Microsoft to buy Activision-Blizzard

[ewitte]

Activision has screwed over WOW so bad as long as Microsoft keeps it they can't do any worse...

[AndreiArgeanu]

On 1/18/2022 at 2:41 PM, huilun02 said:

All they needed was to let Xboxes dual boot Windows, and then Playstation would be up against a product that can do a lot more than just games.

That could potentially make the console easier to hack and regardless Sony has done something similar with the PS3, they ended up removing it a few years and it never affected their sales. Not to mention that it could lead to a worser shortage since miners may target the series X at the very least.

[AndreiArgeanu]

Microsoft seems to be asking for antitrust lawsuit.

[Donut417]

15 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

Microsoft seems to be asking for antitrust lawsuit.

Because that worked the first time. /s 

[Master Disaster]

6 hours ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

That could potentially make the console easier to hack and regardless Sony has done something similar with the PS3, they ended up removing it a few years and it never affected their sales. Not to mention that it could lead to a worser shortage since miners may target the series X at the very least.

You don't need to hack an Xbox these days, you can pay MS a small fee to enable developer mode and run any homebrew you like. Its another example of Spencer understanding his audience, instead of locking us out, allow us to run whatever and in return nobody will bother looking for exploits to enable piracy.

 

6 hours ago, Donut417 said:

Because that worked the first time. /s 

It did work the first time. Microsoft lost and uncle billy job was ordered to split the company up. Then I imagine a lot of money was exchanged somewhere and the entire thing suddenly disappeared, MS never complied with the ruling and the US government never mentioned it again.

[DoctorNick]

Activision-Blizzard can't get any worse, so might even be a good thing.

[Video Beagle]

8 hours ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

Microsoft seems to be asking for antitrust lawsuit.

I swear, this forum is like a toddler who hears a word and that just repeats it all the time.

[Chiyawa]

Wow, this is quite a hot topic.

 

My thoughts:

Well, there goes the neighbourhood. For better or worse, only time will tell, as usual.

 

But man, hope Microsoft release WoW for free (or include in their game pass subscription). Been itching to jump into it, but have not much cash to pay monthly just to play a single MMORPG. If it is in XBox game pass, I'll definitely jump into it.

[Rauten]

15 minutes ago, Chiyawa said:

But man, hope Microsoft release WoW for free (or include in their game pass subscription). Been itching to jump into it, but have not much cash to pay monthly just to play a single MMORPG. If it is in XBox game pass, I'll definitely jump into it.

Sorry to rain on your parade, but I wouldn't count on it.

They already have Fallout76, and they don't offer free sub. They offer perks, discounts and whatnot, but not a full "Hey! the sub is free!".

Plus, even if it's hemorraguing users lately, I imagine that subscription is still extremely profitable, way too much money to just give it away as part of Game Pass.

[AndreiArgeanu]

28 minutes ago, Video Beagle said:

I swear, this forum is like a toddler who hears a word and that just repeats it all the time.

Considering that Microsoft continues to acquire more and more 3rd party developers and often preventing a lot of the franchises from releasing to other platforms. If Microsoft continues the current trend the console market will become less and less competitive and Microsoft will essentially have a monopoly over the market if most popular AAA titles only release on Xbox and PC.

I would appreciate if you could explain to me why actions such as these won't lead to an antitrust lawsuit.

[Kisai]

On 1/18/2022 at 11:58 PM, Master Disaster said:

I wonder who will be next?

I don't see Square-Enix ever being bought.

I could see Ubisoft being bought out because of PR nonsense tanking the company. But with our luck, it would be EA buying it.

 

I could see Bandai-Namco Holdings, Konami Holdings, and Capcom all being merged into a massive holding company, as each of those companies only have like one or two valuable gaming IP's each.

