What the FTC were trying to do with their court date was run down the clock, which the CMA situation allows both of them to do perfectly legally.
It would be like a particularly lazy cop deciding to block off a major road, with him just sitting in his car, reading a book or eating some doughnuts, with him telling anyone who beeped their horn to shut up until he was finished. After he's finished, everyone's likely got sick of waiting and has gone a different route. Whatever reason he had for blocking the road, he sorts it and then goes off on his way. As far as he's concerned, he's done his job properly.
If the CMA force Microsoft and ABK to cancel the deal because the deal expired, since the CMA refused to let them set an extension until the FTC decision, well, they've done what they went out to do. Job's done, no problems... ...except every country who approved of the deal is furious because one lone voice decided to be a pedantic little *****.
What Microsoft want: ABK's shareholders to, when July 18th comes along, to do absolutely nothing. The deal is frozen, yes, but they don't come asking for the severance payment.
What both the FTC and CMA want: July 18th, Microsoft has to tell ABK's shareholders that the deal cannot be concluded, due to the CMA's injunction, blocking any further progress. They can go home, there won't be any deal to appeal, Microsoft and ABK decide who gets what cheque and that's another success for the regulators.
Part of the FTC, by not filing an injunction, was willing to let Microsoft go ahead, but it's the rest, deliberately scheduling it for August, that wants to go 'Right, the matter of Microsoft/ABK?... Deal collapsed due to terms of contract. Result: Nothing to discuss.'
Right now, the CMA are going 'Right, we now have authority, let's wield it', when their authority is akin to a wooden sword, with them adding a foil cover to it by using the law to outright block the acquisition from going through.
It doesn't matter to the CMA if the appeal happens in August, September or next January. Microsoft set the deadline to July, so they just need to wait two and a half months then they consider it a victory by default.
If the EU had not approved it, Microsoft would have paid ABK the money and walked. They'd have little to no capability to overturn the CMA's recent demands.
Since the EU HAS approved it, Microsoft and/or ABK will start meeting with Amazon and the remaining cloud providers to give them their free licenses, with ABK itself preparing to release the next CoD on every cloud platform going, while printing two different covers, one with and one without Microsoft on, while Panic Button begin the Switch port.
The FTC court case will end in Microsoft's favor, it's a slam dunk, and the UK CMA is offered an olive branch to settle out of court with the EU decision. Microsoft owns ABK by Christmas.
EU: "Microsoft have offered to allow for free licensing to practically everyone on ActiBlizz games, meaning that Sony could still stick all the CoD games on PS Plus and the recent deals also show they're willing to give everyone a bite of the cloud gaming pie."
UK: "Anything Microsoft does in the cloud gaming market warps it to make Microsoft the unparalleled master of cloud gaming heading towards 2030. The only remedy is to refuse to let them expand any further into the cloud. We'll never accept the deal."
FTC: "We want to take it to court, despite our absymal win record,"
I see that the CMA's best choice, right now, is to accept the EU concessions and limp away with their dignity.
If the EU accept the concessions that Microsoft put forward, the CMA literally going 'You aren't going any further without OUR approval' makes them sound even more like Sony, who outright said, in a very inflammatory concept, 'We just want to stop the deal'.
If the deal falls apart due to 'cloud concerns', and a partial acquisition by Sony goes through, well, Microsoft will have a good reason to call foul.
The CMA's verdict feels like them taking a set of flash cards and picking a random one to focus on publically while not changing their actual case one bit since Sony wrote it for them.
The fact they trotted out that the Switch 'cannot support' CoD again, when I played MK11 on Switch and on XBOX. The Switch isn't powerful enough to do 4K at 60 FPS, but it doesn't have a 4K screen. Seriously, CMA, tell me which broken mess you found that shows the Switch can't run CoD.
And then show me which cloud provider you interviewed that wasn't pretty much crying that their cloud solution failed to be the market leader when the market was saturated by cloud startups.
I could just see Russia, next week, saying that they don't accept the deal, because of the fact Microsoft is a puppet of America, and that the Ukraine have no say on the future of gaming in the area.
CMA: "In a sector that's barely got investment before now, we feel that Microsoft's deal would hurt the industry," Cloud Gaming: "Microsoft practically managed to pull cloud gaming into the mainstream, and is offering as many platforms as possible a chance to benefit."
Several years ago, Sony piloted the Playstation Now platform, which was indeed cloud streaming games. The problem was that the catalogue was poor and the system itself somewhat subpar, with a ton of caveats, including that it only worked on PS4, PS5 and Windows. They merged the functionality into the PS+ Premium tier a few months back.
Microsoft, meanwhile, turned a bunch of stripped down XBOX Series X consoles into server blades, offering the best possible experience on mobiles, PCs and both the XBOX One and Series consoles, using the same logic as services like GeForce Now, Shadow and Luma use to stream a high end PC to your home.
The amount of cloud streaming platforms that have gone bankrupt due to the server costs, with even the successful ones not being very profitable, means the only reason Microsoft is the only game in town as far as the CMA are concerned... ...is that they're effectively the only one that's still fully afloat.
The thing that's ridiculous is that the CMA outright went 'Microsoft offered to be regulated, but we decided that it would be better to not regulate them and instead block it entirely'.
Yeah, that makes sense... NOT. To take a offer where they'll happily accept regulation and have made deals for, when the ink's dry, several companies to get a bite of the cherry, including a couple of competing cloud services... and say 'It's better to just keep the status quo'.
Yeah, this needs the FTC and EU to go 'Look, the deal is good enough, we'll approve, why won't you REALLY?'
Well, consider this. Sony are all too willing to take away games after a few months from their premium offerings, contrasted with Microsoft's massive Game Pass library, which has games that have been on there for literally years.
A good example of Microsoft doing things right for the consumer was when Super Lucky's Tale was delisted, considering the only way to 'buy' it was a loyalty perk for the remake. Microsoft's stance was to go 'Hmm, Everyone on Game Pass has New Super Lucky's Tale... OK, Everyone on Game Pass just got the loyalty perk. Absolutely free.'
What a day to be an insider. Option 1: Buy the game, sight unseen, to get into the CBT, and possibly not like it. You can't cancel at that point. Option 2: Get into the Insider Program, get into the CBT, judge it on it's own merits. No money needed.
