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[buenoblue]

Selfishly I'm pretty happy I'll be able to play all the COD campaigns on game pass pc, haven't played one since Avanced Warfare.

But I can't help thinking this is bad for the industry, and that Microsoft has a history of fucking studios up.

 

[Goalus]

This is the result of a decade-long and extremely fruitful partnership between MS and Activision. It's a natural step to bring this partnership to the next level.

 

[Aces High]

Your claims of MS being ‘software monopolists’ in console gaming are a complete fabrication anyway.

You should read more carefully.

I never said that Microsoft is a monopolist in console gaming.

I said that Microsoft is a monopolist. Period.

Speaking of fabrication... the paradox with Microsoft fans is that for them, this deal has no influence on the gaming industry at all while at the same time it gives Microsoft a mind-boggling first-party superiority over every other industry entity. It all depends on which thread you're looking at.

We can call it Schrödinger's Xbox if you like.

 

[Ozriel]

You should read more carefully.

I never said that Microsoft is a monopolist in console gaming.

I said that Microsoft is a monopolist. Period.

this deal concerns the gaming industry. Where’s the relevance in dragging decades old behaviors around Windows OS or browsers into this discussion?

Speaking of fabrication... the paradox with Microsoft fans is that for them, this deal has no influence on the gaming industry at all while at the same time it gives Microsoft a mind-boggling first-party superiority over every other industry entity. It all depends on which thread you're looking at.

We can call it Schrödinger's Xbox if you like.

For Xbox fans (and gamers), it improves the quality of GamePass and keeps Xbox in competition despite recent setbacks with respect to marketshare. Go over the threads here and many certainly aren’t convinced with your take that it’s given MS ‘first party superiority’.

 

[Topher]

This is the result of a decade-long and extremely fruitful partnership between MS and Activision. It's a natural step to bring this partnership to the next level.

Nah.....this is a result of ABK finding itself in a shitty situation due to poor management and Microsoft seeing an opportunity as well as having a shitton of cash. Activison's "partnerships" sway towards those who will make them the most money. Since 2015, that's been Sony.

 

[Fredrik]

Currently the number is 69

You think we all like the same games and the highest rated games are always what people like the most?

For reference, Death Stranding had a lower Metascore and was lower on the Metacritic top list.

Was still on the TGA Award as a GOTY nominee and was #2 at GAF GOTY.

 

[Jigsaah]

You think we all like the same games and the highest rated games are always what people like the most?

For reference, Death Stranding had a lower Metascore and was lower on the Metacritic top list.

Was still on the TGA Award as a GOTY nominee and was #2 at GAF GOTY.

But....it cannot beeeeeeeeeeee!

 

[KaiserBecks]

Everytime I see something Starfield/Metacritic related I immediately must think of how angry it made me that Obsidian didn't get any bonus payments for Fallout New Vegas because they came in one or two percentage points short. They delivered a terrific game, but Bethesda (softworks) fucked them over. It's not the fault of the Starfield team, but still it somehow feels like karma.

 

[Fredrik]

But....it cannot beeeeeeeeeeee!

Heh tbh I thought it was strange too at the time, but I hadn’t played DS. Divisive games are always complex in talks like this.
Regarding Starfield I understand why some don’t like it, but I also fully understand why some love it.

 

[Jigsaah]

Heh tbh I thought it was strange too at the time, but I hadn’t played DS. Divisive games are always complex in talks like this.
Regarding Starfield I understand why some don’t like it, but I also fully understand why some love it.

I like Starfield cuz of the mods, however the game is too easy. Got bored by time I was level 45.

I think GOTY should never boil down to what critics think. It's more about what the game brought to the genre or gaming in general. It's why Elden Ring beats God of War or Horizon IMO. Graphically inferior, objectively, but it redefined what an open world game could be.

The most amazing thing Starfield has done is it's ship building. It's like Chromehounds in terms of it's freedom and intuitiveness...but also in it's sheer ridiculousness. It's this and the modding community that just makes the game for me.

I'm still bored, but it's because I've done a lot. Kinda one of those games I have to put down for a while, but always plan on coming back to when I get the itch.

 

[Lukaku's First Touch]

So when is COD coming to gamepass now?

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Fitting that this would happen on Friday 13th, a bad day for gamers everywhere.

