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A day dominated by stories involving Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard has concluded with an exclusive story by Politico, which claims the Federal Trade Commission could be poised to file an antitrust lawsuit against the acquisition. The website cites “three people with knowledge on the matter”, and claims that it would be the FTC’s “biggest move yet under Chair Lina Khan to rein in the power of the world’s largest technology companies”.
It should be noted that the lawsuit is not yet guaranteed, as “the FTC’s four commissioners have yet to vote out a complaint or meet with lawyers for the companies”. However, if the case is taken to court, we could find out as early as next month. Sony has been actively fighting against the acquisition, as it claims the buyout would dramatically impede its ability to compete.
Earlier today, in a document published by UK government regulators, the Japanese giant insinuated that Microsoft’s “true strategy” is to ensure PlayStation is a “less effective” competitor. “Post-transaction, Xbox would become the one-stop shop for all the best-selling shooter franchises on console, […] and it would then be free from serious competitive pressure,” it said.
Microsoft, to its credit, has repeatedly insisted that it’ll continue to release Call of Duty games on PlayStation platforms – although Sony suits haven’t been convinced by the terms. The FTC, meanwhile, allegedly has concerns beyond Activision’s juggernaut first-person shooter franchise. “Investigators are trying to determine how Microsoft could leverage future, unannounced titles to boost its gaming business, according to two people with knowledge of the review,” Politico reports.
[source politico.com]
Comments 62
I was convinced this deal was a sure thing.
Now after a year of fuss it might not even happen?
If it doesn't go through MS will probably just buy someone else. Although I guess the only other viable purchases would be Ubisoft or Take-Two 🤔
Yep. I'm definitely getting ahead of myself again.
@Shepherd_Tallon To be fair, it’ll probably still go through. There’s lots more drama yet, though!
Well damn, would send a message if it does get blocked though.
Microsoft trying to portray themselves as the feisty underdog up against an unbeatable giant is just hilarious. They are worth 20x or more what Sony is and spent close to Sony's net worth on acquisitions in just the last two years alone (unless the Activision-Blizzard acquisition mercifully fails). With all the doublespeak Phil does, investigators are right to further scrutinize Microsoft trying to outspend their way to dominance in yet another market.
@get2sammyb Yeah true, it's likely still a safe bet.
If these various regulators sue though it's probably not going to happen by June like MS hoped.
@Shepherd_Tallon when two companies agree to an acquisition, it doesn't mean it'll happen that day. The agreement is to move the legal filing for acquisition. Sony not only filed antitrust, but this brought the FTC attention to it as well. The only thing I think though, as an American who has seen other large acquisitions like this take place, is that Microsoft will win depending on how they plan to manage the company. Either with only Microsoft oversight and let Activision be independent. Or if Activision is merged within Microsoft.
I assume Microsoft will change their mind about the shooter games a year after the verdict if they are approved and it will seriously hurt Sony.
@TheCollector316 well the fans sure see Microsoft as the little underdog that can’t compete so why not the law makers? As a 3 console owner i can say the way others want it is for their platform to win the sales charts, then bash the other consoles as losers and not allow the losers to make themselves stronger and better so they can repeat the cycle. It took MS a long long time to flex its financial muscle on Xbox. Sure they have spent some money here and there, but never to the likes of buying studios that are for sale. I think most Xbox fanboys thought when MS entered the space they would crush Sony cause of the money disparity and it never came. Sony kicked the Xbox One in the mouth and gamers loved it, MS is trying to ensure they are at bare minimum on the same level or even better. I say all that to say this i love all 3 of my consoles for different reasons, there is no loser of the 3 to me, or I wouldn’t have bought them. I am a Apple fanboy since around 2005, i have no love for PC, Windows, Google etc etc, Xbox is the only thing MS i own and like. But at the end of the day i would be happy to see them go 3rd party and bring game pass to Nintendo, Sony and PC of course. Buy up all the studios they want to make all the money and have Sony be the bread winner in the console space. Sony has done enough for this industry to not be forced out and MS has to much money to let the 180 Billion a year industry alone. The only thing i would miss with Xbox going Cloud and services only is their controller cause it’s simply better to me than the last 3-4 PS controllers and the UI, i still think the UI, Smart delivery ,GP and Controller is the only thing making me turn my Xbox on instead of just playing everything on PS5. I started drinking for the holidays if none of this made sense I apologize but it was from the heart of someone that has loved this hobby and industry since Super Nintendo. 😊
One thing is for sure from this whole thing. This deal sure hasn't gone nearly as smoothly as I think Microsoft initially thought it would. It has been a long, messy, nasty process.
