Microsoft aren’t making a monopoly by buying Activision, they’re protecting one

G from WASDuk ponders what does Microsoft actually has to gain from their recent acquisitions, other than the obvious.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

I feel they are trying to making monopoly due to solely of having COD- one if not the biggest game for the competing platform PS in my opinion that's why I think it's a monopoly.

[HellspawnPR1981]

Not even close.

[ABizzel1]

Is the Activision deal a monopoly, No. The issue isn't this specific deal, it's what happens if/when this goes through and will future acquisitions be considered monopoly tactics. Microsoft has a 40 year history of being sued for constantly engaging in monopoly like tactics. They have PLENTY of lawsuits against them from consumers / states / countries / antitrust charges / and more for price gauging, anti-competition practices, etc...

So the legal standpoint is do you let the company that has a history of being sued every decade and dragging out said court trails for over a decade for monopoly like tactics start deploying those same tactics into another area of their business. That's the issue the MS faces.

Xbox fans need to be worried more about what MS plans to raise GamePass up to after these acquisitions and their games/products start to release. They tried to double the cost of XBLG annual subscription and gamers collectively shut it down. But what happens if they say it's worth $20/mo. at the launch of Starfield, and when they have COD in GP and they say it's worth $25/mo and then $30/mo before the end of the falling year.

Sound crazy, but that's exactly what they did with Office. Turned it into a subscription based service as well.
Then Increased the price of it by 10% last year, and within the same calendar year had another price increase of 20%.

[Prime157]

Nice argument as to why it's not even close.

Edit: I'm not saying I disagree. I'm saying I'm tired of one sentence rebuttals. If you can't state a different perspective, then what are you offering?

People need to stop buying into one sentence cast-offs and non-arguments.

[Locutus_of_borg]

“ Xbox fans need to be worried more about what MS plans to raise GamePass up to after these acquisitions and their games/products start to release.”

I can only speak for myself, but if/when game pass price increases beyond a point that I feel doesn’t give me value then I’ll just cancel anyway and go back to buying my games … I’m fairly certain everyone has their own level and a price increase could loose them millions is subscribers, Microsoft has to tread a very fine line with subscription price

[ABizzel1]

@Loctus

Therein is the issue, by the point people have had enough, the masses will be so indoctrinated into just staying with subscriptions that it'll be hard not to have it, especially if physical copy releases start to diminish due to subscription services.

The DVD/Blu Ray industry has dropped down to 10% of the annual physical sales that it was less than 10 years ago due to streaming / on demand. CDs have dropped down to the same result and have been at a low since 2004 (closing in on 20 years). Physical media will be a slow and dying format by the time people finally say enough it's too much. People were complaining about $70 physical games, if physical sales fall off to just 10%, or even 50% of what they are now, because half the gamers are signed up for these subscription services, then they're going to have a heart attack if physical copies are only released as limited editions or premium editions starting at $99 to help make up for the loss of sales, and to make lower production numbers even worth having a physical copy.

Financially I'm not bothered with the cost per say, and I can see the value in such services, especially for parents of gamer kids (it's a set it and forget it type of deal). Even at $30/mo. and maybe even up to $50/mo with an EXTREMELY overhaul of content and benefits could I see myself paying for such as service, but it's also because I've already accepted that this is the path that gamers have chosen, PS Spartacus could likely be a similar solution, gamers (specifically Xbox gamers) are continuously marketing their own financial trap of championing GamePass and not buying games at retail at a staggering rate (sales of multiplatform games are still heavily in favor of PS), "Is it coming to GamePass" and "I'll wait for it come to GamePass" are two of the most common phrases regarding games launching on Xbox.

This is the path MS wants the industry to move towards. Once again it's the same thing they did with Office and Azure, and if they could do it without backlash they'd make Windows OS a subscription service as well. Pay your monthly or annual subscription to access Windows coming 2030 isn't as farfetched as it sounds, based on their history. And the only thing holding them back is potential competition (if they charge for Windows they run the risk of their OME monopoly starting to make more Android OS based desktop and laptops going forward giving Google an opportunity to take a large portion of that market share).

