’t create ‘additional content’?

Are you having a laugh?

 

[mansoor1980]

shameful really , game would have sold millions on ps5

 

[systemr123]

They did it to keep Sony from taking away games from Xbox and PC gamers. I know this might be surprising but I bet Xbox's gamers are more important to Xbox than Sony's.

Exactly my point. MS is doing one thing, but saying another to the merger authorities. It’s clear as day.

 

[Ozriel]

If it was not ironic enough considering Xbox fans were always strongly adamant that first party exclusives did not matter (foxes… grapes… etc…), your stance here is incredibly disingenuous and you know it.

I don’t believe anyone could claim that first party exclusives do not matter. As I said before, that was an unanimous position everywhere.

Microsoft lacked exclusives because they spent the bulk of last gen with around 7 first party studios, by far the smallest of the Three. And one of those was Mojang, a 100% multiplatform developer.

If you want more competition in the console space, it’s clear Microsoft had to improve on that front.

What’s disingenuous is making statements like “they just need to get gud” while bitterly opposing any legal moves they make to grow first party content.

 

[Helghan]

I am not sure it is that great of a point. So, we should let corporations do what they want because their fans were laughed about when talking about warchests? It makes it ok to spend almost as much money as your biggest competitor with money they make in other monopolies is worth in buying up their suppliers to destroy their business model (the other part is a strategy that leads to devaluing software monetary value) instead of creating additional content?

I'm only pointing out the hypocrisy. To support your argument, that now suddenly the whole "warchest" of Microsoft is available to the Xbox division, which isn't even true. That was my initial point.

To answer your other questions. I don't think buying ABK will destroy the business model of the Playstation division. Neither does Jim Ryan. ABK is huge, yes, but it's not like there aren't any other developers and publishers anymore.

 

[Fabieter]

It has been 2 decades and the needle has not moved much despite how much money they have thrown into this. I wouldn't worry about Sony going out of business.

Well they started buying up the industry recently.

 

[VinnyG]

At least now the game will end up being on pc at gamepass at launch. good job ms

 

[Panajev2001a]

Regulators are the ones tasked with keeping corporations in check. Not you.

Well certainly it is not you (consume consumer, consume), but I am sure you are doing that in Sony threads from time to time anyways, but if you are not (doubts) grab a medal.

It should tell you something that there’s only ONE of numerous regulators that has an issue with the deal on the native gaming space, and that’s the FTC that’s currently floundering in court.

It is telling mega corporations above a certain size talk about respecting laws as if it were an option for them, not sure why you are cheering consumers are fucked because in many cases regulations are toothless but fill your boots…

Microsoft doesn’t have monopolies in Office or Cloud. No regulator is claiming that, so this is something you’ve made up.

There’s also no law saying you can’t take money from your parent company. You might as well argue that PlayStation drawing support from Sony Pictures, Anime and Music divisions is also morally wrong.

While I love how your stance dances between “best for consumers” to “f competition/consumers, it is technically almost legal”. There are laws against anti competitive behaviours that apply, in some jurisdictions like EU, to their subsidiaries too.
You might as well compare Zenimax/Bethesda and Activision-Blizzard-King to Psygnosis if you hide behind the 90’s start of PlayStation… you also disingenuously reviewing their history, but it is not unexpected.

You’re actually saying when MS buys studios, they don’t create ‘additional content’?

Are you having a laugh?

Are you ? So far Zenimax/Bethesda is releasing the same games it would have released before, but you know that. Starfield, Redfall, TES VI, DOOM, Fallout, etc… you have their next decade or more software output guaranteed for Xbox almost no matter what they do… .

But sure, you spend $70 billions or more to spend tons of billions for tons of new IP’s that were never coming… I am sure we will see tons of new content the poor, lonely and sad, mega publishers bring to Xbox that would have been exclusive to PS and/or Nintendo otherwise…

 

[Panajev2001a]

I'm only pointing out the hypocrisy. To support your argument, that now suddenly the whole "warchest" of Microsoft is available to the Xbox division, which isn't even true. That was my initial point.

