Microsoft has bought Activision Blizzard

[SegaJAM]

Meh, Sony deserves whatever ass-whupping they have coming to them. Thus far, this decade has just been full of idiotic anti-consumer practices, insane levels of shovelware plaguing the PS Store, little to no innovation in games or accessories, and dick-measuring contests about how many PS5 units have sold.

[majob]

Just now, SegaJAM said:

Meh, Sony deserves whatever ass-whupping they have coming to them. Thus far, this decade has just been full of idiotic anti-consumer practices, insane levels of shovelware plaguing the PS Store, little to no innovation in games or accessories, and dick-measuring contests about how many PS5 units have sold.

I honestly want to know why market consolidation to you is justified because of Sony's  current failings when consolidation has far more negative repercussions 

[Zephrese]

3 hours ago, SegaJAM said:

Meh, Sony deserves whatever ass-whupping they have coming to them.

 

I'm sure Microsoft, who has repeatedly fumbled their own IPs since the Xbox One (including their biggest and most notable one, Halo), will finally after all these years give Sony a proper spanking. /s

 

Getting COD will certainly have some kind of effect for sure, but Microsoft is more likely to continue digging themselves into a deeper hole than to "whup" anyone's ass. lol

Edited October 14, 2023 by Zephrese

[JediKnight_327]

8 hours ago, majob said:

Consolidation is not competition and I wish people would stop describing it as such.

Try telling that to Android users

[SnakeSound222]

Really disappointing that Microsoft just wants to buy up all these studios and become a monopoly. 

[Someonew]

While this doesn't affect me, at least for now, it still worries me, this will bring a huge problem later on.

 

The first thing to be said is to not believe in Microsoft fanboys, some of them act as if Microsft is some kind of deity that brings money from the sky to buy freedom for gamers.

While Microsoft is indeed the richest of the big three game companies, however, those large companies have different internal sectors, normally the budget from sector A is not to be used in sector B, and vice-versa, looking at this perspective, while Microsoft has more money to Sony, but Xbox sector has less money than Sony's Playstation sector. And using money from A on B or B on A is considered a form of mismanagement and that will definitely cause damage later on.

 

We can see that damage coming in already in the form of stalled Game Pass signatures, the lower sales of Xbox game discs, people might say it's because of times, but if that were the case, why are Playstation and Nintendo physical sales still going strong, the reality is Phil Spencer is little by little killing Microsoft and has decided to not kill it alone, and like a mad cult leader he decided on a mass sacrifice called "Large Buyouts".

 

The second trouble is that these buyouts will incentivize Sony and Nintendo to do buyouts on their own, Sony is already planning things, to the point Square-Enix has already started a deal with Microsoft to publish more of their games on the Xbox console.

 

Unfortunately, we now have to wait and see how far will Microsoft ruin the whole industry before they realize they just suck at management.

[Gommes_]

I really dislike the fact that a possible Tony Hawk 3+4 Remake will never come out for a Playstation console. That is the only franchise I care about when it comes to Activision.

[Rozalia1]

@ASMODAIOS344 Thank you for the compliment and thank you for giving more information on the Nokia matter. What you said being the reason news on it will say Microsoft bought 'Nokia handsets' for example rather than just Nokia. I'm aware that that whole event had a good ending ultimately as Nokia managed to recover their business in mobile after Microsoft wrecked them with their dirty tactics. Not many can come out so positively after that.

 

@majob mirrors how I see this. Do I care about the games that Microsoft have snatched up thus far? No. However, not reacting to this stuff is a good way to have Microsoft eventually get something you care about, and even if there was no risk, it is something to go against on principle. 

 

@majob & @Zephrese like yourselves I find these few people talking up Sony getting 'rightly punished' by Microsoft via these buyouts as just strange. The stuff mentioned Microsoft has done themselves to begin with, but as said, what Microsoft is doing on top of that is far worse. What I would advise those people on is the fact that if you're seeing this stuff online and you're then putting it out here? You're seeing that sort of talk either from Xbox fans or from Microsoft's astroturfing. Are these really people to be trusted?

