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Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion [FTC sues to stop - CMA issues updated preliminary findings]


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21 minutes ago, Eagle said:

 

Disregarding that I believe Phil Spencer's latest tweet talking about how "Sony is an important part of their industry" shows that they aren't really competing with each other and seem rather happy to co-exist (which is why the "console war" thing gets more grating by the day, but I digress)... it's not actually about how the acquisition affects Sony's influence on the western market, as we've seen by the dozens of other topics derailed by the same kind of people - it's just an excuse to rant about the "censorship" thing and how the east is so much better because they aren't "woke" or whatever.

I was just about to post this. Even read the article by The Washington Post. Dude’s really being ironic with his words.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/01/20/xbox-activision-blizzard-phil-spencer/

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I think whats gonna happen is activision is gonna keep cod on playstation for now but will find some way to incentive the more casual gamer who only buys 1-5 games a year to pick an xbox over a playstation so that in the future once enough of those casuals jump ship they can drop sony platforms and finally make cod exclusive. Because lets face it, ive seen more xbox series x and s consoles in the wild and people buy consoles just for cod, fifa, gta and maybe battlefield or other mainstream fare and ignore the exclusives on either side. If cod 2022 is available day 1 on gamepass which also includes ea play and maybe even the new ubisoft service that casual will be more likely to go with xbox since they are easier to find and cheaper to just get a series s with a year of gamepass ultimate then it is to get a ps5 with plus, ea play, and those cod and gta games.

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1 hour ago, Eagle said:

 

Disregarding that I believe Phil Spencer's latest tweet talking about how "Sony is an important part of their industry" shows that they aren't really competing with each other and seem rather happy to co-exist

 

That's if you believe he's being honest. I think that many of us believe he's lying (because he said the same going about the Bethesda buyout), and that he'll make it exclusive after the current contracts end, or give Sony an unrealistic deal to keep it, forcing them to say no.

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They're picking words very carefully. "Existing agreements" + "Keeping COD on PlayStation" could easily mean not taking down the games that have already come out on the platform. New COD starting with the 2023 game could still be XBOX console exclusive if everything goes through.

 

Edit: oh right, PlayStation had a partnership deal with Activision where PS users got early access to DLC and game modes in Call of Duty. So they won't touch it until it expires. I don't know when it ends though.

 

Meanwhile 

 

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2 hours ago, Rozalia1 said:

As for "Console Wars", Microsoft is giving them more legitimacy than they've ever had before I'll say that much. Previously Microsoft had in fact been playing something you could say was "fair". Now they're bringing to bear their massive capital and burning through huge amounts of cash to try to change how gaming is consumed to destroy their competition, and then make all the money they lost and more back once they're secure and can raise prices as they like. In essence the ugly tactics Microsoft became infamous for and far too many either forgot about or are too young to know about.

 

Yep Microsoft used to be hated so much in the past (I remember all the Micro$haft comments) but ever since their flop with the X1, their relaxed stance on PC, and especially Gamepass, they have gotten on many people's good side and everyone has forgotten what they used to be like. If this purchase happened years ago, everyone would've been losing their minds. But now anyone outside of PlayStation is cheering it on. Nowadays, it's just "Oh if Microsoft purchases this company, their games will go on Gamepass". I've even seen people admit they wouldn't mind if Microsoft owned the majority of gaming studios as it means it'll be on Gamepass.

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Sony also used to be hated back in PS1 days for their shitty actions, Lik Sang? I'm old.

 

Microsoft and the Xbox, They have gone out of their way to try and make as many games BC as possible. Playing Patched Morrowind on the XBSX is fantastic, Jade empire is next. Sony? Doesn't give a shit about their old consoles.

 

For the COD community, The amount of players that consider the Dual Sense as a Viable controller option for competitive online would be minimal at best, So that doesn't really matter anyway. I'd say most are playing "Ps4 Versions" like me.

 

In conclusion, I doubt we'll see anything new 

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54 minutes ago, Elvick_ said:

This is absolutely god awful for the industry. Bethesda was too. Acquiring an IP or studio (particularly one with a close working relationship) is one thing. This is straggling the competition. 
 

it’d be one thing if MS decided to go full 3rd party while still producing hardware, but putting all games everywhere. (A lie they stated).