@Green-Bandit Even Microsoft's fans are aware that they have far more money than their competitors, noone views them as the underdog, which makes their claims ridiculous.
Microsoft have the money and (I assume) talent to be a true force in gaming, it really is baffling why they are unable to produce their own decent IPS
Where were all these people when Disney was running around buying up the whole film and television industry??
@Balosi money isn’t the only thing that matters, talent and ability is a big part of it and they are underdogs when it comes to market share and mindset. People around the world that don’t even game know the word Nintendo and PlayStation. Xbox is big in the USA. But worldwide they are underdogs no matter their cash. I agree with you that they should be able to make a few games per gen and i mean they do, it was just the same ones from the 5 studios at the time they owned and they found out, you ain’t going that far with that. I try and be unbiased as possible. Again i love all 3 of my consoles, they all give me some joy in their own ways. But GOWR is just on another level. I mean love Halo and Gears and they are completely different games, but if MS wants to not be the underdog worldwide they need a game that takes them to bigger heights and they have yet to show they can do that.
@Green-Bandit Microsoft are behind in other countries if you focus on consoles only, they pretty much own the pc market (leisure and business) world wide. As a company, they are not an underdog anywhere.
@Balosi well right, yeah as a company they are more than doing well. But i was referring to Xbox which is a brand of MS no different than say Surface. Trust me as a Apple fanatic, i will never understand the PC and it’s marketshare. But that’s different shop talk then what we are here for. Times ahead will be interesting to say the least. The video game industry changes fast and often and this one is looking like a showdown for control of the next 10 years or so until they can move the casual console buyer to the cloud, where MS will have the best games and infrastructure sitting there waiting to be market leader. My last point, this deal has little to do with COD and way more about gaining better footing in the PC space and even bigger picture king with Mobile. That is the future and current money maker, Microsoft has no major players in. King will give them money in buckets for years to come. Then its about COD and Gamepass titles.
Yeah this deal probably isn’t going though. Microsoft can invest those billions of dollars for this deal into the studio’s they already have.
Just block it or approve it and get done with this, at this point I’m just tired of hearing about this every single week with fanboys on both sides being at each other’s throats.
If this deal doesn’t go through, just think what marketing deals $69 billion can buy. Microsoft will probably just start playing Sony’s game.
@IOI 100% agreed, it's just wasting previous space in the news feeds as far as I'm concerned.
its ridiculous that all these organisations set up so monopoly's dont happen infact do the exact opposite and help sony maintain console market dominance
I would rather this deal go through. Because that would effectively be the end of MS buying spree. If this doesn't go through I could see them buying up smaller publishers like Warner Bros that I actually like. So please let this deal go through and let's move on.
The sad thing is, if this deal doest go through Activision/Blizzard may cease to exist afterwards.
@trev666
Not even Microsoft care about “console dominance”, they know the future is in streaming and subscription services, so they are trying to develop a monopoly there because they know nobody can buy a gamebase like they can. It’s fair enough that this is looked at very carefully.
@thatCFguy Sony’s game? Buying little known devs, investing massively and making the best games ever? I really wish Microsoft would do this instead of just buying up already edtablished devs an just making the same games exclusive to Xbox.
Why can’t MS simply sign a contract with Sony that states every future Call of Duty will come to Playstation the same day it comes to Xbox? Job done!!
Please do it. Can't wait for Spencer to drop "good guy Xbox" facade and start making some real aggressive moves against Sony.
