Microsoft-Activision-Blizzard Discussion Thread |OT2| The NeverEnding Acquisition

[Daniel]

@Jerm411

This entire saga is just getting absurd lol…wish it’d end one way or another.

Just 1 month away before we really find out which way it goes.

[lunanto]

If this was offered with the 10-years deal it also means the FTC also didn´t give a flying fuck about this concession.

[TheBrightestSun]

@Vivir

I mean you think they might potentially offer them marketing rights lol, you said it, not me.

Well, they are offering fair value with 10 year deal, PS+ release for a fair (I guess?) price…Marketing rights is the next natural exception It essentially brings the pre-acquisition status quo regarding Activision.

@lunanto

If this was offered with the 10-years deal it also means the FTC also didn´t give a flying fuck about this concession.

But of course. FTC wanted to block the deal from the very beginning.

[Sparda3g]

What a Holiday season this is going to be…

[Daniel]

@lunanto

If this was offered with the 10-years deal it also means the FTC also didn´t give a flying fuck about this concession.

Soon as they saw Microsoft send in the document, it probably went straight into the challenge pile.

[TheBrightestSun]

@Sparda3g

What a Holiday season this is going to be…

ABK deal is slowly being unwinded

@Daniel

Soon as they saw Microsoft send in the document, it probably went straight into the challenge pile.

I mean considering that FTC did not provide any data point in their lawsuit, they did not any investigation into the market.

[Cairnst (Bill Cairns)]

@Vivir

I don’t think it’ll go that far lol.

It’s a bad faith offer from MS because they know Sony wouldn’t have the money to do that plus it also removes that bad faith request from Sony to have it on their subscription service.

This offer does show me that MS knows what’s at stakes right now and how dire the situation is. They are very much willing to offer multiple concessions to get this deal done.

I don’t disagree but equally Sony HAS offered several Call of Duty titles on PS+ in the past, I think through PS+ Essential and PS+ Collection. I don’t remember if they have anything on PS+ Extra, maybe one game? But even if Sony is not in a position to reasonable match what Microsoft would offer through gamepass with this offer, if they are still able to offer the occasional older Call of Duty title on PS+ from this offer then they’ve maintained their current status quo in terms of Call of Duty on PS+. So although I agree this is perhaps not as good an offer as it sounds, it’s also not completely meaningless.

[Sparda3g]

@Daniel

Soon as they saw Microsoft send in the document, it probably went straight into the challenge pile.

I don’t know why, but I thought of Progressive commercial where a normal person toss a flag to see the replay to determine what’s what. It’s a football joke but I got admit, it is funny.

[Proven]

@lunanto

They are calling Sony’s bluff, who is whining about not being able to have COD on PS Plus while also saying AAA games don’t work inside a subscription unless you are MS. Either outcome Sony looks bad and proves to regulators they are arguing in bad faith.

[peter42O]

@Proven

They are calling Sony’s bluff, who is whining about not being able to have COD on PS Plus while also saying AAA games don’t work inside a subscription unless you are MS. Either outcome Sony looks bad and proves to regulators they are arguing in bad faith.

Agreed. At this point, Sony’s argument is “we don’t want to adapt”. lol

[TheBrightestSun]

@Proven

They are calling Sony’s bluff, who is whining about not being able to have COD on PS Plus while also saying AAA games don’t work inside a subscription unless you are MS. Either outcome Sony looks bad and proves to regulators they are arguing in bad faith.

The problem is that I highly doubt that the regulators are buying into Sony’s arguments in the first place.

FTC for example pivoted to anti-tech religious zealotry…

[Proven]

@TheBrightestSun

The problem is that I highly doubt that the regulators are buying into Sony’s arguments in the first place.

FTC for example pivoted to anti-tech religious zealotry…

This helps more with the UK and EC who seem to be at least reasonable and not completely idealogic

[TheBrightestSun]

@Proven

This helps more with the UK and EC who seem to be at least reasonable and not completely idealogic

What I don’t understand is that why offering COD in other services is necessary at all? Granted Microsoft released a bunch of older Bethesda games in other services so I guess it would be about older COD anyway as new ones nobody would be able to afford and I don’t think anybody can force Microsoft to offer it for free (Activision did not offer it in the first place anyway)

[Vivir]

I think the whole Sony is the main villain arc is long past due.

Even if Sony accepted, I don’t think that’s changing FTC’s mind.

This is about showing sufficient evidence that this isn’t a monopoly or that it harms consumers/limits potential companies from getting into said spaces.

FTC is a whole different ball game that’s more so political than it is about Sony or anything that has to do with them.

[commanderbuck]

@TheBrightestSun

The problem is that I highly doubt that the regulators are buying into Sony’s arguments in the first place.

FTC for example pivoted to anti-tech religious zealotry…

My problem with the FTC is they are cutting off their nose to spite their face. In their crusade against “Big Tech” they are challenging a deal that would benefit consumers and workers at Activision.

[Cairnst (Bill Cairns)]

@howlingmosquito

Microsoft wants the deal done. While 10 years is a long time…bare in mind they bought DoubleFine in June 2019 and they only started making Xbox exclusives in September 2021 after they finished the multiplatform Psychonauts. Over 2 years.

They can wait 10 for CoD. Yes, its bullshit. But …we all know what happens when the contracts are up.

This is one silver lining (well, maybe not quite as nice a metal as silver. Brass?) in the current crapshoot of a situation wih the FTC - Activision is pretty tied up in contractual obligations at the moment. Even if the deal closed tomorrow Overwatch 2 would still be supported on all platforms, Diablo 4 will still launch on all platforms and Sony will still have marketing rights that block Call of Duty launching on game pass till (presumably) 2024. It’d be nice to see the deal close sooner rather than later and for titles like Diablo 4 and the Activision back catalogue come to game pass but AT THE VERY LEAST if this thing gets dragged out till 2024 the contractual obligations shouldn’t get any worse. It’s not like they’re going to turn around and re-sign the marketing deal with Sony while they wait for the deal to close.

[commanderbuck]

@Vivir

I think the whole Sony is the main villain arc is long past due.

Even if Sony accepted, I don’t think that’s changing FTC’s mind.

This is about showing sufficient evidence that this isn’t a monopoly or that it harms consumers/limits potential companies from getting into said spaces.

FTC is a whole different ball game that’s more so political than it is about Sony or anything that has to do with them.

Both can be villains for different reasons.

[TheBrightestSun]

@commanderbuck

Both can be villains for different reasons.

One is a bad faith actor and another is a religious bad faith actor

[DeoGame (Farewell)]

Let’s have some fun.

If this goes to court and we get the Apple v. Epic shitshow to end all shitshows, who do we reckon backs who?

My guesses:

Microsoft: Bethesda and Activision (obviously), 2k, EA, Ubisoft, ESA, Valve, maybe Nintendo, Epic and Tencent.

Sony: Google, Apple, maybe Nvidia and Amazon.

[ProjectXbox17 (Xbox 007)]

@Jimmy_1984

Ho guys, what’s up? I don’t know if you agree with me or not but i think this could be the best move to reach the approval. I mean, Sony could spend a lot of milions to have COD on its subscription service and It would be a probably refuse. But on the MS’s side they Will Say: i offered to Sony what they’re asking for but they have refused.

It basically is their silver bullet and almost guaranteeing them approval by the CMA and EU