• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Mergers and Acquisitions |OT| Thread Merged

Acquisitions and mergers official topic

  • Is this thread organic enough?

  • The thread merging will lead to the collapse of the forums industry

  • Anti-trust laws should prevent people from creating threads

  • This gaming forum has not been bought out

  • The monopolization of OTs is bad for gaming discussion

  • Your post is in talks to be acquired by another forum


Results are only viewable after voting.
That makes absolutely no sense. Crunch doesn't happen because games are multiplat. wth?

Multi-Platform games development and having to support numerous consoles and varying codebases can indeed be a cause of crunch. Separately, even if it doesn't lead to crunch it can still help contribute negatively to the work conditions of a workforce that is already being pushed to their breaking point by the tight schedules they're being put on to deliver the next big COD release, to the point where Activision had to assign practically every single developer under their banner to COD.
 

Menzies

Banned
Of course. I've said in this thread and other threads that I think this will go through. My argument from the very beginning has just been to explain why it's not as black and white as people think, and why regulators may see an issue with this. This is incredibley complex and anyone saying this won't go through because of x or this will go through because of y are wrong.

They've both done and continue to exlcusive deals, marketing deals and timed releases to compete against each other. That wouldn't be a factor imo
I would say it's not exactly 'healthy' for one player to be so large over the other that they can pay half the amount for exclusive content because 'we sell more games here anyway'.

Sony as the only platform getting cross-platform revenue share for Fortnite also doesn't show the current status quo is even.
 

Topher

Gold Member
Right, except it's arguably absurd to assume that Huawei was the only "compromised" manufacturer, given just how many consumer electronic devices are assembled in China. So why the focus on only Huawei?

And then there's this:


I love the faith you have in the US Government, but if another nationalistic administration took the reigns, or if this one got fed up with China (again), well, there's no telling what kind of shenanigans we'd see.

Again, I do agree none of this happens with Sony/Japan, so just consider this a little footnote in the debate.

I don't know that the concerns about Huaweii were warranted or not. I'm not versed on that topic. All I know is that is what was cited. But again, we are still talking very different scenarios here. This is about a run-of-the-mill mergers and acquisitions review. This isn't about my "faith" in the US government. I'm sure plenty of "campaign finance" is used to grease plenty of wheels in the machine. What I find absurd is the notion that regulators will take into consideration Japan as the country of origin simply because "Murica!"

Nah....I'm not buying that at all.
 
Last edited:

Swift_Star

Banned
Multi-Platform games development and having to support numerous consoles and varying codebases can indeed be a cause of crunch. Separately, even if it doesn't lead to crunch it can still help contribute negatively to the work conditions of a workforce that is already being pushed to their breaking point by the tight schedules they're being put on to deliver the next big COD release, to the point where Activision had to assign practically every single developer under their banner to COD.
Why TLOU2 had crunch?
 

kingfey

Banned
No, consumers are not "fucked" because of PlayStation. That's a weird take. Either way, that isn't the point he was making at all. This notion that the FTC is going to look at this transaction and factor in the nation of origin of a company not involved in the transaction is beyond bizarre.
By consumers, I think means plastic box defenders. Consumers go to where their is value. They dont care about anything at all.

They bought vanguard, cyperpunk2077, and battlefield 2042. That is how much shit they care.
 
Battlefield 2042 is bleeding players like a stuck pig and the developers hasn't made a good Battlefield game the community wanted since Bad Company 2.
If Battlefield 2042 went to GamePass they'd actually be losing subscriptions 😆
Really Doubt all the hate is warranted!! Love this franchise spent literally thousands of hours back in the day on Desert Combat!! Superior to COD in Every Way IMO!!

But Maybe Not If You First Played It On Console!! Played Both Day One On PC Here!! Along With Elder Scrolls Morrowind, And Several Other Games Day One Launch Day On PC!! BF Series Is A Killer IP On PC!!
 
Last edited:

kingfey

Banned
Soon Neogaf will merge with resetera. It’s happening.
Ultimate Warrior Wrestling GIF by WWE
 
I would say it's not exactly 'healthy' for one player to be so large over the other that they can pay half the amount for exclusive content because 'we sell more games here anyway'.

Sony as the only platform getting cross-platform revenue share for Fortnite also doesn't show the current status quo is even.

I had a lot written down then the damn thread was deleted lol so i'll just end with agree to disagree
 

kingfey

Banned
Battlefield 2042 is bleeding players like a stuck pig and the developers hasn't made a good Battlefield game the community wanted since Bad Company 2.
If Battlefield 2042 went to GamePass they'd actually be losing subscriptions 😆
They will gain boost from gamepass. Even that shit game marvels avengers got boost from gamepass.

