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Microsoft / Activision Deal Approval Watch |OT| (MS/ABK close)

Do you believe the deal will be approved?


  • Total voters
    886
  • Poll closed .
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Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
What do they really gain from buying From? While it would be a cool dev to have. It's not like they would gain a bunch new users on Sony, because most people are already playing From games on Sony consoles.

I don't think CDPR thought too kindly of Sony pulling a game from their storefront. Especially if CDPR thought it was in a playable state, then highlighted Sony's terrible refund policy.

Elden Ring sold over 20 million copies. If From can generate revenue like that on a regular basis moving forward, that's something Sony's going to want a bigger piece of.

I think you're overthinking that a bit. CDPR knows the state the game was in, pushing people to ask for refunds from Sony was a mistake, and I'm sure there was debate over it at the time. Sony was right to pull it from the store if the number of people asking for refunds was excessive.
 
Another one:

iqcyB2k.jpg


What delicious and delusional copium over at REE.
Me reading such posts from REE:
south park my posts GIF
 

jm89

Member



Sure sounds like the words of someone that suspects the deal isn't going to go through and is preparing to soften the blow.

The competition line is getting tiresome really. Who are are they trying fool at this point?

You don't want to compete on your own merits, but want to remove dozens of ips from competitor platforms so you can compete. This isn't just about cod, abk own alot more that will be gone.
 

Pelta88

Member
"It’s not some linchpin to the long term. Xbox will exist if this deal doesn’t go through."

If this deal doesn't go through. Microsoft, despite having all the money in the world, will have to give up 3 Billion in fees to Activision. Despite how idas and Hoe Law will frame it, Phil Spencer himself via his need to PR everyone to death will be a big reason why the deal failed. His statements came back to haunt him, published interviews which Sony used to demonstrate his flip flopping were undoubtedly instrumental.
 

JLB

Banned
"It’s not some linchpin to the long term. Xbox will exist if this deal doesn’t go through."

If this deal doesn't go through. Microsoft, despite having all the money in the world, will have to give up 3 Billion in fees to Activision. Despite how idas and Hoe Law will frame it, Phil Spencer himself via his need to PR everyone to death will be a big reason why the deal failed. His statements came back to haunt him, published interviews which Sony used to demonstrate his flip flopping were undoubtedly instrumental.

3 Billion for a 3 Trillion company is like a bubble gum for my economics.
 

gothmog

Gold Member
Create your own stuff then!! That's competition. How is buying ip competition? Someone should ask Spencer or nadella why Microsoft don't spend 70b creating their own ip.
Historically Xbox has always bought its studios/titles, so it is natural for them to just acquire. Culturally they struggle to create their own stuff.
 

Three

Member
Sure, becuase MS is the only for profit org in the world acquiring other companies. Would love to see your posts when Sony bought Insomniac.
What an unoriginal thing to say, especially if you actually read what you replied to above:
Create your own stuff then!! That's competition. How is buying ip competition? Someone should ask Spencer or nadella why Microsoft don't spend 70b creating their own ip.

Insomniac were creating Sony's games. Insomniac don't really own any worthy IPs like Cod, overwatch, or diablo. If anything Sony would have been in deep trouble if somebody else swept in and bought Insomniac because they would have had to look for a new developer for Sony's games like Ratchet and Clank and Spiderman. Sony just secured continued development of their own games. They did this after 20yrs of independent close partnership as a defensive move in all this consolidation.
 
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ProtoByte

Weeb Underling
The competition line is getting tiresome really. Who are are they trying fool at this point?

You don't want to compete on your own merits, but want to remove dozens of ips from competitor platforms so you can compete. This isn't just about cod, abk own alot more that will be gone.
Yep. The competition line is so flawed from so many angles. For one thing, they always talk about how they want to bring these games to more gamers. So is it about competition or everyone in the market holding hands to sing about sharing and caring? Because if its the latter, there is no need for Microsoft to buy ABK and sign 10 year asterisk deals, and every reason for them not to do what they're doing with Hi-Fi Rush, Redfall, and Starfield. Hell, there's every reason to have all of their first parties put their games on Nintendo and PlayStation consoles right now.