---

https://www.ft.com/content/07c507bd-2ce7-4345-85bd-0c27f408afbe

 

Quote

Microsoft’s 21-month battle to pull off its blockbuster purchase of gaming company Activision has been one of the M&A world’s most tortuous recent sagas. The struggle has served as a striking demonstration of the power of a legal, policy and influence machine which costs more than $1bn a year to run, and which has made Microsoft one of the most effective American companies in practising a new form of global corporate diplomacy to advance its interests. Getting the Activision deal across the line meant defeating a US government effort to block it in court, while also persuading UK regulators to allow an eleventh hour reworking of a transaction they had already decided to reject. It also involved winning over regulators in many other jurisdictions — including Brussels, where Microsoft was once deeply distrusted — at a time when acquisitions by big tech companies face significant opposition. The deal’s completion against the odds, marks the culmination of more than two decades of work to recast the reputation of a company that was once seen as the tech world’s pre-eminent bully. Under Brad Smith, who became its top legal officer in 2002 and also took on the title of president in 2015, Microsoft has long worked to present a more conciliatory face to regulators. It has also sought to make itself useful to governments looking for help on everything from tech policy to emergency support against cyber attacks, part of an effort to build trust and increase the odds of winning a hearing when its own business interests are challenged.

Yet while completing the deal would amount to a notable victory at a time when acquisitions by big tech companies are scarce, it may also bring a turning point in Microsoft’s relations with regulators around the world. “It helped to remind everyone that they are Big Tech too,” says one former Microsoft policy executive. Smith took over as the company’s general counsel at a low point, after the US Department of Justice came close to winning a court-ordered break-up. His rise brought a complete change in approach. While Microsoft had previously fought regulators aggressively, Smith argued for conciliation and preached the need to be more transparent with regulators. He also pushed for changes in Microsoft’s business practices to head off potential antitrust challenges before they could gather steam, according to people who have worked with him. Last year, facing complaints about Microsoft’s cloud licensing practices that threatened to trigger antitrust scrutiny, the Microsoft president publicly apologised and announced changes that he claimed would deal with the complaints. That attempt to pre-empt criticism, however, has not prevented the protests from growing louder — an indication that tactics that have served Microsoft well over the past two decades may be becoming less effective as its power in markets like cloud computing grows. Some of the tactics that helped boost its profits for many years have also been challenged.

 

This week, it revealed it had received a demand for nearly $29bn in back taxes in the US dating back to 2004-2013, prompted by a claim that its profits to low tax countries artificially lower its taxes. In another sign of increasing pressures on the company, Smith, usually the consummate diplomat, allowed himself a rare outburst in April after British regulators said they would block the Activision deal. The move was “bad for Britain”, and Microsoft’s “darkest day in our four decades” there, he told the BBC. Yet the software company was still able to persuade the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority to reconsider, crafting a compromise that led to the agency clearing the deal while also enabling it to claim greater concessions from Microsoft than those won by other regulators. While Microsoft’s victory turned heavily on an intensive legal ground game and negotiations with regulators, it also reflects efforts over many years to put the company in a more favourable light. Behind the scenes, Smith has promoted a concerted campaign of influence-building with governments around the world that even some rival tech executives concede has given Microsoft an edge. The software company has amassed “one of the largest armies of corporate diplomats that we’ve ever seen”, said Manas Chawla, a researcher who has studied the company. “They include policy officials working on everything from how to regulate artificial intelligence to protecting elections and tackling cyberwarfare against sovereign states,” he said. In one sign of the greater lengths Microsoft has gone to than other tech companies, it set up a representative office at the UN in 2020, taking up a floor of a building close to the organisation’s headquarters in New York where several Nato countries also have their missions. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was the first head of state to pay a visit as part of an effort to encourage the company to invest in his country, while Microsoft hoped to use the contact to promote its cyber security capabilities. The UN efforts are part of an operation under Smith that costs more than $1bn a year to run, according to people familiar with the company.