The FTC are the only consumer group who hasn't announced that they're downgrading their issues with the situation. Everyone else is requiring remedies to deal with xCloud being too damn successful, meaning Microsoft is letting everyone get a bite who wants it.
I do notice a MAJOR bug where the emulation on Turtles In Time (Arcade) was all kinds of broken is fixed.
Before the patch, Turtles In Time had missing sprites and flickering all over the place and was borderline unplayable as a result. After the patch, it's back to as arcade accurate as it can be.
@Fenbops The metric is skewed by the fact they're just not even making the effort. I could say, for example, the Neptunia series won't sell well on XBOX, when the grand total of titles that have appeared on XBOX is... Precisely ZERO. Same with Disgaea.
Far too many companies can say that the XBOX versions sold poorly, when they're often hobbled in some way, either having a superior Playstation version or a protracted release time, losing the 'golden months' of first adoption.
How many people who own a Playstation and XBOX even gave a glance towards Dragon Quest XI S when it released on XBOX, and how many already had completed Dragon Quest XI on PS4 months earlier and didn't want to double dip?
Tails: Sonic, what did you do? Sonic: Told some girl that if she saved the planet, she'd get a kiss from me. Tails: Now I know why there's some girl running around beating up Robotnik. Amy: I just saved a planet! Sonic: ...See ya later, little buddy! (shoots off)
You just need to look at a lot of recent games out of Japan. The list of Japanese games which are 'PS4/PS5/Swtich' is MUCH longer than the list of games which include XBOX, and usually Steam is a higher priority by far.
Look, I'm a fan of Compile Heart and Nippon Ichi games, and every single one of them requires for me to own 'something else' to buy even one of them.
@Sam_TSM I see that the crossbow was not used because, TBH, it would also require Amy to effectively stop in order to aim, and Amy with the hammer is somewhat iconic nowadays.
One thing that will be interesting, and I hope they do an achievement for it... Completing Sonic CD as Amy Rose.
The only crying shame here is that Mirror's Edge is being sunset. I'd not cry if the EA Battlenet servers were lost in a fire tomorrow and the entire Battlefield series lost it's online component.
Almost as much as if Call Of Duty's did the same, forcing them to use Microsoft Azure.
Right now: FTC: We want to see Sony's rhetoric laid bare. EU: We want to know XBOX are willing to expand ABK's reach. CMA: We want Sony to have the best deal possible.
In a few months... FTC: Approved. Sony's been sabotaging things since Day 1. EU: Approved. The contracts and remedies offered are well within our allowances. CMA: Denied. Sony feel that... FTC/EU: Excuse me? Who do you work for?!
@JayJ Not just dismissed, it shouldn't have got this far.
The regulators should have looked at it, looked at the market projections, and gone 'Yes, nothing wrong here' and not demanded Microsoft make 'concessions' and 'remedies' to suit Sony's demands, which Big Jim has outright admitted are 'Microsoft shouldn't be allowed to buy ABK...'
I almost feel like Sony aren't just saying they shouldn't be allowed to buy ABK, they're saying they shouldn't be allowed to buy anything else. That they shouldn't be having a steadily increasing stock price while Sony's stocks have been dropping like a rock.
But the solution is simple. Jim should get into a time machine, and had him tell his past self to keep his head down, let the acquisition go through, even make a big announcement confirming that Sony will continue to have Call Of Duty for years to come after a 'landmark deal' with Microsoft. Sony would recoup that $20 billion loss in days, and we'd not have weeks and weeks of discussions like this.
But no, Jim's put his foot in it, and is only just managing to get Sony's shareholders to have any trust in the company again.
@Titntin What is meant by Sony 'buying' the regulators is that the CMA are practically copying Sony's rhetoric, declaring that the only way the deal will go through is with CoD taken off the table.
The FTC are dotting the I's and crossing the T's, by asking Sony to give 'confidental' information that is decisive towards their decision, while the EU are accepting the deal Microsoft have offered, for what's known as a behavioural remedy.
But the CMA want to drag it on past the FTC deadline, with them umm'ing and ahh'ing about it, while showing no regard for letting Microsoft have the behavioural remedies they offered.
And it's only the CMA who are making Microsoft bend over backwards. I could see the CMA's decision being that sale of Call Of Duty minimum is the only deal they'd accept, and potentially accept a very dubious under the table deal where Sony get first bid.
@themightyant Oh dear, Sony had a massive drop in their share price... It's what's known as 'speculative trading'.
One of the things Sony has done by throwing shade on the deal is drop the value of ABK. They would adore it if ABK, all in, was barely worth 69 million, due to it's own legal issues and it's value tanking due to the failed acquisition. Microsoft would have wasted billions on a worthless asset, and would waste even more recouping said losses, and that's if they don't step away because the value dropped below the value of the penalty clause.
And yes, Sony would swoop in and buy the flagging company, with the regulators not noticing since it's not a billion dollar acquisition, it's a fire sale.
@Kaloudz If they say 'when', it's implying that they think the deal will close imminently. Notice the recent announcement Diablo 4 won't be Day 1 on Game Pass.
ABK can't guarantee anything YET. Microsoft can't guarantee anything YET. The FTC and EU regulators could be in a protracted legal battle with Sony and the CMA, or it could close around late April to early May.
I personally hope Sony just holds their hands up and accepts it, rather than using what regulators it's bought to keep it going until the Playstation 6 and XBOX Cloud.
@Fenbops @Martsmall I think that's part of why the EU literally went 'Right, in that case, Microsoft, as long as you keep doing what you promise, go right ahead'.
And this is also going to shoot the FTC side of the deal in the foot, since it's comments like that which will be in the documents released.
It's only the UK CMA who are still willing to listen to Big Jim and claim that Sony's stance is the best for the consumer, when he literally went 'You give [us] CoD, we'll consider that passable renumeration'.
Microsoft are going 'We're willing to bend over backwards to offer the game to anyone and anything to get this deal through, have even got deals in place for working on a solution for CoD on Switch..."
Sony are going "The only deal we will accept is for Microsoft to sell off Call Of Duty or Activision, ***** the 10 year deals, ***** all that, we're going to the new owner and getting our golden handshake back."
