PS5, PS4 Players Will 'Remain Welcome' As Xbox Closes $69 Billion Activision Blizzard Buyout

Whos next for MS now I wonder lol. Ubisoft? Sega? Square Enix? Because they will obviously continue since they are allowed to

I suspect the comments will be all nice and calm in the next hour lol

In all seriousness I hope they get the studios off COD and get them to do revive some of those dormant IPs.

@MagisterMagi

Sega will be the next big one that they try to go for in my opinion, as it addresses more of their Mobile play with Sega acquiring Rovello and more content from Japan.

Although I hope the brakes are stopped for a while at least.

Microsoft's CEO, Brad Smith, took to X to deliver a statement on the CMA's decision. "We’re grateful for the CMA’s thorough review and decision today,"

Can't take Microsoft seriously here. They might try to brush it under the carpet, but i wont forget Lulu Cheng Meservey saying:

'The CMA’s report today is a major setback for the UK’s ambitions to be a tech hub, and we will work with Microsoft to reverse it on appeal. This report is also a disservice to UK citizens, who face increasingly dire economic prospects, and we will need to reassess our growth strategy in the UK. Global innovators large and small will take note that - despite all its rhetoric - the UK is closed for business'

Microsoft cannot simply come out now and welcome the CMA's scrutiny. Absolutely ridiculous after all the rhetoric against the UK and the UK job market over the last year. Nasty company.

Anyway, glad this is over. Worried it opens Microsoft to now go after other acquisition targets, but we'll see what happens.

Hopefully drives renewed effort from Sony on its community engagement, games development and so on

Good. I was bored sick of the subject months ago.

@MagisterMagi That is a big statement to make because the playing field will be different next time. Activision is an anchor as much as it is a sail.

So long Crash & Spyro - we loved having you as our mascots!

"We have now crossed the final regulatory hurdle to close this acquisition, which we believe will benefit players and the gaming industry worldwide."*
*as long as you have an XBox or PC

Also, "Microsoft will sell the cloud streaming rights for Activision Blizzard's games to Ubisoft."
So what happens if MS buys Ubisoft?

@LifeGirl What? They faced barely any issues in the end and Sega/SE/Ubisoft would be waaay cheaper than the 69 Billion for ActiBlizz. According to the leaked E-Mails they want and can buy Sony out of Business and they will continue to try this.

For the last couple of months I was having trouble sleeping because of this, but now I can count those sheep as peacefully as Activision will count those Microsoft dollars.

I'm so glad this is finally over.

It's pretty hilarious that CMA forced Microsoft to concede cloud gaming license of ABK games while Microsoft was already winding down their investment into cloud because it wasn't as big of the market as they thought it will be

@sanderson72 Microsoft can't.
Deal with CMA includes provision that forbids Microsoft from buying Ubisoft for at least 10 years.

@Godot25 Interesting - perhaps Sony should buy them instead? lol

@MagisterMagi presumably Ubisoft would be out of the question, as then Microsoft would get the cloud streaming rights to ABK games back.

Way gaming is Gona go buy up everything and play via a browser. Microsoft should let their service be assessable on playstation and playstation on Xbox enough nonsense we like to play games let's play em.

@MagisterMagi Because next time, not this time, NEXT time, the anti-competition arguments will be harder to ignore.

@LifeGirl It wont. The big Players always win and Money talks. This was the biggest Gaming aquisition of all time and it only faced some issues in NA and UK. And for UK only because of Cloud Gaming lol

@Markatron84 Well those could be sold off again. But Imho they will more likely go aftef Japanese Giants

@BeerIsAwesome You dont know if they want to tho. They have been in a very close business Relationship with MS for a while now

Goods news, should be plenty of content hitting gamepass pretty soon 👍

Now you all need to worry about who Disney or Tencent might buy.
This is never gonna stop so I guess we best get used to it.
Tencent are clever, they own lots of small shareholder stakes in lots of gaming companies, so it goes under the radar.
And let’s not forget the Arab group buying up shares in gaming companies as well.

Can Sony PlayStation survive just as is on their own, only time will tell, but I definitely wish them lots of luck.

@BeerIsAwesome I would agree.

@Rob_230 Brad Smiths arrogant immature postings when the CMA blocked the deal was one of the reasons I’ve jumped ship back to Sony, shows their true colours.
……………………………………………….
I appreciated the CMA blocking the deal initially as no one else would, and COD will be on all platforms for 10 years minimum now.
I just hope MS leave them alone to do what they want, cause personally I found Starfield to dull as dishwater boring.

Sadly I expect this is a green light for the big boys to just hoover everyone up now, once a deal this big goes through, the rest will jump on the bandwagon.

@Godot25 And yet their next gen console will be using the cloud to boost processing power and games performance, according to the leaked court documents from this case.
So yeah I wouldn’t pay too much attention to what they ‘say’, Microsoft and Amazon have both been reported for investigation by the CMA in the UK for cloud services and their monopoly, they own over 80% of the market between them. Cloud is HUGE business Amazon makes more money from its cloud services AWS then any other part of their business including the online store! MS are going to try and drag gaming into that world, Game Pass will be the only way how you play their games one day.

Microsoft can't just buy any publisher/studio. They have to be looking to sell, and Sega have already said that they aren't looking to sell.

Next move should be a big Japanese studio.

@S1ayeR74 Using cloud to offload some computing power from local hardware is not the same as streaming of whole game. Not only Microsoft is researching that...see Ubisoft Scalar and even EA is exploring stuff like that. Kojima new game for Xbox is supposed to be using cloud to offload processing power into cloud.
Xbox thought that cloud will be big. They even sacrificed Series X consoles because they were offloading Series X chips into datacenters. But cloud is not growing as much as they thought it would and they are winding down investment. Which is in their internal documents.

And that investigation of Azure and AWS has nothing to do with game streaming. It's about enterprise cloud solutions. So I don't really understand why are you trying to imply that it does...

Hehehe....I wonda how much money was made through lawyers bickering thru an all ready done deal.

@Godot25 I wasn’t implying that the AWS / Microsoft cloud investigation has to do with gaming, I also never said using cloud to run games was the same as cloud gaming, although it is a link to a cloud only gaming future as it requires computers in the cloud to run it all. You seemed to have made a lot of assumptions.

My point was they are investing in cloud heavily, and if they do use the cloud to power their next console then it’s hard to accept their claim of winding down cloud gaming. It’s more of a case of they are going in a different direction with it I think. It’s obvious they want Game Pass to be the dominant way you play in the future. And PC Game Pass is meant to be growing last I heard?

@IAmAshCohen17 i Hope Microsoft uses Toys for Bob to work on ALL the old Rare IP's. And i think u r right about Sega but u really Hope they Go back to buying studios, especially those who already work with them, for example they love using Asobo for Kinect games and Now Flight Simulator pra maybe even saving some Studios from Embracer (saving cause they Said that they Will close more).

@BeerIsAwesome I dont think they can do a hostile take over on a japonese company, people always say that it is more difficult to buy a Japanese company, but as far as I remember it is more difficult to buy in a hostile way, as dar as i remember It is impossible, the government literally has the power to stop a hostile takeover by a foreign company.

Well thats the last time i play an ABK title. Would rather see its closure than to put money towards this crap. If PS players stop, all revenue would be lost from ABK outside mobile

@MagisterMagi as someone that likes Xbox and follows them closely, all signs and rumors are Sega. In fact many people have hinted that the deal is already verbally agreed on and MS put it on hold to get the ABK deal across the line. There is pictures of Sega art inside MS headquarters, of course every new Sega game has been coming to GP day one. The hedgehog video inside MS studios walking around. So there is breadcrumbs all over MS social media that it’s Sega. Now of course this could all be for nothing and not happen, but Sega would be the easy guess as to the next purchase after ABK.

@CutchuSlow Sega never said this. Capcom did

Expect them to try (and most likely succeed) to buy everyone else now.

Microsoft are not actually allowed to buy Ubisoft, @MagisterMagi and @sanderson72. That is a stipulation in place to prevent Microsoft from controlling their Cloud product that Ubisoft will now be overseeing. They cannot by law acquire Ubisoft...

@Rob_230 Lulu Cheng works for Activision and made comments on her personal twitter. How are her personal beliefs reflective of microsoft or Brad Smith?

@Rmg0731 boycotting Activision games on playstation hurts Sony. The 30% they get of the best selling selling game every year pays for a lot of their games. Didn't Jim Ryan say the future of playstation relies solely on Call of Duty?

A broken console maker buys a broken collection of studios, fine.
For every game ruined a Larian Studios indie developer succeeds and will refresh the market with quality.

The beginning of the game industry end has begun.

Another step towards Consolidation, the more publishers Microsoft buy the less and less games per year il be spending on as I refuse to give a penny to that monopolistic corporation.

The fact the deal was even considered or approved by any regulators is absolutely insane. Empty ten year deals with streaming services you've never heard of is not going to change the fact we are giving yet more power to an entity that has an unfathomable amount of money and power already.

@BacklogBrad Well if you want Brad Smith's view at the time its here:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/business-65407005.amp

Mr Smith said Microsoft was "very disappointed" with the CMA's decision, "but more than that, unfortunately, I think it's bad for Britain".It does more than shake our confidence in the future of the opportunity to grow a technology business in Britain than we've ever confronted before," he said. People are shocked, people are disappointed, and people's confidence in technology in the UK has been severely shaken. There's a clear message here - the European Union is a more attractive place to start a business than the United Kingdom.

Physically still have all the very best of Crash Bandicoot games from Naughtydog on PS1 including the Crash Bash for PS1 and the N Sane trilogy so im all good. Whatever they do with Crash will NEVER match originals. There's nothing else they have I care for and any new IP they do console exclusive I'll have zero attachments to. What is this Call of Duty never heard of it before. Extremely rich company's doing massive acquisitions are never good but I don't so much mind the extremely rich company's that don't make their own consoles to lock out all those many long time 3rd party games, won't potentially be losing so many games when they're not a console maker

Edit impossible to be a boycott when you've rarely ever played Activision games

@Rmg0731 Yeah, let's boycott and hope for the closure so 15000 people lose their jobs, including many in the UK. That makes sense.

@MagisterMagi Honestly, I don't think big publishers are on the table anymore. This was a huge and probably pretty costly battle for Microsoft in both legal fees, work hours, and overall administrative work.

Plus, I highly doubt any regulator will let Microsoft buy another publisher unless Microsoft leaves the hardware market all together and simply becomes a third-party publisher - even then I am sure it would still be a hard-fought battle.

Smaller developers are probably still in the cards, but not major publishers.

