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European Commission Says Microsoft-Activision Merger Represents A Positive Development

European Commission has recently claimed that Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, in fact, represents a positive development.

XiNatsuDragnel11d ago

I vehemently disagree imo I think this hinder gaming and no company should merge with Activision I rather see them go bankrupt like THQ then years later reforged themselves as something new like again THQ.

neutralgamer199211d ago

I wonder how they would feel if Sony were to acquire capcom because they now have 13+ billion for acquisitions and add few more billion and they could possibly buy both square and capcom

I don’t know how taking games away from. Other platforms is a positive thing. Do we not have the proof with Bethesda acquisition and how Microsoft made their games exclusives. Those gamers celebrating today may end up regretting this in the long run

As a gamer I feel like publishers should be left alone and 3rd party games should be available on all major platforms

But the word exclusive means so much to fanboys that’s why companies use it anyway they can

shinoff218311d ago

I have no doubt in my mind that starfield was being developed on ps already hell redfall(thanks for taking that one on the chin ms) was.

Extermin8or3_11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

Timed exclusivity is one thing, that's down to the publishers and devs and is simply a way of helping funds a game right but a year later or ao the gsme is gonna come to rival platforms provided there is enough audience to make it worthwhile porting. Buying up whole publishers and 3rd party ip is a whole different thing entirely.

Also don't have way more than 13 billion they will have in region of 21 billion in cash when they spin off financial services and they bid 50 billion for 20th century fox a few years back. Thaf was highest they were willing to gi so in theory they can go a fair bit higher than that 21 billion financing it via various share sell offs etc given they are financially considerably better off than when they considered that offer.

Lore11d ago

Would love for Sony to pay up for a major japanese publisher but just want to put into perspective for you that you do not pay tye current valuation for a company, you pay a multiple also based on future earnings. So if Square is valued at 6-7 billion expect Sony to have to pay at least 10 billion minimum

CrimsonWing6911d ago

Can you elaborate how it hinders gaming? And what’s the difference between merging with this company vs merging with ZeniMax?

XiNatsuDragnel11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

Honestly I don't wanna to elaborate because I agree with netural above. 3rd party publishers should've been left alone.

darkrider11d ago

So a company does a bad job for generations and it's allow to buy the biggest publisher... Can't believe how stupid they can be. Let's promote incompetence by allowing this.

Gardenia10d ago

The people who made that decision benefit from the deal somehow. That's how it always goes.

crazyCoconuts11d ago

These regulatory agencies are focused on cloud, which I don't think is such a big deal because I'm not as optimistic about it. So I agree the cloud dominance argument is kinda weak.
The thing they're ignoring is the thing I'm most worried about:
"But we found that Microsoft would probably not shoot itself in the foot by stopping sales of Call of Duty games to the much larger PlayStation player base. "
I feel MS would be happy to do that if it helped their long-term goal. Losing money in the short term for long term dominance is their MO. Either take it off PS or negotiate such ridiculous terms that they'd be bending Sony over if they wanted to take it. That's the MS we know, no doubt about it.

Christopher11d ago

They're already doing that. They're just doing it under the guise of New IPs. PlayStation last generation had 30% to 50% more sales on games that MS now owns the rights to. But they are willing to abandon those IPs just to set a precedent that new games are theirs even though we all know they would sell way more on the competition.

I heavily applaud the Bungie deal Sony made. Giving them their independence and not restricting their releases to just PS5/PC? What these deals should be all about. Not that Sony is "perfect" in their dealings, far from. But They are much lesser of two evils.

That is not what Microsoft is all about, though, and they've already proven it with the current slew of purchases they have made.

crazyCoconuts11d ago

I get the feeling like part of getting Bungie was a defensive move to some extent, like if you take X off of PS we'll take Destiny. No sense in losing the Xbox revenue unless you absolutely have to.
Nonetheless against the landscape of what MS is buying up, it's like protecting your king with a pawn against a handful of queens.

Lifexline11d ago

Is mojang /Minecraft non existent? It’s practically on every single platform and they always rave about their creative freedom.

That’s why I don’t see the activision deal being any different for Microsoft. They see how much money Minecraft the brand makes so they kept it on all platforms. I believe the same will happen to most activision franchises. Making it exclusive would hurt the brand so badly Xbox does not have the market share to support exclusivity. I do believe new ip from activism’s could potentially be exclusive but not the big ones.

shinoff218311d ago (Edited 11d ago )

Coconuts

Of course it was. It was reactionary to ms moves.

I'd rather have starfield. They can keep minecraft. Just my opinion.

Christopher10d ago

@Lifexline: You use one instance where they didn't do it, but ignore the plentiful instances where they are doing exactly what I said.

Is making Starfield exclusive hurting their brand even though every previous Bethesda game in the last 15 years sold better on Playstation, some 50% more but a minimum of 30% more. And now, with their diminished market reach on Series X? Do we think the Xbox brand is going to make it sell more on PC to make up for the loss of PlayStation, especially for the increased costs of the new IP?

darkrider10d ago (Edited 10d ago )

I agree that in perfect world the deal of Sony with bungie is the right path, but now... With the strategy of Microsoft by taking games from Sony gamers and Nintendo gamers with the. Beteshda deal... I don't know. If you don't fight fire with fire you get burned.

Microsoft immediately put online that marathon is coming to Xbox...

Christopher10d ago

***Microsoft immediately put online that marathon is coming to Xbox...***

Microsoft being petty aside, it's still better for gamers and Sony will make a lot of money off of it.

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Obscure_Observer11d ago (Edited 11d ago )

Let´s go!

Let it be over!

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