Sony literally are saying that Microsoft are some evil corporation who'll run Call Of Duty to the ground on Playstation in order to claim more and more market share, and that it will ruin Playstation Plus and cause world famine and... and...
Sony's whole argument sounds like a little kid told that he has to give his older brother his candy bucket at Halloween so everyone gets a fair share of the candy collected.
Sony's way of selling this acquisition is that it's all 'bad news' for Microsoft to gain such a large company, but Microsoft's way is pointing out how their market share is inadequate.
Microsoft's biggest acquisitions all went cross-platform as soon as possible, which has hurt their bottom line and market share, but also shows their stance on the market.
Microsoft, at E3 in recent years, has been stellar, with very few 'Console Exclusive' announcements, but Sony has been abysmal, with excessive 'Playstation Exclusive' announcements, and some games STILL being only available on PS4 or PS5.
Sony want you to believe that this acquisition will mean that Microsoft will flip the market and send them into a downturn that they'll never recover from. Microsoft, meanwhile, are right to point out that CoD isn't what they'd use to flip the market, especially since Sony have far too much that they could flip it back with.
15% of people surveyed said 'We like this particular cake more than any other', with the actual number of people surveyed is in small print, while a more honest ad says 'Only 3% of people surveyed liked that particular cake, and over 50% of people polled have diabetes.'
The percentage is what's trumpeted, not the amount of people surveyed. And often that can cause really wonky numbers.
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown shows what Forza Horizon 6 should be.
Far Eastern country, some real purpose to having your avatar other than someone who stands around and reacts to what's happening and buildings have more purpose than just a glorified menu.
I'd have loved if Forza Horizon 5 or 6 had the same formula as several other games have, where you drive to a particular car showroom to buy your next car, where there's places like a social club where you meet other players...
I don't want the only thing that I do in my open world be driving to the next location and racing on the same roads as I drive on. I'd like there to be a good reason I own a house and go to the various hub areas.
That would make the game better... by making it less a driving simulator and more a living world.
@Lup The nice thing about the beta was that it INCLUDED the DLC characters, so I already know what I'm buying when it's available, namely Lady Justice/Jack-O Valentine.
Sony: Buy a controlling interest in as many AAA titles as possible, as 'development costs', and get as many games to be Playstation First, Everyone Else Eventually (Maybe), and use your dominant position to cover for the fact.
Microsoft: Buy companies who wouldn't mind the money, get some major exclusives and control over some major franchises, distribute them to Nintendo (and Sony if they're interested) and keep yourself afloat.
Nintendo: Keep innovating and finding new use for old technology. (Who would think that investing in the same technology sector as mobile devices would create the most innovative console in history?) Don't slow down, keep moving forward. Yes, you might not be punching in the same weight class as the others, but your systems are doing miracles all the same.
Sony would love if, when the Cloud-based future comes in, you buy a Playstation-branded dongle with a Playstation-branded controller, and Nintendo and Microsoft are forced to move under their umbrella to keep relevant and making money. Microsoft could be the umbrella Nintendo sit under in the Cloud future, and Sony don't like it.
A better question would be if they'd get rid of the box, and just keep the brand. I do not honestly see there being a Playstation 6 or a sequel to the XBOX Series systems.
I can see something like the Amazon Fire Stick, with a SSD in it for local storage, that connects to a central server with all your games on it.
Microsoft have said a few times they want xCloud to be able to support most, if not all, their library, and it's seemingly still in partial beta because it only has the capacity for Game Pass's library.
When the next console generation comes along, I see you going to the store, picking up a $20 USB dongle, maybe some controllers and that's it. You won't need a console. 50/50 if the dongle will be universal for all three companies.
Yes, the prices won't go down, but you'll not be paying $1000 for the inital buy-in, since all the parts that make it expensive... won't be in what you buy.
Sony will cry about losing their exclusive content filled deal, but will sign the new deal. Microsoft won't put Black Ops 2 on Game Pass, honoring Sony's poisoned clause, but the new contract likely has allowance for Game Pass Day 1 in it. Microsoft will negotiate with Nintendo something like a 'free' xCloud for Switch addition to NSO Expansion Pass, which will fulfil the 10 year deal and prove the regulators wrong. And Microsoft itself will do similar to with Bethesda, work on putting as much of Activision's back catalogue on Game Pass as possible, while offering to help Blizzard add more than just Overwatch to consoles.
Microsoft fails to buy ABK...
Sony and/or Tencent carve up the corpse, Sony taking Infinity Ward and most of Activision's talent for Call Of Duty development ad infinitum, while Tencent consumes Blizzard entirely. Anything not of interest to Sony or Tencent will be packaged up and sold to the lowest bidder, and might be seen, eventually, appearing somewhere, but Spyro, Crash and similar? Don't expect another AAA game.
There's a difference between 'successful' and being in the dominant market position.
The FTC and CMA's case is that Microsoft buying ABK would upend the market and place them in an overly dominant market position. allowing them push Sony out of the market. (Yes, Yes, I know what you're going to say, but leave it till I'm done)
What Microsoft is pointing out is that they're nowhere near strong enough to do more than strengthen their portfolio, and pushing anyone out of the market? No, that's not their plan.
Meanwhile, Sony... Oh yes, they're all over pushing people out of the market. We already know from the leaked Call Of Duty deal that Sony got a much more generous deal out of Activision and that's the deal they're renewing, with a poisoned chalice hidden in the small print that means it cannot be on Game Pass AT ALL with that same deal in place. Add to that the amount of games that are PC/PS4/PS5/Switch, especially from Japanese developers, helping keep the frankly ridiculous thought that Japanese Games don't sell well on XBOX going... And you can see that Sony, as discreetly as possible, are trying to tell as many companies as they can to ignore the XBOX Series X, to trumpet about their super-SSD, to claim that only Playstation can do games as good as that... While also telling the regulators, when Microsoft steps out of line, "Excuse me, but the company I'm trying to force out of the market just bought something I was eyeing up. Please make sure I at least get my standard Call Of Duty deal. OK, Thanks, Bye."
Good to see the first of ASW's commitments properly arrive. Even if the multiplayer beta did give me a good taste, and persuade me that DLC, if needed, is needed.
Sony are all 'This isn't relevant', 'You already have that' or It would take too long to compile'...
