75% Of The Public Response To The CMA Is In Favor Of The Microsoft-Activision Buyout

The Consumer Markets Authority received over 2100 public comments over the Microsoft-Activision deal during its review of the acquisition

[LOGICWINS]

I'm glad there are people out there that can see sense. Playstation losing COD will make them the strongest competitor they've ever been as they can no longer rely on big 3rd party IPs to keep them afloat.

Time to bring back Killzone, Resistance, and Infamous

Time to bring back PS Vita

Time to cut PS VR 2's price and start including Day and Date VR games in PS Plus

Time to consider returning to the free-to-play online model from the PS3 era

[purple101]

Woah I like your style

Cod is pretty much the same every year anyway. Buy modern warfare 2 and hope Sony makes a competitor in the next 3 years.

I kinda hope they lose cod too. Even though that won't happen for 6 years as had been previously stated... It's probably not fair. But it's probably the best thing for everyone.

Make a new God dam shooter already
And make it good

[SlothLordPootus]

EA made titanfall 2, and you can see how well that worked out

[MadLad]

@sloth

The original Titanfall did poorly because they marketed it, mainly, on easily the weakest console released last gen.
Then they made the second game multiplatform, barely marketed it, and then released it right alongside Call of Duty, and even EAs own Battlefield.

It's like they wanted it to fail.

[SlothLordPootus]

@madlad i know. I was mostly just trying to prove a point that just because you make a good shooter, doesnt mean its going to be successful. Call of Duty is THE household name for FPS. Battlefield even pales in comparison and its been around just as long.

[dcbronco]

Oh, Resistance:Sorta Modern Warfare

[Angyobangyo]

Sony already owns a studio that specializes in shooters, Bungie. I highly doubt there will be a new Killzone seeing as Guerrilla Games has had more success with Horizon critically and financially, unless a different studio makes it.

[fiveby9]

LIes, damn lies, and statistics. 75% of responses. Right. Who falls for this stuff?

[Lifexline]

I agree with you this is good it will create competition like the Xbox 360 and ps3 era. How there were so many price cuts and deals all the time because it was close for the first time. This deal is good for consumers I don’t get peoples logic who say it isn’t.

I don’t agree with the kill zone and resistance they want a call of duty clone they need to keep trying to make a new one happen not trying to make an existing ip popular if it wasn’t to begin with. They will get one but they need to keep making new ip until they get one.

[I_am_Batman]

"This deal is good for consumers I don’t get peoples logic who say it isn’t."

It shouldn't be that hard to understand. Industry consolidation always leads to less competition, not more. Microsoft's inability to compete with Sony on 1st party titles isn't due to a lack of studios. Even some of their flagship franchises come out underwhelming. There is obviously a problem in managing the studios they already have so I don't see how adding more is going to help them.

If anything I can see game variety going down. They'll have a lot of genre overlap between studios and they might decide, that it would be better business, to focus their studios on their most profitable IPs.

Ideally they'd shift focus from quantity to quality, but unfortunately that's unlikely to happen as long as they're laser-focused on Game Pass as their main business model.

[shinoff2183]

Lifexline

Ms should've created the competition themselves. Not buying publishers that create multiplatform games. It's bs in reality and you know it. If Sony had done that yall would of lost your damn minds and you know it. Ms has more studios then sony. Someone counted them up. Ms has 23 Sony has 18. Wtf has Ms been doing ?

Personally I think cod is whack but I did like a few acti games. Not enough to buy and Xbox over a ps first though.

[Lifexline]

@shinoff
You sound like a little whiny kid. It’s business that’s how the world works get over it act like an adult. Who care a MS bought activision they have the money that is how it works no one cried when Sony bought bungie. That is something called mergers and acquisitions educate yourself it’s legal it can be scrutinized but legal at the end of the day.

[mkis007]

You people love to compare things incorrectly. Bo one cried because bungie isn't going exclusive. They were bought for the tech and patents. Sony hasnt taken games off of xbox with studio purchases yet. But they will be forced to with future acquisitions if the deal goes through.

[tay8701]

@lifexline so you are in favor of MS buying a MASSIVE publisher and locking out out all games, because that is eventually what they are going to do. I hate Activision games they are generally trash, but there are literally millions of PS COD players who will lose this franchise in the future. If this is what you view as competition, how would like Sony buying up Capcom, square Enix and fromsoftware as retaliation and making all their games exclusive?

