Xbox to Buy Activision-Blizzard for $68.7 Billion.

[killamch89]

21 hours ago, Head_Hunter said:

You'll definitely see plenty of the gamers loving it still, that's when it gets interested for them when it is upgraded further to super exclusive. What kept micro-transaction up to this day is due to the support of other gamers fuelling it. 

The hardcore fanboys will probably support the exclusivity but the others will be turned off by it.

[Heatman]

10 minutes ago, killamch89 said:

The hardcore fanboys will probably support the exclusivity but the others will be turned off by it.

Seriously, those hardcore fans boys are a pain in the ass when it comes to how they influence what these companies makes. 

[killamch89]

37 minutes ago, Heatman said:

Seriously, those hardcore fans boys are a pain in the ass when it comes to how they influence what these companies makes. 

Because they usually spend the most money and will blindly support their favorite franchise no matter how terrible it becomes. That's why I'm not a fanboy of any company.

[Head_Hunter]

11 hours ago, killamch89 said:

The hardcore fanboys will probably support the exclusivity but the others will be turned off by it.

Correct, I wouldn't get attracted to upgrade when I see no reasons to upgrade. We are suffering the high cost of video game consoles/games due to fanboys making the prices spiking up. 

[Boblee]

11 hours ago, killamch89 said:

Because they usually spend the most money and will blindly support their favorite franchise no matter how terrible it becomes. That's why I'm not a fanboy of any company.

This shit have been going on the video game's industry for decades now that it feels like a culture for some gamers to observe same thing. 

[Shagger]

An update on this deal, or perhaps no deal.

 

The UK's business watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority (The CMA) has sensationally blocked the proposed merger between Xbox and Activision-Blizzard. The CMA were concerned over how this move would affect innovation and competition going forward into a future of cloud based gaming. Read the full brief on the the UK Government Website.

 

Basically, the CMA feel Microsoft have such a head start in the field of cloud gaming through Gamepass that having control of Activision-Blizzard on top of what they already have would make it difficult for other companies to compete in that market, leading to Microsoft lagging innovation in this market to better the consumer. Difficult to argue against those points, I suppose.

 

As you might imagine, Microsoft and Activision are not pleased. Responding in a statement, Microsoft president Brad Smith said;

“We remain fully committed to this acquisition and will appeal. The CMA’s decision rejects a pragmatic path to address competition concerns and discourages technology innovation and investment in the United Kingdom. We have already signed contracts to make Activision Blizzard’s popular games available on 150 million more devices, and we remain committed to reinforcing these agreements through regulatory remedies. We’re especially disappointed that after lengthy deliberations, this decision appears to reflect a flawed understanding of this market and the way the relevant cloud technology actually works.”

 

An Activision Blizzard spokesperson was even more savage;

“The CMA’s report contradicts the ambitions of the U.K. to become an attractive country to build technology businesses,” it said. “We will work aggressively with Microsoft to reverse this on appeal. The report’s conclusions are a disservice to U.K. citizens, who face increasingly dire economic prospects. We will reassess our growth plans for the U.K. Global innovators large and small will take note that - despite all its rhetoric - the U.K. is clearly closed for business.”

 

(Both Quotes found on Polygon)

 

So whilst there will almost certainly be an appeal, the history of the CMA does not bode well for Xbox and Activision-Blizzard for that working in thier favour as appeals to the CMA tend to get rejected. And if what the CMA have said in thier statement is true and they have worked with the parties involved to try and alleviate those concerns and yet they still came to this conclusion, it seems unlikely that there is anything that Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard can say now to change thier mind.

 

I wouldn't say the deal is dead, but there is no point sugar coating this, this is a disaster for Xbox and Activision-Blizzard.

Edited April 27, 2023 by Shagger

[The Blackangel]

Do they even have any kind of power to dictate what American companies can and cannot do? It seems like severe overstepping.

They have authority in the UK, but not here in the states.

[Shagger]

2 hours ago, The Blackangel said:

Do they even have any kind of power to dictate what American companies can and cannot do? It seems like severe overstepping.