These players count might help make them make the game stable. We dont want anthem like treatment.
 
But who gets it?
Sony for many reasons, including them both being Japanese besides their long working history.

Too much history. Most of their recent stuff including MHW, RE7 and RE8 have been at Playstation shows with exclusive demos too.

Monster Hunter started on PlayStation as a name and cult classic and now is mainstream.

Resident Evil games were always tied to the brand as well.

Street Fighter 5 only existed because it was funded by Sony.

Capcom confirmed the next street fighter project to appear at the 35th anniversary of Street Fighter. The franchise originally released on August 12th 1987 which means that this August in 2022 it will be 35 years old. What will happen is SF6 will be revealed and almost 100% positive will be exclusive to PS5.

Now the question is whether the acquisition is going to be announced before the SF anniversary or during it. And no, I do not know anything from the inside even though I do work in the industry I am just going with my gut feeling and educated guesses. For all I know, I could be totally wrong as well but this is my prediction and I stand by it.

Capcom right now has nothing new announced as off now. The next somewhat big title is the MH Rise Sunbreak expansion but that's on Switch in summer.

We do not know of other Capcom projects other than MH Rise Sunbreak and Pragmata but that's a 2023 game. Going of Capcom's track record they usually release at least 2 to 3 products a year. Last year we had RE8, MH Rise and RE4 VR.

From what I've gathered we are looking at this

-RE4 Remake Announcement this year with Fall release of 2022.

-Dragons Dogma 2 Announcement this year with 2023 release
-Street Fighter 6 Announcement this year with 2023 release
-Pragmata been announced since last year and coming 2023 release

-Monster Hunter Next Gen Announcement in 2023 with 2024 release
-Resident Evil 9 Announcement in 2023 with 2024 release (or slip to 2025)
 
Last edited:

kingfey

Banned
Of course. I've said in this thread and other threads that I think this will go through in the end. My argument from the very beginning has just been to explain why it's not as black and white as people think, and why regulators can very well see an issue with this. This is incredibley complex and anyone saying this won't go through because of x or this will go through because of y are wrong.

They both engage in exclusive deals, marketing deals and timed releases to compete against each other. Same with Nintendo really. That's something regulators would just view as industry standard imo
You are missing xbox one gen.

MS has clear advantage with that claim. Sony had huge success with ps4, while MS suffered badly with Xbox one. As long as that history exist, regulators wont consider MS a threat.

Then you have activision scandal. Regulators would like Activion bras not to hold activision any longer. I expect this deal to finish this year, because of the fear of employees condition.
 

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
This means moves such as this are their only avenue to increase market competition.

They've had 3 generations to compete, which they failed to do for poor decision making: the xbox 1 was amateur, the xbox 2 had massive hardware faillures, the xbox 3 was nuked by microsoft execs beefore it hit shelves.

Tech giants using their quasi monopolies to control other industries is frightening, and risking that because the xbox division has blundered is not worth it.
 

Chiggs

Member
I don't know that the concerns about Huaweii were warranted or not. I'm not versed on that topic. All I know is that is what was cited. But again, we are still talking very different scenarios here. This is about a run-of-the-mill mergers and acquisitions review. This isn't about my "faith" in the US government. I'm sure plenty of "campaign finance" is used to grease plenty of wheels in the machine. What I find absurd is the notion that regulators will take into consideration Japan as the country of origin simply because "Murica!"

Nah....I'm not buying that at all.

Well, I clearly stated that I didn't think the Sony/Japan thing had any weight, either...but the point is that Economic Nationalism is real, and it has HUGE impacts on mergers and acquisitions. And it's not even a uniquely "Murican thing, either.

Don't believe me? Here, look these over:




 
Last edited:

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
can neogaf and resetera merge? legit question
I suppose if that scam-ass moba full-page-ad-fuckery company that bought Era also buys GAF... it's possible lol
 
Last edited:
You are missing xbox one gen.

MS has clear advantage with that claim. Sony had huge success with ps4, while MS suffered badly with Xbox one. As long as that history exist, regulators wont consider MS a threat.

Then you have activision scandal. Regulators would like Activion bras not to hold activision any longer. I expect this deal to finish this year, because of the fear of employees condition.