Companies need checks and balances.

[thesoftware730]

Then you don't know what a monopoly is.

Did you read that they would still be smaller than Sony even with this Acquisition?

[purple101]

In what respect? Games sold per year?

I'm interested.

Also.. talking of interest

. Cod at its peak was 18- 19 million playstation and 18-19 million Xbox.

Nowadays interest has waned, it's down to 18million ps5 and
12 million Xbox.

So deffo a drop of of players compared to it's height.

[Kerppamaister]

@Purple money gained selling games.

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

"Did you read that they would still be smaller than Sony even with this Acquisition?"

This talking point is based on an objectively false assumption. It assumes that Sony and MS's (combined with Activision's) revenue would remain roughly the same if the biggest gaming franchise was removed from Sony's platform.

We all know that's not true. Sony would lose billions from their yearly revenue through lower console sales (although, maybe not immediately) and no 30% cut from mainline COD games post 2023. Please be honest, lads.

[dumahim]

@LucasRuinedChildhood

There's already deals in place that MS has to honor. There's still 3 more that will still be on PS. After that, who knows. While Sony would be losing revenue from COD going away, MS will also lose money compared to what Activision was making on it being multiplat.

[Crows90]

No. They're not smaller. Maybe technically smaller but in terms of mainstream gaming they now have the biggest titles.

All of Bethesda and all of Activision. Including all their studios. That's about 90% of all mutliplatform bug name publishers.

[DOMination-]

"In what respect?"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

Scroll down to the Rankings table.

"All of Bethesda and all of Activision. Including all their studios. That's about 90% of all mutliplatform bug name publishers."

90% would probably be the definition of a monopoly but.. seriously? No it isn't. Not even close. Just take a look at the link above. The list of publishers is endless. Of the most well known, these are still alive and kicking: EA, Ubisoft, Tencent, Epic, Embracer, Warner, Take-2, Capcom, Namco, Square, Valve, CDPR, Sega, 505..

If anyone has a "monopoly", it's Sony Interactive Entertainment because they have by far the biggest revenue and profits, even after the MS acquisition of AB and Beth. You can't be a "monopoly" for being the third biggest!

[theindiearmy]

@Lucas

"We all know that's not true. Sony would lose billions from their yearly revenue through lower console sales (although, maybe not immediately) and no 30% cut from mainline COD games post 2023. Please be honest, lads."

Yes, and Activision would no longer receive their cut of the sale anymore either. Which is larger than 30%. So no matter how you slice it, a MS/Acti combination will still be behind Sony when it comes to revenue. The only way that would change if is a majority of the COD players switch to Xbox, which isn't going to happen when they can't even make enough consoles for the demand before that hypothetical.

[DarXyde]

You're missing a lot of important context and nuance.

Bigger than Microsoft, yes, but oddly absent is any mention of Microsoft centralizing massive aspects of the gaming industry. The time and money invested in those games by consumers are pretty outlandish. You don't think it's even slightly off that the same company owns Minecraft, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Candy Crush, and Call of Duty? And not through organic growth, but through throwing money at the problem?

Separately, it's one thing. Acquire maybe one or two and that's pretty bad, but whatever. But all three? You don't think this is a dangerous precedent? You don't see the budding Monopoly?

All of this to pad XGP, knowing people are very likely to take this up.

People are too short-sighted to understand that this is the first step in something colossally damaging.

If it isn't a monopoly yet, it's damn well on its way to becoming one.

[Prime157]

Microsoft's total total assets are valued over a trillion, while Sony's total assets are valued at less then 100 billion.

Microsoft's worth is 10x-20x more than Sony.

"Not a Monopoly" as they swing their Monopoly money to go from 0 in the gaming department to buying Sony's total worth in publishers.

It's delusional.

Stop comparing XBox to PlayStation if you want to talk about monopolies.

[green]

Do you even know what a monolopy is? This is not even remotely close to being one.