[jwillj2k4]

If activision left PlayStation on their own then sure, make new ips to compete. But if I kick your a** every generation and then you pay to win because your daddys a trillionaire then it’s not right and should be stopped.

It’s not a money issue obviously. Microsoft doesn’t know how to make games because their passion has always been about the bottom line outside of the first Xbox.

[SatanSki]

@Lifexline
N4G is, and AFAIR always was Sony's fanbois site. I'm not a tool of any company, through the years i had consoles from all major manufacturers, and ATM have one from each of big three. From gathered experience, i can say, Sony's fanbois are the most blind, stubborn and selfish of all of them. Not saying MS buying Acti won't eventually turn against players, because all these corporations do, eventually will have to profit them, not us, but i can guarantee these people would prise Sony to the sky if it was Sony who buys Acti.

[sparky77]

Yep Sony being pressured makes them try harder, if the 360 was a flop there wouldn't be an uncharted, LoU etc.

Playstation fans should be begging for this to go through, so they get more variety in games.

[Aloymetal]

''Yep Sony being pressured makes them try harder''
The PS2 says high, complete annihilation and domination, games output off the charts.
''if the 360 was a flop there wouldn't be an uncharted, LoU etc.''
So now everything great about PS is because of xbox? Lmao. Good one;)
''Playstation fans should be begging for this to go through, so they get more variety in games.''
We're doing more than fine in the variety department and yes I hope this deal go through just to see if MS can be the market leader after all the zillions spent...

[shinoff2183]

Your wrong about uncharted and last of us. Especially uncharted cause it came out earlier in ps3s life

[sparky77]

Just making 3rd person action adventure narrative games isn't variety.

[Crows90]

Except that the 360 was no more a flop than the xbox one. You make it seem playstation wasnt trying until ps3. They had good games the whole time.

[darkrider]

Nothing you told makes sense. If Microsoft was able to make games they wouldn't need to buy publishers.

Those are 3rd party games. It's not only Cod...

Can't compete leave

The only way for Microsoft to ever be number one is to buy Nintendo and Sony... That simple

[shinoff2183]

Ms has more studios then sony to

[sinspirit]

You're actually pretending to be this daft. Shame on the fanboyish agendas here of people pedalling nonsense to try and shift public opinion of even one person gullible enough to find your logic sensible.

Taking away something from the free market and allowing it to be locked to a platform is exactly how monopolies begin. Taking control of major chart topping franchises as well as publishers is exactly what a monopoly move is when you are both a platform holder and service holder. The hypocrisy is that the same people claiming that they should be allowed to buy these devs/publishers because it will make Sony more competitive.. when they are already the most competitive in the market for any group of developers when it comes to all around quality. Microsoft is seeking control of a free market by buying up major portions of the free market. Common sense. No fanboy nonsense about that statement. Sony has earned their spot the old school way and grew their developers and third parties, their IP's, their risk taking, and by filling the biggest void in gaming(AAA single player non predatory monetized IP's) while allowing third parties to retain their strong selling franchises that have continued to grow and prosper. Those multiplatform long existing successful franchises have grown the whole gaming market and Sony has wanted them to do that. They aim to sell PlayStation on unique experiences and all around best featureset and package. Not by aiming to control third parties or challenge them.

Not one, not two, not three, four, or even five chart topping franchises. We're not just talking Call of Duty. We're talking StarCraft, World of WarCraft, Diablo, OverWatch, multiple Call of Duty variations, and many previously huge IP's capable of a major comeback like the Tony Hawk series and Guitar Hero. Imagine that. Imagine trying to talk about Sony being complacent when theybare the most dedicated and hardworking platform holder when it comes to game development and variety.

[gold_drake]

"no longer rely on 3rd party"
i don't think u understand the reason why sony is against the buyout.

[Crows90]

I see your point...however, Sony is already the strongest competitor so it wouldnt change anything. What would be affected is sonys bottom line which may have adverse effects. They gotta make up the money somewhere and it could affect mtx in their first party which would negatively affect gaming and specifically PlayStation IP.

CoD should stay 3rd party. There are enough 1st person shooters out there different from CoD.