 

But this is also an over-reach as to what each of these companies have. Bandai-Namco produces physical toys, licensed products, and also anime. Konami, delisted from the NYSE after letting go of Kojima, so they've been swirling the toilet for the last 5 years, and only investing in physical arcade businesses and mobile games. Capcom is the only one of those three companies with a pure focus on games.

 

Sega, has this problem where they are late to the party, every, single, time. They'd be so much more successful if they just localized every game they release on day 1 instead of waiting a decade to (*cough*PSO2*cough.) I don't see Sega being bought out or merged again, as like Bandai and Konami, they have their fingers in toys and arcade businesses.

 

Nintendo has a 53B market cap, and could buy any of their Japanese competitors if they so pleased.

 

NetEase has a 63B market cap, and could buy any of their Chinese competitors if they wanted.

 

Tencent has a 561B market cap and could buy ALL of their competiton.

 

The more likely scenario right now is Apple (Market cap 3 Trillion) buying any of the game companies, entirely to produce exclusive titles for iOS/MacOS, just so they have specific IP in the game space, which they presently do not. As for who's a better fit, I always seen Nintendo as the best fit with Apple, sharing the same gimmicky hardware obsessions, but I don't think Nintendo would sell itself to anyone.

 

If I were to make any prediction, we might see all the Japanese companies merge with each other just to survive against the Chinese ones.

 

[Donut417]

4 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

It did work the first time

Which means it didn't work. Because the company never split up. Money always wins. On top of the fact with the country in the state is in, I doubt the government has the time or energy to even sue Microsoft this time. 

 

9 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

would appreciate if you could explain to me why actions such as these won't lead to an antitrust lawsuit.

Because the system is broken. Microsoft has the bank to pay off who ever needs to be paid off. 

[IPD]

On 1/20/2022 at 2:28 PM, Kisai said:

 

The more likely scenario right now is Apple (Market cap 3 Trillion) buying any of the game companies, entirely to produce exclusive titles for iOS/MacOS, just so they have specific IP in the game space, which they presently do not. As for who's a better fit, I always seen Nintendo as the best fit with Apple, sharing the same gimmicky hardware obsessions, but I don't think Nintendo would sell itself to anyone.

 

 

< removed by moderation >

 

 

Why the hell should a company that has been innovating console gaming for 30+ years (control pad, control stick, shoulder buttons, motion controls, etc, etc, etc)--be absorbed into a company that can't generate an original idea worth a damn...unless Microsoft, Palm RIM or Xerox invented it first?

 

Tell me you hate progress and innovation without telling me you hate progress and innovation.

Edited January 22, 2022 by LogicalDrm

[pas008]

58 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

Considering that Microsoft continues to acquire more and more 3rd party developers and often preventing a lot of the franchises from releasing to other platforms. If Microsoft continues the current trend the console market will become less and less competitive and Microsoft will essentially have a monopoly over the market if most popular AAA titles only release on Xbox and PC.

I would appreciate if you could explain to me why actions such as these won't lead to an antitrust lawsuit.

which games/frandchises are these? hasnt sony been doing this through the yrs being larger in that market?

they arent the biggest game company they will become the 3rd

 

disney buying fox was allowed for 70bill

[cretsiah]

my concern with this buyout is..

 

are they going to screw it up like they screwed up minecraft???????????????

 

because my kids and i can no longer play it in local lan modes

we cant use mods anymore

constant use your email address to log-in fails

 

so it will just be $70 billion worth of in-accessable games, now wont it.

 

[Commodus]

4 hours ago, Video Beagle said:

I swear, this forum is like a toddler who hears a word and that just repeats it all the time.

I'd agree that people here abuse the term "antitrust" (especially with Apple), but that's not completely out of the realm of possibility here. If Microsoft is going to be the third-largest game company outside of Sony and Tencent, I suspect US regulators will at least want to take a close look to make sure it's not gaining an unfair market advantage.

 

My initial hunch is that the deal will go through, but that Microsoft may have to make a few concessions (even if minor ones) to get approval.

