220°

FTC Withdraws Case Against Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard From Adjudication

The FTC agreed to pause its administrative proceeding against the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft after it failed to preemptively block the merger.

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techraptor.net
Jin_Sakai704d ago

W for who exactly other than a nearly $3 trillion company getting the worlds largest 3rd party publisher?

Prem8tuaProcrastin8a704d ago

W for anyone who likes COD, but doesn't want to/can't justify having to pay 70 bucks. W for nintendo gamers, who, for the first time in over a decade, will get access to a Call of Duty game. W for the employees of Activision, who have reportedly had some pretty terrible working conditions under Kotick's leadership, but will now be part of msft, which is comparitively an amazing place work. W for GP subs, who will now see Activision/Blizzard's library become available for no extra cost as part of their sub. W for the unions representing the employees, as they will now not have to worry about Activision trying to block their existence, as msft have said they support their unionisation. W for the COD mp community, as the game will be available to even more people, at a much lower cost than ever before, which means a more active community. Another W for GP subs, who will most likely get access to EVERY available game in the Activision/Blizzard library on the day they release. W for anyone who has been waiting for a company to work out the system to create the "netflix of games", as, after their acquisitions, it looks like xbox game pass can safely make that claim.

CrimsonWing69704d ago

I’d assume Xbox users 🤷‍♂️

4Sh0w704d ago

"The parties stressed in their motion that both a district court and a court of appeals denied the emergency injunctions requested by the FTC, finding its case against the merger wanting. On top of that, they argued that the 10-year deal to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation platforms further undermines the regulator's position."

-I basically said this was how it would go yesterday....disagrees of course on n4g, now look....next up CMA backpedalling trying to save face before Approving, I mean its not smart, Stevie Wonder can read what's happening here.

Yes Jin a W for gamers, maybe not so much for *ps only* gamers but Xbox, PC, Steam, Nintendo, mobiles, etc, etc yeah its a W, especially for current & future GP subscribers.

Pyrofire95704d ago

Activision wasn't doing anything with all their IP except COD. Hopefully MS will make use of that. I think that's a potential long term W.

Sonic1881704d ago

@Pyrofire95

Microsoft wasn't doing enough with their own first party studios and now you think they can manage Activision 🤔

ravens52704d ago

MS can't make use of the IPs they already have... your kidding yourself.

Rockstar704d ago

Microsoft doesn't have the best track record managing studios. We'll see how much of a clusterf^&k this turns into...

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 704d ago
FlameWater704d ago

The FTC's job is to protect consumers, not CEO's afraid of competition.

phoenixwing704d ago

ceo's like phil who want to buy their way out instead of making the games they should have a decade ago

Kayser81704d ago

care to tell me how many gaming studio has Sony created ?

phoenixwing704d ago

@ kyser
2 things
1. I said make games for the past decade. you obviously sidestepped it because you have no real comeback
2. It's sure of a heck of a lot more than microsoft has done and why are you bringing up studios? is it because you are in denial?

Kayser81704d ago

Phoenixwing
Why don’t you answer my simple question , How many studio did sony make from scratch ?
oh right cuz most of there first party are bought NOT created lol .

seanpitt23704d ago

If you have no talent in one of your fields and you have more money than sense just buy everyone out of the competition.. it's easy no hard work needed.. this will no doubt put gaming back years to come just wait and see Microsoft management in the gaming division is a lost cause

InUrFoxHole703d ago

Sounds about right... both companies bought gaming studios but I only want to talk about the ones purchased recently because it fits my narrative 😅. Honk honk!

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 703d ago
Workshyskiver704d ago

What a mess of an attempt that was. Really makes you wonder the competency of these agencies given the bature of their arguments regardless of whether you think the merger is good/bad.

phoenixwing704d ago

you never know. they may have made these crappy arguments after being paid by microsoft or having a senator or two complain in order to put on a show of being anti monopoly when they're actually bending the knee

4Sh0w704d ago

Yeah and somehow Microsoft got Jim Ryan's help to testify for the FTC and he himself couldn't make a compelling argument= lol so in your wild conspiracy theory Sony purposely played a part in hurting themselves, bahhahaa, you just can't make this stuff up. lmfao

phoenixwing704d ago

@show
Ryan was hoping to stall obviously. I don't think he truly expected to beat Microsoft at using underhanded tactics like leaning on senators who they have in their pockets

Kayser81704d ago

FTC is probably working on opening a case against Sony lol

phoenixwing704d ago

they will the moment sony goes to buy square enix and capcom they'll act like microsoft didn't just buy up everything and say sony is getting too big.