 

The groups inside Microsoft reporting to him include legal, corporate and government affairs, accounting for what Microsoft describes as around 2,000 “professionals”. His organisation also includes a digital crimes unit and teams working on identifying cyber attacks and misinformation campaigns. Microsoft’s attempt to claim the moral high ground on issues like cyber security has grated with rivals, who claim the company uses its work with governments to distract attention from the role that vulnerabilities in its own software have played in causing the problems in the first place. Earlier this year, for instance, US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo was one of the several officials to have her email compromised after an online email account with Microsoft was hacked. According to another former Microsoft executive, the company’s extensive international policy work reflects a strong belief that working to advance multilateralism and the rule of law globally will bring long-term benefits to the company and its customers. But this person also said these activities serve Microsoft’s more immediate business interests as well: “One of the things we learnt from the competition cases: we’re much better off building relationships and engaging and having people understand your business before you run into hard problems. That basic lesson has stayed with the company.”Smith’s bid to shape important policy discussions around tech has led to him striking ambitious positions on the global stage, though they have not always hit the goals that appeared to have been intended.

 

Six years ago, he called for a “digital Geneva convention” that would involve nation states swearing off cyber attacks against civilians during peacetime. According to one former staffer, that plan took a back seat after Microsoft realised that, if the proposal failed to get the backing of a majority of the UN’s 193 members, it could be reshaped in ways the company had not intended. “Be careful what you wish for,” this person added. Another person familiar with the digital Geneva convention said Microsoft had not backed off the idea and it remained a long-term “moonshot” for the company. Smith’s willingness to put himself forward as an unofficial ambassador for the tech industry in this way has paid dividends for Microsoft, according to supporters. “Regulators are not going to give you a pass, but they will listen to you — you can hopefully have a credible voice with them, and that’s what’s really important,” one former executive said. As Microsoft finally puts the seal on its biggest ever acquisition, that strategy appears to be paying off.

 

TL;DR: It talks about Microsoft's operation under Brad Smith that has been operating the last 21 years (post almost being broken up for their criminal activity) which costs 1 billion to run every year and has 2000 workers (I wonder if the Astroturfing department is located there). Microsoft has their tendrils everywhere, lobbying for the crafting of laws that ultimately are going to benefit Microsoft and hurt others (AI is mentioned and will be the big effort for them). Beyond the usual efforts you'd expect from a corrupt company Microsoft leverages stuff like cybersecurity to get what it wants (we saw this from Brad Smith when he reminded the UK that Microsoft is involved in their cybersecurity. Shame if something were to happen). They even have an office at the UN so they can corrupt at that level also. Not mentioned here but worth noting is this is the same thing they're doing at the EU. The EU when regulating this deal were deferring to 'experts' straight up on Microsoft's payroll. Gee, I wonder why they took Microsoft's side.

 

The defences against all this is that 'all companies do it', and 'there is no difference between big and little things'. To anyone who isn't a Xbox fan, real or otherwise, the level of corruption that Microsoft are putting out is just incredible. Take note of the CMA for example. The CMA during this deal twice did moves that they had never done and shocked people who have either worked for the CMA or are experts in how they operate. The CMA cited them having to monitor Microsoft for 10 years previously as unacceptable, and now they're having to monitor things for 15 years. The final decision is supposed to be the final decision and you're not supposed to get a do over, but Microsoft got one, with the CMA's people pleading in court with the CAT judge to give Microsoft another chance. This second chance was also given even though Microsoft disrespected the CMA at every turn.

 

Microsoft shouldn't have gotten this through, but they did, so now we have to count on the fact that as effective as their corruption is, their other efforts are nowhere close in effectiveness. As I said in the OP, people should be swearing off as much as possible Microsoft's products. Microsoft is a company that should have already been broken up, and now with such massive corruption they're essentially immune to such efforts. Don't let Microsoft's astroturfing of themselves as the 'good boys of big tech' fool you. In big tech there is no one more wretched than Microsoft.