Jokes on you, 13 is my lucky number.

 

[Chronicle]

Honestly, I don’t care.

Then why bother posting?

 

[Topher]

Jokes on you, 13 is my lucky number.

Heck yeah. I was born on Friday the 13th.

I know I know....."explains a lot"....yada yada yada....

 

[Heisenberg007]

Nah.....this is a result of ABK finding itself in a shitty situation due to poor management and Microsoft seeing an opportunity as well as having a shitton of cash. Activison's "partnerships" sway towards those who will make them the most money. Since 2015, that's been Sony.

This is actually a result of Microsoft planting an old executive in ABK that continued the company's downfall and the aforementioned shitty situation due to poor management, which led to Microsoft finding an opportunity.

And that executive is now back at Microsoft, as he was before.

 

[Topher]

This is actually a result of Microsoft planting an old executive in ABK that continued the company's downfall and the aforementioned shitty situation due to poor management, which led to Microsoft finding an opportunity.

And that executive is now back at Microsoft, as he was before.

 

[Fredrik]

I like Starfield cuz of the mods, however the game is too easy. Got bored by time I was level 45.

I think GOTY should never boil down to what critics think. It's more about what the game brought to the genre or gaming in general. It's why Elden Ring beats God of War or Horizon IMO. Graphically inferior, objectively, but it redefined what an open world game could be.

The most amazing thing Starfield has done is it's ship building. It's like Chromehounds in terms of it's freedom and intuitiveness...but also in it's sheer ridiculousness. It's this and the modding community that just makes the game for me.

I'm still bored, but it's because I've done a lot. Kinda one of those games I have to put down for a while, but always plan on coming back to when I get the itch.

Yup, agreed. Main story is boring for me, or maybe not the story itself but the progression how you just go to temple after temple. But there are so many other things I like, most definitely ship building, I can spend hours tweaking a ship, and the amount of content is insane. I won’t be mad if it’s not in the TGA GOTY talks but for me it’ll be up there near the top, don’t remember when I last spent so many hours in so short time and for me that means something.

 

[ChoosableOne]

This acquisition is completely unfair. At the very least, they should give the rights of Solitaire to Sony.

 

[daninthemix]

2 favorite things about this whole ordeal:

1) Indignant American gamers getting pissy that a UK regulatory body was affecting their entertainment in any way.
2) The completion of the deal.

 

[ActusReusJB]

They...made a trailer celebrating this? lmao!

The trailer for the Bethesda purchase was much better.

 

[squarealex]

Less than 1 million on 24 hours...

yeah... I think everyone don't care...

 

[graywolf323]

I mean, they did that with Nokia too

though I don’t think Ybarra had much effect unlike Stephen Elop given the latter was actually the CEO of Nokia

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

This is actually a result of Microsoft planting an old executive in ABK that continued the company's downfall and the aforementioned shitty situation due to poor management, which led to Microsoft finding an opportunity.

And that executive is now back at Microsoft, as he was before.

Not defending this "old executive" because I know him on a personal level but he cares about gamers more than any other high level exec at any of these companies.

He laughed at the internal screening of the Craig version of Halo Infinite and said out loud in the meeting that they could not give that to gamers, they will tear us to shreds but Phil greenlit it

I just have countless stories of where him and Phil would butt heads over decision making because he cared about what we would be playing but most times he lost

Not saying he is a great leader because he too got the whole Series X is 20% more powerful and we will win every head to head battle but I think thats because Jason Ronald kept telling him and Phil that

 

[ManaByte]

Not defending this "old executive" because I know him on a personal level but he cares about gamers more than any other high level exec at any of these companies.

He laughed at the internal screening of the Craig version of Halo Infinite and said out loud in the meeting that they could not give that to gamers, they will tear us to shreds but Phil greenlit it

I just have countless stories of where him and Phil would butt heads over decision making because he cared about what we would be playing but most times he lost

Not saying he is a great leader because he too got the whole Series X is 20% more powerful and we will win every head to head battle but I think thats because Jason Ronald kept telling him and Phil that

His predecessor at Blizzard was the same, but he was the sacrificial lamb in the Me Too purge there.

Prior to working at Blizzard he worked on SWG at Sony in the Austin studio. Everyone knows how completely broken that game was, but he flew out from Austin to the SD HQ to spend a couple of days in the trenches of the GM department just to see how horribly broken the game was after the NGE and try to fix it.