@Rmg0731 that's right every one should boycott acti games and the when Sony releases yet another lou remaster to try and make up for the billions they lose in cod renevue every year while Microsoft makes do with the billions more they make from mobile games alone , that won't b cutting off your nose to spite your face at all

Oh and millions upon millions of casual gamers ( the one and two game gamers ) will move to Xbox/ pc etc to play cod like Thier friends have ,that won't hurt Sony at all with them all paying money for the latest guns etc like Thier mates have

@Mad001 Microsoft wanted its services on PlayStation. Sony said no.

Heck the reason Bedrock Minecraft took so long to drop on PlayStation was because Sony took issue with it due to the cross-play nature of it. Jim Ryan's words:

"Minecraft - The demographic playing that, you know as well as I do, it's all ages but it's also very young. We have a contract with the people who go online with us, that we look after them and they are within the PlayStation curated universe. Exposing what in many cases are children to external influences we have no ability to manage or look after, it's something we have to think about very carefully."

But, you know, kids cussing up a storm on COD is okay since Sony actually got something from that.

The only platform where you get PlayStation games and Xbox games is PC.

Going forward, I may skip getting the next PlayStation and Xbox and go for building a gaming PC that fits in my entertainment center. I don't have FOMO - plus I am getting a little bored of cinematic third-person action games - so I can wait for PlayStation titles to launch on PC.

@GamingFan4Lyf I mean Sega is barely worth a few Billion. If a 69 Billion one goes through without much issues in most of the world this wont too

@MagisterMagi It wouldn't be about the money though - not to regulators.

I just don't see any more major publisher acquisitions being approved - unless Microsoft put it in writing that the major publisher remains 100% independent forever - no 10 year pledges, no "case-by-case basis", nothing. Even then, I am not sure if regulators would go for it.

Sure, this time Microsoft got the acquisition. But Bethesda, Activision, Blizzard, King, plus all the other studios Microsoft already had and acquired is basically the limit.

I don't think any other publisher has as many studios as Microsoft does now.

About time, this whole process was such a pain, to say the least, for everyone involved.

It wouldn't really matter if Sony would finally get off their high horse soon and show just 1 or 2 of their upcoming exclusive masterpieces. Oh well.

(And no, Spidy 2 isn't it)

I'd rather have ID and Machine games back then Activision, I wish concessions had been made for that acquisition instead of this one

Phil is talking out his ass, as usual.

I would hope, and assume, that Xbox pitching that all of those games are exclusive to their ecosystem would be counterproductive to them making boatloads of money. Game Pass is not, and will never be, profitable enough to cut the tap off to Playstation and Nintendo players.

@MagisterMagi Ubisoft has said a few times they aren’t going to sell to any one. Sega said the same thing. I don’t see them buying a Japanese company either. Sony being a Japanese company would have an easier time buying square then ms would. I can see ms moving to smaller studios again if they do buy more. After this it would be harder to buy another big studio.

You can't trust anything Double Speakin' Phil says. Unfortunately, now that they have the greenlight to keep buying publishers, they'll just do that as often as they can get away with it until they buy their way to dominance. Eventually, they'll flip a switch and say, if you want our (bought) games, you have to put Game Pass on your console. Obviously, that can't happen because it would tank game sales on those platforms, too, which will only benefit Microsoft. Regulators truly failed at their jobs.

It was never about gaining console exclusives. Microsoft don't really care about Xbox hardware

What they do care about is subscription growth and the mobile market. COD and King will do those things .

Lazy sure, brutishly starting a monopoly, most definitely. but that's how Microsoft have operated now since the early 90s . I'm amazed only now have they let the mask slip in the gaming industry 25 years after starting Xbox

Uh huh, because people on other platforms are sooo welcome to play Bethesda games on all platforms right? Oh wait...

I understand why you bought them Phil. You need more development teams to feed GP and you want a firm foot in the door of the mobile market. It's business. Please for the sake of everyone's sanity can you stop acting like it's all sunshine and rainbows for everyone.

It's just annoying at this point. 🤣

I only care for Spyro.

@twitchtvpat Sega hasnt said that, Capcom did. Also Spencer said in TGS 2023 Interviews that they will expand in Japan

"Whether you play on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, PC or mobile, you are welcome here"
on this occasion i will cut my nose off to spite my face. Im removing myself from this Mico-actiblizz orgy. Not that my drop in the ocean purchase would mean much anyway. Makes me feel better tho.

Phil and Brad. Typical American creepy crawlies. It's still fun now, but a plan has long been drawn up for where this is going. But we'll see for ourselves. That's going to be a case, I told you so, right?

For the love of God Sony! Please come up with a surprise!

At this point MS may own enough games and studios that their entire model could be giving their consoles away, well the cheap S digital only ones, and charging for GamePass. I know they’ve been doing this since like the 360 with “All Access“ but I could see them really leaning into it now.

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-all-access

Phil promised that Bethesda would stay on Playstation and that didn't happen at all. Redfall and Starfield remain Xbox and PC exclusive. Phil then announced that Elder Scrolls 6 won't come to Playstation either. I don't believe a word about Activision Blizzard games coming to Playstation other than Cod since Jim had to make a pricey business deal to allow that. Xbox fans are cheering while forgetting that just a generation ago, Microsoft were not consumer friendly and would have been even more anti consumer had Xbox One launched with the original plan. Looking forward to most physical games getting axed in the future, them being on Xbox or PC only, and Gamepass being like $70 a month. Limiting consumer options never works out well for the consumer.

@AdamNovice
Sure hope so, or at least no more mega acquisitions

I only really l😍ve crash bandicoot.word up son

Congratulations Xbox and ABK.

Typical American thought process: we can't make ourselves better so we'll just throw money at problem and get someone else to do the work. I don't see how this can be good for gaming. Their own franchise have stagnated so much that they're no longer considered a reason to by an Xbox, so why would Activision IP's not suffer the same fate?

And here we have arrived at the beginning of the end of gaming as we know it. The consolidation process starts now and only snowballs from here on out. Microsoft wants to own as much as possible and judging by this they’ll probably not get much push back. I hope Sony has that one acquisition that we all hope for in them. But I just don’t think they will do it.

@Deadsea93
And you think Sony would not love a digital only world no discs.
Sony make amazing single player experience games. But once most have completed the game they sell the disc game to a friend or shop.
That costs Sony billions every year.
Sony more than anyone would love digital only.
Think about it, it’s a business.

@GamingFan4Lyf , I remember him banging on about that it was only wanting to play with their friends that had an Xbox.
do what suits you buddy! Yes I've mates that are wondering am I playing a game or movie lol, I'm happy enough with either I'm a big uncharted fan lol.
If your based in the UK,
Overclockers.co.uk I'd recommend if your Gona build they are pricey but look after you. Only place I go to with my upgrades. I'm retiring my amd rig after 10 years il make a server out of it.
Have a good one

Pinocchio Phil at it again. If Bethesda and those leaked emails about putting PS out of business are anything to go by, then I can only see his nose getting much longer

It's good it's finally over and hopefully this pushes Sony to be and do better to stay on top and bring us great new PS games. Xbox never creates anything that makes the platform stand out. Most of their games were created by third party until they threw money at it to acquire and milk them and now they have made themselves look even more third party than ever.

At least some fans are happy to get games they have already been getting handed out to them on a service. Really weird to see them preferring that over seeing MS making a name for themselves with unique Xbox games.

Anyway, no need to buy their games anymore. Take out a month of GP, binge a few games and it saves money for other games. That's my plan.

@Mad001 Don't get me wrong, I still buy Sony exclusives, I just wish Sony would branch out a little.

The cutscenes are glorious and the stories hit all the right notes, but the gameplay is getting a touch stale for me.

But, it's working for Sony, so who am I to demand otherwise? I have other platforms to enjoy a wide variety of games, so whenever the itch to play a "Sony game" hits, I'll scratch it.

10 years is a darn good run for a gaming PC!

@FuzzieGinge88 This "thought process" is only exclusive to Americans?! Ignorant comment.

@FuzzieGinge88 Typical American thought process? Really? I am sorry but where is the world tech hub? Certainly not the UK. Although the MS, Apple, Amazon and other large American tech companies are getting too big, how many jobs around the world have they provided? How about secondary jobs as a result. How is the tech seen in Britain right now? Such an ignorant and ridiculous comment.

@cburg How many taxes have they evaded?

@OldGamer999

You know Sony are actually a manufacturer of Blu-ray drives, and actually developed and are part owners of Blu-ray technology itself, both standard uhd versions.
So don't assume they'd be happy with an all digital future

"You will remain welcome!",says friendly P.R. Public "Gamer" Phil....private email Phil, "Let's make a Reaper of Souls type Diablo IV expansion so we can retire all non XB/PC versions! All unannounced games are exclusives going forward apart from COD!"
Next Year:
"We're gonna bring Starcraft Ghost....Batlle Royale! Day one gamepass!"🙄

Just more riddles and fake bravado from Phil, give it a few years when they start releasing xbox exclusives for Phil to show his true colours. Yet xbox fanboys will defend him by saying he never said existing IP's would stay multiplatform, yet this says otherwise.

@Rjak You tell me.

@cburg I just find it funny when people talk about how many jobs those companies have provided while they are actively trying to cut their workforce to have as little costs as possible. And at the same time barely paying any taxes over the absurd amount of profit they make.

@Anthony_Daniels
Sony haven’t made a new designed blu ray player in years and aggressively promote their own streaming movie services. Get with 2023.

The FTC trial, Xbox leaks and how Microsoft handled Bethesda made it very clear this is a lie.

@cburg As consumers our main method of protesting practices we don't like are to vote with their wallets. If I don't want to give company X any of my money and they go and buy company Y, therefore meaning company Y no longer gets any of my money, that isn't my fault.

I'm sure Phil's evil, reptilian tongue was ready to whip out when he mentioned Playstation and Nintendo.

in all honesty, after reading through the leaks that appeared over the last few months, I lost a lot of respect for both Spencer and Xbox.

So Todd will be honest about Starfield now? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YMg4ehhCgU

Sometimes constructive criticism and nuanced debate is a waste of time. I believe this is one of those times.

F-off microsoft, you are greedy and wholly deserve to own activision blizzard king, three fallen, grubby avaricious companies.

Your slimy tweets are embarassing and clearly try to mask this greed. I won't miss any of the games that will now be skipping ps5 anyway.

@OldGamer999 They're also just releasing a new model PS5 that allows the digital version to be "upgraded" with a disk drive if the consumer wants, hardly the actions of a company that wants an all digital future.

Can't wait for Candy Crush exclusively on Xbox.

I bet Playstation players "remain welcome". Its just means they're welcome to buy an Xbox or a gaming pc if they want to continue to play certain titles.

Happy it's over, now M$ can go on buying whatever it can to satiate it's hungry beast.