Edited October 15, 2023 by Rozalia1

[kidson2004]

On 10/13/2023 at 7:13 PM, Pumpkin Head Cthulhu said:

They are trying to create a monopoly and that is not good for gaming as a whole.

Not trying to, they just did! 

 

On 10/13/2023 at 2:59 PM, Slava said:

The deal is closed so I will finally stop hearing about it, right? 

...

 

Nope! This is only gonna ramp up even more now. Especially since its very close to the holiday sales. Plus different advertisements, commercials., etc. Plus don't forget the trolls out there on Twitter! This is the victory lap people have been waiting for. I don't like the "console war" thing at all, but its about to get much worse from here. 

[Slava]

1 hour ago, kidson2004 said:

Nope! This is only gonna ramp up even more now. Especially since its very close to the holiday sales. Plus different advertisements, commercials., etc. Plus don't forget the trolls out there on Twitter! This is the victory lap people have been waiting for. I don't like the "console war" thing at all, but its about to get much worse from here. 

 

Oh well. 

 

I remember when the deal was announced, and I also remember posting news from the Brazilian regulators in the Xbox thread (IIRC). Both things feel like they happened ages ago now. I guess we will have many reasons to be reminded, including the ones you've mentioned. Not that this kind of deal should be ignored or whatever. I'm just tired :D.

[SelectiveGamer]

Congratulations to Microsoft, I mean Gaming Vince McMahon for throwing money at their problems thinking that will solve them.

 

I said this in the other thread that is now locked... I'll say it again here. Whether we like it or not, want it or not, or think it should happen or not, it's more than likely inevitable that Sony/PlayStation will respond to this is some way shape or form.

 

Maybe not before the end of this year at this point... but definitely in 2024 at some point.

 

How?

 

Well here is what I'm going to call... 'Mega's/SelectiveGamer's Official Guesses'. Feel free to post your own if you feel like it/want to I guess. So here we go lol

 

Mega's/SelectiveGamer's Official Guesses to the Sony/PlayStation Response to the Microsoft/ABK Acquisition: (for clarifications sake... these are not in any specific order)

 

1. Square Enix

2. Konami

3. From Software (or Kadokawa Corporation who is the primary corporation that owns them)

4. Ubisoft

5. Capcom (more likely than you think. They did come out recently and say they would 'graciously decline' an acquisition from Microsoft... but they didn't say anything about Sony. Did they? I didn't really read fully into this lol so feel free to correct me here)

6. CD Projekt Red (rumors about it for YEARS now)

7. Take Two Interactive (I've seen this name rumored too technically)

 

I think I'll leave it here. I could probably give more names though.

Edited October 15, 2023 by SelectiveGamer

[RedDevil757]

On 10/13/2023 at 4:57 PM, Dark_Overlord said:

I've been saying it for years, but I expect a 2nd video games crash, only this time I think it'll be the big publishers that will get destroyed, whereas indie devs will be able to ride it out.

1st only hit the US. We never had one in the UK. The microcomputers ruled all.

[Pumpkin Head Cthulhu]

8 hours ago, kidson2004 said:

Not trying to, they just did! 

 

Nope! This is only gonna ramp up even more now. Especially since its very close to the holiday sales. Plus different advertisements, commercials., etc. Plus don't forget the trolls out there on Twitter! This is the victory lap people have been waiting for. I don't like the "console war" thing at all, but its about to get much worse from here. 

ouch, well that is going to really hurt the gaming industry. Here is to a Second Video Game Crash.

[CrestfallenAU]

On 10/14/2023 at 11:49 PM, Someonew said:

We can see that damage coming in already in the form of stalled Game Pass signatures, the lower sales of Xbox game discs, people might say it's because of times, but if that were the case, why are Playstation and Nintendo physical sales still going strong, the reality is Phil Spencer is little by little killing Microsoft and has decided to not kill it alone, and like a mad cult leader he decided on a mass sacrifice called "Large Buyouts".

