VizionEck

FTC for the block! I haven't been this excited about gaming in years.

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FTC for the block! I haven't been this excited about gaming in years.

thank you for that google search!!

FTC sues to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision - The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/08/ftc-sues-microsoft-over-activision/)

I turned it into a new thread since this is huge news.

I was baffled because I thought I already made a thread.
We got several posts about it here. (https://vizioneck.com/forum/index.php?msg=278650)

my current thought is i'm kind of surprised the american's announced this first.   we were all expecting the UK to do this but i think most felt the US would be much less likely.  

so assuming the UK follows suit soon how hard does MS pursue the lawsuits?



also, as a WP subscribers i always laugh at how this line makes it into every other article: "(Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post)"

porting this over from the era thread.   seems relavant:


Straight from the brief they submitted:
https://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases1/202124/m10001_438_3.pdf (https://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases1/202124/m10001_438_3.pdf)


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MS can just fudge right off, really.

I was baffled because I thought I already made a thread.
We got several posts about it here. (https://vizioneck.com/forum/index.php?msg=278650)

Oops. Hadn't read that thread yet.

FTC for the block! I haven't been this excited about gaming in years.

Considering the last time you posted =D

The amount of big Xbox fans that compare MS buying activision to Sony releasing first party games is baffling

Ms is literally buying and potentially making one of the biggest games of all time exclusive or only allowing a certain amount of time for it to be on other platforms.

It's absolutely not the same things. People are so delusional in their fanboy crud

The amount of big Xbox fans that compare MS buying activision to Sony releasing first party games is baffling

Ms is literally buying and potentially making one of the biggest games of all time exclusive or only allowing a certain amount of time for it to be on other platforms.

It's absolutely not the same things. People are so delusional in their fanboy crud

didn't you hear?  FFVII was timed exclusive?!??  completely the same...

The amount of big Xbox fans that compare MS buying activision to Sony releasing first party games is baffling

Ms is literally buying and potentially making one of the biggest games of all time exclusive or only allowing a certain amount of time for it to be on other platforms.

It's absolutely not the same things. People are so delusional in their fanboy crud

I just don't understand it. Even before Microsoft was buying studios, it was uneven with how Microsoft would buy exclusivity while Sony would build playstation only franchises.

Well, I'll be damned!

The amount of big Xbox fans that compare MS buying activision to Sony releasing first party games is baffling

Ms is literally buying and potentially making one of the biggest games of all time exclusive or only allowing a certain amount of time for it to be on other platforms.

It's absolutely not the same things. People are so delusional in their fanboy crud

Like:

It's so weird that they cite Redfall and Starfield as examples of games Xbox is "blocking" from PlayStation.

If the FTC is establishing precedent, does Xbox now get God of War? That seems to be what they want to establish here. ???? ???? https://t.co/uutCeArmJ6

— Jez (@JezCorden) December 8, 2022

yes thats one of them i see all the time. I mute and tell twitter i don't want to see his posts, but i see them anyway.  I don't really want to block anyone if they aren't actively doing something against me so i won't block him, but i hate he always comes up with stuff about MS/Acti

The issue isn't Microsoft making those games exclusive, the issue is what Microsoft apparently told the EU regulators before the acquisition.  They outright lied.  So Microsoft can say they made a 10 year deal with Nintendo but that won't mean anything after.

The issue isn't Microsoft making those games exclusive, the issue is what Microsoft apparently told the EU regulators before the acquisition.  They outright lied.  So Microsoft can say they made a 10 year deal with Nintendo but that won't mean anything after.

yeah thats the biggest red flag i've ever seen to not let this deal go through.

Like:

It's so weird that they cite Redfall and Starfield as examples of games Xbox is "blocking" from PlayStation.

If the FTC is establishing precedent, does Xbox now get God of War? That seems to be what they want to establish here. ???? ???? https://t.co/uutCeArmJ6

— Jez (@JezCorden) December 8, 2022

i hear this argument but i saw a post that makes a lot of sense to me,...  in summary:

of course these games were not publicly announced for playstation.  but it is quite likely that sony was able to provide some form of documentation showing that bethesda (prior to the acquisition) was working with sony with these games showing that a multiplat release was expected.  it still shows that the only reason the games aren't coming to playstation is because of MS's acquisition and that the actions directly conflict with MS's statements to the regulators.