The rhetoric on what the deal is about is constantly changing for convenience too.

Before, Spencer was all "Well actually, we really care about the mobile stuff. Call of Duty isn't the big thing for us".

Now, when asked about buying parts of ABK instead of the whole, e.g. buying King and not the rest or any other setup, you've got Brad Smith saying it's not "feasible or realistic". But if certain parts of the company are not "big things" for them, e.g. COD by their own words, how is it not completely feasible to leave those bits behind and take the significant ones?
 

GHG

Gold Member
It's such a stupid thing to say. Since when has xbox relied on mobile like at all?

They need a sustainable revenue stream that provides profitability for the division while they attempt to execute their loss-leader strategy in the console/pc gaming space.

So he's not entirely wrong but the primary driver of this acquisition in particular is definitely not mobile. They have had and will have plenty of other cheaper and less complicated opportunities to make purchases in the mobile space.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
OK, take two courtesy of VGC.

https://www.videogameschronicle.com...-even-if-activision-blizzard-deal-is-blocked/

The Times asked Spencer what would happen to Xbox should such an important acquisition be blocked by regulators, to which he responded that the gaming business was not dependent on its completion.

“This is an important acquisition for us. It’s not some linchpin to the long term — Xbox will exist if this deal doesn’t go through,” he said.

Much of regulators’ concerns around the Activision Blizzard deal have focused on how it could allegedly reduce PlayStation’s ability to compete given that it would see Microsoft gain ownership of the Call of Duty series, which Sony has called “irreplaceable”.

Spencer said that he was baffled why regulators were seemingly protecting the console firm, which it claimed in a press conference last week controls a 70 percent mark share in the console business.

Microsoft recently said it had offered Sony a 10-year, legally enforceable contract to make each new Call of Duty game available on PlayStation the same day it comes to Xbox.


“Competition is us trying to get stronger,” Spencer told The Times. “I don’t have great rationale for … how better competition in consoles is somehow hurtful for consumers.

“Because to me, having us, Sony, and Nintendo doing well in the console market — all of us with strengths and uniqueness and content and capabilities — gives consumers more choice.

“I’d hate to see consoles go to where phones are where there are only two manufacturers. And, right now, we have three good competitors.”

Phil Spencer says ‘Xbox will exist’ even if Activision Blizzard deal is blockedActivision Blizzard employees staged a walkout on Tuesday

In addition to regulatory concerns around competition in the console market, potential influence on the cloud gaming market is also being explored. Given the complexity of the investigations, Spencer said he feels sympathy for regulators.

“Most of the time in my career at Xbox as I’ve met with government regulators, there’s been a real lack of knowledge about the games industry,” he said.


“I’ve appreciated spending time with them and in certain cases helping to educate. I think for a lot of the regulators, this is the first time they’ve looked at this industry.”
Emphasis mine.

SlimSardonicKillerwhale-max-1mb.gif
 

analog_future

Resident Crybaby
that screenshot. and is not that they were not interested in CoD. is that CoD is not as critical. therefore they could've leave CoD out of the deal because Mobile(King-Candy Crush-) is actually the PRIMARY reason for the deal = Another lie from Phil

They're just not willing to divest any part of the deal. They never said COD wasn't important or that COD wasn't vital. Your obsession with trying to shape the head of a brand as some evil liar is weird.
 

gothmog

Gold Member
They're just not willing to divest any part of the deal. They never said COD wasn't important or that COD wasn't vital. Your obsession with trying to shape the head of a brand as some evil liar is weird.
If other parts of the deal are critical to the expansion of Xbox then they should be willing to divest less critical pieces of the deal in order to obtain it. Their stance that they are not willing to divest only shows that what they said was critical and what is actually critical to them does not match up. They tried to bluff and when called on it just ignored their previous statements.
 

demigod

Member
The competition line is getting tiresome really. Who are are they trying fool at this point?