EDIT: To anyone disagreeing, then show actual stats (not feelings) of how this acquisition is a monopoly?

When Disney purchased Fox, their market share of the movie industry was 35%. The Fox deal took them to 40% and the deal was still approved by the FTC.

According to Newzoo, Microsoft's gaming market share was 6.5% in 2020 and adding Activision would take it to 10.7%. How on earth is 10.7% even close to a monopoly? lol

[Kerppamaister]

Well, somebody said it in a tweet or video or something and now peggies and ponies are running with it.

[Silly gameAr]

You didn't mention the best example of a monolopy. Windows. You know, the other monolopy that MS created?

[green]

@Silly gamerAr

I was not trying to educate him on what a monopoly is but to tell him how this is not a monopoly. Maybe you can emlighten us on how Microsofts 1998 lawsuit that saw them accused of trying to create a monopoly that led to the collapse of rival Netscape by giving its browser software for free with its 98% share OS, is similar to Mictosoft buying Activision?

[thesoftware730]

Thank you for applying sound logic green.

But I fear that it will go unacknowledged based of of what people like.

If you think about their arguments, which is clearly based on their feelings, and not the truth, they are saying MS is now more well equipped than Sony. Their arguments are more Inductive than deductive.

[Prime157]

I love all the people comparing the gaming market share as if that means anything.

Horizontal integration may not be a monopoly by law, but it has the same ramifications that vertical monopolies of the past had.

If you're comparing Microsoft vs Sony as monopolies, but you're only talking about XBox and PlayStation, then you're bringing micro understanding to a macro discussion. Please stop.

Microsoft as a whole is valued over a TRILLION dollars. Sony as a whole is valued at around 80 billion. Horizontal monopolies need to be a discussion for the future of humanity and capitalism. They have similar ramifications to vertical monopolies.

Here's the whole data that people are forgetting when they wrongly compare XBox to PlayStation instead of Microsoft to Sony, and the semantics matter:

Microsoft just spent Sony's total value to acquire 2 publishers for its gaming departments.

So, while I agree with this article's point that Microsoft is trying to block Apple, Google, and Facebook's entry into the gaming market share... By no means does this move disprove Microsoft as a whole being just as bad as Apple, Google, and Facebook where Sony's total value is decimated...

Not that Sony isn't a giant in its own right, either.

[dominicdecoco]

Honestly, I'm not worried about a monopoly cause that will probably never happen. Instead, we should be worried about an oligopoly something very common in the US and is known to cause problems. ( AT&T, Verizon, T mobile) Cause we should be worried about this industry becoming one controlled by Sony, Microsoft, Tencent

[GrmpyolGamer]

Tell me U don't know what a monopoly is without telling me you don't know what a monopoly is

[CrimsonWing69]

I don’t think that’s how it works.

[Zeref]

Call of duty is big but not essential to any platform. Nintendo Switch is doing over a 100 million without COD.

[Elda]

Facts!

[XiNatsuDragnel]

I see nii San.

[Neofire]

I agree this deal is a monopoly

[n1kki6]

Their are 500 publishers and 2500 developers in the US alone. Gamers are morons.

[n1kki6]

*there

[Pancit_Canton]

No. It's a Monopoly. Buying 2 Major Publisher back to back plus planning to buy some more is the very definition of Monopoly.

[thesoftware730]

Pancit,

Wrong...

By your own statement, you are saying they are "PLANNING" a MONOPOLY...so in effect, this is not a monopoly. Its early stages of getting one.

It's like the game monopoly, If you own Boardwalk and Park Place, and a few other properties, you do not have a monopoly, but you are in a great position to win.

[FlavorLav01]

And the position was bought and not earned. So how at the end of the day does this deal help gamers? It’s not gonna make Xbox’s IP management any better(Crackdown 3 and Recore). Now they just have more IP to drive into the ground by releasing more unfinished games (Sea of Thieves/Halo Infinite) day 1 on gamepass under the excuse it’s a cheap subscription service. Awesome…great future to look forward to.