 

reminder the only reason MS even entered the gaming industry was to go after Sony. At the time they were concerned about Sony becoming too big and powerful. My how things change.

 

I’d say Sony needs to make moves, and as a company they do, but as a consumer I don’t want that. Unless it’s good moves that are solely pro consumer. Like ditching their shitty upgrade charges, bullshit “remasters” to avoid upgrades, cancerous censorship, and more.

 

Otherwise, seeing Sony respond buying stuff would suck. I know what MS wants, for us to not own games. They’ve found a better way than their cancerous always online console idea. One they get endless praise for; game pass. Yeah, great deal. But the faster people get used to these things the faster we lose physical and then are left with very little alternatives for pricing. And I don’t like California PlayStation either so them owning more isn’t something I’d like to see. 
 

the more I think about it the more awful it sounds. Sony are hardly angels, Nintendo either. None of them can be trusted, they’re all corporations who want money above all else. It’s why we pay for online now (started by MS on their first console no less!) 
 

bad times ahead, but good thing people get to laugh at “Ponies” and “Sony fanboys” crying about this. I don’t want what games we’re allowed to see dictated by so few companies. That’s not good for the outcome of games. 
 

As we were moving toward fewer real exclusives, this has taken us backwards. Just because MS is allowed to throw money around to compete. 

Sony had some dumb policies on PSone, like being against 2D games. 

 

MS’s bc is ending… exactly What I said would happen when they started that crap on 360. And so few games actually work with it. Over half my old games don’t work at all. Because they couldn’t be milked for resale digitally so why support my ability to play it? MS don’t care about their old consoles either. Nobody does. Same people who “love bc” mostly don’t even know the PS3 plays PSone games. Every single one of them. MS only did bc to try to have something to market over Sony. Their method of it showed they didn’t actually give a shit. 99% of the Xbox and 360 library isn’t supported. Is emulation really that hard? Even if imperfect, it’s clear the focus was on what they could resell to a new audience rather than provide support to people who had old games. 

 

Xbox has BC for games that can't be bought.

 

The 20th anniversary of Xbox was the last that could be attempted to work well enough. I think something like 70+ games added? Just own the disc. Microsoft has made some amazingly stupid mistakes with the XB1, in fact I felt embarrassed to own one. Things have changed remarkably. I recommend any gamer to re-visit the Xbox.

 

Sony though, well they did release a tiny ps2 library for the PS4 all at a cost of course. Recent stores issues with Sony on the PS3 have left me more bitter then usual.

 

I don't think it's any secret how I feel about the PS5 :) I mean it's ok I guess,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 

 

I think this is a great thing regardless of what happens to Sony, Currently Activision is Stained almost beyond redemption.

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10 hours ago, Eagle said:

it's not actually about how the acquisition affects Sony's influence on the western market, as we've seen by the dozens of other topics derailed by the same kind of people - it's just an excuse to rant about the "censorship" thing and how the east is so much better because they aren't "woke" or whatever.

 

Damn I thought I was the only one that noticed this and it's always by the same folks too lmao. 

 

 

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12 hours ago, Nelson_ said:

Sony propped up Japan studios for years when none of their games were selling. They aren't microsoft and can just keep a money pit open forever.

6 hours ago, Rozalia1 said:

 

Come on now. Do you seriously believe Phil Spencer when he is using such carefully picked language? Microsoft has stated that they believe they are no longer in competition with Sony yes, this being because Microsoft now sees itself beyond Sony, at least if you believe them. Not everyone fights with a scowl, some do it with a smile.

 

As for "Console Wars", Microsoft is giving them more legitimacy than they've ever had before I'll say that much. Previously Microsoft had in fact been playing something you could say was "fair". Now they're bringing to bear their massive capital and burning through huge amounts of cash to try to change how gaming is consumed to destroy their competition, and then make all the money they lost and more back once they're secure and can raise prices as they like. In essence the ugly tactics Microsoft became infamous for and far too many either forgot about or are too young to know about.

Microsoft was always beyond Sony to be honest simply because they had so much more money MS gaming studios has never made a profit, even now with the success of Gamepass but here we are 20+ years later with Microsoft still in the arena fighting for domination. They do this with everything. Steve Jobs said it best

 

"Microsoft has no taste. All they do is throw their money around"

 

When they first made the Xbox, they made an acquisition offer to Nintendo, who refused. The 360 they made offers to other studios as well, most refused but some sold. Xbox One they almost left the industry but Gamepass opened up new avenues of control and then they decided to acquire even more studios to feed the beast.