[Kisai]

3 hours ago, IPD said:

 

Why the hell should a company that has been innovating console gaming for 30+ years (control pad, control stick, shoulder buttons, motion controls, etc, etc, etc)--be absorbed into a company that can't generate an original idea

Just because you have an ax to grind, doesn't mean the idea is bad. I personally wouldn't want to see Nintendo be bought or merge with ANYONE, because the only two matches for Nintendo are Apple and Disney.

 

Disney doesn't make games, they just license their IP out to whoever is stupid enough to want it, because historically licensed IP in games does horribly bad. I'd love to see like an actual Disney MMORPG that functionally works like Kingdom Hearts, but I know that even if the right amount of corporate nonsense lined up for that to happen, it would have to be a first-party virtual theme park game, which means that Disney would have to buy a game dev that actually has a successful MMORPG, which the only option is Square-Enix, who already made such a game called Kindom Hearts. I wouldn't want to see Square-Enix bought by Disney or Nintendo.

 

This is the core problem with merging of game companies, many of these companies are horizontally integrated, and those game businesses are not core assets, so that means if an IP doesn't do well, they shut it down. Then when they decide they want to use it again, they have lost the people who cared about that IP, and put out mediocre or terrible products based on that IP. Electronic Arts is still sitting on the "Ultima" IP, despite having never put out a single game anyone cared about after 1999 apart from Ultima Online, and even then mismanaged it and ultimately gave it away.

 

Like from a purely ideology point of view, none of these gaming companies should be bought. Break them up, put the IP into a holding company, and non-exclusively license everything to everyone who wants it. That includes Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, Square-Enix, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Bandai-Namco, Konami, etc.

 

Nintendo leaves a lot of money on the table by not having games ported to other platforms, and leaves a lot of money on the table in leaving certain IP's Japan-only. Sega already learned this the hard way. The Nintendo Switch is little more than an Android-hardware tablet with game controllers as standard. The next logical step is to make it a full featured tablet, but Nintendo won't do that. Someone else will.

[Forbidden Wafer]

On 1/19/2022 at 12:28 AM, Kisai said:

Just like EA acquired IP (eg Origin/Ultima/Wing Commander) and just sat on it.

They freaking killed Westwood and Pandemic. Still hate EA for that.

[IPD]

I mean, I wouldn't mind an IP being "free to obtain" when it has been neglected for too long by a parent company.  This happens in other industries, which is why Hydrox is now a Leaf brand; IP was neglected, and Leaf snapped it up--they are legally allowed to do so when a product is "derelict" by the previous owner.

 

Case in point, Nintendo hasn't put out a StarTropics game in over 20 years.  Time for someone to snap that IP up and make a new one.

 

Nintendo porting games to other platforms?  Um, FUCK NO.  The last thing we need is the lack of innovation that Sony (or worse) MS bring to the market.  Again, Nintendo is the only one that has pushed the console market in ways other than simply "next generation of GPU tech".  As soon as they port their games to other consoles, they lose the ability to innovate with hardware (no one will buy Nintendo's own stuff) and they'll soon be the next Sega.  It's a non-starter issue and Nintendo knows this; despite what all the xbox/ps fanbois have been crying about for 2 decades.

 

P.S.

Nintendo / SquareSoft merger?  100% disagree on that one.  This would be a match made in heaven.  Before N64, these companies were in bed with each other.  I guarantee that if Square hadn't taken their ball and gone home with FF7, Paper Mario would have been a Square development; just like Super Mario RPG had been.  We know the RPG hand is strong with Nintendo influence; and always has been.  Everything from Golden Sun to Mother bears witness to this.  Add Square mastery to this, and you have a recipe for nirvana.

[IkeaGnome]

For anyone that isn't into Blizzard or Overwatch and doesn't understand why Kotik is.....strongly disliked... and some would like to see a long walk off a short pier, and why this buy out gives hope.