See Bitmaps post. You can't just give these huge congolomorates a pass to do anything they want because of previous failings
 
Last edited:

Menzies

Banned
They've had 3 generations to compete, which they failed to do for poor decision making: the xbox 1 was amateur, the xbox 2 had massive hardware faillures, the xbox 3 was nuked by microsoft execs beefore it hit shelves.

Tech giants using their quasi monopolies to control other industries is frightening, and risking that because the xbox division has blundered is not worth it.
Absolutely. MS has definitely made many, many blunders.

All that aside and bereft of a time machine, if you were dropped into the current industry landscape that they find themselves in, what else can you do to win back marketshare?
 

Chiggs

Member
Good. Let's end with that. I'm not going down a rabbit hole debate.

A "rabbit hole" debate is understanding at a conceptual level the ability (and in many cases, the outright likelihood) for a government to put the economic interests of domestic companies ahead of foreign rivals, even though in the currently discussed situation it's not at play?

Can you walk and chew gum, sir?
 
Last edited:

Topher

Gold Member
A "rabbit hole" debate is understanding at a conceptual level the ability (and in many cases, the outright likelihood) for a government to put the economic interests of domestic companies ahead of foreign rivals, even though in the currently discussed situation it's not at play?

Can you walk and chew gum, sir?

A rabbit hole debate is bringing up several articles that are way outside the topic here. I'm not going through all those links. That is the rabbit hole.

Can I walk and chew gum? Why are you insulting me?
 

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
Absolutely. MS has definitely made many, many blunders.

All that aside and bereft of a time machine, if you were dropped into the current industry landscape that they find themselves in, what else can you do to win back marketshare?

How many studios did Nintendo buy?
 
True. I think this is more likely as Sony started that deal with Bungie 6 months ago, so Zenimax likely influenced when that was going to happen as MS being a company close to them, Sony may have expected MS to buy them next, so not saying that is the whole deal, but likely part of why they bought them, WHEN they bought them.

So I can only assume that Sony is looking to fill out gaps caused by Zenimax purchase and are still in a deal based on that purchase, as in to get a WRPG ala Fallout Elder Scrolls, Shooters like Doom and RAGE etc So i wouldn't really be that shocked if some deals are in the works that are near done, for all we know they are saving that news for State Of Plays or something lol


^ likely.

I like how we have reach fucking nuclear proliferation levels in this lol


I'd say Destiny is more likely being used to keep COD on PS, but GTA can't hurt lol I think MS knows that owning Destiny and having it on all platforms vs Call Of Duty on limited platforms runs the risk of them being over taken by that IP, so they are forced to consider keeping it on all platforms to remain competitive in sales. Who knows.

Destiny is in no way comparable to COD. Call of duty is a franchise that’s orders of magnitude bigger than destiny.

Let’s not act like activision didn’t consider D2 a failure and pulled the plug.
 

kingfey

Banned
Uh no. It's not that simple.
its that simple.

Games take time. Unlike movies and shows, you cant bump out content faster with games. Halo infinite took 6 years to make. Last of us 2 almost took 6 years. Movies on other hand take 1-2 years to make them. You can make 3 block buster movie in 1 AAA game time.

Plus games dont make that much money, unlike movies and tv shows.
 

Topher

Gold Member
Destiny is in no way comparable to COD. Call of duty is a franchise that’s orders of magnitude bigger than destiny.

Let’s not act like activision didn’t consider D2 a failure and pulled the plug.

Hendrick's Hendrick's disagrees actually. He thinks Destiny is very important. Enough to help Microsoft make their case with the FTC.

Right?

The Bungie acquisition helps their case.
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
Destiny is in no way comparable to COD. Call of duty is a franchise that’s orders of magnitude bigger than destiny.

Let’s not act like activision didn’t consider D2 a failure and pulled the plug.

COD is just a military shooter that needs anual releases to get their brohems on lock, no transmedia appeal whatsoever. It’s garbage.
 

Chiggs

Member
Man would you look at this bait

Hey, cheerleader! How's the cheerleading squad?

A rabbit hole debate is bringing up several articles that are way outside the topic here. I'm not going through all those links. That is the rabbit hole.

Can I walk and chew gum? Why are you insulting me?

You have an interesting idea of what "way outside the topic" is.

I'm pretty sure I've stated the point clearly (and in bold, at times). But here it is again: If you think that governments do not play favorites in the realm of business, sometimes favoring domestic companies over foreign, even conjuring up the necessary scares or rationale to justify their actions, like blocking sales, then I really, really don't know what to tell you.