 

As I said before, in a just world, Microsoft would get slapped with anti trust because the grand scheme here is to be either the only significant player on the block, or the only player. Justto give an idea, it will take roughly 20 years for Microsoft to start earning money through the Activision acquisition. 20 years. Many of us will be collecting Social Security or in the ground by the time MS POTENTIALLY gains money from this. Nintendo fans think Nintendo is safe but they aren't either.

Edited by majob
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11 hours ago, Z1MZUM said:

 

Xbox has BC for games that can't be bought.

 

The 20th anniversary of Xbox was the last that could be attempted to work well enough. I think something like 70+ games added? Just own the disc. Microsoft has made some amazingly stupid mistakes with the XB1, in fact I felt embarrassed to own one. Things have changed remarkably. I recommend any gamer to re-visit the Xbox.

 

Sony though, well they did release a tiny ps2 library for the PS4 all at a cost of course. Recent stores issues with Sony on the PS3 have left me more bitter then usual.

 

I don't think it's any secret how I feel about the PS5 :) I mean it's ok I guess,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, 

 

I think this is a great thing regardless of what happens to Sony, Currently Activision is Stained almost beyond redemption.

Exceptions don’t disprove a rule. People like you who accept less than everything are why we’ll never get full bc ever again. Short of a legally dubious third party piece of hardware. 

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10 hours ago, majob said:

Sony propped up Japan studios for years when none of their games were selling. They aren't microsoft and can just keep a money pit open forever.

Microsoft was always beyond Sony to be honest simply because they had so much more money MS gaming studios has never made a profit, even now with the success of Gamepass but here we are 20+ years later with Microsoft still in the arena fighting for domination. They do this with everything. Steve Jobs said it best

 

"Microsoft has no taste. All they do is throw their money around"

 

When they first made the Xbox, they made an acquisition offer to Nintendo, who refused. The 360 they made offers to other studios as well, most refused but some sold. Xbox One they almost left the industry but Gamepass opened up new avenues of control and then they decided to acquire even more studios to feed the beast.

 

As I said before, in a just world, Microsoft would get slapped with anti trust because the grand scheme here is to be either the only significant player on the block, or the only player. Justto give an idea, it will take roughly 20 years for Microsoft to start earning money through the Activision acquisition. 20 years. Many of us will be collecting Social Security or in the ground by the time MS POTENTIALLY gains money from this. Nintendo fans think Nintendo is safe but they aren't either.

Games not selling is the marketing team’s fault. Nobody in charge of Puppeteers marketing WW were fired. Since you can’t fire nobody, bazooper. Great game, failed by marketing. Look at SCEA (pre name change) and note how little effort the put into marketing any SCEE and SCEJ content. Make note of who made games for PS Vita, PS VR, PS Camera/Eye, PS Move. And how they were marketed in SCEA. It was a miracle to even get Invizimals released in NA.
 

it’s been a trend for many years. Japan didn’t drop off recently, it’s been a long process of repeated behavior that has alienated and pushed Japanese consumers out. It just got more egregious with the censorship and outright disdain shown by California PlayStation. US branch has always ignored EU and Japan for the most part focusing on itself. 
 

The guy in charge of fixing Japan Studio like he previously did Santa Monica, seemingly did nothing. All he did was cut the creative freedom down and the studio release barely anything after, and what they did release was barely supported. Meanwhile The Last of Us got prime advertising during Walking Dead. same problem with Liverpool, they made great games all the time but Sony didn’t really view them as valuable enough to market well and so the studio is now dead, dead during making a PS4 Wipeout and insult to injury they ported their last made game to PS4 with VR instead with some other dev team. 
 

Studios shouldn’t be blamed when they provide quality content that fails to sell. That’s on the marketing. Ultimately the heads approve of these games. So if they approve and allow the investment, they should put in the marketing investment necessary for it to actually make a difference. Rather than just a trailer on YouTube. 

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14 hours ago, Z1MZUM said:

Sony also used to be hated back in PS1 days for their shitty actions, Lik Sang? I'm old.

 

Microsoft and the Xbox, They have gone out of their way to try and make as many games BC as possible. Playing Patched Morrowind on the XBSX is fantastic, Jade empire is next. Sony? Doesn't give a shit about their old consoles.

