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

[Breakingthegreen]

I love a good plot twist, I bet that So Nee is gonna form a deal for their soul with the suspicious but powerful being known as Ten Scent. Maybe So will team up with their old childhood friend turned rivel: Nine Tendo.

[willmill97]

If every game was just exclusive for a year or so rather than exclusive permanently then the world would be a better place. (And yes I'm talking about PS exclusives too)

[Zin]

.

Edited March 30, 2023 by Zinitives

[Dry]

I’ve only ever played three titles published by Activision / Blizztard. Both Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure and Skylanders: Swap Force occupied a decent amount of my childhood time spent on my first (Phat) PS3, then I got my hands on the Spyro Reignited Trilogy many years later.
 

Much like Microsoft’s previous acquisition, that being Bethesda (might I mention that I’ve not played any one of THEIR games) I can’t say I’ll be missing out on all that much personally should certain IPs become Xbox exclusives going forward, however the only possible exception being an upcoming Spyro sequel.

[CatHasTrophies]

2 minutes ago, arcanehornet_ said:

This. We have to remember, Microsoft makes computers, phones, Windows, among a lot more.

Sony pretty much just has PlayStation and TVs at the moment.

 

Naht thats not right. Sony also develops high-end-audio products, cameras, car audio systems, ... and they are part of the movie industry. Never wondered why the new Spiderman Movie isn't part of Disney+? That's Sony's move! :-)

Of course - you cannot compare these two companies at all.

The only company you can compare to Microsoft is Google.

[LucasDragon570]

And so a monopoly is created.

I myself haven't bought more games from the company since Crash Nitro, after that I didn't release physical media in my home country and increased the prices of old and current games on the Ps Store. So for me it won't be necessary, but for those who like the games of this company it will be an uncertain future for sure.

[D-E-U-S-X]

Dear Mr.Sony-chan, now is your turn to acquire SquareEnix or/and FromSoftware! Arigato...

[Zin]

.

Edited March 30, 2023 by Zinitives

[MonaSaxPayne]

Wow M$ is going all in for game pass 

[gunman47]

2 minutes ago, D-E-U-S-X said:

Dear Mr.Sony-chan, now is your turn to acquire SquareEnix or/and FromSoftware! Arigato...

Or maybe acquire Konami and get Metal Gear Solid back ?

 

I remember they had some partnership with Discord. I wonder what is the current status of that though.

[CatHasTrophies]

My husband bought himself a Xbox a few months ago and if you compare the GamePass to PlaystationPlus you can really see in which case Sony sucks.

Everything else is not really worth talking about. The newest Xbox Controllers feel like trash (cheapest plastic, awful sounds if you press buttons - you need recharging batteries for them... thats such a trash, really)

 

Thats the reason I bought a Switch as my second home-console. Stuff Like Mario, Pokemon, Smash Brothers and  Zelda are just thousand times better than any exclusive Microsoft has to offer. Even after they bought Bethesda and AB. Dont worry too much about that. The real pain is that AB gets rid of it's scandal while getting such a huge amount of money - like someone paid them for all the horrible things they did. I feel so bad for the girl that commited suicide because of all the horrible stuff AB did to her. Everything feels so wrong in this case.

 

Sony will be fine. If Nintendo is not able to hurt Sony, Microsoft will definitely fail too.

[MiahMamoon]

i can see gamepass coming to the playstation in the future if xbox acquire every studio lol 

[GUDGER666]

1 minute ago, I-CatHasTrophy-I said:

My husband bought himself a Xbox a few months ago and if you compare the GamePass to PlaystationPlus you can really see in which case Sony sucks.

You can't compare GP with Plus. 

[CatHasTrophies]

9 minutes ago, D-E-U-S-X said:

Dear Mr.Sony-chan, now is your turn to acquire SquareEnix or/and FromSoftware! Arigato...

 

Awww  Oh yes. But I know SquareEnix really well - it's my favourite gaming company of all time. I even loved them when they were Square(soft) and Enix. They really showed how a fusion works.

 

They will -never ever- become a platform-only-publisher. Square Enix is a company that brings joy to everyone out there. Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft - even to Android and iOS Users. They even released games for Linux. I mean come on. How sweet is that.

Edited January 18, 2022 by I-CatHasTrophy-I

[DaivRules]

This is an interesting development. The rest of Microsoft has been subsidizing the Gaming division since Xbox started. If you bought a Windows computer, an Office subscription, used Bing... or used an Azure service on the backend of anything, you helped finance this deal. Ever since MS realized getting people to use their Xbox devices as a social interaction tool generates a TON of sellable user data, they realized their real value was in the data they're generating and have been strategically finding a way to feed that beast.

 

I don't think Sony heads need to operate out of fear as so many in this thread seem to indicate. Sony doesn't need to sue, because they can't really. They haven't been hurt yet. They can't show a realized direct loss caused specifically by MS taking the action of purchasing entities that were up for sale to anyone who could pay the price. If MS turns around and says No new PS/iOS/Android releases for any of our IP that was previous multi-platform, then that's a sure sign of some sort of legal proceeding. And I still don't think MS will do that with ALL their IP. They'd be giving up far too much user data (and income) from the PS base. The multi-platform huge multiplayer games will still get multi-platform releases like Call of Duty. 

 

I don't think Sony needs to suddenly purchase entities like some defenseless animal grabbing scraps from the kill of some larger beast, either.

 

Sony has a great long-term strategy that has been working and that's fostering relationships and supporting A and AA sized studios into great IP that Sony has become known for. I'd love to see that program accelerated and expanded.

