Agreed. The Cloud market is the one where there are legitimate concerns, and only the CMA and EU tried to fix that. The FTC went all in on ‘well Sony said it would be bad’ and scored a massive own goal.
😀 I’m British as well and you’re totally right. As soon as this verdict was handed down you knew the CMA would be looking for a way out. They know their arguments have been ruined by the EU and Japan approving and then the FTC getting shot down. They can now make the case that ‘the situation has changed, for us to block it alone would damage U.K. consumers so reluctantly we will remove our objection (they won’t say approve) as long as MS proposed remedies are signed.’
The CMA now have the perfect justification to back down. There were accusations that they and the FTC had colluded on blocking this deal IIRC. They just didn’t bargain on the FTC making such a dreadful job of the PI hearing.
Now it would be easy for them to back down saying that the situation has changed and U.K. consumers stand to lose out.
Absolutely 100% spot on. Well said. Publisher A will like the subscription model, Publisher B will think differently. Some publishers will use it for Game A but not Game B. There’s no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ here
Sorry for the late reply, don’t k ow how I missed this.
Yes it was Mattel and I don’t think they had a clue what they were doing, though I gather the eccentric and often very late selection of games that got sent over to Europe was down to NOJ. It then went to a long-defunct distribution company called THE who did a bit better with the SNES and N64 but still lagged way behind the competitions presence.
I totally agree that the Wii was where NOE got their act together. They were now much more in control. The system was almost simultaneously released, well priced and they did a really good job with the release schedules and unexpected translations. The result was a massive success. They’ve done a superb job with the Switch too, never seen Nintendo so aggressive over here. And again the results are there for all to see.
“ The Xbox one sold 2m faster than the 360? The Switch selling 2m slower than almost anything?”
That I think just shows the effect of momentum from previous gen, the 360 was huge over here. Whereas the Wii U was basically non-existent, possibly explaining the Switch starting slow.
“And let’s not forget picking Mega Drive over SNES back in the day!”
That was largely down to Nintendo. Whereas you guys in the US had a huge NES presence, Nintendo Power, hotlines, big ad campaigns etc the U.K. didn’t even have Nintendo. They farmed out their distribution to third-parties until the early 00’s. Games and systems were regularly very late if they released at all (Mario RPG never came out here).
Sega saw an opportunity because they were struggling in the US and Japan and threw a lot of resources at PAL territories. Megadrive launched in November 1990, the SNES not until April 1992 and then only with 4 games whereas the MD had a huge library by then and was firmly established as the ‘cool’ console.
I thought that. Especially as 140 weeks from the Switch release date is late 2019, probably near to the release of Luigis Mansion 3 and Sword and Shield.
“the older you get, the less enamoured you are with AAA”
I’m 46 and totally agree with you. I’ve played so many games this year but it isn’t the supposed AAA stuff. I’m the same with films. Glossy big budget action films get less exciting as I get older.
I’ve been having a great time playing games last few months but it’s not been COD or God of War or Hogwarts or Jedi Survivor. It’s been Kirby, Hi fi Rush, Pentiment, Metroid Prime etc
I don’t think this will end well for Sony. The deal not going through will likely have them out for revenge, even if it isn’t actually Sonys concerns that got it blocked.
Blocking it because of concerns about the Cloud market makes more sense than anything to do with Sony. If it isn’t going to go through just move on and redirect that resource, though I can’t think of who given a big part of this deal for MS was the King segment of the company giving them a foothold in Mobile gaming.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see them offering stuff for Diablo 4 on GP though not the game itself for a while.
My other hope with ABK is some of their dormant franchises getting a bit more attention. GP/Xbox needs family content and Crash and Spyro are well established in that sense-if they aren’t ready to go with a Crash Team Racing game that includes other Xbox franchise characters quickly then heads need banging together.