Just here we are talking about more than $70 Billion, Sony is barely worth $100 Billion, plus the costs of withholding content from PlayStation and the hit on game sales due to GamePass (which MS already acknowledged to courts before).

To answer your other questions. I don't think buying ABK will destroy the business model of the Playstation division. Neither does Jim Ryan. ABK is huge, yes, but it's not like there aren't any other developers and publishers anymore.

It is not just the whole content of the two biggest publishers going out of the PS ecosystem bit by bit, if you tried the thought experiment the other way around and felt Xbox would be going out of business you know in your heart the impact of this, it is also how their strategy is to progressively devalue game sales as they switch to subscriptions and buying up publishers to ensure the content is just available there… this is also going to contribute to enshittification of games following more the bright beacon that is the land of where games are already zero value (and micro transactions filled): mobile app stores).

 

[Warablo]

Microsoft owns Bethesda. They can do whatever they want with their studios.

 

[Helghan]

It is not just the whole content of the two biggest publishers going out of the PS ecosystem bit by bit, if you tried the thought experiment the other way around and felt Xbox would be going out of business you know in your heart the impact of this, it is also how their strategy is to progressively devalue game sales as they switch to subscriptions and buying up publishers to ensure the content is just available there… this is also going to contribute to enshittification of games following more the bright beacon that is the land of where games are already zero value (and micro transactions filled): mobile app stores).

It's your assumption that this will happen, but I don't agree with that. Really big games will always stay in the PS ecosystem as long as this makes financial sense. Like COD, it won't leave the PS ecosystem because it generates too much money.

I do think that this might change in the future. If Xbox turns into the leading platform, there's no reason to keep those games on Playstation. But we are a very very very long way from that to happen. That's at least 1 extra generation in the future. And by then a lot will have changed in the game market in general.

 

[Ar¢tos]

When Xbox fanboys claim that they can use MSFT's cash warchest, they get laughed out of the room. But now people are comparing the whole $3T company to Sony where the Playstation division is king. Compared to Xbox being just a small portion of MSFT.

Are the 70bn to buy ATK coming from the little Xbox division or from the 3Tn MS?

 

[Helghan]

Are the 70bn to buy ATK coming from the little Xbox division or from the 3Tn MS?

Again, it was about the hypocrisy of fanboys.

 

[Forsythia]

Why not? It's a better way to compete for Xbox. They have the money to buy a publisher and Sony doesn't. Moneyhatting is currently not an effective way for Xbox to compete since it will cost them far more than Sony due to marketshare.

I'm curious why you and almost all the hardcore sony fans think Xbox should be compelled to only compete in the manner that is far more advantageous to sony even though it's not an effective or profitable way for them to compete. Xbox should compete in a manner that is most advantageous to their platform whether sony fans like it or not.

You know why, MS is only allowed to act like Sony does. Until Sony does the same, and goalposts are being moved (again). Apparently there is some kind of unwritten rule that Sony dictates how the game is played.

 

[Ozriel]

"He's a real gamer, look, he wears gamers t-shirts" if that shit moves actually works...

I honestly hope the deal doesn't happen. I own an XSX and I've bought all Xbox on day one since the first (and I've never done that for another brand), but this is just wrong. Sony buys an exclusive here and there, of course if they didn't, FFXVI, FFVIIR, Silent Hill 2, and others, would have been on Xbox. But it's a lot less damaging than buying the WHOLE editor/company...

Why is it more damaging that Bethesda games are skipping PlayStation vs pretty much all AAA Final Fantasy titles skipping Xbox?

That’s three in 4 years, if you’re counting.

For exemple Silent Hill 2, from Konami, is exclusive to PS5, but nothing says that Silent Hill f will be exclusive, the MGS3 remake is coming to Xbox, MGS Collection is coming to Xbox and Switch.

