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[Petopia]

I'll just quote myself from the other thread.

Nintendo can be used as a clear example of that point.

They don't have CoD on thier system and are doing well, therefore CoD is not a must have for your business to survive.

It's the difference between "wants" and "needs."

Nintendo caters to nostalgia people other than that people would passed on up the switch already but people love keeping that $60 after years of release.

 

[gundalf]

Can't tell if sarcastic or not, but that's a very cursed future.

It's already happening and it's called Roblox.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I'll just quote myself from the other thread.

Nintendo can be used as a clear example of that point.

They don't have CoD on thier system and are doing well, therefore CoD is not a must have for your business to survive.

It's the difference between "wants" and "needs."

This is a good point. Nintendo somehow manages by only having numerous beloved franchises that have been adored by fans over the last 50 yrs.

Sony just needs that and they’ll be fine.

 

[PaintTinJr]

I'll just quote myself from the other thread.

Nintendo can be used as a clear example of that point.

They don't have CoD on thier system and are doing well, therefore CoD is not a must have for your business to survive.

It's the difference between "wants" and "needs."

So, despite the regulators being about competition in the market, PlayStation need to avoid competing directly with Nintendo's Blue Ocean innovation strategy just to allow Microsoft to acquire whatever it wants - whether good for the market, or competition?

That sounds poorly though out - like the worst possible outcome for consumers - where no one is under any pressure to compete and keep other players in check on value for money and push back against anti-consumer practices.

 

[PillsOff]

Based

 

[ANIMAL1975]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/mi...g-the-company-doesnt-make-any-must-have-games



This contradicts the theory that Microsoft will be open with Activisions games on other platforms outside of contracts. If Microsoft believes that, or is saying they believe Activision doesn't make "must have" games, that excuse would only really make sense if they wanted to try and address the concern that several of those games may become console exclusive. I can't see any other case where they would use wording that specific.

I assume that is regulators biggest concern, and Microsoft is trying to downplay them with this statement.

To be fair to Microsoft, on the Activision end at least, COD would be the only point of concern regarding this issue these days. So if they can get around regulators concern for this one series, they can probably get this deal done by August or September without having to convince regulators about Blizzards stuff. That could be advantageous given the rather dry holiday lineup this year.

I'm laughing my hass of trying to imagine the faces of the infinity ward and Treyarch people reading this shit. Priceless!

 

[SmokedMeat]

So, despite the regulators being about competition in the market, PlayStation need to avoid competing directly with Nintendo's Blue Ocean innovation strategy just to allow Microsoft to acquire whatever it wants - whether good for the market, or competition?

I’ve read this about eight times now and cant figure out what you’re trying to say.

My post you were replying to was sarcasm btw.

 

[JLB]

Microsoft didn't even make Halo. Dude...they acquired the IP AFTER it was even presented to the public at an Apple conference of all places. What are you even talking about, lmao



They didn't create that IP. Just like the other ones you just mentioned...so yeah... lmao.

Aha. So now Halo is not a Microsoft game.

 

[Edgelord79]

 

[Ozriel]

Totally expected from a greedy corporate company that has lied many times to get what they want.

And also typical of passive agressive Phil Spencer.

How the fans twist this is just hilarious

There’s really no lie in what they’ve said. I suspect your confusion comes from not reading the full paragraph the thread title comes from.

It’ll never cease to amuse me how there’s an insecure contingent of fanboys that translate their preference of one plastic box into an increasing antipathy towards Phil Spencer.

Lol @ ‘passive aggressive’

 

[Ozriel]

In the PS3 generation it would have potentially killed PlayStation given the yearly revenue sums involved. Sony skated very close to going out of business IIRC because of Xbox being able to blindly spend on original Xbox and the launch years of the 360, and then the new Kinect project, in a tiny window, when PlayStation were - like any normal business in a sector - working to timescales geared toward ROI. If you had also taken away PlayStations cut of CoD revenue in that period - where they were $500M down on Cell BE R&D, never mind launch PS3 subsidies to sell it at the price they did and all their first party AAA game dev costs - I don't think they would have made it.

Cool story.
But we aren’t in the PS3 generation. That was a decade ago. So all this is irrelevant. Thanks for the effort, I guess.

