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

[majob]

On 8/23/2023 at 9:35 AM, Medaembo said:

Come on Rozalia, could you just ONCE try to report any news without the console warrior undertone? 

 

 

 

I was the one claiming Microsoft was the monopoly, which they are, which they were also prosecuted for in 1999-2000 and only escaped judgement because of one idiot judge. You also don't seem to understand what a monopoly is contrary to what you think. Any monopoly formed through inorganic growth (i.e acquisitions) are not legal. Microsoft formed their monopoly on the OS market through underhanded means such as acquisitions, undercutting prices, and pressuring partners to keep them from using competitors. that's why they were charged for being anti competitive by the US government. So yes. MS seeking to buy up publishers is them seeking a monopoly through anti competitive means. And almost NO ONE in this thread has defended the Sony brand in any fanatical way, there's no brand loyalty here, only criticism towards a company known for engaging in shitty behavior and trying plying their trade in a new market.  The whole plastic box narrative is a fucking weak attempt to disregard criticism towards microsoft's actions.

 

You don't seem to understand the underlying theme here, it's not about the Xbox, it's about having a stranglehold on gaming distribution and development. MS doesn't need to sell more xbox consoles if every consumer, publisher, and studio is forced to deal with them in some fashion. I.E what they did with Windows. If criticism towards a shitty company bothers you then you might be in the wrong place is all I have to say

[Zephrese]

There's always at least one person who just cannot resist the urge to throw out the "console warrior" card whenever someone else criticizes a massive, greedy, and evil corporation for being evil and greedy. lmao

Edited August 24, 2023 by Zephrese

[Rozalia1]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/microsoft-submits-new-deal-for-review-after-cma-confirms-original-deal-is-blocked

 

We have confirmation now that the deal has been blocked, but the CMA being nice to Microsoft has allowed Microsoft to simply submit a new one. The interesting thing with this is that should mean that we'd be back in Phase 1... which can then go to Phase 2... which as we know took ages the first time round. I believe doing it faster has been promised, but we know how these things could go. Some believe that the new dates where Microsoft's payment to Activision on missing the deadlines and failing to get the deal through will be passed. If so then Microsoft would have to go to Activision for another extension, and if the deal does actually fail in the end then Microsoft will have wasted far more time and also have to payout more to Activision. There has also been talk of the possibility of the EU having a relook themselves which... possible I suppose as they would have more money to be made, but who knows.

 

We'll see how it goes. America should be a non-factor unless this somehow can stretch all the way to post the American election. Biden winning re-election might allow the FTC to be powered up and thus able to take the fight to Microsoft. Trump winning... could go either way as I've said. On one hand Microsoft is big tech, who are hated by Trump and his base, so they might get some manner of punishment based off that. On the other hand, Microsoft love to avoid these things and will likely kowtow instantly to avoid punishment and even better, get support. Not impossible that a Republican win could lead to something ridiculous like PlayStation branded a (foreign) monopoly and have some massive tariff put on it. It becomes a lot easier for Microsoft to beat Sony in sales there if PlayStations are twice the price due to tariffs. I know, sounds crazy, and normally it would be, but as we've seen over the course of this deal, Microsoft certainly is willing to use political power in America to try and hurt Sony.

 

On 8/24/2023 at 10:50 PM, Zephrese said:

There's always at least one person who just cannot resist the urge to throw out the "console warrior" card whenever someone else criticizes a massive, greedy, and evil corporation for being evil and greedy. lmao

 

It is a call to civility which is often seen with the 'plastic box' comment which is an attempt at shaming/humiliation. Been in use a long time and has been effective in the past so naturally Microsoft's agents at all levels love to use it. Spencer himself leads by example by saying stuff like 'when we all play, we all win' and that those hating on Xbox are obsessed with plastic boxes, something to that effect. Then he drops comments like the one that 'Sony grows by making Xbox smaller' which is the most laughable comment that can be made considering you know, the mass buyouts of third parties by Microsoft.

 

Xbox and it's fans, real or otherwise, will 'console war' hard and then start crying that people are being mean 'console warring' against them when they get a response. As a result the term 'console warring' has largely lost any real power to me, certainly if it involves Microsoft.

[Zephrese]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2023/08/27/xbox-is-about-to-leave-playstation-in-starfields-glittering-space-dust/

Gaming "journalism" really is dead, Jesus fucking Christ. lmao

Edited August 29, 2023 by Zephrese

[Doctor_Gunner]

i think xbox is garbage as much as the next guy but i have to give credit to microsoft for attempting to bring the console war back. things got kinda boring since the ps4 domination. plus i think sony is far better when she has competition

Edited August 29, 2023 by Doctor_Gunner

[Z1MZUM]

Who would ever give an actual F what Forbes has to say about gaming or anything else?

