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

[PSman1700]

Anecdotal but I have a coworker who literally cried. She's a hardcore Playstation fan and Hellblade was an exclusive at one point. She was very upset when they got purchased.

Its a problem with the platforms userbase, also when ports happen. Even made it to CNN. Will this improve over time? Absolutely, majority of users simply dont care.

https://www.ccn.com/outrageous-horizon-zero-dawn-pc-port-triggers-playstation-fanboys/

PlayStation fan destroys setup after Horizon Zero Dawn PC reveal - Dexerto

This hardcore PlayStation fan was less than pleased by the reveal of Horizon Zero Dawn’s upcoming PC port.

www.dexerto.com

 

[Nesh]

Anecdotal but I have a coworker who literally cried. She's a hardcore Playstation fan and Hellblade was an exclusive at one point. She was very upset when they got purchased.

Statistically speaking we can find all kinds of people everywhere. But we aren't discussing about the fanbase personalities. We are discussing about the market

 

[eastmen]

0 sympathy here for Sony given their own history.

MS could tactically keep CoD mainstream games on Xbox/PC for platform value and Warzone iterations on all platforms since they’re F2P anyway with MTX. Then if Sony say no, spin the narrative.

Yup , people are just upset that Sony is getting out Sony'ed.

The horizon series is made by Guerrilla games previously Lost Boy Games which was purchased by Sony

Uncharted / Last of us was made by Naughty Dog which is a company founded in 1984 and purchased by SCE in 2001

Spider-man was made by Insomniac games that was founded in 1994 as xtreme software and purchased in 2019 by sony

Ghost of Tushima was made by Sucker punch that was founded in 1997 and bought by Sony in 2011.

A lot of sony's big games are currently coming from previously third party companies. But suddenly when MS starts to purchase companies everyone is upset. This is the end result of the MS has no games meme that people love to throw around. The only difference is that MS has the money to buy much bigger companies than sony can. So while sony keeps buying 1 or 2 developer team studios MS can purchase an Activision. Also Activision wanted to be bought , they were shopping the company around and I don't know about the rest of the people here but I much rather MS buys it than China.

You're all missing the point, focusing only on the initial game cost. Giving Sony access to the MTX on warzone is giving up 30% of the billions that it makes.

Yup.

For something like call of duty you have to figure out how much money is flowing into activision post sony's cut from sony's platform. Then you have to try and figure out how many people would just move to cod on mobile / xcloud/ xbox / steam. It could still be worth it for MS to remove the game from those platforms. If the deal lasts through the end of the generation its an even better inflection point for hopping off the playstation platform

 

[Nesh]

Expressing your personal grudge against Sony is more evident than actually bringing any equivalent examples and objective arguments. But go on.

 

[PSman1700]

We are discussing about the market

Well, the userbase actually does matter, they ARE the market.

 

[Nesh]

Well, the userbase actually does matter, they ARE the market.

Yeah it does for obvious reasons which are different from what some prefer to focus on. So.... Would you like to elaborate on that?

Here is my original quote which you deliberately left out

Statistically speaking we can find all kinds of people everywhere. But we aren't discussing about the fanbase personalities. We are discussing about the market

 

[eastmen]

Expressing your personal grudge against Sony is more evident than actually bringing any equivalent examples and objective arguments. But go on.

I posted a list of Equivalent examples. Sony has been buying up companies since the early 1990s. It seems you are okay with Sony doing it buy not MS so I would say its your own personal grudge against MS that is the problem here. I am actually saying that it doesn't matter to me because every platform company does it. Nintendo bought up third party companies , Sony did it , MS did , Amazon did it and more companies will do it.

Oh leave the console wars and personal preferences out of this and find me equivalent examples. Still waiting.

You seem to be the only one expressing personal preferences and console wars here. You are complaining that MS is doing what other companies have done in the market place before. We are literally talking about the Head of Playstation complaining that Ms is purchasing a video game company while Sony itself is in the middle of purchasing a company. I haven't been negative about sony buying bungie anywhere. The only thing I have said is in this thread if the reasoning from the UK is that MS shouldn't be able to buy Activision because they may reduce competition in the console market and the growing streaming market. Then Sony the current market leader shouldn't be able to buy bungie because it will further reduce competition and future streaming competition.

 

[Nesh]

I posted a list of Equivalent examples. Sony has been buying up companies since the early 1990s. It seems you are okay with Sony doing it buy not MS so I would say its your own personal grudge against MS that is the problem here. I am actually saying that it doesn't matter to me because every platform company does it. Nintendo bought up third party companies , Sony did it , MS did , Amazon did it and more companies will do it.

None is an equivalent example for the same reasons we didnt see much discussions and market concerns when Sony bought those studios or when MS bought studios other than Activision/Blizzard or Zenimax.
The only argument you made is "hey Sony bought Studios, MS bought studios = equivalent" without bringing a single point where they are proven to be equivalent to Zenimax or Activision/Blizzard.
Surely you can do better than that.

 

[PSman1700]

Yeah it does for obvious reasons which are different from what some prefer to focus on. So.... Would you like to elaborate on that?

