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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 .
Status
Not open for further replies.

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Somehow, I highly doubt you're an "expert" on anything.
Marketing.
Marvel Cinematic Universe Laugh GIF by Leroy Patterson
 

Fabieter

Member
The only thing I hate about ms buying everything is that u get less favorable deals on key sites from their games. Most key sites don't even have ms games.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GHG
I want this deal to go through because I'm selfish. Game Pass getting more robust, even if prices raise, is still a good deal from where I am sitting especially when this deal goes through. Xbox Series X for Game Pass and milti-plats, PS5 for AAA exclusives.
 

feynoob

Banned

The Federal Trade Commission reportedly plans to sue Microsoft to stop our proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. That would be a huge mistake. It would hurt competition, consumers and thousands of game developers.

Microsoft faces huge challenges in the gaming industry. Our Xbox remains in third place in console gaming, stuck behind Sony’s dominant PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch. We have no meaningful presence in the mobile game industry. That segment of gaming generates the most revenue and is the fastest-growing, but a significant portion of the revenue goes to Google and Apple through their app-store fees.
 
Somehow, I highly doubt you're an "expert" on anything.

Well, I'm a regional manager of a pretty important tech company with clients that include Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Sony, Chase, Apple, the US Government and so many others.

I'm a data encryption contractor for the FBI since Dec 2015 (not the only federal contract I have), I helped design (and I am credited by name with the creation) JP Morgan and Chase's updated (and current as of this date) internal bank and computer network security system/protocols the year they acquired Washington Mutual's banking operations. I was also one of the specialist leads in the nationwide conversion project to update all important platform and teller workstations (as well as servers) at Chase Bank locations all across the United States back in 2008 and 2009. While performing that work, I found, notified, and then offered to fix any and all vulnerabilities I discovered in their systems or networks. They took me up on my offer and paid me very well for it. I get deposits in the high 5 figures (sometimes 6 figures) almost every 2-4 weeks. Not necessarily just for that reason, but one of many reasons.

OfmZPBm.jpg


I consult on and get paid serious money to offer my insight and experience on things most here wouldn't believe. When you play on Xbox Live or PSN you're MOST likely benefitting from my and my team's or company's work in some fashion.

I was personally contracted to help teach, design and then enforce cyber and data security protocols for various elements and individuals of the Democratic Party apparatus including the DNC (Democratic National Committee) from early 2018 (for the 2018 mid-terms) to election year 2020. The primary charge - ensure for the things I and my team had responsibility for that what transpired in 2016 with the Clinton Campaign and other hacked emails regarding the DNC didn't occur in 2018 and 2020. My work was so well regarded that I even received a matching contract to work for the Republican Party also, one I unfortunately couldn't take due to my other work responsibilities getting in the way. I don't agree with their politics, but I'll gladly take their money. I similarly didn't renew my DNC contract for the same reasons, main work always comes first.

Some personal pictures I took in NY the same day I was invited to a march (was a march against gun violence) by the DNC and also to meet with current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (old dude in blue US Senate sweater) shortly after accepting the DNC contract.

dLVr5wW.jpg


euIrfTb.jpg


T1c5cZa.jpg


Etukins.jpg


mDT2jUX.jpg


Chuck Schumer is the current Democrat Leader in the US Senate, and the person responsible for bringing up Lina Khan's and the latest FTC commisioner's names for a vote in the US Senate after they're nominated by the President of the United States. He wanted to meet with me and inquire about the work I've been doing on cybersecurity, encryption, and other such things while also trying to hire me for non-political projects. No, I'm not in these pictures. I obviously won't post ones with me actually in them.

When he speaks about the Capital Region of New York and a lot of the jobs in the area around videogame development or that support videogame development on his website, he's almost certainly thinking of people exactly like me and companies like the one I work for.

https://www.schumer.senate.gov/news...gion-level-up-as-leading-tech-and-gaming-hub-

Schumer explained that in New York the video game industry supports nearly 5,000 direct jobs, over 6,000 supplier and support jobs, and had an output of $976.4 million in New York. New York also has over 140 companies centered on the video game industry, nearly 30 higher education programs focused on video game development, and dozens of emerging collegiate e-sports teams.


