Microsoft in talks to buy Activision

[Iceman]

 

[Iceman]

How crazy must that be? Microsoft must really like this person.

Also funny to see the likes of Rod Fergusson and Mike Ybarra end up back at Microsoft without planning it.

 

[Iceman]

Well, first of all, hopefully they will fire Kotick.

With how MS has handled Age of Empires IV, hopefully they bring that kind of magic (back) to Blizzard so I can finally have Warcraft IV and StarCraft III.

Getting pc game pass numbers up will be more challenging but the likes of AoE, WarCraft and StarCraft can only help. Total War game pass deals should be done every time too.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

In the short term the company they are trying to buy has plans and contracts they have to honor to publish PlayStation content.

Sony Expects Activision Blizzard Games to Stay Multiplatform

“We expect that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform,” a Sony representative told The Wall Street Journal after the sale was announced.

The other thing is Activision makes games for other platforms like iOS and Android. CoD mobile is quite popular according to some of the mobile forums I've visited and they make money off all of the other platforms which is why they've been multiplatform. To remove all of them at some point would hurt their revenue until they are replaced by a multiplatform GamePass subscription.

 

[Iceman]

was this posted yet?

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

Sony's US-listed shares back up 4.5% so far today.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Xbox boss: ‘We will honor existing agreements with Sony upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation’ - Gematsu

 

[Gee]

 

[Iceman]

There better be layoffs for all the troublemakers and associated supporters. Outside of that I don’t see layoffs to save on costs as you get with many takeovers as Microsoft has been boosting staff numbers at all their studios over the last year. They are looking to boost the annual release schedule for game pass rather than require an acquisition be profitable independently.

 

[Marvolo]

Getting pc game pass numbers up will be more challenging but the likes of AoE, WarCraft and StarCraft can only help. Total War game pass deals should be done every time too.

If Microsoft makes the original Warcraft 3 available on game pass and buries the garbage "remaster" it would probably get them some new game pass subscribers.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

Sony's US-listed shares back up 4.5% so far today.

Microsoft's are probably higher.

 

[Gee]

What a turnaround.

UK regulator now says Microsoft Activision merger won’t significantly lessen competition in console gaming | VGC
CMA narrows scope of concerns in Microsoft – Activision review

The CMA has received a significant amount of new evidence in response to its original provisional findings. Having considered this new evidence carefully, together with the wide range of information gathered before those provisional findings were issued, the CMA inquiry group has updated its provisional findings and reached the provisional conclusion that, overall, the transaction will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in relation to console gaming in the UK.

 

[metaphysician]

Maybe someone finally pointed out to the UK regulators how dominant the Playstation has traditionally been in the UK...

 

[Gee]

Yet another turnaround!

The UK regulator has blocked Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard | VGC

The CMA has prevented Microsoft’s proposed purchase of Activision over concerns the deal would alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market, leading to reduced innovation and less choice for UK gamers over the years to come.

Microsoft has a strong position in cloud gaming services and the evidence available to the CMA showed that Microsoft would find it commercially beneficial to make Activision’s games exclusive to its own cloud gaming service.

Microsoft already accounts for an estimated 60-70% of global cloud gaming services and has other important strengths in cloud gaming from owning Xbox, the leading PC operating system (Windows) and a global cloud computing infrastructure (Azure and Xbox Cloud Gaming).

Microsoft has confirmed it will appeal the CMA’s decision.

 

[Teelie]

For a time there it looked like they might approve it, now they say no.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

Yet another turnaround!

The UK regulator has blocked Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard | VGC

While this is great news, to me it still means nothing since mS will appeal which means, as Kotick said, this is far from the final word on the merger.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

While this is great news, to me it still means nothing since mS will appeal which means, as Kotick said, this is far from the final word on the merger.

Apparently no one has ever won an appeal over there. And this ain't even counting the FTC stuff.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

Apparently no one has ever won an appeal over there. And this ain't even counting the FTC stuff.

That's actually quite reassuring, but if mS thought there was zero chance of success with appealing then why would they even bother doing it?

Edit: I just read that 67% of appeals with the CMA since 2010 have been successful. This would mean that mS has a 33% chance of success, which is significant

 

[Iceman]

Doesn’t seem like much chance of overall success now with CMA blocking, FTC suing and Europe not yet confirmed. Microsoft should just put that money into their existing studios rather than waste another year or 2 on this.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

Doesn’t seem like much chance of overall success now with CMA blocking, FTC suing and Europe not yet confirmed. Microsoft should just put that money into their existing studios rather than waste another year or 2 on this.

I said this in the Take Two thread, that's what they should have been doing all this time. Even without Activision, mS has way more studios than Sony already. They have the funds, they can invest and create a ton of new IP with the talent they have instead of buying their way into market share.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

The two companies trying to bulldoze this into existence is embarrassing.

 

[Iceman]

I said this in the Take Two thread, that's what they should have been doing all this time. Even without Activision, mS has way more studios than Sony already. They have the funds, they can invest and create a ton of new IP with the talent they have instead of buying their way into market share.

Yeah for eg Bethesda has Starfield, Elder Scrolls and Fallout which, if they do those games by themselves with current staff levels, we could be looking at just one game every 7 years. Which would be one game in each franchise every 21 years. Even if we go down to 5 years per game it would be one every 15 years. Throw them some big funds to be able to staff up and speed up on the kinds of things support studios could help with.

They should be able to attract the best in the industry by raising pay at all the studios and they’d have a much more motivated and loyal workforce too.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I decided to go to reddit to see Xbox fans reaction, and wow, some of them are next level dumb. Like Donald Trump dumb. There lack of understanding of what a monopoly is or projections is just... education systems are broken.

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

mS just signed another decade long deal, this time for cloud gaming...

this is so upsetting. why can't they just give up, let it go and move on?

 

[psylockolussus]

mS just signed another decade long deal, this time for cloud gaming...

this is so upsetting. why can't they just give up, let it go and move on?

Long deal with who?

 

[XtremelyBaneful]

Long deal with who?

Microsoft Shows Confidence After CMA Setback by Signing Another 10-Year Cloud Gaming Deal - IGN