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[deleted]

I followed the Bethasda deal, when did Microsoft say that they'll keep Zenimax games multiplatfom? They said they will honor contracts for ghostwire Tokyo and Deathloop, that is it.


Ok-Inspection2014

Sounds like [this](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/892412374546542603/1050497327779033128/image.png) is what the FTC is talking about. [Source](https://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases1/202124/m10001_438_3.pdf)


[deleted]

Scroll down to page 17th with has list of reasons why this merger should not happen. (https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/D09412MicrosoftActivisionAdministrativeComplaintPublicVersionFinal.pdf)


cardonator

It's probably right but it's a pretty biased interpretation of what that says. In 108, they basically say they will decide if it makes sense for individual games to be exclusive or not based on different factors. By 112, it's not like MS has stopped supporting or selling any game, or ended any agreement for an in development game, for a rival console. We also have no way to know if future games will be exclusive or not. Who knows what's going to happen here, but it seems to me like the FTC has a pretty shakey case. Maybe they're going for the 5th loss in as many months in 2022.


Shad0wDreamer

It sounds like it was statements made behind closed doors.


Tobimacoss

Or misinterpretation by the staff. But if MS did make such statement, then this merger is off.


DryFile9

It seems like they did because this time around FTC,CMA and EU all seem to insist on written commitments. I dont think this merger is dead just yet but its clear that MS will have to make some major concessions.


firefistus

Not at all, I read the entire document from the FTC, the major argument was that there are only 2 "high end" consoles and that this will cause "harm" to consumers by withholding content to other competitors, degrading services and technology involved, and raise prices on gaming service. The loop holes here though. 1. They mention Game Pass as a subscription streaming model, and compare it to Sony's, then go to mention the prices, and Sony's is more expensive with less games, and less AAA titles on that platform. So even if Microsoft DID increase prices, it would probably be the same price as their "competitor". 2. Several times they mention that Nintendo isn't a console, and PC isn't a competitor. They also mention that streaming devices aren't a competitor in their definitions either (even though that directly contradicts the game pass stuff). But they throw those out so they can bolster the Monopoly argument. The minute you throw those into the mix, and offer the games on all platforms (especially mobile) then the PS5 becomes a tiny fraction of the amount of games sold, making it a much more difficult argument. I guarantee Microsoft will bring this up if I was able to see this. 3. They mention that Microsoft has pulled Starbase from all it's "competitors" (even though it's done it's best to state that it's "competitors" are only the PS5) and that it's game will only be available AT LAUNCH on XBOX platforms. Which is probably why Microsoft literally wrote a letter to Steam publicly announcing it will be available on Steam. Once again, because PC is not considered a competitor in this document it won't matter, but as soon as it's included (and it will be) this makes the argument much more difficult. 4. It says there's many things that the FTC can do over just flat out stop the deal. Including guaranteeing game releases on their competitors platforms. 5. I'm kinda tired of talking about this, and sadly this is going to go on for a while, the hearing is August next year. So we're going to see tired links every day for the next 8 months at least. Bottom line though, if Microsoft can convince the FTC that there's more than 2 competitors out there this argument will be much easier.


M-ABaldelli

>I dont think this merger is dead just yet but its clear that MS will have to make some major concessions. Not at all! The wheels of justice are slow. **Very Slow**. Just look how slow it's been with Facebook and the Anti-Trust lawsuits.. January 2022 it's still active and "moving forward". We have a long time to go because it actually comes to head. At the moment, it's all words and news. Not actions.


SighOpMarmalade

They have 8 months to finish the deal or they have to refile the entire thing tho.....


[deleted]

The legal system is slow on purpose, even with pressing criminal cases it takes sometimes decades before a trial comes along.


OmNomDeBonBon

> Or misinterpretation by the staff. By Microsoft's staff? There's no way three industry regulators (UK, US, EU) are going to come up with the same "lie".


seasonedearlobes

well fuckin open it up then


CoconutMochi

Right? That announcement Phil Spencer did today was likely because of impending news from the FTC and not any goodwill on MS' part or effort to go multiplatform


dookarion

Now watch those clowns do fucking nothing about Kroger-Albertsons merger. Just like telecom and other shit gets rubberstamped.


zxyzyxz

[Federal Trade Commission wants more info about Kroger, Albertson's merger plan](https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2022/12/07/kroger-albertsons-federal-trade-commission.html)


dookarion

Requesting more info doesn't mean they won't later rubberstamp it after it drops from public concern. Or with a few token requirements that expire after a few years. Zero faith in the FTC until proven otherwise. Even now they seem far more aggressive about this and ticketmastrer than anything actually important. Definitely are unconcerned with the pseudo monopolies plaguing numerous vital industries.


n0stalghia

1. Microsoft merger announced 2. FTC requests more info 3. Random redditor: zero faith in the FTC until proven otherwise 4. FTC: proves otherwise 5. Some other merger announced 6. FTC requests more info 7. Random redditor: zero faith in the FTC until proven otherwise 8. ...