 

[Fredrik]

They should have a round table talk like they did for the Bethesda acquisition. Just have Lulu there instead of Kotick.
I want to hear some teasers of what they might do, maybe some new IPs.

 

[djjinx2]

This is the result of a decade-long and extremely fruitful partnership between MS and Activision. It's a natural step to bring this partnership to the next level.

It was actually 2010 that MS partnered with Activision for Call Of Duty, 5 years of timed exclusivity on map packs and content iirc. Sony partnered after that, basically Activision got into bed with whoever was leading.

 

[lordrand11]

You'll be siting for awhile. Hope you brought a book.

Idk man, been rereading the wheel of time, so you could say I brought 14 books.

 

[ManaByte]

It was actually 2010 that MS partnered with Activision for Call Of Duty, 5 years of exclusive map packs and content iirc. Whats your fucking point lol

The map packs weren't exclusive. They were on Xbox 1 month before other platforms. That's a huge difference to what happens now where the exclusive content is locked off other platforms for the entire life of the game. That won't be happening anymore.

 

[Banjo64]

They should have a round table talk like they did for the Bethesda acquisition. Just have Lulu there instead of Kotick.
I want to hear some teasers of what they might do, maybe some new IPs.

I’m sorry bro, but they’re going to be making CoD. I don’t even think there’s anything wrong with that. But it’s going to be CoD.

 

[djjinx2]

The map packs weren't exclusive. They were on Xbox 1 month before other platforms. That's a huge difference to what happens now where the exclusive content is locked off other platforms for the entire life of the game. That won't be happening anymore.

Yes I stand corrected and have edited

 

[mrmustard]

You think we all like the same games and the highest rated games are always what people like the most?

For reference, Death Stranding had a lower Metascore and was lower on the Metacritic top list.

Was still on the TGA Award as a GOTY nominee and was #2 at GAF GOTY.

Fuck the TGA. It also had the most GOTY awards:

Top games of the year 2019 - Game of the Year

goty.gamefa.com

 

[vaibhavpisal]

What does closed mean??

Does it mean MS has been closed off from buying Activision Blizzard and cannot complete the deal??

GAMING IS SAVED!!!!

 

[Fredrik]

I’m sorry bro, but they’re going to be making CoD. I don’t even think there’s anything wrong with that. But it’s going to be CoD.

There are many studios under the ABK umbrella, I don’t even know how many, they are’t all just making CoD, we know of some future games but there is also the possibility of other MS studios doing something with the IPs. There are lots of cool possibilities.
But shortterm it might not change much besides more Gamepass games.

 

[Fredrik]

Fuck the TGA. It also had the most GOTY awards:

Top games of the year 2019 - Game of the Year

goty.gamefa.com

Lol well there you go

 

[Heisenberg007]

Not defending this "old executive" because I know him on a personal level but he cares about gamers more than any other high level exec at any of these companies.

He laughed at the internal screening of the Craig version of Halo Infinite and said out loud in the meeting that they could not give that to gamers, they will tear us to shreds but Phil greenlit it

I just have countless stories of where him and Phil would butt heads over decision making because he cared about what we would be playing but most times he lost

Not saying he is a great leader because he too got the whole Series X is 20% more powerful and we will win every head to head battle but I think thats because Jason Ronald kept telling him and Phil that

By the way, I'm not accusing that person or questioning his abilities at all. He is in a senior position for a reason; he must be very good at something. Also, I at least respect that person because of his actual affiliation with games. I also remember some of the stories you've told me -- about him and Phil disagreeing with decision-making.

My only point was that these "connections" help in situations like these.

 

[bad guy]

Ok. who is next?

R*

And after that doesn't work out: Nintendo/PlayStation

 

[BootsLoader]

Xbox Activision Blizzard King

Playstation Naughty Insomnia Monica (princess)

 

[Fredrik]

Xbox Activision Blizzard King

Playstation Naughty Insomnia Monica (princess)

Xbox Bethesda Activision Blizzard King
XBABK
Upcoming console: XBabks Series 2

 

[RickMasters]

What are you talking about, last I heard Sega was happening next Wednesday?????