I'd argue that Xbox physical sales being utterly abysmal compared to Sony and Nintendo is the intended result of Microsoft policies and actions over the last 10-12 years.

Microsoft began allowing full game downloads during the second half of the Xbox 360 era, but around that same time is when they would've been starting to solidify their plans for Xbox One. And their original plans for Xbox One were all about severely undermining physical media to the point where it would lose almost all of its benefits over digital distribution; requiring individual disc activations and restricting reselling of discs to approved retailers (which would only remain operational as long as Microsoft wanted to allow people to revoke and sell their disc licenses) was the big one because that'd heavily restrict the used market, and would outright kill it long term if MS stopped the ability to resell discs, but requiring periodic online check-ins of the console to even play disc-based games offline was another horrible change from Xbox 360.

Now Microsoft did backtrack on most of those initial plans after a disastrous reception at E3 2013, but they did still keep one part of it in a weakened form. Xbox One and Xbox Series X both require you to go online at least once and link a Microsoft Account before you can use them to do anything. You cannot play anything offline on them out of the box like you can on Xbox 360, PS3, PS4, PS5, Switch, etc. This also means that if you ever factory reset your console, or you buy a factory reset one years down the line, you'll be required to go online and link a Microsoft Account again. It's not a problem right now, but if Microsoft ever stops you from being able to link a Microsoft Account on your console (which will happen one day as older devices become security risks due to not supporting newer standards), you'll have a paperweight if you ever need to reset it/remove that Microsoft Account/buy another then-retro console that doesn't have the seller's Microsoft Account still linked on it. Hopefully Microsof removes this in an end-of-life update (I'm doubtful since they don't even acknowledge it as an issue despite constantly talking about how environmentally friendly they are and how they're tackling e-waste) or someone comes up with a way to soft-mod Xbox One and Xbox Series X.

Since the Series X released, it's gotten worse with Microsoft/Bethesda now frequently releasing disc builds that aren't functional. And not in the "bUt DiScS aRe JuSt LiCeNsE kEys To DoWnLoAd ThE gAmE" sense that uninformed people repeatedly spread online, but in an actual real sense where there isn't a playable build on them. Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, Flight Simulator 2020 and Starfield all lack a playable build on their discs. Redfall too, but that's an online-only game so it doesn't matter if it has a proper disc build or not. This wasn't the case on Xbox One where most of Microsoft's releases had playable disc builds - games like Halo 5, Halo MCC, Sunset Overdrive and Forza Horizon 2, 3 & 4 - but since the Series X has released there's only been four releases that have playable disc builds (Gears Tactics, Psychonauts 2, Deathloop and Minecraft Legends).

Combine that decade of Microsoft attempting to undermine physical media at every step with Microsoft pivoting their entire game business to revolve around a recurring subscription in Game Pass, which not only impacts physical sales but also cannibalises digital sales and incentivises a "wait for it to hit Game Pass" mentality, instead of sticking with the traditional sales model that Sony and Nintendo successfully use, and it's really not surprising at all that Xbox physical game sales are horrendous compared to Sony and Nintendo. It didn't have to be this way, but Microsoft has an almost-religious fervor for a cloud-based, subscription-based future where everything you do is at the mercy of Microsoft allowing you to continue doing it.

[Rozalia1]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/10/15/competition-cma-sarah-cardell-rishi-sunak-big-tech-powers/

 

Quote

Britain’s top competition regulator has hit out at Rishi Sunak following reports that the Prime Minister wants to water down the agency’s powers.

 

Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), said there is “no reason” to dilute planned new powers to regulate Big Tech companies.

 

Mr Sunak is said to be spearheading a drive to let companies such as Microsoft smother the watchdog in red tape.

 

Under the original proposals, the Government wants to launch a new division, the Digital Markets Unit (DMU), which would give the CMA the power to fine companies such as Google and Facebook billions for breaking the watchdog’s rules.