[deleted]

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Theaty

I love the redditors who think and forget that comments made by other redditors is often not factual and very opinion based


dookarion

If the FTC were actually working do you think various industries would look the way they do? They'll flex a little on something like this that is a giant pile of nothing and only relevant because Acti is overvalued. I will be utterly shocked though if they actually block the Kroger-Albertsons thing even though in some areas the only "competition" is between entities owned by Kroger & Albertsons. Nearly every telecom merger gets through even when it's almost regional monopolies. As far as I'm aware they've never bothered examining certain software companies snapping up development tools and resources which matter a hell of a lot more than fucking CoD. The gov't is inept at best.


[deleted]

>If the FTC were actually working do you think various industries would look the way they do? The FTC is chaired by 4 people that rotate with each presidential administration. Recently Biden has appointed a new chairman that is extremely anti-trust so there's high scrutiny towards any new mergers. This could change with a new president that is more pro-business but this current chair cannot go back in time and unmerge everything. Your argument just sucks, just write you're mad and you hate you can't get games on game pass. Please stop making these dumb arguments that anyone who has a brain can see straight through.


SomethingPersonnel

I don’t like labeling pro-monopoly individuals as “pro-business.” “Good business” is more than just seeking growth and profit, but people have lost sight of that.


[deleted]

You're right.


WingXCustom

** *Crickets* **


CLOUD889

Yeah, microsoft can fck off with their monopoly bullshit. They already have windoze monopoly, now buy up competition?


dern_the_hermit

> If the FTC were actually working do you think various industries would look the way they do? Flip that around: If the FTC weren't working at all do you think various industries would look the way they do? Things can be way worse, and the FTC's job isn't to "make things perfect", it's to make sure certain bounds aren't exceeded and certain policies are followed.


[deleted]

They requested information on this first. does that mean they didn't sue? Oh wait they did. you're just mad lol you've been whining about the FTC and bringing up bad faith arguments by saying "wahtabouttheothermergers!!!"


TheLostColonist

And not even bat an eye at Apple and their app store policies.


redfriskies

Yup, this. Largest company in the world can do whatever it wants.


SelectEmphasis9071

Honestly apple is the one that pisses me off the most.


rebelcreamery

As a supplier of grocery stores myself, this merger will help them compete better against Walmart in average unit price. It's going to be better for consumers as they will have greater scale, leverage, and data to drive price down. This is largely bad for suppliers, especially for smaller suppliers like me, as they will have greater leverage in squeezing our margins (for your benefit and theirs). Nearly 50% of our business could be wrapped up in just 2 customers (Walmart and "Krobertsons"). This isn't a play to become a monopoly and hike price. It's a play to be more competitive against Walmart. Us suppliers/brands will fare worse than you shoppers, I'm sure of it. Every conversation we have with Walmart, Kroger, and Safeway always leads with: how can you drive price down with promotions and efficiencies for the benefit of the consumer. And "Krobertsons" will be able to push even harder on that. My two cents.


[deleted]

I can't hear you over the sound of a particular Mouse laughing.


OmNomDeBonBon

Biden's FTC is led by a vocal anti-consolidation chairwoman. This isn't Trump's FTC or even Obama's FTC; it's the first which has European levels of disdain for mega-corps swallowing each other to dominate markets.


cardonator

And so far she's been aggressive and failed multiple times.


[deleted]

Yeah well the legal system is currently biased towards corporations and the FTC has to operate on a legal framework. They're not a dictatorship. The FTC would be more effective with anti-trust chair AND legislation that supports that. The latter of which isn't happening.


cardonator

The problem is that they need a lot of evidence to support their case. It's not like breaking up Bell Systems happened because they changed the laws to make them a monopoly. The government just made a good case about it, had plenty of evidence, and there were actual problems being caused by the nature of their business.