[thesoftware730]

MTX are coming from Sony anyway.

10 live service games and GT showed that MTX are coming...so no way this acquisition causes them to so that more, it's already in their pipeline.

[CorndogBurglar]

I agree with what you're saying overall, but I think you chose some words very poorly.

"they can no longer rely on big 3rd party IPs to keep them afloat."

What are you talking about? It's been proven time and again that exclusives sell consoles. And Playstation has consistently put out the best exclusives in the business for 3 generations now.

They weren't relying on 3rd parties to keep them afloat lol. That makes it sound like they were barely surviving even with 3rd parties like CoD, which is just an insane thing to say.

[MrBeatdown]

"can see sense"

Yup. Mmmhmm.

Care to explain how it makes sense for consumers to want a company like Microsoft that's been trying to effectively compete with Sony for over 20 years, and despite being one of the biggest software companies on the planet, has practically no software for their game console?

Care to explain how it makes sense to want a company that can't manage their own studios effectively to take over control of another company whose games are primarily played on the competitions platform?

Care to explain how it's a good idea to root for a company that once tried to double the price of Xbox Live Gold despite adding no value to it, and just jacked up the price of their first party games as soon as they're getting to a point where they're actually going to start releasing first party games?

Microsoft's had 20 years to get their act together and they failed. And now ding dongs that want cheap Call of Duty are rooting for them to get it on Game Pass as if the price isn't going to go up. But hey I'm sure the publisher that's responsible for an attempt at one of the most idiotic, unjustified price hikes in gaming history are the best hands for Call of Duty to be left in.

[DarXyde]

Agree it would likely create a complete monster out of PlayStation, but I disagree on bringing back some things.

We don't need a new infamous right now. SP worked on pretty much just that for PS3 and most of PS4's life. I love their current trajectory and believe Ghost of Tsushima is a far better display of their talent.

Vita, no. As much as I loved my PSP and Vita, the age of dedicated portable gaming devices is kind of over—Nintendo is the bizarre, long-legged exception. Phones and tablets are all in one.

Cutting PSVR2's price is an odd suggestion. It's certainly intended to be niche. People who are interested likely already made up their minds. I suspect PSVR2 is already cheap for what you're getting. Best to not cut the price and tamper with build quality.

D&D games for VR.... Maybe? If games are budget, perhaps. But if they're really full experiences where it can take 20+ hours? I don't see it.

Free online, I totally agree with. It's a bit criminal all three of these companies charge for it.

[n1kki6]

PLAYSTATION ISN'T LOSING COD.

[purple101]

Just read all article. Good points listed for both advantages & disadvantages. Looks like the British public are quite sensible.

Can't believe the outcome though, Xbox not as popular as playstation here. So I can only think by the results, the ls fans are bored of the same ol' cod every year and don't mind letting go too much

[1Victor]

@ purple
I can’t believe they think Netflix is a competitor to game pass 🤦🏿
Btw orchard been a primary PS “gamer” is as believable as a psychic, fire breathing, rainbow color Pegasus running for president 🤷🏿

[Crows90]

Dont joke about that pegasus...you never know nowadays.

[DOMination-]

Actually it's already well known that MS are targeting Netflix acquisition after this deal closes woth the aim of having Netflix and Game Pass in one subscription. Thay sounds perfect to me but no apparently consolidation is bad

[Extermin8or3_]

Xbox is historically more popular than PlayStation. The only places xbox has ever had a lead sales wise month on month is the uk and usa. Rest of Europe and Asia and Russia etc PlayStation always outsold xbox.

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

This headline is slightly misleading.

75% of the comments formally made (just 2100) are in favour of it. That means that Xbox fans have been contacting the CMA much more.

It's not a true poll of what the public thinks.

[Sonic1881]

Lol you're right 😀

[SoulWarrior]

Damn, so you're telling me they asked 2100 Orchards's? Guess that makes more sense.

[jznrpg]

You sent in your own comment , so 2100 Orchards sent comments . Makes sense because he posts more than anyone

[Orchard]

As a primarily PS gamer I want this to go through for a few reasons:

1. I don’t believe they will pull COD from PS

2. I want more shooter competition. Sony has shooters in their stable that they should revive.

3. I have GP on PC and would love to stop paying $70-80 per year for COD

4. Bobby Kotick needs to go

But alas, I don’t live in England so I can’t write to the CMA :p

[generic-user-name]

@Orchard

"1. I don’t believe they will pull COD from PS

2. I want more shooter competition. Sony has shooters in their stable that they should revive."

Why would point 2 happen if you believe point 1?

