Microsoft Tries to Buy Activision Blizzard

[Neon Ignition]

Key thing to remember, whether this goes through or doesn't - MS is far from done with their acquisitions

[nonny]

Crash Team Rumble... By Activision... Who MS don't own yet.

True... but by the time it comes out it could be their first release?

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.eurogamer.net/microsoft-says-we-have-lost-the-console-waras-ftc-hearing-gets-underway

MS declares itself the loser of the Console Wars

[fishbowlhead]

https://www.eurogamer.net/microsoft-...-gets-underway
MS declares itself the loser of the Console Wars

MS have only just realised this? 😂

[Neon Ignition]

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[nonny]

Is it just me or do the FTC have zero idea of how the gaming market works? They asked Sarah Bond if you needed a Windows key to stream games... It's honestly baffling.

The email from Jim Ryan 2 days after the announcement is probably the biggest piece of evidence so far. Especially given it is completely opposed to his later comments to the CMA.

You add on the revelation Xbox almost lost COD altogether and had to re-negotiate a worse deal to even get it on their platform and it all just sounds like Sony is able to squeeze the competition where exclusivity and marketing are concerned.

Of course it wasn't all pro Xbox. They went over Matt Booty's email with some fair scrutiny... but all up it just feels like the FTC case is weak and they're misinformed on how the market actually operates.

Today will be juicier. They have Phil Spencer taking the stand and a recording of Jim Ryan as well... So get your popcorn ready.

[Neon Ignition]

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[Cassius_Smoke]

It's their own doing.

They led the way with the 360, but already by the end of that generation they'd lost steam and PS3 overtook them. Then the Xbox One completely messed them up and they spent that generation trying to repair damage. And this generation they released a new console without having a wave of games behind it despite having the time to do that, and sat on an insane amount of IPs.
They started on an even footing in the 360 days and completely cocked it up. And what, they are suddenly realising this??

[Deuteros]

It's their own doing.

They led the way with the 360, but already by the end of that generation they'd lost steam and PS3 overtook them. Then the Xbox One completely messed them up and they spent that generation trying to repair damage. And this generation they released a new console without having a wave of games behind it despite having the time to do that, and sat on an insane amount of IPs.
They started on an even footing in the 360 days and completely cocked it up. And what, they are suddenly realising this??

Sony was following up on the sales behemoth that was the PS2, Microsoft on its first ever console, the Xbox. How is that starting on an even footing?

I also don't think the loss of steam by the end of the Xbox 360's lifetime is something that should be attributed to mistakes made by Microsoft. There was a particular 'perfect storm' caused by Microsoft getting a lot of things right and Sony nearly all of them wrong. And despite the early lead those circumstances afforded Microsoft, all it took for Sony to catch up was stopping to screw up and copying what the competition had done right.

[dataDave]

It's their own doing.

They led the way with the 360, but already by the end of that generation they'd lost steam and PS3 overtook them.

This seems to be the general assumption all over the net. They may have overtaken them slightly on console sales, however software, subs, and revenue paint an entirely different picture.

In my opinion that generation was a win for MS, despite Sony claiming more home-runs.

[dataDave]

The following generation should have been an even footing for both, but MS went and dropped the ball before it even started in what must have been the biggest industry folly ever seen.

[fishbowlhead]

This seems to be the general assumption all over the net. They may have overtaken them slightly on console sales, however software, subs, and revenue paint an entirely different picture.

In my opinion that generation was a win for MS, despite Sony claiming more home-runs.

People forget just how much a disaster the rrod was, that alone probably sunk the 360 into a loss overall on the gen.

[Cassius_Smoke]

What I meant is, the 360 came out a whole year earlier than the PS3 and it was cheaper. By the time the PS3 came out the 360 gained significant ground and stole some Sony customers away. At that point i'd say it was an even footing.
I loved my 360 and used one right up until the PS4 came out. But even aside from the RROD it felt like good releases were starting to get thin on the ground. I'm pretty sure by the last couple of years I only played 3rd party games on it. Meanwhile Sony gained momentum and then launched into orbit with the PS4.
Everything that went wrong for MS was their doing. The strategies that Sony did to catch up, could have been done by MS to keep ahead. And the strategies Sony is deploying now to keep the market could have been done by MS. But instead they tripped up in the race and now demand the FTC let them buy a travellator to they can go faster and catch up.

[Neon Ignition]

Their first big mistake was allowing themselves to get overly distracted by the short term Kinect. By the time the cheap, short fluff appeal waned away they'd committed to repeating it on XBO and eroded their development teams. Madness that PGR4 was allowed to just vanish the franchise back then too

[Lebowski]

Their first big mistake was allowing themselves to get overly distracted by the short term Kinect. By the time the cheap, short fluff appeal waned away they'd committed to repeating it on XBO and eroded their development teams. Madness that PGR4 was allowed to just vanish the franchise back then too

It was pretty much what EA have done with Burnout and Need for speed. They didn't want to be competing with itself for racing games and decided to drop one franchise in favor of the other. They should of kept both as for me Forza is boring Sim track racer where as PGR is more Arcadey.