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

[SelectiveGamer]

I don't really have an opinion on this honestly.

 

Could this make Activision/Blizzard finally change their ways for the better? Maybe. All we can really do is hope for the best I suppose. It's still possible it makes it much worse though.

 

Either way... as long as I can continue to play Crash and Spyro on my PS4/PS5... I honestly don't care.

[Rozalia1]

 

2 minutes ago, DaivRules said:

A little context for some of you as well: Microsoft, after the Activision Blizzard will combine to form the third largest gaming company by revenue.

 

First place is Sony, second is Tencent.

 

If this has an impact, it's going to take some time to see what that looks like. Sony isn't dropping out of making games and consoles tomorrow or even the next year(s). Also as has been said before, PlayStation still has a massive player base and it would be foolish for Microsoft to withhold all future titles from that source or revenue and data to be collected. God of War, a non-multiplayer game made over a million dollars in just the first day releasing on PC. Sony is experimenting with diverse revenue sources and has options besides finding a company to acquire.

 

The sky is not falling. Be skeptical, but don't panic.

 

 

You talk as if Microsoft cares about losing money under the current leadership. The idea is to lose money now and make more money later, while along the way trying to hurt your competitors as much as possible. 

 

If Sony/PlayStation's CEO's answer to Microsoft's moves when questioned by the board is "look, we're making some pocket change on PC" then the board may well declare them legally insane on the spot. They're going to need to invest some money and make some moves, though I agree with you that it really shouldn't be buying up a big company because that is playing Microsoft's money game which you can't win. Be smart with the money.

 

21 minutes ago, Johnathan994 said:

Microsoft: Console wars are stupid and we do not care about exclusives

Also Microsoft: 

 

Sony and Nintendo ain't even competitors to Microsoft anymore as they say, they're just that far beyond them at this point. This move is all about combating the gaming titans that are Google and Amazon, Microsoft's actual competition. 

[MintyTako]

1 hour ago, BEAST_IHMOTEP said:

For the first time ever I'm concerned about the future of the PlayStation ecosystem due to competitor's aggressive acquisitions. Sony just can't compete with unlimited amounts of money from one of the "big tech" companies. I'm not just talking just about this particular Activision acquisition, I can see MS keeping purchasing giants of the industry.

 

I've all my gaming history in the PlayStation ecosystem in form of trophies since 2008. I always feel so proud and nostalgic by just watching my trophy list and relating the games with moments of my life. I always thought that I'll continue hunting all my life, even at my 70s. I´'ll keep hunting while I can but for the first time I don't feel confident that I´'ll continue to do so in 10-20 years because I don't know what will be the fate of this brand anymore.

Ah, I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. Stuff like this has happened for literally decades now. I remember when people thought Sony was doomed when the PS3 came out for 599 U.S Dollars (remember that meme?). They also shot themselves in the foot when the PS3 was SUUUUPER hard to develop for, making third party support almost impossible, and even when it did happen, it was proven that the PS3 versions of some games were often the worse. 

 

Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda + Activision Blizzard etc. only JUST made Microsoft on par financially with Sony. Yes, that means before this, they weren't even close to as large as Sony was, and even then they're still behind. Let that sink in, that it took a 70 BILLION dollar transaction to make Microsoft's bling look as shiny as Sony, and even then Sony is still number 1.

So really, don't view this as a negative or loss for Sony, see this as an opportunity for them to grow and stop being so behind with everything (indie games, cross platform, PS Plus/Now, etc). During the PS4 era, Sony was a bit cocky cuz they knew they were the best selling company out of the big three, now Microsoft is forcing them to step up. Like I said, this could only be beneficial on our end (as consumers). 

 

OR MAYBE I'M JUST TOO OPTIMISTIC LOL. 

Edited January 18, 2022 by Raziment

[darkrequiem7]

1 hour ago, Eagles_Numba_One said:

Secondly, and this only applies to me and I would think a lot of others in this community, are the trophies. Trophies for me add such a extra layer to gaming for me as I love getting platinum's in my favorite games, and it has let me try a lot of different games I never thought I would've tried or liked but the trophies were a way into it. I know Xbox has achievements, but I don't really like them at all. The platinum for some reason feels much more rewarding. I know this is a very specific issue that only effects a small amount of gamers, but I feel like I might not have any motivation to try smaller games or niche titles if they are only offered on Xbox. This issue is small but important to me

 

I agree about the achievements vs trophies. Achievements are boring. I've got an Xbox One S and have played very little on it (it's mostly for 4k blu rays). I have no desire to try to "1000 gamer score" a game, or whatever lingo is used for getting all the points possible from a title, but I will spend plenty of time playing (or replaying - looking at you Persona 5 games) a game to get that platinum trophy.