You don't want to compete on your own merits, but want to remove dozens of ips from competitor platforms so you can compete. This isn't just about cod, abk own alot more that will be gone.
Yeah, people don’t understand there are Blizzard games that are worth it. Diablo 4 will be huge.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
They're just not willing to divest any part of the deal. They never said COD wasn't important or that COD wasn't vital. Your obsession with trying to shape the head of a brand as some evil liar is weird.
Interviewer: "You’re buying the Candy Crush company. People think about it as Call of Duty or whatever, but you’re buying Candy Crush."

Phil Spencer: "Absolutely. In addition, the number that’s not in the Candy Crush/King number is Call of Duty: Mobile and Diablo mobile, which are big franchises that exist in that Activision and Blizzard bucket that are also major players on phones. Yes, the idea that Activision is all about Call of Duty on console is a construct that might get created by our console competitor and maybe some players out there." (Source)

So, what ChorizoPicozo ChorizoPicozo said is right. The primary reason of the deal, at least according to Phil Spencer, is King (which, by the way, the CMA has already allowed them to buy.)
 
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analog_future

Resident Crybaby
Interviewer: "You’re buying the Candy Crush company. People think about it as Call of Duty or whatever, but you’re buying Candy Crush."

Phil Spencer: "Absolutely. In addition, the number that’s not in the Candy Crush/King number is Call of Duty: Mobile and Diablo mobile, which are big franchises that exist in that Activision and Blizzard bucket that are also major players on phones. Yes, the idea that Activision is all about Call of Duty on console is a construct that might get created by our console competitor and maybe some players out there." (Source)

Okay? Again, nothing he said there is at odds with anything being said today.

The deal isn't all about Call of Duty. That doesn't mean Call of Duty isn't a vital part of the deal.
 
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Banjo64

cumsessed
Interviewer: "You’re buying the Candy Crush company. People think about it as Call of Duty or whatever, but you’re buying Candy Crush."

Phil Spencer: "Absolutely. In addition, the number that’s not in the Candy Crush/King number is Call of Duty: Mobile and Diablo mobile, which are big franchises that exist in that Activision and Blizzard bucket that are also major players on phones. Yes, the idea that Activision is all about Call of Duty on console is a construct that might get created by our console competitor and maybe some players out there." (Source)

So, what ChorizoPicozo ChorizoPicozo said is right. The primary reason of the deal, at least according to Phil Spencer, is King (which they are allowed to buy even today, by the way).
CMA: ok, divest CoD then?

MS:

jrnJXHBvBGjZe.gif


MS going for the ‘repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth’ approach.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
It seems like Microsoft may not be as confident about this deal going through as they once were. This statement might also be a part of expectations management.


This interview, by the way, has some conflicting statements by Phil Spencer.

Quote 1: “This is an important acquisition for us. It’s not some linchpin to the long term — Xbox will exist if this deal doesn’t go through,” he said.

Quote 2: “I’d hate to see consoles go to where phones are where there are only two manufacturers. And, right now, we have three good competitors.”

If Xbox will continue to exist, why would there only be two competitors? Unless Phil is (subtly) saying that Xbox will exist but there won't be a "console" per se.
 
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Thirty7ven

Banned
“Because to me, having us, Sony, and Nintendo doing well in the console market — all of us with strengths and uniqueness and content and capabilities — gives consumers more choice.


Lmao the uniqueness! Because going out there and buying historic IP, multiplatform IP, and taking it away makes Xbox so unique!

God they are so boring and unoriginal, not a creative bone in this fucking company.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Okay? Again, nothing he said there is at odds with anything being said today.

The deal isn't all about Call of Duty. That doesn't mean Call of Duty isn't a vital part of the deal.
But what would you say is the primary part of the deal after reading that quote by Phil? Candy Crush/King or Call of Duty/Activision?
 
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