If CMA/FTC claims that moneyhatting third party games is only viable way to compete, then it will be fun new "future" in console wars.
Also, there is a high chance, that Microsoft would be willing to spend fraction of that 69 billion dollars for new acquisitions. So...Capcom? Ubisoft? Your guess is as good as mine.
@Tasuki that's a good thing imo the talented Devs will find jobs at better studios the IPs will be up for grabs & kotick won't get that golden parachute
Its ironic that the latest claims SIE is making to regulatory bodies is liturally a carbon copy of exactly what they have been doing last 2 years.
1. Increase game price, ding.
2. Increase hardware price, ding
3. Make 3rd party titles exclusive or timed, ding
4. Make it so nobody has a choice where they play certain games, ding.
5. Lock off parts of multi platform games via exclusive dlc, ding.
While also rebranding ps now to be more expensive, re-releasing titles via streaming that were a part of now....
Arent they crying wolf at this point? Shooter wise they got socom, killzone, resistance that they have done absolutely nothing with but accused microsoft of cornering the shooter market and locking sony out... oh please.
@Gh05tm4ch1n3 no, they're not. They didn't sat that about any other acquisition, because simply put, nothing is comparable to COD.
Sucks to be a PS owning COD-bro, it seems
Lets hope the regulators do a proper job and don't just see that as an opportunity to make some extra cash. Anyway, I would guess that the deal will go through.
But, I do not understand why people think that all this consolidation is a good thing (whether it is MS, Sony, tencent, embracer, ....). It just means less choice and less innovations. In particular in case of MS, I don't see how anybody can think that it is beneficial for the consumer if a company which basically has the monopoly over desktops, owns probably more than 1/3 of the world cloud infrastructure, will soon own half of the game publishers. On a short term it will mean to get COD for 1$ per months, but surely not on the long run.
@naruball what are you talking about.
After all the promises made during the Zenimax purchase I tend to take any public promises of COD staying multiplatform with a pinch of salt.
Note however not a snippet of a suggestion of any other Activision Blizzard IP's seeing Playstation sequels.
Keeping in mind that for all the FF7/XVI timed exclusives XB/MS have cornered the vast majority of the western RPG AA/AAA developers already & just a cheque away from buying CDPR. Not to mention they've already indicated they're keen to make more buyouts including the Japanese market too.
All that means either Sony has to pursue further buyouts or spread themselves thin developing other games eg rpg's etc.,that have traditionally relied on 3rd parties for.
Gamepass might seem wonderful value for day 1 indie games alongside the eventual heavy hitters of Starfield,Elder Scrolls,COD,Diablo, Fallout etc., but if they're the only service to offer them one has to doubt those $1 XB live gold to gamepass deals would stick around....much less the concept of buying games.
Do I think the U.S. authorities would block such a deal? In this day & age of Facebook, Amazon,Apple & juggernauts like Tencent & Netease,its unlikely...but contrary to the nonsense XB have been spouting,you can't have competition when there's less viable players in the market.
@gaston
People har so blinded to get games on gamepass so they dont need to buy games.
They dont care that 100 million players dont get the games as long they can save a dollar or two.
But damned Sony for making a exclusive quest on Hogwarts, Sony is so bad for gaming.
@Neverwild you forgot about sony buying exclusivity for
final fantasy 7 remake
death loop
ghost wire tokyo
final fantasy 16
final fantasy rebirth
Sony are just embarrassing at this point
@trev666
Deathloop and Ghostwire are or will be on Xbox, maybe even FF16.
You forgot to mention all games Xbox has made exclusive deals with.
Wherever the chips may fall, I feel like there will be some real bitter feelings between Sony and Microsoft. Way more than there was at the start of this generation.
If this deal doesn't go through, I could also see Microsoft gunning for someone like SEGA/Atlus or Capcom and making a lot of their libraries exclusive in retaliation.
if this deal doesnt go through it will cost Microsoft i think the sum is 3 billion and they will regret missing out on the other smaller acquisitions that would have got through
Wouldn’t be surprised if MS walk away at this point, too much hassle. If it doesn’t go through there’s going to be an awful lot of MS cash in an Account and a lot of desire to get back at Sony. Really can’t understand why Ryan has made such a fuss about COD.