 

However, the Mail on Sunday reported earlier this month that Downing Street wants to introduce new appeal powers against CMA rulings in the upcoming Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill.

 

Moves to let big companies tie up the CMA in costly and time-consuming legal appeals are said to follow a Big Tech lobby campaign to water down the new law.

 

And there we go. If the CMA surrendered to try and avoid this then they are fools. Microsoft have other buyouts to do and they don't need the CMA being a possible problem so they have to be defanged. Microsoft doesn't care that you eventually surrendered out of fear, you dared inconvenience them so now you're going to pay. Had the CMA stuck to their guns then they'd at least have gone out sticking it to Microsoft.

 

Oh well. It was a great shock to start with that the regulators were actually doing anything anyway. In the end the only thing that can stop Microsoft's invasion is if people continue to not invest in their platform to the level Microsoft needs. Microsoft can bribe as many as many government officials as they want, they can astroturf the internet full of shills, they can cook the books real hot... but if people aren't buying their games or subscribing then it doesn't matter. Microsoft's gaming business will naturally rise as they add Activision's numbers to themselves (what all of Xbox's 'growth' has been), but it is important that Xbox continues to fall apart. Microsoft itself realising that they won't ever make it no matter how much they buyout is the only real way people have to see off this aggressor. Remember that there are alternatives to everything that Microsoft has captured.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Rozalia1

[jackmadrox]

On 10/13/2023 at 10:57 AM, Dark_Overlord said:

I've been saying it for years, but I expect a 2nd video games crash, only this time I think it'll be the big publishers that will get destroyed, whereas indie devs will be able to ride it out.

I mean, it definitely seems to be pointing in that direction. 

[SnowxSakura]

On 10/13/2023 at 4:12 PM, Black_Zombie1313 said:

I think Microsoft will use WOW subscriptions to boost the game pass subscriptions. They could easily get ride of the WOW subs and say move everyone to Xbox pc game pass and then gain millions of subs bc people will not stop playing WOW. 

I also think Microsoft will close the blizzard store and just have everything on steam and the Xbox/windows store. They already added Diablo 4 to steam, which comes out on the 17th

Unlikely, some of the games on battlenet have battlenet integrated into them so deeply they'd have to completely overhaul them

[Someonew]

18 hours ago, SelectiveGamer said:

Capcom (more likely than you think. They did come out recently and say they would 'graciously decline' an acquisition from Microsoft... but they didn't say anything about Sony. Did they? I didn't really read fully into this lol so feel free to correct me here)

 

The same applies to a lot of other Japanese companies, while Microsoft is indeed interested in getting more Japanese studios, Microsoft is as unpopular as ever in Japan, selling themselves to Microsoft is to make sure they never produce anything successful again, look at the state of Mistwalker, Sakaguchi made Blue Dragan and Lost Odyssey, both great games but ended up ruining the company reception despite having Final Fantasy father as its head.

 

15 hours ago, CrestfallenAU said:

...Microsoft has an almost-religious fervor for a cloud-based, subscription-based future where everything you do is at the mercy of Microsoft allowing you to continue doing it.

So does Square-Enix, and look at their state now, they lost 2 billion market value, the company had a whole 5 billion and went to 3 in a few years due to a massive stream of bad decisions, and they have no desire to change their views and obsessively searching for the magical cloud future that even Google who had far more money than them failed to reach.

[fenrir54565]

looks like Microsoft is raising the prices of games on steam probably to try to get people to sing up to game pass. 

