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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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13 hours ago, RedTitan_RedKing said:

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

 

This is precisely what highlights and shows the crack between PS and Xbox users at it's core. Can you see it? I only see open-world, RPG-like adventure games exclusive release on PS. The stake of Microsoft has been decidedly Westernized, as that's the reason why many people don't catch up with it. PS player base has its roots in Asia and Europe, not so with MS green device. Also, one notice is that both companies target different appeal to gamers, sometimes even diametrically opposed to each other, for which I can admittedly recognize the pros and cons of both sides even when they match on certain features that, one or another brought up between them along the years. Of course PS appealed more to me by a single PS exclusive, but aside that I have history with MS anyway, so this situation is particularly staggering for me in the short term too. 

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i don't give a shit about diablo and especially COD, but the stupidest thing Sony have ever done is not buying the rights or IP of either or both Crash and Spyro.. hell it was even shows that most of the sales of Spyro the Reignited Trilogy was on the PS4, the once been a Playstation mascots and even been known to be a Playstation games, and now it's a Microsoft/Xbox properties, I love spyro so much and it's sad that probably the future game to be Xbox exclusive now.

 

Phil Spencer after they buyouts said that he will still gonna support other platforms just like before the buyouts saying that he doesn't want to play dirty by forcing the Playstation crowds to get an Xbox to play COD from now on... wait, hold up.....

 

*Phil Spencer: we'll still gonna support Playstation just like before buying Bethesda, buying up Bethesda dose not mean to cut out the Playstation install base from enjoying these Bethesda's IP's.

a few months later: Starfield and probably the upcoming Elderscroll to be Xbox Exclusive!*

Yeah Right, Phil...

Edited by yellowwindow7
typo.
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13 hours ago, kidson2004 said:

Wait, does this mean they’ll own Tenchu as well if they ever released a new one?  Man I would be so crushed if they do. 

If you like Tenchu, check out Shinobido 1 and 2 on the ps2/vita. They were made by the original Tenchu developers after K2 LLC took over for Tenchu Z

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1 hour ago, Stargazer2600 said:

No offense but that just sounds like brand loyalty

 

People that sell their Playstation then buy an Xbox now because of any Activision game would also be brand loyalty.
One could argue that MS is betting on the brand loyaly these games have in order to justify the acquisition. 


Saying that it sounds like brand loyalty isn't an offense even if you think the concept is negative. The concern says more about you.

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1 hour ago, JusttJD said:

Yes and no.

 

Sure it's staying loyal after they made me happy for about 25 years.

Leaving when things get tough, is not how it's done i.m.h.o... When thing gets tough, that's when you need to show real support.

Giving back what has been given to you.

 

But also user preference.

From the interface, to the controllers to the trophies to the friends I made on PSN.


I tried playing on a 360 many years ago, and it didn't feel the same for me.

Not going to say that it's bad or say any fanboy stuff, but it's just not for me.

 

Having the "Same" controller in my hands for 25 years is something you can not just forget.

Falling in love with trophy collecting since the PS3 generation, is not something I can just change.

(I tried, but Achievements just don't feel the same for me)

 

Now, don't get me wrong.

I 100% understand that plenty of people are going to abandon ship right now and go to Xbox and become their newest fans.

And they will be back once Sony gets his shit back together again and become Sony's biggest fans again.

 

People will always follow the latest trend and sheep will follow other sheep.

 

But I'm happy with my Playstation and if that means I get a couple less games each year... so be it.

But I would rather buy a steamdeck or an nintendo than giving Micro$oft another penny.

 

"For the gamers" ... "We want everyone to enjoy all games" ... "We dislike exclusivity"

All words spoken so many times by Phil $pencer, yet all words that mean nothing.

 

As Steve Jobs already said years ago.

Microsoft isn't able to create, they are only able to buy.


And in my experience, big companies who swallow a lot of corporations in a short time... well, that never ends well.

Or have we forgotten about the countless studio's that have gone under with EA, Ubisoft.

 

Nah, I thought a lot about this since yesterday and the only thing that Microsoft is doing right now is creating rivalry between their own studios.

Making C.o.d and Halo both exclusives mean that they will end up battling against each other for player base.

And the the thing that probably ends up happening is what always happens... one of those studio's will get the short end of the stick and will go bye bye.

And Micro$oft is all about the money after all, and they will have no problem pulling that trigger.

 

I think(hope) in a couple years from now on out, we'll read something like "Phil Spencer is regretting acquiring big studio's 5 years ago"

 

I fully get it. I'm old enough to remember when SNES systems were sold in stores and when gameboy got color. I played the Psone and the 2 and OG xbox, etc. I just go where the games go. 

 

I had a 360, paid for hold but ps3 was free online and had more exclusive games. When it came to the 4, I just wanted to continue with what I had. But being a huge fallout, skyrim and overwatch fan. I need to go where the games are.

 

I'm not following sheep or anything. Just Sony isn't giving ne anything here

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People mention that the gaming revenue hierarchy is Sony first, Tencent second and Microsoft 3rd.

