Tag: Microsoft - Page 3
News Activision Blizzard Boss Bobby Kotick Warns Billion Dollar Buyout Saga Ain't Over
"This is far from the final word"
After a shock upset at the eleventh hour, the UK's CMA has blocked Microsoft's attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard, stunning pundits and analysts alike as the deal was generally expected to be given the go-ahead. An internal email from Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick
News Microsoft Dealt Major Blow as UK Blocks Activision Buyout
Didn't see that one coming
In a dramatic twist that we frankly never saw coming, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has blocked Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard after months of investigations and deliberations. Microsoft's industry-shaking $69 billion buyout of the colossal publisher has, predictably, been the subject of...
Let it end
The bell tolls for Call of Duty on PlayStation, as a (pay-walled) Financial Times report indicates the CMA's long-awaited decision regarding Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of publisher Activision Blizzard could come down as soon as tomorrow, and in the Xbox parent company's favour. There really isn't too much more to say;
News American Senators Continue to Target Sony Over PS5, PS4 Timed Exclusives
PlayStation alleged of engaging in "anticompetitive conduct"
More and more American senators are calling out Sony over its timed exclusivity deals, as the fallout from Xbox’s unfathomable $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard continues to rumble. North Dakota’s Kevin Cramer is the latest to throw his hat into the ring, sending a letter...
News Sony Claps Back at UK Regulator's 'Irrational' Reversal on Microsoft Activision Deal
Down, but not out
Sony has hit back at the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over its revised stance regarding Microsoft's proposed $69 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard, which has softened significantly in recent days. The CMA published Sony's response, which calls out the organisation's abrupt about-face, stating: "The CMA’s...
News Sony Is Acting Unfairly Against Xbox in Japan, US Congress Members Say
Politics are coming for your PS5
In another twist for the surreal, the Biden administration is now being pressured by members of Congress from both sides of the political aisle to take decisive action on a supposed 'monopoly' held by PlayStation on the Japanese video game market. Some required reading on this one, as it all stems from comments made...
News UK Regulator No Longer Concerned About Activision Buyout's Impact on Console Competition
Update: Activision rips into Sony in response to updated findings
Update: Activision Blizzard has released a gleeful response in relation to the UK regulators’ softened stance today. “The CMA’s updated provisional findings show an improved understanding of the console gaming market and demonstrate a commitment to supporting players and...
News Microsoft Thinks It Hasn't 'Pulled Any Games' from PS5, PS4
Reckons it's brought more games to PlayStation
Microsoft has today responded to the news of a cancelled PS5 version of Redfall by saying it hasn't "pulled any games from PlayStation". In fact, the platform holder thinks it's actually "expanded our footprint of games that we've shipped on Sony's PlayStation since our acquisition of ZeniMax, and the...
News US Senator Says Sony Has 'Monopoly' on High-End Japanese Game Market
You'll never guess her biggest campaign contributor
A new player has entered the neverending saga of Microsoft's proposed $69 billion dollar acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell (who represents the state of Washington) weighed in on the subject today in a rather confusing fashion. Spotted over
News Sony Concerned Microsoft Could, Knowingly or Not, Sabotage Call of Duty on PlayStation
The knives come out
It's time to return to everyone's favourite ongoing story in games, namely, the war of words between Microsoft and Sony in regard to the former's intent to purchase publisher Activision Blizzard. In the latest turn, Sony has voiced concern that should the acquisition come to pass, future Call of Duty titles on PlayStation could...
News European Union Likely to Pass Xbox's $69 Billion Buyout of Activision
Money talks
According to a Reuters report, the European Union will apparently not object to Microsoft’s unprecedented $69 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard. The Redmond firm went on a charm offensive in Brussels last week, signing a variety of deals with Nintendo and NVidia GeForce Now, promising Call of Duty for at least the n
News Sony Must Share Details of Exclusivity Deals with Microsoft in FTC's Court Hearing
The saga continues
We hope you're not bored of this yet, but it's time once again to talk about Microsoft's industry-shaking attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard. The deal, worth a ridiculous $69 billion, would see the company absorb ActiBlizz and all its intellectual property. The convergence of two such large publishers has caused concerns about...
News Xbox Series X|S Is Getting Trounced by PS5, Microsoft Weirdly Reveals
The solution? $69 billion
The funniest thing about the never-ending Activision Blizzard acquisition saga is how it’s prompted tech giants Microsoft and Sony to undermine their own businesses. Case in point: during a media briefing in Brussels earlier today, the Redmond firm proudly (?) declared that Xbox has a global market share of just 30 per...