[Prime157]

Xbox just spent the entire worth of Sony to compete with PlayStation and/or block Apple, Google, and Facebook.

You all are comparing XBox to PlayStation when the parent companies are worth:

Microsoft: over a trillion or 2 trillion.

Sony: 80ish billion or 120 billion.

https://mobileplusapp.com/s...

https://www.dualshockers.co...

https://www.forbes.com/site...

Microsoft's acquisition literally wiped 20 billion off Sony's market cap.

So, while it's true that Sony still has a bigger gaming market share... That's xbox compared to PlayStation instead of Microsoft compared to Sony.

Sony is decimated or worse by Microsoft, but PlayStation barely hedges over XBox, and that semantic must be recognized when having the "is this a Monopoly" discussion.

Horizontal integration will eventually be understood and seen as a monopoly in the future; whether in our lifetime or outside. It has the same effect as vertical integration which is understood as a monopoly by law and social understanding.

[Vasto]

This does not make any sense at all.

[Atom666]

Nope -- definitely not the definition of monopoly. Also not what the article is about.

It's about the Activision acquisition warding off others from entering a market controlled by Sony, MS, and Nintendo. It's a good read. When you're done rewriting that dictionary, give it a look.

[dumahim]

They don't even have a majority. How in the world is a monopoly?

[SyntheticForm]

It's not, but fan anger will trump truth here. This is absolutely not a monopoly. People claiming so either don't know what a monopoly is, or they just want to scream "monopoly!"

I'm going with the latter.

[gangsta_red]

You obviously don't know the definition of monopoly

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Define monopoly

[agnosticgamer]

No. It’s not when you only have 10% of the market. A monopoly is when you own the lions share of the market and can set unreasonable prices for games/services because no one else has the ability to compete. Sony and Nintendo can easily compete in the video game market place even with this… These purchases.

[porkChop]

A monopoly would be owning more than 50% of the market. At that point no one would be able to compete with you. But even after the Activision Blizzard deal goes through, Xbox will only account for 10.7% of the gaming market. So explain how that would be a monopoly. The gaming space is way too big for that.

[n1kki6]

Monopoly - the exclusive possession or control of the supply of or trade in a commodity or service.

There are over 500 publishers and 2500 devs in the us. Now go back and read your sentence and tell me how it's a monopoly. They also don't have full control over games services. Sony has one, EA has one, Ubisoft has one, Amazon has one, apple has one, Google has one. If you think this is a MONOpoly then you have no clue what a monopoly is.

[Sitdown]

This clearly is a designated troll account by the owners of this website in order to get his by people trying to reply to this outrageous notion...this can be the only explanation for this uninformed take.

[Flawlessmic]

There not doing either of the things stated

[TheTony316]

Sure.

[senorfartcushion]

I agree with the statement in the headline. The article too

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Good guy Microsoft is protecting us from big bad Facebook Apple Netflix Google. All hail Phil 🙌

[gamer7804]

Those companies you mentioned are the last ones you want to get a stranglehold on a bunch of devs of this caliber

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

You don't want any one company getting a stronghold on anything. Doesn't matter the company.

[SolidBoss816]

Let’s not forget Tencent too… those are the companies that can spend as much as Microsoft especially Apple if those wanted too

[quenomamen]

Yea and Disney bought Star Wars to protect it by making crappy movies.

[Atticus_finch]

Yea they are defending the MS monopoly obviously.

[Neofire]

Exactly, just reading the comments alot of people are trying to draw false equivalencies from other different industries. Also alot of straw-man arguments.

[darkrider]

Of course they are. 2 publishers in one year. They got the most expansive. This means the can buy anyone. For that price they could have got EA, take two, ubisoft, square, Capcom , konami, Sega.... So they can buy them all without problems. Why stop? They are using the money from Microsoft and not from the gaming division budget. They can keep GP not making any profit until they got all the studios they want... And then gamers will pay whatever they want monthly... Because there isn't another way. I really hope Sony gets square or Capcom or make a deal with all japoneses studios before it's to late....