 

[kraspkibble]

that title is only going to fuel the fanboys.

it's not exactly what MS are saying. if MS truly thought they didn't have any must have games they wouldn't be spending $70 billion on them and who thinks CoD isn't a must have game? It sells systems and Sony fans were almost in tears at the thought of it being Xbox/PC exclusive.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Oh yeah that Ass of Can Whooping is a freak of nature. He apparently gave up his role as Boi's guardian angel and put on a catsuit. If he thinks that disguise will convince to go along with his kinks; all I can say I "not happening, weirdo".

So you're saying my whiskers don't turn you on?

 

[Ozriel]

Is it though - if you look at the big picture?

I suspect Microsoft have lost more money directly on the Xbox/Kinnect/TVTVTV/gamepass project since they joined the industry than combined the losses of the last 20 companies that have gone bust or left the industry in the last 30years - even adjusting for inflation.

You think they lost money on Kinect? One of their most profitable pieces of hardware they’ve ever sold, let alone the really popular software titles for the accessory?

They also aren’t likely to be losing money on Gamepass. Any sales attenuation of their retail titles are completely covered by how much well their first party titles do on PC.

You really don’t know much about the industry.

No other company that has ever joined the console market could have sustained the losses Microsoft had with the original xbox, never mind all the losses and spending on devs and publishers like Bethesda since then. So in the big picture, the last place company just needs to keep throwing marbles for as long as it takes until they own all the marbles. That's how the game is played. Them acquiring a company that would virtually guarantee them locking up the market if Sony stumbled - like they did with the PS3 - would give them a monopoly in the home console space and because of their wealth give them the same position in home console gaming as they have with Windows and Office, and then they come for Steam too in all likelihood.

This makes no sense. Regulators would act if they were anywhere close to being a monopoly. Even with the Activision acquisition, they aren’t anywhere close to a dominant position.

Even Sony’s ‘stumble’ with the PS3 still resulted in them selling at par, and such price related stumble is unlikely to be repeated.

Call of Duty is a popular game, but there are alternatives. There’s a reason Activision put out Warzone. Battle Royale games like Fortnite and PUBG were eating a decent chunk of their playerBase.

There’s no chance in hell of anyone upsetting Steam’s PC gaming dominance in the next couple of decades.

 

[Majukun]

i don't remember the last acti-bliz game i purchased so i agree to a certain degree

 

[anthony2690]

i don't remember the last acti-bliz game i purchased so i agree to a certain degree

Oddly, I've probably purchased more Acti-blizz games than ever in the past couple years.

MW
Sekiro
Thps1+2
Spyro trilogy
Crash trilogy
Crash team racing
Crash 4
Cold war
Vanguard (dropped fast, sick of ww2 setting)
MW2 (pre-ordered)

 

[Majukun]

Oddly, I've probably purchased more Acti-blizz games than ever in the past couple years.

MW
Sekiro
Thps1+2
Spyro trilogy
Crash trilogy
Crash team racing
Crash 4
Cold war
Vanguard (dropped fast, sick of ww2 setting)
MW2 (pre-ordered)

i did buy the crash and spyro remakes

wanted also to buy sekiro, but it never goes on sale or if it does is never enough

 

[anthony2690]

i did buy the crash and spyro remakes

wanted also to buy sekiro, but it never goes on sale or if it does is never enough

It's half price currently on Xbox, no idea about other platforms.

Easily one of my top 2 from soft games.

 

[Vasto]

 

[PaintTinJr]

Cool story.
But we aren’t in the PS3 generation. That was a decade ago. So all this is irrelevant. Thanks for the effort, I guess.

There's nothing irrelevant about a real scenario that happened and could easily repeat itself, in the future - with a worse outcome if xbox get hold of CoD without any restriction on the purchase. - which regulators will and should be interested in.

 

[PaintTinJr]

You think they lost money on Kinect? One of their most profitable pieces of hardware they’ve ever sold, let alone the really popular software titles for the accessory?

When you factor in that the X1 project was paid for by kinect project and the acquisition of the kinect technology was far from free. I highly doubt they broken even when you factor in all the wasted marketing spend on the X1 to have a gen where they lost all or most of the gains of the 360 gen third party licensing money.

They also aren’t likely to be losing money on Gamepass. Any sales attenuation of their retail titles are completely covered by how much well their first party titles do on PC.

You really don’t know much about the industry.

They've had to acquire publishers and get back fractions on 1st party franchises from the sub - which cost a lot of money to develop - all those spent billions need recovered. Add the costs of this acquisition and will that money get recovered in a 10year cycle? Doubtful IMHO, and likely a huge loss - for the pub as an asset and revenue generator - and studio closers - and just a win for MS share price by spending with a chance of big returns, which over the duration normalises the $2 Trillion company valuation, making it a net win for them, but not xbox.