They have authority in the UK, but not here in the states.

 

I can't claim to understand the law completely, but trade is international law with an international trading standard that exists where all nations abide by an agreement within international law. If one of those regions fails to permit the trade agreement within the bounds of that international law, that would normally be OK, such business could still work. Take alcohol. It is illegal in Saudi Arabia, but trade for all sorts of other things still happens. We in Scotland may not be able to sell them whisky, buy maybe we can sell them snoods.

 

The problem here is that the video game trade is to ingrained into the everyday lives of everyone. If Xbox and Activision-Blizzard go through with this merger without the approval of all the international unions of trade except one, it simply can't happen because the nature of the business is too engrained into the market as it is. People already own games from Xbox and Activision-Blizzard, but yet they would have to tell those customers, "No new games, no new updates on live services" and may even have to tell those customers they can no longer access those games. They can't go ahead on this deal without having to pay millions of people fair compensation for not being permitted to access Gamepass and thier digital copies of Activision games. Not to mention Trading Standards in the UK would sue these companies into oblivion for cutting of services and access to thier games in the UK.

 

Let's face it, the CMA have Xbox and Activision-Blizzard over a barrel, they need to get down on thier knees and fucking beg for this deal to happen.

Edited April 27, 2023 by Shagger

[Reality vs Adventure]

21 hours ago, Shagger said:

An update on this deal, or perhaps no deal.

 

The UK's business watchdog the Competition and Markets Authority (The CMA) has sensationally blocked the proposed merger between Xbox and Activision-Blizzard. The CMA were concerned over how this move would affect innovation and competition going forward into a future of cloud based gaming. Read the full brief on the the UK Government Website.

 

Basically, the CMA feel Microsoft have such a head start in the field of cloud gaming through Gamepass that having control of Activision-Blizzard on top of what they already have would make it difficult for other companies to compete in that market, leading to Microsoft lagging innovation in this market to better the consumer. difficult to argue against those points, I suppose.

 

As you might imagine, Microsoft and Activision are not pleased. Responding in a statement, Microsoft president Brad Smith said;

“We remain fully committed to this acquisition and will appeal. The CMA’s decision rejects a pragmatic path to address competition concerns and discourages technology innovation and investment in the United Kingdom. We have already signed contracts to make Activision Blizzard’s popular games available on 150 million more devices, and we remain committed to reinforcing these agreements through regulatory remedies. We’re especially disappointed that after lengthy deliberations, this decision appears to reflect a flawed understanding of this market and the way the relevant cloud technology actually works.”

 

An Activision Blizzard spokesperson was even more savage;

“The CMA’s report contradicts the ambitions of the U.K. to become an attractive country to build technology businesses,” it said. “We will work aggressively with Microsoft to reverse this on appeal. The report’s conclusions are a disservice to U.K. citizens, who face increasingly dire economic prospects. We will reassess our growth plans for the U.K. Global innovators large and small will take note that - despite all its rhetoric - the U.K. is clearly closed for business.”

 

(Both Quotes found on Polygon)

 

So whilst there will almost certainly be an appeal, the history of the CMA does not bode well for Xbox and Activision-Blizzard for that working in thier favour as appeals to the CMA tend to get rejected. And if what the CMA have said in thier statement is true and they have worked with the parties involved to try and alleviate those concerns and yet they still came to this conclusion, it seems unlikely that there is anything that Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard can say now to change thier mind.

 

I wouldn't say the deal is dead, but there is no point sugar coating this, this is disaster for Xbox and Activision-Blizzard.