[thesoftware730]

Hahaha, your argument reeks of fear.
through your fear you don't realize they cant buy all of the listed studios, because if they grow too big the deal would not be sanctioned by the FTC, you can rest easy and get a good night's sleep now. don't be afraid.

I know it's fear because you toss your own Ethics/Morals out the window because of your allegiance to Sony.

You hate MS buying all these publishers...and getting games exclusive, and are afraid they will get to others.

Yet you hope Sony hurries up and buys Capcom or square or strike a deal to lockout MS...

Please see that your argument is unsound, and in real life would not be taken seriously by anyone.

[darkrider]

Of course. A company that wasn't able to make a single blockbuster after halo, gears and forza... Getting all big studios... Just scary stuff. Making games for services.. Gaas... Even halo is free to play... Scary stuff. Of course I want sony to get those studios out of the hands of Microsoft. I want to keep playing great story driven games and not crappy empty service games... Rental games...

[stonecold3]

microsoft are not allowed to own any big companies in japan only small studio

[thesoftware730]

Dark,
So your entire argument is based on fear and what you like.

No facts were presented about a monopoly, which is what the conversation is about.

Btw I think if you liked the games these developers have been making in the past, you wont have much to worry about. They all have clearly said they are free to develop games business as usual, and not one fact has pointed to the contrary. Its only your admitted fear and brand loyalty keeping you from seeing things reasonably.

MS current moves in no way affect your personal love for Sony's single-player games. Keep playing them like we all are doing, they are indeed great. On the other hand, if you want games from MS acquired studios, which will remain the same great games that you always liked...buy a gaming PC to compliment your PS5, or go cheaper and buy an SX which you can play the games you like.

[darkrider]

You want facts. 19 studios in one year with two publishers. Sorry but for me the trend is easy to see. We aren't talking about 2 or 3 studios... But publishers and the rumors is that Microsoft won't stop there. They already have more then 30 studios. I think maybe 32! The number of ip's they purchased are huge.

[Sitdown]

"And then gamers will pay whatever they want monthly... Because there isn't another way."

Umm, the other way is you simply cancel the subscription and purchase the games. A monopoly isn't about how many purchase, but percentage and control of the market. Stop with the ridiculous fear tactics based on your love for Sony.

[ReadyPlayer22]

The same people that'll scream Xbox is in third place are also the ones screaming "Monopoly." It's obvious the big three don't want any new players encroaching on their space.

[neutralgamer1992]

I think as of now we don't know what to call this because we have never seen console makers acquire these massive publishers who have been independent for decades. With game pass Microsoft needs content especially exclusive content

I can't believe I'm saying this but I feel like Sony has been more clear with their acquisitions on what the future will look like whereas Microsoft keeps giving these very vague answers on which games will multiplatform

Also would department of Justice step in if Microsoft would to acquire another massive publisher

There's a lot of Monopoly talk but one side meaning Xbox fans keep saying it's not while PlayStation fans keep saying it is

only question I have for Xbox fans how would they feel if Sony were to acquire a Capcom and square enix and those games would never come out on Xbox. This is not a what if scenario this is exactly where we are heading and personally as long time PlayStation fan I am not sure I am happy about it

First of all with work family and other commitments and as we grow older we have less time for gaming. so while game pass might be really good deal for many for a lot of us elderly gamers it's not because we don't have the time to invest to justify the cost

This brings me to the second point where now instead of just buying one console and getting to play vast majority of third party games, now any gamer out there who wants to play Blockbuster games has to buy either both next generation consoles or a next generation console with a PC. And once again for many who simply don't have time for gaming like we used to justifying the cost for a second console or PC might not be worth it

Like I said I'm a long time PlayStation fan but I'm also realist so as soon as Microsoft acquired Bethesda I decided that I will buy Xbox series X when starfield comes out if it's worth it. But I don't think I will subscribe to gamepass I will simply buy the games I want but I think end of the day is it a win for Microsoft that someone who wasn't going to buy their console now will but will not be part of the ecosystem same goes for PlayStation in this argument