Workshyskiver704d ago

Would be a different situation though, as that would be the market leader increasing its share of the market rather than a minority looking to increase their share to closer to the market leader.

DivineHand125703d ago

It won't make much sense for Sony to acquire Square Enix as they already have a good relationship for exclusive titles. It is also not likely for the FTC to go after Sony for those acquisitions as I doubt Microsoft will make much noise about it. The FTC already failed to stop one of the biggest mergers since Disney acquired 21 Century Fox for 71 billion dollars.

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520°

Microsoft planning “major” Xbox layoffs next week

The cuts are expected to be announced next week.

Microsoft is also planning thousands of job cuts that will impact other parts of it businesses

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theverge.com
5h agoReplies(1)
5h agoReplies(1)
Obscure_Observer5h ago

MFs has been beating their chests over great quarterly results and big profits to shareholders while firing people by the thousands just like Sony.

I wonder if at the top of those rumored layoffs they´ll also cancel upcoming or unannounced games while shutting down more studios as well.

5h ago
pwnmaster30004h ago

Always got to throw shade at Sony smh.
Yes we get it,
MS good Sony bad
MS bad Sony is also bad lmao

4h ago
Obscure_Observer4h ago

F* them both!

Just for the record, I don´t care about your victim complex crap either. Find someone else who cares.

blacktiger3h ago

He was talking about both. Why you getting offended when he's using both names

pwnmaster30003h ago(Edited 3h ago)

@Blacktiger

Im not offended , that’s just his formula lol
He can’t help help himself, he needs to bring Sony down when the topic involves MS.
Whether is good news for MS or bad, it some how leads to Sony doing bad lmao.
It’s actually hilarious.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 2h ago
Tacoboto4h ago

"just like Sony"

Gosh you're insufferable, not everything needs to be both-sides'd. Sony's had layoffs, but nothing like what Microsoft has been doing and is continuing to do.

CrimsonWing694h ago(Edited 4h ago)

I mean, no offense, but this is why you’re not some corporate business person running a major corporation. Big profits don’t mean jobs are safe. Do you understand why things like this happen:

Cutting jobs to maintain or increase profitability, especially in underperforming divisions like parts of Xbox like other gaming divisions.

Corporate restructuring and relocating resources for strategic stability in ever changing markets and consumer behaviors.

Investor expectations and optimizing operations to maintain investor confidence. Whatever boosts stock prices and improves future margins.

And there’s many other factors at play. It’s never as simple as business doing well, everyone’s safe. That’s just you not understanding at all how corporations work and have been working since the beginning. This isn’t something that’s specific to Xbox, you can bet your ass Sony and Nintendo do this and if it’s not clear by now, game development is not a stable job nor has it ever been for many. A lot of developers are contractors and guess what happens when a project is done?

Ganif2h ago

Nintendo said they have no plans for layoffs, and you can't seriously claim that the scale of Sony's layoffs most of which involved Bungie which is self managed as even close to the same scale as what Microsoft has done since they purchased Zenimax. And that significantly less layoffs would have happened if those publishers had stayed independent. Keep in mind that much of these layoffs have been due to redundancies specifically related to these buyouts.

CrimsonWing692h ago(Edited 2h ago)

@Ganif

Nintendo:

https://gamerant.com/ninten...

Sony:

https://gamerant.com/playst...

https://techxplore.com/news...

I don’t think it’s realistic to treat Sony’s layoffs as somehow outside the norm for the industry right now. Even if Bungie is self-managed, Sony’s cuts went far beyond that like Naughty Dog, Insomniac, London Studio being shut down completely, and multiple teams across the globe took hits. These weren’t just minor adjustments.

Nintendo, I had to look up and you’re right. They seem to be an outlier, but rest assured at some point it happens. And even then there’s been layoffs, albeit a smaller amount and contractors.

Would fewer layoffs have happened if studios from acquisitions stayed independent? Maybe. But even independents have been hit hard and look at what’s happened with Embracer’s fallout, or smaller devs like Digic, Roll7, or Volition. This isn’t just a “Microsoft problem” or strictly tied to acquisitions; it’s a broader correction happening across the whole industry, and unfortunately, layoffs are a big part of that process right now.

Ganif2h ago

From your article:

"According to reports, Nintendo of America restructured its testing operations, leading to layoffs of about 120 contractors, part of a strategy for global integration.

Nintendo of America, publisher of iconic franchises like Mario and Zelda, is shifting some contractors to full-time roles for better development integration."

Contractors are not employees, and even if you want to count them as that, it's 120 people vs around 7500 since Microsoft purchased Zenimax.

