Call of Duty would stay on PlayStation thru 2027 if Sony accepts offer

[Heisenberg007]

And now it'll likely remain on PS forever

 

[Loy310]

This is a good one. Oh boy.



You don't need to buy a whole 70B publisher to achieve this. You want the market share from day one, that's all. Expertise in mobile game development can be had by actually taking time to set up studios and, you know, having them pump products the people like. You want to buy market share, just say it.



Ok, you said it. You were doing so well on this point, then you lied again. Sad.



"We want to increase competition as long as people pick our service". The thing is, the value gamepass offers is also provided (and exceeded by) a chaper service called Playstation Plus, which has more games, game trials for paid offerings, and other perks. They also admit that the acquisition will inflate gamepass subs, something the CMA called out as well IIRC.



Nothing is preventing you from having that next generation game store TODAY. Again, I'm sure the CMA will see right through this one.



You gave them the evidence they needed (and that matches with what Jim Ryan said) on page 14, you knobheads.

Yup, Jim already said they received an “inadequate on many levels” offer from MS. No doubt MS sent them a shit offer so they can turn it down allowing ms to say “see, we tried”.
But the cma is not fucking around so that offer should backfire.

 

[ethomaz]

So the proposal was really "inadequate on many levels".

 

[Bryank75]

This is a good one. Oh boy.



You don't need to buy a whole 70B publisher to achieve this. You want the market share from day one, that's all. Expertise in mobile game development can be had by actually taking time to set up studios and, you know, having them pump products the people like. You want to buy market share, just say it.



Ok, you said it. You were doing so well on this point, then you lied again. Sad.



"We want to increase competition as long as people pick our service". The thing is, the value gamepass offers is also provided (and exceeded by) a chaper service called Playstation Plus, which has more games, game trials for paid offerings, and other perks. They also admit that the acquisition will inflate gamepass subs, something the CMA called out as well IIRC.



Nothing is preventing you from having that next generation game store TODAY. Again, I'm sure the CMA will see right through this one.



You gave them the evidence they needed (and that matches with what Jim Ryan said) on page 14, you knobheads.

But isn't Minecraft on mobile and everything...and it's quite big on mobile.

How is this section about presence in mobile not an outright lie?

 

[DynamiteCop]

The funny thing is that even with Microsoft stating that Call of Duty would remain on PlayStation at least through 2027... Who is to say Call of Duty will even be produced beyond 2027...

Also, I find it hilarious how Sony can be such a bitch about this... You're getting at least 5 more games guaranteed... What's the problem...

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Philly working over time to get this deal approved. Only if he would have work this hard making First Party games.

 

[Yurinka]

So, on one page they try to paint themselves as the good guy, even implying that the economics of removing CoD from PS outweigh the benefits and that they offered Sony what seems like a very good deal. A few pages later, they finally admit that they offered a contract to the end of 2027, which would mean they could take the game away from PS consoles in 4 years time.

So which is it, Microsoft? And let it be noted, if the deal goes through, Microsoft is absolutely entitled to remove CoD (after existing agreements expire) from the Playstation platform, but the above is just dishonest. I'm sure the CMA will see right through this one.

It would be nice that CMA would tell them: ok, if you really want to keep CoD as you said with parity content and features and no timed exclusivity and that it's the only thing that makes sense for you, then we can approve the acquisition with the condition of you commiting to do it forever and not until 2027. And if you break this clause then the acquisition gets stopped and you get a $100B fine.

I kinda want this deal to go trough tbh. Because after this merger, Microsoft will never be able to buy further publishers.

ABK is the biggest 3rd party publisher and even after acquiring it MS will continue being 3rd in console, 7th in PC and not even that in mobile.

If they are allowed to buy ABK they will also be allowed to buy other publishers or devs because will be smaller/have less market share, so their acquisition will be even less meaningful than the ABK for the global market.

 

[Darth Vader]

It would be nice that CMA would tell them: ok, if you really want to keep CoD as you said with parity content and features and no timed exclusivity and that it's the only thing that makes sense for you, then we can approve the acquisition with the condition of you commiting to do it forever and not until 2027. And if you break this clause then the acquisition gets stopped and you get a $100B fine.

That's how this works? You move forward with the investigation, then you either block, approve with concessions or approve period. That's only determined once the decision comes out.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

What were the XBO LTD numbers, again? I'm looking at Statisa and it gives a cumulative sum of 50.54 million (I know the estimate is 58.5 million but if the tweet is accurate then that estimate literally cannot be correct, it's simply too high or else Series systems would have sold about 5.16 million so far which is just way too low). So this tells us Xbox Series have, up to the point of this document publishing, sold through 13.16 million.