[Ashande]

4 hours ago, Zephrese said:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2023/08/27/xbox-is-about-to-leave-playstation-in-starfields-glittering-space-dust/

Gaming "journalism" really is dead, Jesus fucking Christ. lmao

 

Yeah, that particular individual has done… 4? 5? Something like that, anyway. Multiple articles, written in an incredibly fanboy/hostile manner about how great Xbox is and how it’s going to blow Sony away. Though I hesitate to call it gaming journalism; I was under the impression Forbes was primarily devoted to the financial sector, investing, up and coming startups, that sort of thing. Why they’re nattering about video games, let alone in a console war style with a tool like this on their staff, I’ve no idea.

[AJ_-_808]

37 minutes ago, Ashande said:

 

Yeah, that particular individual has done… 4? 5? Something like that, anyway. Multiple articles, written in an incredibly fanboy/hostile manner about how great Xbox is and how it’s going to blow Sony away. Though I hesitate to call it gaming journalism; I was under the impression Forbes was primarily devoted to the financial sector, investing, up and coming startups, that sort of thing. Why they’re nattering about video games, let alone in a console war style with a tool like this on their staff, I’ve no idea.

I'm surprised Forbes would let that go.  Not only is the article incredibly biased, but it's factually inaccurate - namely about Sony making exclusivity deals when it was outed in court that it was publishers making the deals.

 

The guy edited the article with some more bs to try walking back his bias, which fails miserably when he puts out statements like that on X

 

He's also tremendously inaccurate in his edit about Sony's past acquisitions, but that's to be expected I suppose

 

Edit

 

It'd be kind-of funny if a bunch of people continue to email Forbes to complain about this clown (I'm assuming people already are because he tried to walk back his comments)

Edited August 29, 2023 by AJ_-_808

[Z1MZUM]

^ It isn't a credible publication

[Rozalia1]

On 8/29/2023 at 10:47 AM, Zephrese said:

Gaming "journalism" really is dead, Jesus fucking Christ. lmao

 

The comments in that tweet do a good job of exposing that guy. He has apparently been running that exact story for years at this point, which makes sense for a shill as Microsoft itself has been running the 'next year will be one' for a DECADE now. We've in fact just had another just recently. Remember the story they've also had for years that they were going to have 4 big game were year, one every quarter? Turns out they weren't honest previously as it was merely an 'aspiration', so they didn't fail you see, but now they're the telling the truth.

 

Anyway, they're console warring hard recently due to Starfield, and articles like that one are part of it. As we've heard from Xbox influencers themselves, Xbox will tell them stuff beforehand to help damage control for Xbox. Likewise, this console warring is part of that. In short, get PlayStation fans mad at garbage like this. Then if Starfield is not the supreme game that people have been promised, state that anybody 'hating' on it are just toxic console warriors, I mean look at how mad they are, not like we purposely riled them up.

 

All very tiresome, seemingly doesn't even work outside certain forums where Microsoft's fans, real or otherwise, are allowed to enforce their will on others, and by all accounts shouldn't even be required for Starfield as apparently it should be at the very least a good game. However, as this deal has shown, Microsoft will do these things even when they have no reason to do so as they just can't help themselves. Look at the whole reviewer thing going down at the moment. While Xbox influencers, talking the really disgusting sorts, some of which were happy to even highly rate Redfall, they got review codes. Some aren't even reviewers, and they got codes. Meanwhile other notable publications, whatever someone might think of them, found themselves without them. If they were blacklisted in the past then okay, fine, but that isn't the case here. It was just decided that only people Microsoft could 'trust' would get them on time and the rest would have to do it late. Again, by all accounts this is all unneeded, but Microsoft is going to do it anyway because being dirty is just what they do.

 

On 8/29/2023 at 10:54 AM, Doctor_Gunner said:

i think xbox is garbage as much as the next guy but i have to give credit to microsoft for attempting to bring the console war back. things got kinda boring since the ps4 domination. plus i think sony is far better when she has competition

 

I don't agree. I used to find the whole kumbaya thing ridiculous as obviously it was fake and they hated each other... but having seen Sony/Nintendo not rise to Microsoft's nonsense, my view has changed. I think Sony/Nintendo are very willing to ignore console wars to put out good games and ultimately, make money. Microsoft meanwhile is fully into it because of their failure and just generally who Microsoft is.

