I can't believe the amount of people here who think/feel Microsoft or Sony owe them something.
Absolutely delusional. They owe you NOTHING! They offer a service/product, and you're free to pay (that is, exchange your money) for that service or product. That is how it is, and that is how it's always been. You are a consumer, and they provide you with the content to consume, and if you choose to purchase from them (for whatever reason), that makes you their customer. You aren't their friend, and they aren't yours.
If ANY company purchases another company or any intellectual property, they're completely free to do as they please with THEIR new purchase. The purchase wasn't yours. It's not your IP. It's not your business. It's not anything to you, other than something you exchanged money for, in order to access. They literally do not and have not owed you a single thing. Please, get over yourselves. Nothing they do, as it pertains to exclusivity, is immoral. Bolstering their own services and/or removing a service/product from their competitors isn't immoral. That's not where morality lies. Robbing their customers, price gouging, shitty or nonexistent warranties/return policies, ill-treating their employees, stealing from their employees, harassing, bullying customers and employees are real examples of immorality. Those are real displays of villainy, if you want to call it that.
Spending X amount of money, that they earned, to purchase anything from anyone (who wants to sell to them - it's not like Sony or MS had a gun to their heads and forced them to sell), and making that exclusive to their business, isn't immoral and isn't wrong. It isn't anything other than what they think might be best for business, which might be a slight inconvenience to you. Is it always best for business? Sometimes not, but most times it is.
That's why they bought it IN THE FIRST PLACE! It's now theirs! And it was never yours to begin with. I give zero fucks what the EU or CMA has to say about it. The roles could be completely reversed, where Sony is the one buying AKB, my stance and principles on the matter wouldn't change. The ONLY real point of consideration/contention is if Sony were the buyers, being the current market leader (and not by a small margin), and purchasing a huge gaming leader like AKB, that could be considered the truest definition of anti-competitive. But guess what...they'd be free to do that. And to be frank, even as the market leaders, they don't owe you anything. And they
certainly don't owe their competitors anything. As the leaders, it would only worsen the state of the competitive landscape, but that's about it. And MS, while not being anywhere as successful, has the money to still try and compete. That said, immoral is the last thing I'd call it.
If Sony buys a multi-plat publisher or developer and you no longer have access to their games/services, then go out and buy a PS, if it's that important to you. You don't want to buy a PS; fine...the world won't end, and not playing a particular video game (out of thousands) isn't going to ruin your life, or even your Sunday. If you really want the game that badly, and you can afford, go buy it. You can't afford it; go buy something else. It's really nothing to cry/bitch/moan about. And the same goes for MS; you want to play Xbox games; buy an Xbox (that's ALWAYS BEEN HOW IT IS). You can't afford an Xbox; save for one. You don't want an Xbox; don't buy it. You can't save for one; don't buy it...buy something else. You can't play the game you wanted to play; too fncking bad.
"Ohhh CMA, come save me! Stop big bad Sony and MS from exercising their right to compete in a perfectly legal way, that they see fit, that is...at most, slightly inconvenient to me. Please CMA, help me... Oh God...they're taking away our rights

"
Foh!
I can't believe this is 700+ pages of this whining and corporate teat guzzling. Yes, I am 100% in support of Xbox buying AKB, because I primarily game on Xbox. However, if the roles were reversed, and although I wouldn't like the possibility of AKB being exclusive to Sony, I'd be in support of it as well. At best, I'd have to buy a PS. At worst, I'd be slightly inconvenienced and miss out on a few games. The only time I'm not in support of a company buyout, is when it's for something that is
truly needed by consumers, and the new parent company is going to spike prices, exorbitantly, like pharmaceutical drugs, for instance. Anything else, is completely fair game.