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The U.S. FTC is filing a lawsuit to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard
Posted on 12/8/22 at 1:54 pm
Posted on 12/8/22 at 1:54 pm
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/08/ftc-sues-microsoft-over-activision/
quote:
The lawsuit warns that the deal not only could give Microsoft an upper hand in consoles, but also an unfair advantage in more nascent gaming, such as subscription gaming and cloud gaming, according to an FTC official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the agency’s argument. The FTC argues that this deal could dampen innovation in these more nascent gaming markets, the person said.
Microsoft’s gaming business Xbox made $3.6 billion in the quarter ending in September. Xbox consoles trail behind both rival Japanese console makers Sony and Nintendo in sales, the company told a U.K. antitrust regulator in October. Microsoft has a record of acquiring gaming content and then using it to squash competition from rival console makers, according to the FTC. The agency cited Microsoft’s acquisition of game developer ZeniMax, and it says that the company’s subsidiary made titles including “Starfield” and “Redfall” exclusive to Microsoft devices despite previous assurances to European regulators.
this is after Microsoft "promised" 10 years of CoD on not only PlayStation, but Steam and NINTENDO as well.
This post was edited on 12/8/22 at 1:56 pm
5
Posted on 12/8/22 at 3:44 pm to finchmeister08
Every fricking game company does this.
Maybe all Sony and Nintendo Exclusives should be cross-platform now as well.
Maybe all Sony and Nintendo Exclusives should be cross-platform now as well.
Posted on 12/8/22 at 4:12 pm to SG_Geaux
Entire generations of game consoles had large portions of their games as exclusives.
Mario
Mario Kart
Sonic
Etc etc
If it’s an issue force them to agree to make it non exclusive for the deal to move ahead and if they back away you will know what the real intent of the merger was.
Mario
Mario Kart
Sonic
Etc etc
If it’s an issue force them to agree to make it non exclusive for the deal to move ahead and if they back away you will know what the real intent of the merger was.
Posted on 12/8/22 at 11:40 pm to finchmeister08
Posted on 12/9/22 at 7:50 am to tide06
quote:
Entire generations of game consoles had large portions of their games as exclusives.
The difference was these games were all made by in-house studios or exclusive for other reasons such as largest target audience, better platform fit, etc.
You didn't have a massive mega-corporation using their near infinite cash reserves to buy up huge swaths of third party publishers in order for established franchises to become exclusive to their platform.
That said, I don't give a shite about Call of Duty, so if this ends up not going through and Microsoft buys a studio like Sega or Ubisoft and starts making Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Yakuza and Persona exclusive to Xbox, that's going to suck.
This post was edited on 12/9/22 at 7:52 am
Posted on 12/9/22 at 9:06 am to tide06
quote:
Entire generations of game consoles had large portions of their games as exclusives.
In which generation did a company buy 2 mega publishers with cash from their cloud offerings?
Also in which generation did a company, with anti competitive practices going back to the 80's, do what's mentioned above?
Posted on 12/9/22 at 9:48 am to SG_Geaux
quote:
Maybe all Sony and Nintendo Exclusives should be cross-platform now as well.
Sony either develops their own IPs (God of War), or makes deals with independent studios like FromSoft (Bloodborne).
Nobody is pissed that Halo never came out on Playstation, because its a Microsoft IP. It’s just BS that they are trying to control things like Call of Duty or other IPs that have long been multi-platform games. They're pissed because PS4 kicked the XB1’s arse and this is their attempt at handicapping Sony.
Posted on 12/9/22 at 1:26 pm to finchmeister08
Extreme government overreach, and the FTC will lose this case in court.
Posted on 12/9/22 at 1:27 pm to GumpInLex
quote:
Sony either develops their own IPs (God of War), or makes deals with independent studios like FromSoft (Bloodborne).
Nobody is pissed that Halo never came out on Playstation, because its a Microsoft IP. It’s just BS that they are trying to control things like Call of Duty or other IPs that have long been multi-platform games. They're pissed because PS4 kicked the XB1’s arse and this is their attempt at handicapping Sony.
This deal would not make Microsoft a bigger gaming company than Sony or Tencent.
Posted on 12/9/22 at 1:30 pm to BulldogXero
quote:
That said, I don't give a shite about Call of Duty, so if this ends up not going through and Microsoft buys a studio like Sega or Ubisoft and starts making Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Yakuza and Persona exclusive to Xbox, that's going to suck.
Deal will still go through, and Microsoft will still buy more studios.
Posted on 12/9/22 at 3:47 pm to finchmeister08
LINK
This article is being kind. This was basically the only legitimate concern raised by the FTC. The FTC publicly lied about their reasonings for this lawsuit.
quote:
The European Commission has unexpectedly come to the aid of Microsoft today, clearing up a few facts that the FTC appears to have misunderstood when announcing its attention to file a lawsuit over the Activision Blizzard takeover.
One of the concerns the US Federal Trading Commission has over the deal is that Microsoft supposedly gave assurances to European antitrust authorities that it had "no incentive to withhold games from rival consoles" when acquiring ZeniMax Media (Bethesda) back in early 2021. In their official statement, the FTC pointed to the likes of Starfield and Redfall as breaking these assurances.
This article is being kind. This was basically the only legitimate concern raised by the FTC. The FTC publicly lied about their reasonings for this lawsuit.
quote:
Microsoft previously told the European Commission that it would honour "ZeniMax’s obligations to continue to make its current games available on other gaming hardware", including two timed PlayStation exclusives in the form of Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo. At the time of the Bethesda acquisition, Microsoft confirmed that it would "not make any existing ZeniMax games exclusive to Xbox".
However, in terms of future games such as Starfield and Redfall, Microsoft stated that it would make decisions about exclusivity "on a case-by-case basis".
Posted on 12/10/22 at 8:37 am to imjustafatkid
quote:
Deal will still go through, and Microsoft will still buy more studios.
Yep. And they’ll continue to not release any games
Sky is falling on the Xbox subreddit, they are super butthurt
Posted on 12/11/22 at 1:17 pm to finchmeister08
Smells like some Sony lobbying went down.
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