The infamous 10 year contract, if we get material in this release showing Jim and his lawyer trying to push for 'the same deal as [Activision] gave us' and saying 'We don't want parity, we want the old deal'...
Well, that'll shoot him in the foot about the unsigned contract.
If there are mentions of paying for the PS4/PS5/Switch exclusivity model, I see that model getting binned, as the companies whose contracts those clauses were in negotiate a new one... with Microsoft and Nintendo.
@Kaloudz Pretty much exactly that. Microsoft are likely highly suspicious of how much clout Sony has over the merger, and want to prove that some under-the-table deals haven't been made, and/or Jimmy boy hasn't been poisoning the chalice.
And the amount of things Sony claimed 'We can't find easily' or 'It's in Japanese'... Oh, that shows they want to keep as much as possible unknown.
@NEStalgia If they reveal that the reason it's not come to Microsoft is that they completely 'reset the clock', and are planning to reset it again when Episode 2 comes out, until Microsoft might see the first episode.. sometime in 2030...
Well, that will piss off a lot of people who are supporting Sony as being above reproach.
Most of how Sony failed was that they failed to provide a damn good reason that it's not important to the case. Oh, they proved the SCOPE of what Microsoft wanted to know was excessive, in their eyes, but outside of that, Microsoft got practically everything they wanted.
@KaijuKaiser Let me tell you about a 'little' game named Project Diva. It's a widget series and a rhythm game in a market DDR and the ... Hero series have saturated. SEGA released one of the games in the West as a test.
They've had universally good sales since, on any platform they release on.
Another game, Super Robot Wars 30. Released for the first time in the West in 2022. Also had brilliant sales figures.
I'd love to see the sales figures for Dragon Quest XI S on XBOX or Dragon Quest Builders. Might be interesting.
@Tharsman They've ported Disgaea 4, 5 and 6, along with most of their back catalogue, to PC, PS4/PS5 and Switch, while XBOX hasn't got a look in. I can name several other companies who seem to think 'multi-platform' means Switch, Playstation and PC and it's a noticeable minority.
Which is the big point Microsoft is trying to make...
Microsoft: Buy a company to improve their portfolio, make more money and get their name out. Yes, they get right to exclusivity, but it's not a done deal. They let people play Mojang's games, they're honoring deals made by Bethesda... but apparently, they're the boogeymen now who won't honor deals in place for CoD.
Sony: SOMETHING is making even games as low-tech as Disgaea 6 and 7 and Octopath 2 skip XBOX entirely, and Nintendo are friends with Microsoft. So, someone else must be changing the rules on how exclusivity works, and the CoD 'golden handshake' that came out recently shows what Sony is willing to do.
Sony are willing to push to hide most of the internal information, and definitely not reveal material that covers FF7 Remake and Street Fighter 5. Which means that while this is risky, something about what they were doing way back in 2012 is even worse.
Something like Street Fighter 5 won't be on there, but pretty much all the discussions about the latest Final Fantasy will be, laying bare how much REALLY is about the 'super fast SSD' in the PS5.
If the chilling effect clause is real, and it's seen that games like Disgaea 7 and Final Fantasy 16 aren't coming to XBOX due to it, instead of the supposed SSD speed...
Comments 381
Re: In The Latest Xbox ActiBlizz Twist, China Reportedly Approves Microsoft's Acquisition
@Stormageddon
What the FTC were trying to do with their court date was run down the clock, which the CMA situation allows both of them to do perfectly legally.
It would be like a particularly lazy cop deciding to block off a major road, with him just sitting in his car, reading a book or eating some doughnuts, with him telling anyone who beeped their horn to shut up until he was finished.
After he's finished, everyone's likely got sick of waiting and has gone a different route. Whatever reason he had for blocking the road, he sorts it and then goes off on his way. As far as he's concerned, he's done his job properly.
If the CMA force Microsoft and ABK to cancel the deal because the deal expired, since the CMA refused to let them set an extension until the FTC decision, well, they've done what they went out to do. Job's done, no problems...
...except every country who approved of the deal is furious because one lone voice decided to be a pedantic little *****.
Re: UK MPs Question Why The CMA Blocked Xbox's ActiBlizz Deal Following EU Approval
What Microsoft want: ABK's shareholders to, when July 18th comes along, to do absolutely nothing. The deal is frozen, yes, but they don't come asking for the severance payment.
What both the FTC and CMA want: July 18th, Microsoft has to tell ABK's shareholders that the deal cannot be concluded, due to the CMA's injunction, blocking any further progress. They can go home, there won't be any deal to appeal, Microsoft and ABK decide who gets what cheque and that's another success for the regulators.
Part of the FTC, by not filing an injunction, was willing to let Microsoft go ahead, but it's the rest, deliberately scheduling it for August, that wants to go 'Right, the matter of Microsoft/ABK?... Deal collapsed due to terms of contract. Result: Nothing to discuss.'
Re: UK MPs Question Why The CMA Blocked Xbox's ActiBlizz Deal Following EU Approval
Right now, the CMA are going 'Right, we now have authority, let's wield it', when their authority is akin to a wooden sword, with them adding a foil cover to it by using the law to outright block the acquisition from going through.
It doesn't matter to the CMA if the appeal happens in August, September or next January. Microsoft set the deadline to July, so they just need to wait two and a half months then they consider it a victory by default.
Re: UK CMA Issues Official Response To EU's Activision Blizzard Verdict
If the EU had not approved it, Microsoft would have paid ABK the money and walked. They'd have little to no capability to overturn the CMA's recent demands.
Since the EU HAS approved it, Microsoft and/or ABK will start meeting with Amazon and the remaining cloud providers to give them their free licenses, with ABK itself preparing to release the next CoD on every cloud platform going, while printing two different covers, one with and one without Microsoft on, while Panic Button begin the Switch port.
The FTC court case will end in Microsoft's favor, it's a slam dunk, and the UK CMA is offered an olive branch to settle out of court with the EU decision. Microsoft owns ABK by Christmas.
Re: UK CMA Issues Official Response To EU's Activision Blizzard Verdict
EU: "Microsoft have offered to allow for free licensing to practically everyone on ActiBlizz games, meaning that Sony could still stick all the CoD games on PS Plus and the recent deals also show they're willing to give everyone a bite of the cloud gaming pie."