Apparently the sexual harassment case didn't have the majority to do with their share prices tanking.

[Chiyawa]

15 hours ago, Rauten said:

Sorry to rain on your parade, but I wouldn't count on it.

Yeah, I know it wouldn't happen... But well, there's hope.

[Theminecraftaddict555]

On 1/18/2022 at 7:49 PM, Be Rock said:

Uhmm... lol?

SONY is bordering on bankruptcy. SONY record, SONY picture Studios, SONY electronics, and SONY computer entertainment are hanging on by the thread.

Spiderman was a recent victory but even with it's massive success it doesn't counterbalance the tons and tons of money that SONY lost in production of other, far less succesfuly releases. Sony records has been circling the drain for as long as I can remember, and they're only in operation at all because they are supported with $$ from other divisions of SONY.

SONY electronics is in such bad shape that a few years ago they splintered off into 6 companies - one for Playstation, and one for HDTVs - the other 4 were slowly allowed to die.

I guess Sony Electronics Entertainment is doing okay for a company of its size... but it isn't exactly raking in the dough.

It's not an exaggeration to say that if MS is willing to drop this kind of cash on a dying company that is very unlikely to yield returns for some time - they could have just spend 2x as much and outright acquired SONY.

Obviously that would never be approved by any of the regulatory agencies, but in terms of total dollar values SONY is a small fish compared to MS.... remember, MS is worth something like $2.4 TRILLION...

 

I'm not a SONY hater or anything - I've enjoyed my PlayStations over the years - but being realistic, they are not in good shape financially.

Bold claims require bold evidence

[Kisai]

5 hours ago, IPD said:

I mean, I wouldn't mind an IP being "free to obtain" when it has been neglected for too long by a parent company.  This happens in other industries, which is why Hydrox is now a Leaf brand; IP was neglected, and Leaf snapped it up--they are legally allowed to do so when a product is "derelict" by the previous owner.

 

Case in point, Nintendo hasn't put out a StarTropics game in over 20 years.  Time for someone to snap that IP up and make a new one.

 

Yeah, there's a lot of stuff that Nintendo is just sitting on, especially stuff that was released for the Famicom.

 

5 hours ago, IPD said:

Nintendo porting games to other platforms?  Um, FUCK NO.  The last thing we need is the lack of innovation that Sony (or worse) MS bring to the market.  Again, Nintendo is the only one that has pushed the console market in ways other than simply "next generation of GPU tech".  As soon as they port their games to other consoles, they lose the ability to innovate with hardware (no one will buy Nintendo's own stuff) and they'll soon be the next Sega.  It's a non-starter issue and Nintendo knows this; despite what all the xbox/ps fanbois have been crying about for 2 decades.

 

I'm not sure you get the point. Nintendo hasn't innovated in any meaningful way that wasn't immediately copied by Sony. I'm not saying Nintendo should make Playstation ports of their new games. I'm saying they should port their old games, and some specific multiplayer titles (eg Mario Maker, Mario Party, Mario Kart) so that people can play with their friends. The problem with "PC" ports is a problem Nintendo can't fix (Piracy and cheating) which means the only stuff that should Nintendo should port to the PC are the party games. Nintendo's multiplayer support on everything is somewhere between non-existent, to "horribly crappy experience"

 

5 hours ago, IPD said:

P.S.

Nintendo / SquareSoft merger?  100% disagree on that one.  This would be a match made in heaven.  Before N64, these companies were in bed with each other.  I guarantee that if Square hadn't taken their ball and gone home with FF7, Paper Mario would have been a Square development; just like Super Mario RPG had been.  We know the RPG hand is strong with Nintendo influence; and always has been.  Everything from Golden Sun to Mother bears witness to this.  Add Square mastery to this, and you have a recipe for nirvana.

