Microsoft's acquisition of Activison Blizzard
- Thread starter Darth Vader
- Start date
They promised us not even a year ago that they wouldn't follow Sony because "it isn't fair to the players". They keep lying into the face of this stupid fanbase and they celebrate it, because it's "just" $2 more each month.
I'm being completely honest here. This gen has been putting me off of the Xbox brand more and more.
Not because of lack of games or some obscure feature they don't have. Certainly not because of the power narrative.
When I had an Xbox One S, I was enjoying some games and discussing with a few people. Now it's all this corporate boot licking and quite disgusting behavior from MS themselves.
Why would I care, right? Just play the games and don't mind anything else. Gaming is my main hobby. MS' actions affect the entirety of it. I simply can't enjoy a brand with some of the most toxic corporate suits in the industry. We've always had back and forth with companies and fanboys always existed. But it was never this bad.
You have Xbox executives weaponizing their entire Twitter fanbase, before deleting the tweets when things get too hot. We've got disgusting comments from their executives just now coming into the light. Their entire company culture reeks of teenage tantrums and dudebro toxicity.
The fanbase is even worse. It's the most radicalized fanbase in the industry now. They employ the most shills/astroturfers and influencers that further perpetuate that toxic fanbase. You simply can't criticize anything and discussions all revolve around money this and corporate boot licking that. They venerate executives more than they like games.
I know it's a strange thing but each time I go to turn on my Series X (with a GPU sub no less), I feel put off because of the state of the company.
P.S.
Sorry for the rant. Needed to get that off my chest.
Not because of lack of games or some obscure feature they don't have. Certainly not because of the power narrative.
When I had an Xbox One S, I was enjoying some games and discussing with a few people. Now it's all this corporate boot licking and quite disgusting behavior from MS themselves.
Why would I care, right? Just play the games and don't mind anything else. Gaming is my main hobby. MS' actions affect the entirety of it. I simply can't enjoy a brand with some of the most toxic corporate suits in the industry. We've always had back and forth with companies and fanboys always existed. But it was never this bad.
You have Xbox executives weaponizing their entire Twitter fanbase, before deleting the tweets when things get too hot. We've got disgusting comments from their executives just now coming into the light. Their entire company culture reeks of teenage tantrums and dudebro toxicity.
The fanbase is even worse. It's the most radicalized fanbase in the industry now. They employ the most shills/astroturfers and influencers that further perpetuate that toxic fanbase. You simply can't criticize anything and discussions all revolve around money this and corporate boot licking that. They venerate executives more than they like games.
I know it's a strange thing but each time I go to turn on my Series X (with a GPU sub no less), I feel put off because of the state of the company.
P.S.
Sorry for the rant. Needed to get that off my chest.
Even if I liked Xbox games I wouldn't want anything to do with Xbox and I generally despise their games. They know precisely how not to appeal to me (even when it comes to the stuff they buy). The Xbox community is unhinged and I can't even believe the types that the brand associate themselves with on the internet.
Nickfire on Gaf said something I agree with:
"What is MS doing right now?
Days before an injunction hearing, we get confirmation that S is the base spec after all (per DF if I understood correctly), increased prices right before their biggest two games of the entire generation launch, and non-denial denials of claims they planned to buy and foreclose game access as far back as 2019.
Are they just getting the bad news out now so it will be brushed aside when the deal terminates???? Cause this is a crazy way to kick off hearings of this sort IMO>"
"What is MS doing right now?
Days before an injunction hearing, we get confirmation that S is the base spec after all (per DF if I understood correctly), increased prices right before their biggest two games of the entire generation launch, and non-denial denials of claims they planned to buy and foreclose game access as far back as 2019.
Are they just getting the bad news out now so it will be brushed aside when the deal terminates???? Cause this is a crazy way to kick off hearings of this sort IMO>"
Microsoft calling Exibhit K a business strategy "thought experiment" only adds credence to the accusation. They really did strategise to acquire multiplatform publishers to force PlayStation out of the market.
Zero media outlets are interested in pursuing the story. Imagine if one of Jim Ryan's internal emails proposed buying long-time publishers to kill Xbox. It would be front page news.
We truly are witnessing the corruption of gaming journalism.
Judge mentioned during the pre-trial hearing that her son works for Microsoft. She might also prevent Sony and FTC from redacting things.
Tweet thread summing up hearing today.
Tweet thread summing up hearing today.
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How the hell is this even allowed lol, that's some insane conflict of interest. Oh yeah it's the USA why am I shocked?
I'm embarrassed to be a U.S. resident after reading that tweet. 5 bucks says someone's losing a job if this doesn't pass. The fact that it's her own child means that this is already biased toward that side. We will have to see if she makes a morally correct decision.
Agreed, if her son could benefit from the deal going through, she should recuse.
Honestly it's just seems insane to me. I look at it as even worse then let's say if the judge worked for MS in the past. This is her child and parents will do whatever to make things favourable for their child even irrational things.
Maybe it works out and the judge sees folks accusing her of conflict of interest and is more moved to the side of granting the injunction. But who am a kidding? The wild west never left the USA.
We might need to consider what could happen if the injunction isn't granted. Will they close everywhere except the UK for example? What about New Zealand and Australia?
Probably New Zealand and Australia weren't really the focus in the agreement between MS, ABK. (US, UK, EU) The rest are just bonuses to make themselves look good.
Been saying this. If they win usa then cma will be the only one of the 3 major regs against the deal.
MS might get extreme at that point and the cma will have to stick to their guns and force ms to withdraw or divest.
Thats if the CAT favors the cma in the end. If the CAT sides with MS who knows what happens after that.