@Jimboss Even changed his profile pic to show his true colours, but it's to be expected that Sony's massive success will attract jealous haters.

Imagine you have to spend £70+ Billion over 3 years to be relevant compared to the competition who have spent less than £4 billion lifetime and are still number one.

I love multi-billion dollar buyouts and merging corporations because something something game pass

@UltimateOtaku91

You should read pureXbox. More "free" games on GP. that's all they see.

Funny how we've not heard anything from Jim Ryan on the subject....?

Looks like Sony will have to finally get their corporate fingers out of their arses and produce some new games! Either that, or buy Ubisoft....

@Lyedecker My guess is it will be on those games that have already been released which will continue to be supported, much like is the case with Bethesda and Fallout 76 and ESO.

Remain welcome to come to Xbox? Lol no thank you. You already fooled me once. I learn.
Besides, i don't care about CoD.

Good to know the UK prevented a future monopoly though.

@TommyNL yeah they are oblivious to the fact the price of gamepass will have to be increased yet again. It's all they care about and pretty much all they have going for them.

Unfortunately for them gamepass isn't moving the needle for xbox and mostly likely never will, Starfield was a huge game and was meant to be their trump card yet no news on boosted gamepass numbers, paired with an average metacritic rating and user score, it ain't working out like they wanted.

Even better news Bobby is gone in 2024. He only has November and December of this year left. Good riddance Bobby. Great move MS.

@Deadsea93 Well if you think about it, what Microsoft wanted originally with the Xbox One launch, they are finally getting under the radar. All digital sales, constant online checks required, and a Game Subscription service so you won’t buy any physical games. How long till they start making those Game Pass games digital only? The only thing missing is Kinect.

@AdamNovice 100% Microsoft will be shutting down studios over the next 5-10 years, Starfield didn't move the needle so I doubt Activision games will.

@UltimateOtaku91 actually Phil said even if SF was a 11/10 it wouldn’t change the consoles placing. So no that one game wasn’t a trump card. Sure the price will go up, but so will the value of what is offered inside. Speaking of going up in price and content what will we see of Sony’s hike to PS+? This deal is about having PC and Mobile grow. Which with the content they just got in this deal it likely will in time. The console is on borrowed time if cloud for Sony and MS comes to a way to please the causal FIFA and Madden crowd. That will leave PC and mobile a place MS wants to be the big player in and this deal will likely get them closer to that.

@DarthOreo competition that's so funny. Have you even looked at the huge differences in acquisitions between Microsoft and Sony. I highly recommend have a look at all the games included with Microsofts recent couple acquisitions and then look at all the games included with Sonys recent acquisitions. Anyone calling this as competition is pure ignorance

don’t care, im pretty much down with ABK unless mew spyro is released. Rather spend my money on other entities. The big fear is who Microsoft buys next. Its also a sham that they are allowed to buy entities when they owe $30 billion in taxes

@Rob_230 oh no! He said he was disappointed. What an outrage!

He then went on to ensure all of CMAs concerns were met.

@HonestHick It's hard to take any sort of pleasure from him leaving given the obscenely large payoff he will be receiving.

@Beerheadgamer82 I don't have a problem with people being in favour of these large scale acquisitions by Microsoft but I would have a lot more respect for their opinion if they at least acknowledged that there is a massive difference in MS buying Zenimax and ABK and Sony buying someone like Insomniac.

Sony should buy Ubisoft

@Kevw2006 that is something he created for himself like most awful CEO’s do. Nothing to do with the deal. He would get that money if he was fired or even quit. CEO’s and football coaches get paid more to be fired than any Job in the world, sadly.

Now it's been confirmed that Kotick will leave ABK at the end of the year, I really REALLY hope he doesn't become the next CEO of PlayStation. That would be awful

Ironic it happens on Friday the 13th. Also, don’t believe Kotick. They said the same for Bethesda, remember? At least it’s over and won’t have to hear about it anymore.

@Sakai i doubt it cause Bobby don’t believe in generations, oh wait….. 😀

“ Whether you play on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, PC or mobile, you are welcome here – and will remain welcome, even if Xbox isn’t where you play your favorite franchise."”

In other words, you’ll still be able to subscribe to Gamepass if you want because every gamer will have a TV and / or phone.

Saying you are welcome isn’t the same as saying you are welcome to keep playing everything native on PlayStation.

@Kevw2006
That is a smart move by Sony and fair play.
To slowly slowly catch a monkey.
See they hope you buy digital PS5 as it is cheaper and then you don’t bother buying the disc add on.
Come on even you must see that.

Dudes here celebrating mass consolidation by a giant corporation is sickening Microsoft is known for ruining everything they touch. I’m just ready for the industry to crash for I can laugh hard at the people celebrating this .

@Kevw2006 I know exactly what you mean. It's bending the truth to suit their favourite console narrative, happens all the time on all sides. Nothing wrong with being a little biased with your favourite though and gamers just wanna play good games at the end of the day, that's all they care about, not much different to myself in that regard

Why do these people think cloud is the future? Cloud gaming sucks.

@Deityjester Its does as it is now, audio lag with bluetooth headphones, input delay with controllers, long wait queues for newly released games, there's more general lag when you're playing a pouluar game as the more people on the server the more problems that occur, no Internet then no gaming, other gamers getting ahead of you unless you pay extra for the early access editions and in terms of gamepass on mobile it's only 720p and blurry. No one is going to be playing call of duty seriously using a mobile phone.

Glad I have an Xbox and a PlayStation. And a Switch, though I have t played it in like 2 years

Now Sony will announce an event and show its guns.

"For the millions of marks who love getting bent over by Activision, Blizzard, and King games for your hard earned cash each year , we want you to know that today is a good day to fund our sociopathic exec's twisted lives. You are the target of these cash cow franchises, and we are honored to have you as paying entities" he writes. "Whether you buy on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, PC or mobile, your money is welcome here – and will remain welcome until the fall of society as a whole."

A great day for all involved, indeed 🥂😁

Can't wait to hear Sony do nothing. They must be ran by idiots now. There dissociation with its audience in a time when it needs to be communicating the most is alarming.

MS had alot of games to show with just owning ZeniMax at its summer showcase this year. I can't imagine what next year's will look like. Because just the one from this past summer dwarfed Sonys meager showcase already. It feels like in about 10 to 15 years will all either have to accept the lack of games Playstation has compared to Xbox, jump ship, or quit gaming. Scary times ahead indeed.

@DarthOreo. "You didn't shed tears when Naughty Dog stayed off limit to Xbox players"

Since when did Naughty Dog make games for Xbox ? They basically have been with Sony since day 1 with Crash Bandicoot and then Jak And Daxter after that. Then came Uncharted and you know the rest. Also one studio is entirely different from dozens and dozens if you look at Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. Microsoft also aren't even doing well on their first party front. Gears of War is dead and then Halo is basically a morbid corpse puppet at this rate. Microsoft had to buy out publishers, something Sony or Nintendo have ever done, in order to stay relevant. This is bad for the gamer because Microsoft can do a Thanos snap and even more games won't come to Playstation.

Can we all just take a moment to consider how little Microsoft have actually added to the video game industry...

I hope all Sony gaming bosses at the top have now all got their gloves off. Time to continue their efforts they've done with top tier 1st party exclusives (tone down this gaas a little) and make some good buisness of their own if something they want becomes available and let's not forget affordable. Affordable is unfortunate here as this is where Sony can't compete much. I dunno, a lot of smaller devs like Ember Labs as an example could be very beneficial to Sony in the long run, eventually making some of these smaller devs making some bigger triple A games over time, as well as making some of the slightly smaller games these devs are currently known for

@Beerheadgamer82 Spot on, we all have our own opinions on these deals and some think they are good for gaming and some are worried that they will not be and MS will make games exclusive. Both opinions are just as valid as each other as until it has all settled down and games start being released no one knows for sure what their plans are for the future.

@Ken_Kaniff Tbf you can't expect Sony to have the same amount of exclusives as Microsoft, Microsoft have spent over 70 billion to bring in 30+ studios by buying two of the biggest publishers, Sony don't have that kind of money and can only afford smaller individual studios one at a time. Sony have grew steadily to become where they are now whilst Microsoft will have bought their way to the top.

@Old-Red. Microsoft haven't contributed anything to the video game industry. Halo was made entirely by Bungie and then Gears of War was made by Epic. Microsoft eventually acquired the rights to both when the Xbox One was near. Microsoft built The Coalition for Gears and 343 Industries for Halo. Both franchises foundered badly under Microsoft's control and now both are a joke. When I think of how much Halo is actually a masterpiece, it really makes me sick. I cried like a baby at the end of Halo Reach, Bungie's final Halo, because what a journey and sad ending to Noble 6. All Microsoft can do is be the rich kid that basically buys out the theme park cause they don't like waiting lines.

"you are welcome here – and will remain welcome," until the deal is fully closed. Or until we release the next generation of games that aren't already so far into development that it will cost us too much to change course to make them exclusive.

You don't spend billions of dollars to keep the status quo.

@OldGamer999

Did I say they designed or sold a Blu-ray players I did I say manufacturer blu drives?

Do learn to read properly bro

At what point will you guys drop the PS5, PS4 for titles and just use PS or PS5? I wasn’t a PushSquare regular during the PS3, PS4 transition so I’m quite curious

Activision was up for auction. At the end of the day, it's better they went w/ MS as opposed to Tencent or a company of that ilk.

@Chidoro . I would have preferred someone like Amazon to have purchased Activision Blizzard because maybe I could trust them to keep these games on Playstation. I can't say the same for Microsoft with "We don't want Bethesda on Playstation anymore". Do you think Amazon would have made Activision Blizzard exclusive for Luna ? Luna is comprised of multi platform games with Control being their hot item lol.

@Deityjester it's bizarre. People have been proclaiming cloud gaming the future for years, despite a rather pathetic list of benefits.
The audience for people who want to play in their hotel room really isn't as big as some seem to think.

Microsoft with gates have started the end of video games 😡

@Shepherd_Tallon : You seem to forget that Jim Ryan opposed the entire deal and refused to sign the Call of Duty deal regardless of what Microsoft offered PlayStation stating publicly and I quote
"I DON'T WANT A DEAL, I JUST WANT TO STOP THE ACQUISITION."

His words are all over the Internet stating that.

@MasterPlayerOne I'm happy because they finally kicked Ryan but it wasn't wasted fuel. The acquisition was delayed for almost two years enough time for the ps5 to sell like the xbox didn't. Now it's too late for xbox to actually sell this gen and Sony has until 2027 (now without Ryan lol) to do something so the ps6 sells.

@QuietintheCorner None! ND has never once had a game on Xbox or Nintendo even before being purchased by Sony. He is just shouting out nonsense and seeing if it will stick.