Now, see if you can understand that, while also acknowledging that in this case, it's likely not a probability, since Japan is not currently a "rival" to the US, and the Sony Corp is in good standing.

And, gosh, didn't I go to great lengths to tell you to simply consider this just a footnote in the conversation...which is what we do on forums...converse?
 
Last edited:
its that simple.

Games take time. Unlike movies and shows, you cant bump out content faster with games. Halo infinite took 6 years to make. Last of us 2 almost took 6 years. Movies on other hand take 1-2 years to make them. You can make 3 block buster movie in 1 AAA game time.

Plus games dont make that much money, unlike movies and tv shows.

It's not

I don't know why you think the length of time games take to make or how much money they bring in has any barring on anti-trust matters.
 
Hey, cheerleader! How's the cheerleading squad?



You have an interesting idea of what "way outside the topic" is.

I'm pretty sure I've stated the point clearly (and in bold, at times). But here it is again: If you think that governments do not play favorites in the realm of business, sometimes favoring domestic companies over foreign, even conjuring up the necessary scares or rationale to justify their actions, like blocking sales, then I really, really don't know what to tell you.

Now, see if you can understand that, while also acknowledging that in this case, it's likely not a probability, since Japan is not currently a "rival" to the US, and the Sony Corp is in good standing.

And, gosh, didn't I go to great lengths to tell you to simply consider this just a footnote in the conversation...which is what we do on forums...converse?

Jesus did Topher Topher piss in your cereal or something?

Some odd passive aggresiveness going on there
 
Last edited:
COD is just a military shooter that needs anual releases to get their brohems on lock, no transmedia appeal whatsoever. It’s garbage.
Lmao this is what being possessed by a brand looks like.

You’ve either been under a rock or in complete and utter denial of you think destiny is a bigger game than cod lol.
 

kingfey

Banned
It's not

I don't know why you think the length of time games take to make or how much money they bring in has any barring on anti-trust matters.
Because games fail. You can fail a movie, and start it again. It harder to start after a failed game.

Gaming industry is ruthless, unlike movie industry. 6 years is literally 3/4 of a console cycle life. You cant waste chances making games. Something movies dont have.

Look at bethesda. Last elder scroll game was 2011. during the end of ps3 cycle. The next elder scroll is between 2024-2025. That is 5th year of this current gen cycle. That is how long gaming development is.
 
Because games fail. You can fail a movie, and start it again. It harder to start after a failed game.

Gaming industry is ruthless, unlike movie industry. 6 years is literally 3/4 of a console cycle life. You cant waste chances making games. Something movies dont have.

Look at bethesda. Last elder scroll game was 2011. during the end of ps3 cycle. The next elder scroll is between 2024-2025. That is 5th year of this current gen cycle. That is how long gaming development is.

Whether or not it's easier to recoup from a failed game or failed movie has no barring on anti-trust matters. I really don't understand your argument here
 
Last edited:

kingfey

Banned
I'm pretty sure I've stated the point clearly (and in bold, at times). But here it is again: If you think that governments do not play favorites in the realm of business, sometimes favoring domestic companies over foreign, even conjuring up the necessary scares or rationale to justify their actions, like blocking sales, then I really, really don't know what to tell you.
That can play in favor of MS. Sony is japanese company. Tencent is chinese company. U.S. congress would like MS, an US company to own that company. Especially with how influential is COD. Blocking the sale would allow tencent to buy activision. They dont want that.
 

EDMIX

Member
Destiny is in no way comparable to COD. Call of duty is a franchise that’s orders of magnitude bigger than destiny.
?? Dear god you like to fucking argue a lot lol Did you even read the comment? Where the fuck did I say those are the same or something? lol

smh.

Lets say it slowly for Max, took too much of those drugs when he was fighting the gangs lol

max-payne-max-payne3.gif


"I'd say Destiny is more likely being used to keep COD on PS" Thats it......so.....yea.

I'd also argue they are deep in the ball park next to Call Of Duty

https://segmentnext.com/destiny-2-new-players/

The fact that they even gained 20 million since they left Activision goes to show just how much people fucking hated that publisher

Let’s not act like activision didn’t consider D2 a failure and pulled the plug.

? yet Bungie left them bud. So lets not act like Activision wasn't holding them back and the game didn't move more units after Bungie left lol


The fact that they got more players after they left that publisher shows that fail was on Activision, not Bungie or Destiny 2, as to why it did better away from that bad publisher lol

So going to have to add you to that good ole ignore Payne. This news will hit some harder then most =)
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom