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

[Shifty Geezer]

They're talking about the future, where Sony does not want parity. Sony wants to continue the existing PS Exclusive Advantages.

When did Sony enter into a contract for these exclusives? This deal apparently ends in 2024 anyway at which point MS could offer more money to trump any deal Sony offers.

I see MS actually had an exclusive content deal for COD before Sony...

After five years of Xbox exclusivity, Call of Duty switches to PlayStation

It is the end of an era: on 3rd September, five years of Xbox timed exclusivity for Call of Duty comes to an end.In 201…

www.eurogamer.net

In 2010 Microsoft and Activision signed a multi-year agreement to bring Call of Duty game add-ons and map packs first to Xbox Live.

The deal meant all add-ons and map packs for Call of Duty: Black Ops and future Call of Duty games would release first on Xbox, but in fact it was an extension of an agreement that began with the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 map pack Resurgence in June 2010.

Little different of course in that it was timed, but I see the whole content-deal strategy was alive and escalating since at least 2010. This is why we really need a complete list of all the deals done by all the companies to see if anyone was being overtly manipulative or not, or if it was all general industry practice.

 

[iroboto]

This deal apparently ends in 2024 anyway at which point MS could offer more money to trump any deal Sony offers.

I think if we put on our game designer hats, you and I would both agree it wouldn't work this way. Sony's size is several times greater, the economic forces always dictates that the ROI will always be better on PS than Xbox regardless of how much Xbox pays. And the ROI is limited on Xbox, MS will not make a decision to absorb negative ROI. Lastly this isn't about exclusivity deal, they want CoD on streaming services which ABK explicitly said it will never come to streaming services unless under the condition that they are under a platform.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I don't argue the wider point. However, the argument that Sony is securing content through deals that MS needs to compete against via acquisitions has to be seen from the perspective that 1) MS were already doing this prior to the current arrangement that Sony is being criticised for and 2) that the deal that changed hands from MS to Sony in 2015 was up to change hands in 2024.

Other reasons to want that acquisition still stand, but the nuance of the arguments shifts with the addition of more information, IMO, particularly the idea that MS has to acquire all of AB to prevent Sony getting more exclusive content on COD.

 

[iroboto]

Other reasons to want that acquisition still stand, but the nuance of the arguments shifts with the addition of more information, IMO, particularly the idea that MS has to acquire all of AB to prevent Sony getting more exclusive content on COD.

Seems like an anti-hero claim really. Doing the right things for the wrong reasons. This is just something they are riding on for regulators, the reality is, the 10 year deals with everyone would actually bring parity and as such, that would open the door to new entrants if everyone was given a fair shake at CoD (from a regulator perspective). I don't agree with it, because I don't' see CoD as that type of input, but alas, if regulators are convinced that CoD is a required input in order for any game business to succeed (SMH), then I suppose opening it up equally for all players is a better look than leaving the system as it is.

CoD and others is about to be stomped by UEFortnite. I'm not sure how dedicated GaaS teams keep up with millions of small developers constantly iterating on thousands of game types in a single game. The new generation of gamers has truly arrived, and CoD is going to die out with our gen. Someone is just going to make a better one in Fortnite, as Counter-Strike was onto Half-Life there will be Counter-Strike and CoD clones onto FN. It won't be long.

edit: okay, faster than I thought it would be

https://twitter.com/x/status/1638612879107563520

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I doubt it would void it, perhaps going forward after the current contract runs its course. I think it was said to expire in 2024.

Correct, the EU cannot void commercial contracts which is what exists between Sony and Activision-Blizzard. Generally in an acquisition you absolve all obligations and liabilities, of course Microsoft could renege on that and it would be the hands of the courts as it would to resolve any contractual dispute. The EU regulator cannot negate legally-sound contracts unless there was an anti-trust issue at play, which nobody is suggesting.

 

[Nesh]

Microsoft reportedly didn't want Redfall on PS5 following Bethesda acquisition

Microsoft reportedly did not want a PlayStation 5 version of Arkane Studios' upcoming vampire shooter Redfall following…

www.eurogamer.net

"We were acquired by Microsoft and it was a change with [a] capital C," Smith told the website during a recent press event (via Google Translate). "They came in and they said 'No PlayStation 5, we're focusing on Xbox, PC and the Game Pass'."
Smith described the resulting focus on Xbox and PC as a "good decision", noting the move helps support Game Pass and meant "one less platform to worry about, one less complexity."