So yea... I'd say I'm MORE than just an expert on some shit. I'm not just some random Xbox fan. :messenger_tears_of_joy: This doesn't make me an expert on mergers and acquisition law, but it does at least make me somewhat qualified to speak on the various factors that are at play with why I don't see the deal being blocked. I also personally know the current Senate Majority Leader and his views on the Microsoft Activision Deal outside of what's been put on the internet. There's a lot more behind my confidence than what I've suggested.
 
He isn't.
He has a stake on this deal, it's why he is super active here these days. If the deal is blocked, he could lose some of his stake money.

Even adamsapple adamsapple isn't that active like him.

I've been honest about this. I absolutely have 5 figures in Activision stock currently. But it's not the only reason for my believing the deal is good for workers and good for the industry. I do have professional experience and insight into why.
 

feynoob

Banned
Well, I'm a regional manager of a pretty important tech company with clients that include Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Sony, Chase, Apple, the US Government and so many others.

I'm a data encryption contractor for the FBI since Dec 2015 (not the only federal contract I have), I helped design (and I am credited by name with the creation) JP Morgan and Chase's updated (and current as of this date) internal bank and computer network security system/protocols the year they acquired Washington Mutual's banking operations. I was also one of the specialist leads in the nationwide conversion project to update all important platform and teller workstations (as well as servers) at Chase Bank locations all across the United States back in 2008 and 2009. While performing that work, I found, notified, and then offered to fix any and all vulnerabilities I discovered in their systems or networks. They took me up on my offer and paid me very well for it. I get deposits in the high 5 figures (sometimes 6 figures) almost every 2-4 weeks. Not necessarily just for that reason, but one of many reasons.

OfmZPBm.jpg


I consult on and get paid serious money to offer my insight and experience on things most here wouldn't believe. When you play on Xbox Live or PSN you're MOST likely benefitting from my and my team's or company's work in some fashion.

I was personally contracted to help teach, design and then enforce cyber and data security protocols for various elements and individuals of the Democratic Party apparatus including the DNC (Democratic National Committee) from early 2018 (for the 2018 mid-terms) to election year 2020. The primary charge - ensure for the things I and my team had responsibility for that what transpired in 2016 with the Clinton Campaign and other hacked emails regarding the DNC didn't occur in 2018 and 2020. My work was so well regarded that I even received a matching contract to work for the Republican Party also, one I unfortunately couldn't take due to my other work responsibilities getting in the way. I don't agree with their politics, but I'll gladly take their money. I similarly didn't renew my DNC contract for the same reasons, main work always comes first.

Some personal pictures I took in NY the same day I was invited to a march (was a march against gun violence) by the DNC and also to meet with current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (old dude in blue US Senate sweater) shortly after accepting the DNC contract.

dLVr5wW.jpg


euIrfTb.jpg


T1c5cZa.jpg


Etukins.jpg


mDT2jUX.jpg


Chuck Schumer is the current Democrat Leader in the US Senate, and the person responsible for bringing up Lina Khan's and the latest FTC commisioner's names for a vote in the US Senate after they're nominated by the President of the United States. He wanted to meet with me and inquire about the work I've been doing on cybersecurity, encryption, and other such things while also trying to hire me for non-political projects. No, I'm not in these pictures. I obviously won't post ones with me actually in them.