My last point Sony will most probably invest the remaining 10 plus billion they have in buying two publishers. And because PlayStation is a lot more important to Sony to make a profit than Xbox is to Microsoft so I think moving forward Sony might be willing to spend even more than they were originally thinking(by this comment I simply mean Microsoft can still make a profit without Xbox but Sony I think depends on PlayStation more so it's not like any disrespect words either brand)

EA: $37 billion
Take-Two Interactive: $25 billion once Zynga deal closes
Bandai Namco: $15 billion
Embracer Group: $15 billion(
Ubisoft: $7 billion
Konami: $6 billion
Square Enix: $6 billion
Capcom: $5 billion
Sega: $4 billion

These are the values but keep in mind both Sony in Microsoft have paid they about market value for the acquisition so far besides Sony getting steal on insomniac. I think if insomniac games were independent right now they would easily go for more than bungie

[darkrider]

I agree. Microsoft will force Sony to buy more studios to stay in the race. I want to see then if Capcom games or square games or konami games are only on Sony machines if they will say it isn't monopoly. For me it will be. But this is the future that Microsoft brought to videogaming.

[neutralgamer1992]

Look man I am a nobody so my opinion doesn't matter but I always felt like 3rd party games should be on all platforms (as long as specs allow) but now that both Sony and Ms have decided to acquire publishers instead of studios this is a brand new thing never seen on this scale in gaming history (more like media history)

Let's not forget Disney bought marvel and Lucas films for cost of 8 billion. Now think about that for a moment. Disney made it's money back and huge amounts of profits within a short period of time

I don't think Sony wants to buy publishers but I think they will have no choice and once you force someone's hand anything is possible. But I think Sony will be smart about their investments. Let's remember 2 things there are 3 rumors that all happened within past 12-24 months

Sony trying to acquire take two
Ms trying to acquire Sega
Multiple companies make offer for square enix

Rumors aren't just fake news there usually is some activity especially when we are talking about PlayStation and Xbox

This is how I personally see it unfolding

Ms will acquire ubi, Warner Bros and Sega

Sony will acquire capcom, square enix, namco and some Konami IP rights

I could be 100% wrong and Ms could acquire what I projected for Sony

If someone buys take two DOJ will step in especially if that someone is MS. I think DOJ will not allow Ms to acquire another publisher that could cost upwards of 40+ billion because that we will have real talk of Monopoly

[onisama]

I think if their was a race of acquisition that start soon Microsoft ganna be too aggressive... What can protect sony is how jap gov deals with foreigner acquisitions... But microsoft if are serious they can buy anything they want

[Charal]

We will see if the regulators will allow this deal or not.
Since a couple of years the track records for such big deals to be accepted by the regulators is low, NVidia/ARM soon to be another example.

[brewin]

Nintendo and Sony have more market share than Microsoft. They also don't have a presence in mobile games market, which this deal gives them. They were also lacking really any presence in mass market casual gaming. This checks that box significantly.

The sad thing is that Sony kind of started this war by making some CoD content exclusive to PlayStation. Those fans cheered that move. Now that roles reversed those same people are up in arms. It's business, not personal.

And really think about it. They don't need to remove CoD from PlayStation. It will be on Gamepass day 1 from now on. If PlayStation gamers want to go spend $70 for a game that Xbox gamers can get as part of GP sub, you really think MS will take that option away? This deal helps solidify Gamepass and boost it's value more than anything. Also, last I checked Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo are still PS5 exclusive. MS owns those and they are still only PS5 currently.

[Chevalier]

"The sad thing is that Sony kind of started this war by making some CoD content exclusive to PlayStation"

You do realize exclusive COD content started on Xbox right?!

[ApocalypseShadow]

Stop lying and spreading falsehoods with your revisionist history
https://www.eurogamer.net/a...

Who started this again? Or are you going to keep spreading lies?