@MasterPlayerOne . I wouldn't really call this a defeat for Sony when the Ps5 has sold extremely well since Day 1. This is also factoring that Gamepass had been going on for 3 years by that time and Xbox also had a companion console that was $300 too. Spider-Man 2 is only releasing for Ps5 on Day 1 and it will easily be one of the top selling games of the year. This is a game that will make PC gamers pull out their Ps5. PC gamers can already play Xbox games on PC. That's the difference. Sony is pushing games and hardware and their franchises continues to see success. Halo Infinite was such a disaster that not only was it delayed more than a year after current gen launched when it was supposed to be a Day 1 exclusive, it failed miserably. Microsoft actually began to replace the Series S/X console box art of it with Starfield after the Bethesda acquisition. Lol.

Honestly, they can keep it. Actiblizz couldnt make a food game if their life depended on it.

@Balosi it's the out of touch 70+ year old executives, hopefully cloud gaming goes the way of the 3D television

I think it would mean crossplatform play will be available for all those games

And hopefully every online game becomes crossplatform and save.

@Shepherd_Tallon I'd say it wasn't wasted effort. While Jim Ryan failed in the end with getting the acquisition blocked, the resistance helped reveal the truth about Xbox while also temporarily slowing down future Xbox acquisitions.

@Shepherd_Tallon : No need to make up excuses for Jim Ryan....you know well he only signed the deal when he was already defeated.

But anyways, I'm glad we cleared the facts.

👍😁👍

@Deityjester . I don't see Cloud gaming being a reality anytime soon unless Aliens are real and land on Earth to help us like Vulcans helped Humans in First Contact. There are a lot of people out there with either poor Internet reception or they have limited options with providers. Data caps are still a thing here in USA and most limits are 1TB, which goes by fast with game streaming. It is one of the reasons why Xbox One's "Always Online" faced backlash and even Valve had to create an offline mode for Steam. Here in my area of North Carolina, Cloud gaming is a pipe dream. It is actually why I got a Ps3 again to play Ps3 games. Streaming them on my Ps5 would have been painful.

@GymratAmarillo
If Sony losing any type of Call of Duty exclusivity is not a defeat then you clearly don't understand the amount of money Sony won't be making.

Just to inform you, Call of Duty has made more revenue for Sony than Uncharted, Horizon, and The Last of Us put together.

That information is all plastered on Google.

@MasterPlayerOne Just a little bit of perspective here, Uncharted, Horizon and The Last of Us are all games that release one every few years with very little in the way of microtransactions. Whereas Call of Duty releases a new game every year and is riddled with Microtransactions so it's no surprise it's bringing in more money for them. It's got to be right up there as one of the biggest money makers for Xbox over the years to compared to their first party output.

Sony may have lost the odd exclusive skin or xp booster pack but that's it, is that really going to make players shift to xbox? the answer is no, especially as Microsoft have said all versions of Call of duty will have the same parity. So sony will still be getting the usual call of duty revenue for atleast another 10 years.

If anything sony might actually gain as they had a deal with Activision to reduce the sales split percentage that sony take, so instead of sony taking their usual 30% cut they were taking less for Call of duty, but now that deal is now over and can start taking the 30% which means more revenue for Sony.

Its nice that Phil has indicated a potential for other platforms to experience ABK games. But in reality that will be most likely be COD and cloud access on PS, but we will see.
Ive not personally played an ABK game in over three years, and im a game pass subscriber with a series X and PC in addition to all the other platforms, so im not missing anything, but also feel xbox are not gaining much either. I will hope that xbox change the culture of ABK and remove Bobby immediately though, their devs deserve better.

In regards to Jim fighting this deal, his efforts are partially responsable for MS having to give up its initial 3 year COD offer to the 10 year deal agreed, so it certainly wasn't a waste of his time from his perspective.

Whilst I hope my xbox playing buds get some free gp stuff they want, its hardly gonna be a treasure trove and I dont believe it will be enough to change anyones buying intentions. Im just glad the deals finished and hope gamers can get back to rational serious discussion of what unites us all - our love of games.
Who am I kidding, right? 🤣

@MasterPlayerOne. You really should change your profile picture to only show a Joycons controller and an Xbox controller. You don't need the Ps4 controller there since all of your posts have been negative towards Playstation. Competition is a good thing and I'm sure that gaming as a whole would take a devastating hit if Playstation ceased to exist. They are very important to the landscape and have been for nearly 30 years now. Playstation is focused on good games and innovative technology. Compare that to Xbox that has the Series controller being identical to the last gen's controller and the fact that Microsoft have nothing to show when it comes to successful games over the past decade. Every new game has Xbox fans hoping it will be good and that's the sad state of things over there. Redfall was supposed to be a huge win for Xbox this year and that didn't happen. All they've had going for them is Starfield from Bethesda as if anyone doubted that would be good as it was Todd's main focus for a long time.

@MasterPlayerOne so you really think all the people who already bought a ps5 to play COD are going to buy another console just to "not pay" for a game that isn't going to release until 2025?

What you "clearly don't understand" is that these guys are business men, they knew what was going to happen the moment it was announced. You don't need a degree or google to understand that just common sense, that it's clear you lack because all your answers are the classic xbot trying to be smart and I wasted my time here with some random kid 🤣🤣

@Kevw2006 Thank you for making my point even more undeniable, the fact that Sony will be losing all that profit shows the monumental defeat.

It will take a lot more Uncharted and Last of Us sales to make up for just the Call of Duty DLC.

@QuietintheCorner
No was just having a bit of fun.
I actually own all three consoles so all these deals don’t mean much to me.
But I have game pass so going forward I guess it’s good for me.

@Anthony_Daniels
Ok, but Sony would love all digital on PS5
They would make so much more money and also Xbox as well.

@QuietintheCorner apparently it is, the sad mess 😂😂

@Deadsea93 based on his other comments on this site it's clear he wasn't a playstation gamer to begin with.

@QuietintheCorner
Not really, but fanboys on either side of the consoles do make me giggle with certain responses.

@Old-Red Apart from Xbox Live, HDD in a console, Halo (it was due to be a Mac exclusive, 3rd person game), LAN parties, Gamer Tags, Achievements, Forza/Forza Horizon, analogue triggers, Xbox Marketplace for digital and Indies, frame rate boosts on older titles, 120 fps on console, digital only home consoles, reverse engineered backwards compatibility (requiring no developer cost), movie and app purchases, Gears of War, game chat, cross platform play, oh and the OS for the Sega Dreamcast.

I'm sure there's a load more I'm forgetting.

@MasterPlayerOne it was microsoft that offered the 10 year deal to everyone ,when they realised it wasn't gonna be cut and dry ,they never mentioned it in the early days of the acquisition,how many studios do they have now ? And not one on the same level as any of sonys first partys ,don't for a minute think Sony will rest on its laurels after this ,I wouldn't be suprised if they went after take two or capcom.

I know many people won’t agree but I’m actually excited to see more competition in the gaming landscape, because this will obviously result in both Sony and Microsoft competing more aggressively for our money and to be completely honest that’s what Sony currently needs, they’ve been too complacent and greedy the last couple of years and we need a change, with Jim Ryan gone and a more aggressive Xbox there’s the perfect opportunity to refocus and strengthen PlayStation even further.

And for the people ‘worried’ about MS buying X, Y, Z publishers don’t even think about it, there’s absolutely no way that after acquiring 2 publishers and 21 months of regulatory hurdles another acquisition would be approved, this is it for publishers, but do expect more studio buyouts from both Sony and Microsoft.

@OldGamer999 . Xbox is actively pushing for a digital only future and has been since 2017 with Gamepass. Xbox releases their games Day 1 through Gamepass and this also includes Bethesda and now Activision Blizzard games as they are under the Xbox umbrella now just like Playground, 343, and The Coalition already are. "When Activision Blizzard King is under the Xbox umbrella, we want to have as many of their games as possible on Gamepass" -Phil Spencer. Sony cannot put their new releases Day 1 on PS+ as they would hemorrhage money over this just as Xbox is doing. Xbox can afford to take the lost sales, Sony cannot. Sony is putting out physical games and that shows no signs of changing. Microsoft has a higher probability of axing physical games (Game preservation) compared to Sony.

@QuietintheCorner
It was so long ok ago I can’t remember what I put,
Please remind me.
Was it to do with digital media in this thread.

@Blackmagehobbit "Sony will show its guns"

Yes, they announce another 10 GaaS projects... 🤣🤣🤣

@MasterPlayerOne Okay and if it was the other way around and it was Sony that were making a move to buy ABK do really think that Phil Spencer and Microsoft would have sat on their hands and allowed it to happen? I would have expected them to do everything in their power to stop or delay it from happening.

@Deadsea93
Ok let’s all agree the digital age is coming soon
And both Sony and Xbox I believe want it and they will make more money from it.

@QuietintheCorner
But that was a post from pure Xbox not this thread on push square.
This thread I have been discussing with others about the digital age.

@OldGamer999 . People like Nintendo and Sony won't care to put all of their eggs in a single basket and they will opt to continue with physical media just like we still have DVD and Blu Ray movies in 2023. Nintendo considers themselves a Toy company in the words of Miyamoto. They obviously won't go all digital since most toys are physical items.

@MasterPlayerOne Well I guess they'll need to make up for the money they will haemorrhage by putting Call of Duty on game pass day one somehow.

@MasterPlayerOne . You keep saying that Sony is defeated when it was actually Microsoft that have had to go through huge amounts of money with $70 billion for Activision Blizzard King and $8 billion for Bethesda all in the course of 3 years. Then Microsoft admits that Gamepass cannibalizes sales and they've lost tons of money going that route too. That reminds me of Sega of North America that pushed a lot of money around too and couldn't act patient at all and came up with all of these ideas that had them bleeding money left and right. They eventually folded as a hardware company and opted to license their games out to stay out of foreclosure. They tried to take on Sony too, just as Panasonic and Phillips did. They all fell in the end, just as Microsoft will too. A decade of no good Xbox games caused them to buy publishers out of desperation

@QuietintheCorner
Well I didn’t mean it like that and I didn’t tell anyone to do anything.

@Deadsea93
Oh well time will tell and I’m ready and love the digital age on all consoles, music and videos.

@QuietintheCorner
Thank you for pointing this out to me.
I got carried away and it’s was irresponsible of me and if you felt I had gone over the top and was trolling I apologise.
Owning all three consoles doesn’t give me right to say such things as well.

