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Microsoft/Activision Blizzard Acquisition - Information Thread, update: The Deal Has Closed


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9 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

Sony coming up with a lot of baloney

 

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The company argues that Xbox will become the home of FPS games if its Activision deal is approved…

 


They’re not wrong about Microsoft owning a shooter monopoly once they get CoD.  The only games that can even remotely hang with their franchises now are of the F2P variety.  To which they also own one of the biggest. (Overwatch)

 

That doesn’t make Sony Nintendo.  But could put them in a position somewhat like when Sony stole the JRPG from them. :p

 

 

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5 hours ago, BloodyHell said:

I don't, but it's entirely selfish, it adds value to gamepass.

 

2 hours ago, Zaku3 said:

 

This is probably the only way we get a new Warcraft/Starcraft so I'm down.

 

MSFT acquiring them bails out a lot of bad actors who have directly led to a lot of the issues in the gaming industry, including the lack of variety and lack of competition. 

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On 11/23/2022 at 6:48 PM, crispy4000 said:


They’re not wrong about Microsoft owning a shooter monopoly once they get CoD.  The only games that can even remotely hang with their franchises now are of the F2P variety.  To which they also own one of the biggest. (Overwatch)

 

That doesn’t make Sony Nintendo.  But could put them in a position somewhat like when Sony stole the JRPG from them. :p

 

 

Yeaaah I think with Fortnite around that claim doesn't hang. Overwatch ain't even piss in the wind in comparison. Not to mention Battlefield. I just don't buy it.

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I only want it to happen to see if anything exciting happens to WoW. I was never too big into WoW but I did play a bunch of Legion and BfA. I didn't enjoy Shadowlands and I don't plan on returning for the new expansion. 

 

Like, what if you could have a WoW+Gamepass Sub? That'd be hella rad. 

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2 hours ago, Xbob42 said:

Yeaaah I think with Fortnite around that claim doesn't hang. Overwatch ain't even piss in the wind in comparison. Not to mention Battlefield. I just don't buy it.


It’s F2P variety, as I said.  Apex Legends can compete with Microsoft’s offerings too.

 

But for FPS franchises people will straight up pay for (or Games Pass for?), most of the biggest will be in Microsoft’s stable.

 

2 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Or that Sony now owns Bungie :whistlin:


Destiny 2 hasn’t even generated half the revenue of Doom Eternal.  To say nothing of Overwatch and CoD.

 

Bungie deserves plenty of credit, but as a powerhouse FPS studio, their draw isn’t as big as you’d think today.  They’re not at the front of industry trends.

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3 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

Destiny 2 hasn’t even generated half the revenue of Doom Eternal.  To say nothing of Overwatch and CoD.

 

Bungie deserves plenty of credit, but as a powerhouse FPS studio, their draw isn’t as big as you’d think today.  They’re not at the front of industry trends.

 

Yeah but they brought them in to make service games for them, probably FPS games, that are going to compete with the other games on the market.

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6 hours ago, crispy4000 said:


It’s F2P variety, as I said.  Apex Legends can compete with Microsoft’s offerings too.

 

But for FPS franchises people will straight up pay for (or Games Pass for?), most of the biggest will be in Microsoft’s stable.

 


Destiny 2 hasn’t even generated half the revenue of Doom Eternal.  To say nothing of Overwatch and CoD.

 

Bungie deserves plenty of credit, but as a powerhouse FPS studio, their draw isn’t as big as you’d think today.  They’re not at the front of industry trends.

Ive been looking, and theres no evidence of what you're saying about Destiny, except that they make 200m a year in mtx (not counting expansions). 

Something tells me that Doom Eternal has no ongoing revenue of any large amount. 

 

Just copies sold? Sure. But overall  revenue seems like a stretch. 

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2 hours ago, BloodyHell said:

Ive been looking, and theres no evidence of what you're saying about Destiny, except that they make 200m a year in mtx (not counting expansions). 

Something tells me that Doom Eternal has no ongoing revenue of any large amount. 

 

Just copies sold? Sure. But overall  revenue seems like a stretch. 


Think you’re right.  The article I read didn’t specify if it’s 200 million annual.  Doom Eternal is at 450 mil total, in the 2 1/2 years it’s been out.

 

Overwatch (~800m annual) and Warzone (~2000m annual) are still much bigger than either.