Microsoft has always tried their EMBRACE, EXPAND EXSTINGUISH strategy. It's just now becoming more prominent with game pass and their acquisitions to cut off third party games that sell more on PlayStation platforms.

[brewin]

Wow I honestly didn't know they had content exclusivity like that for that long on Xbox. I knew that the Xbox 360 was the first time Call of Duty appeared on consoles, but didn't know the DLC packs on the other CoD games was exclusive to Xbox all the way thru Ghosts.

But regardless, Sony took that exclusivity from them and started doing it to everything in the PS4 gen! I don't recall many 3rd party games that didn't have some sort of exclusive mission or character packs on PS4. Microsoft had to make these huge deals to fight back in some way.

And don't act like Sony doesnt do and hasn't done these kind of things in the past. There's a reason Microsoft has had such a hard time in the Japanese market and with courting Japanese developers.

[SolidBoss816]

Um COD exclusive content started on the Xbox 360 not PlayStation. So did Grand Theft Auto 4 DLC it was exclusive to the Xbox 360 for over a year before it came to PlayStation. This was started on Xbox first dude

[Crows90]

If you look at the biggest names in the gaming industry that are mainstream games. Microsoft now owns close to 100% of them.

That to me is a monopoly because they own the majority of big titles now. Sure there are other big titles from Sony and other devs but none of them come close to the titles they now own. In term of casual gaming.

By removing games or owning games that the competition would get a huge chunk of their revenue from...that's what monopolies do.

Regardless of your own personal position on the matter you can't deny that Microsoft went from having just a handful of studios with only a couple huge IP. To now owning a bucket full of hugely popular mainstream titles. All through buyouts. All of which sold best on the competing platform.

[Silly gameAr]

I feel like people are trying to make MS look like they're not hoarding IPs by buying big 3rd party pubs. If it was anyone else, this would be considered anti-consumer.

Fans acting like MS are above monopolies, when they hold one of the biggest monopolies in the world, is so funny to me that it's kind of disgusting.

[thesoftware730]

They are not Hoarding IPs, they are offering it to any and all PC gamers, cell phone games, Xbox owners, and even OG Xbone users through streaming. All at a reasonable sub-price.

There are even some MS games on PS(Minecraft) and Switch(Minecraft and Ori series).

They own Windows and yet allow all other companies including Sony, Epic, Valve, and Nintendo to develop games fronts, games apps, daily use apps that far outpace their own efforts.

I would say they are putting themselves in a power position.

[thesoftware730]

So are you implying MS has a game catalog better than Sony?

Wow, amazing how a few power moves can change the perception of people in the blink if an eye. That is why gaming is such a great hobby, you never know which way the cookie crumbles.

[gangsta_red]

What Microsoft has to gain is providing great content for their user base and subscribers for Game Pass. Which is fantastic, because the deal of GP for the future has just increased in value.

People complained and wanted MS to increase their first party game output and get more first party studios. It was almost a celebration when discussing how bad MS had it in the handling of their games and studios in the past.
MS corrected these mistakes with a vengeance, now it looks like the party is over because now we have complaints of MS is creating a monopoly and taking the games out of the hands of gamers.

People just need to get used to Sony, MS, etc etc buying more studios, especially studios trying desperately hard to create triple A games in today's oversaturated gaming market.

[PitbullMonster]

Nobody would invest 80 billion dollars to stay at the third place. A/B is not just any Publisher, they are the most successful one. COD is yearly one of the best selling games on competition platforms. Without it, Sony will miss a lot of money because of missing microtransactions.

[Charal]

Well not really, latest results where not great for Activision, and Vanguard tanked:
https://www.marketwatch.com...

They are a big publisher, but does not financially perform up to their targets.

[Destiny1080]

if sony bought them, xbox gamers would be screaming monopoly, there would be no articles about sony saving the world

[attilayavuzer]

The first mistake is expecting valuable business insights from the comment section of a gaming site.

[Knightofelemia]

Only time will tell how Microsoft will handle Activision they don't take control until 2023 even by then it might be 2024 before people get a clear picture of what Microsoft is going to do. We still don't have a very clear picture with the Zenimax purchase some games have been listed as XBox only but future titles who knows.