@UltimateOtaku91 I don't expect Sony to match there output. What I do expect is fantastic SP games and atleast some communication from this mute company. Sony has announced almost nothing but live service games (that will fail) over the last two years, and doesnt say a word apart from a lackluster SOP here and there. Maybe its the shifting in management, or maybe there terrified to say a word because the competition output is about to triple what they can produce...idk. What I do know is since Shawn Layden stepped down this company has seemed more inhuman than ever. With MS growing and Sonys GaaS push and lack of communication. It feels like they are doing nothing but trying to help MS by pushing away there hardcore audience for a chance to catch lightning in a bottle.

@QuietintheCorner
One heart is enough 😂

@QuietintheCorner
Very good, we can always rely on Phil 😊

So how long before MS decides that it's in everyone's best interest to make all of ABK exclusive to Xbox? It only took 2 months for Zenimax to go from a 'case by case' basis to completely exclusive. And now I'm sure we all can't wait until MS announces they are buying EA or Ubisoft or Square Enix or something and we have to do this all over again.

@Ken_Kaniff . I've been a Playstation fan since Ps1 and I can say that the Ps5 launch is the strongest of any console that I've ever seen. The first 3 years have completely demolished the first 3 years of every Playstation prior to it and most consoles actually. So if there are 2 "lull" years, it doesn't matter. Within 3 years we've gotten a new Horizon game, God Of War game, and two Spider-Man games. Like it took 4 years to get Horizon Zero Dawn. 5 years for God of War. 5 years for Spider-Man. That's just 3 examples. Sackboy is criminally undermentioned and I'd go as far to say that it is the most important Platformer leap forward since Super Mario 64.

"I don't expect Sony to match their output". They can't financially, but they can in quality. Starfield has been the only true success for Xbox in many, many, years. If Microsoft keeps up their management strategy, they will founder and I'm waiting for it at this rate. Plus I'd like to mention that Playstation has been a Top tier contender for 30 years now. Their new president won't be some amateur brought in from the streets. He has been with SIE for many, many, years. I trust the company

@OldGamer999 this. I love digital media as well.

I’m largely a PSVR2 gamer these days. Losing Bethesda, and so Skyrim VR, was a blow. This not so much for me immediately, but if the Ubisoft streaming deal leads to shenanigans and background deals then that’s losing a lot too. Then we have Sony losing billions once the next 10 years is over (and likely sooner) due to a migration of COD players , this may lead to an inability for Sony to innovate and develop supplementary hardware like VR3.
So, all in all, not great for me.
And that’s not even mentioning all the flat PS players.
But sure Phil, this is for “everyone”*

*willing to pay for Gamepass.

They are absolutely not looking to use their ill gotten Windows profits to financially assault Sony, and push them from the industry, so as to monopolise the industry. No sir. No matter what they themselves say in their leaked emails.

Congratulations to the hacks at Xbox who continually prove they can't create anything worth a damn themselves 👏🏾 just buy everything and everything will fall into place, right Uncle Phil?

@Sad_But_True. Actually I applause Jim Ryan for lengthening the deal from 3 years to 10 years. That's plenty more time to save and invest in future projects and in 10 years the Ps5 will be 13 and easily be replaced by the Ps6 by that time. I actually saw that Playstation had interesting military shooter games during the Ps2 such as Socom and Killzone. This was expanded upon with Ps3 such as the Killzone sequels, Resistance Fall Of Man Trilogy, and for better or worse unique ideas such as MAG and Haze. I'd actually like to see these games revisited and rebooted for modern Playstation. The shooting games are overcrowded with Battle Royales or more of the same from Call Of Duty and Battlefield. With Sony now knowing that in 10 years they will permanently lose Call Of Duty, it might be their push to regroup their focus on this genre again with the help of their talented teams like Guerilla Games, Insomniac, Bungie, etc.

good. now playstation can actually try and recapture their magic again instead of coasting off old success, i have a pc/switch/ps5 so whatever business deals happen have 0 effect on me

Thank god this crap is finally over.

Now can someone from MS without an NDA write a good book chronicling events from start to finish. I’d like to read that.

@djlard Agreed! LOL

@Deadsea93 I will be sooo disappointed if Call Of Duty is still relevant in 10 years. That'll mean there has literally been a CoD release every year for 25 years. Thats not even counting the remakes, spin-offs and DLC. When will it end?

@Kanji-Tatsumi This years call of duty will sell alot less and it is losing relevants.

@OrtadragoonX I, also, would love to read about this saga.

Credit where credit is due, they gamed the system and got it done. Curious how this impacts the big 3 and if Xbox gets any momentum from it.
Nintendo will be fine, they've been doing their thing for 30+ years and are hotter than ever.
Sony, normally I'd say just keep doing what they do, but they have leveraged all their good will the past few years for GAAS & PC pennies and are vulnerable at the worst possible time with a core fanbase on edge. Well done, Jim Ryan!

@Old-Red we could do that, but beforehand let’s look at things they did and Sony later came around to.

1. Achievements
2. Cross game chat
3 Arcade live for indies
4. Subscription model
5. Name change to user profile
6. Built in hard drives
7. Friends list

It’s called competition for a reason, they both compete and borrow idea’s from one another to attract customers. To say they did nothing when Sony basically took the 360 game plan with the PS4 and did amazing would be a bit out of pocket. Most of the features of the PS4 were from 360 cause the PS3 couldn’t do them all right away. I own both, i was one of the ones glad Sony took some of MS idea’s, just not the Xbox one one’s hahaha

@XenonKnight ummm the game will make around a Billion dollars in a week and it’s losing relevance? Thats a hot take man, you do realize the new game is around 3.5 weeks away. This won’t age well my friend. Call of duty is cash money!

Big Corpos eating up other big Corpos, what could go wrong? Phil has never lied to us!

@Titntin Xbox is gaining most of the largest IP’s on PC with Blizzard and the biggest game in mobile. This deal is very little about the console. Once Sony and MS can get cloud gaming to the point it is what the casual’s will play FIFA and MADDEN on the console is largely dead. Console sales aren’t growing they are staying around the same for MS and Sony. MS around 50-60 million and PS around 100-115 million. When those numbers shrink even more in the future cause of cloud then what is left for the hardcore? PC, what does this deal do for MS with PC, it gives them COD, WOW, Diablo, StarCraft, you get the point. Throw in Minecraft and they are positioned off this deal for when the market looks like Mobile/Cloud and PC. So i agree it doesn’t do a lot for Xbox as a console. But Xbox as a Cloud/ Mobile and PC platform this is HUGE! 😊

@HonestHick PS Now actually pre-dated game pass so Sony was technically first on the subscription service, although MS did massively expand and improve on it.

No worries ….nope none…long live King Sony and global PlayStation empire!!!

@Deadsea93 I agree the launch was good. I just don't like what Sony as a company has become. They barely communicate and when they have over the last two years it's not for the better. I miss the PS4 days. It was fun and engaging. I feel like that's how Sony needs to be right now with the massive amount of games MS is going to put out in the next 10 years. Ryan "retiring" is hopefully a sign of a changing of the tides. Because not only will there be a lull in games, but the ones put out will be nothing but live service trash that very few Playstation fans want.

Microsoft won't keep their games out of ohter platforms, sure, just wait until cloud becomes the default way to play games. It's the same in all industries, each company creates their own streaming service instead of distributing to multiple "channels".

@stu123 Yes they want everyone to sell there PS5 to buy a Xbox and to burn Playstation to ashes by any means.

@Kevw2006 100% they had it and I wish they would have taken it more serious until GP hit 20 plus million subs. Then Jim said they will do tiers. Which i still think it a little odd. But yes competition is good for us gamers and competition is here now with this deal. Again it won’t make Xbox outsell PS, but it will ensure MS is in the console and PC space for a long time to come. Which will keep Sony on their toes. We all win. 😊

@stu123 or that PC that everyone said to start the gen they had. Remember those folks. Xbox games are on PC so no need for a Xbox we will just play them on our PC’s ! That didn’t age well!

@Terra_Custodes “Bethesda was a big loss already, as mediocre as their products are.”

Starfield, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, Wolfenstein, Dishonoured and Quake would all like a word with you.

@Rmg0731 Not quite, a large player base for ABK exists on PC. Games like World of Warcraft and Starcraft don't even have a presence on consoles, yet both have huge player bases on PC.

@QuietintheCorner Starfield, Forza Motorsport, Like a Dragon Gaiden, but yeah - no games. As a neutral (as I own all current gen consoles), this tribal crap is absolutely pathetic.

Looking forward to Spider-Man 2 coming in the post next week but some of you so called PS fans need to get a grip.

I remember when Netflix was awesome until everyone wanted an app like Netflix and so tons of cool stuff got removed to go to dozens of apps. Then Netflix lost relevance to me. Yep let's just keep dividing up normally multi platform games to many different gaming platforms. Be an adult with bills, being married, full time job, now buy up every gaming platform to play a few select games. Thanks Microsoft. Rather than play Starfield in 4K on my Ps5, I have to play the Series S inferior version. Let's do that for Activision games now !

@__jamiie @HonestHick I can't wait for the follow up to Achievements and the next thrilling installment of Friends List. Also looking forward to the dlc expansion for Adverts on my Dashboard. I think both of you have done a stellar job of taking a moment to consider how little Microsoft have actually added to the video game industry. Thank you xxx

"PS5 players will remain welcome". If Phil Spencer were Pinocchio his nose would be a foot long right now...

Only COD will remain on playstation since they had to agree to it to secure the deal.

@Old-Red . People have to grasp at straws when thinking of Microsoft's contributions to gaming. They are quantity over quality. All of their games last gen and this gen were underwhelming or straight up awful. If it hadn't been for their deep pockets, they'd have been run out of business long ago. Everything they touch ends up broken. Everything from Halo and Gears to Crackdown to Fable. This will be their last major publisher acquisition possibly ever due to how drawn out this one was and how it was $70 billion dollars, which keep in mind that George Lucas "only" sold Star Wars for about $4 billion dollars to Disney. Microsoft can savor this moment of owning Bethesda and Activision Blizzard until they mess them up through bad management as usual and then the franchises stop printing money to them. Just like when Disney bought Power Rangers, ruined it, sold it back to the creator, he made it successful again. Money only goes so far.

@Old-Red So you've decided to ignore the things I mentioned. Okay. Well done.

@Old-Red well i mean it’s not much to you but Sony cared enough to give them to you after MS did them so i suppose your welcome. The same with the star system. I could go on and on. While MS has been lame in first party titles, they have danced around Sony in features and services. You know the ones I’m talking about cause PS has them now. Competition is good for this reason. I enjoy seeing them push each other. But if you want to troll Xbox, it’s all good. Carry on… now if Sony was really cool they would copy MS return policy on digital games. But the word refund and Sony these day’s are a little limp.

