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Microsoft / Activision Deal Approval Watch |OT| (MS/ABK close)

Do you believe the deal will be approved?


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GHG

Member
From the lead communications of MS:



LwiW1as.png

Same energy.


Why don't they instruct their 120 million MAU to buy some fucking software instead of crying wolf?
 
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twilo99

Member
They should flip the script and have Activision buy Xbox… would the same abstract objections still apply from all these government entities that have so much power over what happens in the “free” market?
 
I know what your point is. I'm saying it is stupid. Amazon Prime Video is a competitor to Netflix. Netflix is a standalone streaming subscription while Amazon Prime Video is part of an overall Amazon Prime subscription. The same thing applies to Nvidia's GeForce Now and Microsoft's Game Pass. They are still competitors in the cloud gaming space. You can't argue that they are not, because they are both offering subscription services for cloud gaming. The fact that you can also have non-cloud gaming with Game Pass doesn't somehow negate its cloud gaming aspect.
I think it's stupid claim that a dependent feature of the higher tiered subscription service indicates some sort of dominance. If MS isn't offering cloud gaming on its own it's hardly dominant.

It is a great side benefit of Game pass ultimate not the main draw. Most people play the games natively and people here continue to say cloud gaming has no future. I think that's nonsense but cloud gaming in general is such a new way to play games it could be years before we see something actually dominant like Netflix.

Google learned the hard way cloud gaming has a long way to go before it is really viable on its own. NVIDIA's problem is they don't actually own the content they want to make available so there is even less of a benefit to their services. None of this changes the fact that MS dominates nothing in video games they are third and have been since 2001. This deal doesn't change that but hopefully will make them more competitive.
 
I genuinely don't get why those executives want to win on Twitter. If you have things to say then tell them to regulators who actually have your deal's fate in their hands.

It's like business slacktivism or something.
The 24/7 news cycle in addition to Twitter has made the entire world like this, because there is perceived capital in optics. It's part of what makes threads like these so entertaining. Everyone weighing in with specificity on each article of info dropped, waiting to be fed and react to news.
 
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I genuinely don't get why those executives want to win on Twitter. If you have things to say then tell them to regulators who actually have your deal's fate in their hands.

It's like business slacktivism or something.

The regulators are on Twitter too, as well as politicians, other people in the industry, customers, etc. It's not like they aren't speaking with regulators directly as well.
 
I think it's stupid claim that a dependent feature of the higher tiered subscription service indicates some sort of dominance. If MS isn't offering cloud gaming on its own it's hardly dominant.

It is a great side benefit of Game pass ultimate not the main draw. Most people play the games natively and people here continue to say cloud gaming has no future. I think that's nonsense but cloud gaming in general is such a new way to play games it could be years before we see something actually dominant like Netflix.

Google learned the hard way cloud gaming has a long way to go before it is really viable on its own. NVIDIA's problem is they don't actually own the content they want to make available so there is even less of a benefit to their services. None of this changes the fact that MS dominates nothing in video games they are third and have been since 2001. This deal doesn't change that but hopefully will make them more competitive.

You get it. Cloud Gaming for many will be a situational and complementary component of the more preferred way to game, which is through native apps on local hardware. For certain edge cases it might be someone's primary means of gaming. It will do wonders for specific RPGs imo.
 

CuNi

Member
First real hurdle right there....

I might be out of the loop, but I thought the deal only entered Phase 2 in the US and was still on Phase 1 on EU and CMA.
Wouldn't this be normal procedure on a deal of this size? Glad to be corrected on this if I'm misunderstanding this.
 

Topher

Gold Member
I might be out of the loop, but I thought the deal only entered Phase 2 in the US and was still on Phase 1 on EU and CMA.
Wouldn't this be normal procedure on a deal of this size? Glad to be corrected on this if I'm misunderstanding this.

I was thinking this was phase 2 in the UK. Maybe I'm wrong about that. lol.....I think the thread went over this stuff around 100 pages ago so I'm probably off.
 

CuNi

Member
I was thinking this was phase 2 in the UK. Maybe I'm wrong about that. lol.....I think the thread went over this stuff around 100 pages ago so I'm probably off.

I might be wrong as well.
With how long this already goes on for, I lost every sense of timeframes regarding this deal, lol.
 

Pelta88

Member
I might be out of the loop, but I thought the deal only entered Phase 2 in the US and was still on Phase 1 on EU and CMA.
Wouldn't this be normal procedure on a deal of this size? Glad to be corrected on this if I'm misunderstanding this.

From my understanding...

1. EU sent a letter accusing MS of antitrust/warning
2. CMA set to release findings next week
3. FTC gearing up for lawsuit

Those are the important developments to date.
 
If you glance at GP you're part of the new MAU calculations.

No way 150 million users per month with negative growth across the board

First, you have no idea what criteria is used to determine a monthly active user. Also, I'm pretty sure they've explained in the past that the person needed to have actually launched and played a game. Game Pass is tracked down to activity and usage. Also, Game Pass has grown each and every quarter last year.
 

Pelta88

Member
First, you have no idea what criteria is used to determine a monthly active user. Also, I'm pretty sure they've explained in the past that the person needed to have actually launched and played a game. Game Pass is tracked down to activity and usage. Also, Game Pass has grown each and every quarter last year.

