All of the Gamepass evangelists hoping the deal would hurry up and close so they dont have to pay for it:
Microsoft's acquisition of Activison Blizzard
- Thread starter Darth Vader
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All of the Gamepass evangelists hoping the deal would hurry up and close so they dont have to pay for it:
Sacred Symbols podcast had a fairly interesting segment about the deal at around the 56:00 mark.
I don't agree with a couple of their takes, namely the one guy who was worried that Tencent could end up with ABK if this deal doesn't go through, which doesn't make sense to me as they would likely receive even harsher scrutiny from regulators than MS has. I also think Sony's public arguments are a bit more compelling than what they've currently gotten credit for (with the exception of the glitch one as that is admittedly a reach).
I don't agree with a couple of their takes, namely the one guy who was worried that Tencent could end up with ABK if this deal doesn't go through, which doesn't make sense to me as they would likely receive even harsher scrutiny from regulators than MS has. I also think Sony's public arguments are a bit more compelling than what they've currently gotten credit for (with the exception of the glitch one as that is admittedly a reach).
It's full on stage 3 at Reee. They're bargaining with the spectre of the CMA. Seems they realise divestment is the only way forward.
There's one indignant poster thinking it's an affront to Lord MS that they even have to consider this option but he'll be on the depression train soon enough with the rest of them.
There's one indignant poster thinking it's an affront to Lord MS that they even have to consider this option but he'll be on the depression train soon enough with the rest of them.
All of the Gamepass evangelists hoping the deal would hurry up and close so they dont have to pay for it:
The fact that they have to say that is a testament to the fact that GP cannibalises sales. They must be afraid that sales will crater on Xbox.
Quote some of their posts if you can. I have no desire to read that disaster of a thread anymore.
Game will sell more on ps4/5 lol
The most embarrassing and most emblematic of them, imo. I'd say it was a fitting username if it wasn't cribbed from a PlayStation franchise.
Sony is the only one of the two who have actually directly acknowledged regulatory concerns, gone in the vaults to find factual points in time where Microsoft in fact validated the concerns of behavioral remedies not being abided by, MS being found guilty of anticompetitive practices and fined for them, and having to go back and fix things only because they finally got caught.
Most of Microsoft's points in terms of directly addressing concerns of regulators have done everything to avoid those very same incidents (and others) being brought up, and making deals based on parsimonious offerings to non-competitors for content that both means little to those non-competitors, but is content Microsoft doesn't even legally own yet.
Otherwise a lot of Microsoft's data has seemingly come from questionable polls, internal financial documents relating to parts of Xbox and Microsoft that have been heavily redacted (and most of the time illustrate how Xbox isn't doing that well financially...granted that's one of the things MS have clung to in getting favor for the deal pushed through), or 3P analyst agencies again with the intent to show how small Xbox is compared to PlayStation in all measurable areas.
About time reality hit them in the face. In what reality does a $2 trillion market cap mega conglomerate, which built most of its empire off a combination of backhanded deals, snuffing out smaller-funded competitors (Netscape, ZIP, Lotus 123 to an extent etc.), and tying its PC OS with the most dominant CPU maker of the '80s and '90s who were forced to license out x86 so there could be some actual competition in that space, get to acquire the single largest 3P games publisher on the planet uncontested after already acquiring one of the OTHER biggest 3P game publishers on the planet uncontested?
In what reality does a $2 trillion market cap mega conglomerate, that has already been found guilty of antitrust violations by the government in the past, and found guilty of FURTHER violations of behavioral remedies and having to pay fines for those violations, get to acquire the largest 3P games publisher on the planet uncontested?
There was no path this deal got approved without some serious concessions, and since Microsoft have already shown in the past they are willing to violate behavioral remedies if they feel they can get away with them, then the only solution for this ABK deal is a structural remedy of divestiture. The CMA have already said what that is. It's the most obvious one.
If MS weren't so egotistical, instead of trying to gaslight and villify the CMA for even challenging them on this, they would try working out a divestiture that could still work to their benefit. But that opportunity is fading quickly.
Just to be clear. Everyone pretty much agrees that making Bethesda games was a grave mistake MS made, right?
I also think that their market share argument carries less weight in regions like the US and UK where their hardware numbers aren't as far behind Playstation's as they are in places like the EU and Japan.
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Halo was acquired with Bungie, not commissioned. Gears was made exclusive, so much so there's a working prototype on PS3.
The others, sure, they may have been commissioned by MS, but those two weren't, and they are arguably their most successful IP.
Lmao, this is news to me. So what game is genuinely an Xbox exclusive?
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Forza is one of them.
Gears was a moneyhat exclusive and then Epic sold the IP to Microsoft a few years later.
Do you mean making Bethesda games exclusive? If so, definitely yes. It's been referenced by all three regulators.
ATM they may not be to the gap in other places and long-term I doubt it'll look like say Japan gap-wise here in the US or in UK. But if they're already losing market share gen-over-gen in their strongest territories, US & UK can start looking like some of those EU countries for Xbox in a couple years if they don't fix the current problems.
Acquiring ABK isn't going to fix those current problems. It would help for in the future, but if MS can't sort their crap out with Xbox between now and end of next year, there may not be an Xbox around for an ABK acquisition to bolster.
Or at least an Xbox that's still competing as a console the way Xbox is today. Although, I can name a lot of good reasons Xbox would probably be better off as Microsoft's Steam Deck or as a gaming PC business line.
That's new info to me, too. Dang, kind of reminds me of how MS had to pay Square-Enix to make a 360 port of FF XIII.
The 360 version was not only heavily compromised compared to the PS3 one but also released simultaneously. Considering the game's status as a PS3 title for most of its development, the lack of much any JRPG presence on Xbox at all, the few JRPGs MS got for 360 being exclusives they funded themselves, and FF XIII's development history starting with PS2 then switching to PS3, it's most likely Microsoft swooped in and paid for a Western 360 version of FF XIII later in the development cycle.
Strongly doubt Square-Enix would have considered releasing the game on 360 without MS's involvement. At least they couldn't buy out cancellation of the PS3 version for FF XIII like they did for Gears tho
The FTC used that to block the deal. It was also mentioned by the EU, CMA and Sony too.
There's also backlash from some Bethesda fans but not that much. Nothing compared to their FF16 tears, they are absolutely pathetic about that. They want it more than Starfield.
