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Microsoft is trying to acquire Activision Blizzard (UPDATE: CMA says NO!).

MidWalian

By MidWalian
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thesnwmn

thesnwmn

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Thor said:

Just read about the CoD deal with Nintendo. Are Nintendo about to release a new console that's at the very least as powerful as a Xbox Series S then? 

 

No, it's simply MS covering themselves against a regulator suggesting it's an issue if CoD was to become single platform. They can point to this deal and say they are perfectly happy to keep CoD on all platforms and indeed are actively doing so.

 

Obviously we don't know the contractual details, so what Nintendo is paying is unknown but I'd be unsurprised to find it amounts to costing Nintendo nothing.

 

In fact, it's most likely a play for MS to put XCloud on Switch, even if they have to start doing so by releasing single game launchers. Open the doors. Start with a launcher per CoD game. Then one for all CoD games. Eventually it's just a Game Pass launcher.

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Stanley

Stanley

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All that matters here is that MS get COD on Game Pass, job done. If that doesn’t increase subscribers nothing will. Also a canny way of getting Game Pass and Xcloud on Switch through the back door. 
 

I wonder how it will all work, if you subscribe to Game Pass will you be able to play the Switch and PlayStation versions as part of your subscription or will they be separate purchases? 

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MattyP

MattyP

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Probably no interest in putting mobile content into GamePass for consoles.... However I can see MS pushing GP content onto mobiles via King. Although the mobile division seem to be making massive amounts of profit anyway so who knows...

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Stanley

Stanley

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47 minutes ago, MattyP said:

Probably no interest in putting mobile content into GamePass for consoles.... However I can see MS pushing GP content onto mobiles via King. Although the mobile division seem to be making massive amounts of profit anyway so who knows...

Yeah could be used to market Game Pass although I’m not sure they are crossover audiences :lol:

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thesnwmn

thesnwmn

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Whether Candy Crash specifically, Game Pass expanding into Mobile content makes a lot of sense to me. I don't mean bringing mobile games to consoles or PC but literally a bunch of mobile games included for free.

 

There are two big companies already in the mobile subscription space and it makes sense to try to gain a foothold there and against them.

 

Apple with Apple Arcade.

Netflix with their expanding games library.

 

Whether King are the right fit for that role it's a big player in mobile which maybe they can leverage with Game Pass to build a substantial offering and an attractive space for developers.

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Flanders

Flanders

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Very interesting that the FTC directly mentions Microsoft’s immediate shift of upcoming Bethesda titles to exclusive as a contributor to a mistrust they won’t do the same with Activision. 
 

Really makes me wonder whether the Bethesda and ABK deals were just two very separate opportunistic moves rather than a coherent strategy. They surely wouldn’t have bought Bethesda outright if they’d known it could have harmed their chances of getting ABK.

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thesnwmn

thesnwmn

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15 minutes ago, MidWalian said:

Oh.

 

 

As expected then for the last month or so. Going to be interested what the FTC end up wanting done. Guarantees, splits, etc. It could reveal a fair bit about MS' short to medium term goals with the acquisition to see what they're prepared to stomach.

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TehStu

TehStu

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1 minute ago, Sarlaccfood said:

Gonna be tough for Phil’s nice guy image when MS are bankrolling The Republican’s 2024 campaign.

The Microsoft PAC does anyway. Why some popular (in social media circles) MS employees say to avoid paying in to it.

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thesnwmn

thesnwmn

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1 minute ago, deerokus said:

I sort of hate Activision and was looking forward to someone running them properly, making use of some of their games that aren't CoD.

 

I'd like to see this go through if only to hopefully see someone reign in a little of the very excessive profiteering from most titles under the Activision-Blizzard banner. Of course MS are in it for the money and to squeeze what they can from the consumer but I think they see that as different from the way Activision, Blizzard and most of the big publishers seem to. Just slightly less hard on the in game item factories so far.

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monkeydog

monkeydog

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1 minute ago, Shindig said:

I really don't think Microsoft will change much on that end.  I've not heard much about them being that hands on.

 

At ABK or their other studios?  They legally can't do anything at Activision yet.  Creatively they are reportedly hands off, except at 343i. That's a bit different to being corporately hands off though.

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Shindig

Shindig

Posted
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8 minutes ago, monkeydog said:

 

At ABK or their other studios?  They legally can't do anything at Activision yet.  Creatively they are reportedly hands off, except at 343i. That's a bit different to being corporately hands off though.

I'm thinking about the likes of Bethesda.  Although any influence could be well under wraps until Starfeild ships.  Or I'm just not looking in the right places.

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TehStu

TehStu

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12 minutes ago, Stanley said:

The more I read just makes me realise how much I despise these corporations. Thank God for Dragon Quest Treasures by, err, Square Enix, do MS own them yet? 

It's hilarious what we've let them all get away with for decades (everything, every industry). Proper belly laugh if it's COD that bursts the antitrust bubble.

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RubberJohnny

RubberJohnny

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14 hours ago, TehStu said:

Oh, now the feds care about monopolies again. Some sort of 30 year cycle?

 

It is somewhat wild that Microsoft got hauled over the coals in the 90s for including a browser in their operating system, then Google launches Android, an entire mobile operating system based around using their own software and services, and reaches like 3x the number of users Microsoft ever had and not a whisper. Facebook get billions of users, does a genocide or two, meddles with elections and buys up absolutely every social media company that might begin to be a competitor, and not a murmur.

 

Then Microsoft tries to buy the guys who make 2012's hottest mobile game Candy Crush, and that's the step that's too far.

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