Microsoft offered 10 years of Call of Duty because they thought it would satisfy the EC and CMA and because it was something they already were going to do even without the contract, so it literally cost them nothing.
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Yeah true but their concerns were cloud which made no sense because cloud gaming being relevant is at least 20+ years away. So while Microsoft offered that deal to satisfy the EC and CMA, in the end, neitherâs concerns were console based which pretty much eliminates the need to offer a 10 year COD deal because it wasnât going to matter.
Neither were concerned in that area (the EC especially) partly due to the contracts. Regardless, thatâs the only reason they were offered,but it didnât mean that Xbox was going to yank a massive money maker from PS without the contracts.
All Iâm truly arguing with you is that I donât think they will do one behavior with literally everything else, I donât believe in absolutes. Theyâll do what they think makes the most sense commercially for each situation.
You do realize this contradicts the details of the proposal for acquiring Sega that they themselves wrote, right?
We should be writing some of those and submitting them in 
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Thats a commonly misinterpreted understanding. The terms they use are âaquired content will remain multiplatformâ. It means they dont have any intentions to delist games from other stores.
New games are exclusive. As is aleays the way. Sega is not a special case.
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In all honesty, the only thing that makes sense is for everything to be exclusive because thatâs the only way to grow the Xbox platform and eco-system. No brand has ever grown by NOT having exclusives. Exclusives are what separates the brands. I own a PS5 because of Sonyâs exclusives. I owned an Xbox One for a few of Microsoftâs exclusives. I have owned Switch for Nintendoâs exclusives.
If you donât have exclusive games, people arenât going to jump into Xbox just because of Game Pass simply because the vast majority of games theyâre not going to play so why buy a $500 console when you can just spend $70 a year for example on COD or a little more for the next Crash or Spyro. Plus, people do prefer trophies over achievements (I donât care about either) and with PS4/PS5, people who are into that eo-system arenât going to jump to Xbox if they can still get what they want on PlayStation.
So I understand your point but at the same time, excluding COD, I believe that making games multi-platform would be the far worse decision because youâre undermining your own platform and youâll get everyone asking why is AB games multi-platform but everyone else is exclusive?
In my mind, way too many complications and issues arise from giving Sony anything outside of COD which is the ONLY game theyâve agreed to.
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I would love to see MS bring games to Switch 2. Imagine the salt if Blizzards new survival game comes to Xbox, PC, and Switch 2!
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The Sony cult is very present in the gaming press these days
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Best case scenario imo, as switch is somewhat of a competitor but not in all cases and to me as a portable system almost becomes an extension of the Xbox ecosystem in the same way when people play on a steam deck or an ROG Ally. The potential reach of gamers that way would be huge and you cut off your main competitor, which is Sony.
Traffic must be low at PCGamer and Metro, theyâve popped massive hate boners for Microsoft this year
Better get use to it, the only way its going to change is for MS to contiue to deliver games, good quality games on a regular cadence
Thats why its important to keep those ABK games barring COD exclusive. Get that mindshare, overwhelm people with so many good games theyll have no choice but to buy an Xbox or at least play on PC
Someone mentioned this on a podcast but it seems that MS has used influencers to counter media bias and it seems to be working. Iâve noticed Twitter users like Jaywood2010 and Karim Jovian (whos has a sizable Twitter following) have been going the opposite route of some of these sites and there are more influencers out there than gaming journalist
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In other news i was looking this article thaf Idas posted on Era
Post in thread âThe Microsoft / Activision Blizzard acquisition |OT| Antitrust Simulator (Officially approved by the CMA; Merger closed)â The Microsoft / Activision Blizzard acquisition |OT| Antitrust Simulator (Officially approved by the CMA; Merger closed) OT | Page 1805 | ResetEra
It was very, very likely that if the CAT appeal had gone through the CMA would have gotten annihilated, i also believe that MS would have won 4 or 5/6 grounds giving the CMA no chance to block again after remittal. This is exactly why the CMA tried every tactic in the book to delay the hearing and why they literally asked the CAT if they can make up a new argument
I woukd say that they did the smart thing when they decided to settle and negotiate, better to get a âpyrrhic victoryâ than to suffer defeat. But really the smart thing would have just been to just clear the deal in the first place
Cardell has been extremely bitter throughout the process which is why she said âthis isnt the way to engage with the CMAâ
WhatâŚshould MS have walked away then because the CMA tried to whip it out and kill the deal over something as miniscule as cloud? Play stupid games, win stupid prizes
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I think buying ABK is more important for Xbox to shift narratives instead of just needing exclusives.