 

For the COD community, The amount of players that consider the Dual Sense as a Viable controller option for competitive online would be minimal at best, So that doesn't really matter anyway. I'd say most are playing "Ps4 Versions" like me.

 

In conclusion, I doubt we'll see anything new 

 

Lik Sang? You really going to put all that on Sony when Microsoft and Nintendo also sued them and hurt their business (most would say rightly).

 

Both Nintendo and Sony when in command of the industry were disliked for how they wielded that power yes. Like you talk of Sony but that was kid's stuff compared to Nintendo, though some would say that Nintendo being hardliners was something the industry needed at the time. Regardless, neither of those times are anything compared to what Microsoft is trying to bring about now. Nintendo and Sony's "rule" didn't close out competition from rising up considering competition did rise up and bring them down from their elevated position. Microsoft is trying (I don't believe they'll succeed, but it is their aim) to dominate the industry like we've never seen before and the only excuse that can give for it is if Microsoft doesn't subjugate the industry than one of the other big five will.

 

15 hours ago, Herwest299 said:

Yep Microsoft used to be hated so much in the past (I remember all the Micro$haft comments) but ever since their flop with the X1, their relaxed stance on PC, and especially Gamepass, they have gotten on many people's good side and everyone has forgotten what they used to be like. If this purchase happened years ago, everyone would've been losing their minds. But now anyone outside of PlayStation is cheering it on. Nowadays, it's just "Oh if Microsoft purchases this company, their games will go on Gamepass". I've even seen people admit they wouldn't mind if Microsoft owned the majority of gaming studios as it means it'll be on Gamepass.

 

That article that was linked here, https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2022/01/microsoft-bigwig-trusts-playstation-not-to-damage-gaming-industry-cautions-against-tech-giants, should be a wakeup call for anyone who is actually been deluded into this "good guy Microsoft" and their frontman Spencer. Microsoft knows it is damaging things with this move considering that they see any of the other Big 5 doing what they're doing as being damaging. They also want Sony/Nintendo/Valve to not see them as a threat... as Microsoft attempts to hurt them.

 

11 hours ago, majob said:

Sony propped up Japan studios for years when none of their games were selling. They aren't microsoft and can just keep a money pit open forever.

 

37 minutes ago, Elvick_ said:

Games not selling is the marketing team’s fault. Nobody in charge of Puppeteers marketing WW were fired. Since you can’t fire nobody, bazooper. Great game, failed by marketing. Look at SCEA (pre name change) and note how little effort the put into marketing any SCEE and SCEJ content. Make note of who made games for PS Vita, PS VR, PS Camera/Eye, PS Move. And how they were marketed in SCEA. It was a miracle to even get Invizimals released in NA.

 

Japan Studio could very well be said to have been failed by Sony... but it can't be said that attempts weren't made. Kat from Gravity Rush got promotion across like a dozen games, one of them being part of a promotion involving Coca Cola. They gave it a remaster and sequel. For whatever reason it just never took off with the public. Might soon get another shot though as Gravity Rush is well suited to promoting PSVR2.

 

11 hours ago, majob said:

Microsoft was always beyond Sony to be honest simply because they had so much more money MS gaming studios has never made a profit, even now with the success of Gamepass but here we are 20+ years later with Microsoft still in the arena fighting for domination. They do this with everything. Steve Jobs said it best

 

"Microsoft has no taste. All they do is throw their money around"

 

When they first made the Xbox, they made an acquisition offer to Nintendo, who refused. The 360 they made offers to other studios as well, most refused but some sold. Xbox One they almost left the industry but Gamepass opened up new avenues of control and then they decided to acquire even more studios to feed the beast.

 

As I said before, in a just world, Microsoft would get slapped with anti trust because the grand scheme here is to be either the only significant player on the block, or the only player. Justto give an idea, it will take roughly 20 years for Microsoft to start earning money through the Activision acquisition. 20 years. Many of us will be collecting Social Security or in the ground by the time MS POTENTIALLY gains money from this. Nintendo fans think Nintendo is safe but they aren't either.

 

I think both Nintendo and Sony, who Microsoft thought were soft targets for them, really surprised them. Nintendo apparently laughed in Microsoft's face when they tried to buy them, which for a company who thinks that their money means they can do anything must have been quite something.