News Xbox on Charm Offensive to Push $69 Billion Activision Acquisition Through
Squeaky bum time
Microsoft is in Brussels today, trying to convince the European Commission that it should be allowed to acquire Activision Blizzard for an eye-watering $69 billion sum. Both the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority and the United States’ Federal
News Some Fans Are So Invested in Xbox's Activision Acquisition They're Tracking a Sony Plane
Ryan air
The obsessive interest in Microsoft’s eye-watering $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard has hit new highs – or lows, depending on your perspective – as fans have taken to tracking the flights of a private Sony jet. A strangely engaged fanbase has discovered that a plane from London to Seattle was charted on 6th February,...
News Microsoft Can't Deny Xbox Game Pass Cannibalises Software Sales
Redmond firm releases statement
Update: Following a wave of reporting based on documentation from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority which suggested what we all suspected, that Xbox Game Pass is harming full-price software sales, the Redmond firm has released a statement to Kotaku which fails to deny the claims: "Xbox Game Pass offers...
News Bobby Kotick Says Sony Is 'Trying to Sabotage' Microsoft's Activision Bid
War of words
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has accused Sony of "trying to sabotage" Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of the company and claims that PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has "stopped talking" to both parties involved. In an interview with the Financial Times, Kotick stated that 'Sony’s entire leadership team stopped talking to...
News Call of Duty Is the Main Reason People Buy PS5, PS4, Says New Survey
New data used against Microsoft's buyout
It doesn't really come as a huge surprise, but Call of Duty's overall popularity on PlayStation consoles is being used as an argument against Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The UK's Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA for short) has found that a seemingly significant number of...
News UK Determines Xbox's $69 Billion Activision Buyout Could Harm Gamers
May result in "higher prices, fewer choices, or less innovation"
Microsoft’s eye-watering $69 billion proposal to purchase Activision Blizzard has been the source of intense scrutiny from global governments for nearly a year now, but the UK’s regulator has released a provisional report today which says it “could harm gamers” and potentially...
News PS5's Market Share Is Expanding Significantly in Xbox's Backyard
Sony takes control in USA
There had been a school of thought that, due to the various stock shortages, Sony and Microsoft were neck-and-neck in the all-important battleground of the United States. That’s actually not the case, and the PS5 is actually outperforming the Xbox Series X|S at a ratio greater than the PS4 against the Xbox One at the same...
News Activision Blizzard Exec Says Last of Us HBO Proves Microsoft Acquisition Should Go Ahead
Sony is "the first of us"
Well, that's a new tact. Lulu Cheng Meservey, Activision Blizzard’s Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Communications Officer, thinks that HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us is great. Like, REALLY good. So good, in fact, that she believes it is proof that Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of...
News Xbox, Nintendo Reportedly Join Sony in Skipping E3
No shows all-round
Platform holders Microsoft and Nintendo will not bother with a presence on the E3 2023 show floor according to a new report from IGN. Joining Sony — who hasn't attended the convention since 2018 — it raises more questions about what the expo will look like as Reedpop takes over manag
News Microsoft Summons Sony to FTC's Activision Blizzard Court Hearing
Sony requests more time to prepare
Here we go, then. It's been roughly a year since Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard for a huge $69 billion. In terms of major industry news, it doesn't get much bigger than that, and the result is a story that's lasted a full 12 months. The saga isn't likely to end any time soon,...
News US Government's FTC Will Attempt to Block Microsoft's Activision Buyout
Points to repeatedly withholding content
The FTC (USA's Federal Trade Commission) has confirmed it will attempt to block Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty developer Activision. In a statement on its official website, the FTC pointed to Microsoft's record of buying other developers to suppress content from its rivals. "Microsoft...
News Microsoft Invites Sony to Sign Its Own 10-Year Call of Duty Deal
As Nintendo and Steam sign up
Microsoft is inviting Sony to sign an agreement that would see the Call of Duty series appear on PlayStation platforms for another 10 years. Xbox boss Phil Spencer confirmed this morning Nintendo has already agreed to the deal, which takes effect should Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision go through. It now wishes...
News PS5 Games Likely to Remain $70 as Xbox Bumps Prices
Pressure's off
Any hope of Sony feeling pressured into reducing the price of its first-party releases looks over, as Microsoft has announced plans to increase the cost of its own exclusives. While the dynamics aren’t directly comparable – Xbox owners will point to Game Pass as an alternative, cheaper means of playing the Redmond firm’s output...
