Sakai

@Tharsman I believe Microsoft have said that once they gain approval from the cma and eu, they will close the deal without the FTC. I believe they said this in administrative court with the FTC.
But if there was any common sence in the world, if the cma and eu approve, the ftc would accept the concessions so we can all move on to a new topic lol.

@Kaloudz and the EU are currently market testing the concessions and will final report in May. So really not too long now

Wo Long was a truly awesome GP release, more like this please!

@Tharsman with Axon getting a 9-0 unanimous decision, I would be very worried if I was the FTC. Microsoft wil just challenge it in Federal Court after that result, is my very limited understanding.

@Kaloudz CMA I believe is no later than 26th, so next week at the latest

This game has been my favourite so far this year, I am on the last main mission of part 5, and hope to play some more tonight

@XxEvilAshxX Ubisoft Plus is not part of PS Plus Premium.

Only Ubi game I'm interested in is Riders Republic, and it's available at Amazon on PS5 for £17, so Il just buy it physical. Seems crazy it's more expensive than GPU.

If you want 60fps, just wait for the patch. Why delay the game for people that are happy to play the game at 30? Doesn't make any sence, nobody is forcing anyone to play the game at 30

I'm not sure a game the size and scope of Starfield will hit 60fps on xbox, but I could be wrong

30fps or 60fps, I still don't think the game looks that great. More of a wait until I have nothing else to play situation for me. Could be good, but It's not really the kind of game I'm rushing out to play if I'm honest

@Dezzy70 resi 4 remake was released on ps4 and ps5, but only on xbox series. 20% on xbox is decent when you consider the higher install base on ps5 and the lack of a last gen version on xbox. Infact I thought it would of been higher as you have over 100million more consoles to sell to.

Jet set radio and future are awesome games

The only thing seriously damaging PlayStation at the minute is Jim Ryan. What an absolute idiot.

Playstation was a much better and more respected company before this moron got his hands on it, and I say that as a fellow Geordie!

For people without s PlayStation, Nioh 1 and 2 would be great for the service. I really enjoyed those games on ps4 and again on ps5

Wo Long, its been my favourite 3rd party day 1 drop on gamepass since I started subscribing

@Widey85 that is a megaton update from the CMA. Pretty huge news to be honest. I'm going to read it properly now. That's both the CMA and the EU dropping the console SLC.

In the document it says an alternative to COD. From a technical and legal standpoint, an alternative to COD does not have to be as popular or as big in scope. Nowhere does it say an equal. By an alternative to COD, they mean a (probably) military style FPS game that PS gamers could play, if they wanted to play one. It would be up to the developer and publisher to determine the investment or scope of the game, and what platforms it releases on. Pepsi is an alternative to coca cola, it doesn't have to be as popular or a carbon copy to be an alternative, that is not what is meant in this instance.

@Banjo- The article missed an important bit of information, which makes it easy to read the statements incorrectly. Just thought it was worth mentioning we will have to wait and see what the cma think of it all

@Banjo- @Kaloudz they are not suggesting they will make it exclusive after 10years, they are saying that Sony could in theory if they wanted to, regarding the console SLC.
This question specifically was asking if the 10year agreement is long enough. They are all answers to questions/concerns from the CMA in this document, regarding the acess remedies offered by Microsoft. The next part of the document reads:

"CoD is an entertainment franchise which is already nearly 20 years old," [Redacted], Microsoft will need to secure the broadest distribution of the franchise and will be heavily incentivised to keep it on the PlayStation platform [Redacted]. Microsoft considers that having maintained CoD on PlayStation and grown its player base on Nintendo, GeForce Now and other cloud gaming platforms for a decade, it will have no incentive, or indeed ability, to take CoD exclusive."

It all gets pretty confusing I must admit

What was interesting about this case is that alot of the arguments used in this, were mirrored/very similar to the ones used by the FTC. The fact the judge dismissed it, is a good sign for Microsoft if the case with the FTC goes to Federal Court.

From what I am reading the concessions offered to the EU only includes access to Activision content, including cod, on rival cloud platforms.

"More striking is the absence of any formal commitment to address key concerns raised by rival Sony about the deal's impact on its PlayStation, and Google about the deal's impact on its ChromeOS cloud-first operating system."

According to reports, Sonys complaints of removal or degrading of cod on PlayStation "appears to have fallen on deaf ears at the EU competition enforcer"

The support of Nvidia was a key factor apparently

The EU have until 22 May to rule on the deal, however a draft decision will be circulated internally and to national authorities soon.

This is all just from reports I have read this afternoon after work. All eyes on the CMA it seems, who are still the final boss in all of this

Congratulations Shu, fully deserved. A true great

Here's an interesting update among all of this i have not seen widely reported yet:

"MLex reports that the lawsuit from gamers has been dismissed and they’ll need to redraft their complaint.

Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley raised concerns about a lack of evidence/numbers, precise argument about the harm arising from the deal and the definition of the relevant markets."

This is in relation to the lawsuit "gamers against ms/abk acquisition" that was filed

@Dezzy70 not selling many consoles at all in the UK?