When he speaks about the Capital Region of New York and a lot of the jobs in the area around videogame development or that support videogame development on his website, he's almost certainly thinking of people exactly like me and companies like the one I work for.

https://www.schumer.senate.gov/news...gion-level-up-as-leading-tech-and-gaming-hub-




So yea... I'd say I'm MORE than just an expert on some shit. I'm not just some random Xbox fan. :messenger_tears_of_joy: This doesn't make me an expert on mergers and acquisition law, but it does at least make me somewhat qualified to speak on the various factors that are at play with why I don't see the deal being blocked. I also personally know the current Senate Majority Leader and his views on the Microsoft Activision Deal outside of what's been put on the internet. There's a lot more behind my confidence than what I've suggested.
excited jerome saint GIF by Snowfall

Gz man. That is a big job.
 

feynoob

Banned
I've been honest about this. I absolutely have 5 figures in Activision stock currently. But it's not the only reason for my believing the deal is good for workers and good for the industry. I do have professional experience and insight into why.
The deal is good for workers, but not for the industry.
No one likes big companies buying everything.
 
Uh....yeah, the shit that guy writes is an entirely different level of console warrior bullshit.

Yea, it's console warrior bullshit because I have spoken on things that you disagree with. Too bad so much information keeps emerging backing up the reasons why I don't see the deal failing. I've long said the politics matter, the party in control of the FTC matters, that unions being this heavily involved and Microsoft having a binding agreement with them matters. President Biden being such a big supporter of unions along with the Democrat party matters. Things like the railroad strike and this public pressure from the CWA Union coming within such close proximity of one another as so many democrat senators are up for re-election in 2024 matters.

If that's console warrior bullshit to you, then it is what it is.
 
And I bet some will pretend like the CWA President dropping that article the same day as Microsoft President Brad Smith dropping a major article in the Wall Street Journal is purely coincidence? These are carefully coordinated. When some say the CWA is overestimating its importance, it tells me they don't understand the importance of that union, but Microsoft recognizes its importance, and they are counting on the White House and relevant members of congress recognizing it also.
 
Well, I'm a regional manager of a pretty important tech company with clients that include Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Sony, Chase, Apple, the US Government and so many others.

I'm a data encryption contractor for the FBI since Dec 2015 (not the only federal contract I have), I helped design (and I am credited by name with the creation) JP Morgan and Chase's updated (and current as of this date) internal bank and computer network security system/protocols the year they acquired Washington Mutual's banking operations. I was also one of the specialist leads in the nationwide conversion project to update all important platform and teller workstations (as well as servers) at Chase Bank locations all across the United States back in 2008 and 2009. While performing that work, I found, notified, and then offered to fix any and all vulnerabilities I discovered in their systems or networks. They took me up on my offer and paid me very well for it. I get deposits in the high 5 figures (sometimes 6 figures) almost every 2-4 weeks. Not necessarily just for that reason, but one of many reasons.

OfmZPBm.jpg


I consult on and get paid serious money to offer my insight and experience on things most here wouldn't believe. When you play on Xbox Live or PSN you're MOST likely benefitting from my and my team's or company's work in some fashion.

I was personally contracted to help teach, design and then enforce cyber and data security protocols for various elements and individuals of the Democratic Party apparatus including the DNC (Democratic National Committee) from early 2018 (for the 2018 mid-terms) to election year 2020. The primary charge - ensure for the things I and my team had responsibility for that what transpired in 2016 with the Clinton Campaign and other hacked emails regarding the DNC didn't occur in 2018 and 2020. My work was so well regarded that I even received a matching contract to work for the Republican Party also, one I unfortunately couldn't take due to my other work responsibilities getting in the way. I don't agree with their politics, but I'll gladly take their money. I similarly didn't renew my DNC contract for the same reasons, main work always comes first.

Some personal pictures I took in NY the same day I was invited to a march (was a march against gun violence) by the DNC and also to meet with current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (old dude in blue US Senate sweater) shortly after accepting the DNC contract.

dLVr5wW.jpg


euIrfTb.jpg


T1c5cZa.jpg


Etukins.jpg


mDT2jUX.jpg


Chuck Schumer is the current Democrat Leader in the US Senate, and the person responsible for bringing up Lina Khan's and the latest FTC commisioner's names for a vote in the US Senate after they're nominated by the President of the United States. He wanted to meet with me and inquire about the work I've been doing on cybersecurity, encryption, and other such things while also trying to hire me for non-political projects. No, I'm not in these pictures. I obviously won't post ones with me actually in them.

