What happens if the Activision acquisition doesn't go through?

I don’t even see why Microsoft would need to make concessions.

This purchase doesnt stop Sony from making games in the same genre and Steam/Nintendo live without CoD just fine.

Not to mention people dont bring up Sony’s anti consumer exclusivity deals

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I don’t think anyone is arguing that the are going to have to. Just that it is likely the worst case scenario.

Whatever those could hypothetically be, I don’t have any idea what would fit the bill.

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If this gets blocked, then there’s obvious corruption at the FTC.

Preventing a third place console manufacturer (out of 3 competitors), one that experts and analysts think will not make up any ground in 2022, to be competitive in any way ultimately harms consumers and the industry.

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Casual gamers don’t care for Sony exclusives and only play cod/fifa.

PS losing cod will be huge and I’m looking forward to the day exclusivity is announced for places where GamePass is available.

Many of my friends “defected” to Playstation in the Xbox one generation and all they play is multiplats !

Microsoft is first place in gaming subscription services and cloud gaming. What if they take this angle ?

Doesn’t matter. Nothing would be illegal or potentially illegal with the deal.

What if someone on the committee gets in a car accident on their way to provide their judgment and is in a bad mood.

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I’m not a lawyer, and i have no extensive knowledge of merger/acquisition laws, but I doubt this will fail to finalize, if Disney can buy Fox, MS can buy Activision. If it DOESNT though, oh well, wont bother me too much ¯_ (ツ)_/¯

Its becoming pretty obvious that most here have zero interest in actually understanding or acknowledging the realties of the situation. It appears that most just want their confirmation bias affirmed.

The deal can be highly likely, even guaranteed to pass, and still have concerns brought to table during the review. Just outright dismissing how regulators choose to define the market is shortsighted. Especially when it comes to subscription services. The laws are purposefully vague.

A first to market product (Game Pass) backed by a corporation the size of Microsoft in conjunction with the purchase of the largest third party publisher in the industry can easily be viewed as a action taken to box out new entrants to the subscription market or box in current ones. We have already seen this with EA play. EA play next to game pass offers so little value that it has no real choice but to assimilate with Game Pass. Ubisoft+ could see the exact same fate. How do you make a case for $10 or $15 a month for just ubisoft games when Game Pass is the same price and offers far more value. Now add a absolute game development war machine on top of what already exists… It isn’t a monopoly, but that isn’t the only thing they are looking for. Sear the words “anti-competitive” into your brain.

I’m not arguing that it is or isn’t. But I can assure you the federal government is going to want to know why it isn’t.

I’m starting to understand why @TavishHill has to keep posting his points over and over again. Its not even just that no one seems to actually read or process the information, it like most aren’t even capable of acknowledging objective reality.

To reiterate: The deal is almost assuredly going to pass. But dismissing possible regulatory concerns out of hand is ignorant. It is entirely possible to be confident in the outcome and acknowledge that everything isn’t infallible sunshine and rainbows.

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It’s not. Sony had it’s service since 2014 which is long before Microsoft had Game Pass.

I do mostly agree with your other points though. Just was triggered to correct that one aspect of it.

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If it doesn’ go through there were some politics involved and Microsoft pissed in some senators cereal. Microsoft will also have to pay Activision 3 billion $ or so.

Microsoft will then sue the FTC and it will get really messy for a time.

Just in reference to you mentioning how it could be seen as them boxing out new entrants, Google were really fucking clever back when Zenimax was announced by claiming that that deal is what caused them to take a step back from their service and since then it’s only went downhill. That is a clear and evidenced arguement towards them trying to box out possible subscription competitiors even if Google’s own history shows that they were more than likely just looking for an excuse to pull out

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Because Certian individuals, and they know who they are. Can’t be objective, or insightful, or even laughably hide their bias over the green console winning over the blue console. And will act like a smart alec with “lol that can’t happen” or “lmao it will never happen” comments to fuel their prejudice

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That is a fair point, but I would also say that one has to acknowledge that those two services, as PSnow stands currently at least, are only marginally similar. I don’t think it is fair to say that Sony offers anywhere near the cohesive package MS is offering. First to market is probably inaccurate, but first to get it right is probably more accurate.

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It will go through

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Im sticking with my prediction that it closes by January 2023.

Im at 95% just because I dont think you can even completely guarantee anything with something as large as this. That being said, I dont really see what could stop it, there may be a small chance they might have to make some sort of concession but that’s going to be inconsequential in the grand scheme of thing.

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I hope so but as Hoeg’s Law mentioned, you cant rule out someone at the FTC wanting to make their name by putting Microsoft at the top of a lawsuit which would draw things out

Indeed. But he also mentioned there is a reason MS said by June 2023, because they built in that runway for any hurdles.