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/price-adjustments-for-activision-games-in-multiple-steam-stores-following-microsofts-acquisition-confirmed-in-brazil-argentina-and-indonesia.1662434/

Quote

A few days after the completion of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the first significant change regarding the company's games has been implemented. Unfortunately, it may not sit well with some players.
Several Activision games on Steam, a popular PC gaming store, have experienced a considerable increase in their prices, with some nearly tripling in value. The reason for this price increase is unclear, and it is uncertain whether similar changes will be applied to other platforms, such as PlayStation, Nintendo, or even Xbox itself.
The new prices for some of the games are as follows:

• Call of Duty (2003) – from R$ 34.90 to R$ 91.90
• Call of Duty 2 – from R$ 34.90 to R$ 91.90
• Call of Duty: Black Ops – from R$ 79.99 to R$ 184.00
• Call of Duty: Black Ops II – from R$ 109.90 to R$ 274.00
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) – from R$ 34.99 to R$ 91.90
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) – from R$ 249.00 to R$ 274.00
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – from R$ 199.00 to R$ 274.00
• Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time – from R$ 179.00 to R$ 184.00
• Spyro Reignited Trilogy – from R$ 150.00 to R$ 184.00
• Prototype – from R$ 34.99 to R$ 91.90
• Prototype 2 – from R$ 79.99 to R$ 184.00

 

Halo games price also increased worldwide.

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/microsoft-raises-halo-game-prices-worldwide-some-countries-up-to-400.1662484/

Edited October 18, 2023 by fenrir54565

[samunrizthym]

22 minutes ago, fenrir54565 said:

looks like Microsoft is raising the prices of games on steam probably to try to get people to sing up to game pass. 

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/price-adjustments-for-activision-games-in-multiple-steam-stores-following-microsofts-acquisition-confirmed-in-brazil-argentina-and-indonesia.1662434/

 

it begins

[Zephrese]

41 minutes ago, fenrir54565 said:

looks like Microsoft is raising the prices of games on steam probably to try to get people to sing up to game pass. 

 

Microsoft at Brazil after the latter kissed their ass (and probably - at some point in the relatively near future - at everyone else that's blindly defended or kissed their ass):

Edited October 17, 2023 by Zephrese

[Rozalia1]

The defences. Microsoft has zero involvement as the deal just closed and these things get done well in advance. Possible certainly but the deal was reportedly done by July and just the detail of who to give the worthless Cloud rights to was in question. Now you might say, well it would have been illegal for Microsoft to talk these matters with Activision... yes, but as we know, especially for someone like Microsoft, such regulations are meaningless. For example, in Pro-Wrestling a Wrestler leaves a company and the next day is on a different company on TV with creative plans all already laid out. You think all of that got sorted within 24 hours? Obviously not, stuff was happening while they were still under contract. There are ways to do these things.

 

Then you have 'every one else is doing it' (not everyone) and 'Steam recommends this so they're to blame' (these changes are heavily above Steam's price recommendations anyway), where blame is shifted away from the small time trillion dollar company apparently getting bullied into these decisions.

 

Microsoft is heavily PR focused and would know that doing it now would allow them to blame Activision and not themselves. Though that of course falls apart if you give it any thought. After all, if Microsoft is not behind this then they should have no problem reversing it right? If they don't then Microsoft is ultimately responsible even if it was the previous administration that marked for this change to happen.

 

As @fenrir54565 says, this fits with the Game Pass operation they got going. If you make buying games 'bad value' than Game Pass becomes 'good value', or as the bots/shills call it 'the best deal in gaming'. Look at a game like Redfall for example. Horribly received so you'd have expected it to have a massive (50-90%) discount by now right? Especially after that update it had. Looking it up it hasn't had a single price cut and is being treated as if it were a Nintendo evergreen. As with everything Xbox, it is all fake.

[ASMODAIOS344]

Strange i didn't expect Microsoft to increase game prices!!! But there are the good guys 😉

 

I like their new tactic and the relation to Gamespass.

 

Microsoft: You like it or not you will be forced to subscribe to our service either through price increases or removal of content.

[SelectiveGamer]

Well then... would you look at that...

 

https://www.vgchartz.com/article/458754/analyst-claims-sony-is-under-pressure-to-react-to-microsoft-acquiring-activision-blizzard/

 

*gets I Told You So sign ready for when they do just that*

 

Again... not saying it should happen, that I want it to happen, or if it's right to happen or not

[ZombiJoel_Tlou3]

Microsoft literally playing pay2win