Wow lmao, that really happened?
Regulators definitely try to use attrition but some places like in the US are getting knee capped especially with the Axon vs FTC case which really put a hurting on the FTC ability to keep things in limbo.
As far as the CMA âacting as irrationally as they wantâ well thatâs not really true because those are the exact grounds on which their arguments can be thrown out on. They cannot just say âWell Microsoft owns 95% of the cloud gaming marketâ because they donât have the evidence to back it, no matter what the CMA says or do they need evidence, if they could act as irrationally as they wanted, they would not have dropped the console theory of harm, and its also true a lot of companies simply walk away because the $ and time they have to spend to fight isnât worth it,
This isnât the case with MS/ABK as theyâre clearly going to fight and unlike most companies, The CMA isnât going to win by attrition.
To be fair regulators in theory are good, in the UK there are more broadband companies than in the US and they donât have data caps, the broadband and cable industry in the US is a problem and honestly thatâs what Lina Khan and the FTC should be focused on, but they would rather try to get a W rather than actually benefit the American people. It always comes down to the people behind the regulatory bodies.
Thankfully though the FTC has almost no power outside of being a nuisance and right now, most regulators seem to look at things pragmatically, it seems that the CMA is the only regulator that wants to proactively be a threat to mergers on the basis of next to nothing.
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If the deal doesnât go through would Microsoft still be able to acquire employees and talent from any of the Activision/Blizzard studios if they were to shut down studios and laid people off or is Microsoft barred from being able to do that because of the CMA ruling?
Enjoy the weekend. Monday (if true) will be the day, if not the week itself.
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That would be insaneâŚ
So it wouldnât surprise me but I doubt the CMA has the power to dictate where ABK employees can go if they leave ABK.
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Why is that? How does that make any sense?
For example, Sony PlayStation move their gaming headquarter from Japan to California.
Why canât Xbox move Rare, Playground, and Ninja Theory to California.
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You expect 1,000+ people to move to another continent for work? Lol
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Is it bad Iâm secretly hoping for an EC block next week so this madness can end and we can all move on with life? I just want to get back to a time when this topic isnât dominating the daily gaming conversation, especially if weâre potentially looking at another 6+ monthsâŚ
It would be terrible for Xbox moving forward, as a brand.
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Guess Iâm just not concerned about that piece. Theyâll find a way, with or without ABK. As Phil and co. have said multiple times, itâs not their sole strategy but rather an accelerant. I trust them to figure it out regardless and if they canât perhaps they donât need to be around. And this is coming from a very positive person who loves Xbox and all platforms.
If the CMA has the power to prevent former ABK developers and staff from joining Microsoft for the next 10 years they are going too far and they would also have way too much power.
Definitely not but Iâm sure this could affect future purchases of UK developers.
To be fair i think they would just move to ireland instead but still no one is gonna move their families and uproot their lives. They would probably lose most of the staff outside the heada
I think this may be true, but not necessarily in all cases:
https://twitter.com/lukesteele90/status/1651689145356496898?s=46&t=4Qn87w4eHG2BZMBe9Uh_tQ
And this person is a lawyer from UK.
So⌠Any publisher?
Theoretically, Microsoft could acquire individual studios with little to no issues. Also, they would definitely go for mobile publishers, with or without ABK. Although it would be nothing exciting to a core gamer, but having a mobile publisher would help towards the long-term sustainability of the Xbox brand.
Maybe anything that is not EA, Take-Two, Epic, Ubisoft, or ABK (if this deal does not go through).
Leaving the UK isnt happening, MS literally invested in a British AI startup this past week. It simply isnt a realistic scenario
I personally believe MS is going to get the CMA arguments thrown in the trash. Aside the lawyers MS and ABK hired, one of whom has gotten CAT to overrule the CMA on arguments nearly indenticle to the ABK deal
The main argument people use for the deal falling through is precedent. You simply cannot use precedent here as this is an extremely unique case. Even back in March the CMA dropped their console theory of harm in phase 2 which is unheard of.
People are using precedent and misleading statistics to paint the CMA as appeal proof (people have literally called the CMA appeal proof)
âOnly 33% of appeals have been successfulâ
You cant compare cases to each other. You would have to find a merger that had an entire SLC dropped in phase 2, that was blocked due a single ToH, that was built off arguments that are nigh identical to arguments thrown out in other cases, there are too many unique attributes in the ABK deal
âThe case will just go back to the CMAâ
Itâll go back with rulings by CAT that the CMA must abide by. What the rulings will be is up in the air but you can bet MS ABK lawyers are going to argue so that the CMA cant gerrymander numbers the second time around.
MS ABK lawyers (who are doing 2 separate appeals which is something not talked about enough) basically need to destroy the CMA to such a point where they can no longer gerrymander statistics during remittal. Itâll be a challenge but doable
Fosspatents mentioned this on Twitter, that MS was likely preparing for an appeal well before the block
He also mentioned that even early on in one of Apple cases they had counsel who specifically specialized in appeals on standby.
MS didnt start preppng for appeals the day of the block, they qere likely prepping well in advanced
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And of course there are other mobile pubs out there besides King. I just donât think itâs âgame overâ for Xbox if they donât get this deal over the line, and I honestly donât think theyâll be successful with the appeal. Xbox will be fine.
I watching Xbox Two and Jez Corden mentioned that he saw a survey Xbox had sent out regarding decoupling xCloud from Game Pass
I think MS should absolute decouple xCloud from Game Pass, at least for a while. This is a âstructural remedyâ that would likely address the CMA cloud concerns. Charge $5 bucks for xCloud with Gamepass or $10 separately.
Or even agree to just divest xCloud all together. Let other cloud providers use Azure and just license content out to them.
xCloud is absolutely causing more harm than good right now and the payoff simply isnt worth it.
I understand theyre bundling xCloud with smart TV that have to use it but I think MS is likely reconsidering given the sjrvey they sent out
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