...but Aaron out here want to flaunt VGChartz knowing damn well those numbers were either a lie or only referred to sold-in (to retailers). Also more or less confirms Ampere's numbers from a month or so ago, too (they had 12.8 million at that time IIRC).

Gonna need to retrace how this trend with the 360 at roughly shy it being two years on the market, but I'm thinking Series is about 2 million ahead lifetime adjusted. I said "think" because weirdly, the Wiki article for 360 sales just completely skips over any 2006 OR 2007 sales numbers; the first year with in-depth sales numbers is 2008, with only shipment numbers provided for 2005. There's a brief blurb of sales stabilizing at 11.6 million by mid-2007 but no source attributed to it.

So I'm guessing by September 2007 global 360 sales would've been around at least 12.23 million, probably upwards 12.4 million, so that would put Series ahead by at most 930K.

First this deal will be likely approved imo. And after that, where is your evidence that another publisher buyout will go trough?
This deal will just go barely trough, proof for this how CMA and FTC acting now. It's beyond deluded to think MS can do what they want, without to fear legal consequences. To your logic antitrust divisions and laws exist just for fun.

I can see smaller acquisitions in terms of normal studios coming, but definitely not publishers.

Yeah. I can see them going for Asobo for example (though I think with that studio's growth in single-player narrative games and their skills in simulators, Sony could probably benefit just as much from them and I could see Asobo doing bigger & better things under them plus maybe pitching in on GT in some way), Certain Affinity (I think this one's probably a lock), that team making Contraband...stuff like that.

And depending on what relationships MS already has with those teams, I would probably be alright with those. But I don't think they need to gun after any other publishers for a few years. We need to see results from the studios they've already acquired, let alone ABK if/when that one goes through, and see what Microsoft can actually do with them when it matters.

And if there is any particular publisher they would likely want to go for in, say, five years, my bet is likely Sega/Atlus, since they probably would need some Japanese presence, and they already have a pretty good relationship.

 

[Darth Vader]

And before anyone uses the argument "but uh, urr durr, egg bogg is not microsoft, urr durr", let me remind you that Xbox is a division of Microsoft Corporation, while SIE is a subsidiary. If you think there are no differences, think again.

Difference Between Division and Subsidiary

Division vs Subsidiary A division is a part of a business entity. This means that a division, although it operates in a different name, is still a piece of the entity itself. On the other

www.differencebetween.net

What's The Difference Between A Division And A Subsidiary? - Lawpath

Business structures are an important part of the professional landscape. Knowing the difference between a division and a subsidiary is just as useful.

lawpath.com.au

What were the XBO LTD numbers, again? I'm looking at Statisa and it gives a cumulative sum of 50.54 million. So this tells us Xbox Series have, up to the point of this document publishing, sold through 13.16 million.

...but Aaron out here want to flaunt VGChartz knowing damn well those numbers were either a lie or only referred to sold-in (to retailers). Also more or less confirms Ampere's numbers from a month or so ago, too (they had 12.8 million at that time IIRC).

Gonna need to retrace how this trend with the 360 at roughly shy it being two years on the market, but I'm thinking Series is about 2 million ahead lifetime adjusted. I said "think" because weirdly, the Wiki article for 360 sales just completely skips over any 2006 OR 2007 sales numbers; the first year with in-depth sales numbers is 2008, with only shipment numbers provided for 2005. There's a brief blurb of sales stabilizing at 11.6 million by mid-2007 but no source attributed to it.

So I'm guessing by September 2007 global 360 sales would've been around at least 12.23 million, probably upwards 12.4 million, so that would put Series ahead by at most 930K.

I pointed this out when the Ampere analysis came out. These guys are paid and will sporadically produce free content. The same for Media Create. VGChartz are the laughing stock of analytics, nobody with half a brain takes their numbers seriously. Even Aaron probably doesn't, but he knows that his fanbase will eat it.

 

[Dabaus]

Its crazy how now that microsoft got called out for lying theyve gotten super angry and lashing out about it instead of just agreeing to keep it multiplatform. Its clear from the initial announcement they wanted to be the good guys but i dont think them lashing out and lying is a good look, especially when alot of the ire is aimed at the very people they need to approve the deal.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Phil said "at least several years" or something like that months ago. Nothing really new but a date.. but we could do the math anyways since we knew the other deal ran out 2024 and Sony said 3 years.

edit: Month and a half ago:

Microsoft will keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for ‘several more years’ beyond existing deal

Microsoft sent Sony a letter committing to a longer than usual deal.

www.theverge.com

“In January, we provided a signed agreement to Sony to guarantee Call of Duty on PlayStation, with feature and content parity, for at least several more years beyond the current Sony contract, an offer that goes well beyond typical gaming industry agreements,” says Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer in a statement to The Verge.