When he speaks about the Capital Region of New York and a lot of the jobs in the area around videogame development or that support videogame development on his website, he's almost certainly thinking of people exactly like me and companies like the one I work for.

https://www.schumer.senate.gov/news...gion-level-up-as-leading-tech-and-gaming-hub-




So yea... I'd say I'm MORE than just an expert on some shit. I'm not just some random Xbox fan. :messenger_tears_of_joy: This doesn't make me an expert on mergers and acquisition law, but it does at least make me somewhat qualified to speak on the various factors that are at play with why I don't see the deal being blocked. I also personally know the current Senate Majority Leader and his views on the Microsoft Activision Deal outside of what's been put on the internet. There's a lot more behind my confidence than what I've suggested.
Just like Michael Pachter
 

GhostOfTsu

Banned
???


Here is Sony paying Democratic politicians. And sending money to the DSCC and DCCC (Democrat Committees for electing Democrats to Congress in Senate and House of Reps)

JPY2caa.jpg


JlFyq3e.jpg


Guessing you don't follow news? You didn't know companies all across America lobby politicians? The only way you couldn't know this is a thing from every major corporation is if you quite literally never pay attention to any news.

And this is just the on the books stuff.
That's great that Sony contributes too but those amounts are way too small compared with MS 😅
But one blue user here suggested here that it is only ms that is participating in this.
??? I never said that. I was reacting to the selective outrage.
I don’t think he will respond to that. You just destroyed his argument so he will stay quite for couple of days.
I'm sure the government will be able to buy a nice cup of coffee with that money Sony gave 🙄
 

bender

What time is it?
Well, I'm a regional manager of a pretty important tech company with clients that include Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Sony, Chase, Apple, the US Government and so many others.

I'm a data encryption contractor for the FBI since Dec 2015 (not the only federal contract I have), I helped design (and I am credited by name with the creation) JP Morgan and Chase's updated (and current as of this date) internal bank and computer network security system/protocols the year they acquired Washington Mutual's banking operations. I was also one of the specialist leads in the nationwide conversion project to update all important platform and teller workstations (as well as servers) at Chase Bank locations all across the United States back in 2008 and 2009. While performing that work, I found, notified, and then offered to fix any and all vulnerabilities I discovered in their systems or networks. They took me up on my offer and paid me very well for it. I get deposits in the high 5 figures (sometimes 6 figures) almost every 2-4 weeks. Not necessarily just for that reason, but one of many reasons.

OfmZPBm.jpg


I consult on and get paid serious money to offer my insight and experience on things most here wouldn't believe. When you play on Xbox Live or PSN you're MOST likely benefitting from my and my team's or company's work in some fashion.

I was personally contracted to help teach, design and then enforce cyber and data security protocols for various elements and individuals of the Democratic Party apparatus including the DNC (Democratic National Committee) from early 2018 (for the 2018 mid-terms) to election year 2020. The primary charge - ensure for the things I and my team had responsibility for that what transpired in 2016 with the Clinton Campaign and other hacked emails regarding the DNC didn't occur in 2018 and 2020. My work was so well regarded that I even received a matching contract to work for the Republican Party also, one I unfortunately couldn't take due to my other work responsibilities getting in the way. I don't agree with their politics, but I'll gladly take their money. I similarly didn't renew my DNC contract for the same reasons, main work always comes first.

Some personal pictures I took in NY the same day I was invited to a march (was a march against gun violence) by the DNC and also to meet with current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (old dude in blue US Senate sweater) shortly after accepting the DNC contract.

dLVr5wW.jpg


euIrfTb.jpg


T1c5cZa.jpg


Etukins.jpg


mDT2jUX.jpg


Chuck Schumer is the current Democrat Leader in the US Senate, and the person responsible for bringing up Lina Khan's and the latest FTC commisioner's names for a vote in the US Senate after they're nominated by the President of the United States. He wanted to meet with me and inquire about the work I've been doing on cybersecurity, encryption, and other such things while also trying to hire me for non-political projects. No, I'm not in these pictures. I obviously won't post ones with me actually in them.