[YourMommySpoils]

Phil:We're buying you on one condition. Your team develops Monopoly, exclusive to Series X, first on Game Pass.
Bobby: Sure thing, along with $68.7 billion.
Phil: Done
Three years later.........
Phil: Sadly, we hate to inform everyone, Monopoly in development has been cancelled.

[mastershredder]

They continue to grow the monopoly they are protecting = They are building a monopoly. That's how that works.

[Harryvok]

Come on, don't defend the TRILLION dollar company. They aren't some saints trying to protect gaming. They're a huge corporation trying to gain as much market share as possible to their gaming platform seeing as gaming is the biggest entertainment earner in the world. That's why they bought a company with massively popular third party IPs.

Microsoft is no different to Amazon, Google or Apple. So if you cheered this acquisition, I expect you to also be cheering when the other trillion dollar companies push more into gaming and start buying huge publishers.

Whether it is Microsoft, Sony or others, this consolidation of the gaming industry is not good news. See how many streaming services you need these days to get all the best shows? That's the future of gaming. Enjoy.

[patterson]

Oh please, let's not act as if Microsoft is this altruistic savior of gaming. Just stop. FFS

[Bronbron92]

I think for anyone who think it’s a monopoly is probably the hardcore fan boys, it’s a business sure Microsoft has got two big companies good move on them it’s not the end of the world

[Germaximus]

LOL Never listen to people that say this. You cannot trust them.

[Nuvem]

They are protecting a monopoly? lol

[ziggurcat]

Uh... no.

[porkChop]

"It’s about starving the newcomers like Amazon, Google, Facebook (I’m never calling them Meta), and Netlfix before they use their immeasurably deep pockets to completely trash the defacto monopoly the three friendly rivals have built together in their own corner of the market over the past 20 odd years."

That's exactly why MS and Sony are acquiring devs. That's why Destiny, and apparently COD too, are staying multiplatform. They just want to protect the market from the tech/software giants coming in and buying up everything. We've seen what Google did once Stadia wasn't a day one success, they fired all the devs immediately. Amazon, Meta, Netflix, etc. would do the exact same. Activision was apparently talking to Meta before Microsoft stepped in to buy them out. In a few years we're going to lose a lot of PC/console devs to the metaverse when these companies buy them all out.

[PrinterMan]

Lol at the title. That is too funny.

[S2Killinit]

Fudge them then

[HeliosHex]

More like attempting to monopolize the industry. If they continue to buy up major publishers that could be a problem for sony.

[Silver-Noise-X]

Amazon , google , apple have no consoles of their own this is so different. Microsoft on the other hand will lock all those games behind their consoles or the pc which in the long run will hurt competition and we'll see a drop in game quality due to lack of such competition. And why are you defending a company , whether microsoft or sony , monopolization is a bad practice and it will eventually hurt the consumer , and guess what , you are one of those consumers!!!! And your point is that microsoft is saving us from monopolization by becoming one?! What a joke! Having studios of your own that make exclusives for your consoles is ok , but buying a publisher that huge with so many games that were already on many other consoles and making it your own is a desperate move and a shitty one at that , microsoft are a**holes!

[onisama]

Playstation buys bungie insomniac and spiderman marvel games and...
Ps fanboys: oh yeah
Xbox buys activision :
Ps fanboys : heeeelp

[jackwei22]

So Microsoft and Sony are actually protecting the business some can say with these acquisitions.

[FyBy]

I believe they are not trying to make monopoly. But they want as many game pass games as possible. They would be dumb, if they dont allow these titles to go multiplatform. They make a lot of money on other platforms too. But it also depends on how much more appealing will game pass be instead of buying games. If business model will not pay off, its imagineable, that micsoft will pull some games from other platform and make them esclusive to game pass. Its very smart from Microsoft. Its hard for Sony to react. Still Sony is stronger than ever. But MS really nailed it.