UK: "Anything Microsoft does in the cloud gaming market warps it to make Microsoft the unparalleled master of cloud gaming heading towards 2030. The only remedy is to refuse to let them expand any further into the cloud. We'll never accept the deal."
FTC: "We want to take it to court, despite our absymal win record,"
I see that the CMA's best choice, right now, is to accept the EU concessions and limp away with their dignity.
Re: UK CMA Places Further Restrictions On Microsoft And Activision Blizzard
If the EU accept the concessions that Microsoft put forward, the CMA literally going 'You aren't going any further without OUR approval' makes them sound even more like Sony, who outright said, in a very inflammatory concept, 'We just want to stop the deal'.
If the deal falls apart due to 'cloud concerns', and a partial acquisition by Sony goes through, well, Microsoft will have a good reason to call foul.
Re: Rumour: 'Mortal Kombat 1' Reboots The Series On Xbox This September
Well, they were pretty much aiming to do a total continuity reboot after MK11.
And if you don't like it, don't buy it.
Re: Ukraine The Latest Nation To Pass Xbox's Activision Blizzard Acquisition
The CMA's verdict feels like them taking a set of flash cards and picking a random one to focus on publically while not changing their actual case one bit since Sony wrote it for them.
The fact they trotted out that the Switch 'cannot support' CoD again, when I played MK11 on Switch and on XBOX. The Switch isn't powerful enough to do 4K at 60 FPS, but it doesn't have a 4K screen.
Seriously, CMA, tell me which broken mess you found that shows the Switch can't run CoD.
And then show me which cloud provider you interviewed that wasn't pretty much crying that their cloud solution failed to be the market leader when the market was saturated by cloud startups.
Re: Ukraine The Latest Nation To Pass Xbox's Activision Blizzard Acquisition
I could just see Russia, next week, saying that they don't accept the deal, because of the fact Microsoft is a puppet of America, and that the Ukraine have no say on the future of gaming in the area.
Re: Microsoft Signs New 10-Year Deal Despite UK ActiBlizz Verdict
CMA: "In a sector that's barely got investment before now, we feel that Microsoft's deal would hurt the industry,"
Cloud Gaming: "Microsoft practically managed to pull cloud gaming into the mainstream, and is offering as many platforms as possible a chance to benefit."
Several years ago, Sony piloted the Playstation Now platform, which was indeed cloud streaming games. The problem was that the catalogue was poor and the system itself somewhat subpar, with a ton of caveats, including that it only worked on PS4, PS5 and Windows. They merged the functionality into the PS+ Premium tier a few months back.
Microsoft, meanwhile, turned a bunch of stripped down XBOX Series X consoles into server blades, offering the best possible experience on mobiles, PCs and both the XBOX One and Series consoles, using the same logic as services like GeForce Now, Shadow and Luma use to stream a high end PC to your home.
The amount of cloud streaming platforms that have gone bankrupt due to the server costs, with even the successful ones not being very profitable, means the only reason Microsoft is the only game in town as far as the CMA are concerned...
...is that they're effectively the only one that's still fully afloat.
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
The thing that's ridiculous is that the CMA outright went 'Microsoft offered to be regulated, but we decided that it would be better to not regulate them and instead block it entirely'.
Yeah, that makes sense... NOT. To take a offer where they'll happily accept regulation and have made deals for, when the ink's dry, several companies to get a bite of the cherry, including a couple of competing cloud services... and say 'It's better to just keep the status quo'.
Yeah, this needs the FTC and EU to go 'Look, the deal is good enough, we'll approve, why won't you REALLY?'
Re: Talking Point: Would You Leave Xbox Game Pass If Microsoft Removed Its Exclusives?
Well, consider this. Sony are all too willing to take away games after a few months from their premium offerings, contrasted with Microsoft's massive Game Pass library, which has games that have been on there for literally years.
A good example of Microsoft doing things right for the consumer was when Super Lucky's Tale was delisted, considering the only way to 'buy' it was a loyalty perk for the remake.
Microsoft's stance was to go 'Hmm, Everyone on Game Pass has New Super Lucky's Tale... OK, Everyone on Game Pass just got the loyalty perk. Absolutely free.'
Re: Xbox Players Offered Free Access To This Weekend's 'Crash Team Rumble' Closed Beta
@UltimateOtaku91 Exactly why this freebie is a good offer. It gives you a proper idea on what the hell you're meant to be doing with the damn game.
Re: Xbox Players Offered Free Access To This Weekend's 'Crash Team Rumble' Closed Beta
What a day to be an insider.
Option 1: Buy the game, sight unseen, to get into the CBT, and possibly not like it. You can't cancel at that point.
Option 2: Get into the Insider Program, get into the CBT, judge it on it's own merits. No money needed.
Re: Video: FTC Chair Questioned Over 'Remarkable' Decision To Side With Sony Rather Than Microsoft
The FTC are the only consumer group who hasn't announced that they're downgrading their issues with the situation. Everyone else is requiring remedies to deal with xCloud being too damn successful, meaning Microsoft is letting everyone get a bite who wants it.
Re: Sony Blasts CMA's Xbox Verdict As 'Surprising, Unprecedented And Irrational'
I can't belive they managed 10 PAGES of "You Idiots, you were meant to find in our favour!"
Re: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Cowabunga Collection Xbox Update Goes Live Today
I do notice a MAJOR bug where the emulation on Turtles In Time (Arcade) was all kinds of broken is fixed.
Before the patch, Turtles In Time had missing sprites and flickering all over the place and was borderline unplayable as a result. After the patch, it's back to as arcade accurate as it can be.
Re: E3 2023 Has Officially Been Cancelled
E3 was somewhat torpedoed by the situation over COVID and Summer Game Fest and the Game Awards claiming a lot of it's big reveals.
Re: Xbox Misses Out On Yet Another Upcoming Square Enix Release
@Fenbops The metric is skewed by the fact they're just not even making the effort. I could say, for example, the Neptunia series won't sell well on XBOX, when the grand total of titles that have appeared on XBOX is... Precisely ZERO. Same with Disgaea.
Far too many companies can say that the XBOX versions sold poorly, when they're often hobbled in some way, either having a superior Playstation version or a protracted release time, losing the 'golden months' of first adoption.