In the same vein, some future Bethesda games will come to PlayStation. We’ve had releases post purchase, and you can be sure Quake 2 Remaster will be multiplatform.

We are now seeing the damages of the acquisition of Bethesda by MS... Cancelling games on PS5 (Redfall, Starfield, Indy, confirmed). So yeah the FTC and CME might look like the party poopers but they are just saying facts.

Same way we’ve seen the damage of timed exclusivity. Both sides are now employing aggressive tactics in competing, but you’re solely focused on pulling one side back.
The FTC and CMA’s job isn’t to fret over Indiana Jones or Starfield being exclusive to Xbox. Their role in this case is to scrutinize the planned merger and determine if that could lead to a monopoly.

I’m not sure what ‘facts’ you say the FTC is putting forward, but they certainly aren’t doing a great job of establishing their case in court at the moment.

The situation about COD for exemple is self explanatory, at first they said it will be exclusive, like "duh we don't buy Activision to have COD on other platforms", then "nah I was kidding it will remain on PS at least 3 years", then "oh I said 3? I meant 10 years", and finally "COD ? How would we dare to remove that beloved franchise to the PS fans, who would do that ? Hitler ?"...

The never said COD would be exclusive. Disappointing that you need to lie. Especially when that would have been brought up in court

When you offer a legally binding agreement, the sensible thing to do would be to make it time bound, since it wouldn’t make any sense to sign a contract for perpetuity. They initially offered three years from 2025 which would ensure COD remained on PlayStation until 2028 at the earliest. Then changed to 10 years - a truly long time in gaming - to make the remedy more binding. Not sure why you’re characterizing the offer progression that way, but it does you a disservice.

We already had Sony fighting back, a little, by purchasing Bungie (need help for multiplayers / GaaS games), Insomniac (been doing Ratchet games for them since 2 decades / 3 generations of consoles, Spiderman is a property of Sony / not surprising). If the regulation companies let MS buy ABK then Sony will go all in, and even though they don't have all the means that MS have, they might purchase huge companies like Square Enix, Capcom, FromSoft, etc, then MS would buy SEGA, etc...

Sony already tried to bid for Leyou in 2020, and we’ve been seeing threads of their acquisition warchest for years now. So I’m not sure it makes sense to characterize their own buying spree as a ‘fightback’. They’ve largely targeted GaaS providers in recent years to fill a hole in their lineup.

 

[Badlucktroll]

Can the court literally order that Microsoft put Starfield on PS5?

 

[Ozriel]

Can the court literally order that Microsoft put Starfield on PS5?

No. The court cannot order Microsoft to put Starfield on PlayStation 5.

 

[suspicious mind]

Lol ftc dont know shit. They got destroyed yesterday but i love how the usual sony dumbasses thought it went well.

 

[drganon]

Lol ftc dont know shit. They got destroyed yesterday but i love how the usual sony dumbasses thought it went well.

 

[Negotiator101]

Lol ftc dont know shit. They got destroyed yesterday but i love how the usual sony dumbasses thought it went well.

Bit harsh but yeah reading some comments yesterday was laughable.

 

[Zoej]

Is it true that Microsoft bought Bethesda because Sony tried to buy exclusivity for Starfield?

If this is the case, then isn't this the same thing the FTC is crying about but just not on a publisher level?

You can't cry about the accusation of COD exclusivity when you poke the bear like this.

If Sony did this, they simply got slapped.

Based on what i read, it was a possibility that Phil assumed. Note he used, “might” with regard to Starfield. Now that is his testimony.

I don’t know about you guys, but as a lawyer, testimonies are the weakest forms of evidence since people can lie. On the other hand, documentary evidence is the strongest, it does need testimonies to support it. So the questions now are, “Is what Phil saying consistent with other testimonies, such as Hines’s?” And “Are these supported by other evidence?”

It was also mentioned that Bethesda was shopping its games for bidding so the same was offered to MS.