Guitar Hero is a perfect live service game. It floundered when it became an annual thing and required full price purchases to get more tracks. However the purchase of all the plastic tat looks more attractive as a one off that’s then supported by a big library of music on GP. Similar principle could apply to Skylanders though that’s more about encouraging a regular purchase of plastic tat.
2. Isn’t there a deal on offer guaranteeing COD, with full parity, for 10 years? If so take it.
3. I really think this guy is clueless. It takes a while for changes of direction to really show their effect in the Games industry but he could turn out to be quite damaging to Playstation. They need someone better at the helm.
I doubt this will go much further than being a bit of showboating. However if there is a Trade Deal and Japanese companies are colluding to stop an American business from competing fairly, in direct contradiction of that Trade deal, it would be remiss of American representatives not to ask the question. Even if it’s just a case of making sure the issue is registered.
The ABK deal and especially Sonys response to it have opened up a can of worms for the industry. I hope that the Competition authorities can understand the difference between platform holders paying for a third party game to be made that otherwise wouldn’t exist (SF V, Bayonetta) and paying for timed exclusivity on games planned as multi platform.
Once the ABK deal goes through the likes of EA and Ubi soft will be gobbled up, possibly along with Rockstar (though that’s more difficult), by Apple/Google/Meta/Ten Cent. The industry is about to go through a huge change. It seems to me Sony are trying to freeze the industry in time where it is now, which is never going to happen. Even worse, they’ve drawn attention to the industry as it is now.
Well, at least that means less chance of a price rise for everyone else, given this is effectively one for those who’d been using it. I’ve used it before but now just use Rewards to pay for it anyway.
‘Participant E’ absolutely nails the important point-“ It's far more likely that it may help to create a more level playing field between Xbox and PlayStation which, at this point in time, is sorely needed”
There doesn’t need to be a consensus among reviews for anything, they’re just opinions after all. Ignore the scores, read the reviews, form your own opinion.
Noted. I wasn’t aware they’d said anything else, that was what I was expecting anyway.
Seasoned Nintendo fans will already be aware of the ludicrous circle of life that takes place around Nintendo Directs. Fans build up their own expectations to ludicrous heights then criticise Nintendo after because-no matter how good the actual Direct is-it didn’t meet them.
Fair comments. The curation needs to continue to be good. Hopefully it will, once MS have a healthy library of their own games I can see a situation where the big third party games drop off and GP becomes mainly First/Second Party and Indie. No need to pay for expensive AAA Third Party games that can be a source of licensing fee revenue instead.
Oh cool. I’m off that day so can watch. Hope they get the format right, I consider Nintendo the gold standard for this kind of thing. A surprise or two would be very welcome.
If they could bring themselves to drop the charge for Online Play then yes they should absolutely kill Gold. It’s whether hey think the extra revenue/GP subscriptions would make up for the lost XBLG revenue.
Let’s face it, the whole motivation of the FTC is political. It’s hard to explain them using Antitrust laws to support the dominant party in a market otherwise.
It’s pretty similar actually. Bear in mind I’m talking about the general public because that’s what this article is about, not necessarily other businesses in the market. They have a separate mechanism for making their views known (as do Airlines, Airports, ANSPs etc in the Aviation process). All I mean is if someone is complaining on here, and on Twitter, but hasn’t made the effort to write to the CMA their opinion won’t count in the CMAs eyes.
It’s perfectly likely that there are more people against the takeover than is represented here, but tough luck. If they didn’t contact the CMA when asked they’ve lost their opportunity to have a say.
I’ve been involved in a few public consultations, specifically around Airspace Design and Noise routings. If somebody doesn’t make the effort to make a submission their opinion will not count. Its impossible for any body making a decision to take into account the opinions of people who haven’t shared their opinions with that body.
Sony are very relevant to it. The regulator is looking at how this deal will affect competition and consumers. Sony are the dominant entity in one of the market sectors affected, and it’s impossible to judge any impact on competition or consumers without knowing what the market currently looks like.