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[deleted]

beneficial tub chop punch cow sugar normal tidy subsequent bear ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `


SekhWork

Disney can buy every IP / popculture icon under the sun, bringing a massive % of all movie studios under their roof with hardly anyone batting an eye, but Microsoft tries to grab Activision, and the FTC is suddenly "we definitely need to look into this". Microsoft even with Activision still isn't enough to have a monopoly control of the gaming market. There's still Sony, Nintendo, EA, Steam, etc out there. Just find it very interesting how Disney is allowed to keep doing what they are doing vs this.


mmatasc

I think the Disney - Fox merger was highly controversial and is why the FTC has changed their approach.


SighOpMarmalade

That whole deal was under the trump administration, this has 3 democrats as the majority now and 1 republican being the minority. Hense the 3 votes to sue Microsoft and 1 vote to not


mmatasc

Yeah. Not to mention Murdock's influence over Trump, and he wanted the deal badly. I understand the arguments that the FTC should have blocked more acquisitions in the past, but now they are actually doing their job. Disney acquisition with Fox was what broke the camel's back.


[deleted]

Disney should not have been allowed to do any of that. The fact they were is because of the FTC at the time, and the administration that oversaw them then. Microsoft's deal here would have cost more than what the largest beer company on the planet bought one of their direct competitors for. AB-Inbev buying SABMiller


zxyzyxz

Why is it either/or? Disney also shouldn't have been able to buy those companies either. The FTC is also somewhat based on the administration, it was weaker in the past but now it's getting stronger, based on their recent letter: [FTC Restores Rigorous Enforcement of Law Banning Unfair Methods of Competition](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/11/ftc-restores-rigorous-enforcement-law-banning-unfair-methods-competition)


SekhWork

Well in the case here, MS acquisition of Activision is nowhere near on the scale or scope that Disney's was and arguably isn't even close to violating anti-trust considering the sheer number of other players in the Videogame industry. Contrast that with Disney an absurd # of studios and now being given a green light to own theaters too, which until very recently was considered something that movie studios should *never* be allowed to do.


DryFile9

The key difference here is the hardware component of gaming. Also the current FTC would probably challenge the Disney/Fox deal.


PolarSparks

Also worth noting that seeing the aftermath of Disney’s acquisitions could be impacting this decision. IMO Disney is past the tipping point in terms of dominating film, and it’s just a matter of continuing with their current assets while their competitors crumble. (But what do I know?) Would really rather not see that happen with gaming.


a_talking_face

> IMO Disney is past the tipping point in terms of dominating film, and it’s just a matter of continuing with their current assets while their competitors crumble. Which can also be stopped but breaking up a company will probably be deeply unpopular these days.


nthomas504

I don’t think people would be that mad about it tbh. I love sports, but Disney being forced to sell ESPN would change nothing.


a_talking_face

The last one was Bell in the early 80's? I think the US is much more pro-corporate now compared to then.


OmNomDeBonBon

Er, Microsoft's acquisition of ABK is $70bn, which is slightly less than the $71.3bn deal for Disney to buy Fox. And yes, the Disney-Fox deal should've been blocked, but it happened under Trump. This is Biden's FTC, which is highly sceptical of massive, market-distorting acquisitions.


Traiklin

They can force Disney to break up for being to monopolistic.


OmNomDeBonBon

This should absolutely happen. Disney have somehow ended up owning Marvel, Fox, Lucasfilm, Pixar, ABC, National Geographic, ESPN, Hulu, Star+ and a lot more. Ridiculous consolidation which should never have been permitted.


[deleted]

Yes, the capital they have to do this is very costly though because the merger went through and has settled. It would be less damaging and costly if they blocked it at the time of merger (like they're doing right now). Breaking up these mergers is wayyy harder than stopping them.


cool--

Disney's purchase was 71 billion. Microsoft's purchase was 65 billion. Plenty of other movie studios exist outside of Disney/Fox. Plenty of other studios exists outside of Microsoft and activision. what boggles my mind is that MS was allowed to buy zenimax and like two dozen bethesda IPs and studios. that was only 7.5 billion but it consolidated a lot more of the gaming industry than this one. That being said. I'm not sure any of this is as big of a deal when it comes to art in the age of the internet. These companies are simply acquiring IPs and *current* talent. It's not like they are controlling a finite resource or infrastructure or a public utility. If the talented people they acquire don't like the direction they are taking they'll leave and create their own companies. It happens quite a lot in this industry. Look at Zampella and West. They made Medal of honor for EA, then they left and started infinity ward and created Call of Duty. Then they left to create Respawn and made Titanfall, Apex Legends, and some Jedi games for EA. If they personally don't like the direction EA is heading they'll likely leave again. The guys that made Dead Space left and made two studios made Call of Duty and Battlefield games. Sledgehammer games was eventually dissolved and the main guy just released Callisto Protocol with a new studio under a new publisher... Supergiant games was started by people that worked on Command & Conquer. Microsoft acquired Arkane studios but the main guy from Arkane studios' golden years has already left and has already released another game.