Where was all this concern when disney bought Marvel? Or Star wars? Or Fox?
This feels wildly inconsistent in enforcement, I would prefer activision not be part of xbox but its because microsoft mismanages its studios.
@EaglyTheKawaiiShika Microsoft already stated they gonna give COD to Sony for at least 10 years.
i dint see all this concerns of a monoply, when Disney bought 20th Century Fox
@electrolite77 Call of Duty is a franchise that sell a lot on PlayStation, Jim Ryan is afraid if the deal of the Activision Blizzard is aproved by the regulators, they gonna lose this money.
@TheCollector316 Precise words.
It's hilarious that we're still discussing whether or not this deal is a tide shifter that poses existential risks to PlayStation long-term.
People dismissing that claim have no idea on how tech companies like Microsoft operate.
@Neverwild u mean all indies and AA games that Microsoft made deals with?
@MaikonCSGarcia
Still timed exclusive isnt?
Some Xbox players claimed that those are better than anything on Playstation.
@Neverwild Not for me, we also have to remember that de are talking about ~3 months vs 1 years of exclusivity on these games.
And size does matter in games, not to mention that in the CMA papers Microsoft said that Sony had ~290 exclusives/timed exclusives in 2021 and that this was ~5X more than Xbox had...
@EaglyTheKawaiiShika true.
@sjbsixpack
Because, 1) it would be very easy for them to slightly change the game’s name, such as EA are doing with FIFA, and
2) This wording wouldn’t stop MS having subscription exclusivity. Which is clearly what they are shooting for and what is so dangerous when it comes to monopoly.
All we ever hear are Microsoft complaining about Sony's dominance and Ryan wailing about COD (*other fish are available)
This is MS flexing their muscle to prop up their continually 3rd place console - all that we've seen from their buyouts over the years is the talented devs leave due to 'creative differences vs corporate rulings' and that's why their purchased IPs barely ever seem to turn up.
Meanwhile we have to put with the whinging Ryan rather than taking the fight to MS (in Tretton, House, Layden era) with exclusive franchises that can be better than the competition and legitimately 'exclusive to PlayStation' and advertised as so.
Only PS ads I've seen recently are FIFA while we're still waiting for some decent PS5 only exclusives 2 YEARS after launch.
@thefourfoldroot1 they could word the contract so this couldn’t happen. Common sense could prevail. If it’s COD, it’s COD. Even if MS called it Call er Duties.
@IslandLogic they were around saying disney should not bought marvel or star wars.
@Robocod they block the arms deal they block this too the new ftc does not like mergers.
Why are some of you talking out Disney/Marvel, etc?! Some people here don't care about that. What..they should be upset about corporate consolidation as a whole versus just gaming?! Again, it's gaming most gamers care about. Also, Sony really doesn't care about anything in the Acti/Blizz deal except for CoD.
@Giancarlothomaz
It seems very short sighted though. A big part of the deal for MS is the foothold it gives them in Mobile gaming and extra strength in the PC and esports market. Sony are trying to stop the whole deal because of their concerns over COD.
The end result could be a very annoyed MS and AB, and nothing to stop MS digging into their war chest to make COD exclusive, or better on Xbox, and/or put it on Game Pass. They may also go after other third party acquisitions that damage Sony.
@Art_Vandelay
It doesn’t offer an existential risk. It offers a risk to their current strategy and business plan. If it does get stopped by regulators because of concerns over the Game streaming market that’s one thing. It cutting into the market leaders revenue isn’t an issue for regulators.
@electrolite77 You should really read Peter Thiel's Zero to One to get a glimpse on how these tech companies operate. Winner takes all, buddy. Microsoft is clearly going for that killing blow with this deal.
Honestly, I don't think it will work because Microsoft is so incredibly incompetent in managing studios. But that is the goal and it could potentially happen. Don't be fooled by uncle Phill's horsesh*t.
