Sure, they could have done better with their cloud remedies (at least it seems like that is what they are doing with the EC). On the other hand, if regular people like us are able to point out CMA’s faulty arguments, then what do you think the MS lawyers are doing?
3 Likes
I agree. MS should have been at the CMAs throats the day they dismissed Nintendo and Steam and claimed CoDs required input. That was absolute bullshit and they should have commented that such a significant mis-step calls the CMAs competance into question.
I partially agree about the cloud. MS didn’t know in 2018 when it first started to beta this would be used against them. They didn’t know when they bought Zenimax that alledgedly killed Stadia and they didn’t know when they added Fortnite that it would add 10 million users in 4 months.
I would disagree it was dumb though, because no regulator in their right mind would legitimately use the cloud market as a reason to block.
It’s not a seperate market from consoles, it’s an additional function…same subscription for the same games running on the same hardware with the same communities and the same cloud saves with the same UIs and same controllers…some consoles don’t have disc drives, they are consoles despite an absence of hardware…so playing a Series X via cloud on my Xbox One is absent that hardware too…and it is way too small to call anyone a monopoly there. The CMA is just wrong and reaching for a reason to block.
It’s as obtuse as the “high performance console market” they invented to block the deal originally. Not to mention faux-concern about Game Pass price hikes when Sony is currently doing that and the CMA does nothing infers they just want reasons to block, since when these issues occur, they don’t act.
6 Likes
11 Likes
Its like people dont get it. If they dont try to overturn this, damn near every purchase they attempt will receive the same treatment the ABK deal is going through now. They gotta fight this.
9 Likes
Yep. I don’t see how Microsoft would be able to acquire a publisher such as Sega or Ubisoft without it needing to be approved by the CMA when the CMA can use the same argument about cloud technology against them.
4 Likes
Disney buy Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm and make all content exclusive to Disney+
FTC, EU and CMA: This is fine!
MS try to buy AB and sign 10-year deals to share content with multiple cloud providers.
FTC, EU and CMA: Now wait a minute!
11 Likes
I wonder if it comes down to just how powerful an IP is in the UK market. The CMA was clearly worried about CoD’s power to give Microsoft an unfair advantage in the developing cloud gaming market. I think they mentioned WoW as well?
I love Sega, but I couldn’t tell you of a game of theirs that puts up CoD or WoW-like numbers.
Real talk.
Take a break from these discussions. From forums, discord, reddit, Twitter, all of it.
Then spend at least a week just playing what you want to play. There have been tons of new games lately, Benedict is fun, redfall is about to release, etc. Or maybe dive into your backlog.
Either way, take some time to yourself and remember why we’re all so invested in this hobby.
To have fun.
9 Likes
thats i was wondering how they let disney buy fox ,marvel pixar nd lucasfilm nd said thats fine
1 Like
Assume that Sony will complain about even the smallest publisher…now not only can they cry about “reduced competition in the console market”…but also the cloud market.
1 Like
idk but that guy is on twitter typing shit it seems he didnt like the decision more than abk lol
I believe Disney had to sell some stuff off, but it was nothing major. It would be like allowing the deal, but MS must sell Raven Software…a shame, but nothing major.
They only went after entertainment, but allowed Fox to keep sports, news, and syndicate channels. Fox deal was mostly for TV and movies
It would be more like selling MLG lol
2 Likes
How is that not console warring?
3 Likes
I’m really interested in the US reaction (excluding the FTC). Look at this from their point-of-view:
A foreign regulator has probably killed a non-hostile merger between two US companies.
We’ve not heard the last of this, by a long shot, on and beyond gaming forums.
MS are not going to withdraw from the UK, and the work to ‘ringfence’ Xbox UK is probably not worth the hassle I suspect.
Nor will the CMA/CAT be convinced to change their minds, regardless of what flawed maths and facts MS can throw at them. They don’t want to put the work in to regulate an emerging cloud-gaming market which they clearly don’t understand, so they’re playing it safe by not doing anything. Besides denying more games to 150M+ devices. In order to ‘protect’ UK gamers like me.
I’m 50-50 on what the EU will do. Probably align with the FTC & CMA I suspect, or - they could promote the EU as being ‘open for business’ compared to the UK. By comparison, it already is thanks to Brexit, but the CMA’s decision provides the opportunity for the EU to really drive that point home and approve the deal.
4 Likes
If the were simply “US companies” and only operated in the US it wouldn’t be an issue. They operate globally, where they are incorporated really doesn’t mean much.
1 Like
That was originally a concern with how large the ABK acquisition was and the COD IP but in the latest report from the CMA it has now shifted to cloud technology even though they hardly addressed it as one of the main issues to begin with.
So my guess is that CMA was looking for an excuse to block the acquisition from the start even though there is no evidence or basis that if acquisition goes through it would lead to Microsoft becoming a monopoly in cloud gaming and lessen competition.
Of course how powerful an IP is could be a factor into why the acquisition may not have happened but if Microsoft is keeping CoD and WoW multiplatform for at least 10 years I don’t see how that would be a matter of concern.
Hopefully there is some reason and common sense left in the CMA to where they will reverse the decision and approve it in the end.
1 Like
I would also like to talk about whether cloud gaming is a nascent market.
As I recall Onlive launched in July 2010, Gakai about a year later.
Is 12-13 years considered nascent? It has been 11 years since Sony bought Gakai and 8 years since they bought Onlive. Playstation Now is 9 years old.
When Microsoft announced they were going to acquire ABK, that was January 2022. Xcloud only reached 10 million users 4 months later.
It was only after they added Fortnite (for free) that it hit 20 million!
Am I wrong or is it correct for a regulator to judge the market on the current situation or the situation when the original purchase was submitted? Or that the reason for growth is due to a third party game any cloud vender could license?
1 Like
The CMA announced to the world that the UK is closed for business for any big US based companies. They are also signaling they are going on the offensive to attempt to break up big US companies. They spoke recently about going after AI companies, which is Ilikely that they are going to launch an offensive to try and make Microsoft divest their 49% of OpenAI.
This is an offensive on the US world leadership in tech, just as the US is being challeneged on its position as the world currency reserve and the position as the leader in trade.
I dont know if or when the US will actually do anything about it, but make no mistake, these are challenges to the US as a world authority and no US company can be confident the US will support it on a global scale currently. Unfortunately under current US leadership, the US itself is encouraging the destruction of the US tech economy.
6 Likes