That's not what I believe would happen. I like Square-Enix as a JRPG publisher. What would happen is that Nintendo would shut down all third-party development from Square-Enix. That means everything that is not a Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest/Tomb Raider (EIDOS) game title would stop being published. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, but Square-Enix has long since stopped being a developer of original IP itself. 

 

The problem with any kind of merger of publishers, is that you're effectively giving the larger publisher license to all the IP. So if the marketing/head-honchos see that certain titles do poorly, they end. Which is what EA does, and that kills the developer. Square-Enix at least has the proper business sense to not shutdown their core IP (Final Fantasy), even when something does poorly (14 version 1.0, continuing to maintain 11. Various sequels to numbered titles.) But Square-Enix as a publisher, has a poor track record of about the quality of their mobile titles/ports, and has so far has track record of "zero" for support of mobile licensed to third parties.

 

For example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Awakening

Did you even know this game existed? You probably didn't because it was released to the Chinese market first, and not localized till two years later, and then shut down two years later.

Or what about https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Dimensions_II , which only had a life of about a year before Square-Enix changed it's mind and made it a stand-alone game instead of an online one.

 

Like I wish I could reach out to someone at Square-Enix and say "stop doing mobile-only games", because Final Fantasy Dimensions looks like they just took the existing  mobile FFV/FFVI (not the pixel remaster) engine and created a new game with it, because that UI for Dimensions is exactly the same as the crappy mobile ports of those games. But what's the likliness of it getting a PC port now? Probably zero. If you want it, bluestacks/memu is an option.

 

These companies who all decided to dive into the deep end of mobile development, did so entirely for the microtransaction potential, and as a consequence, the games are designed around being played with real money to advance at the pace you would in a real game not designed as a skinner box.

 

Activision? The only title they produce for mobile is CoD.

 

[Arika]

 

[Be Rock]

49 minutes ago, Theminecraftaddict555 said:

Bold claims require bold evidence

SONY's entire market cap is $140B - approximate double the value of the $70B that Microsoft just paid to acquire a rapidly declining company whose market value has been dropping precipitously for several years no.
https://companiesmarketcap.com/sony/marketcap/

 

Activision-Blizzard's annual revenue was around $7B, and SONY's is just barely above $10B
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/08/04/sony-gaming-profit-drops-33-due-to-selling-ps5-at-a-loss/?sh=57569be04fc4
This link talks about SONY's PlayStation division drawing in less and less proffit.

To be clear, there is a difference between losing money and just making less money than you did last year - and SONY is definitely experiencing the later. However, when your proffit declines year-over-year, your overall revenue becomes a meaningless figure because that drop in proffit means a drop in market value, and SONY is publicly traded. This is why you are reading articles in the news today about SONY's market cap dropping $20 in one day - which isn't even reflected in the link above.

It's always why SONY inc. has seen several of its internal divisons like SONY Electronics Corp split from the main company so that they aren't effected by the loss.
https://www.newsshooter.com/2020/03/27/sony-camera-division-becomes-part-of-a-separate-company/

This also happened to SONY TVs... SONY hasn't actually manufactured a displal panel in over a decade as they began to rely on bigger companies like LG & Samsung to produce the panels for them since they just couldn't keep up.

I'd love to see SONY turn itself around. MS is doing so great right now becuase SONY exists for them to compete directly with. Competition breeds innovation. If SONY falls so far behind that they lose relevence, MS will stagnate and consumers will be the one who lose.  

It would be great to see SONY return to their reputation in the early 2000's where they produced quality, Japanese-made electronics and components, and they sold quality goods at reasonable prices. Now in 2022 they sell cheap, made-in-china plastic crap electronics that with components made by other companies, and they charge a massively inflated price for it. No serious audiophile is using SONY receivers, DACs, or monitors... they've been completely erased from that space. ONKYO, Denon, Yamaha, and all the other electronics competitors from that same period are still alive and doing well.

 

Every now and then SONY gets a quick win - a popular Spiderman movie can really make a good year for them, but watch for thier stock to drop in the years between.