How many people who own a Playstation and XBOX even gave a glance towards Dragon Quest XI S when it released on XBOX, and how many already had completed Dragon Quest XI on PS4 months earlier and didn't want to double dip?
Re: 'Sonic Origins Plus' Brings 12 Classic Sonic Titles To Xbox In June 2023
Tails: Sonic, what did you do?
Sonic: Told some girl that if she saved the planet, she'd get a kiss from me.
Tails: Now I know why there's some girl running around beating up Robotnik.
Amy: I just saved a planet!
Sonic: ...See ya later, little buddy! (shoots off)
Re: US Senator Takes Jab At Sony's '98% Monopoly' Of High-End Games In Japan
You just need to look at a lot of recent games out of Japan. The list of Japanese games which are 'PS4/PS5/Swtich' is MUCH longer than the list of games which include XBOX, and usually Steam is a higher priority by far.
Look, I'm a fan of Compile Heart and Nippon Ichi games, and every single one of them requires for me to own 'something else' to buy even one of them.
How is that not anti-competititve?
Re: 'Sonic Origins Plus' Brings 12 Classic Sonic Titles To Xbox In June 2023
@Sam_TSM I see that the crossbow was not used because, TBH, it would also require Amy to effectively stop in order to aim, and Amy with the hammer is somewhat iconic nowadays.
One thing that will be interesting, and I hope they do an achievement for it... Completing Sonic CD as Amy Rose.
Re: Three EA Games Are Being Fully Delisted On Xbox This April
@awp69 And... with that, I'm just giving a massive shrug, and thanking EA for making it clear some idiot's getting demoted for that mistake.
Re: Four EA Games Are Being Fully Delisted On Xbox This April
The only crying shame here is that Mirror's Edge is being sunset. I'd not cry if the EA Battlenet servers were lost in a fire tomorrow and the entire Battlefield series lost it's online component.
Almost as much as if Call Of Duty's did the same, forcing them to use Microsoft Azure.
Re: Microsoft Offers ActiBlizz Remedies To EU, Deadline Pushed Back Yet Again
Right now:
FTC: We want to see Sony's rhetoric laid bare.
EU: We want to know XBOX are willing to expand ABK's reach.
CMA: We want Sony to have the best deal possible.
In a few months...
FTC: Approved. Sony's been sabotaging things since Day 1.
EU: Approved. The contracts and remedies offered are well within our allowances.
CMA: Denied. Sony feel that...
FTC/EU: Excuse me? Who do you work for?!
Re: Microsoft Signs Another 10-Year Deal In Its Bid To Buy Activision Blizzard
@JayJ Not just dismissed, it shouldn't have got this far.
The regulators should have looked at it, looked at the market projections, and gone 'Yes, nothing wrong here' and not demanded Microsoft make 'concessions' and 'remedies' to suit Sony's demands, which Big Jim has outright admitted are 'Microsoft shouldn't be allowed to buy ABK...'
I almost feel like Sony aren't just saying they shouldn't be allowed to buy ABK, they're saying they shouldn't be allowed to buy anything else. That they shouldn't be having a steadily increasing stock price while Sony's stocks have been dropping like a rock.
But the solution is simple. Jim should get into a time machine, and had him tell his past self to keep his head down, let the acquisition go through, even make a big announcement confirming that Sony will continue to have Call Of Duty for years to come after a 'landmark deal' with Microsoft. Sony would recoup that $20 billion loss in days, and we'd not have weeks and weeks of discussions like this.
But no, Jim's put his foot in it, and is only just managing to get Sony's shareholders to have any trust in the company again.
Re: Microsoft Signs Another 10-Year Deal In Its Bid To Buy Activision Blizzard
@Titntin What is meant by Sony 'buying' the regulators is that the CMA are practically copying Sony's rhetoric, declaring that the only way the deal will go through is with CoD taken off the table.
The FTC are dotting the I's and crossing the T's, by asking Sony to give 'confidental' information that is decisive towards their decision, while the EU are accepting the deal Microsoft have offered, for what's known as a behavioural remedy.
But the CMA want to drag it on past the FTC deadline, with them umm'ing and ahh'ing about it, while showing no regard for letting Microsoft have the behavioural remedies they offered.
And it's only the CMA who are making Microsoft bend over backwards. I could see the CMA's decision being that sale of Call Of Duty minimum is the only deal they'd accept, and potentially accept a very dubious under the table deal where Sony get first bid.
Re: Microsoft Signs Another 10-Year Deal In Its Bid To Buy Activision Blizzard
@themightyant Oh dear, Sony had a massive drop in their share price... It's what's known as 'speculative trading'.
One of the things Sony has done by throwing shade on the deal is drop the value of ABK. They would adore it if ABK, all in, was barely worth 69 million, due to it's own legal issues and it's value tanking due to the failed acquisition.
Microsoft would have wasted billions on a worthless asset, and would waste even more recouping said losses, and that's if they don't step away because the value dropped below the value of the penalty clause.
And yes, Sony would swoop in and buy the flagging company, with the regulators not noticing since it's not a billion dollar acquisition, it's a fire sale.
Re: Microsoft Signs Another 10-Year Deal In Its Bid To Buy Activision Blizzard
@Kaloudz If they say 'when', it's implying that they think the deal will close imminently. Notice the recent announcement Diablo 4 won't be Day 1 on Game Pass.
ABK can't guarantee anything YET. Microsoft can't guarantee anything YET. The FTC and EU regulators could be in a protracted legal battle with Sony and the CMA, or it could close around late April to early May.
I personally hope Sony just holds their hands up and accepts it, rather than using what regulators it's bought to keep it going until the Playstation 6 and XBOX Cloud.
Re: Tekken 8 Unveils New Gameplay Trailer For Returning Character
OK, Bamco, you announce Kunimitsu and a console beta coming for pre-orders... and I'll put down money for it.
Re: Sony Remains 'Extremely Sceptical' Of Reaching ActiBlizz Agreement With Microsoft
@Fenbops @Martsmall I think that's part of why the EU literally went 'Right, in that case, Microsoft, as long as you keep doing what you promise, go right ahead'.
And this is also going to shoot the FTC side of the deal in the foot, since it's comments like that which will be in the documents released.