Actually it means a lot. Those 2100 that wrote in are the only ones whose opinions have reached the regulator. They can assume that nobody else is bothered. This is far more relevant than most debates about the subject.
I wrote in saying I was broadly supportive as long as certain conditions were met. First, that a legally binding deal was signed keeping COD on PlayStation, and that this was for a certain number of releases rather than a period of time. Second, the board of ABK were removed and the staff allowed to Unionise. Third, a moratorium was placed on any further purchases of publishers by MS above a certain value. Fourth, the Switch got some sort of COD presence.
Agree with you about Xbox at the start of the last generation. They made Xbox One a hugely unattractive prospect before starting to turn things around in 2016.
It’s a recurring theme in the industry. Once a platform holder gets successful they get consumed by arrogance and finish up shooting themselves in the foot. Atari, Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, they’ve all done it. But at least there’s strong competition (aside from Xbox not quite being close enough to Playstation) to take advantage of those mistakes and being them back into line.
I think I get it. However not everyone is coming at it from the same angle. You may find that not everybody is as upset about a threat to Xbox as you are a threat to Playstation.
When that consolidation comes I’ll take it on a case by case basis. I’ve been gaming (and fascinated by the industry) for over 30 years and change is constant.
In the case of this deal my initial reaction was to be against it. Once the 10-year COD offer was made to Sony and the Nintendo deal agreed, I moved slightly in favour of it. As a rule I’d rather have publishers like ABK in the hands of MS/Sony/Nintendo as they all have a storied history with Video Games that Amazon etc don’t. What MS have said regarding Unionisation is a positive IMO and I think they will resurrect some of ABKs dormant franchises. The 10-year COD deal gave Sony sufficient time to protect themselves and position themselves for the future so on balance I moved in favour.
Equally, I’m philosophical about it because-and this is key-that consolidation is coming whether MS buys ABK or not. The FTC winning in Court will not stop that consolidation. ABK will be picked up by another big boy, as will EA, and it will be Sony AND XBox AND Nintendo who suffer.
“Once Microsoft is allowed to buy Activision, you have to allow Amazon to spend $40 or $50 billion dollars on multiplatform acquisitions...or more. Once Amazon is allowed, Apple, Tencent, etc all have to be allowed...”
That consolidation is going to happen whether the MS-ABK deal goes through or not. Google want into Gaming, so do Amazon. Tencent own a tranche of industry shares already, Netflix are offering games now. Apple will move if the other big boys do. The only question is who they buy. If MS doesn’t get ABK one of the other big boys will and they will be allowed to be whether MS gets stopped or not. EA is up for sale, Sony will probably buy Square Enix.
“(My consolation prize will be watching all the people defending Microsoft's ABK acquisition...turn & get upset at Amazon, Apple, Tencent etc...do the same thing as Microsoft)”
I have no idea how or why that would be a consolation if something you claim will be a disaster happens. That makes me suspect your real motivation for being so obviously strongly against this deal is Console Warring.
“the answer is that none of these mega conglomerates are your friend & the fewer people at the top who own more of the goods/services...the worse it is for the consumer”
This is a good point. It illustrates why having Xbox a stronger competitor in the Console Sector is good for the industry. It stops Sony resting on their laurels. It also illustrates why it’s a huge plus for XBox to have a big foothold in the Mobile market which buying ABK will give them.
My concern now is Sonys shortsightedness is going to cost them. They seem determined to keep fighting todays industry battle and look like they could get outflanked. They should have taken the deals on offer around COD. If, as is now possible, the FTC loses in Court and MS is cleared to buy ABK without any concessions around COD I’d be much less happy, as that could unbalance the Console market rather than simply allow MS to close the gap a bit.
MS said they aren’t in direct competition with just Sony. As in, not solely Sony. Which is entirely correct. They are in competition with Sony in the Console sector of the gaming market which is a smaller sector than PC or Mobile by revenue. They see their future as being in competition with Apple, Google, Amazon, Tencent as well as Sony which is entirely true.