 

They might well get hit with one as the new leadership of the area that deals in that will be looking for a high profile case to deal with and set the tone that things are different. They may possibly have to pay Activation a couple of billion too for the wasted time and effort afterwards. Of course some people have been rubbishing all that. Microsoft is behind Sony and Nintendo (they'll be past Nintendo when their purchases all go through, at least in revenue even if nothing else) so how can they have a monopoly? Another is that you can expand gaming beyond just consoles to include PC/Mobile gaming and so Microsoft has an even smaller percentage of gaming so how are they a monopoly? According to such talk if a company attempts to destroy their competitors, they should only get looked at for punishment after they have you know, destroyed their competitors and everything is far too late. To be fair that does happen, you could even say more often than not, but not always. 

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3 hours ago, Rozalia1 said:

Another is that you can expand gaming beyond just consoles to include PC/Mobile gaming and so Microsoft has an even smaller percentage of gaming so how are they a monopoly?

Eh, I'd lump PC and console gaming together. Activision/Blizzard also owns King (the makers of Candy Crush) which brings in an insane amount of money and is probably the most popular mobile game. I don't know if that'd even affect anything, but who knows.

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Something I just thought of, now that id software and Raven are under one banner... I wouldn't mind if MS ordered a Heretic 3 on id Tech 7. If there is one, it should have a toggle between FPP and TPP modes. I can't see the staff combat working as well in 1st-person, especially when you're trying to jack an enemy's jaw with the pole-vault jump kick. Sadly, it would probably be Xbox/PC exclusive though.

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4 hours ago, Redgrave said:

 

That's my biggest issue with all this honestly. Too many people are hopped up on this bullshit "my favorite company is better than yours" tribal mentality that they either don't realize or care that they come off as brainless lemmings that don't see the bigger picture and only care about being on the "winning side". It's pathetic to see people say things like "I don't care as long as I get to play this on GamePass" or "I just want to see people on the other side suffer". It's one thing when it's banter about exclusives or hardware differences which is fine and can be in good fun but over the years it's gotten to this disturbing cult-like behavior that makes me think these people genuinely see themselves as part of some holy union that can never do anything wrong and aren't seen as useful idiots. I guess on the plus side I have seen people that do play Xbox say it's not good and are concerned but they get overwhelmed by the fanatics.

 

Another thing is this assumption that Activision will somehow improve in every way. Like yeah Bobby will be gone but in the end he got away with everything along with a big payout but people seem to have this bizarre idea that MicroSoft are some knight in shining armor here to save the day and that the company along with the games will just automatically be better because they get more money thrown their way. Sure we have yet to see anything about Bethesda until Starfield comes out or when Elder Scrolls VI does in however many decades but seeing how Rare and whoever else turned out I don't know why people assume it will be any different. The only thing positive I have really heard about is how Halo Infinite is decent but still has a lot of problems and that took what 10 years? Otherwise you have series like Gears of War that just seem like shadows of their former selves.

In all fairness rare was kind of ill prepared for the microsoft buyout because taking a studio used to nintendo who was just getting used to exclusively developing for the gamecube and making them adjust to having to develop exclusively for xbox caused a ton of issues(to the point where several projects had to be started from scratch like kameo and perfect dark zero or even cancelled altogether like donkey kong racing and conkers other bad day) because of how sudden it was. Activision and bethesda are way more prepared for a potential buyout because thier studios are used to multi platform games and switching to making only xbox and pc isn't as big a deal due to how similar the architecture consoles are nowadays conpared to the ps2/gcn/xbox days where each console was massively different so i doubt we have another rare situation here.

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On 1/18/2022 at 5:36 PM, boorish_brute said:

This sucks. Don't care for the games but Microsoft trying the gaming equivalent of Disney can't be good.

PlayStation will just be a gaming studio in the long-term. Can't see how they can compete with this.

 

The console race is pretty much dead at this point. I'm just disturbed that we have yet another company buying out competition and becoming too powerful for its own good. Disney is another corporate monster that gobbles up anything it can get, and anything that gets bought out by it turns into a pile of shit.

 

I'm likely going to gradually move over to PC over time. There's a bunch of stuff from the 2000s and some stuff from the past couple years I really want to try out. Plenty of hidden gems in the PC gamer market.

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