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That's basically what MSX was. (a standardized home computer architecture, announced by Microsoft and ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983) The hardware was made by several different companies, including Sony, while MS developed the OS and Microsoft Basic. The first programming language I learned and started making games in as a kid.

So maybe history will repeat itself :)

MSX never caught on in the US but was popular in Japan and parts of Europe. Gamepass and XBox are worldwide now, so the base is there to try this collaboration again.

I wouldn't call your question stupid but it is extremely biased toward Sony. Microsoft is not banning or barring anything from Sony. What they did was make a major acquisition to strengthen their Xbox gaming division. Why are you still going back to the Minecraft acquisition when the Bethesda acquisition makes a lot more sense for comparison again bias toward wanting games to remain on your favorite console. 

It's pretty clear that with this acquisition that won't close till early 2023, there will be a game-by-game decision again on if those new entrants will be exclusives to Xbox or if there is an existing contract. Even if the game is not exclusive the simple fact that most of the future Activision's games will come day and date on Game pass will result in massive loss of software sales on Sony consoles.  

Microsoft did not make these acquisitions to boost their sales on Sony consoles. I'm not sure where you guys are getting this pointless argument that Microsoft would care about profit from selling to Sony since that profit would be 5X greater if they can take a customer away from Sony. They lost the last generation and are trying to grow their userbase to match or surpass Sony this generation.  

It's funny that you would mention Microsoft being afraid of talent moving from Activision and going to Sony. When in reality Microsoft now has 30 gaming studios to Sony's 17 gaming studios. If anything Microsoft with all the recent growth has been poaching all of the Talent available in the industry to staff their new studios. Many of the studios under Microsoft's umbrella with the new funds have been able to grow their studios and have needed much more staff. Besides, Microsoft has embraced allowing their studios to keep their identity and operate separately under their Xbox gaming division. In your statement, you failed to realize that Sony is also a massive corporation that has faults of its own and you seem to think everyone would rather work for a Sony studio, that's simply not reality. When it comes down to it people work where they live and for the most compensation. Major purchases like these come with lots of potential rewards like stock options, new opportunities, and new roles for employees. Games are made with 1000s of game developers and it's not the move of one or two key personnel that will impact that game creation. 

You are clearly misinformed when it comes to Sony's current position in this generation. The last generation Sony outsold Microsoft consoles 2 to 1. But, this generation Sony lead has shrunk quite a bit and this 68 billion dollar acquisition is trying to make sure that the gap between the two is even smaller. 

The real impact here is not how much Sony loses on royalties from selling Activision games but rather how much consoles sales will they lose by not having Activision's games. These mega acquisitions are all meant to grow Xbox gaming divisions and in that nature Xbox console sales. This explains why sony stock dropped by 20 Billion after this announcement. This is a mega acquisition that is intended to change the current landscape in the console market and gaming sector. 

MS is going to win North America if they pull it from PS5 for starters.

Its not just about the royalties Sony loses (although those will be a lot). It's that Call fo Duty was one of the main reasons PS4 sold as well as it did. Between 2017 and 2020, the most downloaded game every year was the newest Call of Duty game. This was even more than Marvel's Spider Man and God of War in 2018 (they were actually number 3 and 4 respectively). Despite what many people claim here, Sony's first party games are not the main driver of hardware sales. It's mostly third party titles, including Call of Duty, GTA and FIFA. Sony can't draw people to their systems in the same way Nintendo has been able to do. Beyond just Call of Duty, it hurts shooters in general, since most people will get an XBox for FPSs now, since CoD will be the home of XBox. The truth is this is a catastrophic hit that could jeopardize the PS5. Sony has been relying on third parties to push the hardware, and often has made exclusivity deals to keep games of competitors consoles. Now, Micorsoft can just buy up the publishers, which makes it harder for Sony to compete, and their first party line-up isn't up to snuff to keep the system going. Combined with the chip shortage and poor software sales, the Playstation could be in serious trouble.

At the very least they should still hit 100 million PS5s. I say this because PS1 PS2 sold over 100 million without any COD or TES and FO

I think the damage Sony is going to suffer is going to vary by region. In North America, the news is nothing short of devastating for Sony, because we have seen over and over again for 25 years that North American console buyers do not have brand loyalty and they follow the deals and the games. North American COD fans will switch to Xbox without a moments hesitation.

Outside of North America it gets a bit harder to predict. Even in the darkest days of the PS3 there was still a faction of buyers in the EU that still obstinately refused to buy an Xbox 360. But to think that 0 will change over I think is also optimistic on Sony’s part

There is still two years of CoD on PS platforms and who knows what will happen between them and now. And even if the next CoD (2024) is Xbox console exclusive they still have Warzone 2 on PS platform alongside other massive games like Fortnite, PUBG and Apex Legends for competitive shooters.

Its hard to predict. For all we know some other IP could take the helm as the casual FPS for the masses. Like how Fortnite came out of nowhere and dominated the BR genre. Though Sony's will feel it in the coming years maybe PS users will shy away from the annual/bi annual COD's and look elsewhere for their shooter itch - there's a few alternatives out there.

Agreed with this which is why I also think BC will be important. You want people who are thinking of leaving to have to really lose something and losing all the games you built up over the ps4ps5 generation isn't something everyone will want to do.

Hell just me having to leave my achievements behind on 360 when I switched to PS4 was hard.