“But again, I can't wait to watch Xbox fans react to Amazon,etc...when they start doing $40 billion dollar acquisitions”
Seems to be some misunderstanding here. This is actually a solid argument. It’s very hard for anyone to claim Xbox being too big and having too many exclusives is a reason to stop them buying ABK when their market share is so much lower than Playstation and there’s a big difference in exclusives. Of course, Xbox will have a lot more in the coming years but that’s a different argument.
Comments 570
Re: Xbox Wins FTC Court Case As Judge Denies Preliminary Injunction
@S1ayeR74
Agreed. The Cloud market is the one where there are legitimate concerns, and only the CMA and EU tried to fix that. The FTC went all in on ‘well Sony said it would be bad’ and scored a massive own goal.
Re: Xbox Wins FTC Court Case As Judge Denies Preliminary Injunction
@Kaloudz
😀 I’m British as well and you’re totally right. As soon as this verdict was handed down you knew the CMA would be looking for a way out. They know their arguments have been ruined by the EU and Japan approving and then the FTC getting shot down. They can now make the case that ‘the situation has changed, for us to block it alone would damage U.K. consumers so reluctantly we will remove our objection (they won’t say approve) as long as MS proposed remedies are signed.’
Re: Xbox Wins FTC Court Case As Judge Denies Preliminary Injunction
@Nickhyazaki
Given that a couple of Xbox execs swore under oath that they wouldn’t take COD off Playstation they’d be very foolish to attempt to go back on that.
Re: Xbox Wins FTC Court Case As Judge Denies Preliminary Injunction
The CMA now have the perfect justification to back down. There were accusations that they and the FTC had colluded on blocking this deal IIRC. They just didn’t bargain on the FTC making such a dreadful job of the PI hearing.
Now it would be easy for them to back down saying that the situation has changed and U.K. consumers stand to lose out.
Re: Xbox Could Expect FTC Injunction Verdict As Soon As Next Week
As a Manchester United supporter, it’s hard to tell which incredibly tedious and long drawn out takeover saga is the most mind numbing now.
Re: Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag Remake Supposedly In Development At Ubisoft
Oh great. Just great. Why?
Re: Activision Boss Admits He'll Have To 'Agree To Disagree' With Microsoft Over Xbox Game Pass
@EvenStephen7
Absolutely 100% spot on. Well said. Publisher A will like the subscription model, Publisher B will think differently. Some publishers will use it for Game A but not Game B. There’s no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ here
Re: Xbox Series X|S Reaches 2 Million Sales In UK, Climbs Into Top 10 Fastest-Selling List
@NorthwestEagle
Sorry for the late reply, don’t k ow how I missed this.
Yes it was Mattel and I don’t think they had a clue what they were doing, though I gather the eccentric and often very late selection of games that got sent over to Europe was down to NOJ. It then went to a long-defunct distribution company called THE who did a bit better with the SNES and N64 but still lagged way behind the competitions presence.
I totally agree that the Wii was where NOE got their act together. They were now much more in control. The system was almost simultaneously released, well priced and they did a really good job with the release schedules and unexpected translations. The result was a massive success. They’ve done a superb job with the Switch too, never seen Nintendo so aggressive over here. And again the results are there for all to see.
Re: Xbox Series X|S Reaches 2 Million Sales In UK, Climbs Into Top 10 Fastest-Selling List
@Tharsman
“ The Xbox one sold 2m faster than the 360? The Switch selling 2m slower than almost anything?”
That I think just shows the effect of momentum from previous gen, the 360 was huge over here. Whereas the Wii U was basically non-existent, possibly explaining the Switch starting slow.
“And let’s not forget picking Mega Drive over SNES back in the day!”
That was largely down to Nintendo. Whereas you guys in the US had a huge NES presence, Nintendo Power, hotlines, big ad campaigns etc the U.K. didn’t even have Nintendo. They farmed out their distribution to third-parties until the early 00’s. Games and systems were regularly very late if they released at all (Mario RPG never came out here).