 

https://www.wired.com/2006/11/bill-gates-sony/

 

Quote

You know, Sony can make 80,000 bricks, and people would buy them. - Bill Gates

 

Which is nothing new. Microsoft has always had a hatred of Sony, and the above is just a small taste of the bitterness they've had which goes to this point I'm making. Sony, and Nintendo who Microsoft avoids attacking but you know they also hate, can actually get people excited for their products and get people buying into stuff. Look at Nintendo with the Switch. It has weak hardware and at the start the third party presence, which is now pretty good in terms of Japanese support, was in doubt. Yet people love the Switch and buy in massively. Sony I don't think I have to go into, though obviously they've had missteps like everyone has (including Nintendo).

 

Microsoft meanwhile doesn't have that and to an extent it does eat away at them. That companies like Sony, Nintendo, Apple, so on can get people buying their products because of the passion they've instilled in their customers, while Microsoft meanwhile has to establish dirty monopolies and use tactics like bundling to get people using their products because ultimately they are bad products that can't actually stand up to fair competition. This is also part of why Microsoft pushes the console war stuff as hard as they do. Sony and Nintendo make fans with their games, but as we know Xbox has had little of those, and many of those they have had have been substandard. Heck, many might  be technically fine even (you'd hope so considering how delayed and overbudget they often go), but you know, the soul just isn't there because ultimately it is made by a company that views creative workers as mere cogs in a machine. The obvious response to all of this I am aware will be Hi-Fi Rush, you saying that doesn't have soul? Not made under Microsoft and the head of the studio left right after. Not exactly the best of signs is it, though of course, it could always be completely unrelated. 

 

So as they can't do it with games, they appeal to creating new fans with console war stuff, the astroturfing, and Gamepass which should also be mentioned as part of that too. Shockingly, Gamepass, a service whose main pitch is one that devalues games as cheap disposable tat, isn't actually very good at creating passionate fans.

Edited August 30, 2023 by Rozalia1

[JesseJazzy]

On 6/24/2023 at 3:22 PM, Conor said:

Why would that change anything? If you mean for server closures for the new game I seriously doubt that will happen anytime soon, it just came out, but entire trophy lists for previously released games aren’t going to be withdrawn just because a new company takes over the game series. Highly, highly, highly unlikely.

Oh I didn't mean remove the trophy list, I meant removing the games themselves. I'd imagine they would get removed from the ps store eventually, but I wasn't sure if it would affect disc versions too. Since Xbox owns the rights to those games now I was curious if that meant they could prevent ps players from playing them anymore and make them only available thru xbox, thus making trophies unattainable. 

[AJ_-_808]

2 hours ago, JesseJazzy said:

Oh I didn't mean remove the trophy list, I meant removing the games themselves. I'd imagine they would get removed from the ps store eventually, but I wasn't sure if it would affect disc versions too. Since Xbox owns the rights to those games now I was curious if that meant they could prevent ps players from playing them anymore and make them only available thru xbox, thus making trophies unattainable. 

They aren't able to do anything to retail discs and i doubt they can pull trophy lists.  I imagine it'd be similar to what happened with the legal issues for x-men destiny where unsold units were recalled and destroyed, but the ones out in the wild are fair game.

 

They can and probably will at some point pull any digital versions, dlc, or server service

 

[Dark_Overlord]

1 hour ago, AJ_-_808 said:

They can and probably will at some point pull any digital versions, dlc, or server service

 

 

It prob won't be a for a looooong time though, they're trying to build up the 'nice guy' image still.

[Conor]

11 hours ago, JesseJazzy said:

Oh I didn't mean remove the trophy list, I meant removing the games themselves. I'd imagine they would get removed from the ps store eventually, but I wasn't sure if it would affect disc versions too. Since Xbox owns the rights to those games now I was curious if that meant they could prevent ps players from playing them anymore and make them only available thru xbox, thus making trophies unattainable. 

 

Nobody would know this, only Xbox. I'd wait until an official announcement before worrying about such things, until then you'll only see baseless speculation

[Lance_87]

12 hours ago, JesseJazzy said:

Oh I didn't mean remove the trophy list, I meant removing the games themselves. I'd imagine they would get removed from the ps store eventually, but I wasn't sure if it would affect disc versions too. Since Xbox owns the rights to those games now I was curious if that meant they could prevent ps players from playing them anymore and make them only available thru xbox, thus making trophies unattainable. 

You can't be serious lol.

[JesseJazzy]

1 hour ago, Lance_87 said:

You can't be serious 

Idk how these things work, so I asked. Its not a big deal, I was just curious if thats a possibility 

10 hours ago, AJ_-_808 said:

They aren't able to do anything to retail discs and i doubt they can pull trophy lists.  I imagine it'd be similar to what happened with the legal issues for x-men destiny where unsold units were recalled and destroyed, but the ones out in the wild are fair game.