@Art_Vandelay
I’m aware of that. I don’t get emotionally attached to any of these big firms. They exist solely to make money and MS would love to wipe Sony off the face of the planet (and vice versa). I’m just saying it isn’t possible and they’re all realistic about that. That applies whether this deal goes through or not.
@electrolite77 I don't know how old you are, but I used to be a big Sega fan back in the eighties and nineties. Daytona USA arcade machines might be the most fun I've ever had with videogames. Now, Sega (or Atari, for that matter) are nothing but a shadow of their former selves. This fall from grace is nothing new in this industry and the absurd value MS is paying for Activision might give you a hint of how this could be seen as the culprit of Sony's demise in, like, 10 or 20 years.
@Art_Vandelay
There’s a huge difference in how Sony are ran, historically/across the company/on the PlayStation side compared to Sega and Atari though. The latter two were insanely cavalier when it came to the actual Company finances, and Sega basically went crazy around 1994/95, digging themselves into a hole they could never climb out of.
Sony don’t have any worries like that financially. They haven’t done anything to dramatically alienate their fan base like Sega did. They have a huge stable of established popular internally developed games.
Re.the takeover itself. I personally don’t care about COD but Sony are making themselves look really insecure. I’ve had at least one Sony Console in the house since January 1996 and have owned all of them, even the Vita. They’ve always been the big boys throwing their weight around and dominating the market. Now they’re complaining about the same happening to them and framing what is actually a threat to their market share and bottom line as bad for the industry and a threat to competition. If I was them I’d take the 10 year offer and pipe down.
I suspect if the regulators are going to try and block the deal it will be because of the potential for MS (with Azure) to dominate the streaming market. Sony are making themselves look a touch naive and hypocritical for no reason. In fact the end result of this deal being blocked might finish up worse for Sony (MS might have a portion of that $69 billion to throw around) and better for Tencent or whoever does then buy ABK.
@electrolite77 " They haven’t done anything to dramatically alienate their fan base like Sega did." Lol mate, were you even around during the PS3 days? The "get a second job", PSN outage days?
But anyway, that's not even the point. The point is that Microsoft is elbowing their way into market dominance. It doesn't matter if it will be through streaming or whatever, these are distribution channels. What makes or breaks a games company are, well, the games. And COD is in such a league of its own in terms of staying power that it's almost funny.
You should really read the legal document that Sony filed and the UK government published. There are some staggering numbers. It's not even debatable how dangerous and destructive this deal would turn out to be.
At this point, I'm betting on regulators not allowing it to go through. And Sony looking "foolish" to the 0,1% of its fans who actually pay attention to this stuff will be totally worth it.
@electrolite77 And btw, good conversation.
@Art_Vandelay
“ Lol mate, were you even around during the PS3 days? The "get a second job", PSN outage days?”
True, I didn’t buy a PS3 until late 2009 which was very late given it was coming off the back of PS2. But the thing there is they never actually managed to alienate their fan base despite seemingly trying to. They were certainly nowhere near Atari in 1983 or Sega in 1995. I am seeing signs of that complacency recently from Sony though.
“ You should really read the legal document that Sony filed and the UK government published” I’m a Gaming business nerd who does frequent night shifts, I’ve read it all 😉 That’s where I believe Sony are framing a threat to them being able to trundle along doing what they’ve been doing for a few years and creaming off the profits of their dominance, as a threat to the industry and the consumer. They’ve seen an opportunity to regulate away that threat as an alternate to responding in other ways. I totally understand them trying to take it, regardless of how insecure or in some cases hypocritical it makes them look. Business is business. But I believe it’s shortsighted. If the goal is to stop COD going exclusive they are close to achieving that. If the goal is to stop the takeover altogether all that will happen is that competition can come after them in ways that can’t be ameliorated by a friendly regulator.
But either way, I agree it won’t go through so this is all academic.
“ And btw, good conversation”
Same to you sir. It’s nice to have a civil chat about these things Online. All the best.
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