[Sonic1881]

@Orchard

You need to explain point 1 and point 2. Because if you believe in point 1 I don't think point 2 will happen or Sony won't focus on reviving their shooters

[Orchard]

@Generic @Sonic

#2 would happen because Sony would want to compete with MS on the FPS front, especially if they fear that they may pull COD in the future (I don't think they ever will though, too much $$$ at stake).

Similarly, they will feel some threat from no more exclusives, ad deals & COD players getting attracted to COD via GP, for the price and also for any perks. COD makes up a huge portion of the gaming revenue for Sony & Microsoft via both sales and microtransactions.

So they will have to compete and have a backup plan (KZ, Resistance, take your pick)

[Hofstaderman]

I think Orchard contacted them 2100 times. Imagine his phone bill lol.

[IRetrouk]

I'd hardly call around 3% of their yearly revenue huge Orchard....

[MrNinosan]

@Orchard

When were you primarily a PS gamer?
Back in 1995 when there was no Xbox?

And why does people just mention CoD in this deal?
I couldn't care less about CoD, but it's all those other IP's that is annoying me, same with Zenimax.

Why can't Microsoft do what Sony has done? Find or build great partnership with Studios, who exclusively produce games for their platform, and THEN buy them, just like Sony has done with all companies except Bungie.

Microsoft is not earning any respect by just buying what already exist and works.
Imo, they could use those 70 billions and build amazing Studios from scratch, and give us gamers more games, not less.

As an owner and gamer on all platforms, I don't like either this deal, Zenimax or Bungie.

[SierraGuy]

Lmao 🤣😂 my thoughts exactly.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Ong I agree with this.

[sparky77]

Xbox fans are the public, the only people not wanting this to go through are Playstation fans who think Playstation will die without COD.

[Orchard]

Which is absolutely crazy. You can’t have much faith in PS exclusives if you think COD has the ability to entirely sink the platform.

[1Victor]

Uh no PlayStation won’t die from missing CoD but the Microsoft is planting the seeds for a gaming industry monopoly on all popular FPS games and cutting Sony from them

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

@1Victor,
This, remember how Windows almost squeezed every other OS out of the market?

[KillBill]

"That means that Xbox fans have been contacting the CMA much more" ~ that then would mean that Xbox fans are more invested in the situation. Can't blame Xbox fans for PlayStation fans not voicing reasonable discussion on any concerns they might have. Especially in a PlayStation centric market region.

[GoodGuy09]

Cool I can play cod 6hr singleplayer with just $10 via GP every year and hopefully Sony can bring back MAG, Resistance, Killzone multiplayers.

[Orchard]

They’re probably assuming they’ll cash in on on-going subs via the MP. Most people continue to play the MP until the next one comes out.

Heck a bunch don’t even play the campaigns (they’re all kinda the same anyway, America good Terrorists/Russia bad, unrealistically small group of special forces save the day from nuclear annihilation).

100% agree on bringing back games like KZ.

[Extermin8or3_]

How are they going to bring them back with millions less revenue ti fund it. Remember of people move ti gamesnpass to play CoD Sony lose out on the 30% or whatever they get from each sale.

[ken2813]

Microsoft don’t need anymore studios. They have like 50 studios right now and have yet to put out a single game.

[SlothLordPootus]

Microsoft's recent argument that they dont have any exclusive games is hilarious considering they still have exclusives from all of their latest acquisitions that havent released, with the exception of psychonauts 2 and pentiment. With how many studios they have, they could probably put out nearly 20 exclusive games in the next 2 years. That would paint a bit of a different picture.

[Aloymetal]

*Wait for next year*...

[Crows90]

The waiting game is cross gen!

[Sonic1881]

"(b) The Merger will not harm rival consoles because Microsoft has made public and private commitments to keep Activision content, including Call of Duty, non-exclusive. The availability of Minecraft on rival consoles shows that Microsoft’s commercial strategy is not to make games exclusive;"

What about future content🤔 Time will tell 😂 🤥🤥 I'm just grateful that I own a PC

[XiNatsuDragnel]

I feel this could be inaccurate since who were people that contacted them? Xbox fans or normal people?

