Microsoft Tries to Buy Activision Blizzard

[fishbowlhead]

There are some rumblings that Sony signed a 3 year COD deal just last year, which would take it to 2024. What exactly that contract says is unknown.
Probably 'When you release a COD give Sony some extra trinkets for players please'. While MS have to keep up their end, it doesn't necessarily mean that they have to MAKE any COD games to meet that deal.

Sony would of known about the buyout for a long time, they were probably approached first, the price tag is way out their league obviously.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2022-01-20-sony-says-it-expects-microsoft-to-ensure-activision-games-are-multiplatform

Sony comments but it seems pretty much to just be corporate speak about MS sticking to pre-existing deals made

[Cassius_Smoke]

There is always a grace period, but once its ended its going exclusive.

[Lebowski]

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...-multiplatform
Sony comments but it seems pretty much to just be corporate speak about MS sticking to pre-existing deals made

Microsoft have already stuck to preexisting deals, Deathloop and Tokyo Deathwire are still PS5 exclusives, and no doubt Call of Duty will remain on all platforms for a number of years to come. I cant see them Pulling the rug on an existing yearly franchise and telling a player-base as big as the COD player base to buy a new box if they still want to play future cod games. It would do nothing but breed resentment and disenfranchise large parts of the community. No doubt you'd get some real butt hurt fanboys mobilizing campaigns to boycott and review bomb exclusive cod reassessif it came to it.

Theirs the other side of the coin too with Microsoft now owning these multi-platform company's they now have a route into making money off their competitors consoles, if games like Deathloop and Tokoyo ghostwire are profitable that profit is microsofts.

[wakka]

I think increasing and retaining Game Pass subs is the strategic priority though. Something like Tokyo Ghostwire is a rounding error when it comes to this sort of stuff, they just dropped enough cash to fund a world war (a real one, not Call of Duty: World At War, although they could probably make a few of those with the cash left over).

Agreed that stuff like CoD will stick around on PlayStation for a bit while current deals and contracts are wrapped up and untangled, but it'll only be a few short years till Acti's output is fully Xbox exclusive. The pocket change they can make selling battle passes to PlayStation owners is irrelevant at the end of the day.

EDIT:

A musing, apropos nothing...it's interesting how in the 90s games consoles mostly had very distinct libraries, then as we moved into the 2000s and the PS2/GC/XB era they began to converge, until we got to a point that the PSBoxes were virtually indistinguishable in what they offered (equivalent to picking an Indesit over a Zanussi washing machine practically) and now they look like they might firmly diverge once again.

[fishbowlhead]

MS could of bought their own country for less, set up their own tax rules and run everything though their own countries tax system, would of been more profitable.

[Neon Ignition]

Can't imagine it'll be long till the fascade of niceness about Bethesda and Activisions status within Xbox falls too. MS doesn't need three major publishing operations.

[Cassius_Smoke]

If it were me, I have Doom, Halo and COD as the staple FPS and drop the rest. Those three offer distinct styles over each other.
Overwatch running as the Gaas giant under it all.
It'll be over saturated if they run with all the FPS they own.

[Neon Ignition]

COD should switch to every other year like Forza has slipped toward. IW and Treyarch can lead with one support studio to help, it'd make for more consistency in delivering the polished entries like Modern Warfare rather than the less well recieved ones like WWII. It'd give some breathing room around Xmas for their other properties as well

[nonny]

If it were me, I have Doom, Halo and COD as the staple FPS and drop the rest. Those three offer distinct styles over each other.
Overwatch running as the Gaas giant under it all.
It'll be over saturated if they run with all the FPS they own.

No way, give me a brand new Quake running on id Tech just for next gen...

[Neon Ignition]

There's the other consideration.

That all these buyouts lead to mass speculation, feverish fan wishing, massive expectations and built up dreams...


and then they all end up panning out like Rare



... oh Rare...

[Cassius_Smoke]

Yeah everyone is going to be stomping the mat for all these games when realistically it can't and won't happen. Most will be left off the table and others will start development once others have finished making it a looong wait for some fruit from this tree.

What would be cool, probably by the end of the generation, is a slight stitching together of some of the different tech they now own to create a blended engine.

[fishbowlhead]

MS, now you have more fps studios than i can even count, can you pull your fingers out and get halo coop out? No? Ok.

[Neon Ignition]

I'll be livid if Spyro gets a new game before Banjo

[Cassius_Smoke]

If you look at the top 10 biggest selling games last year, they are all nailed in games really.
Fps
Pokemon
Sports
And Nintendo

Spiderman is probably the outlier there.

Call of Duty: Vanguard
Halo Infinite
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl
Madden NFL 22
Battlefield 2042
Mario Kart 8*
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Mario Party Superstars*
NBA 2K22*
Animal Crossing: New Horizons*


I don't know what my point is really. Probably that Sony need a sports franchise or something.