Report FTC Could File an Antitrust Lawsuit to Block Xbox's Activision Buyout
And that's Jenga
A day dominated by stories involving Microsoft’s proposed $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard has concluded with an exclusive story by Politico, which claims the Federal Trade Commission could be poised to file an antitrust lawsuit against the acquisition. The website cites “three people with knowledge on the matter”,...
News PlayStation Says Activision Blizzard Simply Must Remain Independent
Throws the gauntlet at regulators to block the acquisition
Sony and Microsoft are embarrassing themselves publicly to extreme levels, which perhaps demonstrates just how much is on the line with Xbox’s proposed near-$70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The platform holders have bickered, back-talked, and are one step away from arranging...
News Sony: Xbox Wants Us to Be Like Nintendo, a Less Effective Competitor
Nintendo, meanwhile, is counting its Pokémon cash
Sony and Microsoft’s very public war of words continues, with paperwork published by the UK government today outlining PlayStation’s stance against Xbox’s unprecedented near-$70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. In the document, the Japanese giant’s legal team responds to a point...
News PS Plus Is Losing to Xbox Game Pass, And Sony Fears Call of Duty Would Make It Worse
Bruised and broken
As industry titans Sony and Microsoft continue to play the victim in an attempt to influence regulators regarding the latter’s outrageous near-$70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, we’re beginning to see both companies openly acknowledge their weaknesses. Earlier today, the Redmond firm effectively admitted that its...
News Microsoft Admits Its Games Are Worse Than Sony's
Interesting stance
Microsoft's outrageously large bid to purchase Activision Blizzard has resulted in a protracted, painful period of negotiations. Without getting too into the weeds with all this, the short version is Sony is trying to prevent the deal from going through, and the Xbox firm is of course pushing for regulators to let it happen. The...
News Shocking: Sony Doesn't Want Game Pass on PlayStation, Microsoft Has a Pop at PS Plus
Sony is denying gamers a "choice"
We all know that Microsoft's Game Pass subscription service tends to be great value, blah blah blah, but Sony does not want it on PlayStation. This truly shocking revelation has been hammered home through a statement that Microsoft made to UK competition regulator CMA, in which the tech juggernaut says Sony "has...
News Microsoft Says PS5, PS4 Would Still Be Bigger if Every Call of Duty Player Switched to Xbox
UK regulator argues PlayStation will be impaired
Ah, the ongoing Activision-Blizzard acquisition: a Twitter-style fanboy spat being played out publicly by two ginormous corporations – it’s all fun and games in the video game business, isn’t it? Microsoft’s unprecedented near-$70 billion buyout is unsurprisingly under scrutiny, with UK...
News Sony Won't Let Microsoft's $69 Billion Activision Acquisition Go, Stresses It's Bad for Gaming
Deal to be further investigated
Update: Microsoft has responded to Sony's comments about the acquisition with yet another statement to GamesIndustry. A spokesperson said: "It makes zero business sense for Microsoft to remove Call of Duty from PlayStation given its market leading console position." This doesn't necessarily mean Microsoft would keep...
Talking Point What Do You Make of Microsoft and Sony's Call of Duty Quarrel?
War games
It's been a fairly dramatic period in the land of games, as Microsoft's industry-shaking acquisition of Activision Blizzard comes into sharper focus. Announced at the beginning of this year, armchair analysts have been debating among themselves how much the proposed deal will affect the company's competitors; will franchises like Call of...
News PlayStation Bites Back At 'Inadequate' Call of Duty Offer from Microsoft
Jim Ryan says Xbox only offered three years
Wow! This is really freakin’ spicy, to say the least! Earlier this week, Microsoft bigwig Phil Spencer publicly revealed that his company had provided a “signed agreement” to Sony that would guarantee Call of Duty remains on PlayStation consoles for “several more years” beyond the Japanese...
Made back in January
A new statement shared with The Verge has revealed that Microsoft and Sony signed an agreement back in January to keep the Call of Duty series on PlayStation hardware for "several more years" after any current contracts expire. The news follows a statement from the UK government that
News UK Government Investigating Xbox's Activision Buyout Further
Microsoft issues response
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has today revealed its investigation into Microsoft's proposed purchase of Call of Duty maker Activision requires more time in a "phase two" study. The initial findings have raised concerns about how "Microsoft could use its control over popular games like Call of Duty and World of...