Sega saw an opportunity because they were struggling in the US and Japan and threw a lot of resources at PAL territories. Megadrive launched in November 1990, the SNES not until April 1992 and then only with 4 games whereas the MD had a huge library by then and was firmly established as the ‘cool’ console.
Re: Xbox Series X|S Reaches 2 Million Sales In UK, Climbs Into Top 10 Fastest-Selling List
@UltimateOtaku91
I thought that. Especially as 140 weeks from the Switch release date is late 2019, probably near to the release of Luigis Mansion 3 and Sword and Shield.
Re: Microsoft Says To Expect 'New Surprises And First-Looks' From Xbox Games Showcase 2023
@Sakai
“the older you get, the less enamoured you are with AAA”
I’m 46 and totally agree with you. I’ve played so many games this year but it isn’t the supposed AAA stuff. I’m the same with films. Glossy big budget action films get less exciting as I get older.
I’ve been having a great time playing games last few months but it’s not been COD or God of War or Hogwarts or Jedi Survivor. It’s been Kirby, Hi fi Rush, Pentiment, Metroid Prime etc
Re: Microsoft Says To Expect 'New Surprises And First-Looks' From Xbox Games Showcase 2023
Removed
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
@BRT15
Relentlessly so! 🙄😁
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
@Widey85
I don’t think this will end well for Sony. The deal not going through will likely have them out for revenge, even if it isn’t actually Sonys concerns that got it blocked.
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
@BRT15
“ Thankfully the UK is not a guiding beacon when it comes to good decisions and good governance.”
Now hang on. I’m British and I am offend….oh yeah you’re quite right. It’s a sh*tshow over here.
Re: Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Blocked In The UK
Blocking it because of concerns about the Cloud market makes more sense than anything to do with Sony. If it isn’t going to go through just move on and redirect that resource, though I can’t think of who given a big part of this deal for MS was the King segment of the company giving them a foothold in Mobile gaming.
Re: UK CMA 'Expected' To Approve Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal This Week
@NEStalgia
I wouldn’t be surprised to see them offering stuff for Diablo 4 on GP though not the game itself for a while.
My other hope with ABK is some of their dormant franchises getting a bit more attention. GP/Xbox needs family content and Crash and Spyro are well established in that sense-if they aren’t ready to go with a Crash Team Racing game that includes other Xbox franchise characters quickly then heads need banging together.
Guitar Hero is a perfect live service game. It floundered when it became an annual thing and required full price purchases to get more tracks. However the purchase of all the plastic tat looks more attractive as a one off that’s then supported by a big library of music on GP. Similar principle could apply to Skylanders though that’s more about encouraging a regular purchase of plastic tat.
Re: Another Five Games Will Leave Xbox Game Pass Soon (April 30)
Not Tetris! I may have to buy that, though TBH I’ll probably get it on Switch
Re: Jim Ryan Fears 'Serious Damage' If Xbox Degrades Call Of Duty For PlayStation
1. He’s happy when it goes the other way
2. Isn’t there a deal on offer guaranteeing COD, with full parity, for 10 years? If so take it.
3. I really think this guy is clueless. It takes a while for changes of direction to really show their effect in the Games industry but he could turn out to be quite damaging to Playstation. They need someone better at the helm.
Re: Microsoft Welcomes Investigation Into Sony's 'Anti-Competitive Tactics' In Japan
@S1ayeR74
Oh yeah, don’t know how I missed that bit. They have to raise issues then, otherwise what is the use of such Deals?
Re: Microsoft Welcomes Investigation Into Sony's 'Anti-Competitive Tactics' In Japan
I doubt this will go much further than being a bit of showboating. However if there is a Trade Deal and Japanese companies are colluding to stop an American business from competing fairly, in direct contradiction of that Trade deal, it would be remiss of American representatives not to ask the question. Even if it’s just a case of making sure the issue is registered.
