Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard King for $69 Billion on 2023-10-13

[Shifty Geezer]

Everything I have watched and read says that if the CMA prohibits the move, it is dead, and the only thing that can be done to get around it is for Microsoft and ABK to pull all aspects of their business out of the UK.

But that would have signifcant consequiences for much of the UK, no? If the UK government did that, the loss to the UK would be far greater than the loss of allowing the deal. These companies operate inside the law, but I'm pretty sure some are so big that they can bully back just as much if they wanted to play hardball.

UK Government - MS, you can't operate here any more. You lose all that income.
MS - (Shrug). Okay. We no longer support or operate in the UK. Good luck replacing all your IT with Linux and Mac (edit: and Chromebooks I guess)...

 

[mr magoo]

I think selling off the COD IP might be worth it. Hopefully, they can convince the regulators of a less drastic remedy, but if push came to shove, Microsoft and ABK could work with that. Hopefully, they won't have to.

Sell COD and same day announce spiritual successor to COD called Modern Warfare

 

[troyan]

Of course Sony is a monopolist. If they were able to have all of console gaming to themselves they would. They continue to buy up music rights and continue to increase their size in that market. They are the second largest as of 2020 and in 2021 they bought Som Livre , awal/kobalt neighboring rights , human resources and in 2022 they bought ultra records. So they continue to grow and are closing the gap between them and universal

Sony buying music rights comes not even close to Microsoft buying independent game publisher for their console business.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

But apparently Sony buying up the industry isn't an issue. So something the size of bungie should be fine for MS also

The Bungie deal was 5% of the AB deal. Pretty sure if MS's spending was a few percent of what they're doing, they would be meeting the same non-resistance Sony has had thus far, and vice versa.

 

[Lurkmass]

That's why I said they could just have activision go the negative route. close their shops in the UK and when they go looking to be bought again there is one less regulator with say.

Sure the UK's stance is not much different than the american progressives but the FTC doesn't really have teeth because the federal courts would ultimately rule on the outcomes and what the ftc using to try and stop this deal wont hold up in court.

MS can reduce foot print in the UK and still sell into the UK market. There are plenty of territories that MS has little to no presence in but still sell their product too.

Even if you suppose that The White House won't change hands that still leaves the EU Commission which is known to be hawkish against tech companies ...

If Microsoft is content with only ever operating their gaming business segment in America and other regimes then they should go for it ...

 

[mr magoo]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1623338578980790272

 

[eastmen]

Sony buying music rights comes not even close to Microsoft buying independent game publisher for their console business.

It is the same exact thing. Same with sony buying 12 video game companies in 3 years.

You just don't like MS doing it becasue you like sony and view it as a threat

The Bungie deal was 5% of the AB deal. Pretty sure if MS's spending was a few percent of what they're doing, they would be meeting the same non-resistance Sony has had thus far, and vice versa.

Sony has a much larger command of the market than MS. Sony continues to buy up developers left and right. They have bought 12 video game companies in 3 years. Sony to date only releases 1 franchise on xbox and its forced to do so by the rights owner (mlb) Ms releases multiple games on sony and nintendo's platform

Even if you suppose that The White House won't change hands that still leaves the EU Commission which is known to be hawkish against tech companies ...

If Microsoft is content with only ever operating their gaming business segment in America and other regimes then they should go for it ...

The white house doesn't matter. At the end of the day the federal judges will have final say in this deal. In the USA it will go through if it gets that far.

EU is hawkish against american tech companies so we will have to see what happens.

However I don't see why you think MS laying off staff in the UK would result in them not being able to sell consoles. They just laid off staff are you saying they aren't in the UK market anymore ?

 

[troyan]

I dont like Microsoft because they are a monopolist. I dont care about the Xbox as a PC player. I do want more competition and not more Microsoft buying every company which has a huge gaming history.

 

[eastmen]

I dont like Microsoft because they are a monopolist. I dont care about the Xbox as a PC player. I do want more competition and not more Microsoft buying every company which has a huge gaming history.

But you are okay with Sony buying every company ?

I mean you are just admitting that you are bias against MS.

All companies are monopolist as you put it. You think Sony doesn't want to be the only one in the music industry ? You don't think Sony buying Funimation and merging it with Crunchy roll wasn't a monopolistic move ? You don't think Sony buying 12 video companies in 3 years is a monopolistic move or buying 3rd party exclusivity isn't ?

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Official CMA accept the deal only if COD is not part of it

Personally I think this is nuts, but Microsoft should be ok with it. I mean, they did say Call of Duty wasn't that important. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Source: Microsoft written testimony to the CMA dated 31 October 2022, in which they said:

1.5 Activision content is popular and loved by millions of gamers worldwide. That said, neither Activision nor Call of Duty have significant market power or the status of an “important input".