Well under that logic it contradicts MS's claims that it wants to reach more players by supporting more platforms.
And also cancels out any argument that Sony is harming the industry. Under that logic its better for developers to support only PS5. Its got a bigger userbase and removes complexity. Plus they get the benefit of Sony funding if they acquired the exclusivity through a deal.

These double standards and unclear communication is what warrants the regulators' concerns

 

[troyan]

I think these regulators know exactly what happened after a competitor buys an independent company. The question is if the gaming market has to be a fair and free market.

 

[BRiT]

I see nuance and specifics continue to be lost on some here that refuse to see in anything other than absolutes.

 

[SmooTh]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1639014286281388034

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) criticized Sony Interactive Entertainment’s “monopoly” control of the high-end gaming market during a hearing Thursday and called on U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to press Japan on the issue during ongoing trade talks.

“I'm told that Sony controls a monopoly of 98% of the high-end game market, yet Japan's government has allowed Sony to engage in blatant anti-competitive conduct through exclusive deals and payments to game publishers,” Cantwell said during a Senate Finance Committee hearing.

Cantwell noted that Japan's Fair Trade Commission has “failed to investigate these exclusionary conducts” before posing a question to Tai: “So what do you think we can do to [better] address these issues and create a level playing field with the [Indo-Pacific Economic Framework] on something as important as this issue?”

Tai declined to discuss Sony directly but noted that IPEF, an economic initiative that includes Japan and 12 others countries in the region, is expected to address both competition and digital issues. “That is absolutely an area that we are primed to address,” Tai said. “This one is new for me, but let me take this back. I’m happy to follow up with you and your team on this.”

 

[iceberg187]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1639014286281388034

That's what people don't seem to get when you do stupid things, you get stupid outcomes. The 'high-end' gaming market is now a thing now. It's why we have senators asking about it in trade talks and why Microsoft gets to throw the CMA's words back in their face in that they get to say that the CMA doesn’t care about anything other than Sony so we are going to keep the same energy.

See what happens when people don't approach things from a place of sincerity and honesty? Blows up in your face.

 

[chris1515]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1639014286281388034

She probably heard it from Microsoft.

 

[troyan]

Its a strange argument after Arkane Studios said that it is better to concentrate on one plattform:

Originally, Redfall was meant to release on all platforms. Smith said that the studio didn’t mind that decision, however. He continued, “Support from Game Pass and have to worry about one less platform, one less complexity. And Game Pass has a ton of people that can play. It could be our biggest game ever because of the 30 million Game Pass [members] or whatever that number is.”

Microsoft Scrapped a PS5 Version of Redfall, Says Arkane Director - IGN

Arkane director says Redfall was also in development for PS5 until Microsoft acquired Bethesda and canceled the version.

www.ign.com

 

[Deleted member 11852]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1639014286281388034

Why would this Senator that Microsoft paid half a million dollars, be bashing Sony?

 

[Nesh]

Why would this Senator that Microsoft paid half a million dollars, be bashing Sony?

Also 98% of the "high end gaming market"?
If she is talking about Japan, Japanese just dont want XBOX.
That percentage makes zero sense in the global economy.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Also 98% of the "high end gaming market"?

Maybe her PC is a potato and she hates Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong.

 

[see colon]

Why would this Senator that Microsoft paid half a million dollars, be bashing Sony?

It certainly is a mystery.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

That's what people don't seem to get when you do stupid things, you get stupid outcomes. The 'high-end' gaming market is now a thing now. It's why we have senators asking about it in trade talks and why Microsoft gets to throw the CMA's words back in their face in that they get to say that the CMA doesn’t care about anything other than Sony so we are going to keep the same energy. See what happens when people don't approach things from a place of sincerity and honesty? Blows up in your face.

I'm not following here. Microsoft have embraced the narrative that Nintendo is in a different market, their presentation to the EU showed only PlayStation and Xbox because this allows Microsoft paint a picture where Sony dominate the console industry when Sony trail Nintendo in market share than Nintendo. In the same breath, Microsoft are telling everything that are bringing games to Nintendo consoles.

Pick a lane, Microsoft. You cannot pretend Nintendo doesn't exist but get credit for signing contracts to bring games to that platform.

 

[Cynicalking]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1639243557616734209

 

[iroboto]

She probably heard it from Microsoft.

She is the representative of Washington which is the headquarters of Microsoft. She is doing her job, her constituents are Microsoft employees.

 

[troyan]

Yeah, another time these regulators dont do their job. And why wouldnt it be result "in a substantial lessening of competition in relation to console gaming" but yet in the cloud business?