This makes no sense. Regulators would act if they were anywhere close to being a monopoly. Even with the Activision acquisition, they aren’t anywhere close to a dominant position.

Even Sony’s ‘stumble’ with the PS3 still resulted in them selling at par, and such price related stumble is unlikely to be repeated.

Call of Duty is a popular game, but there are alternatives. There’s a reason Activision put out Warzone. Battle Royale games like Fortnite and PUBG were eating a decent chunk of their playerBase.

Playerbase aside because those other games don't sell a game upfront game, ~30% of full price games sold in the millions for +£40 every year might be peanuts for $2T MS that don't need xbox to have any transparent finances or proof of ROI, but for PlayStation those +£50M per year are significant. earnings.

 

[Three]

Wierd flex but if so what are they paying $70B for if not to have something that's "must have for theirs?

 

[EverydayBeast]

Activison alternates games one year it’s cod the next it’s another.

 

[kyussman]

Can't argue with that.

 

[Three]

Where have they ever said Valve is a rival?, they have been bussom buddies for years. And they put their games on Steam because 'thats where PC gamers want their games' as quoted by Phil.

As for the topic, it doesnt sound good for COD on other systems is this deal goes through.

"That's where PC gamers want their games" is code for "we tried going Windows store exclusive but we couldn't sell anything". Selling games on rival platforms is a thing, just like Minecraft and CoD.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

So Sony exaggerating COD so the deal gets blocked, and MS is downplaying Acti/blizz so the deal gets through.

 

[mckmas8808]

Sony: the world is ending if Microsoft buys Activision because nobody else is as good as them
Microsoft: Activision is complete trash with nothing worth owning, who would even want to buy them? (please let us buy them)

NeoGAF lawyers.gif

100% FACTS!

 

[Robb]

Kinda funny how Sony and MS are both trying to spin this in opposite directions. But it makes sense for Sony to at least try I guess.

I very much doubt any single game out there would ‘kill’ any of the big players, especially Sony. And if it would, that company needs to re-think its entire business because relying on a single 3rd party franchise would be extremely poor business strategy.

Things will be fine and everyone will just adapt to the new normal.

 

[Ozriel]

When you factor in that the X1 project was paid for by kinect project and the acquisition of the kinect technology was far from free. I highly doubt they broken even when you factor in all the wasted marketing spend on the X1 to have a gen where they lost all or most of the gains of the 360 gen third party licensing money.

How was Xbox One paid for by Kinect?
Any license fees paid to Primesense would have been easily paid for by just one of the Kinect Sports titles. I’m not sure you fully understand how well Kinect hardware and software sold in the 360 era.

They've had to acquire publishers and get back fractions on 1st party franchises from the sub - which cost a lot of money to develop - all those spent billions need recovered. Add the costs of this acquisition and will that money get recovered in a 10year cycle? Doubtful IMHO, and likely a huge loss - for the pub as an asset and revenue generator - and studio closers - and just a win for MS share price by spending with a chance of big returns, which over the duration normalises the $2 Trillion company valuation, making it a net win for them, but not xbox.

Again, this makes no sense. These acquired studios and publishers aren’t put against Gamepass. They make games that are still profitable at retail only, even if you exclude subs. Their first party titles like Halo, Forza et al still sell millions of units across console and PC.

Microsoft also doesn’t need to recover the cost of these acquisitions. They’re exchanging cash for an asset. It’s like saying you need to recover the cash you’ve spent buying a house or you’re negative on networth. How does that make sense? MS bought Zenimax for $7bn. Until they write down the value of the asset, it’s $7bn value on their balance sheet.

Playerbase aside because those other games don't sell a game upfront game, ~30% of full price games sold in the millions for +£40 every year might be peanuts for $2T MS that don't need xbox to have any transparent finances or proof of ROI, but for PlayStation those +£50M per year are significant. earnings.

These games will continue to show up on PlayStation for the forseeable future. But even otherwise, Sony’s earnings forecast is quite rosy, with around 8 live service games planned to bring in steady revenue, a revamped subscription service and a new strategy of game releases on PC that is projected to significantly grow revenue. In the light of all these, revenue loss from COD will not be an existential issue or put PlayStation in any danger.