That's huge news! Microsoft made their proposals and the CMA still found Microsoft to be at an unfair advantage. I'm glad they didn't settle. I personally believe Microsoft needs to be spanked for this. They have been in the hot seat two decades ago for violating anti trust laws and they were granted a settlement. Here we are again, which proves that a settlement won't teach any lesson. Of course they will appeal, but whichever way you look at it, Microsoft will clearly have an advantage on Cloud gaming in the UK. The whole point of this transaction was to gain an unfair advantage, so I don't think Microsoft will find any way to settle with the CMA. Activision has taken a more extreme stance on this by attacking the UK as shown by the quote. But this is what you would expect with Kotick still there even after all the toxic workplace allegations. Plus, Activision/Blizzard's fallout with China's NetEase causing them to destroy Blizzard's offices in China kind of paints a picture that maybe Activision/Blizzard management really are not nice guys. I mean, look how they attack the UK saying they are closed for business. But in reality, the CMA protects consumers. Obviously, to Activision it is all just business. They don't care about the little guy or fair competition. Most big tech industries don't. Where would consumers be without the CMA or FTC protecting us? The FTC in Japan has dropped its investigation and claims the transaction will not violate their antitrust laws. The FTC in America I don't know what the status is there, but the CMA stood their ground. I believe it's the right call. 

[killamch89]

On 4/27/2023 at 12:07 PM, The Blackangel said:

Do they even have any kind of power to dictate what American companies can and cannot do? It seems like severe overstepping.

They have authority in the UK, but not here in the states.

I asked the same question when I heard this the other day - I can understand the European Union or somewhere like China blocking the deal because those are huge markets for gaming companies. Personally, I just don't want it to go through because the more I look at it, they'll be gaining a huge advantage over Sony because Activion Blizzard has major titles like Wow and COD. At the same time, I don't want all the studios being bought up by just Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. I'd prefer the large majority would stay independent.

[Techno]

EU has approved the deal with behavioral concessions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/15/technology/eu-microsoft-activision-blizzard.html#:~:text=E.U.-,Approves Microsoft's %2469 Billion Deal for Activision,that it would undercut competition.&text=As a subscriber%2C you have,articles to give each month.

[Reality vs Adventure]

This is getting dicey. The EU is willing to babysit Microsoft with regulations, but for how long? And what happens when the higher ups change political ideology in the EU? Will they then decrease their regulatory control? Allowing Microsoft to slither their way in a bit more to control Cloud Gaming or something else? I understand the importance of regulations, but this is an unnecessary acquisition that really has no other purpose except to monopolize. Blocking that attempt is far more important than regulating that attempt because who is to say there won't be other issues that come up in the future? Then what? The CMA or EU will have to take Microsoft to court again. Then more negotiations and regulations? What message does that send to industries who seek a monopoly? That you can always negotiate? What precedence does that set. It gives Sony the right to buy up the next biggest game developer. And it gives Microsoft to go ahead and buy up the next biggest game developer. Then Nintendo gets in on it. They can always just 'negotiate' while they wait for politics to change and grant them less regulations. Slippery slope. I guess for now, it all depends on the CMA in the UK since they have already blocked it. So we will see how Microsoft's appeal goes. They still have to get past the FTC in America too. 

[Shortie]

I read yesterday that the EU has approved the $69 billion deal for Microsoft to acquire Activision so I guess that is one success for Microsoft. As has been said above both America and the UK also have to approve as well but at the moment the UK have blocked it and America have yet to make a decision I believe.

 

[killamch89]

On 5/16/2023 at 11:11 AM, Shortie said:

I read yesterday that the EU has approved the $69 billion deal for Microsoft to acquire Activision so I guess that is one success for Microsoft. As has been said above both America and the UK also have to approve as well but at the moment the UK have blocked it and America have yet to make a decision I believe.

 

Actually, the US has already given their blessing for this one from last year so it's just the UK that's not approving it.

[Reality vs Adventure]

5 hours ago, killamch89 said:

Actually, the US has already given their blessing for this one from last year so it's just the UK that's not approving it.

The FTC hasn't given the green light yet. On Dec 8, 2022 they announced a complaint about the acquisition. Not sure if a 'complaint' is the same as an investigation. But this link shows the entire timeline of the matter from Dec 8 to now. They say "an evidentiary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 2, 2023 at 10 a.m. ET before an Administrative Law Judge at the FTC’s headquarters." 

https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/cases-proceedings/2210077-microsoftactivision-blizzard-matter