It's only the UK CMA who are still willing to listen to Big Jim and claim that Sony's stance is the best for the consumer, when he literally went 'You give [us] CoD, we'll consider that passable renumeration'.
Re: Sony Remains 'Extremely Sceptical' Of Reaching ActiBlizz Agreement With Microsoft
Microsoft are going 'We're willing to bend over backwards to offer the game to anyone and anything to get this deal through, have even got deals in place for working on a solution for CoD on Switch..."
Sony are going "The only deal we will accept is for Microsoft to sell off Call Of Duty or Activision, ***** the 10 year deals, ***** all that, we're going to the new owner and getting our golden handshake back."
Sony literally are saying that Microsoft are some evil corporation who'll run Call Of Duty to the ground on Playstation in order to claim more and more market share, and that it will ruin Playstation Plus and cause world famine and... and...
Sony's whole argument sounds like a little kid told that he has to give his older brother his candy bucket at Halloween so everyone gets a fair share of the candy collected.
Re: Report: Xbox Feels UK CMA Has 'Significantly' Overestimated The Impact Of COD Exclusivity
Sony's way of selling this acquisition is that it's all 'bad news' for Microsoft to gain such a large company, but Microsoft's way is pointing out how their market share is inadequate.
Microsoft's biggest acquisitions all went cross-platform as soon as possible, which has hurt their bottom line and market share, but also shows their stance on the market.
Microsoft, at E3 in recent years, has been stellar, with very few 'Console Exclusive' announcements, but Sony has been abysmal, with excessive 'Playstation Exclusive' announcements, and some games STILL being only available on PS4 or PS5.
Sony want you to believe that this acquisition will mean that Microsoft will flip the market and send them into a downturn that they'll never recover from. Microsoft, meanwhile, are right to point out that CoD isn't what they'd use to flip the market, especially since Sony have far too much that they could flip it back with.
Re: Report: Xbox Feels UK CMA Has 'Significantly' Overestimated The Impact Of COD Exclusivity
It would be like saying on a billboard -
15% of people surveyed said 'We like this particular cake more than any other', with the actual number of people surveyed is in small print, while a more honest ad says 'Only 3% of people surveyed liked that particular cake, and over 50% of people polled have diabetes.'
The percentage is what's trumpeted, not the amount of people surveyed. And often that can cause really wonky numbers.
Re: Soapbox: I Hope Forza Horizon 6 Goes In A Different Direction For The Series
Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown shows what Forza Horizon 6 should be.
Far Eastern country, some real purpose to having your avatar other than someone who stands around and reacts to what's happening and buildings have more purpose than just a glorified menu.
I'd have loved if Forza Horizon 5 or 6 had the same formula as several other games have, where you drive to a particular car showroom to buy your next car, where there's places like a social club where you meet other players...
I don't want the only thing that I do in my open world be driving to the next location and racing on the same roads as I drive on.
I'd like there to be a good reason I own a house and go to the various hub areas.
That would make the game better... by making it less a driving simulator and more a living world.
Re: Xbox Game Pass Adds Two Surprise Additions To March 2023's Lineup
@Lup The nice thing about the beta was that it INCLUDED the DLC characters, so I already know what I'm buying when it's available, namely Lady Justice/Jack-O Valentine.
Re: Microsoft Granted Access To Certain Sony Docs As FTC Continues To Scrutinise ActiBlizz Deal
Sony:
Buy a controlling interest in as many AAA titles as possible, as 'development costs', and get as many games to be Playstation First, Everyone Else Eventually (Maybe), and use your dominant position to cover for the fact.
Microsoft:
Buy companies who wouldn't mind the money, get some major exclusives and control over some major franchises, distribute them to Nintendo (and Sony if they're interested) and keep yourself afloat.
Nintendo:
Keep innovating and finding new use for old technology. (Who would think that investing in the same technology sector as mobile devices would create the most innovative console in history?) Don't slow down, keep moving forward. Yes, you might not be punching in the same weight class as the others, but your systems are doing miracles all the same.
Sony would love if, when the Cloud-based future comes in, you buy a Playstation-branded dongle with a Playstation-branded controller, and Nintendo and Microsoft are forced to move under their umbrella to keep relevant and making money.
Microsoft could be the umbrella Nintendo sit under in the Cloud future, and Sony don't like it.
Re: Talking Point: Could You Ever See Microsoft Selling The Xbox Brand?
A better question would be if they'd get rid of the box, and just keep the brand. I do not honestly see there being a Playstation 6 or a sequel to the XBOX Series systems.
I can see something like the Amazon Fire Stick, with a SSD in it for local storage, that connects to a central server with all your games on it.
Microsoft have said a few times they want xCloud to be able to support most, if not all, their library, and it's seemingly still in partial beta because it only has the capacity for Game Pass's library.
When the next console generation comes along, I see you going to the store, picking up a $20 USB dongle, maybe some controllers and that's it. You won't need a console. 50/50 if the dongle will be universal for all three companies.
Yes, the prices won't go down, but you'll not be paying $1000 for the inital buy-in, since all the parts that make it expensive... won't be in what you buy.
Re: Xbox Expected To Win Activision Blizzard Battle In EU, Suggests Report
Microsoft buys ABK...
Sony will cry about losing their exclusive content filled deal, but will sign the new deal. Microsoft won't put Black Ops 2 on Game Pass, honoring Sony's poisoned clause, but the new contract likely has allowance for Game Pass Day 1 in it.
Microsoft will negotiate with Nintendo something like a 'free' xCloud for Switch addition to NSO Expansion Pass, which will fulfil the 10 year deal and prove the regulators wrong.
And Microsoft itself will do similar to with Bethesda, work on putting as much of Activision's back catalogue on Game Pass as possible, while offering to help Blizzard add more than just Overwatch to consoles.
Microsoft fails to buy ABK...
Sony and/or Tencent carve up the corpse, Sony taking Infinity Ward and most of Activision's talent for Call Of Duty development ad infinitum, while Tencent consumes Blizzard entirely.
Anything not of interest to Sony or Tencent will be packaged up and sold to the lowest bidder, and might be seen, eventually, appearing somewhere, but Spyro, Crash and similar?
Don't expect another AAA game.
Re: Microsoft Granted Access To Certain Sony Docs As FTC Continues To Scrutinise ActiBlizz Deal
There's a difference between 'successful' and being in the dominant market position.