Don’t tease us. As a former sega die hard ( I had 4 Japanese Saturn’s at one point) Who migrated to Xbox for panzer dragoon, gun valkery and outrun, I hope they get a lot closer. I feel like sega was always meant to become the Japanese arm of Xbox, thus giving sega a console brand presence again in Japan. But Xbox would have to acquire sega for that to happen.

And who knows maybe the extra cash could fund passion projects like a panzer dragoon saga remake, or a burning rangers reboot. sega might seem to have trouble porting old Saturn games, but I bet Xbox engineers could do a great Saturn and DC emulation platform for Xbox and PC if they were allowed to. Could you imagine all those classic sega games being readily available and emulated to Xbox standards on gamepass? That would be my personal gaming heaven.


And then they can sell limited edition sega themed Xbox’s in the west to tie in with certain sega releases. I’d buy the virtual-on or panzer dragoon special editions for sure.

 

[RickMasters]

I think it becomes an add-on for just a few bucks more than Gamepass Ultimate. Get you paying $20 for WOW+Gamepass Ultimate instead of $ 15 every month and you get access to all Gamepass games. Why would they do this? More revenue per user and WOW subscribers are insanely sticky, they almost never cancel their subscription. Even better if they bring WOW to console, open up a whole new group of potential subscribers.

I’ve been saying this for some time. I think they will port WoW and StarCraft, but they will be included another tier. That includes their subs much like when you add ubi+ to gamepass.


Xbox already has KB\M support and they already have a tonne of experience putting PC centric RTS to console so nothing to really stop them, now.

 

[RickMasters]

its time to MS put their studios to make Sekiro 2, God have mercy.

Better yet ….. let the other teams work on what they are working on and just pay FromSoft to make it. They can certainly afford it.

 

[StealthGoblin]

Or you could take some time and read the justification multiple regulators put forward when approving the deals?

Regulators think The deal poses zero problems for the entire gaming industry after implementing all the remedies, including guaranteed access to Call of Duty and extensive concessions with respect to cloud streaming Activision games. Thats why it passed.

Your claims of MS being ‘software monopolists’ in console gaming are a complete fabrication anyway.

Given we only have guarantees of COD coming to PlayStation out of their two large publisher buyouts - I'd say they are well on their way to software monopolism. They've bought a lot of studios and IP to shut Sony out.

That's not arguable. Their leaked emails even said as such. Outspend Sony.

 

[Jboemios]

But it is in some people’s opinion? And probably it is. It’s a different service with a different offering. You can enjoy both. Personally I like my ps plus premium over my Gamepass ultimate too, but both services have their own strengths and weaknesses.

I already made my point in other thread explaining why Gamepass is superior, but I will tell you this. Imagine a Xbox fanboy saying that Xbox had the best games in the One/PS4 era only because he likes more Gears, Halo and the few games Xbox was releasing.

 

[Alex Scott]

Not defending this "old executive" because I know him on a personal level but he cares about gamers more than any other high level exec at any of these companies.

He laughed at the internal screening of the Craig version of Halo Infinite and said out loud in the meeting that they could not give that to gamers, they will tear us to shreds but Phil greenlit it

I just have countless stories of where him and Phil would butt heads over decision making because he cared about what we would be playing but most times he lost

Not saying he is a great leader because he too got the whole Series X is 20% more powerful and we will win every head to head battle but I think thats because Jason Ronald kept telling him and Phil that

Are you refering to Mike Ybarra?

 

[Goalus]

It was actually 2010 that MS partnered with Activision for Call Of Duty, 5 years of timed exclusivity on map packs and content iirc. Sony partnered after that, basically Activision got into bed with whoever was leading.

Activision has been developing games for devices powered by MS DOS since the mid-eighties.

 

[adamsapple]

Xbox Activision Blizzard King

Playstation Naughty Insomnia Monica (princess)

Fat Princess - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[splattered]

I wonder when we're going to start seeing Microsoft splash screens on Activision games?

 

[RaZoR No1]

I wonder when we're going to start seeing Microsoft splash screens on Activision games?

Next Overwatch 2 update

 

[Timberwolf25]

These Heisenberg007 vs Heisenberg007 comments are confusing me
So are we now pivoting to tinfoil hat conspiracy theories on how Activision came to be open for getting acquired?

Very happy to see the deal done and dusted.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Are you refering to Mike Ybarra?

Yes