 

How much of that revenue is CoD, and if it gets stripped from Sony and given to Microsoft will that hierarchy change? (probably not but it'd make the gap between them closer)

 

If it's just Gamepass content Microsoft is after, I'd think they could've offered a heck of a lot less to just get the AB library on Gamepass for 5-10 years but I think this is more about monopolizing the market.

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2 minutes ago, darkrequiem7 said:

People mention that the gaming revenue hierarchy is Sony first, Tencent second and Microsoft 3rd.

 

How much of that revenue is CoD, and if it gets stripped from Sony and given to Microsoft will that hierarchy change? (probably not but it'd make the gap between them closer)

 

The more of that revenue Sony makes from CoD, the more the board and shareholders (and parents of the children who can't buy it for the system they already bought for their children who are whining for CoD but only have a PS4 and a PS5) should be upset if Microsoft cuts it off. There will absolutely not be a 100% switchover for previous purchasers to Xbox, just because CoD goes exclusive. If anything you'll see most forgo that years release, which means they potentially break their annual habit and never return to the franchise. Also, if that revenue is large enough, the action absolutely falls under the purview of the FTC evaluating anti-trust regulations, something Microsoft is very familiar with after their Internet Explorer debacle.

 

I don't see MS making the massive multiplayer titles exclusive, probably just some content for those titles. 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, darkrequiem7 said:

People mention that the gaming revenue hierarchy is Sony first, Tencent second and Microsoft 3rd.

 

How much of that revenue is CoD, and if it gets stripped from Sony and given to Microsoft will that hierarchy change? (probably not but it'd make the gap between them closer)

 

If it's just Gamepass content Microsoft is after, I'd think they could've offered a heck of a lot less to just get the AB library on Gamepass for 5-10 years but I think this is more about monopolizing the market.

https://www.alltopeverything.com/top-10-biggest-video-game-companies/
 

  • SONY. Gaming Revenue: $25.0 billion.
  • TENCENT. Gaming Revenue: $13.9 billion.
  • NINTENDO. Gaming Revenue: $12.1 billion.
  • MICROSOFT. Gaming Revenue: $11.6 billion.
  • MICROSOFT. Gaming Revenue: $11.6 billion.
  • ACTIVISION BLIZZARD  Gaming Revenue: $8.1 billion.
  • EA. Gaming Revenue: $5.5 billion.
  • EPIC  Gaming Revenue: $4.2 billion.


    Your question is pretty interesting. We can't just add Activision and MS's revenue together to get the new amount. A percent of Activision's revenue came from Sony and a percent of Sony's revenue came from Activision. Will Sony's be lower? Probably. Will MS's be higher? Surely. However, the increase will be less than what Activision makes now.
     

 

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Looking at my games played between Bethesda and Activision IP and it's mostly Fallout 4 and the Spyro trilogy.

I will definitely be sad to let the lil purple dragon go, but it ain't like Activision was doing much with it.

I wouldn't say I'm Playstation brand loyal, but most of my catalogue is here, so it's hard for me to interact with other platforms, especially since I'm a sucker for my gaming history.

I remain positive that the biggest "threat" to Sony is Nintendo overtaking the Japanese market. Sony's bread and butter is their first party games but also JRPGs.

Hopefully they can increase their support to Japanese devs in both a first and second party capacity.

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3 hours ago, DaivRules said:

 

The more of that revenue Sony makes from CoD, the more the board and shareholders (and parents of the children who can't buy it for the system they already bought for their children who are whining for CoD but only have a PS4 and a PS5) should be upset if Microsoft cuts it off. There will absolutely not be a 100% switchover for previous purchasers to Xbox, just because CoD goes exclusive. If anything you'll see most forgo that years release, which means they potentially break their annual habit and never return to the franchise. Also, if that revenue is large enough, the action absolutely falls under the purview of the FTC evaluating anti-trust regulations, something Microsoft is very familiar with after their Internet Explorer debacle.

 

I don't see MS making the massive multiplayer titles exclusive, probably just some content for those titles. 

 

 

Thats true, the mlb shareholders had the power to make the show games multiplatform. And activision shareholders are not gonna be thrilled with the possibility of a reliable revenue source being cut off because of how much call of duty generates yearly. With bethesda theres no guarantee of yearly games so its easier for shareholders to adjust to the new sonyless reality, but activision shareholders expect yearly call of duty games with all its lootboxes and microtransactions that go along with it and because of how sudden the aquisition was there will be a lot of pissed shareholders if activision announced all of a sudden call of duty will be exclusive without somehow finding an exit strategy to phase sony out(like how poor wii u sales convinced then to drop nintendo and free them of having to develop gimped glorified ps2 versions for the wii)

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15 hours ago, cometowner said:

I would call it a doom to PlayStation when Microsoft buys square enix, Capcom, and EA

The thought of that just makes me shudder. It's almost like a twisted game of Pac-Man from hell. Picture Microsoft gobbling up all these game companies like little dots... oh wait a moment, I'd rather not. I'd almost bet on another USA vs Microsoft Corp. antitrust lawsuit happening in the near future.