The ABK deal and especially Sonys response to it have opened up a can of worms for the industry. I hope that the Competition authorities can understand the difference between platform holders paying for a third party game to be made that otherwise wouldn’t exist (SF V, Bayonetta) and paying for timed exclusivity on games planned as multi platform.
Once the ABK deal goes through the likes of EA and Ubi soft will be gobbled up, possibly along with Rockstar (though that’s more difficult), by Apple/Google/Meta/Ten Cent. The industry is about to go through a huge change. It seems to me Sony are trying to freeze the industry in time where it is now, which is never going to happen. Even worse, they’ve drawn attention to the industry as it is now.
Re: Microsoft Confirms $1 Xbox Game Pass Trial Offer Has Been 'Stopped'
Well, at least that means less chance of a price rise for everyone else, given this is effectively one for those who’d been using it. I’ve used it before but now just use Rewards to pay for it anyway.
Re: Xbox Takes Major Step Towards Activision Blizzard Approval In UK
Just take the 10 years Sony. Been saying this for ages
Re: UK CMA Documents Reveal Six Companies In Favour Of Xbox ActiBlizz Acquisition
‘Participant E’ absolutely nails the important point-“ It's far more likely that it may help to create a more level playing field between Xbox and PlayStation which, at this point in time, is sorely needed”
Re: Xbox Games With Gold For March 2023 Announced
Well this is rubbish, why don’t hey just bin Good and….hang on, what madness is this?
Three really interesting games there. An actual good month for once.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Critics Think Of 'Atomic Heart' On Xbox Game Pass
@themcnoisy
There doesn’t need to be a consensus among reviews for anything, they’re just opinions after all. Ignore the scores, read the reviews, form your own opinion.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Critics Think Of 'Atomic Heart' On Xbox Game Pass
Quite a spread of reviews but overall very positive. Looking forward to giving it a go.
Re: Review: Hogwarts Legacy - A Harry Potter Fan's Dream, The Best Game In Franchise History
Not even a big Harry Potter fan but tempted to give this a go based on the review and how the game looks. Maybe this will suck me into that universe.
Re: Xbox Exec Wants Fans To Keep Developer_Direct Expectations In Check
Noted. I wasn’t aware they’d said anything else, that was what I was expecting anyway.
Seasoned Nintendo fans will already be aware of the ludicrous circle of life that takes place around Nintendo Directs. Fans build up their own expectations to ludicrous heights then criticise Nintendo after because-no matter how good the actual Direct is-it didn’t meet them.
Re: Phil Spencer Responds To Xbox Layoffs, Calls It A 'Difficult Moment In Time' For Microsoft
Another handy reminder about MS, Sony, Nintendo, EA, Ubi Soft, Activision Blizzard etc etc.
They exist to make money, the people they have to please are their shareholders. They aren’t your friend. They are businesses.
Re: Another Four Games Will Leave Xbox Game Pass Soon (January 31)
@Deemo37
Seconded. Donut County is really enjoyable. I only started playing it for easy Achievements but kept going and completed it.
Re: Tunic Publisher 'Concerned' About Subscription Services Like Xbox Game Pass
Fair comments. The curation needs to continue to be good. Hopefully it will, once MS have a healthy library of their own games I can see a situation where the big third party games drop off and GP becomes mainly First/Second Party and Indie. No need to pay for expensive AAA Third Party games that can be a source of licensing fee revenue instead.
Re: Xbox & Bethesda 'Developer_Direct' Event Confirmed For This Month
Oh cool. I’m off that day so can watch. Hope they get the format right, I consider Nintendo the gold standard for this kind of thing. A surprise or two would be very welcome.
Re: Talking Point: Is It Time For Xbox To Sunset The 'Games With Gold' Program?
If they could bring themselves to drop the charge for Online Play then yes they should absolutely kill Gold. It’s whether hey think the extra revenue/GP subscriptions would make up for the lost XBLG revenue.
Re: Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!