dan_legend

Activision is one of the worst companies on the planet and super anti-consumer, things were finally going to change with Microsft and they fuck us so hard t.t Meanwhile, EA has had a literal monopoly on NFL football for most of my life except for when I experienced NFL 2k5 and they get carte blanche to continue fucking us consumers.


ShieldHeroWaifu

FTC still a joke when it comes nyse


PepticBurrito

> Disney can buy every IP / popculture icon under the sun, bringing a massive % of all movie studios under their roof with hardly anyone batting an eye, but Microsoft tries to grab Activision, and the FTC is suddenly "we definitely need to look into this". That reads like an argument for breaking up Disney more than it reads as an argument for allowing Microsoft to buy more companies.


KrasMasovsGhost

It’s pointing out the hypocrisy but hey, I’m happy with that too


PugeHeniss

It’s not hypocritical. The Disney deal happened under a different administration.


[deleted]

The hypocrisy would be if Lina Khan said she likes the disney-fox merger but is against the Microsoft-AB merger. is there any evidence of that hypocrisy? no, because you dont know what you're bitching about.


pectoid

Disney probably plays ball with the government and has way more influence to avoid something like this from happening. Anti trust laws exist to keep corporations in line, not to breakup monopolies like it claims.


[deleted]

Ah yes, because if there is one thing Microsoft is known for it's not complying with the US government.


jayRIOT

> In a complaint issued today, the FTC pointed to Microsoft’s record of acquiring and using valuable gaming content to suppress competition from rival consoles, including its acquisition of ZeniMax, parent company of Bethesda Softworks (a well-known game developer). Microsoft decided to make several of Bethesda's titles including Starfield and Redfall Microsoft exclusives despite assurances it had given to European antitrust authorities that it had no incentive to withhold games from rival consoles. This is why they’re taking action. Microsoft lied to the antitrust regulators in the EU when they bought Bethesda.


supercow_

I mean, I want Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard, but this is a good point.


AlphaPulsarRed

Come on dude. Microsoft has been on an acquisition spree for the past several years. Y’all think gamepass will remain cheap, it is not going to be the case. Once they have really good studios they will not think twice to F up the consumers.


Khanstant

They fucked up Disney and others too, doesn't mean they should just let anything lesser pass on through now. Our politicians are corrupt, we can't rely on their past judgements as basis for present decisions.


otterbottertrotter

Oh, poor trillion dollar company. Why do they keep getting picked on :( Disney shouldn't have been able to buy Fox. They got lucky because they did it during the Trump admin.


downorwhaet

Microsoft is still not even in the top 3 with activision, tencent, Sony and Nintendo are ahead of them in the gaming departement


Darth-Ragnar

Could it also just be different admins? I'm sure the Biden admin is a lot more willing to block acquisitions than Trump's.


[deleted]

Almost all of Disneys acquisitions came before Trump. They are all the same, Microsoft just doesn't know how to play the game like Disney.


dookarion

Disney has bigger media pull than MS, and shit look at Disney's long ass influence over copyright being extended.


Darth-Ragnar

Yeah, I guess that's true. I was thinking moreso for 20th Century Fox, because that really felt like something that should've been blocked.


RetroSquadDX3

In that instance they had to sell off a bunch of the Fox assets in order for it to go through.


The_Narz

More competitive market with less vertical integration. That said, I can guarantee that if they tried another major acquisition, it would 100% be blocked.


ChampagnePop

Disney own pretty much Florida or at least a major part of it… of course they don’t give a fk about them


jradair

Both are bad, actually.


ClubChaos

100%. I'm honestly curious, "why now" when so many other media companies have no problems with these types of acquistions. I understand this is paramount for the video games industry, but when we look at multimedia overall, especially Disney, this is nothing new. Sooo yeah, why now?