[Orchard]

Are Xbox fans not normal people? :p

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Some aren't imo some are... too passionate sometimes.

[SierraGuy]

I wonder what your going to say once the deal is blocked and the FTC and others force the breakup/ restructuring of Activision blizzard.

[Phoenix76]

I was going to ask exactly the same question.
Who the hell here would be signed up to the CMA in order to be invited into the survey?

[Extermin8or3_]

You didn't have to be invited. Anyone could submit evidence.

[generic-user-name]

99% of the people who contacted them were fanboys from both sides, the other 1% are just weirdos.

[darkrider]

This isn't a pool... The title is wrong...

[Orchard]

Well of course. Go outside of the hardcore gaming communities online and most people either don’t care, or think it’s fine.

We’re in somewhat of an echo chamber when we’re on N4G - most of the outside world couldn’t care if MS owns Activision or not. A lot don’t even know this is going on.

[MajorLazer]

So you think the casual gamer, your FIFA & CoD player won't care that CoD will be removed from their platform of choice? Are you stupid or are you just pretending to be?

[Orchard]

I’m not saying they wouldn’t care - I’m saying a lot aren’t even aware this acquisition is going on, and a bunch who are also aren’t aware of the implications.

That being said, clearly COD isn’t going off of PS.

[Chevalier]

My guess is just straight up stupid. Really bad pretender since the cards are showing all the time. Definitely shouldn't play poker.

[Extermin8or3_]

Many of them will believe MS when they say they won't do that etc. And 6-10 years is so far ahead most people presume that won't matter when it comes.

[Extermin8or3_]

They think they could care less but where they to actually own them they would regret it.

[1Victor]

Well one thing for sure I want you to remember that just like paying for online play Microsoft started this and when the Japanese publishers/ developers run to aid Sony and start to merge with them don’t complain that it’s unfair ok

[Schriefer9]

Playstation losing COD will make them… nothing as Nintendo survived and thrived so would Sony. I don’t have a PlayStation and haven’t for years but most first party games that come to PC I preorder because they are good and worth the full price. Should gamers have a choice yes but the box connected to your tv is just a box they all basically play the same. Yes graphics or frame rates may be different but it is a box that plays games. Now someone will say but Playstation has all these great games and they still will as they will say Microsoft will ruin the games which they will do anyway with or without the deal.

[Sonyslave3]

Thank you CMA it seem they going to let the deal pass with flying colors.

[Orchard]

https://twitter.com/Chris_D...

These are the ones they should've published just for laughs :P

[franwex]

This deal is very strange. Activison proposed themselves to Microsoft initially.

It’s basically Bobby Kotick walking away with a big pay check. Why is Microsoft trying to bail out Activison so bad? I get that they will get valuable IPs, but why not let Activison lose value and then pick them up?

[ufo8mycat]

Sony have been arrogant this generation due to dominating:
- Increased the price of games
- Barely any TRUE 1st Party Next Gen games

Its time Sony becomes more competitive. If this acquisition starts motivating Sony in being more competitive, then I’m all for it.

[1Victor]

@ ufo
be careful of what you wish for you might regret what you get, sony have deeper roots in the industry than Microsoft and are known for treating their developers with respect and give them the freedom to do almost anything they want within reason, Microsoft on the other hand have rundown/ mismanaged some studios.
Remember the competition you want and the one you’ll get are going to be different and if this goes through and Sony decide to go after sega or any other publishers no one can say no as Microsoft is opening up a precedent same as pay to play online.

[SoulWarrior]

MS have increased prices of their games too. Also they haven't released a SINGLE series X only game yet? And even when they do they have to cater for the much weaker series S.

[ironmonkey]

There hasn't been competition for Sony between two since 2013. If Sega was to make a comeback Ms would be in fourth.

[darkrider]

Dude, what about zero games for a year.

True first party. That's the new excuse. The games are goty quality, but they aren't good for you? How many awards did Microsoft earn this year with games?

Top the charts?

Tell me when Microsoft launched two new consoles how many games did they launch? How many months did you wait until you got the first? That was amazing...