 

I suppose to be fair, not having a goal of a platinum trophy means playing is more for fun than the momentary rush of a trophy popping.

[MennoWoods2]

Sad news to see all these established franchises being taken away from Playstation in all likelihood. 

Especially the Call of Duty and Overwatch franchise for me personally.

The only positive thing about this for Playstation is that maybe a studio like Deviation Games can debut strong on the Playstation console with their new FPS game since people will probably look for an alternative to Overwatch and Call of Duty. I also think that maybe an established FPS franchise like Battlefield is going to be more popular on Playstation consoles going forward.

 

[MatThaRiPP3R84]

haha, big mistake buying chucklevision. if people can pop in and out of any latest cod with a basic game pass subscription they will lose so much cash. The amount of people who buy cod new, after selling it, because they miss it, and know full well they can get most of their cash back by selling it. 

 

those people will just have a hit at it for less then a tenner a month, or on top of their normal sub. not to mention i imagine the vast majority of pc/xbox cod fans pay for game pass anyway. Now if they bought Epic Games and Capcom that'd be a different story and an absolute disaster for Sony. 

[JusttJD]

10 minutes ago, darkrequiem7 said:

 

I agree about the achievements vs trophies. Achievements are boring. I've got an Xbox One S and have played very little on it (it's mostly for 4k blu rays). I have no desire to try to "1000 gamer score" a game, or whatever lingo is used for getting all the points possible from a title, but I will spend plenty of time playing (or replaying - looking at you Persona 5 games) a game to get that platinum trophy.

 

I suppose to be fair, not having a goal of a platinum trophy means playing is more for fun than the momentary rush of a trophy popping.

I borrowed a 360 many years ago and played two games on that.

I 1000 them both, but both times when I completed the game entirely... it just didn't feel the same.

 

Getting a 1000, doesn't feel the same as seeing that Platinum pop on your screen

Not seeing that platinum, something is just missing and feels like I'm not really done with a game.

 

And as well the obvious part that it's just not the same.

But, then again... the value of trophies and achievements has been long destroyed with all those crappy $1 games.

 

 

[Rozalia1]

 

The argument against Microsoft won't be that they currently hold a monopoly, because they clearly don't considering even with all this they're still behind Sony. It will be that they are operating in such way to attempt to create a monopoly by using their huge reserves of cash in an attempt to crush their competitors. Microsoft don't need to have already destroyed their competition unfairly to be punished for such a thing. I'm looking forward to seeing if Microsoft has the nerve to actually argue to the state that Sony isn't a competitor to them when every move Xbox has made in the last 20 years have all been firmly targeted at Sony.

 

Fun side note. The US government blocking this deal would be something that I think would actually finish off Activision's CEO as their value would plummet further than it has and sensing the blood in the water their disgruntled workers would once again be putting pressure back on them. Sony would also be very displeased I imagine at Bobby trying to screw them on this. 

[The_Mighty_Ducks]

19 minutes ago, Rozalia1 said:

Sony and Nintendo ain't even competitors to Microsoft anymore as they say, they're just that far beyond them at this point. This move is all about combating the gaming titans that are Google and Amazon, Microsoft's actual competition. 

 

This is very true. 

Console wars is basically over. 

 

Nintendo has always been doing their own thing and they have their sights set on portability.

 

Sony has been just busy creating more content and focusing on PSVR 2. 

 

Microsoft is just buying studios to add more content to their library and to have a subscription service that will rival against Google and Amazon. Cause this market is still untapped and right now its Battle of the Titans. I think at this point they're still in the console market only for customers who just want a simple plug and play option ie: children, people who's not tech savvy that can't build their own gaming PC and people who just want a cheap reliable alternative to a PC. 

[Rias Gremory]

Surely this has to be the start of a monopoly case? Combined with Bethesda, they have some of the biggest business in the world and all part in one company.