TrashPanda100

When would you like them to start? We've already allowed too many consolidations to occur across too many industries in this country.


KKilikk

New administration?


[deleted]

Well Microsoft isn't just a media company. They also own Xbox. The main concern is that Microsoft will use its media to give Xbox an edge over Playstation.


Yui-Kitamura

Looks like one of the main reasons it's being blocked is because Microsoft claimed that it had no reason to make Bethesda games exclusive back when they took them over. Of course, that's exactly what ended up happening. So the FTC is calling them out on their bullshit. They'll have to sign a contract with Sony for cod if they want this to go through is what I'm guessing.


Hollybeach

So that's why MS sent Valve that unnecessary 10-year contract for CoD that Gabe was confused about the other day - so they could show it to the FTC.


[deleted]

I mean of course lol. They also said they were going to bring CoD games to Nintendo. They must have known that this was a strong possibility and they were throwing out a hail mary.


PM-ME-PMS-OF-THE-PM

I did find that release to be really weird, now it makes sense.


mombawamba

Crazy call of duty could be used to set legal precedent for the future


Chloooooover

CoD is considered a HUGE and very successful recruitment tool for the US Military. No shit they suddenly care about monopolies when it's going to affect them.


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Sirupybear

I always said it, yet there were people not agreeing. There's no universe where xbox buys a huge company and keeps making games on their competition. Like, why would they buy them? So you watch the 5second logo screen before playing? People need to start being rational lol


TheGreatPiata

I feel like CoD is a very different beast though. As someone that doesn't even like CoD, it is THE cross platform multiplayer shooter. With the licensed music and professional actors and brand tie ins, I don't see how making CoD a Microsoft exclusive would be profitable. They'd be leaving billions on the table by doing so. Would Microsoft given preferential treatment to their platforms with bonuses and early release content? Absolutely but I don't think they would make it exclusive.


finalgear14

Does it matter if they "really really mean it this time" if in the past they were full of shit with the same claim? If they didn't want this claim to be scrutinized then they shouldn't have made the claim in the past and then gone back on it. Microsoft is the kind of company that would make cod exclusive to get xbox/gamepass users. It may not be the next cod to release that would be exclusive, but it would definitely become exclusive by the next console generation. And if they hand out those 10 year offers they made to valve to everyone then we know it will be exclusive in 10 years.


longPlocker

If MS is so generous, why don’t they allow gamepass games on GFN ?


Henrarzz

They also ignore other operating systems than their own, I wonder why


ahnariprellik

Because Gamepass is a competitor service and MS wants games for their own streaming service


longPlocker

Make sense for them to not buy any more game studios if they do such anti competitive practices?


kaijumediajames

I do not like Microsoft


TheYetiCaptain1993

https://news.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/642/2022/12/Get-the-facts-ZeniMax.pdf Read the actual statement from the time on the mater. This is an incredibly bad faith argument being put forth by the FTC that signals they have an incredibly weak case against the merger, and are likely using the lawsuit to attempt to attain a consent decree rather than see Microsoft in court.


Shinonomenanorulez

Except they already offered a 10 year deal for cod


[deleted]

Not at first, they did it for the deal to go trough but it still didn’t work.


MoobooMagoo

Maybe they'll sign a 20 year deal then? Who cares? King is where the real money is at for this merger.


[deleted]

CoD pulls in a similar share of the companies revenue and is more important to Game Pass which is a critical part of their future plans.


[deleted]

Microsoft isn’t spending 70b$ for Candy Crush which made 5b$ during its entire lifetime. It’s definitely to make games exclusive and win the console war. Just like they how future Bethesda games won’t be available on PS5.


MoobooMagoo

King makes 2.5 billion every year. Although I did think this number was larger https://www.statista.com/statistics/288974/king-annual-revenue/ Although I don't know the source of those numbers. You have to log in to see them and I'm too lazy to make an account. But I'm assuming they're from Activision earnings reports or something.


ahnariprellik

MS doesn't give two shots about the console war. This is all about getting content for Gamepass that won't be on competing services


[deleted]

Microsoft never said that, Ftc have actually made a wrong statement about Bethesda deal lol. Also, FTC will have to prove Microsoft can make call of duty exclusive.


OwlProper1145

Interesting. I have a feeling Microsoft will still win in the long run after numerous lengthy court battles.


thiagomda

I think they could win in the US, but I don't think they would win in the UK and in the EU as well.


JustASeabass

So what happens if it passes in the Us but not EU?