 

[Lurkmass]

However I don't see why you think MS laying off staff in the UK would result in them not being able to sell consoles. They just laid off staff are you saying they aren't in the UK market anymore ?

I don't think that ...

Selling the systems without the games to back them up would effectively mean that consumers now have paperweight. You can avoid releasing software in territory xyz for your platform to get around the rules but you may as well stop participating in those markets since they can't make real money off their platform anymore such as getting a cut of the sales and providing the services for it ...

 

[mr magoo]

Personally I think this is nuts, but Microsoft should be ok with it. I mean, they did say Call of Duty wasn't that important. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Source: Microsoft written testimony to the CMA dated 31 October 2022, in which they said:

Touche

 

[eastmen]

I don't think that ...

Selling the systems without the games to back them up would effectively mean that consumers now have paperweight. You can avoid releasing software in territory xyz for your platform to get around the rules but you may as well stop participating in those markets since they can't make real money off their platform anymore such as getting a cut of the sales and providing the services for it ...

You are going to have to finish the thought of why MS can't continue to sell games either?

Like I said Ms already laid off staff in the UK. Does this mean they aren't selling software there ?

 

[AlphaWolf]

You think Activision or Microsoft stiffing America's closest ally is somehow the right move because they didn't get what they wanted ?

Ultimately businesses are agnostic. They don't give a damn about this in terms of politics, but they will acknowledge it in terms where they invest in the future.

I expect if the merger fails the price for Sony COD exclusive perks just went way up because they are apparently crucial to Sony's future. And ABKs future investment in the UK just went to 0.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Touche

This is the danger of downplaying the importance of something that you might inwardly feel is important. If you have declared it unimportant, and the regulator takes that declaration at face value and concludes that removing the unimportant aspect from the deal is the remedy to other industry concerns, you're kind of boned.

You either suck it up, or you have to admit that the evidence you provided to the regular was untrue which calls into question the efficiency and accuracy of all of the other evidence provided.

If Microsoft genuinely aren't fussed about Call of Duty, this is a win for them. I'm sure they would have loved to have Call of Duty, but they can still have a massive stable of studios and IP.

 

[Lurkmass]

You are going to have to finish the thought of why MS can't continue to sell games either?

Like I said Ms already laid off staff in the UK. Does this mean they aren't selling software there ?

Just pulling out employees alone doesn't mean Microsoft post-acquisition will still be able to participate in the UK ...

If a regulator objects to an acquisition, the only way for the new party to follow the rules set out by them is to stop offering some of these goods and services altogether in that particular market ...

You can't bypass regulators just because your business doesn't employ a local workforce because as long as they still sell products they have to play by their rules. You can't have Activision Blizzard and Microsoft get rid of all their UK workforce and then expect the deal to go through all the whilst being able to sell COD exclusively on their own platform in the UK and then expect no objections from the CMA. You're just going to get into trouble with customs ...

 

[iroboto]

For 10 years like before maybe if they offer forever maybe CMA will accept it.

Forever contracts are no longer built. They cause some weird anomalies that was never intended, and we see the pain it causes as a result.

I don’t think any regulatory body would force a forever contract given the amount of challenges it causes to the contract owner if designed poorly. You can never know 30 years from now how things change and then but you in the ass if you didn’t cover a specific scenario you didn’t think could exist 30 years later

 

[eastmen]

Just pulling out employees alone doesn't mean Microsoft post-acquisition will still be able to participate in the UK ...

If a regulator objects to an acquisition, the only way for the new party to follow the rules set out by them is to stop offering some of these goods and services altogether in that particular market ...

You can't bypass regulators just because your business doesn't employ a local workforce because as long as they still sell products they have to play by their rules. You can't have Activision Blizzard and Microsoft get rid of all their UK workforce and then expect the deal to go through all the whilst being able to sell COD exclusively on their own platform in the UK and then expect no objections from the CMA. You're just going to get into trouble with customs ...

No I am saying abandon the deal and start lay offs in the UK to pay for the deal falling through. Why continue to invest in a market that is hostile to you

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Forever contracts are no longer built. They cause some weird anomalies that was never intended, and we see the pain it causes as a result.

UK law has a concept of agreements or contracts that exist in perpetuity (i.e. no fixed end date) which are binding until cancellation clauses are initiated. Forever would be ridiculous though, the regulator's powers are fairly flexible and they could approve a ten year platform parity deal, for review by the regulator in ten years time when the market may be very different.

 

[Nesh]

Activision boss says UK blocking Microsoft deal would leave post-Brexit Britain looking like "Death Valley"

Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick has taken aim at post-Brexit Britain, as it looks increasingly likely the UK's an…

www.eurogamer.net

According to Kotick who expects to win huge money from the deal. Deal cant harm competitors or Sony, but you d better believe it is going to impact the whole UK post-brexit economy if deal doesnt go through.