Firstly I listened to the earnings call so I kinda do know the criteria.


But the bolded is proof you live in a different world entirely.
 
Firstly I listened to the earnings call so I kinda do know the criteria.


But the bolded is proof you live in a different world entirely.

I already established long ago you don't pay attention to facts and just ignore them wholesale.

Game Pass grew each and every quarter last year. Are you challenging that fact? Game Pass was an offsetting factor for losses in each and every quarter this year where there were losses on the gaming side of things. It was as regular statement, "losses offset by growth in game pass"

In fact, here's a direct quote from the CEO. So what exactly are you trying to argue?

https://www.vg247.com/xbox-game-pass-just-keeps-on-growing-and-growing

We saw new highs for Game Pass subscriptions, game streaming hours, and monthly active devices. And monthly active users surpassed a record 120 million during the quarter,” Nadella discloses.
 

dwish

Member
What Nvidia does is renting out hardware (which they make), letting you play games you already bought on it. I will never get what's wrong with that. I mean, other companies have been doing that for a long time, just not over a distance. (Hint: you can still play games you bought, over a distance, on rented hardware, due to streaming such as Steam Remote Play or Nvidia GameStream. Or for rented consoles, XBOX/PS Remote Play)
 

reksveks

Member
US: case in the FTC administrative court is pending in August iirc
EU: MS has received the EC's SO (Statement of Objection) so has to respond with their concessions to try and overcome those concerns. It's in the phase 2 stage of the investigation.
UK: CMA going to be sharing the 'preliminary' results from the phase 2 investigation with MS and potential remedies (hopefully next week). MS and other parties also then gets the opportunity to respond, obviously MS gets the opportunity to offer concessions to overcome any concerns that the CMA have. They have until some point in March to talk/negotiate with the CMA.
 
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reksveks

Member
Seems like Sony wants the CMA to go first.
Does seem like it. I think there may be some interesting scenarios here.

If the CMA asks for structural remedies, and MS decides to drop the deal very quickly then they get a nice cause to quash the subpoena.

If the CMA asks for behavioral remedies, MS agrees or even takes until March to agree then Sony is kinda stuck (not sure that they will agree to a delay for that long)

If the CMA and EU does accept concessions but the FTC decides to still go to court, then Sony need to figure out what their next step is.
 

Kiraly

Member

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
What a surprise they are desperate to hide the very practices they accuse Microsoft of hypothetically doing in the future with the CoD franchise. Brazen hacks.
1. Not hiding lol. Also, these practices aren't exclusive to Sony. The "worst" that can come out is timed-exclusivity agreements. Guess what, Microsoft also has similar timed-exclusivity agreements for Ark 2, Stalker 2, High on Life, etc. There is nothing special there.

2. Hypothetically? They already have public evidence of Microsoft doing it. There are numerous examples now that have also been cited by these regulatory bodies, including The Outer Worlds 2, Hellblade 2, Starfield, Redfall, Hi-Fi Rush, etc.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Does seem like it. I think there may be some interesting scenarios here.

If the CMA asks for structural remedies, and MS decides to drop the deal very quickly then they get a nice cause to quash the subpoena.

If the CMA asks for behavioral remedies, MS agrees or even takes until March to agree then Sony is kinda stuck (not sure that they will agree to a delay for that long)

If the CMA and EU does accept concessions but the FTC decides to still go to court, then Sony need to figure out what their next step is.
Yes, I think Sony is banking on structural remedies. In that case, MS will drop the deal and Sony doesn't have to share anything at all.

In the worst-case scenario for them, they will just share the bare minimum that they can get away with. But they understandably don't want to do it before they have to.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
Is any thing Frank posted untrue? I thought it was agreed that Sony was the market leader. Sony was the loudest company complaining about this deal yet by the provided data it appears they are doing quite well in this space. I don't see this acquisition changing that at all.
He didn’t say they are the market leader, he said it’s a market they mainly control.
 

Astray

Gold Member
The 24/7 news cycle in addition to Twitter has made the entire world like this, because there is perceived capital in optics. It's part of what makes threads like these so entertaining. Everyone weighing in with specificity on each article of info dropped, waiting to be fed and react to news.

The regulators are on Twitter too, as well as politicians, other people in the industry, customers, etc. It's not like they aren't speaking with regulators directly as well.
None of this moves the deal forward in any way tho, and the politicians don't address this deal on Twitter beyond generic endorsements.

Just keep it to the judge's chambers and Phil Spencer puff interviews.
 
None of this moves the deal forward in any way tho, and the politicians don't address this deal on Twitter beyond generic endorsements.

Just keep it to the judge's chambers and Phil Spencer puff interviews.
Naive to think that there aren’t external influences on regulation that can be effected by social media.
 

Astray

Gold Member
Naive to think that there aren’t external influences on regulation that can be effected by social media.
Social media doesn't affect anything, if it did then Hogwarts Legacy wouldn't be the #1 preorder in all platforms.

All these posts are performative nonsense and don't add any meaningful pressure that couldn't be exerted through court motions anyway. Meanwhile, the opposition is entrenching its advantage in MS's key regions and reducing their options for how they can utilize their acquisitions.
 
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