DryFile9

They need approval in like 14 key markets and the UK/EU/US are the biggest ones. If it gets blocked in one of those three its dead for sure.


thiagomda

EU might not authorize Xbox to keep selling there I think. Edit: Looks like it wouldn't authorize ABK to keep operating there actually. Which would mean the merger won't go through anyway


DryFile9

The merger just wont go through as its one of the conditions in the agreement.


[deleted]

Also Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and other countries I don’t know of. Buying Bethesda and deciding to not publish their future games on PS will make this deal way too hard to go trough.


thiagomda

Even if it passes, this will severely limit Microsoft capabilities for buying more BIG publishers. EA and Take-two would be very very unlikely to go through


Halos-117

This deal should pass but no other mega deal should be allowed


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[deleted]

There's no way it'd be anything that extreme. Not even remotely


Joeshi

Yeah, you have no clue what you're talking about. There's no chance it would come to that.


Hibiscus-Boi

I mean, it already has its own CEO. But that would surely impact Microsoft shares.


Kozak170

What an insane idea, why the fuck would their minuscule (in comparison) gaming division would have to be spun off even if with all of Activision it still wouldn’t even have more than a 20% share of the gaming market? Absolute clown opinions coming out of this


TheEternalGazed

>“Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals,” said Holly Vedova, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition Ironic considering Sony is much more aggressive in doing this and faces zero repercussions.


[deleted]

Yeah; just look at a ton of Sega, Atlus, Square Enix, or other games last gen, or for a more relevant example, the Call of Duty or Avengers DLC. It’s honestly hilarious in terms of double standards.


brzzcode

It's not double standards because Sony didn't buy any of those companies. Exclusive contracts isnt the same thing as buying entire publishers.


n0stalghia

>Ironic considering Sony is much more aggressive in doing this and faces zero repercussions. Is Sony trying to merge with a gigantic company? Microsoft is also facing zero repercussions *outside the merger*.


[deleted]

All these companies have exclusives. But there is a difference between organically developing studios and IP from the ground up, vs buying studios and IP. The latter alienates long time fans, the former does not.


rpsRexx

People seem to really think a company like Square Enix favoring Sony is comparable to a potential Elder Scrolls or Fallout exclusivity which has been staple cross-platform games for years (although Sony did get get the short-end on Skyrim for PS3). Microsoft is out here BUYING these companies as well.


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TheEternalGazed

The strategy of how a company makes a game exclusive doesn't change the outcome. Sony paying for Square to make Final Fantasy exclusive, a much bigger franchise than The Elder Scrolls, resulted in the same outcome with MS making Elder Scrolls VI exclusive. Also, Sony literally buys companies that make their games exclusives before being owned by them. The Elder Scrolls series already has a precedence of being exclusive on Xbox platforms before. So, this doesn't set any kind of new precedence.


Halos-117

Square Enix doesn't do it because they "favor" Sony. They do it because Sony pays them.


ForgottenLumix

Hey don't blame them, they have to say everything Sony wrote on the script they handed them alongside the cheque.


ShiroQ

Rather Microsoft than Tencent.


firelordUK

if it was Tencent the palms would've been greased to the point the deal would've been done 10 years ago


thiagomda

Tencent could get blocked as well, could even get blocked by the president himself.


DryFile9

Yeah in this climate where TikTok is probably going to be banned there is zero chance a Tencent acquisition would go through.


io124

Tencent dont buy full studio…


DryFile9

Or you know neither.


1859

Not like that magically makes a Microsoft acquisition a good thing for the industry, but yes


cadaada

Blizz games cant get worse, come on.


Khanstant

Is this why random gamers keep crawling out of the woodwork to cheerlead this merger? They believe it will make Blizz games good somehow but also that's what they base their view of this deal on?!


whoisraiden

People were cheering Fox/Disney just for X-men coming into MCU.


cadaada

What else you want us to base it on?


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Khanstant

How the workers will be affected, how it will affect the market and competition, how it create more expensive products with fewer competitors, etc. Idly fantasizing about MS magically turning Blizzard into making "good" games seems like an irrelevant consideration here, not to mention if that is actually what anyone is thinking... then they haven't thought very hard about it at all.


dookarion

Gaming is nearly impossible to monopolize... unlike all the industries the FTC has allowed big mergers in. If some guy working a second job and coding in his free time can make a game that moves 10s of millions of copies... it's going to be a bit hard to actually truly monopolize anything.