@Terra_Custodes . Microsoft, the Parent and not the Xbox division, came extremely close to closing down Xbox by like 2016. Phil Spencer pitched the idea of his about Gamepass, which was a better version of what he and Don M wanted for Xbox One. Microsoft nearly liquidated Xbox because it was bleeding them of money. It is a misconception that Microsoft likes losing a lot of money because they are so rich. Microsoft wants to see their investments back and so they are entertaining Phil's dreams.....for now. His ideas have costed them further money through lost money through Gamepass, Series S (which has costed them more money than even Series X has) and now nearly $80 billion dollars from buying Bethesda and Activision Blizzard King. I give it a few more years before Microsoft licenses out all of this stuff and pulls the plug on Xbox.

@Terra_Custodes. Normally I'd agree that competition is important and that there's a chance that Sony could become complacent and whatnot, but with how Microsoft is acting these days, perhaps it would have been better had they gone under nearly 10 years ago. If they went under and licensed this stuff out, as Sega have been doing for over 20 years now, it wouldn't be that bad. As long as Microsoft makes hardware, Sony won't be interested unless it is software. Plus we always have Nintendo that is competing with Sony in certain ways such as the hardware front and gaming front.

How nice of Double Speakin' Phil to tell gamers they can keep playing the games they were already playing before Microsoft got involved.

Brad Smith is not Microsoft’s CEO. Satya Nadella is CEO. Brad is the Vice Chairman and president

@HonestHick I talked about xbox. Thanks for agreeing this means little to that business.
That this was a play for future buisness in cloud and pc markets is obvious, nobody throws away 70 billion, not even microsoft. Your assumption that everyone will be playing in the cloud anytime soon is the same wrong prophecy I was hearing 10 years ago, similar to the pronoucements that single player games are dead made in 2010. Unless world wide infra structure rolls out a lot faster than it is, it will remain niche for a world wide market, where people will continue to need offline play and reliability even on weaker undeveloped networks. Id happilly bet the console market will still be substantially bigger than the entrie cloud market in 10 years time.

I do take exception to "Console sales aren’t growing" as its simply not true. Sales of PS5 for instance are tracking well ahead of ps4 at this time, and Sony corp have even raised their overall expeced fiscal results this year based on the strong results from the Playstation division . Im not so sure on nintendo, but its clear they are selling a product at the end of its cycle that struggles to deliver even their own software, so Id be expecting a decline in sales and profits at this stage in their cycle, hence a new product due next year. Watch sales of that break all records.

Edit, oh and before you try and shill for MS again stating they created subscription gaming, you may wish to check your facts, as its not even close. PSnow was the first sub service and was 2 years before MS copied them with game pass. I was subbed to PSnow from inception.

@HonestHick. Microsoft are very much like Sega with coming up with ideas and yet these ideas are better implemented by someone else. Microsoft came up with achievements and yet Sony's trophies system is so much better. Achievements were fine until the numbers system became problematic with varying degrees of difficulty achievements having the same numbers score. 1000 is typically in game 100% but then dlc messed that up. The Platinum Trophy fixed that and then bronze, silver, and gold were a better system.

"They have been lame with first party titles, but they've danced around Sony with features and services"

That simply isn't true. Phil has admitted that Gamepass is a cannibal to game sales. The sub counts for that have been underwhelming to Microsoft. A lot have dropped the subscription for long periods of times due to droughts and underperforming games like Redfall. I'd imagine most would opt to outright buy Starfield because it is a game that will take them awhile to play and so it is cheaper to buy in the long run.

Xbox live Gold has been restructured into Core and the free games with gold have changed because Microsoft stopped caring about the quality of the games a long time ago. The backlash to these games was so deafening that Major Nelson eventually would close the comments section in these announcements. Compare that to Sony that is giving away Calisto Protocol this month.

If they were dancing around Sony the numbers would show it but they aren't.

"Competition is good and I enjoy seeing them push each other"

The only thing that Microsoft are pushing are their wallets. They repeatedly are buying out developers and major publishers on a grand scale when their management system is so incredible flawed. Look how little they've done with Rare for the past 20 years. Rather than compete in a fair game, they are just buying everyone out to make already established franchises exclusive to them. That's not competing, that's basically hostile takeover.

Sony build relationships with teams and then eventually decide to buy them if they are a good fit. They manage their teams extremely well to ensure too quality releases to have their stamp of approval on the cover. Microsoft just buy whatever is popular and they hope that money is then printed for them. That's the difference. Microsoft tried buying Nintendo in the early 00's and they bought Rare and wasted their potential. Microsoft's recent buyouts have even caused Nintendo to make sure that they own their smaller studios by Nintendo outright securing their teams rather than making their usual business deals.

If even you admit that their first party titles are lacking then why entertain these buyout deals ? If they can't even get Gears of War or Halo right then why buyout Bethesda and Activision Blizzard ? It seems they have their priorities in the wrong direction.

@Deljo yep game pass the gaming version of straight to dvd....where most of these games belong 😁

@MagisterMagi they can not buy Sony out business. Sony would never sell.

@OldGamer999
'No was just having a bit of fun."

No you wern' t, you've been called out fair and square for playing to the xbox stalwarts on pure and encouraging them to come and troll. At least admit being the troll you have been, your not a child. Hold your hand up when youve been caught red handed and act a bit more like an 'old gamer'.

Owning all the consoles doesnt excuse encouraging trolling, and many of us who are multi platform frequent both sites, do you think we wont see your duplicity?

Theres enough idiots on both sides of this devide without people who should know better encouraging more.

@Pimpernel That doesnt mean they gonna buy Sony. But so many Publishers that PlayStation will be starved of 3rd Party Games

If I fire up GOG Galaxy on my PC, it says I currently own 1,950 games on my PC, across multiple PC storefronts. I don't have anywhere near that on any of my consoles. So yes, the bulk of my money and time is spent on PC. If a game is multiplatform, such as Like A Dragon Gaiden, I get it on PC, because it's cheaper for a start. This assumption that I prefer Xbox is just that, an assumption.

@Titntin
If you read my later post you will see what I said.
And took back what I said etc.

@Titntin
My later post.

Thank you for pointing this out to me.
I got carried away and it’s was irresponsible of me and if you felt I had gone over the top and was trolling I apologise.
Owning all three consoles doesn’t give me right to say such things as well.

@Deadsea93 I've listed several things that Microsoft have added to the games industry. But you seem angry and bitter about them buying ABK so I guess you won't acknowledge any of them.

@Deadsea93 cause if they don’t buy those companies someone else will and when they do that put’s Xbox and their PC and mobile efforts that much further behind. I agree with Jamie you seems more angry towards MS and Xbox than you care to debate features. So i won’t even mention smart delivery and quick resume. By the way I’ve had more fun in Sea of thieves than just about any of Sony’s Ubisoft action/Adventure clones.

@Titntin i didn’t mean to say MS started subscription gaming, as much as i meant that they took it to the next level. It’s the one Sony had to readjust to, what i meant by the console market isn’t growing is it’s not like Sony is going to outsell the PS2, they can out track PS4 which is good but they won’t sell much more than 110-115 million consoles. Which is great business and i am glad cause i like and prefer console. But any analysis can show that the console market isn’t growing it’s just maintaining where it’s been. I hope cloud isn’t the next thing in 10 years, i want console around but at some point cloud will work well enough in America and it will eat into the person that buys a PS5 and a copy of FiFA every year. If the sales in America alone for console shrink the console market is in trouble. Gamers like you and me will prefer console, but not the casual player. To every gamer that say’s MS ruined Rare i say two things, MS gave Rare an open door to create what they wanted. Sure things were rough for a while with Rare but have anyone took a look at the player base number for Sea of thieves? Pretty hard to not call that a success. I will end with this, if MS didn’t buy these studios someone else would have and it’s about time MS woke up and invested into owning IP’s. I am proud of Phil for waking up the MS big wigs and taking gaming more seriously. It was clear with Xbox one that you need more than 5 studios to compete and have consistent 1st party output. Well they now have enough studios to put out a AAA game on GP every 3-4 months. Remember in the tech world the idea comes before the infrastructure. Cloud has been talked about for a long time due to it’s potential reach to every gamer with a device that connect to the internet. Just because it hasn’t reached it’s potential yet, hardly makes for it going away and it will only continue to get better and better to the point of causing console to look unnecessary for some. The word shill for what I stated that MS has created is called the truth and don’t take my word for it, just look at your PS4 and PS5 to see the features i listed. I don’t have the word honest in my name to make up stories. 😊
Competition is good!! I look forward to seeing MS and Sony compete for our time and money!! 😀

@HonestHick Well said.

@__jamiie thank you. Just trying to keep it real. Competition is good and PS and Xbox have done plenty to add great features to keep console gamers happy and engaged to the platforms. As for what i said about cloud and that at some point down the road it will be a major factor, I think most people would understand my take. Why would the average joe in America with great internet buy a PS or Xbox when his smart TV can stream FIFA? I hope they do cause i would like to see the console market stick around. But i am not so sure that the future has a place for console. The hardcore will go to PC and Steam Deck like hybrids and the casuals to cloud and mobile. Which is exactly what the ABK deal strengthens for MS. Thats why the CMA said they had no issues with the console side of the deal. I mean i would like to think what i am saying here is pretty easy to grasp. 😊

@HonestHick. You and Jamiie need to realize that I was an Xbox fanboy for a decade and only left them about 2 years ago when Halo Infinite was the straw that broke the camel's back. It caused me to sell my Series X and switch over to Playstation once more. No, I gave solid reasons why Xbox don't need to be buying up all of these companies when their games are suffering and absolutely being dumpster fires. Redfall had 55 players on Steam worldwide and it released far too quickly and in a broken state. They have way too many teams at one time now and so it really is like to many cooks in the kitchen.

Did you really bring up Smart Delivery and Quick Resume to me ? Like are you really grasping at straws from all that I said ? Quick Resume is cool if you play a ton of games at the same time. Smart Delivery is actually a pain in the a$$ because you can't decide which version of the game you want to play as Microsoft decides for you. So you can't just install the Xbox One version of Elder Scrolls Online on the hard drive. You have to choose the X enhanced version for the SSD. I much prefer how Sony gives the freedom for the gamer to decide if they want the Ps4 or Ps5 version of the game.

"By the way I've had more fun with Sea of Thieves than I have had with Sony's Ubisoft action adventure clones". I'm sorry that your standards are fairly low ? Like I got tired of Xbox games a long time ago when the quality nose dived. I've had way more fun with the Sony games over the last 2 years than anything that Microsoft has done in many years. I stayed with them so long cause I had so much invested in my Xbox account. Glad I made the jump anyway and it has been worth it.

You and Jamie say that I'm bitter over this acquisition. Because Microsoft are putting out quantity over quality and taking games away from Playstation in a hostile takeover way. So yeah I am bitter at this tbh. That's more games being taken off the Playstation front that I won't be able to play with my friends.

