Microsoft Tries to Buy Activision Blizzard

[fishbowlhead]

PGR3 not getting bc on SeriesX was absolutely criminal.

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, the pain has been softened by Horizon being made but by the same token FH proved how stupid the move to drop PGR was in the first place

[Lebowski]

Yep, the pain has been softened by Horizon being made but by the same token FH proved how stupid the move to drop PGR was in the first place

thing is with horizon theirs a lot of chaff that distracts form the races, a lot of exploring, speed cams, billobords, barn finds and races that have multiple routes. Then theirs the events where your changing the style of car very regularly, we seem to have lost the purity of games like PGR and Ridge Racer where your on a set tracks which you can learn and perfect.

[nonny]

PGR3 not getting bc on SeriesX was absolutely criminal.

Yeah both this and PGR4 (improved weather and motorbikes ffs).

[fishbowlhead]

So turns out MS only bought Bethesda because Sony was going to sign Starfield as an exclusive.

[Cassius_Smoke]

From what I can gather, Sony never signed anything nor is there even any evidence there was an exclusivity deal.
Bethesda says talks were happening, but no evidence have come out.
Phil Spencer said he heard a rumour and wasn't happy about it. So... I guess they bought the company just to be sure?

[fishbowlhead]

Sounds like that was the case from the interviews that were had with him.

[Neon Ignition]

Maybe it will be confirmed but as things stand I don't buy that for a second. PS5 has excluvity deals all the time and frankly Starfield is still a new IP, untested and it was years out from release. I don't see MS's reaction to a potential Sony exclusivity deal being to go to the lengths of buying Bethesda wholesale rather than counter offer over one game. Or that Bethesda was so flippant about selling over that scenario. Being concerned or planning a response sure, maybe it set them on the long road to the buyout, but not as a defacto reaction. Catching up, by the sounds of things the FTC have fluffed the court hearings up badly.

[nonny]

I haven't listened to the actual audio but there was mention they knew Sony had signed Ghostwire and Deathloop deals and were hearing they wanted to get Starfield as a full exclusive...

So yeah it sounds like it was definitely a big factor as it's the sort of game they couldn't afford to miss.

Of course this all sounds reactionary but reality is Microsoft would have been analysing the potential acquisition for a long period of time regardless. This would have definitely swayed final decision but it's not like they heard this rumour and decided to shell out 7b just to snub Sony.

This whole day 2 was crazy. The most surprising is just how bad the FTC were overall in their attempts to portray Nintendo as being in a different market and generally asking dumb questions that show they have a skewed view of the market.

The whole google / stadia angle seems to have been a waste of time as well because on the stand he literally said google created stadia to compete with hardware (e.g. cloud is in the same market... when they're trying their hardest to show it's a separate one

Biggest thing though had to be the Judge getting Spencer to say under oath they'd keep COD on PS5 (provided Sony agreed)... to which he raised his hand and confirmed.

That might just be the interaction which brings down the whole of the FTC case...

Side note: I'd love to know what was in Jim Ryan's video but it was kept from public view.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Well... He said his commitment, was to keep it on PlayStation 5.
Not Microsofts commitment, and not future PlayStation consoles.

Its 100% going exclusive come the next gen. Not that MS will have made a COD for a decade by then.
'Man, remember Call of Duty?? MS are bringing it back!'

[fishbowlhead]

Well... He said his commitment, was to keep it on PlayStation 5.
Not Microsofts commitment, and not future PlayStation consoles.

Its 100% going exclusive come the next gen. Not that MS will have made a COD for a decade by then.
'Man, remember Call of Duty?? MS are bringing it back!'

Ah year man I remember that, I’m so glad MS only put 4 battle passes in it though thanks to our super ultimate game pass gold leaf X edition sub, otherwise we’d have 6 to pay for, its so much better than the S sub tier.

[Cassius_Smoke]

“Sony has a significant catalog of exclusives games. It’s drastically larger, dramatically larger than what we have on Xbox today. Both Sony and Nintendo’s first-party is stronger than Xbox.”

Who's fault is that Phil? Aren't you the guy at the top?

Also, they approached Square for exclusives. You know, that thing Sony are arseholes for doing.

[Cassius_Smoke]

What I will say is this.
If MS buys a company, there should be absolutely no commitment for them to release games on another platform.

[nonny]

I've no issue with any company buying talent and choosing to keep content as an exclusive... I do have an issue with Sony actively blocking content hitting competitors services through contract though.

That to me feels a little bit anti-competitive and potentially even hurts the 3rd party developer in question. To me that just feels like they're using their market position to not only strike up the best deal for them, but also ensure a worse deal for everyone else.

[Cassius_Smoke]

It's probably six of one and half a dozen of the other.
Sony will absolutely be using their position to strike deals. But also, as a third party, you'll be happier to go with Sony because of its market share then with Xbox. It's not all 3rd parties, most are multi platform, but if you were approached by both Xbox and Sony, you'd go Sony any day of the week.
And you can see that with what's bring said. Xbox being in 3rd place is absolutely hurting their chances of getting exclusives.