Here is my original quote which you deliberately left out

Well, lets not forget Sony/Jim Ryan's actions as of late. It is not just this ACTVI deal which Sony is just reacting very strange to. The console price increase after two years, PSN devided into tiers (it got more expensive) and the game price increases and then being totally arrogant about it. DF covered some of it, but it actually does impact the userbase and people looking for their next gen console now when things start to become available again (somewhat atleast).

Sony's latest reaction and actions against the MS-ACTVI deal only adds up to it.

None is an equivalent example for the same reasons we didnt see much discussions and market concerns when Sony bought those studios or when MS bought studios other than Activision/Blizzard or Zenimax.
The only argument you made is "hey Sony bought Studios, MS bought studios = equivalent".
Surely you can do better than that.

Sony's been trying to lock everything onto their console ecosystem for ages now. MS isnt even intrested in doing that with CoD......
Sony is still the market leader (in EU atleast, so far), them aquiring Bungie for billions of dollars whilst not making Bungie games exclusive to PS isnt that different from MS aquiring ACTVI and not making CoD exclusive to Xbox.

I dunno man, it seems theres more at play, yes the platforms userbase generally has been like this, but its gotten much worse over time, in special since this generation came along. I have the feeling it has to do with more and stronger competition, last generation Playstation was basically the only brand trying in the console space (and Nintendo then). Now thats not really the case.
MS both has the stronger hardware, now they actually have a focus on games with impressive games to come, its cheaper and the xbox is catching up.
Also the lack of PS5 exclusives does bite, aswell as the vast move to the PC platform.

Things are just heating up alot. Thats not directly bad, competition is good.

 

[Nesh]

Well, lets not forget Sony/Jim Ryan's actions as of late. It is not just this ACTVI deal which Sony is just reacting very strange to. The console price increase after two years, PSN devided into tiers (it got more expensive) and the game price increases and then being totally arrogant about it. DF covered some of it, but it actually does impact the userbase and people looking for their next gen console now when things start to become available again (somewhat atleast).

Sony's latest reaction and actions against the MS-ACTVI deal only adds up to it.

You are jumping from one subject to the other. Answer directly to what it was asked on my post.

 

[eastmen]

None is an equivalent example for the same reasons we didnt see much discussions and market concerns when Sony bought those studios or when MS bought studios other than Activision/Blizzard or Zenimax.
The only argument you made is "hey Sony bought Studios, MS bought studios = equivalent" without bringing a single point where they are proven to be equivalent to Zenimax or Activision/Blizzard.
Surely you can do better than that.

No none of this is equivalent to you because of your pro sony bias. You might not care about those studios being bought but I can assure you that there were fans of those companies that were upset but apparently those feelings are not valid cause you said so.

Seems really odd that you want to continue down this path.

It's simple if companies can buy companies then why be upset when only one company does it. I find it hilarious that the head of playstation is having a hissy fit on the internet that MS is buying a company with a popular shooter while they themselves are in the middle of buying a company that is known for their popular shooter and then you are here trying to hand wave and say that its not the same. Like seriously ? What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

 

[Nesh]

Sony's been trying to lock everything onto their console ecosystem for ages now. MS isnt even intrested in doing that with CoD......
Sony is still the market leader (in EU atleast, so far), them aquiring Bungie for billions of dollars whilst not making Bungie games exclusive to PS isnt that different from MS aquiring ACTVI and not making CoD exclusive to Xbox.

I dunno man, it seems theres more at play, yes the platforms userbase generally has been like this, but its gotten much worse over time, in special since this generation came along. I have the feeling it has to do with more and stronger competition, last generation Playstation was basically the only brand trying in the console space (and Nintendo then). Now thats not really the case.
MS both has the stronger hardware, now they actually have a focus on games with impressive games to come, its cheaper and the xbox is catching up.
Also the lack of PS5 exclusives does bite, aswell as the vast move to the PC platform.

Things are just heating up alot. Thats not directly bad, competition is good.

And what popular multiplatform franchises have they locked exactly under their ownership and what company is the size of Activision/Blizzard and Zenimax that they managed to purchase?
Spiderman? Spiderman isnt owned by Sony, and it was Marvel that approached them to make a game, who btw approached MS but were rejected. So....

 

[Nesh]

No none of this is equivalent to you because of your pro sony bias. You might not care about those studios being bought but I can assure you that there were fans of those companies that were upset but apparently those feelings are not valid cause you said so.

Seems really odd that you want to continue down this path.

It's simple if companies can buy companies then why be upset when only one company does it. I find it hilarious that the head of playstation is having a hissy fit on the internet that MS is buying a company with a popular shooter while they themselves are in the middle of buying a company that is known for their popular shooter and then you are here trying to hand wave and say that its not the same. Like seriously ? What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

I am still waiting for you to provide proper arguments than projecting yourself on me. As I said, there was barely much of a discussion when MS bought other companies.
We aren't talking about purchasing companies, but the size and ownership/control of originally multiplatform property/content. Be on point.

