Microsoft's acquisition of Activison Blizzard

ksdixon

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22 Jun 2022
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Why buy the cow when you already get the milk for free?
Because that's short sighted as fuck, and a retread of similar timed exclusivity deals for deathloop/GWT only for MS to buy the company.

In this scenario, unless Sony is able to gain enough shares to influence things more positive for them it's moot. Especially so, with Tencent outbidding on sales and out-investing Sony where Sony are investing.

Buying the cow let's them maximise what they could do with the selling company's assets. Or it protects certain studio relationships/content pipelines. I mean, PSVR's image would tank if Capcom got bought and no longer highlighted VR in it's vastly popular Resident Evil series. I wouldn't like to see that situation occur, like RAD.
 

ksdixon

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22 Jun 2022
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How does ms acquiring mobile ip games compete with Apple and Google? Makes no sense.
If they, in due time, get all the needed android apps in the MS Store, working natively on Windows rather than casting them from Android phone, I could see a Surface Duo-sized Surface Neo return (now running Windows 11) really taking off.

Pocketable access to android apps and windows (and gamepass where bottom landscape screen is touch controls, or attach a controller shell) on one device? Sign me up, but we're not there just yet.
 

Lord Mittens

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1 Jul 2022
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KiryuRealty

Cambridge Dictionary High Priest of Grammar
28 Nov 2022
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Where it’s at.
This arm chair analyst here has maintained from the beginning many of the same arguments the CMA and now the FTC use. So I can also say the same.
Me too.

MS may have had a chance if they hadn't pulled the Starfield exclusivity shit, but even then, it wasn't likely to pass review, especially with MS's insane bullshit PR being so patently absurd.
 
24 Jun 2022
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Me too.

MS may have had a chance if they hadn't pulled the Starfield exclusivity shit, but even then, it wasn't likely to pass review, especially with MS's insane bullshit PR being so patently absurd.

While FTC suing to block the deal is a pretty big surprise (and, likely, CMA will do the same), it doesn't necessarily mean the deal is dead. Microsoft's probably going to take the FTC to court and I don't know what FTC's track record is for winning suits in court.

That said, they probably have enough evidence to feel confident in pursuing with a lawsuit, so that court episode could honestly go either way. In either case, if Microsoft fails to win the court case, the deal's officially dead.

Somewhere, I SERIOUSLY think Microsoft would not have anywhere near as much problems with this deal if they functioned as a full-on 3P publisher and basically treated Xbox as a computer device in the business model. Take-Two got Zygna in like five months, and Zygna is a pretty huge presence on mobile.
 

KiryuRealty

Cambridge Dictionary High Priest of Grammar
28 Nov 2022
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Where it’s at.
While FTC suing to block the deal is a pretty big surprise (and, likely, CMA will do the same), it doesn't necessarily mean the deal is dead. Microsoft's probably going to take the FTC to court and I don't know what FTC's track record is for winning suits in court.

That said, they probably have enough evidence to feel confident in pursuing with a lawsuit, so that court episode could honestly go either way. In either case, if Microsoft fails to win the court case, the deal's officially dead.

Somewhere, I SERIOUSLY think Microsoft would not have anywhere near as much problems with this deal if they functioned as a full-on 3P publisher and basically treated Xbox as a computer device in the business model. Take-Two got Zygna in like five months, and Zygna is a pretty huge presence on mobile.
Timing is everything, and if an injunction is filed, the trial could easily last long enough to hit the merger agreement's drop dead date. Basically, the FTC filing suit is a poison injection in most cases, as they can find ways to make it take long enough to kill the deal if they want it dead.

The only way this deal was going to go through was if it had not gotten any opposition from the FTC, and going to trial could have severe ramifications for Microsoft, potentially even leading to the company being broken up.

Microsoft is way too big as a publisher and as the platform holder for 90% of the world's computer market, and they have had a long, illustrious history of anticompetitive behaviour, so they can't ever be trusted to own a platform fully like Xbox without trying to monopolize that sector. It isn't like they are using XBox division's profits to finance this deal. Hell, MS backing Epic in their bullshit suit against Apple revealed that MS has only done a little better than breaking even over the 20 years they've been in the console business, far past the point where a company not being propped up by profits from another industry would have been able to hang in.
 
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Eternal_Wings

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24 Jun 2022
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Damn the internet is breaking of today’s news. All the Xbox peasants going crazy. All of them think Sony is fault at everything, price hiking and now teaming up with FTC. Tbh. it’s hell funny how some of them cursing and saying how evil this Japanese company is. Didn’t expect to get this much Entertainment before Game Awards starting.^^
 
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Satoru

Satoru

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20 Jun 2022
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While FTC suing to block the deal is a pretty big surprise (and, likely, CMA will do the same), it doesn't necessarily mean the deal is dead. Microsoft's probably going to take the FTC to court and I don't know what FTC's track record is for winning suits in court.

That said, they probably have enough evidence to feel confident in pursuing with a lawsuit, so that court episode could honestly go either way. In either case, if Microsoft fails to win the court case, the deal's officially dead.

Somewhere, I SERIOUSLY think Microsoft would not have anywhere near as much problems with this deal if they functioned as a full-on 3P publisher and basically treated Xbox as a computer device in the business model. Take-Two got Zygna in like five months, and Zygna is a pretty huge presence on mobile.

I think MS would have not had many issues if they upheld their promises. The CMA already had hinted at this, and now the FTC just hit the nail in the coffin. Here's the quote from the CMA document (page 11):

Third parties told the CMA that Microsoft would benefit from making Activision’s content exclusive to Game Pass, and that this would be consistent with Microsoft’s behaviour in relation to past acquisitions, including that of ZeniMax Media, where Microsoft did not uphold its promise to continue making Bethesda content available on multiple stores and platforms.

This refers to the full Phase 1 decision document, paragraphs 230 & 231:

230. Several competitors who spoke to the CMA referred to Microsoft’s behaviour in relation to past acquisitions, including that of ZeniMax Media, where Microsoft did not uphold its promise to continue making Bethesda content available on multiple stores and platforms.261
231. One of these competitors explained that, in relation to this Merger, Microsoft would have the incentive to withhold ABK games from rival multi-game subscription services, as it would allow Microsoft to drive game distribution through its own services and secure the leading position in multi-game subscription services.262 This competitor believes that many gamers will switch to Microsoft from other multi-game subscription services, which will generate direct and indirect profits for Microsoft in a variety of ways.263 In the competitor’s view, the incentives to draw users to the Microsoft console gaming platform will far outweigh any downside from reduced sales of individual games on rival platforms.26

If you keep going down the rabbit hole, you can find the following references:

261 Submission from a third party, submitted on 26 July 2022, pages 18 and 19; note of a call with a third party, dated 23 May 2022, paragraph 12; note of a call with a third party, dated 6 May 2022, paragraph 22; and third-party response to the CMA’s Cloud Gaming questionnaire dated 28 July 2022, page 29.
262 Submission from a third party, submitted on 26 July 2022, page 16.
263 Submission from a third party, submitted on 26 July 2022, page 17.
264 Submission from a third party, submitted on 26 July 2022, page 18

I tried to look for those, but apparently there are several submissions that I would suppose include proof of those claims.

Damn the internet is breaking of today’s news. All the Xbox peasants going crazy. All of them think Sony is fault at everything, price hiking and now teaming up with FTC. Tbh. it’s hell funny how some of them cursing and saying how evil this Japanese company is. Didn’t expect to get this much Entertainment before Game Awards starting.^^

Absolutely. The Japanese company is bribing the FTC.

Time for me to ear some crow. The ftc actually didn't just rubber stamp this.

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