Ryuu96 said:
--- Microsoft is using Google's testimony (which was meant to help FTC) now to help them against New Zealand, haha. 4.11 Furthermore, [ ], in its testimony to the US District Court, 139 Google accepted that its cloud gaming service, Stadia, competed with consoles and PC distribution platforms. 140 They also mention that EC doesn't consider Cloud Gaming a market. Cloud gaming is no more than a feature that provides an alternative means for gamers to access content on a device (i.e. they can purchase a physical disc, download or stream content). That is consistent with the findings of the EC, which has concluded on the basis of feedback from market participants, that the relevant market is an overall market for game distribution and that this market should not be segmented based on type of access (i.e. physical disc, downloading or streaming). |
When you think about it, can MS successfully defend their stance that Cloud gaming is just another distribution channel. Lets take a look at the different services from Luna, PS+ and GP. For PS+ and GP, they both provide download service to a device as well as streaming from a cloud service. In both instances, you pay a sub price for a collection of games and have access to those games based on any distribution method you choice to use.
Luna on the other hand is also a subscription service but I do not believe it has a download option for the games. Could it be said that only Luna is a true Cloud base service or would it just be considered another subscription service which would be the definition and that streaming is its only distribution of software. I can definitely see MS successfully defending this angle in US courts but not sure how that goes with the CMA or New Zealand.