What games made you spent 499 on a next gen machine?

Yeah, this Gen Microsoft is amazing.... Without buying the publisher beteshda. Next year would be more forza in the third year of the console... Damn, amazing job

Now they are buying Activision blizzard...

More competitive then making horizon, gt, gow in a year.. And those weren't the only games from Sony...

[dcbronco]

Whine......Whine.....whine

[spambot0815]

not that is matters but since both companies don't have a single product that i care about i'm also neutral about the merger.

[MegaLogic]

I guess that entire 25% that are against it are all members of N4G

[Luvofdegames]

The 2000 replies are from the Xbox refugee camp who are mostly found on Twitter fighting imaginary console wars

[Thundercat77]

I will resume what Ms is doing...

Sony and Nintendo have worked very hard throughout the years building their software, teams and relationships. They are the leaders in the market because they have invested and worked hard. They didn't received their success on a lottery ticket.

MS has failed to get this success because of their management and business tactics. They even confirmed to be the underdog.

And now MS, instead of working hard just like Nintendo and Sony, they want to buy it.

[sinspirit]

No no no. That's not good enough. Lets push this agenda for MS to acquire more more more. We need this to go through because of.. reasons. Like ummm... oh uhh this will make PlayStation, the most competitive first party platform, even more competitive! Yeah, that makes sense. We should be wanting Sony to change focus and change their strategically well balanced dev teams that fill the void in the industry for quality AAA story driven titles and variety of gameplay to compete with unstoppable franchises like CoD! Yeah that's why this should go through!

No no no, I'm a PlayStation fan of course. I just said I was, see?

Activision/Blizzard has more games than just CoD? Chart topping franchises? Historic IP's capable of coming back? Oh okay imma just slide past that whole topic.

Anyways, MS has money and buying $70billion fully independent devs is totally okay because Sony has bought devs before. Oh, Sony has had a history with those devs? They already developed primarily Sony exclusives and have a close partnership and make a good fit? They were essentially already like a Sony first party dev aside from ownership? Oh umm. But, Sony has bought third party content and exclusives before so this is just payback that Sony themselves wish they could afford! Payback I say! They had it coming! What's that? MS also has bought third party content and full or timed exclusives as well? MS has also done this while not developing any first larty games at the same time because they aren't good managers? Well I don't care what MS does I only judge Sony. Sony does bad thing and I see it. If they don't give things away for free or bleed money to sell overhyped services then they clearly aren't good in the gaming market. Oh you want new exciting AAA games that don't overpromise and underdeliver? Doesn't matter if they don't release day one on an overhyped service. Oh, my AAA first party games never release, or normally don't end up that good even after over a year since another day 1 AAA release? Doesn't matter. You see, they are such a good company for having this feature even though the times the feature has actually delivered is very little.

This is strictly satirical of the fanboyish debates that keep on going on by people playing stupid on these forums and they're constant first posting and agenda pushing. The report for troll button should really be added.

[414gamer]

Awww poor Sony is losing this battle. Buying exclusive rights and other companies for YEARS. Now Microsoft strikes back and they go cry to mommy. Sore losers.

[sinspirit]

They both have bought exclusive rights and companies for years. Though, particularly with Sony, they actually have a strong personal relationship with the companies they decide to buy and those companies have almost always been developing exclusives in partnership with them. Kinda like the Rare and Nintendo relationship back in the day that was very strong and successful, aside from Nintendo deciding not to buy them even though they wanted to be.

[414gamer]

Sony had a strong relationship with Bungie? Funny they were created by Microsoft. Also I’d much rather see an American business expand and succeed over a foreign business.

[sinspirit]

@414gamer

Bungie was not created by MS. Bungie was a very hyped indie dev back in the day praised for being an up and coming big developer that was only held back because of their decisions to release only on Mac. Halo was originally going to be on Mac, and then ported to PC later. MS saw the potential, and at this time I think it was a good relationship because reportedly MS brought up making it an FPS like their other game rather than a top down RTS. MS bought Bungie. Again, until 2010ish and making Bungie do Reach and keep going with Halo they were a pretty good relationship.

