CaptainCluck

Good work by the CMA in scrutinising the deal and Microsoft’s Azure cloud dominance. They make the FTC look like amateurs. It’s pointless listening to people who only think a few seconds ahead and just want a few more games on their GamePass subscription.

They create some technically beautiful games, but lack creativity and quickly gets very boring. Skull & Bones just looks like an inferior version of AC: Black Flag and Sea of Thieves. Ubisoft’s best games were from Michel Ancel - Beyond Good & Evil, Rayman, King Kong - and BGE2 is vaporware at this point.

I like the simplicity of that main menu. New developers seemingly want to shove 10 different sections on a main menu to sell micro-transactions and battle passes.

I can’t even redownload my digital games on Xbox 360 because I moved to a new country than where I purchased and it just cancels the download on 79%. I’m glad they removed that on Series X.

Some great 360 games not BC: Quantum of Solace, Blood Stone, Singularity, LOTR War in the North, LOTR Conquest, Alpha Protocol, Riddick Dark Athena/Butcher Bay, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Space Marine, Brink, Jericho.

@AlexAtwell It's hard to predict. I wonder if governments would have made different decisions if they saw how Google, Facebook, Amazon and others monopolised the entire internet.

Microsoft obviously believe the UK is an important market - which is why they delayed the takeover again. They will give concessions and work out a deal. This isn't about acting important, but about protecting the internal market for the next two decades.

Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but the X360 BC version still has online functionality, The PlayStation and Switch version doesn't.

Win-win. Microsoft will get to close the deal, and the UK will extract further concessions for their market.

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3 months Xbox Live Gold voucher - converts to 2 months of GP Ultimate for those that don’t already have a sub.

Activision-Blizzard development teams dwarf Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda combined when it comes to numbers. They should probably get them making new exclusive IPs.

The CMAs only job is to protect the UK market in the long and short term. A bunch of “gamers” can’t really be taken seriously just because they want a few extra games on GamePass or to stick it to rival platforms.

This is really lame.

Sounds like a win-win for everyone. The UK will get further concessions from Microsoft, and the deal will be approved.

I just converted 3 years of XBL Gold a few days ago, after previously converting 2 years which ran out recently. Good timing but not so great for others. I think it will still work out much cheaper though, since 12 months of Gold is £40, so that will be 8 months of GamePass at £5 per month.

This seems like a more practical Star Citizen, with content and a main story that will actually release.

I just did the 36 months Xbox Live Gold 1:1 conversion a few days ago. Lucky timing!

GamePass is already losing value. Price increases and lower quality releases. At least it’s optional… for now.

Loved the inclusion of Ayoade. Strongly disliked the protagonist they used. I hope we can customise the main character because that one was an eyesore to look at.

Let’s just say this is good timing.

This definitely doesn’t remind me of Porsche.

Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2
Deus Ex

This is fair. The EU market is different to the UK market and both have different goals. I’m glad there are competition watchdogs that can say no to big corporations.

If it’s the original trilogy or prequel era, I’m in.

FPS games that show the body when you look down are easily better.

Used them all and it’s easily the current Series controllers. The OG controllers are nostalgic but just feel too strange without LB/RB. The Xbox 360 controllers have a bad dpad and give me thumb blisters after extended use. The Xbox One improved all that and the Series controllers kept the improvements but added more grip.

The Xbox console community features are terrible and sanitised compared to the OG/360 days, because they're always worried about someone being offended. Discord is a must - which at least you can run on the console now.

@Kaloudz
Not sure about that. It’s a very thoughtful parody of facism and being in the meat grinder of war.

@BadAtPickingUsername
Being part of the EU means having these major decisions about your country taken away. The UK has the ability to standup to Microsoft and extract further concessions before approval or to outright block it. France, Belgium, Germany and Ireland do not have that oversight - which is why the deal easily passed.

Being a cat, hanging out with the strays and getting high on catnip would be an ideal life, so this is the next best thing.

@Sol4ris
The UK is a small country and I’m not sure what you’re talking about with empire complexion. The EU and Russia are building literal empires, and Microsoft are building a monopolistic corporate empire.

If it’s anything like Amazon’s Rings of Power, they shouldn’t bother. Amazon should be stripped of those rights.

The EU decision is not surprising, since their legal and regulatory structure exists to give all the power to multinational corporations like Microsoft and stop new challengers with all the red tape that they couldn’t possibly adhere to. The UK refreshingly standing up to multinational corporations, the EU, Russia, etc - where other countries dare not.

This deal is finished. The EU will echo the outcome of the CMA.

I haven’t read a single thing about the reasoning, but the CMA are so stupid because they won’t let Call of Duty on GamePass. The CMA just doesn’t understand us gamers at all. It’s so unfair!

Halo Infinite should just get rid of the seasons and do an entire relaunch with new single player and multiplayer content.

@Savage_Joe
Yes, I got new Saints Row vibes from it.

@Sol4ris
Sounds good - we don’t need even more dominance from US corporations. Weren’t you lot worried about that aspect due to things like “chlorinated chicken”?

A benefit to cloud gaming, but not to the UK or EUs tech industries.

I’m happy with this ruling. I like having console hardware and physical media, and I dislike cloud gaming. Hopefully Xbox can focus on making games again.

Bethesda and Obsidian will produce more Xbox Series defining games than Activision-Blizzard ever will.

These characters remind me of the Saints Row reboot, in a negative way. I hope the game is good aside from that.

Sony and Square Enix definitely have some dodgy backroom deal worked out to exclude Xbox.

For their unpopularity, EA Play has much better games and a wider variety. Alice Madness Returns, Mass Effect, It Takes Two, Plants vs Zombies, Dragon Age Origins, Jedi Fallen Order, sports games. Once you have played one Ubisoft game, you have played them all.

Tekken is dead without Roger Jr.

Yes. My gaming hobby is covered and I have more important things to spend money on. Thanks Xbox!

Bring back Roger Jr! It’s silly that they removed him because of complaints from PETA.

@UltimateOtaku91 To their credit, EA have much better and varied titles outside of the sport games.

Ubisoft have had so many sales that the key code sites are saturated and you can pick them up for a couple of quid.

I’m looking forward to experiencing JK Rowling’s world in this detail. Did Quidditch not exist in this time frame though?

Microsoft should market it as something which saves money rather than this green carbon stuff. We can see how important access to energy and industrialisation is to the prosperity of nations and individuals, and that seems to be under attack.