Microsoft didn't mislead EU over ZeniMax deal, watchdog says in response to US concerns

Microsoft didn't make any "commitments" to EU regulators not to release Xbox-exclusive content following its takeover of ZeniMax Media, the European Commission has said.

US enforcers yesterday suggested that the US tech giant had misled the regulator in 2021 and cited that as a reason to challenge its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

"The commission cleared the Microsoft/ZeniMax transaction unconditionally as it concluded that the transaction would not raise competition concerns," the EU watchdog said in an emailed statement.

The absence of competition concerns "did not rely on any statements made by Microsoft about the future distribution strategy concerning ZeniMax's games," said the commission, which itself has opened an in-depth probe into the Activision Blizzard deal and appears keen to clarify what happened in the previous acquisition.

The EU agency found that even if Microsoft were to restrict access to ZeniMax titles, it wouldn't have a significant impact on competition because rivals wouldn't be denied access to an "essential input," and other consoles would still have a "large array" of attractive content.

Era thread (https://www.resetera.com/threads/the-microsoft-activision-blizzard-acquisition-ot-antitrust-simulator.633344/page-234#post-97883719)

porting this over from the era thread.   seems relavant:


Straight from the brief they submitted:
https://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases1/202124/m10001_438_3.pdf (https://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/cases1/202124/m10001_438_3.pdf)


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Someone mentioned that the context for these snippets was that it doesn't make sense to remove already released games from the platform. It didn't make sense to remove Skyrim/Fallout from PS4.
It doesn't say anything about releasing TES VI or Starfield.


I thought there was an instance where someone made some stronger promises to keep Bethesda games on PlayStation, but I am having a hard time finding that instance.
But generally, they were talking about it being a case by case basis. And they weren't making any assurances on the level that MS is currently making with CoD. There weren't any formal agreements with Zenimax, while there is at least one with Activision.

Phil Spencer on Sony - They protect their dominance by making Xbox smaller - XboxEra (https://xboxera.com/2022/12/07/phil-spencer-on-sony-they-protect-their-dominance-by-making-xbox-smaller/)

When asked about the importance of Call of Duty in the regulatory discussions, Spencer said "There's really only been one major opposer to the deal and that's Sony. Sony is trying to protect their dominance on console. The way they grow is by making Xbox smaller. They have a very different view of the industry than we do. They don't ship their games day and date on PC. They don't put their games in the subscription when they launch their games."

Spencer adds more thoughts, including promising Call of Duty on Playstation, why it doesn't make sense to remove Call of Duty from other platforms, and his confusion on why regulators are worrying so much about how this will impact Sony.

The bottom part of the article is hilarious:

These comments by Spencer are very honest from his perspective and coincides with a Microsoft that is pulling all the stops to get this deal done. We will have to wait and see how regulators respond and if they buy Microsoft's point of view.

man what PR spin.  I never cared much for Spencer before, but i can't stand him even more now.  Everything they spew about this Acti deal just reeks of desperation.

man what PR spin.  I never cared much for Spencer before, but i can't stand him even more now.  Everything they spew about this Acti deal just reeks of desperation.

You can tell it's the biggest thing to happen in gaming in decades. I can't recal the last time Xbox and PlayStation had any public beef like this.

someone should remind spencer that playstation didn't get dominate simply by "making xbox smaller"

xbox earned it's last place finish last gen when it tried to pull one of the most anti-consumer move ever in gaming by forcing an always-online requirement to use their console.

not to mention Nintendo is just as dominant as sony. More so sort of handheld/console hybrid but still nintendo and sony are huge.  MS really is just hurt that they haven't been able to replicate Nintendo and Sony's success.

not to mention Nintendo is just as dominant as sony. More so sort of handheld/console hybrid but still nintendo and sony are huge.  MS really is just hurt that they haven't been able to replicate Nintendo and Sony's success.

they haven't been able to replicate the success because they haven't been able to cultivate quality 1st party developers.  hence their new focus to just deprive the industry of as many as they can to claim their own.