Sony bought Bungie, and did you know they actually did have a decent relationship? Naughty Dog and Bungie would chat repeatedly during PS3 and 360 years like good colleagues and exchange ideas and tips. Obviously Sony has had a more business relationship with them since then. But, here's the thing about this acquisition. Bungie is not going exclusive unless they decide it by themselves. Bungie specifically has the control to decide to stay multiplatform or not. This is in the contract. So, this point of Sony buying Bungie is moot. I wouldn't care about MS buying major third parties nearly as much if a contract was in place like Bungie that keeps them in charge of themselves, only with the new ownership. My only concern would be degredation of game quality and gaming focus under MS.

[mastershredder]

"The Consumer Markets Authority received over 2100 public comments" is the correct title. Seriously, you need to rethink your processes there mate. That's some lame, LAME misleading tunnel-vision bunk right there.

Oh...."Matt is a student from the US. He is an avid gamer and is interested in the intersection of the gaming industry and finance. He is a fan of Halo, Mass Effect, and Star Wars and anything Sci-fi." that explains EVERYTHING.

[kungfuian]

Fast forward a year from now headlines will read "Evidence suggest Microsoft used bots in respond to CMA Public Response E-mail campaign".

[DarXyde]

Bad arguments in my opinion. Ok each point:

(a) "Microsoft is better able to compete" makes no sense. Not only is Microsoft a bigger company, they are a wealthier company. Better able to compete how? In terms of profitability? Again, this is Microsoft. In terms of content? If they really are keeping games on all platforms, how does this enhance Microsoft's position to compete? Terrible argument.

(b) Microsoft not making games exclusive because of Minecraft can easily be countered with Bethesda titles. There is also the fact that 10-year 'commitments' were floated (i.e., there is absolutely a duration, and it's probably coming with strings). Let's not be dumb here.

(c) Exclusivity would create a gap to fill, but that goes back to Sony's point that even a newly crafted competitor wouldn't be comparable to Call of Duty. I never understood the hype and I don't like Call of Duty at all. I think there are far better games out there but it's what the masses like for some reason. Point being, better games can't really compete either as a matter of name recognition.

(d) Battlefield is not really competition. EA isn't great at managing it. Fifa is its own monopoly problem and GTA hasn't seen a new release in a decade already.

(e) Something true. It will push Sony and I would be glad to not see them rely on COD. They can absolutely make something better. Will it sell as well? Unlikely.

(f) Reaction to Sony securing exclusivity? Doubtful. Plenty of these games are timed at most. More importantly, Microsoft has more capital to actually fully fund exclusives. They just don't do it.

(g) adding CoD to XGP lowers the cost of entry, but it is naive to think you're going to purchase these publishers/studios and not take a hit. Either they're going into full recycled assets mode, going GaaS where basic features are stripped out to keep you subbed through a seasonal rollout, or your prices are going up—possible a combination thereof.

(h) Microsoft is trying to drive traffic to their ecosystem. They certainly may make it exclusive. Likely, really.

(i) Until you're left with XGP exclusive titles. They are very serious about selling this service, and as a requirement for some content, I would not be surprised.

(j) higher quality games in the industry? Microsoft could be doing that NOW. They have unfathomable resources. The point is to nab popular IPs so they don't have to make this investment in quality. Why spend more money before turning a profit?

(k) Define "better guidance and leadership". Less assault-y? Low bar, but okay. Is Kottick and co going to get their just desserts or are we looking the other way and giving them a golden parachute? This one burns me up the most.

(l) If Microsoft can't compete, it's because there is no soul, identity, or vision in what they do. Apple is unique, Google is open. Why do we need Microsoft competing in this space anyway? This sounds like more of a case against because they're reaching into all entertainment sectors with a massive publisher. It should really be a different company, not an already large one in the gaming space.

(m) Netflix? ...... Netflix? Really, Netflix? As it stands, Microsoft is unchallenged in the cloud gaming space. Last I heard, Sony was even using their servers. PS Now titles on streaming have a LOT of issues. That aside, cloud gaming is kind of tertiary to the point.

(n) Some industry people aren't opposed to it... Cool. But if any competitors go under, that is one less platform to extend resources to for development. My question is... Which industry people?

[sinspirit]

People really have full faith in them now because they're flashing money when it's all about locking games into their ecosystem whether it's platform or service. No care that they've been terrible at delivering games since 2010. These are games we all would already have gotten. Now just with exclusivity lingering in the future.