 

Far too many people still think too small that game consoles are this either/or binary and that one will die if the other "wins". It's not happening. It's not how the vast majority of console buyers operate, it's how the loud (and pretty annoying) few operate. I don't think we'll see Sony take a hit on console sales (which has only been limited by supplies for the PS5 and they already announced they were going to increase production of PS4s so I expect those to see a hockey stick increase) or on user base this year or next year. If anything, I think we'll see a slight contraction of MS' Games division for these newly acquired entities as they learn how they fit in the monolith that is MS. Don't be surprised to see a bunch of these acquired developers jump ship this year and next year and start up new studios.

 

Monopolies have legal definitions. This doesn't fit that. I don't like this level of consolidation, I don't think it's good for the industry on either the business side or the gamer side. But if we know anything, it's that a lot of these acquired companies are going to be left to starve or absorbed into other larger parts. There are too many parts to keep them all and have all of them flourish under one mega-company, no matter if MS is willing to subsidize all of their gaming division indefinitely.

 

 

[CatHasTrophies]

Just now, GUDGER666 said:

You can't compare GP with Plus. 

 

Isn't it similar? I mean, I have no idea how this GP works, but my husband paid a small amount of money for a year subscription and he was able to play new released games like the new Forza Horizon for free on Day One. The amount of free games is just insane. Even stuff like "The Medium" was f2p on the first day... how... does... this... work?

 

[The_Mighty_Ducks]

It honestly makes sense to me for Microsoft to buy Activision.

 

Activisions best games are mostly played on the PC. WoW, Starcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo. 

The only game I would play on the console is Tony Hawk's and maybe Call of Duty, other than that.. The rest is PC.

 

 

[CatHasTrophies]

The worst about Microsofts purchases is...

 

Gaming is a wonderful thing to connect people allover the world.

 

Microsoft seems to part them instead.

[rebelkiller93]

2 minutes ago, I-CatHasTrophy-I said:

 

Isn't it similar? I mean, I have no idea how this GP works, but my husband paid a small amount of money for a year subscription and he was able to play new released games like the new Forza Horizon for free on Day One. The amount of free games is just insane. Even stuff like "The Medium" was f2p on the first day... how... does... this... work?

 

It's just pedantics. Gamepass is comparable to PlayStation Now as they're both subscription services that allow you to download games. PlayStation Plus is the subscription you buy into to be able to play online and you get some other benefits like cloud storage and a few free monthly games. PlayStation Now is separate to PlayStation Plus.

[starcrunch061]

Well, other than a light connection with Diablo, it doesn't affect me. Of the 6 games listed on the memo in the 2nd post, I've only played one game from one franchise (Diablo 3).

 

I am surprised by this, though. Activision is a troubled company right now, and MS will take on any liabilities from this. It feels like an over-payment. I couldn't care less about the "anti-consumer" talk, though (and honestly, I'm pretty sick of it). If you like Activision games, switch to Xbox. It's that simple.

[CatHasTrophies]

Just now, rebelkiller93 said:

It's just pedantics. Gamepass is comparable to PlayStation Now as they're both subscription services that allow you to download games. PlayStation Plus is the subscription you buy into to be able to play online and you get some other benefits like cloud storage and a few free monthly games. PlayStation Now is separate to PlayStation Plus.

Oh thank you for pointing that out. That makes sense!

 

[Ashbo]

To combat this, Sony to announce Pornhub Premium and OnlyFans on next months PS+.... ?

[starcrunch061]

32 minutes ago, willmill97 said:

If every game was just exclusive for a year or so rather than exclusive permanently then the world would be a better place. (And yes I'm talking about PS exclusives too)

 

I'm honestly surprised that exclusivity is guarded so heavily. I'm not as against it as others are (again, I don't buy into the "anti-consumer" shtick). But it's amazing that Sony will keep, e.g., GoW3 away from other consoles forever. 

 

I mean, would people really jump to Xbox just to get GoW3 years after its release?

 

1 minute ago, Ashbo said:

To combat this, Sony to announce Pornhub Premium and OnlyFans on next months PS+.... ?

 

I will totally buy a top-tier PS+ for that.

Edited January 18, 2022 by starcrunch061

[CptToffer]

48 minutes ago, I-CatHasTrophy-I said:

 

Exactly. And thats it.
More sold consoles - more game Pass subscribers, more sold games - everything incrases.

 

That's basically it. The more avenues they've got to get Gamepasson, the more their revenue increases. How do they do that? With Consoles and Exclusives. I'm not sure why anyone thinks they'd do anything else really?

 

Sony would do exactly the same thing in their position, as would Apple if it was about phones or Tesla if it was about cars. 

 

It isn't about giving everyone the opportunity to play the games you love regardless of the platform you want to do it on. It's about profit margins. 

 

That's not being a cynic. That's me being a realist. 

[Eagle]

 

My own take on this topic: I'm personally not a big fan of ActiBliz's game catalog anyway so the loss doesn't really affect me - however, I recognize there are people who like the games and all, so it's a sad occurence nonetheless. But the games are far from being the most worrisome part of this deal, and I really hope this doesn't get into a situation of industry monopolization (as if the gaming industry wasn't bad enough as it is currently ). Not to mention the annoying console wars and "is Microsoft buying X next? and Sony buying Y to compete??? and Valve buying Z?????" rumors popping everywhere that are bound to occur. Oh, welp.

 

Hopefully, this at least addresses the Bobby Kotick problem, but again, knowing the current state of the industry, he'll probably be quietly moved to another position in the company once Phil Spencer assumes his role as CEO in 2023. One can hope, though.