 

[suspicious mind]

I m sure mr drganon will explain to us how ftc/sony had a good day in court yesterday.

 

[drganon]

I m sure mr drganon will explain to us how ftc/sony had a good day in court yesterday.

Why would I waste my time trying to explain anything to the likes of you.

 

[Ozriel]

Based on what i read, it was a possibility that Phil assumed. Note he used, “might” with regard to Starfield. Now that is his testimony.

The actual quote was:

“When we acquired ZeniMax one of the impetus for that is that Sony had done a deal for Deathloop and Ghostwire... to pay Bethesda to not ship those games on Xbox,” said Spencer. “So the discussion about Starfield when we heard that Starfield was potentially also going to end up skipping Xbox, we can’t be in a position as a third-place console where we fall further behind on our content ownership so we’ve had to secure content to remain viable in the business.”

 

[Zoej]

I

The actual quote was:

I stand corrected.

Though: 1. Deathloop and Ghostwire did not skip Xbox. Those games were shipped after an exclusivity deal; 2. Saying “potentially” doesn’t really show certainty and leaves doubt as to the accuracy of the statement.

Again, if Bethesda did offer their games up to any bidder willing to pay for exclusivity, it was business decisions by both that led to the exclusivity- Sony grabbed it, MS didn’t.

Anyway, the theead is about Starfield. I think it’s been established that it existed once for the PS5. So no need to argue about that now.

 

[suspicious mind]

Why would I waste my time trying to explain anything to the likes of you.

Meh. You got nothing.

 

[adamsapple]

Can the court literally order that Microsoft put Starfield on PS5?

No, the lawyer tried to get MS to commit all future CoD games to PS Now and the Judge shut that line of questioning down.

 

[DenchDeckard]

I could have seen a PS5/PC exclusive deal, but looks like MSFT decided to spend $7 billion to make Starfield an xb console exclusive.

Yeah, that's some commitment from MS.

fixed.

Lets try to add some context to what is going on vs making things up to force some narrative. MS didn't spend this type of money to get Starfield as I highly, highly doubt that. It being timed doesn't really support buying a whole publisher, this was something they would do regardless if Sony did some timed deal or not as I don't really buy that any publisher is buying another publisher to avoid missing 1 year of 1 title.

It makes little sense and exaggerates 1 title to an almost hilarious degree.

Exactly. First deathloop, then ghostwriter, then starfield for a minimum year exclusivity deal.

Sony was going harder this gen than they did with the ps4 gen even. Microsoft literally decided we can't let this happen and we can't buy these exclusives as it doesn't look to be viable on paper for the cost...so we will just buy them.

They literally did reach fuck it with zenimax. Sony went too hard on Bethesda games exclusivity and with the history between Bethesda and Microsoft I guess they could sign it off. Plus the zenimax owner said he wanted to sell to MS before he passes away.

 

[Ozriel]

Anyway, the theead is about Starfield. I think it’s been established that it existed once for the PS5. So no need to argue about that now.

That was never in doubt. It would have been in early development for consoles at that point, and the general expectation here was that it would be declare an exclusive. That happened ages ago.

I’m surprised at the outrage now.

"We're bad at the video game business and our console has a dogshit ROI for 3rd party publishers. So instead of improving, we just said fuck it and buy everything without trying to compete."

Buying stuff IS a valid strategy for improvement. Sony’s doing the same thing.

I'm so glad the CMA and FTC are putting an end to this bullshit.

there’s a famous adage about not counting chickens before they hatch.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Yeah, that's some commitment from MS.

Exactly. First deathloop, then ghostwriter, then starfield for a minimum year exclusivity deal.

Sony was going harder this gen than they did with the ps4 gen even. Microsoft literally decided we can't let this happen and we can't buy these exclusives as it doesn't look to be viable on paper for the cost...so we will just buy them.

