Well, that bobby kotick for you.Of course they won't, and though Smith's quote was a lighter way of saying it, Activision's response was more on the nose. It's posturing for both the appeal and the regulators to come.
Well, that bobby kotick for you.Of course they won't, and though Smith's quote was a lighter way of saying it, Activision's response was more on the nose. It's posturing for both the appeal and the regulators to come.
Always has been an odious twat!Well, that bobby kotick for you.
MS have actually been praised by regs over the last ten years. however, that sentiment may be changing now.Always has been an odious twat!
Still, will be interesting to see how it develops. I've always been against publishers buying up dev teams, especially since what happened to Rare all those years ago. But MS have a way of doing business that has always been horrible, and publishers themselves getting hoovered up is just bad for everyone who loves gaming.
That means very little though, considering how they got to that point.MS have actually been praised by regs over the last ten years. however, that sentiment may be changing now.
The problems with agreeing to all formats for 100 years is that it's not practical. But if they could, they would. However the bigger issue with that is the CMA.That would fall under a 'behavioral remedy'. And they just don't do those. A 100 year agreement would not have been enough. The CMA wants to spilt up ABK and let MS have a part of it. But MS doesn't want that. So, here we are.Well yeah, that's why the deal wasn't made earlier when they could have and also why the GP is heavily subsidised. As I said somewhere in here, this deal still doesn't make the Xbox division close to Sony in the gaming market so they don't care about that. That's precisely why I kept trying to get you to see who was actually buying Activision and also why I've repeatedly scoffed at their attempts to use the current systems to push this deal through. The other day I was talking in another thread about Sony subsidising the Playstation hardware in the past and would again to get them out of any issues, but at the moment that's something like a 3rd of the company. Xbox is negligible on the grand scheme of things to MS, so much so when they were going to sell it to EA even that stumbled because of the future rights to online services and tying the companies up which EA weren't fond of. That would have been allowed back then without a thought too, probably not so much now.
I did forget about the Geforce now stuff though, it's hilarious when you think about it
Microsoft don't give a flying shit about gaming and market share in that right now, it's all about maintaining or even strengthening their coming position. They are still fundamentally a software company who pretty much controls the vast majority of the world's systems. Eventually everything will be cloud and we won't be using things like windows to run anything at home, they need to be in control of what comes next. Gaming is the best gateway into that for the future generations in terms of people using their products, but also they clearly thought a sneakier way than buying an outright competitor to lock out something that still won't be a worldwide thing within the next 15-20 years or so.
What I don't get though, is the sheer shambolic nature of this bid. I mean, why not have just pledged to have ALL Activision and Bethseda games on rival formats for 100 years? As that article said, and again I said in here before about theirs and Activision's arrogance, their weak argument actually agreed with the CMA stance in that sense.
Yep, but it would at least look more like a genuine attempt to get people on side.The problems with agreeing to all formats for 100 years is that it's not practical. But if they could, they would. However the bigger issue with that is the CMA.That would fall under a 'behavioral remedy'. And they just don't do those. A 100 year agreement would not have been enough. The CMA wants to spilt up ABK and let MS have a part of it. But MS doesn't want that. So, here we are.
Well of course they don't. Not for the kind of money and deep untangling it would take anyway. As I've said, it will be interesting the path they go down now. I guess it all depends on when the answers from the other regions come what they do next, but no way MS just walk away from this that easy.The CMA wants to spilt up ABK and let MS have a part of it. But MS doesn't want that.
In the US at least, I think they'd likely get approval if it goes all the way to court. The burden of proof is on the government, and they just don't have a good market concentration argument. I don't imagine a judge will be anywhere near as moved by a future market concentration claim in cloud gaming, in the way the CMA was.Well of course they don't. Not for the kind of money and deep untangling it would take anyway. As I've said, it will be interesting the path they go down now. I guess it all depends on when the answers from the other regions come what they do next, but no way MS just walk away from this that easy.
Frankly, considering what's at stake, they simply can't.
Yeah if either of those say no, then their options obviously go way down the pan anyway. But that has to happen, and as you said, it's way more open in the US. Is there a date for decisions with the others yet?In the US at least, I think they'd likely get approval if it goes all the way to court. The burden of proof is on the government, and they just don't have a good market concentration argument. I don't imagine a judge will be anywhere near as moved by a future market concentration claim in cloud gaming, in the way the CMA was.
If they get a reversal in either the US or EU I think they definitely walk. I'm surprised they didn't already on the CMA decision, because the timing for an appeal seems really long.
About 3 weeks to the EU decision. If they reject, the whole thing will finally be over. If they approve, we're probably looking at anoter 9 months of this.Yeah if either of those say no, then their options obviously go way down the pan anyway. But that has to happen, and as you said, it's way more open in the US. Is there a date for decisions with the others yet?
In any case, there's a lot at stake. The future of MS over the next half a century depends on how they navigate into the cloud world, so whilst they may walk from a straight up deal there's no way they give up on finding a way to achieve their goal. And we all know they are the masters at that.
Fingers crossed then! Well, until the next time.About 3 weeks to the EU decision. If they reject, the whole thing will finally be over. If they approve, we're probably looking at anoter 9 months of this.
EU should be coming sooner. US I think we're still months from hearings even starting.Yeah if either of those say no, then their options obviously go way down the pan anyway. But that has to happen, and as you said, it's way more open in the US. Is there a date for decisions with the others yet?
In any case, there's a lot at stake. The future of MS over the next half a century depends on how they navigate into the cloud world, so whilst they may walk from a straight up deal there's no way they give up on finding a way to achieve their goal. And we all know they are the masters at that.
Who needs games? Amirite?Who needs studios when MS will have Xbox-GPT by end of the year
Generative AI will make the gamesWho needs games? Amirite?
Ah but then an Apple AI copy will patent MS's technology and turn all AIs into Apple AIs.Generative AI will make the games
Then in not too long humans won't be around to enjoy them but AI will have huge sway towards Xbox over Playstation. MS playing the long game.
Wait what Edge is a brilliant new product available to everyone.I'd suggest reading up on Microsoft practices on how a number of their very successful products came to be where they are and the practices used.
Then come back to this thread.
In all seriousness, proper use of AI could fast forward game environments pretty spectacularly in the near future I imagine? It could presumably make open world games very interesting without a lot the work that would be required.Generative AI will make the games
Then in not too long humans won't be around to enjoy them but AI will have huge sway towards Xbox over Playstation. MS playing the long game.