@Deadsea93 I mean I understand you feeling like you lost touch with Xbox which i am sorry to hear and i also understand you liking PS games, most people including myself do. I just got bored in the PS4 gen with all the Ubisoft clones Sony were doing. I mean they were great games to look at, they were made really really well. But they lacked fun for me. They were largely reliant on QTE’s and having to climb where the yellow mark was. Again super well made games and amazing graphics but i had to push myself to the end of a few of them. Really looking forward to more variety of genre’s with PS5. Xbox has more variety, but needs to make sure they are made with care. Something Sony at the moment does better. Sea of thieves isn’t a perfect game by any stretch, but man is it fun to me. Every time i put it down, i end up coming back to it and really enjoy myself in the world. Rare did a great job of finally delivering on their vision for the game. Sorry going to have to disagree with you on Smart delivery, i find it to be one of the best features of the Xbox in a while. There were people in the early part of PS5 playing the PS4 version of a PS5 title, then the whole $10 dollar upgrade path. All seemed messy to me. I only mentioned it along with quick resume cause sometimes people forget Xbox does some cool stuff on their platform as well. People on here saying Xbox has done nothing for the industry is clearly deflecting they are nervous about Xbox competing, which is my last topic to cover, people asked MS to compete, People asked MS to act like a 2 trillion dollar company, i know i did, i even know some PS trolls did, well MS woke up and sure it might not be to everyone’s liking. Some may feel like the buyout’s were bad. I get it. But business has no feelings and ABK was on the phone with Facebook before MS came in and made a offer. ABK was for sale, so am i happy it sold to MS, yes i am. Am i happy ABK didn’t go to Disney, Google or Facebook? Yes i am. But i can sympathize some with the fear of what might happen now that MS own’s over 40 studios and has the right to put those titles were GP is or isn’t. There is no pleasing everyone in the games market. Look at how Sony fan’s treated certain people in their own in house studios. So it’s no surprise they are upset and attacking this deal. I have even worse new’s for them cause i think in 2024 it will be announced that MS has acquired Sega. But that’s another topic for another day if it’s true. At the moment it don’t matter cause just about every Sega title is coming to GP day and date. But all in all MS is here to compete and bring those games to PC and cloud day and date and if that continues to be a thing, that will reach a lot of gamers and do well for them and PS will be more than fine with what they have in development. Both brands are going to do just fine. Do I understand and appreciate your concerns yes. But the respect has to go both ways and i for one am very happy with all 3 of my consoles and their game plan they have created for their platforms. I have no shame in saying i fully support the ABK deal to MS and i fully understood and support the move for Sony to aquire Bungie. Both deals benefits the future plans of the providers 😊

@Jimboss . The FTC said that "Microsoft can finally compete" and it showed how out of touch they were with the landscape. Microsoft are not Amazon where they just got into the gaming market. Microsoft entered way back in 2001, that's over 22 years ago. Xbox found a huge breakthrough with Xbox 360 and it outsold Ps3 for a long time. The hardware failures of the 360 were one thing, but what really killed it was bad business decisions by Don M taking the console to horrible territory like Kinect and dividing the fanbase entirely. The games quality went downhill too because Don approached games with "How do you do fellow kids" while his predecessor was all about gaming and helped the brand grow, especially by 2004 with Halo 2. Xbox One was the nail in the coffin where Don and Phil doubled down on Kinect and anticonsumer behavior and they fumbled all gen.

Sony hit troubled waters too with Ps3 and guess what ? They rebranded themselves and it wasn't cheap either. They rebuilt a Ps3 revision, they changed their awful marketing to being King level tier, they focused on the games, they ended up outselling 360 by the end. They pushed forward with Ps4 and the rest is history. Microsoft are in their position because they couldn't own up on their failures. They had many chances and they squandered it. That's what Ftc failed to see.

There's one publisher I see Sony getting and that's Square Enix because Sony won't want anyone else to possibly acquire them. If that happens, no more Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy, or many other franchises on Xbox. Let's see how the people cheering this deal accepts that then. Microsoft started this buying wars theme and gamers will lose in the end. Sony bought Bungie to mainly help with infrastructure in other departments rather than strictly gaming because Bungie is very knowledgeable with media.

@Jimboss i would agree that they don’t need to buy anyone else, but i am not in charge and not trying to launch a mobile games App Store. MS is and i would assume they are looking to Sega for 2 reasons, Mobile and Japan. Phil has made it clear they are never going to give up on Japan. They know they are weak there and that it is still an important market to them. Secondly they want to launch a store in mobile and will need more than just Candy Crush, even tho that’s a heck of a start. Sega has some good mobile talent under its control. The rumor i have heard and again I’m sure it’s got some truth and some incorrect info. But the deal with Sega was verbally agreed to before the ABK deal came to light. So the Sega deal was put on ice to land the big fish. It would make sense as to why there is a picture of Sonic artwork at MS headquarters. Why they had a hedgehog walking around a desk on social media. A few higher up’s taking pics with Sega owners. I mean you get the point, there is a lot of bread crumbs being left in the open on social media between the two. Then just look at all the games from Sega coming to GP day and date. Some even exclusive. So while i don’t know what is going to come of it, i would just say where there’s smoke there fire. So i wouldn’t be shocked if this deal get’s done at some point.

@Deadsea93 there’s just one problem with the Square deal. They are making deals with MS now and the CEO wants their games on more platform’s. I mean money talks so that could change in a hurry, but take MS out of this for a second, would Square really not want its games on Nintendo? I mean Nintendo owns Japan, and for that matter own’s the console market share in general. I just don’t see Square leaving Nintendo money in Japan behind, especially if the Switch 2 is more powerful and can run more of the back library of Square games.

@HonestHick. Why do you want Microsoft to buy Sega and get more ? Like again they can't even get their first party stuff correct and you want them to own dozens and dozens of more studios ? Do you think they can breathe new life into Call Of Duty when Halo Infinite had more development time than any other Halo, it even got delayed over a year, it still was a mess that is basically a graveyard now. Like I'm genuinely trying to see your viewpoint. Is it because people just want to cheap out with Gamepass ? I'm much rather pay full price for quality rather than get dumpster fires for no extra charge.

I have a Series S because Bethesda is too important to me. I've 100%ed + dlc every Fallout game, even Fallout 76. That, Starfield, and Elder Scrolls are too important to me. I had to buy an Xbox just to play previous multi platform games. Absolutely ridiculous. Microsoft had nothing to do with the success of those three franchises

@Jimboss well look at tencent and others they are buying it all up too. I prefer MS, Sony or Nintendo over Disney, Tencent, Google or amazon. But that’s just me. They have plenty of studios and work to sort out. I am not sure they will buy anything major for at least a year or so unless that Sega thing is true. However and where my attention will be is how does ABK run under MS, what if it’s better? What if they bring back some old franchises that were shelved to make more COD? I mean it could work out really well or nothing could change. But i think thats the most interesting part. I would LOVE StarCraft and WOW to come to console. I am a huge Blizzard fan, Diablo is my favorite franchise all time. I have 528 hours into D4 now and season 2 is close. Oh and would it be to much to ask to fix up the Overwatch franchise? I mean dang. That needs some love and change in direction.

@Deadsea93 i didn’t say i wanted them to buy Sega, i said it’s rumored to happen or already been done. I see why they would want them is my point. It would help GP in Japan and mobile worldwide. I am not that big into Sega, so that purchase wouldn’t do a whole lot for me. Now this is where i disagree again cause you say MS had nothing to do with the success of those games. Thats not entirely true, MS and Bethesda have worked closely for years. Sure the games are Bethesdas but may i kindly remind you that it was the Xbox that brought Bethesda games to console, it was Xbox that brought COD to console. Bethesda games ran like JUNK on ps3. Morrowwind on OG Xbox is a classic. So those guys have great friendships and business relations that date back to the 90’s. It’s not that your not allowed your opinion, I don’t want to silence anyone’s opinion, but to say flat out they did nothing is not the truth. And i promise this isn’t to brag, nor am i rich. But money isn’t my problem with this hobby. My media room is a 65 inch LG Oled, with a $4000 dollar surround sound, with all 3 consoles. I didn’t spend all that to cheap out and need GP games. Infact i only use GP to discover new games and if i don’t like them, i move on, if i do like them i buy them digitally and own them. I am happy for others that aren’t able to spend a lot on the hobby to have GP, cause for some players it can be great value, same with PS+, but i am not one that cheers for cheaper games on GP. I digitally buy all my games and most of them for full price. Again that was in no way meant to brag or say i am made of money, far from it. I just wanted to clear the air that GP isn’t the be all end all for me. 😊

@Jimboss fair enough. I understand that. Yeah i would assume Sega games would stay multi platform. But it would help them in the mobile space. At least that is my guess. What i am interested in is what does Sony have after Spider-Man 2? I really what to see what they been working on. I am really interested in the Sci fi rumored game. Seems like DLC for God of War has been leaked and Last of Us part 2 for PS5 and PC. But other than that, i think it’s time Sony shows us something next year. I know many on here aren’t happy with the live service games, but i am actually interested to see what some of them look like. I only use my Switch and PS5 for the exclusives. So at some point i need to know what to look forward to or for me they just sit there.

@HonestHick. Microsoft talked Todd into giving consoles a chance years ago and Microsoft influenced Activision to bring Cod over to consoles due to Halo. It is known that the architecture of Ps3 was very complex and that's why games began to get easier to develop for Ps3 by the end and is why Ps4 was X86 at the beginning to avoid problems. How exactly does any of this equate to Microsoft contributing to the success of these franchises ?

@Deadsea93 PS3 cell was Sony being Sony and making stuff no one but themselves wanted. They are known for proprietary technology that didn’t take off. I am happy to see Sony come to the good side and make a PC in a box. Microsoft was smart to work with those developers and bring those titles over. It sure wasn’t a mistake and the relationship between Todd and MS has been very close and he said as much in the buyout interview. I mean this is a pointless conversation if your attitude is MS has done nothing and Sony does everything right. There is no answer i can give you to change your mind. But again those two have worked closely together for 2 decades or longer and i think Bethesda is happy to be away from leadership that forced them to make games they didn’t want to and rush them to market for profit. Had they not done that, maybe MS don’t own them. I for one hope the Elder Scrolls 6 game is a launch title for the next Xbox and is an exciting game to get lost in.

@Deadsea93 Square Enix doesn't own Tomb Raider anymore, it ended up at Amazon.