[MidnightDragon]

11 minutes ago, Rozalia1 said:

 

The argument against Microsoft won't be that they currently hold a monopoly, because they clearly don't considering even with all this they're still behind Sony. It will be that they are operating in such way to attempt to create a monopoly by using their huge reserves of cash in an attempt to crush their competitors. Microsoft don't need to have already destroyed their competition unfairly to be punished for such a thing. I'm looking forward to seeing if Microsoft has the nerve to actually argue to the state that Sony isn't a competitor to them when every move Xbox has made in the last 20 years have all been firmly targeted at Sony.

 

Fun side note. The US government blocking this deal would be something that I think would actually finish off Activision's CEO as their value would plummet further than it has and sensing the blood in the water their disgruntled workers would once again be putting pressure back on them. Sony would also be very displeased I imagine at Bobby trying to screw them on this. 

Doubt this would get blocked, but seeing how many in DC think the tech companies are too big already…could be interesting.

[Slava]

2 hours ago, MidnightDragon said:

One thing I’m curious about…why did MS pay almost 10 times more for this than Bethesda? Because they can?

 

Todd Howard after seeing the news: "Almost 10 times more? Preposterous! That's it, I will sell them Bethesda Remastered again next year!".

[Rozalia1]

1 minute ago, The_Mighty_Ducks said:

 

This is very true. 

Console wars is basically over. 

 

Nintendo has always been doing their own thing and they have their sights set on portability.

 

Sony has been just busy creating more content and focusing on PSVR 2. 

 

Microsoft is just buying studios to add more content to their library and to have a subscription service that will rival against Google and Amazon. Cause this market is still untapped and right now its Battle of the Titans. I think at this point they're still in the console market only for customers who just want a simple plug and play option ie: children, people who's not tech savvy that can't build their own gaming PC and people who just want a cheap reliable alternative to a PC. 

 

I was mocking Microsoft's statement. One day if successful they might be able to claim that Sony is nothing to them, but right now and the next X years they in no way can make such a statement and it not be laughable. If Sony was not a competitor to them then their games would be coming to PlayStation. 

 

4 minutes ago, MidnightDragon said:

Doubt this would get blocked, but seeing how many in DC think the tech companies are too big already…could be interesting.

 

It is thought that the new leadership would see this case as a high profile one that would establish that things are going to be different going forward. We'll see if things truly will be different, but as I've said, Microsoft couldn't have picked a worse time to do this deal. 

[AlphaExGAT]

22 minutes ago, Rozalia1 said:

 

The argument against Microsoft won't be that they currently hold a monopoly, because they clearly don't considering even with all this they're still behind Sony. It will be that they are operating in such way to attempt to create a monopoly by using their huge reserves of cash in an attempt to crush their competitors. Microsoft don't need to have already destroyed their competition unfairly to be punished for such a thing. I'm looking forward to seeing if Microsoft has the nerve to actually argue to the state that Sony isn't a competitor to them when every move Xbox has made in the last 20 years have all been firmly targeted at Sony.

 

Fun side note. The US government blocking this deal would be something that I think would actually finish off Activision's CEO as their value would plummet further than it has and sensing the blood in the water their disgruntled workers would once again be putting pressure back on them. Sony would also be very displeased I imagine at Bobby trying to screw them on this. 

Ultimately they will let them through because that place is corrupt itself. At best they will put on a dog and pony show for us and may demand a little money under the table from MS.

Edited January 18, 2022 by AlphaExGAT

[MidnightDragon]

2 minutes ago, AlphaExGAT said:

Ultimately they will let them through because that place is corrupt itself. At best they will put on a dog and pony show for us and may demand a little money under the table from MS.

Yeah, that’s why I don’t have very high hopes for that happening, but you just never know. Hopefully the new leadership is serious about changing things. Still, I’m not getting my hopes up.

[tranquility101]

9 hours ago, StingX2 said:

Microsoft essentially acquired

• Gabriel Knight
• King’s Quest
• Police Quest
• Quest for Glory
• Space Quest
• Zork

 

No waaaay  Had no idea those were included in it! Still need to complete those old Point N Click Adventure games!

[majob]

In a just world, Microsoft would be slapped with an anti trust lawsuit right now

[Rozalia1]

Just now, AlphaExGAT said:

Ultimately they will let them threw because that place is corrupt itself. At best they will put on a dog and pony show for use and may demand a little money under the table from MS.