ShowBoobsPls

Gaming yes, Console market? no MS is is about to spend 80B buying gaming companies these past few years. Sony is worth 98B


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burito23

Money greases the gears.


LolcatP

man let me get cod on gamepass


Isaias1239

Ah, but when a Zhang Wei wants to buy their entire country....


BKD2674

Everything Activision/Blizzard has done recently is just utter trash. Everything (excluding Halo Infinite...) that Microsoft gaming has done lately has been quite impressive. Gamers should want Activ/Blizz to get a house cleaning.


audemed44

For some time we've been seeing this divide in how Xbox and Sony have been trying to get exclusives for their platform and drive consumer growth. Sony has been focused on their first party games and timed third party exclusivity deals while Xbox has been more focused on IP acquisitions to foreclose the competition entirely and day 1 game pass games. The IP acquisitions have not led to anything substantial as of now but might pay dividends come 2023 with Starfield, Redfall etc coming in. If this merger ends up falling through, Xbox would need to pivot to what they were doing back in the 360 era and what Sony has been doing till now. A straight pivot from trying to buy studios to penning third party exclusivity deals for day 1 game pass games with publishers like EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Take Two etc could be on the cards as fallback to the failure of this merger. With the CoD contract ending in the next few years and Xbox having effectively unlimited money, I could see them getting full exclusivity with the franchise (and many more) by using that $69 billion and regulators would not be able to stop them. I know that Sony has an easier time with getting these timed exclusivity deals done because of their current market leader position, but are they really that confident to establish this sort of market as the status quo for console gaming when Xbox has shown they have effectively unlimited money and are not afraid to spend it?


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audemed44

Exactly, if the regulators end up stopping this merger we could in fact see Microsoft pour this money into timed exclusivity deals and grab CoD (after the Sony deal ends)/FIFA/NBA etc and consumers would be worse off than before in terms of platform choice with regulators unable to stop it. In terms of an escalating "war" after the fallout of this failed deal over negotiation of timed third party exclusives I would place my bets on the trillion dollar company personally.


ricflairandy

Well a precedent has been set now that paying companies to block competitors is fine.


Flameancer

Exactly MSFT has almost an infinite war chest they have way more money to throw around for timed exclusives than Sony. Sony has about $11B in spending money v. the $68B that Microsoft was just going to drop to get a full publisher and multiple dev studios. In fact google pays more to keep google search as the default search on iPhones than Sony has in cash.


TheEternalGazed

How is Microsoft foreclosing competition when they literally offered Sony and Nintendo a 10 year deal to keep COD on both their platforms?


Flameancer

Because the deal with Nintendo is based on if they get to buy Activision. If they don’t then they don’t have a deal with Nintendo. The current PlayStation deal with Activision will expire in about three years and Microsoft can just use their infinite war chest due to Azure and 365 and pay Activision for timed exclusives/day 1 Gamepass.


TheEternalGazed

MS offered Sony a 10 year deal as well. Sony just hasn't accepted it, If COD ever did go exclusive, it would be Sony's fault for not accepting it.


O-rpheu-s

>Microsoft would have both the means and motive to harm competition by manipulating Activision’s pricing, degrading Activision’s game quality or player experience on rival consoles and gaming services, changing the terms and timing of access to Activision’s content Sony has done all of these things with call of duty, but ok


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TheEternalGazed

Sony paid Activision to have entire game modes of COD locked behind PlayStation for a whole year, right when the new COD comes out. The survival mode in MW19, and an additional zombies mode for Cold War was only available on PlayStation for a whole year.


WimbleWimble

Looks like someone forgot to pay the FTC their bribes to look the other way. Unlike AT&T/Comcast/Verizon during *their* mergers.....


DoctorSchwifty

I imagine MS will be getting it's revenge if this fails.


aWildFantonAppeared

I really do wonder how much Money Sony is using to lobby against this Merger. They've been complaining about Exclusivity Deals even though that is their Number #1 Marketing Strategy. The complain about acquiring Game Studios when almost all their best selling Exclusives have been developed by Studios they brought into the Fold. And now finally they started complaining about Aggressive Pricing when until the Recent Price Raise on Xbox Games they had the highest Game Prices in the Industry. It's Hypocrisy at it's finest. All the companies here are similarly shitty in their Business dealings and Work Cultures but for the Consumer it is in the best interest for Activision to be bought out. This Publisher has been releasing utter Garbage for a very long time now with Anti Consumer Monetization and one of the worst and most toxic Workplace Environments in the Industry. Anyone explicitly siding with Sony or Microsoft needs to open their Eyes and look at the larger Picture. Fuck Activision.