When he speaks about the Capital Region of New York and a lot of the jobs in the area around videogame development or that support videogame development on his website, he's almost certainly thinking of people exactly like me and companies like the one I work for.

https://www.schumer.senate.gov/news...gion-level-up-as-leading-tech-and-gaming-hub-




So yea... I'd say I'm MORE than just an expert on some shit. I'm not just some random Xbox fan. :messenger_tears_of_joy: This doesn't make me an expert on mergers and acquisition law, but it does at least make me somewhat qualified to speak on the various factors that are at play with why I don't see the deal being blocked. I also personally know the current Senate Majority Leader and his views on the Microsoft Activision Deal outside of what's been put on the internet. There's a lot more behind my confidence than what I've suggested.
tumblr_mlnkihEcm61rtg76ko1_500.gif
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Well, I'm a regional manager of a pretty important tech company with clients that include Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Sony, Chase, Apple, the US Government and so many others.

I'm a data encryption contractor for the FBI since Dec 2015 (not the only federal contract I have), I helped design (and I am credited by name with the creation) JP Morgan and Chase's updated (and current as of this date) internal bank and computer network security system/protocols the year they acquired Washington Mutual's banking operations. I was also one of the specialist leads in the nationwide conversion project to update all important platform and teller workstations (as well as servers) at Chase Bank locations all across the United States back in 2008 and 2009. While performing that work, I found, notified, and then offered to fix any and all vulnerabilities I discovered in their systems or networks. They took me up on my offer and paid me very well for it. I get deposits in the high 5 figures (sometimes 6 figures) almost every 2-4 weeks. Not necessarily just for that reason, but one of many reasons.

OfmZPBm.jpg


I consult on and get paid serious money to offer my insight and experience on things most here wouldn't believe. When you play on Xbox Live or PSN you're MOST likely benefitting from my and my team's or company's work in some fashion.

I was personally contracted to help teach, design and then enforce cyber and data security protocols for various elements and individuals of the Democratic Party apparatus including the DNC (Democratic National Committee) from early 2018 (for the 2018 mid-terms) to election year 2020. The primary charge - ensure for the things I and my team had responsibility for that what transpired in 2016 with the Clinton Campaign and other hacked emails regarding the DNC didn't occur in 2018 and 2020. My work was so well regarded that I even received a matching contract to work for the Republican Party also, one I unfortunately couldn't take due to my other work responsibilities getting in the way. I don't agree with their politics, but I'll gladly take their money. I similarly didn't renew my DNC contract for the same reasons, main work always comes first.

Some personal pictures I took in NY the same day I was invited to a march (was a march against gun violence) by the DNC and also to meet with current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (old dude in blue US Senate sweater) shortly after accepting the DNC contract.

dLVr5wW.jpg


euIrfTb.jpg


T1c5cZa.jpg


Etukins.jpg


mDT2jUX.jpg


Chuck Schumer is the current Democrat Leader in the US Senate, and the person responsible for bringing up Lina Khan's and the latest FTC commisioner's names for a vote in the US Senate after they're nominated by the President of the United States. He wanted to meet with me and inquire about the work I've been doing on cybersecurity, encryption, and other such things while also trying to hire me for non-political projects. No, I'm not in these pictures. I obviously won't post ones with me actually in them.

When he speaks about the Capital Region of New York and a lot of the jobs in the area around videogame development or that support videogame development on his website, he's almost certainly thinking of people exactly like me and companies like the one I work for.

https://www.schumer.senate.gov/news...gion-level-up-as-leading-tech-and-gaming-hub-




So yea... I'd say I'm MORE than just an expert on some shit. I'm not just some random Xbox fan. :messenger_tears_of_joy: This doesn't make me an expert on mergers and acquisition law, but it does at least make me somewhat qualified to speak on the various factors that are at play with why I don't see the deal being blocked. I also personally know the current Senate Majority Leader and his views on the Microsoft Activision Deal outside of what's been put on the internet. There's a lot more behind my confidence than what I've suggested.
Cringe Reaction GIF
 
You don't think Microsoft had anything to do with CWA throwing shade at Sony in their column, do you?