How did you obsessive folks miss this? lol

It was in like 3 threads.. since this forum is like 25% threads on acquisitions.

 

[Dabaus]

I think if this deal does go through without concessions then sony should just refuse to allow any new cods on ps5. I know it would hurt their bottom line, but if what Microsoft says is true that they need playstation sales then it hurts their bottom line too. Cod being tied to the least popular console half way through a generation would do alot more damage long term to CODs brand than it being pulled off of playstation at the beginning of next gen, which seems to be micosofts plan. Pulling cod off early would also send a signal to any other company thinking they can get swooped by microsoft but somehow keep their games on playstation. Sony could use that marketing money they used cod on their own projects like destiny stuff and last of us online etc.

 

[Darth Vader]

I think if this deal does go through without concessions then sony should just refuse to allow any new cods on ps5. I know it would hurt their bottom line, but if what Microsoft says is true that they need playstation sales then it hurts their bottom line too. Cod being tied to the least popular console half way through a generation would do alot more damage long term to CODs brand than it being pulled off of playstation at the beginning of next gen, which seems to be micosofts plan. Pulling cod off early would also send a signal to any other company thinking they can get swooped by microsoft but somehow keep their games on playstation. Sony could use that marketing money they used cod on their own projects like destiny stuff and last of us online etc.

Not sure if they can prevent a game from releasing on their platform, that would be anti-competitive.

 

[Dabaus]

Not sure if they can prevent a game from releasing on their platform, that would be anti-competitive.

If they cant do it completely, then something like cyber punk. Claim its an inferior experience or something. I dont think sony is legally obligated to sell a game if they dont want to.

 

[Darth Vader]

If they cant do it completely, then something like cyber punk. Claim its an inferior experience or something. I dont think sony is legally obligated to sell a game if they dont want to.

Too big of a risk. AFAIK companies cannot refuse things on a whim, there needs to be a solid reason. The reason you said can be viewed as retaliation (which it is). They would be in trouble for it.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

And before anyone uses the argument "but uh, urr durr, egg bogg is not microsoft, urr durr", let me remind you that Xbox is a division of Microsoft Corporation, while SIE is a subsidiary. If you think there are no differences, think again.

Difference Between Division and Subsidiary

Division vs Subsidiary A division is a part of a business entity. This means that a division, although it operates in a different name, is still a piece of the entity itself. On the other

www.differencebetween.net

What's The Difference Between A Division And A Subsidiary? - Lawpath

Business structures are an important part of the professional landscape. Knowing the difference between a division and a subsidiary is just as useful.

lawpath.com.au

Really helps put some things into perspective, including why there's been such a big focus for Xbox division to fit into MS's overall Azure strategy since 2017. Seems like a big reason everything is centered around GamePass these days; GamePass links directly to Azure.

I pointed this out when the Ampere analysis came out. These guys are paid and will sporadically produce free content. The same for Media Create. VGChartz are the laughing stock of analytics, nobody with half a brain takes their numbers seriously. Even Aaron probably doesn't, but he knows that his fanbase will eat it.

That and he probably enjoys doing it, personally. Heck, the entire Xbox Twitter account enables console warring, funny enough. It's why guys like Colt get invited out to their Redmond campus

 

[Yurinka]

That's how this works? You move forward with the investigation, then you either block, approve with concessions or approve period. That's only determined once the decision comes out.

After their investigation, any regulator can approve with or without concessions, or to totally block.

 

[Ezekiel]

For all we know, the deal proposed could be real shitty for Sony, like smaller cut of MTX, MS marketing all around, etc.

Also, MS is bargaining with something they don't own.

Good on them to refuse MS bullshit.

Sony knows it's as much damaging to CoD to remove from PS ecosystem than it is to Sony.

Sony just called MS bluff, and MS has no hand.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Something else I realized; if the PS4 & PS5 numbers are right, that would put PS5 at ~ 30 million but...I dunno how accurate that could even be. The last PS5 numbers we got were from Ampere ~ 2 months ago @ ~ 22 million IIRC. So how would they have sold 8 million units in two months, and has that ever happened with any other PS console outside of the holiday season?

The PS4 + PS5 estimate might be too high if it's sold-though; if it's sold-in though that might be accurate. Considering how fast PS5s sell out though I can't imagine some 5 million just sitting in distribution chains and warehouses (they could be holding off on them until GOW Ragnarok drops, though).