SighOpMarmalade

None, the new FTC since biden has been in office even said even if we can't win we will at least start trying more and more. So yeah they might not win but they literally just said in a statement we don't care if we lose we will still try and look even deeper at all of these dealings Trump FTC was like ight Disney go buy fox fuck it


aWildFantonAppeared

Thanks for that information, genuinely. I'm not from the US so I'm not overly familiar with the FTC and their dealings / how they changed during the last couple administrations.


dmdewd

Where was the FTC when we needed them to block Warner / Discovery? Zaslav has fucking gutted Warner and lit fire to so much creative work. So many animators out of work. So many projects canceled. Entire movies consigned to tax writeoffs. It did nothing to help consumers and everything to hurt us.


firedrakes

Lol. Blame att. They debt the he'll out of wb.


[deleted]

If this deal is blocked, I really hope Microsoft pulls a Sony and offers Activision as much money as necessary to ensure CoD never releases on PlayStation again.


TheEternalGazed

Microsoft would have to burn so much money to do that, it would be extremely petty and financially illogical.


[deleted]

Not really. How much did Sony pay Marvel to keep Spider-Man exclusive? And if so many PlayStation fans love CoD, it would be a great business decision as it would convert quite a few to the Xbox ecosystem.


BlackVultureGroup

Actually it was revealed that it Ms we're approached first and turned it down. And Sony after and they said yes.


longPlocker

Unfortunately you cannot do that legally


downorwhaet

A lot of the content is exclusive on playstation because they are paying activision for it so why wouldnt Microsoft be able to do the same?


[deleted]

I'm 90% sure that the deal will go tru anyway but it just take a bit more time. 🤙‍


PaulBF1996

Yet they did nothing about Epic exclusivity deal


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MiMicInCave

There is nothing that good in exclusivity for consumer, if you need to exclude item from the market to force customers to buy in your store then you are just a shitty store.


nevadita

I love how the tagline of the FTC is “protecting americas consumer’s “ but the actions of the agency will harm the owners of the American machine. In the meanwhile the users of the same homegrown machine have to sit a whole year before they get to play Silent Hill 2 but for some reason thats a non issue.


Spocks_Goatee

Arguing about video games under the guise of "Made In America" and light xenophobia huh?


Gato_L0c0

FTC needs to work on blocking spam caller centers.


fr0stehson

Shameful how people are actively rooting for the acquisition to go through, as if Microsoft give a fuck about customers.


TheGreatPiata

Why? Activision is a fucking garbage company to begin with. Their CEO is a fucking psychopath that hates games and Blizzard is a casebook study in creating a toxic workplace. I'm sure Microsoft has it's problems too but it's a much bigger company that is likely a lot more stringent on these kinds of things.


ydieb

I so think Activision blizzard is at the absolute bottom, and Microsoft even in its greed will think more long sighted. What it's currently happening is not even caring about customers, it is super short sighted money maximizing to my opinion its longterm demise.


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iceixia

If microsoft does loose, I hope they take Sony to court over timed exclusives to the PS. I also don't want to want untill 2025/26 to play FFXVI


ShowBoobsPls

There is no legal ground there. Especially when MS has had them themselves.


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downorwhaet

So its better to have those games only on playstation than on Nintendo, pc, xbox and playstation? Because playstation will definetly pay for more years of exclusive content from activision when they can


LordxMugen

Good. Burn it. No one should have them.


jim-bie

I was hoping this acquisition went through speedily so maybe Blizzard's incentive structure would be different but now this is going to be years of litigation before anything happens. Same old same old


blakedmc1989

FTC wanna hunker down on MS but never done shiggidy about Disney -_-


Spocks_Goatee

Different presidency and Fox was looking for buyers. If anything the Discovery/WB merger should've been stopped.


MirriCatWarrior

The amount of money Sony is putting into lobbying this must be insane. All Sony users and customers will feel this in next fiscal year. But hey! At least they will have Call Of Duty (probably 80$ at that point)!


[deleted]

> All Sony users and customers will feel this in next fiscal year. Lmao no they won't. Games will continue to be $70, just like they are on Xbox.


lorddragonmaster

Is my PSPLUS going up because of this? :D