In an era of game industry layoffs, Nintendo is hiring more people
https://automaton-media.com...

Nintendo Announces 10 Percent Pay Raise For Devs Despite Lower Profits
https://kotaku.com/nintendo...

Nintendo CEO’s refusal to layoff staff goes viral following industry-wide cuts
"Satoru Iwata took pay cuts to ensure staff didn’t have to be let go"
https://www.nme.com/news/ga...

And as for Sony you're comparing less than 1000 total jobs to an estimated7500

Has the industry faced layoffs, yes, but that still doesn't account for the mass layoffs due to redundancies that was easily predictable, or that fact that at least 1/3 of Microsoft's layoffs and studio closures happened before the industry downturn.

thorstein1h ago(Edited 1h ago)

Take the L, Crimson.

People hate Nintendo, but Ganif proved why they deserve support.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1h ago
-Foxtrot3h ago

It's like banging your head off a wall, he just can't help himself.

Microsoft can do no wrong, Sony sucks at everything and Nintendo is bigged up because it's less hassle than trying to defend Microsoft all the time

What's going to happen when Microsoft finally turn completely third party, then what?

anast3h ago

I enjoy Obscure. Obscure does good work.

crazyCoconuts3h ago

Did you know that the first n4g was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program.

Tacoboto2h ago

I wouldn't be surprised at this point if anast and osbcure were both alts for the Admin.

We know how Obscure especially drums up additional comments and clicks with his spam-worthy remarks that somehow never get moderated

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2h ago
Profchaos22m ago

Thats business present a strong front to your shareholders while your company burns around you.

Keep shareholders happy at all costs andnif not happy keep them numb to the reality of you organisation

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 22m ago
4h ago
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110°

Sony Faces Class Action in the Netherlands Over Allegedly Inflated PlayStation Store Prices

Mass Damage & Consumer Foundation in the Netherlands has filed a class action against Sony for inflating PlayStation Store prices.

dveio3h ago(Edited 3h ago)

My personal opinion:

Manufacturers and publishers have indeed inflated the industry.

From $700 million development costs for games like Call of Duty, to digital (store) prices for games and DLCs, online multiplayer fees on consoles (why can you play Helldivers 2 online for free on PC but not consoles?) or still preventing sell/lend digitally purchased games.

Sometime in the future, this bubble will collapse.

They should know better, but they just can't help themselves and suck even the last penny out of our wallets.

BeHunted1h ago

Because Sony knows people will be forced to pay those prices for single player and multiplayer games, not everyone prefers PC gaming. Sony also has a monopoly on PlayStation digital games. In 2019, they stopped allowing retailers and game key sellers to sell PlayStation digital games, making them available only through the official PlayStation Store

anast3h ago

The Dutch gov. wants a piece of the pie.

Eonjay3h ago

They should be suing the individual publishers increasing the prices to $80 instead of suing the store. There are plenty of publishers still selling game for like $50 with much success (like E33). But this proves that the publishers are the ones setting the prices.... so again nothing changes because they aren't even going after the main offender. How is suing Sony going to make Microsoft not charge $80 for the next COD? Sony being the number one store in the market doesn't mean that publisher have to charge us an arm and a leg. Again the industry is laughing at us because consumers never get real representation. Just these fake platitudes that are meaningless.

BeHunted1h ago

"How is suing Sony going to make Microsoft not charge $80 for the next COD"

Because Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly, I can purchase Call of Duty at a huge discount from CDKeys or other gaming retailers. The only way to purchase digital PlayStation games is through the PlayStation Store.

djl34850m ago

Weird, I swore GoW, Stellar Blade, Horizon Zero Dawn, TLoU, etc. were on the steam store....uh.....

Killer2020UK1h ago

About time. There is zero fair reason why digitally distributed products that you cannot recoup any value when you want to dispose of them, should be priced higher than that of physical copies that entail all of the costs and the benefits of owning.

70°

Nintendo Switch 2 review. Is it enough of an upgrade?

Two weeks in, Nintendo Switch 2 feels faster, smoother, and sturdier. But is it enough of an upgrade?

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clouddosage.com
anast3h ago

It doesn't matter. Nintendo plays by different rules. They are still reskinning games from the 80s.

Goodguy0156m ago(Edited 54m ago)

Not at the moment for most. Good investment for huge Nintendo fans though. You can also expect much more greed from nintendo this gen as well as their confidence really grew from switch 1.
I mean dear God, botw at $70 and totk at $80 fow switch 2 editions. Old games lmao.