Phil should stick to a per case by case basis for what is and what is not exclusive. Each game is different and some may or may not lend itself to be multi plat or not. But Xbox has control of those decisions and they should remind the gaming media of that.
So the fact that now MS has the largest and widest variety of 1st party content they can no longer be ignored or used as a pucnhing bag.
I hope thse fanboy journos tread lightly as they do not want to lose early preview access to COD. I hope MS throws that weight around to neuter the fanboy treatment they get.
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That cop out âa readerâ crap by Metro is pathetic and hilarious in equal measure. Havent even got the balls to back up there own opinion piece, prefering to hand it off to some nade up patsy.
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Wonder if Metro would publish a reader article if it was pro Xbox and anti Playstation 
Oh who am I kidding theyd probably toss it in the trash 
How do you shift narratives though? Either its âXbox is taking away gamesâ or âXbox has no exclusivesâ there is no shifting narratives until Xbox is in a dominant position to where these sites can garner clicks by publishing positive Xbox articles
We already saw from Phils emails what the âcase by caseâ basis is with Bethesda, almost everything goes exclusive with minor exceptions like remasters of old games and MMO expansions
I do agree MS needs to tell these clowns to cut the shit or lose their early access
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If itâs something like the Quake Remasters for example, they should get those out everywhere as they wonât really move the needle in terms of hardware so you are just leaving money on the table at that point. Those are games that existed everywhere before so unless itâs something massive, like FF7 Remaster level, just release it everywhere.
New franchises, it would definitely help I think to keep them exclusive to really drive home the fact that those are home on Xbox and not everywhere else. At some point they need to use that purchase to attract gamers in their hardware ecosystem.
For everything else, hard to say honestly. Iâd rather they keep it all exclusive to be honest, I think Xbox/PC is plenty to profit of of game development.
At the end of the day, if you release everything everywhere you will most likely limit the potential growth of Xbox hardware and Gamepass, and we know Gamepass numbers are expected to grow huge according to MS. So my guess is we will probably see a few moves in good faith to have some stuff out on all platforms, but expect to see a lot of exclusives in order to drive home the fact that ABK is now home on Xbox and that itâs the best place to play those games!
Also, we need a Gamepass commercial with all the old COD games in time for the holidays. Do it MS!
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Yeah⌠I dont know about that. Once the games start releasing, it will set a precedent from there on out. If Microsoft begin making new releases multi platform, that sets expectations. If they keep new games exclusive, that sets expectations, too. Best way for them to release games from this deal is making CoD multi (as dictated in the deal) and begin making other games exclusive from the onset. I dont believe there will be any âspecificâ games that could potentially be multi unless thereâs all ready a community of gamers attached to them. Plus, it just wouldnt make sense for Microsoft to start making multiplatform games after all the shit they just went through just to get this deal completed.
This is a whole new era for Xbox now. Why start off doing what theyâve always done? Only to get the same results? I doubt it. JMHO
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Britainâs top competition regulator has hit out at Rishi Sunak following reports that the Prime Minister wants to water down the agencyâs powers.
Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), said there is âno reasonâ to dilute planned new powers to regulate Big Tech companies.
Mr Sunak is said to be spearheading a drive to let companies such as Microsoft smother the watchdog in red tape.
Under the original proposals, the Government wants to launch a new division, the Digital Markets Unit (DMU), which would give the CMA the power to fine companies such as Google and Facebook billions for breaking the watchdogâs rules.
However, the Mail on Sunday reported earlier this month that Downing Street wants to introduce new appeal powers against CMA rulings in the upcoming Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill.
Looks like the CMAâs âVictory Lapâ is coming to a close. 
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FA,FO!
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Yep Iâm pretty sure the government will weak the CMA after how disingenuous and dishonest they prove to be with the ABK acquisition. If you want to become a âsilicon valleyâ having a regulator who can shut down deals and investment just because they can or donât like it is not smart and unfair to companies
So basically fuck around and find out! FTC and now CMA confirmed as the biggest losers of the process.
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