Re: Activision Blizzard Says FTC Has 'Lost Sight Of Realities' In Highly Critical Response To Lawsuit
Let’s face it, the whole motivation of the FTC is political. It’s hard to explain them using Antitrust laws to support the dominant party in a market otherwise.
Re: CMA Reveals Public Feedback Has Been Mostly In Favour Of Xbox's ActiBlizz Acquisition
@Titntin
It’s pretty similar actually. Bear in mind I’m talking about the general public because that’s what this article is about, not necessarily other businesses in the market. They have a separate mechanism for making their views known (as do Airlines, Airports, ANSPs etc in the Aviation process). All I mean is if someone is complaining on here, and on Twitter, but hasn’t made the effort to write to the CMA their opinion won’t count in the CMAs eyes.
It’s perfectly likely that there are more people against the takeover than is represented here, but tough luck. If they didn’t contact the CMA when asked they’ve lost their opportunity to have a say.
Re: CMA Reveals Public Feedback Has Been Mostly In Favour Of Xbox's ActiBlizz Acquisition
@themightyant
Ah I see, you’re right I misunderstood the context.
Re: CMA Reveals Public Feedback Has Been Mostly In Favour Of Xbox's ActiBlizz Acquisition
@Titntin
I’ve been involved in a few public consultations, specifically around Airspace Design and Noise routings. If somebody doesn’t make the effort to make a submission their opinion will not count. Its impossible for any body making a decision to take into account the opinions of people who haven’t shared their opinions with that body.
Re: CMA Reveals Public Feedback Has Been Mostly In Favour Of Xbox's ActiBlizz Acquisition
@themightyant
Sony are very relevant to it. The regulator is looking at how this deal will affect competition and consumers. Sony are the dominant entity in one of the market sectors affected, and it’s impossible to judge any impact on competition or consumers without knowing what the market currently looks like.
Re: CMA Reveals Public Feedback Has Been Mostly In Favour Of Xbox's ActiBlizz Acquisition
@Titntin
Actually it means a lot. Those 2100 that wrote in are the only ones whose opinions have reached the regulator. They can assume that nobody else is bothered. This is far more relevant than most debates about the subject.
Re: CMA Reveals Public Feedback Has Been Mostly In Favour Of Xbox's ActiBlizz Acquisition
@Snake_V5
Not necessarily. Could be a lot of multi-format and PC gamers.
Re: CMA Reveals Public Feedback Has Been Mostly In Favour Of Xbox's ActiBlizz Acquisition
I wrote in saying I was broadly supportive as long as certain conditions were met. First, that a legally binding deal was signed keeping COD on PlayStation, and that this was for a certain number of releases rather than a period of time. Second, the board of ABK were removed and the staff allowed to Unionise. Third, a moratorium was placed on any further purchases of publishers by MS above a certain value. Fourth, the Switch got some sort of COD presence.
Re: Microsoft Refers To Lack Of Xbox Exclusives As Why ActiBlizz Deal Should Be Approved
@TheElectroFunky
You’re very kind.
Agree with you about Xbox at the start of the last generation. They made Xbox One a hugely unattractive prospect before starting to turn things around in 2016.
It’s a recurring theme in the industry. Once a platform holder gets successful they get consumed by arrogance and finish up shooting themselves in the foot. Atari, Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, they’ve all done it. But at least there’s strong competition (aside from Xbox not quite being close enough to Playstation) to take advantage of those mistakes and being them back into line.
Re: What's All This About A Cheaper, Ad-Filled Version Of Xbox Game Pass?
Not for me but I can see it being tempting for some.
Where’s my Friends and Family sub though, MS?
Re: Another Nine Games Will Leave Xbox Game Pass Soon (December 31)
Shame. I haven’t been able to get into Outer Wilds so was hoping to give it another go at some point. The Pedestrian is really good.