...and for the record,.. i have almost 0 faith that MS can take these studio and keep them running successfully.   MS being MS will put $$ before content like they always do and kill of CoD just like they killed off Halo.   it will take some time but i'm confident they can do it and once it's dead they'll be back out shopping for more successful franchises they can take over.

> The way they grow is by making Xbox smaller. They have a very different view of the industry than we do. They don't ship their games day and date on PC. They don't put their games in the subscription when they launch their games."

Bruh, you've been in the industry for 22 years now, and both of these things you started doing like 5 or 6 years ago. Which both is and isn't that long (some of their studios haven't put out a single game in 4+ years)

I can almost guarantee that people like Jim Ryan have a pretty long memory of Xbox behaving exactly how Phil is claiming that Sony is.

What exactly has Sony done to keep Xbox smaller?

And how does that compare to you know, acquiring two publishers?

> The way they grow is by making Xbox smaller. They have a very different view of the industry than we do. They don't ship their games day and date on PC. They don't put their games in the subscription when they launch their games."

Bruh, you've been in the industry for 22 years now, and both of these things you started doing like 5 or 6 years ago. Which both is and isn't that long (some of their studios haven't put out a single game in 4+ years)

I can almost guarantee that people like Jim Ryan have a pretty long memory of Xbox behaving exactly how Phil is claiming that Sony is.

What exactly has Sony done to keep Xbox smaller?

And how does that compare to you know, acquiring two publishers?

...and would you care to comment on the list of competitors MS has put out of business via monopolistic tactics?

Microsoft has offered to allow Sony to offer CoD on PS+ (https://news.bloomberglaw.com/tech-and-telecom-law/microsofts-call-of-duty-offer-to-sony-to-include-subscription)

lol

a free 6 months no doubt..

They are getting desperate... at least it seems so

These deals just go to show how important CoD is.

They are getting desperate... at least it seems so

These deals just go to show how important CoD is.

CoD is VERY important.  

come to think of it,.. i'll bet sony doesn't even want CoD on ps+.  CoD is like 30% of their revenues if i remember that one filing correct.   free on ps+ still does massive damage to sony's profits.  

Microsoft President Brad Smith says the company offered the FTC that it would sign a legally binding consent decree saying it would make CoD available to rivals for a decade. It didn't help. Story to come.

— Dina Bass (@dinabass) December 13, 2022

when does the UK announce their opposition?  i thought they were suppose to announce their ruling by now.

when does the UK announce their opposition?  i thought they were suppose to announce their ruling by now.

No they're in Phase 2, they will be in phase 2 until March I believe. I don't know if it could finish earlier.

No they're in Phase 2, they will be in phase 2 until March I believe. I don't know if it could finish earlier.

oh.  i thought i read something saying there would be a mid december announcement one way or another.

Microsoft president and vice chairman Brad Smith said Xbox’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is fair since Sony already has nearly five times more exclusive games and is dominating  the market. https://t.co/vrHhzFXODR pic.twitter.com/NBSW9u8Xk9

— IGN (@IGN) December 14, 2022

How can he even say that? Is he counting random indies like Twisty Puzzle Simulator to get that number?

How can he even say that? Is he counting random indies like Twisty Puzzle Simulator to get that number?

Smith added that PlayStation has 286 exclusive games while Xbox only has 59. "So the administrative law judge is going to have to decide whether going from 59 to 60 is such a danger to competition that he should stop this from moving forward."

I'm assuming so.   ;D

How can he even say that? Is he counting random indies like Twisty Puzzle Simulator to get that number?

Twisty Puzzle Simulator being exclusive will be the sole reason that this deal will go through. Thanks Mike!  >:(

Microsoft has served Sony Interactive Entertainment with a subpoena as it looks to build its defence against a Federal Trade Commission lawsuithttps://t.co/AM9Jm4mo1Q pic.twitter.com/eN4HM87zdC

— VGC (@VGC_News) January 23, 2023

Microsoft has subpoenaed Sony as part of the FTC lawsuit. It's pretty standard stuff, but I've seen some wildly inaccurate headlines. "Production and a discovery schedule" is legal discovery and document production, not Sony's PlayStation game production ???? pic.twitter.com/J4ZS4S0l9B

— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) January 24, 2023

Gonna be fun