 

I certainly would never bet against American corruption, but sometimes you will get surprises. Plus, I'm sure Sony would have some support from others to put some pressure, the biggest get there being Apple who I imagine isn't happy with Microsoft from what I recall in essence giving assistance to Epic.

[RayShuttlesworth]

Oh no..

 

So anyway, 

[Zephrese]

Honestly, thinking about it, Crash and Spyro are all I really care about when it comes to Activision at this point anyways.

As long as those two remain multiplatform, and get more love than they did under Activision regardless of whether or not they remain multiplatform, I'll be "happy".

 

Still think that this is concerning and disagreeable regardless of what good may come of it, but not a lot can be done - at least for now - I'm afraid. ?

Edited January 21, 2022 by Zephrese

[punkshepherd]

Firstly im not worried about missing out on any games (Apart from Diablo but ive played d1 and d2 the original on pc so i guess i can return) 

 

I am a touch worried about the industry as a whole though. I know Sony has bought out developers before so theyre not blameless but buying massive publishers for unheard of prices is Microsoft BUYING the industry (because they can't develop their own studios or develop strong ties over a long period of time) Its pay 2 win. 

The anti-monopoly people hopefully will do something but im not convinced. 

Im worried that game development will be homogenised to fit a certain mold for gamepass. 

Stifling creativity is not something anyone should want...in any industry, period. 

 

Forgive my basic arguments, im very tired but...

 

More to life than money! 

[Rozalia1]

1 minute ago, Zephrese said:

Honestly, thinking about it, Crash and Spyro are all I really care about when it comes to Activision at this point.

As long as those two remain multiplatform, and get more love than they did under Activision regardless if they stay multiplatform or not, I'll be happy.

 

Still think that this is concerning and disagreeable regardless of what good may come of it, but not a lot can be done for now I'm afraid.

 

They won't. People keep hoping otherwise because of Minecraft but no. Minecraft didn't go ahead on PlayStation, it simply remained on PlayStation. Microsoft is never going to just close down a game on just a competitors platform as that would be naked in what it is and they'd get trouble/heat for it. We've also been over this song and dance with Bethesda where so many were "surely they won't cancel the PlayStation versions" and then after making some platitudes that amounted to "we won't shut down stuff already on PlayStation", Microsoft pulled the PlayStation versions of future games. Which is what a company does when they're not competing with a platform of course, taking it off PlayStation is a big brain move to fight Google/Amazon somehow.

[matigrosso91]

They have cornered PlayStation. If COD is always one of the most selled games year by year, it would be a massive loss for Sony, whom also doesn't have the money to compete with Microsoft. They will have to do something more appealing with Spartacus though. I don't like the path the industry is taken...

[Zephrese]

7 minutes ago, Rozalia1 said:

They won't. People keep hoping otherwise because of Minecraft but no. Minecraft didn't go ahead on PlayStation, it simply remained on PlayStation. Microsoft is never going to just close down a game on just a competitors platform as that would be naked in what it is and they'd get trouble/heat for it. We've also been over this song and dance with Bethesda where so many were "surely they won't cancel the PlayStation versions" and then after making some platitudes that amounted to "we won't shut down stuff already on PlayStation", Microsoft pulled the PlayStation versions of future games. Which is what a company does when they're not competing with a platform of course, taking it off PlayStation is a big brain move to fight Google/Amazon somehow.

 

Which is why I said "regardless of whether or not they remain multiplatform", as I don't expect them to whatsoever sadly.
I'm fully aware of what Microsoft is really trying to convey when they say vague BS like "It’s not our intent to pull communities away".

Edited January 18, 2022 by Zephrese

[EDGES]

6 hours ago, Stargazer2600 said:

Bethesda and now Activision. Getting harder and harder to consider a PS5 when Microsoft is getting all the exclusives and Sony is letting them do it.

 

You cant survive on God of war and last of us alone

I can see that for casuals, but for me, I would take God Of War 2018 alone over the entire history of Bethesda, Activision and Microsoft games combined

and when I get Spiderman, Wolverine, Tsushima, Horizon, Persona, Final Fantasy, Demon's Souls/Bloodborne and other games on top of God Of War, it looks pretty good to me, but that's just the type of gamer I am, as far as right now, Sony's side of games is still clearly better than Microsoft's still, but if MS buys Sega, Square, FromSoftware, then we can talk