News PS5 Is the Only Console Getting Price Rise, Microsoft and Nintendo Have 'No Plans'
Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch price increases denied
Microsoft and Nintendo have both stated they won't be increasing the price of their respective consoles in the wake of Sony's decision to raise the cost of a PS5 in many major territories. It means Sony is the only platformer holder deciding to do so — the price increases were effective...
News PS4 Outsold Xbox One by 'More Than Twice as Many' Consoles, It's Claimed
Neither shares sales numbers anymore
New court documents published as part of Microsoft's defence of its Activision purchase say the PS4 sold "more than twice as many" units compared to the Xbox One. The quote reads (via GameLuster using Google Translate): "Sony has surpassed Microso
News Microsoft Accuses Sony of Paying to Block Games from Xbox Game Pass
Sony pays "block fees" to publishers
Microsoft has claimed Sony pays publishers and developers "block fees" to stop them from putting their titles on Xbox Game Pass. In response to Sony's assertions that the Call of Duty franchise influences "users' console choice" and lacks a proper rival, the Xbox Series X|S maker has said Sony is stalling the...
Random This Crappy God of War Knock Off for Xbox Does Not Look Legal
We have God of War at home
Perhaps the lawyers at Microsoft are too busy trying to wrap up the company’s near-$70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, because we’re not entirely sure how this God of War knock-off made it onto the Xbox Store. War Gods Zeus of Child, developed b
News PS5, PS4 Pipped to the Discord Punch Despite Investment and Partnership
Xbox gets Discord voice chat first, after Sony bought minority stake
Over a year ago, Sony announced that it had purchased a minority stake in Discord and was working towards full integration of the social network on the PS5 and PS4 in 2022. The platform holder even closed down its popular Commun
Poll Was Sony's State of Play the Best Gaming Showcase of June?
The winner of Not-E3
Penning this poll almost feels like throwing a lit match into a room full of flammable gas, but we're going to do it anyway. We want to know: do you think Sony's latest State of Play actually ended up being the best gaming showcase of Not-E3? That is, the best gaming showcase of June 2022? We ask because we think this is a...
News Xbox Appeared to Embargo PS5, PS4 Versions of Some Showcase Games
For at least 48 hours
Some of the games announced during Microsoft’s big Xbox Showcase on Sunday are coming to the PS5 and PS4 – but it would appear you weren’t supposed to know for at least 48 hours. It seems that the Redmond firm enforced embargoes on some of its partners, including Atlus and Koei Tecmo. We received press releases from both...
Reaction PS Plus’ Revamp Is Hours Away, But Sony Still Has a Game Pass Problem
Xbox showcase leans heavily on day one inclusions
Microsoft did its big annual E3 shindig today. Of course, it’s not E3 because that’s in a graveyard somewhere being pointed at by industry know-it-all Jeff Grubb. But unlike Sony, the Team in Green has decided to retain its Sunday evening summer showcase slot, so if you ignore the fact this was a...
News Xbox on Acquisitions: The Last Thing We Want to Do Is Take Games Away from PS5, PS4
Doesn't want to cut communities into pieces
Microsoft, still meticulously navigating its way through the legal red tape required to seal its Activision Blizzard acquisition, has once again insinuated that it will not make the publisher’s games exclusive. Earlier in the year, it was very clear that “great titles like
News Spider-Man Games Could Have Been Exclusive to Xbox
Microsoft turned Marvel down
Sony's Marvel's Spider-Man games clearly play a very important role in the PlayStation portfolio, racking up millions of sales over and over again. But what if the IP was instead exclusive to Microsoft? The head of Marvel Games Jay Ong has revealed how this could have been the case as the company approached both Sony and...
News PS5 Outsold by Xbox in Japan for First Time, But All Stock Related
High five?
In what will undoubtedly be painted as a humiliating twist for Sony, the PS5 was outsold by the Xbox Series X|S in Japan during the week ending 15th May – and it wasn’t even close. Before we delve any deeper, it’s worth noting that while Microsoft’s console has been doing comparatively well in the Land of the Rising Sun, its...
News Microsoft Bigwig Implies PS5 Is Losing Marketshare to Xbox
Naa-naa-na-naa-Nadella
As the latest round of NPD results in the United States already underlined, Sony has a serious headache when it comes to PS5 stock – or the lack thereof. While, ironically, things have started to improve in the past few days, the dream of transitioning PS4 players at “