"The UK games industry is the most competitive console market in the world. Over the last 10 years, Xbox, PS and Nintendo have all led the market at one point.

Last year, Xbox Series, PS5 and Switch all had over 30% market share each (GfK data)

In terms of PS4 vs Xbox One, 57% of sales were for PS4 and 43% for Xbox One. On PS5 vs Xbox Series it's pretty much the same (56% vs 44%). It's close"

Source: https://mobile.twitter.com/Chris_Dring/status/1636394786235064321

@themightyant They probably have the most relevant information. 4j ported Minecraft to sony and Nintendo consoles, including Mario items for Nintendo etc. They have a unique position in understanding how Microsoft behaves with other platforms and ports after buying a 3rd party game (minecraft) and releasing it on more platforms

It's a no from me. We need more series x games and ps5 games. Not more consoles

A new Ninja Gaiden would be great. Me and the wife really enjoy the big showcases from ms, Sony and Nintendo each year.

Looking forward to it. Hardly anyone makes rpgs like Bethesda. Let's hope it's good! One of my most anticipated releases this year along with zelda and possibly ff16

Nothing really for me, but il probably give Valheim a try. Il be spending most of my gaming time on Wo Long anyway

It's really great. Probably my favourite gamepass release so far. But I'm a huge ninja gaiden/nioh fan. Will end up getting a copy on ps5 aswell for my collection

Wo Long, and so far it's everything I wanted from it. Glad one of my most anticipated games this year came out awesome

The combat system sounds delicious and this line from the ps review was absolute music to my ears "Wo Long rewards excellence and perfection, and if you're a gameplay-first kind of gamer, it's going to blow your mind"

Can't wait

As a gameplay first kind of gamer, this sounds absolutely awesome. Can't wait. Love ninja gaiden and nioh

They got goldeneye eventually, so I'm going to continue asking for JSRF

The reason Nintendo were left off is because the cma and ftc have both argued in their investigations that nintendo is not part of the "high spec console market" This definition of the market has been pushed by them. If anyone actually agrees with that, is another story entirely

Lulu has been pretty entertaining throughout and managed to bring a little laughter to a boring topic

This is the first "big game" this year for me. If its anywhere close to nioh or ninja gaiden we are in for a treat

As some of you may know by now I'm a ninja gaiden fanatic, so I have my eye on wanted dead. Not sure if il play it before or after wo long. Could be a great few weeks for me

Personally I was kinda dissapointed with Monster Hunter Rise if I was honest. Gave it a good go but came away underwhelmed after World.

The most obvious and cost effective solution for all parties involved would of been to settle this with some multiplayer COD. 6v6 MS/ABK v EU/CMA/FTC on Terminal. Top execs from each. Could have been part of the Developer Direct

Microsoft have also subpoenaed Google and ABK have subpoenaed Nintendo for the discovery stage.

The FTC also subpoenaed Sony, which Sony is also fighting against separately to this one with MS.

Very interesting times ahead

@Would_you_kindly they still have an ongoing marketing contract with ABK for a start

@stvevan kotick confirmed in his interview they are not talking to MS or ABK.

"It's funny, Sony is not on the phone to us. In fact, they are not returning our phone calls. And so... I think one of the things that are surprising to us is, this is the time ordinarily we would be talking about the future and new opportunities together for partnership, and they just haven't been returning our phone calls. And so, I don't know that we're as valuable as they maybe have represented to the regulators that we are."

It's up to Microsoft now. They have the EU and UKs concerns, now it's all on them to come up with an agreement that suits the EU and CMA, whether that's structural or behavioural. If they do that, they can present the concessions to the FTC and close in the summer. Or they could close anyway without the FTC, as I think they have mentioned. Fail to reach an agreement with the eu/cma before the end of April and it's pretty much dead in my opinion. But I could be wrong

@ABNJ because it says so in the cmas report. The 10year offer will only be considered at the next stage

An important detail is that the 10year offer to steam/nintendo was not considered at the phase 2 stage, and the cma states that would be considered in the next remedies phase which begins now.

I have tried reading the report and it's just really confusing. They list 3 structural remedies, but then mention that behavioural remedies may also be possible later in the report.

I think it's just a 'wait until the end of April and see' kind of situation as MS statement doesn't seem to indicate they are dropping the deal just yet

Goldeneye. Finished it on 00 agent, only aztec/egyptian left to complete. Got all the speedrun cheats done aswell so far. Facility took a while due to bad rng and archives was surprisingly easier than I remembered.

Made it up to Statue last night, had a good time. Amazing how well I remember some of the levels. Alot of memories flooding back. Il be playing some more campaign later and enjoying the nostalgia

I liked the format but in my opinion they really need a firm release date for every game shown or don't show it at developer direct yet. That's what E3 is for, the bigger, looser announcements

Got some jet set radio/sunset overdrive/sega dreamcast vibes from this. Man I loved the dreamcast

The times me and my friends would play goldeneye and later perfect dark huddled around a small TV are some of my most favourite gaming memories from that period. Even the music just brings it all flooding back. I look forward to the nostalgia trip

@Dezzy70 last year in the UK less than 60,000 units separated the nintendo switch in 1st place and the xbox series consoles in 3rd place