Before this generation started, Sony’s stated goal was to increase their console Marketshare even above a generation where they outsold Xbox by over 2:1. The only threat a resurgent Xbox poses to PlayStation is that their domination plans would likely be more modest. That’s all.

 

[johnjohn]

Reading comprehension is tough huh? They're saying that Sony won't go out of business if they lose access to Activision games. I thought most on here agreed that Sony could survive without CoD.. I guess that was just PlayStation gamers trying to cope.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Reading comprehension is tough huh? They're saying that Sony won't go out of business if they lose access to Activision games. I thought most on here agreed that Sony could survive without CoD.. I guess that was just PlayStation gamers trying to cope

Reading between the lines is tough huh?.

 

[MisterXDTV]

Then why are they spending $69B to buy it???

69 billions for nothing, right?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Then why are they spending $69B to buy it???

69 billions for nothing, right?

Because 69 is 6Nice.

 

[skit_data]

It’s a bit wierd to try convince anybody this is the case while they’re dumping almost 70 billion dollars into it.

 

[anothertech]

You heard it here folks. COD is officially trash.

 

[3liteDragon]

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

What does this mean for the CoD and PlayStation contractual obligations?.

 

[3liteDragon]

What does this mean for the CoD and PlayStation contractual obligations?.

No one knows the specifics of what they agreed on so who the hell knows.

 

[Badlucktroll]

Remember when microsoft bought homer lol

 

[Kilau]

Is MS using me as proof lol? Nothing actiblizz makes is of any interest to me.

I own an XSX and have zero interest in these games coming to gamepass.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

If this was remotely true (and it isn't) MS wouldn't be trying to spend $70B trying to buy this company.

It's a completely inane statement. There is no single FPS franchise as prolific and successful as COD. Even if you individually don't like it, it's irrelevant. No one has been able to replicate COD's success and your clear evidence for this is the PS360 gen which was fucking jam-packed with failed attempts by completing publishers: Battlefield, Socom, MAG, Medal of Honor, Resistance, Bodycount, Section 8, Operation Flashpoint, Brink, Homefront, Killzone etc etc.

COD is to FPSs what GTA is to open-world city sandbox games. This is why at the investment-cost level of games today, only mega-franchises like these are the last remaining survivors.

 

[Mr Moose]

Premium content is kawaii gun skins.

 

[reksveks]

Still talking about a headline that shortened a legal argument?

 

[Ozriel]

Reading between the lines is tough huh?.

You got “lmao, MS said COD doesn’t have value” from reading between the lines?

If this was remotely true (and it isn't) MS wouldn't be trying to spend $70B trying to buy this company.

It's a completely inane statement. There is no single FPS franchise as prolific and successful as COD. Even if you individually don't like it, it's irrelevant. No one has been able to replicate COD's success and your clear evidence for this is the PS360 gen which was fucking jam-packed with failed attempts by completing publishers: Battlefield, Socom, MAG, Medal of Honor, Resistance, Bodycount, Section 8, Operation Flashpoint, Brink, Homefront, Killzone etc etc.

COD is to FPSs what GTA is to open-world city sandbox games. This is why at the investment-cost level of games today, only mega-franchises like these are the last remaining survivors.

If only you’d have bothered to read the first paragraph of the quote in the OP. this is becoming quite embarrassing.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

You got “lmao, MS said COD doesn’t have value” from reading between the lines?

No.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

You got “lmao, MS said COD doesn’t have value” from reading between the lines?




If only you’d have bothered to read the first paragraph of the quote in the OP. this is becoming quite embarrassing.

Microsoft is trying to downplay the importance of COD by saying it won't result in a worst case scenario.

It's a silly argument

 

[Ozriel]

Microsoft is trying to downplay the importance of COD by saying it won't result in a worst case scenario.

It's a silly argument

No. It’s a direct response to a missive from Sony that COD is essential to PlayStation.
They’ve come back to say that it isn’t essential, and that the game type itself isn’t unique.

What part of that is incorrect? They aren’t trying to downplay the value or quality of the franchise.

 

[Captain Toad]

Sony: "Activision games are the best thing in the entire world"

Microsoft: "Nah, they're not all that"

 

[Rivet]

It's pretty funny MS has to belittle their own purchase to get the agreement.

Now for once I kinda agree with MS, they make zero must have game, at least for me.

 

[Shifty]

when phil hits a fat bong rip , you listen

Fixed.