The FTC and CMA's case is that Microsoft buying ABK would upend the market and place them in an overly dominant market position. allowing them push Sony out of the market. (Yes, Yes, I know what you're going to say, but leave it till I'm done)
What Microsoft is pointing out is that they're nowhere near strong enough to do more than strengthen their portfolio, and pushing anyone out of the market? No, that's not their plan.
Meanwhile, Sony... Oh yes, they're all over pushing people out of the market.
We already know from the leaked Call Of Duty deal that Sony got a much more generous deal out of Activision and that's the deal they're renewing, with a poisoned chalice hidden in the small print that means it cannot be on Game Pass AT ALL with that same deal in place.
Add to that the amount of games that are PC/PS4/PS5/Switch, especially from Japanese developers, helping keep the frankly ridiculous thought that Japanese Games don't sell well on XBOX going...
And you can see that Sony, as discreetly as possible, are trying to tell as many companies as they can to ignore the XBOX Series X, to trumpet about their super-SSD, to claim that only Playstation can do games as good as that...
While also telling the regulators, when Microsoft steps out of line, "Excuse me, but the company I'm trying to force out of the market just bought something I was eyeing up. Please make sure I at least get my standard Call Of Duty deal. OK, Thanks, Bye."
Re: Xbox Game Pass Adds Two Surprise Additions To March 2023's Lineup
As the game itself says, 'Let's Rock!'...
Good to see the first of ASW's commitments properly arrive. Even if the multiplayer beta did give me a good taste, and persuade me that DLC, if needed, is needed.
Re: Microsoft Granted Access To Certain Sony Docs As FTC Continues To Scrutinise ActiBlizz Deal
Disable Javascript and Cookies for Bloomberg. That should help.
Re: Microsoft Granted Access To Certain Sony Docs As FTC Continues To Scrutinise ActiBlizz Deal
I could easily see the judge and FTC look over the 2019-2023 documents and tell Sony that they've come to a preliminary decision...
"Microsoft's deal goes through, and excuse me, but we want to talk about your business practices for the last decade."
Re: Microsoft Granted Access To Certain Sony Docs As FTC Continues To Scrutinise ActiBlizz Deal
Sony are all 'This isn't relevant', 'You already have that' or It would take too long to compile'...
The infamous 10 year contract, if we get material in this release showing Jim and his lawyer trying to push for 'the same deal as [Activision] gave us' and saying 'We don't want parity, we want the old deal'...
Well, that'll shoot him in the foot about the unsigned contract.
If there are mentions of paying for the PS4/PS5/Switch exclusivity model, I see that model getting binned, as the companies whose contracts those clauses were in negotiate a new one... with Microsoft and Nintendo.
Re: Microsoft Granted Access To Certain Sony Docs As FTC Continues To Scrutinise ActiBlizz Deal
@Kaloudz Pretty much exactly that. Microsoft are likely highly suspicious of how much clout Sony has over the merger, and want to prove that some under-the-table deals haven't been made, and/or Jimmy boy hasn't been poisoning the chalice.
And the amount of things Sony claimed 'We can't find easily' or 'It's in Japanese'... Oh, that shows they want to keep as much as possible unknown.
@NEStalgia If they reveal that the reason it's not come to Microsoft is that they completely 'reset the clock', and are planning to reset it again when Episode 2 comes out, until Microsoft might see the first episode.. sometime in 2030...
Well, that will piss off a lot of people who are supporting Sony as being above reproach.
Re: Microsoft Granted Access To Certain Sony Docs As FTC Continues To Scrutinise ActiBlizz Deal
Most of how Sony failed was that they failed to provide a damn good reason that it's not important to the case. Oh, they proved the SCOPE of what Microsoft wanted to know was excessive, in their eyes, but outside of that, Microsoft got practically everything they wanted.
Re: Microsoft Granted Access To Certain Sony Docs As FTC Continues To Scrutinise ActiBlizz Deal
@KaijuKaiser Let me tell you about a 'little' game named Project Diva. It's a widget series and a rhythm game in a market DDR and the ... Hero series have saturated. SEGA released one of the games in the West as a test.
They've had universally good sales since, on any platform they release on.
Another game, Super Robot Wars 30. Released for the first time in the West in 2022. Also had brilliant sales figures.
I'd love to see the sales figures for Dragon Quest XI S on XBOX or Dragon Quest Builders. Might be interesting.
Re: Microsoft Granted Access To Certain Sony Docs As FTC Continues To Scrutinise ActiBlizz Deal
@Tharsman They've ported Disgaea 4, 5 and 6, along with most of their back catalogue, to PC, PS4/PS5 and Switch, while XBOX hasn't got a look in. I can name several other companies who seem to think 'multi-platform' means Switch, Playstation and PC and it's a noticeable minority.
Re: Microsoft Granted Access To Certain Sony Docs As FTC Continues To Scrutinise ActiBlizz Deal
@Tharsman
Which is the big point Microsoft is trying to make...
Microsoft: Buy a company to improve their portfolio, make more money and get their name out. Yes, they get right to exclusivity, but it's not a done deal. They let people play Mojang's games, they're honoring deals made by Bethesda... but apparently, they're the boogeymen now who won't honor deals in place for CoD.
Sony: SOMETHING is making even games as low-tech as Disgaea 6 and 7 and Octopath 2 skip XBOX entirely, and Nintendo are friends with Microsoft. So, someone else must be changing the rules on how exclusivity works, and the CoD 'golden handshake' that came out recently shows what Sony is willing to do.
Sony are willing to push to hide most of the internal information, and definitely not reveal material that covers FF7 Remake and Street Fighter 5. Which means that while this is risky, something about what they were doing way back in 2012 is even worse.
Re: Microsoft Granted Access To Certain Sony Docs As FTC Continues To Scrutinise ActiBlizz Deal
Something like Street Fighter 5 won't be on there, but pretty much all the discussions about the latest Final Fantasy will be, laying bare how much REALLY is about the 'super fast SSD' in the PS5.
If the chilling effect clause is real, and it's seen that games like Disgaea 7 and Final Fantasy 16 aren't coming to XBOX due to it, instead of the supposed SSD speed...
Sony will lose BIG.