Microsoft is trying to acquire Activision Blizzard (UPDATE: CMA says NO!).

[Mr. Gerbik]

Everything good must come to an end eventually. Game Pass is currently the best deal in all of gaming with the trick in the first post. I don't expect either the trick to last short term or the current quality of Game Pass to last long term - but for now I'm enjoying the hell out of it. Carpe Diem and all that. Ever since Game Pass became the best deal going people having been deriding it (not directed at you Kevvy, but to internet people on general) because "it won't last". It's shit because it won't be forever good, basically. Weird argument imho, enjoy it while it's good I say!

 

Anyway, more on topic - let's be honest Call of Duty is shite lol 

[Stanley]

Game Pass is brilliant because they seem to get those games on there, the ones that get everyone talking. And by everyone I mean us here on RLLMUK. But as a business model it’s just not working for MS. Their revenue is down, hardware sales are down, GP has actually gone up but not by enough, and seemingly to the detriment of everything else. 
 

So it strikes me that if Sony are getting better deals and exclusives from third parties, whether by being more ruthless or whatever, then they are just better at operating in the videogame market than MS. That’s probably why Sony are fighting this deal so hard. It’s what they do. 

[Strafe]

Sony have spent a lot of time and money developing the studios they’ve acquired. I think Microsoft have just spent a lot of money. 2 years into Xbox series and there’s little justification for owning the console for me. Forza Horizon 5 was just more of the same and Halo Infinite’s promising start seems to have been mothballed into oblivion. Gamepass is a great offer but most of the games on it are the Microsoft equivalent of Netflix’s own movies. Decent but nothing particularly exciting. Outside of first party stuff the best game is probably Tunic and I ended up buying that on steam anyway.

[Stanley]

Nah there are loads of decent indie games on, and there always have been, it’s great for that, AAA releases which they promised day one, not for over a year now. 
 

They’ve become almost Valve like in their refusal to actually make and release games. 

[Strafe]

 

4 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Nah there are loads of decent indie games on, and there always have been, 

For sure but I did not buy the worlds most powerful games console™️ to play indie games.

[Stanley]

15 minutes ago, Strafe said:

 

For sure but I did not buy the worlds most powerful games console™️ to play indie games.

Yeah I get that, in fact Game Pass has recently come alive for me again now I can play the games on Steam Deck, all those [indie] games seem much better suited to that format. 

[LaveDisco]

On 25/01/2023 at 18:50, Stanley said:

Yeah I get that, in fact Game Pass has recently come alive for me again now I can play the games on Steam Deck, all those [indie] games seem much better suited to that format. 

Streaming them? 

[Strafe]

HiFi Rush is the best game Xbox have put out in ages so of course I bought it on my steam deck to play on there instead.

[Stanley]

9 minutes ago, LaveDisco said:

Streaming them? 

Yeah. 

[LaveDisco]

10 minutes ago, Strafe said:

HiFi Rush is the best game Xbox have put out in ages so of course I bought it on my steam deck to play on there instead.

How’s it run? Maybe I do that instead. I don’t like streaming games. My internet is too rubbish. 
 

edit: cheers @Stanley

[Strafe]

Just now, LaveDisco said:

How’s it run? Maybe I do that instead. I don’t like streaming games. My internet is too rubbish. 

Runs great on medium settings. It can’t manage a consistent 60fps on high in busy areas but thanks to the art style the downgrades aren’t particularly noticeable.

 

I presume releasing it on Xbox series only (forgoing the bone) was a marketing/business choice rather than a technical one.

[LaveDisco]

OOooh tempting. Thanks @Strafe

 

 

[footle]

27 minutes ago, Strafe said:

Runs great on medium settings. It can’t manage a consistent 60fps on high in busy areas but thanks to the art style the downgrades aren’t particularly noticeable.

 

I presume releasing it on Xbox series only (forgoing the bone) was a marketing/business choice rather than a technical one.

 

The Bone is circa 2013 GPU and an absolutely potato mobile CPU even at the time. The Steam Deck is far more powerful.

[Strafe]

1 hour ago, footle said:

 

The Bone is circa 2013 GPU and an absolutely potato mobile CPU even at the time. The Steam Deck is far more powerful.

Ah.

[mushashi]

On 25/01/2023 at 11:49, RubberJohnny said:

Genshin makes £3 billion a year, I think they’re fine.

 

And I think we’ve got to stop pretending these exclusivity deals are about cash-starved companies, they’re not. Sony literally went to every developer and publisher at the start of this gen asking for something exclusive to ensure lock-in to their platform.

 

Talking of Genshin Impact and this cloud exclusivity, it's ironic that it's another example of Microsoft letting the fish off the hook (like when they had the option to make GTA 3 exclusive). A Google about this cloud claim led to this story. They wanted to cockblock Genshin Impact from competing platforms when it was early in development, but ended up getting what they themselves desired happen to them. Should have paid more money to HoYoverse.

 

Quote

I was today years old when I found out that Microsoft tried to turn Genshin Impact into an Xbox console exclusive. According to sources, its failure to do so is one of the big reasons why the publisher is trying to sign deals with Chinese gaming studios.

 

According to Reuters, Microsoft was in talks with Genshin developer HoYoverse while the game was still early in its development cycle. However, the two companies failed to reach a deal. When the game finally launched in September 2020, it was available on PC, mobile, and PlayStation, but not Xbox. As of May, the game has made an estimated $3 billion in microtransactions on mobile. So it’s safe to say that it’s also made significant amounts of money on PlayStation.