 

TBQH, I'd rather have seen Warner Bros. buy out Activision. But anyway... should Sony lose CoD as a result of this, hopefully they can come out with a new franchise to rival it. I feel that the CoD installments are a little too similar to each other, with few exceptions. I like how Black Ops III changes things up by giving you some special powers.

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3 hours ago, RadiantFlamberge said:

The thought of that just makes me shudder. It's almost like a twisted game of Pac-Man from hell. Picture Microsoft gobbling up all these game companies like little dots... oh wait a moment, I'd rather not. I'd almost bet on another USA vs Microsoft Corp. antitrust lawsuit happening in the near future.

 

Japanese companies are known for refusing to sell out to foreign buyers. And it's likely their government would block it. I think Europe is similar. So I'd say an acquisition by Microsoft would be unlikely. If hell froze over and that did happen though, I'd quit gaming altogether.

 

I think the American companies like Take Two/Rockstar and EA would be the next big names Microsoft would likely go for. But I think Microsoft won't make another major purchase like this next, but maybe purchase smaller studios. Unfortunately, unless something major intervened, I don't see Microsoft stopping and the future seems bleak.

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12 hours ago, TJ_Solo said:

https://www.alltopeverything.com/top-10-biggest-video-game-companies/
 

  • SONY. Gaming Revenue: $25.0 billion.
  • TENCENT. Gaming Revenue: $13.9 billion.
  • NINTENDO. Gaming Revenue: $12.1 billion.
  • MICROSOFT. Gaming Revenue: $11.6 billion.
  • MICROSOFT. Gaming Revenue: $11.6 billion.
  • ACTIVISION BLIZZARD  Gaming Revenue: $8.1 billion.
  • EA. Gaming Revenue: $5.5 billion.
  • EPIC  Gaming Revenue: $4.2 billion.


    Your question is pretty interesting. We can't just add Activision and MS's revenue together to get the new amount. A percent of Activision's revenue came from Sony and a percent of Sony's revenue came from Activision. Will Sony's be lower? Probably. Will MS's be higher? Surely. However, the increase will be less than what Activision makes now.
     

 

 

I think you are looking at all this the wrong way.  Microsoft is worth 8-10x the entirely of SONY (not the gaming division, the entire conglomerate).  If they wanted, Microsoft could easily outright buy the PlayStation in its entirety.  

 

I don't have much brand loyalty for PlayStation/Sony, so I don't really have much, if any feelings on this acquisition.  Although, I find myself growing increasingly wary regarding the consolidation of media under the control of a handful of corporations.  Microsoft buying gaming companies should be treated with the same stance as Disney buying film companies, with great caution and fear.

 

On a slightly unrelated note, I heard awful things about Activision/Blizzard workplace conditions.  Anyone know anything more about that?

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This is horrible news for us, the players. In 5 years it will be just sony vs microsoft vs nintendo. I actually loved Microsoft games... Fable, halo and forza are among my favorite video game series. Imagine if they spend all of this money to create new IPs. I always hated this exclusivity crap (To make it obvious, I dislike sony having exclusives as well), I actually quit PC gaming, because of Epic Games buying up games and forcing people to use its Godforsaken launcher. Zenimax was more painful for me, because I love fallout and I really like the rest of their games, but Activision Blizzard is just scary. I mean, If they can buy up them just like that, there is really nothing stopping them from claiming most of the market. Looking at Disney's situation, antitrust won't be stopping them either. This is just really disappointing, I wanted to get an xbox in a couple of years anyway, when they show up with Fable, but these practices are just awful. Not to mention, I dislike subscriptions... I really wonder how will it influence the gaming industry and what the future holds for us. I don't mind getting another console, after all I own a switch just for exclusives, but I really dislike changing gaming ecosystems. After all, all of us are trophy hunters, I wanted to grow my collection in Sony's ecosystem. I actually wanted to plat all the games I originally mastered on PC, but looks like I will be forced to dive into Xbox achievements deeper than I thought, as more and more games are off the table. If only something as solid as PSNProfiles existed for multiplatform trophies/achievements. Sly making XBLprofiles and integrating it with PSNprofiles is my deepest gaming desire from now on.

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18 minutes ago, Herwest299 said:

And it's likely their government would block it.

This is a myth. No one knows where it started but it was propagated heavily on sites like GameFAQs for a long time.

Actually very related, Zenimax (western company) bought Tango Gameworks (Japanese company behind The Evil Within/Psycho Break franchise and upcoming PS5 timed exclusive Ghostwire: Tokyo) who are now both owned by Microsoft.

So MS already bought a Japanese game development studio. Now after this acquisition they have shown they can buy literally anyone. Sony fans that refuse to own any other platform than a PlayStation should be worried. (Or maybe heavily consider buying at least a Series S, they're everywhere and super cheap. Or even a gaming PC. Sure a very expensive option but then you won't have to wait and see if Sony does BC on PS5, my PC from 2019 plays PS3 games near flawlessly.)

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