Re: Microsoft Refers To Lack Of Xbox Exclusives As Why ActiBlizz Deal Should Be Approved
@uptownsoul
I think I get it. However not everyone is coming at it from the same angle. You may find that not everybody is as upset about a threat to Xbox as you are a threat to Playstation.
When that consolidation comes I’ll take it on a case by case basis. I’ve been gaming (and fascinated by the industry) for over 30 years and change is constant.
In the case of this deal my initial reaction was to be against it. Once the 10-year COD offer was made to Sony and the Nintendo deal agreed, I moved slightly in favour of it. As a rule I’d rather have publishers like ABK in the hands of MS/Sony/Nintendo as they all have a storied history with Video Games that Amazon etc don’t. What MS have said regarding Unionisation is a positive IMO and I think they will resurrect some of ABKs dormant franchises. The 10-year COD deal gave Sony sufficient time to protect themselves and position themselves for the future so on balance I moved in favour.
Equally, I’m philosophical about it because-and this is key-that consolidation is coming whether MS buys ABK or not. The FTC winning in Court will not stop that consolidation. ABK will be picked up by another big boy, as will EA, and it will be Sony AND XBox AND Nintendo who suffer.
Re: Microsoft Refers To Lack Of Xbox Exclusives As Why ActiBlizz Deal Should Be Approved
@uptownsoul
“Once Microsoft is allowed to buy Activision, you have to allow Amazon to spend $40 or $50 billion dollars on multiplatform acquisitions...or more.
Once Amazon is allowed, Apple, Tencent, etc all have to be allowed...”
That consolidation is going to happen whether the MS-ABK deal goes through or not. Google want into Gaming, so do Amazon. Tencent own a tranche of industry shares already, Netflix are offering games now. Apple will move if the other big boys do. The only question is who they buy. If MS doesn’t get ABK one of the other big boys will and they will be allowed to be whether MS gets stopped or not. EA is up for sale, Sony will probably buy Square Enix.
“(My consolation prize will be watching all the people defending Microsoft's ABK acquisition...turn & get upset at Amazon, Apple, Tencent etc...do the same thing as Microsoft)”
I have no idea how or why that would be a consolation if something you claim will be a disaster happens. That makes me suspect your real motivation for being so obviously strongly against this deal is Console Warring.
“the answer is that none of these mega conglomerates are your friend & the fewer people at the top who own more of the goods/services...the worse it is for the consumer”
This is a good point. It illustrates why having Xbox a stronger competitor in the Console Sector is good for the industry. It stops Sony resting on their laurels. It also illustrates why it’s a huge plus for XBox to have a big foothold in the Mobile market which buying ABK will give them.
My concern now is Sonys shortsightedness is going to cost them. They seem determined to keep fighting todays industry battle and look like they could get outflanked. They should have taken the deals on offer around COD. If, as is now possible, the FTC loses in Court and MS is cleared to buy ABK without any concessions around COD I’d be much less happy, as that could unbalance the Console market rather than simply allow MS to close the gap a bit.
Re: Microsoft Refers To Lack Of Xbox Exclusives As Why ActiBlizz Deal Should Be Approved
@uptownsoul
MS said they aren’t in direct competition with just Sony. As in, not solely Sony. Which is entirely correct. They are in competition with Sony in the Console sector of the gaming market which is a smaller sector than PC or Mobile by revenue. They see their future as being in competition with Apple, Google, Amazon, Tencent as well as Sony which is entirely true.
“But again, I can't wait to watch Xbox fans react to Amazon,etc...when they start doing $40 billion dollar acquisitions”
Why do you keep saying this?
Re: Microsoft Refers To Lack Of Xbox Exclusives As Why ActiBlizz Deal Should Be Approved
Seems to be some misunderstanding here. This is actually a solid argument. It’s very hard for anyone to claim Xbox being too big and having too many exclusives is a reason to stop them buying ABK when their market share is so much lower than Playstation and there’s a big difference in exclusives. Of course, Xbox will have a lot more in the coming years but that’s a different argument.