They literally did reach fuck it with zenimax. Sony went too hard on Bethesda games exclusivity and with the history between Bethesda and Microsoft I guess they could sign it off. Plus the zenimax owner said he wanted to sell to MS before he passes away.

Not many outside of ItalianGAF will understand but for those that do get the reference substitute Silvio with Phil and it works… stans-ism.


Poor Phil, going scorched earth on the console market with MS money for us . Come on…

 

[Ozriel]

Damn, so Playstation should of bought of EA when Xbox made Mass Effect and Titanfall exclusive. Or Remedy when they made Quantum Break.
Or they should of bought Studio Wildcard when Xbox made Ark 2 exclusive…..

Do people actually fall for his bs

Mass Effect was made by BioWare and published by Microsoft in 2007.

Quantum Break was published by Microsoft and they own the IP.

How does it make sense to you to compare those to Deathloop, Ghostwire and the attempt at Starfield, all games and IP owned and published by Bethesda.

 

[Jigsaah]

Yeah, that's some commitment from MS.

Exactly. First deathloop, then ghostwriter, then starfield for a minimum year exclusivity deal.

Sony was going harder this gen than they did with the ps4 gen even. Microsoft literally decided we can't let this happen and we can't buy these exclusives as it doesn't look to be viable on paper for the cost...so we will just buy them.

They literally did reach fuck it with zenimax. Sony went too hard on Bethesda games exclusivity and with the history between Bethesda and Microsoft I guess they could sign it off. Plus the zenimax owner said he wanted to sell to MS before he passes away.

Instant analogy. It's like if you have an on and off again relationship with a girl and some dude she knows takes her out everytime you two are posting "it's complicated" relationship statuses, to the point where you just say fuck it and propose to her. Like he probably got a few kisses on the cheek in. Maybe made out with her a few times. Either way, ya boy was getting a little too cozy with this girl. But this last time was the final straw. He talking about her meeting his parents. Let's go to Vegas together...maybe get a lil drunk, maybe make a bad decision and get married there. So you see the writings on the wall and you went and spent a year's salary on a ring and made it official.

This is EXACTLY what happened between Sony Microsoft and Bethesda.

Now folks mad because the girl isn't available to the opportunist guy anymore? Bro, fuck that guy. That's my bitch.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Instant analogy. It's like if you have an on and off again relationship with a girl and some dude she knows takes her out everytime you two are posting "it's complicated" relationship statuses, to the point where you just say fuck it and propose to her. Like he probably got a few kisses on the cheek in. Maybe made out with her a few times. Either way, ya boy was getting a little too cozy with this girl. But this last time was the final straw. He talking about her meeting his parents. Let's go to Vegas together...maybe get a lil drunk, maybe make a bad decision and get married there. So you see the writings on the wall and you went and spent a year's salary on a ring and made it official.

This is EXACTLY what happened between Sony Microsoft and Bethesda.

Now folks mad because the girl isn't available to the opportunist guy anymore? Bro, fuck that guy. That's my bitch.

This is amazing and exactly the right analogy.

People have always asked for MS to secure exclusives with companies they have a history with, just like Sony do with square.

Microsoft just committed to Bethesda Zenimax like you said.

I fully expect Sony to buy square at some point and that makes sense.

 

[ungalo]

Mmmh… $70 Billion to boost their own software output and getting new games or to buy the biggest multiplatform publishers to content starve their competition and give your customers the same games they were getting anyways… .

The fact some people have no problem with this shows their true color quite a bit and some deal of shortsightedness (which becomes true irony when they start painting MS as the poor bullied company and this as a necessary move just to keep the market competitive).
More reasons the scorched earth approach these kind of super big corporations do should be regulated and strictly so.

I personnally don't like big acquisitions and i don't like Microsoft either but quite frankly those statements sound falsely naive/angelic, almost politically correct in a way, like Xbox players should give a fuck about that.

Even if it wasn't Microsoft, nobody would create billions worth of new studios, built from the groundup, or publish 50 games with independant big studios. Are there even that many talented studios that make AAA and that are still indie ? Microsoft themselves tried to do that and they suck at it.