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17 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

It's definitely $200 million annually which would make sense considering the $3.6 billion Sony paid for Bungie 


Still puts in perspective how good of a deal that Bethesda acquisition was, relatively speaking. Microsoft got so many notable western properties and studios out of it.  Sony spends half of that, gets one. And they won’t even keep it off Xbox.

 

I don’t see why any FPS-centric gamer would consider going with a PS5 at this point.  Sony buys a timed exclusive, then Microsoft buys that same developer. :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...
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The Federal Trade Commission is seeking to block technology giant Microsoft Corp. from acquiring leading video game developer Activision Blizzard, Inc.

 

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The Federal Trade Commission is seeking to block technology giant Microsoft Corp. from acquiring leading video game developer Activision Blizzard, Inc. and its blockbuster gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, alleging that the $69 billion deal, Microsoft’s largest ever and the largest ever in the video gaming industry, would enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business.

 

In a complaint issued today, the FTC pointed to Microsoft’s record of acquiring and using valuable gaming content to suppress competition from rival consoles, including its acquisition of ZeniMax, parent company of Bethesda Softworks (a well-known game developer). Microsoft decided to make several of Bethesda's titles including Starfield and Redfall Microsoft exclusives despite assurances it had given to European antitrust authorities that it had no incentive to withhold games from rival consoles.

 

“Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals,” said Holly Vedova, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Microsoft/Activision Blizzard Acquisition - Information Thread, update: FTC officially files anti-trust lawsuit to block acquisition

If that line about the Bethesda acquisition and Europe is true, then I definitely see why they’re fighting it.

 

This was also 3 years ago.

 

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Focusing on its platform first and foremost Don’t expect to see more Xbox first-party games on other consoles anytime soon....


If I’m not mistaken, the only games they’ve published on rival consoles since were Psyconauts 2 (as promised to backers) and Minecraft Dungeons.  Deathloop was under a previous contract.

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3 minutes ago, Dodger said:

I’ve seen elsewhere MS is likely to ultimately prevail in court but if the CMA block it because of this it might not be able to get it through.

 

The CMA genuinely appears to be a dead stop because at least from what I've read, the judicial right of appeal for a CMA ruling only involves procedural issues with CMA's process and then the case goes back to the CMA once again.

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2 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

The CMA genuinely appears to be a dead stop because at least from what I've read, the judicial right of appeal for a CMA ruling only involves procedural issues with CMA's process and then the case goes back to the CMA once again.


Yeah that’s what I’ve seen as well. Fuck I was really hoping not to spend $70 on Diablo IV. I might have even tried to get into CoD if it was “free” on games pass.

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The commission voted 3-1 to file an administrative complaint seeking to block the merger.

 

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Between the lines: The FTC chose to file the complaint in its own administrative court, not in federal court.

  • The agency is not seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the deal from closing, so the two parties are still likely to close.

     

    The lack of a preliminary injunction to block definitely makes it appear to be the means that the FTC will use to forcibly extract concessions .

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    I’m ok with the FTC suing. I still think the gaming market is pretty competitive and would remain competitive even if the deal closed without any pre-conditions, but it’s probably a good thing that they have to put some things in writing and prove their case.

     

    I am curious what kind of concessions regulators will be looking for other than agreements to publish COD on PlayStation for 10 years or whatever.

     

    I listened to the Decoder podcast with Phil Spencer and something that he pointed out that I think is worth reiterating is that the biggest, most profitable, and most forward looking parts of this deal aren’t COD or World of Warcraft, it’s Candy Crush and mobile games. When it comes to those types of games, MS is not a big player at all, and all that business is done on platforms that MS doesn’t control. I’m sure that MS will push that narrative in court, so we’ll see how they do.

     

    As a matter of personal opinion, I think it might be more interesting if MS was able to close this deal and did make some things exclusive. I’d argue that MS has been losing the exclusivity battle for a long time, and maybe I’m biased because I can afford all platforms, but I don’t think exclusives are necessarily bad things.

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    I have seen comments that part of the CMC concern was over cloud gaming and Games Pass. Not sure what MS could with with cloud stuff other than just not do it, or cancel their Samsung deal to have Xcloud on their tvs. Games Pass shouldn't be any concern, Sony has more PS+ subscribers and it's their own choice they don't put first party games into the service. 

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    8 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

     

    I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if one of the regulatory bodies gives them this divestment choice: King and the CoD studios or Blizzard.

     

    Have to think Microsoft wouldn't even think about it before dropping Blizzard. 

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