Joe Biden Shock GIF by GIPHY News
Oh No Wow GIF by The Great British Bake Off
Oh My God Wow GIF by The Roku Channel

user idas - he thinks this brings credibility to the NY post article and is a possible reason why Faber of CNBC said the Politico article was wrong.

Lina Khan has a big W gift wrapped for her, if she takes it. They're saying that it's the pressure from Lina Khan's leadership and her commitment to workers' interests that forced Microsoft to the table to make the binding commitments they did for workers. The question is now will Khan take the W? Or fight for more?

https://www.resetera.com/threads/th...n-ot-antitrust-simulator.633344/post-97592071

Those last 3 paragraphs... :p

Sony, which currently has the largest share of the video game console market, has been one of the few vocal opponents of the merger. It is a stark contrast of interests: If the merger is approved and the labor deal with Microsoft is effectuated, Activision Blizzard workers across the United States fighting sexual harassment and other poor working conditions stand to finally have a voice on the job and a chance to shape working conditions throughout the industry, and gamers will have allies inside a corporation with real protections for speaking out in consumers' interests. If the merger is disapproved, the power relations within the gaming industry for labor stay the same, Sony protects its very profitable position as the industry leader, and consumers will have to wait and see if subscription services mature into a viable gaming option.

FTC chair Lina Khan has been a strong advocate for an antitrust policy that takes workers' interests and fair market functioning into account. Thanks to her leadership and the outreach and interest of the FTC staff, labor is now part of the national antitrust conversation. Approving this merger with the labor agreement that we fashioned with Microsoft to protect collective bargaining rights would send a game-changing message to corporate America that workers do indeed have a seat at the table and their concerns matter and must be addressed.

It's time to seal the deal, not blow it up.


This makes the NY Post article look more credible and maybe this is also why David Faber was saying that the article from Politico wasn't right.
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
Did the president of Microsoft really just take out an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal to convince us that this is great for consumers? And then had the guts to say acquisition = innovation?

It’s just lingo, basically it means growth, they are selling money out in the open.
 

Topher

Identifies as young
user idas - he thinks this brings credibility to the NY post article and is a possible reason why Faber of CNBC said the Politico article was wrong.

Faber didn't say Politico was wrong. The NY post article can be credible and Politico can also be correct. Situations can evolve.

Don't know who idas is and don't care.
 
Last edited:
SenjutsuSage SenjutsuSage

All due respect but you don't need to go that far to assert your credentials. We take your word at face value and if someone doesn't, side step their posts. Don't put your livelihood in gafs spotlight to that degree.

Just my two cents of course.

You're correct. I feel I protected myself, but you're probably correct that much of that was wholly unnecessary. All in all, the developments today from Microsoft and the CWA's coordinated press are interesting.

Another interesting article drop today. This looks like a full court press if I ever saw one.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/05/business/microsoft-activision-game-union.html

A group of more than 300 employees at ZeniMax Media, a Maryland-based video game maker owned by Microsoft, has begun voting on whether to form the company’s only union in the United States.

The vote, among quality assurance employees at ZeniMax, which includes prominent studios like Bethesda Game Studios, is taking place under an informal agreement in which Microsoft is staying neutral. Workers can sign a union authorization card, as some began doing last month, or weigh in anonymously for or against unionization on an electronic platform that opened on Friday.

The process will conclude at the end of the month and is more efficient than a typical union election, which is overseen by the National Labor Relations Board and can involve legal wrangling over the terms of the election.