 

[PSman1700]

It doesnt matter how spiderman got exclusive to Sony after being on Xbox. If the game where still on Xbox, more users would have had the ability to play the game, and the studio would have made more money on it aswell. Konami has previously stated that exclusivety isnt what they want, i can imagine other developers and studios sharing the same idea (but cant say it).
If you have to keep things exclusive to keep your userbase at bay, your going down the wrong path in the long term.

 

[Nesh]

It doesnt matter how spiderman got exclusive to Sony after being on Xbox. If the game where still on Xbox, more users would have had the ability to play the game, and the studio would have made more money on it aswell. Konami has previously stated that exclusivety isnt what they want, i can imagine other developers and studios sharing the same idea (but cant say it).
If you have to keep things exclusive to keep your userbase at bay, your going down the wrong path in the long term.

Marvel went to Sony and originally went to MS.
Are you complaining now that Marvel asked Sony to make a game for their console because MS didn't want to make a Marvel game for their own console?
I mean.....f*ck!

I mean....lets complain also why MS didnt make Halo and Forza on Playstation too or why Sony didnt make Gran Turismo and God of War on XBOX

 

[see colon]

You are jumping from one subject to the other. Answer directly to what it was asked on my post.

I lost the plot somewhere in here, but are you asking about an acquisition that would give market share on par with a combined MS/Activision? Not exactly video game related but Sony purchased Manga (the company), Funimation, Rightpoint, Madman and Crunchyroll. They own a large portion of the anime market. I would guess that they own more of the anime market than MS would own of the games market. Not that it matters, because Sony owns more of the games market than a combined MS/Activision.

 

[PSman1700]

Sony owns more of the games market than a combined MS/Activision.

Yes but that doesnt matter, its Sony.

 

[eastmen]

I am still waiting for you to provide proper arguments than projecting yourself on me.
We aren't talking about purchasing companies, but the size and ownership/control of originally multiplatform property/content. Be on point.

You are talking about the size of companies. I see no difference between the market leader sony droping 4B on a company and MS who has always been third in market share spending 70B . It makes perfect sense that the one in a distant third place would have to spend the most on increasing their content output .

I hate to break it to you but MS buying Acitvision will be disruptive to the market. It will actually be a good thing for the industry. Sony entering the market helped break up the duopoly of sega/ nintendo and it forced sega to inovate and bring in online gaming on every console sold. But Sony having far and away the highest market share ignored that with the ps2 and instead regulated it to a poorly supported and expensive add on while trying to push dvd into the market which they had a vested interest in. Sony entered the market with a disruptive price point and the technology know how from its other divisions. MS took the torch of the dreamcast and created an amazing online eccosystem with the original xbox but was to late and expensive to really break into the market. however with the ps3 again sony neglected the online market at launch while trying to increase pricing by $200-$300 over their previous console while pushing their format bluray. But this time MS was able have a cheaper console with fantastic online. Nintendo launched the sucessfull wii. The market was much more evenly split and it forced sony to work hard on the ps3 and improve the console and its online in drastic ways over the generation. It lead sony to once again focus on the gaming aspect of their consoles and they launched the more more market friendly priced ps4 which had great online gaming almost on par with the xbox . Nintendo messed up with the wii u and had a short generation but innovated with the switch and brought a unique handheld/docked console the market.

With MS purchasing Activision perhaps sony will innovate on first person shooters and diversify their first party offerings. Maybe Nintendo will be forced to innovated like they did with the wii or switch . Who knows. But I can tell you its likely better for MS to purchase acitvision and increase its market share so we have as 3 evenly split console makers than for them to exit the market or for them to continue to be a distant third. Or since activision wanted to be bought it would be better than Apple buying them and locking the games to the apple eccosystem or amazon to luna or google to stadia.

 

[Nesh]

Well if you want to see it in a specific way thats your problem. Agree to disagree.
At least you agreed that this may be disruptive because its a form of potential market manipulation, unlike the examples you mentioned earlier or MS's earlier purchases.
"Perhaps" and "maybes" they will "innovate" to "prevent disruption" is a very very loose argument and a big hypothesis. Such a hypothetical scenario that it is not even worth discussing.

I lost the plot somewhere in here, but are you asking about an acquisition that would give market share on par with a combined MS/Activision? Not exactly video game related but Sony purchased Manga (the company), Funimation, Rightpoint, Madman and Crunchyroll. They own a large portion of the anime market. I would guess that they own more of the anime market than MS would own of the games market. Not that it matters, because Sony owns more of the games market than a combined MS/Activision.

I am not familiar with the anime market. But if those purchases are the equivalent of controlling and potentially removing content from competition, that deserves just as much of scrutiny.

 

[eastmen]

It doesnt matter how spiderman got exclusive to Sony after being on Xbox. If the game where still on Xbox, more users would have had the ability to play the game, and the studio would have made more money on it aswell. Konami has previously stated that exclusivety isnt what they want, i can imagine other developers and studios sharing the same idea (but cant say it).
If you have to keep things exclusive to keep your userbase at bay, your going down the wrong path in the long term.

It's not about spider-man its about insomniac. I loved Sunset Overdrive and Stormlands. Now they are owned by Sony but apparently that doesn't matter cause the company wasn't a certain size or something or maybe its cause MS didn't purchase it. I dunno I can't keep the logic straight in this thread anymore