 

https://kotaku.com/genshin-impact-microsoft-playstation-hoyoverse-1849701955

 

 

 

  

On 25/01/2023 at 11:02, thesnwmn said:

This ignores the King aspect which is clearly interesting and be interesting to see what they're willing to give up and continue the purchases. Do we think they still buy this is CoD has to be spun off?

 

If you believe some people, King is the real reason Microsoft are overpaying for ATVI, which personally seems a questionable assertion. King haven't exactly proven they are God-Tier at this mobile game business, unlike Tencent, who have. Buying them isn't going to transform Microsoft's fortunes in mobile gaming.

 

 

[MidWalian]

Activision being a bit weird now. "The Last of Us" TV series is doing well and the FTC should take note!

 

 

[Uzi]

Lol wtf 

[Giddas]

I tried to watch Last of Us, but wouldn’t play on my LG, wanted a Bravia

[mikeyl]

Lol she’s the best 

4 the workers!

[K]

Dear FTC, please disregard the fact that a $200m Halo TV series was released less than a year ago. We tried to stop them making this series, but we are so inept that we accidentally authorised the production of this expensive and high-profile television programme. This is yet more evidence of how pathetic and weak Microsoft, the third biggest company in the world, is compared to Sony, a company who most metrics show to be considerably smaller than us, but who are nevertheless going to kill us. It is like David and Goliath, except in this instance David is the baddie. Please help us stop these bullies, FTC. They will crush us without your assistance. I am sending this message from the wi-fi in McDonalds because we cannot afford to pay our internet provider. 

[thesnwmn]

It's clearly a very clumsy and probably ill advised tweet but the basic gist is at the core of this isn't it?

 

MS/Acti would say that Sony have shit loads of successful IP* and they'll be fine without CoD. The silly thing about the argument is that they're desperately saying CoD isn't going anywhere from Sony platforms so why would that matter?

 

* Much of it home grown rather than bought in but where it came from is broadly irrelevant for their attempted argument

[rgraves]

22 minutes ago, K said:

Dear FTC, please disregard the fact that a $200m Halo TV series was released less than a year ago. We tried to stop them making this series, but we are so inept that we accidentally authorised the production of this expensive and high-profile television programme.

 

I think you're getting the wrong end of the stick - although to be fair Lulu is not doing a great job of presenting it. The point is 'Sony have a lot of great IP of their own, so saying losing CoD (which let's not forget MS have said multiple times won't happen anyway) will be crippling and turn the tide completely is nonsense'. It's nothing to do with 'look at what they have and we don't' - it's 'look at what they have that they want you to ignore completely or at least believe is not of any significance in comparison to CoD'.

 

Quote

Sony, a company who most metrics show to be considerably smaller than us, but who are nevertheless going to kill us.

 

And this is a very odd take - when Sony are the ones saying the potential merger will kill them and their dominant market position not the other way around. Nobody truly believes it's going to make MS #1 in any way at all, it's just not. Strong chance it won't even make them #2.

 

I do find it odd that people look at Sony as the underdog that needs protecting here....

[Uzi]

What a bunch of Lulus! 

[Mr. Gerbik]

GabeN watching all this unfold going lol whoever wins, both will put their exclusives on Steam

 

#deck4life

[moosegrinder]

#bigdeckenergy

[Mr. Gerbik]

#bigGPUenergy

[Stanley]

44 minutes ago, rgraves said:

 

I think you're getting the wrong end of the stick - although to be fair Lulu is not doing a great job of presenting it. The point is 'Sony have a lot of great IP of their own, so saying losing CoD (which let's not forget MS have said multiple times won't happen anyway) will be crippling and turn the tide completely is nonsense'. It's nothing to do with 'look at what they have and we don't' - it's 'look at what they have that they want you to ignore completely or at least believe is not of any significance in comparison to CoD'.

 

 

And this is a very odd take - when Sony are the ones saying the potential merger will kill them and their dominant market position not the other way around. Nobody truly believes it's going to make MS #1 in any way at all, it's just not. Strong chance it won't even make them #2.

 

I do find it odd that people look at Sony as the underdog that needs protecting here....

COD is one of the biggest franchises in the videogame market and extremely popular on PlayStation. Purchasing it outright means MS can put it on Game Pass giving them an unfair pricing advantage when compared to Sony who likely could not afford a $67 billion acquisition, let alone give all their first party games away for ‘’free”. In this fight they are the underdog, comparatively. 

[rgraves]

35 minutes ago, Stanley said:

In this fight they are the underdog, comparatively. 

 

Nonsense, in the fight for first-party games that drive hardware sales Sony are clearly a long way ahead. And they are not going to lose CoD either - the only thing that's going to happen is it's going to, eventually once the existing Sony contracts allow it, be on GP (and Switch) as well and there will likely not be any further Sony exclusive content.

[Stanley]

5 minutes ago, rgraves said:

 

Nonsense, in the fight for first-party games that drive hardware sales Sony are clearly a long way ahead. And they are not going to lose CoD either - the only thing that's going to happen is it's going to be on GP as well and there will not be any Sony exclusive content.

 

And Sony do give first-party content away for free on their subscription service(s) already, that's not something they can't do - it's something they already do.

It’s not a like for like comparison, putting ‘some’ first party games on their service 12 months after release is not the same as all games on the service day one, but you know that. The reason for that is probably because it’s not financially viable when, say, GOW sells 10 million in a week or whatever. 
 

And that’s why they would be at a disadvantage, they’d lose sales of COD to MS who can afford to include it day one on GP. 
 

 

[MidWalian]

What even were the first-party exclusives for the series s/x launch?