The same day that voting began at Microsoft, a group of workers in quality assurance, or Q.A., at an Activision-owned studio near Albany, N.Y., won a union vote, 14 to 0. That result followed a successful union vote in May by about two dozen Q.A. workers at an Activision studio in Wisconsin, a first for a major North American video game maker. Activision’s planned acquisition by Microsoft, for about $70 billion, is facing antitrust review by regulators.

The organizing campaigns at both companies have been under the auspices of the Communications Workers of America, which also represents employees at telecom companies like Verizon and media companies like The New York Times.


- As if to underscore the point, the union’s president, Chris Shelton, met with the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission in October and urged regulators not to block the deal.

- Still, the workers praised Microsoft for following through on its promise of neutrality. Unlike workers at Starbucks and Amazon, they say, they have not been summoned to meetings in which supervisors seek to dissuade them from unionizing, and they do not feel that the company has retaliated against them for trying to form a union. (Starbucks and Amazon have denied accusations of retaliation.)

- A 300-worker union would be “quite groundbreaking” and could propel Q.A. workers, and even other game workers like developers, to unionize at other large studios, said Johanna Weststar, an associate professor at Western University in Ontario who studies labor in the industry.

A Microsoft spokeswoman said that the organizing campaign was “an example of our labor principles in action” and that the company remained “committed to providing employees with an opportunity to freely and fairly make choices about their workplace representation.”
 

feynoob

Banned
Full transcript.
The Federal Trade Commission reportedly plans to sue Microsoft to stop our proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. That would be a huge mistake. It would hurt competition, consumers and thousands of game developers.

Microsoft faces huge challenges in the gaming industry. Our Xbox remains in third place in console gaming, stuck behind Sony's dominant PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch. We have no meaningful presence in the mobile game industry. That segment of gaming generates the most revenue and is the fastest-growing, but a significant portion of the revenue goes to Google and Apple through their app-store fees.

Acquiring Activision Blizzard would enable Microsoft to compete against these companies through innovation that would benefit consumers. While modern consumers can stream videos or music on multiple devices on low-cost subscription plans, many games can often only be individually purchased and downloaded onto one device. Microsoft wants to change that by offering consumers the option to subscribe to a cloud gaming service that lets them stream a variety of games on multiple devices for one reasonable fee. It would also benefit developers by allowing them to reach a much broader audience.

To get subscribers to this service, Microsoft needs a full library of popular games and, as things stand, we simply don't have enough. That's where the acquisition comes in. Activision Blizzard comes with popular mobile, PC and console games, including "Candy Crush," "World of Warcraft" and "Call of Duty."

Sony has emerged as the loudest objector. It's as excited about this deal as Blockbuster was about the rise of Netflix. The main supposed potential anticompetitive risk Sony raises is that Microsoft would stop making "Call of Duty" available on the PlayStation. But that would be economically irrational. A vital part of Activision Blizzard's "Call of Duty" revenue comes from PlayStation game sales. Given the popularity of cross-play, it would also be disastrous to the "Call of Duty" franchise and Xbox itself, alienating millions of gamers.

That's why we've offered Sony a 10-year contract to make each new "Call of Duty" release available on PlayStation the same day it comes to Xbox. We're open to providing the same commitment to other platforms and making it legally enforceable by regulators in the U.S., U.K. and European Union. Microsoft made a similar commitment to the European Commission when we acquired LinkedIn in 2016, ensuring access to key technologies for competing services.

Some regulators worry that any big-tech acquisition will harm consumers and workers. But Microsoft committed in February to govern its new cloud-based game store by the pro-competition principles outlined in the app-store legislation pending in Congress. And in May we negotiated a precedent-setting agreement with the Communications Workers of America allowing workers to organize easily at studios, including Activision Blizzard.

Blocking our acquisition would make the gaming industry less competitive and gamers worse off. Think about how much better it is to stream a movie from your couch than drive to Blockbuster. We want to bring the same sort of innovation to the videogame industry.

Mr. Smith is vice chair and president of Microsoft.
 
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