Xbox Acquisition |OT6| If this is about competition, let us have competition

Atomic Heart looks incredible. I am cautious when it comes to performance tho.

Considering that the game seems to be published by Focus Home, I would rather believe that Focus Home will acquire them if anything.

Their work culture needs an overhaul. They remind me a lot of Techland.

Problematic, but creative and talented.

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That would be fascinating

Still it is funny how everybody wants Apple to buy something big and it does not happen. Now imagine that Apple + EA + Disney combo :fire: Then Apple buys Sony and :exploding_head:

Imagine the potential of Apple + EA + Disney + Sony.

Now in theory, will Apple be allowed to buy Disney?

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Is it crunch?

No.

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Hard to say. There are certainly some conflicits between Disney+ and Apple TV, but other than that I don’t see Apple any conflicts. Apple has no theme parks, production companies and so on. There were rumors about the past also.

It is like Microsoft buying Netflix - nothing that can block the deal.

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A good bit of what I’ve heard and read over the years is covered in this article.

Again, reminds me a lot of Techland. Pushing new features at inappropriate times in development, high turnover, crunch, etc.

https://www.thegamer.com/atomic-heart-developer-mundfish-crunch-unpaid-bonuses-high-turnover/

Not in the current political atmosphere and no oversight for the CMA.

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The question is that is there any arguments against the deal? Because in the current climate even ABK deal is under the assault :joy:

Yes. Disney currently owns a 52% market share of entertainment media. Allowing Apple, a platform with a monopoly share in App Stores to then own 52% of media, would be untenable. Not to mention that 52% market share of entertainment media would increase with Apple as Apple already has their own entertainment media.

Maybe they could pull it off by divesting either Apple TV, Hulu or Disney Plus along with a significant amount of entertainment media to direct competitors to ensure competition (for instance selling Marvel to Sony, Pixar to Netflix etc).

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I don’t see them divesting Disney+ for obvious reasons though. And there is no point in selling Marvel, Pixar too as it is the important part of Disney purchase in the first place.

I believe that App Store will be opened by the regulators sooner or later it will become like Windows - where Apple won’t get any cut from the store at all. Microsoft is pushing Open App Store Policies for a reason.

I also dont think theyd want to, but as I point out I doubt they could get it through due to monopolies on both sides of the deal that also have synergies.

If you assume they wont divest Disney Plus or the Marvel/Star Wars/Pixar, then theyd likely have to divest Apple TV, Hulu, and tons of other properties. Just seems like it would be insanely complicated with tons of divesting.

Hulu I can see happening, but I doubt about Apple TV. Disney+ and Apple TV together combined still have less subscribers that Netflix I presume?

I guess the only realistic option is EA + Disney, but I would not write off Apple.

But still imagine the might of Apple + EA + Disney + Sony :fire:

Don’t think it would matter how many subscribers they have when theyd have 60+% of the entertainment media market. Thats not some narrow market, it’s massive.

Theyd have monopolies in entertainment media, gaming media, music, app store, electronics. Lmao.

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I don’t think they would have monopolies in electronics or gaming or music though. Sony is one of three big music publishers (so not a monopoly) and Samsung is still bigger than Sony in electronics and regarding gaming - no comments. Apple would not need to pay to Sony for music for sure and they would have movie production facilities too.

I don’t think Apple represents even 5% of the whole entertainment media.

Yeah it may not be a monopoly in music, itd end up in the 40+% market share though, Sony is massive there and Apple is already big in music and Disney does have a considerable music catalog and earnings as well.

Regarding consumer electronics, it may not reach monopoly levels, Im having a hard time finding data on that market. However, the consumer electronics market is quite different than the other markets we’ve been discussing. That market has a very high barrier to entry and is highly conaolidated. That type of merger would be like the number 3 and 7 airline companies trying to merge today. They wouldn’t let it happen due to significantly lessening competition.

Only as a service, but Apple is not the music publisher no? It is not like they own studios or do recordings.

Maybe, but it is hard to say at this point. The deal would be very complex for sure.

Apple has a music label and owns apple records which owns the rights to music like The Beatles, James Taylor and Eric Clapton.