@HonestHick I completely agree. I've said it before but every console maker/publisher/developer will eventually be an app to either download or stream. People will have either a TV, set top box with an HDD. Xbox will be an app. Nintendo will be an app. PlayStation will be an app. Capcom will be an app. They will all be available to anyone with an internet connection who is willing to pay x£$ per month. Controllers may be slightly bespoke but otherwise, it's currently an arms race to secure as much content as possible.

@HonestHick . Microsoft would do better as a software company and I believe that. They have good ideas when it comes tech, but they don't handle games or game management well. For people like you that heavily play Xbox, this is a good thing for you. What I'm trying to get you and Jamiie to understand that this is bad for people like me that plays Playstation mainly. Microsoft absolutely will keep everything non Cod off of Playstation. Phil said that Elder Scrolls 6 wouldn't come to Playstation. Then he made Starfield an Xbox/PC exclusive. That game was the first new Ip from Bethesda in over 25 years. Todd said it would be as important to him as Elder Scrolls and Fallout were. For the man himself to say this, we knew it was over when Phil said it would not come to Playstation. I can acknowledge that certain updates are good with Xbox games. I can say that Fallout 3 and New Vegas on Xbox Series has been the best way I've found to play them. 60 fps locked and 1 second loading times. But then I look at how Microsoft built teams for Halo and Gears of War and ran them into the ground. No one was asking for an open world Halo game with a grappling hook or a live service Halo game. Tired of Phil's lies about "Next year will be our year" and the BS excuses. I don't see Nintendo or Playstation doing this cause they are on top of their games.

This will probably be one of the worst acquisitions in gaming history. Time will tell but I feel this will not age well. Bethesda has dropped some duds lately and I wonder if Activision will follow suit and quality will drop. As a Playstation guy, I will opt to look for other options to replace COD.

@Deadsea93 time will tell. I am excited to see what they have in development. I’d love to see Hexen come back. I love shooters and WRPG’s so i am all setup for the next few years. Excited to see what Sony has in development next.

@__jamiie it very well could be someday. Luckily for now console is here to stay. But i think console and physical media have grave’s already dugout. Just a matter of time before they lay in them. Sadly cause i don’t want to see either go away. Hope i am wrong.

@Deadsea93 Oh, i loved Halo Infinite, short for sure, but i do not care about online, but people did ask for a gaas Halo.

@XenonKnight Noop, still owned by Crystal Dynamics (bought at the same time as Eidos) under the Embracer Group, Amazon is just the publisher for the next game. Same as ABK being the publisher for Sekiro on the west, but From Software owning the IP.

@BobaTheFett A Publisher not for now, and even in the future a small one, but studios, they for sure can buy a few.

@MaikonCSGarcia . I didn't like anything from Infinite. Bosses weren't play tested and were trash on Legendary and I hated the open world aspects. I could barely stomach getting through Halo 4 and Halo 5 on Legendary. Just awful. Plus Infinite was a train wreck on the online aspect as many articles will say. Even Microsoft have distanced themselves from it.

All I know is that Microsoft shouldn't be able to buy anyone else for a very long time. They already bought Double Fine, Ninja Theory, and Obsidian before Bethesda and Activision Blizzard. They need to manage their stuff and I'm getting tired of people saying "This will push Playstation, this is good". Playstation doesn't need to be pushed. They've been doing outstanding nonstop for awhile and all of this gen so far. Microsoft should be the one pushed to do better. They are in last place of the three as usual due to their own incompetence. Nintendo and Sony earned their way to the top.

@Deadsea93 I really liked the gameplay loop, five was a good game, but not what i was sold, 4 was amazing (lore wise)

And i get what u mean, but they can and will buy more, i wish they went for small studios, but right now they dont care about studios, they care about IP's.

And being honest: Ninja Theory, Playground Games, UndeadLabs, Compulsion Games, Obsidian and InXile ( all bought in 2018) have grown under Xbox and deliver some of the most polished games since the acquisition, the same goes for Double Fine acquired in 2019. The big problem are the old studio (Turn 10, The Coalition, Rare, 343 Ind and Mojang) that did not have someone overlooking for years, that was what killed Lionhead, too much freedon.

@Jimboss That one hurt. I hate Amazon.

@PixelDragon . I got a Series S for my birthday from my wife. When Bethesda was made exclusive is what helped me get it. Starfield, Elder Scrolls, and Fallout are too important to me. I don't care about Activision Blizzard, but I would jump on board if Skylanders was rebooted

@cburg. "A company that is smarter" lol. Is that why Playstation is extremely small compared to Xbox and yet it makes more money than Xbox ? It isn't "plastic box" worshipping. Most have friends on a platform and an economy built there.

@PixelDragon I have one and it was a waste of money. After losing all Interest in playing starfield there no 1st party games on it I even care about.

@PixelDragon . This is true. They've had Rare for over 20 years and have done so little tbh. Basically they've done "Rare Replay" and that's about it when it comes to recent revisits of older franchises. Rare have since made Sea of Thieves and are working on another game that is some kind of Indie type influence like Outer Wilds. That's entirely different from their N64 type work. Microsoft haven't ever bothered with revisiting old Classics from their brands. With so many developers under their wing, I doubt they will do that now.

@XenonKnight . That's unfortunate. I'm about 10 hours in and Starfield has sucked me in. I've not felt like this since I was 16 playing Fallout 3 for the first time and now I'm 30. I've barely scratched the surface and I'm enjoying the game immensely. The lore from what I've seen at the UC Museum is really intriguing. I love Elder Scrolls and Fallout and I'm looking forward to jumping into this lore. But as for first party titles from Microsoft ? I'd suggest 360 era like Gears of War 2 and 3. The Remastered original Gears is fantastic. Master Chief Collection for Halo 1-Reach. Rare Replay is a good one too. That's basically it bro, sorry. Sunset Overdrive made by Insomniac is a great Xbox One game.

@PixelDragon i can agree with that mostly. I do think we will see some new titles from ABK, but like you said it isn’t going to be an onslaught of revival’s. We know Blizzard has a new survival game deep into development and beyond that we know very little outside of the mainstays. I do not have a PC. But i have been itching to build a gaming PC. Thanks for the recommendation.

@cburg the irony is strong with this one.

@HonestHick Nope. Competition is terrible as we keep losing games left and right. Not everyone can afford every console nor does everyone want to own every console. So if Sony ends up buying a few third parties to compete with MS, xbox and Nintendo (only) gamers will have access to fewer games. Hooray. Competition can be good. It can also be terrible.

Same with when people say that all publicly is good publicly. It's not. Just because people keep repeating it, doesn't mean it's true, when there are plenty of examples that prove otherwise.

It's funny how people forget that corporations actually run this world, and not governments.

The great Ned Beatty speech from 1974's Network

"We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Beale. The world is a college of corporations inexorably determined by the immutable bylaws of business.......The world..... is a business, Mr. Beale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime."

People that are getting worked up over this purchase tend to forget how the FTC has let Disney run rampant for years.

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

BTW, Disney is headquartered in London, so your Business Minister has also let them run amok as well.

@OldGamer999 Its no problem mate, Ive no right to tell anyone anything of course. I just feel theres enough mud slung from both sides without people feuling the fire 😊 Have a lovely day!

I see... so all the usual Xbox shills made an appearance.

@MagisterMagi so you mean a monopoly? There are laws against that. I can’t see Microsoft acquiring any big studios or devs in near future.

@MrMagic They always do like the Astroturf and pedal the Xbox. And then tell everyone they need to buy a xbox.

@Deadsea93 I don't need game pass for the 1st party 360 because I own them on disc.

@Titntin
I know I got carried away when lots on here were really laying into Xbox and Phil, so I got the, well if you gonna really lay in, then I will join in.

Rightly or wrongly the purchase has happened.
But we all need to remember Sony can be a very lazy company and rest on their laurels as we know.
So some good healthy competition should keep Sony alert and at the top of their game.
And like wise for Xbox and Nintendo.

Anyone with a brain knew they was never going to take cod away from playstation it makes far to much money for them

@naruball i can agree with that. But we have to see where these goes go. If MS does actually make them more accessible via Xbox, Cloud, PC and others, i think most titles will and getting a steam deck is starting to look more and more good to a gamer that only wants 1 place to play as many games for as good of a price as they can get. Overall i respect and largely agree with your statement. 😊

Good! Sony has been a bit too arrogant after the successful PS4 era and the overpriced tech offerings like the 'handheld' and large PSplus price increases are evident of this.

Hopefully this levels the field and Sony will have to compete on delivering a decent service and not just running off their brand rep only.

@naruball. Exactly. My wife got me a Series S for my birthday just because of Starfield and the fact that Elder Scrolls and Fallout are too important to me. I had a log cabin in Skyrim filled with lore books in the library cause I was intrigued by the lore and the mystery surrounding the Dwarven people. I did the Thieves Guild quest and I needed to know more about Dark Elves and their history. I've watched countless YouTube videos on Fallout and I adore the franchise and games. Once Phil said that Starfield and Elder Scrolls weren't coming to Playstation is when I had to get an Xbox. I'd much rather play the games on Ps5 cause they will be better there as the Ps5 is stronger than the S. These buyouts are not good for the gamers and hostile monopoly takeovers only benefit the company and not the consumer. Microsoft can do whatever they want with these games in the future. Drive up Gamepass costs, axe physical media, determine who can or cannot license the games out, etc. Judging by Microsoft's own lack of legacy titles revisits, people will be disappointed when Microsoft ignores all of the Activision properties. Microsoft have yet to create a team for titles like Banjo And Kazooie even if Rare have moved on from it.

@Titntin Gonna be a treasure trove for me if they put older call of duty games on game pass or ubisoft+ because i definitely wouldn't pay the ridiculous prices they want just to play campaign since we all know they don't care about multiplayer in past games or even current, it's all about that battle royale

@Deityjester Well they certainly wont put em on Ubi +, but I expect you will be happy with a ton of older COD campaigns on GP soon
I simply don't play COD, or want to, so its not a big deal for me, but I'd assume there will be several like you who would like to play the campaigns without the outlay! Hope you enjoy it...

@tallythwack If you only play big budget third person action adventures sure sony studios are better, if you play a variety of games then no.

@Deadsea93 I don't think people will really care about that loss tomb raider hasn't really been good since 2013 and FF7 remake didn't even come to Xbox, strangers of paradise was received poorly i believe so i think the majority of final fantasy fans are playing on pc or playstation anyway.

@Gost Sony just need to get guerilla to resurrect killzone instead of letting it rot for horizon a game series where you shoot robots the most boring enemy to shoot with a bow the most boring projectile weapon to fire.

They can do much with killzone, they can make the typical campaign/mp title but they could also take inspiration from Warhammer darktide and have you and three others play as either a helghast or ISA squad and go around in procedurally generated maps sabotaging stuff, getting data or assassinating.