They want to buy IPs first, which is understandable, they're not just buying anything they're buying Call of Duty. That's why such a big investment is worth the trouble and money in the first place. And even besides that there is a candidate saturated market, you want to invest in already established studios it only seems natural.

 

[Jigsaah]

This is amazing and exactly the right analogy.

People have always asked for MS to secure exclusives with companies they have a history with, just like Sony do with square.

Microsoft just committed to Bethesda Zenimax like you said.

I fully expect Sony to buy square at some point and that makes sense.

Square-Enix? Oh 100% and I wouldn't be mad at em for it. However, Microsoft isn't really barking up Square's tree really. What's the last game Microsoft had as an exclusive from Square?

 

[DenchDeckard]

Square-Enix? Oh 100% and I wouldn't be mad at em for it. However, Microsoft isn't really barking up Square's tree really. What's the last game Microsoft had as an exclusive from Square?

Yeah this is true, they've never had a true square exclusive right?

But yeah I expect Sony to get square and I'm fine with that tbh. As long as they still support switch lol

 

[Silent Viper]

Phill bought Bethesda after hearing the news of exclusive deal between Bethesda and Sony.

Phill is real life Bruce Wayne confirmed

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com

 

[Daniel_Mallorca1985]

No shit they were multiplatform devs and no deals were signed plus there's also no evidence of PS5 version existed since platforms were officially announced only after acquisition was completed.

FTC fail.

FTC fail???

 

[Jigsaah]

“I was totally justified to smash their car with a bulldozer because they did not say “have a nice day” when they left”. With all the timed exclusives and exclusives MS got what do they deserve then?

“Poke the bear get mauled” this kind of language is basically justifying MS’s any action as a corp as if it were a playground game and they were this uncontrollable force of nature that just does thing outside of any law or reason. Great for MS corporate internal ego, but I think is not apt for much out here .

Bro they tried to take fucking 3 games from Xbox when Xbox has a history and solid relationship going way back with Bethesda. To compare what Sony did to not saying "have a nice day" is selling it a bit short. They were overstepping, period. And they got slapped for it. At the time, nobody knew how Deathloop or Ghostwire: Tokyo or even Starfield would turn out. However, you keep just buying up exclusives from a dev that is typically coming to my barbecues each summer? Nah, that's not gonna fly.

To be clear, I've been critical about many of Microsoft's acquisitions and their method in general. But I'm not gonna ignore Sony's aggressive nature either. To do so is to be blindly loyal to one company or the other. To me what's fair is fair.

A clear rebuttal would have been, "Well Microsoft coulda just outbid Sony on those games and then they would have had them as exclusives and wouldn't have had to spend 7 billion dollars, hurrr, durr".

Microsoft doesn't have to play in the kiddie pool if they don't want to. They don't have to play this bidding game with Sony. Secondly, I'd imagine they weren't even aware this was going on until it was too late. Third, Phil explained it pretty clearly under oath that the 69 billion for Activision is not like spending money, it's buying assets. So if it is worth the price tag and makes sense then why not. To be clear I STILL DON'T THINK MICROSOFT SHOULD BUY ACTIVISION, though I haven't seen a legal reason why they shouldn't be able to. I believe this because I'm not convinced Microsoft is using the right strategy in dealing with these newly acquired companies. Their management strategy is bad, clearly indicated by games like Redfall and the lack of games in all of 2022. They need to get their shit straight.

I think the most telling thing could be Matt Booty's email, however Matt Booty is one guy and doesn't call the shots. What would be more damning is if it was shown that others higher up than him agreed. For example if Phil wants to obliterate Sony.

I don't believe Xbox wants to get rid of Playstation. They have the potential to make too much money off of them. A game's industry without Playstation would be a very dark time IMO. Sony just needs to cool its jets a bit and Microsoft simply showed them what could happen when they overstep.