 

They can and probably will at some point pull any digital versions, dlc, or server service

 

Makes sense, thank you for the info 

[ZombiJoel_Tlou3]

That stupid kid of a gaming journalist is begging for attention. He got his 5 dollars for the article he wrote lol good fucking job kid! Now watch as Spiderman 2 webs up and beats the shit out of Starfield lol 

[Zephrese]

16 hours ago, JesseJazzy said:

Oh I didn't mean remove the trophy list, I meant removing the games themselves. I'd imagine they would get removed from the ps store eventually, but I wasn't sure if it would affect disc versions too. Since Xbox owns the rights to those games now I was curious if that meant they could prevent ps players from playing them anymore and make them only available thru xbox, thus making trophies unattainable. 

 

I'm pretty sure what you're implying with the discs would be illegal... Or at least justifiable cause for an antitrust suit and/or some other form of large-scale lawsuit/investigation.

Edited September 6, 2023 by Zephrese

[Dangisuckatgamin]

On 8/29/2023 at 4:54 AM, Doctor_Gunner said:

i think xbox is garbage as much as the next guy but i have to give credit to microsoft for attempting to bring the console war back. things got kinda boring since the ps4 domination. plus i think sony is far better when she has competition

How I'm looking at it. I hope this scares them to step it up.

I wouldn't agree on Xbox being garbage (own both), but I do hate their achievement system so much.  Xbox is too comparable to collecting steam achievements for me. Utterly pointless.

[Z1MZUM]

12 hours ago, Dangisuckatgamin said:

How I'm looking at it. I hope this scares them to step it up.

I wouldn't agree on Xbox being garbage (own both), but I do hate their achievement system so much.  Xbox is too comparable to collecting steam achievements for me. Utterly pointless.

 

Trophies are way better however Sony did this on the basis that Xbox already had. As for Nintendo, Snobs, They really need to step it up for the trophies. 

 

I agree %100 with you though, I'm like 60-70k achievements and couldn't care less.

[MidnightDragon]

Bullshit. Don’t believe it for a second. https://www.psu.com/news/phil-spencer-on-the-elder-scrolls-vi-possible-xbox-exclusivity-we-look-at-it-on-a-case-by-case-basis-with-the-games-we-build/

[Alantor32]

Phil Spenser can go to hell!

[Z1MZUM]

So gaining my 3 months free of Game pass ultimate and it just seems so wrong. So I've just bought 3 new games from steam as opposed to the Xbox App, I guess there is that? Otherwise no one will ever have enough time in their lives to play half of these games, even the unemployed.

 

However there is this, Phil has won the "Who is hot in gaming" award lol

 

 

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Z1MZUM

[Rozalia1]

Remember though:

 

 

That is what really gets me with Microsoft. The console warring when Sony/Nintendo ignore such things is one thing, but then through their PR acting like they don't console war hard and implying that it is others is even worse. I will remind people that Xbox's management works with those really toxic influencers who say all the massive console war stuff with no issue. You can of course say that isn't Microsoft directly doing it, but they're clearly fine with it and obviously they're also behind it considering all of the gifts they pay those people in. Not that Microsoft management at times can resist doing it directly of course, as we've seen from Spencer/Booty/Greenberg.

 

Speaking of gifts. That reminds me of that journalist/influencer or whatever she was that said that she used to talk good about Sony but they never gave her a thing, so screw 'em, she doesn't have to worry about talking bad about them. Microsoft meanwhile was great though because since she started talking good about them they had given her 7 (!!!) Xboxs among other things. No way to know how many Microsoft has that sort of control over, but I doubt it is a few isolated cases. 

---

Anyway, there has been some news:

 

https://seekingalpha.com/news/4011375-european-regulator-wont-require-notification-for-activisionmicrosoft-report

 

The EU has stated that they have no need to look at the new deal. Whatever it ends up being will be fine with the EU. Ain't that just peachy. They'd have loved to have done that the first time around I'm sure, but you know, too obvious.

 

In America meanwhile:

 

 

They've brought together minions from both wings and some rounded up 'useful idiots' to put down pressure again. One that stands out to me as funny though is the final one, the economists. I remember Microsoft whining about evil Sony was hiring 'high powered economists' to go against Microsoft. The levels that Microsoft stoops to are indeed disgraceful, but admittedly there is comedy in it. Their astroturfing agents justifying and supporting Microsoft are just annoying though. There is nothing to have fun with when the people being silly are either paid in some manner or bots.

[MidnightDragon]

Been awfully quiet lately. And no surprise on Chamber of Commerce supporting it. They're very pro-big business.

Edited September 14, 2023 by MidnightDragon