By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming - Where do you stand on Microsoft buying Activision/Blizzard?

 

For or against the acquisition?

For 58 41.43%
 
Against 54 38.57%
 
Neutral 28 20.00%
 
Total:140
LurkerJ said:

(...)

As a leftist, I am against corporate consolidation. I think most level-headed gamers think it's bad until MS decided to buy studios left and right and console wars entered the equation.  

Obviously, the usual counter points since the acquisition has been announced are still being used to justify this have been the same. SONY money hatted timed exclusive, SONY paid third parties to prevent games from making it to the xbox platforms. SONY is doing this and that..... yeah, and I see your point on how this is wrong and shouldn't continue to happen, however, the question becomes; 

  • how is the solution to objectionable practices is an even bigger objectionable practice?

and it doesn't stop at this acquisition, we all know this, this is not some conspiracy theory, Microsoft has been vocal with their unhinged intents to buy even more publishers and that they would stop at nothing. How many studios they need to own before we go, erm, wait a second... 

... let's discuss this (now that regulatory bodies have made the matter discussable, even though, I still think the merger is inevitable). 

Since you've decided to highlight your key point in bold letters, we should first ask ourselves if this premise of yours is actually true in the first place. Because up till now, all you have are assumptions that run contrary to the facts of Microsoft's acquisitions.

We do know that Sony's practices have been all about taking away games from other platforms, just like Microsoft's (timed) exclusive garbage they did happily partake in in the past. But Microsoft's acquisitions have not followed this pattern of taking away desirable games from other console manufacturers; what actually happened is the opposite, because Nintendo consoles got included whereas they were previously left out. This was true for Minecraft and will be true for Call of Duty as well. Add to this that these IPs didn't/won't leave PlayStation either.

So the key question is this:

How exactly are Microsoft's acquisitions a bigger objectionable practice than Sony's deals of the past and present?

Granted, Microsoft is an evil corporation with a stained reputation that was well earned. But in gaming their actions have improved in comparison to what they've been before when they played Sony's game by Sony's rules. Therefore your premise is plain false and doesn't work as an appeal to the morality of gamers.

Furthermore, Sony's acquisition of Bungie works much like what Microsoft intends to do, with existing IPs being promised to remain multiplatform. This new reality seems to have similarities to the Cold War and nukes where two fierce competitors possessed deadly threats, but neither of them ever used them because they both knew that they would lose more than they would gain by using them. So what's more likely than Microsoft pulling games from PlayStation is that both console manufacturers will try to put popular IPs under their control while keeping them available to gamers regardless of platform, for the sake of having that threat to retaliate if the other should choose to try something. And in all of this, Nintendo and PC gamers seem to be winning, because they'll get to have more games on their platforms than before due to both Sony and Microsoft playing the goodwill game in hopes to pull Nintendo and PC gamers to their platforms and services.



Legend11 correctly predicted that GTA IV will outsell Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I was wrong.

Around the Network

It's all fun and games until someone eventually decides to buy just the right IP, with a large enough or hardcore enough audience, and makes it exclusive even if it doesn't really seem to make much sense to do so.
Then all of the sudden it won't really be ok anymore and that company will be the scum of the earth, who should be boycotted.

Maybe it needs to take place just to make it clear how much of a problem something like this really is. Hard lessons suck.



User Requested removal



User Requested removal

Last edited by DeletedAccount3 - on 16 December 2022

Doesnt effect gamers, pushes competition and increases value of GP.



Around the Network
LurkerJ said:

Has everyone missed announcements like the outer world 2, Redfall, Hellblade 2, Starfield, Avowed? Phil's all but confirming the elder scroll 6 as xbox exclusive? the fact that Microsoft initially promised Call of Duty would remain on PS for three years before stretching it to 10? 

If you don't want to engage with my question because you think I don't have enough proof that MS will weaponise these acquisitions, then that's fine. But to ask me a question in return that we already know is based on a false premise is a bit odd, ain't it? 

These announcements aren't any different to how Sony has handled things. I fail to see how what Microsoft is doing is worse than anything Sony has done.

It's just that we've been coming off a period where the funding had been cut for the Xbox division and the vast majority of third party deals had been made by Sony, and now that the playing field has been leveled, it's somehow worse.

The current trajectory is that both PS and Xbox will become redundant consoles, because both console manufacturers will put their games on the PC. Microsoft all of them day 1, Sony with delays of varying degrees. That's why I don't see a real problem for gamers here. The weaponising you speak of would first and foremost be against Sony, but not so much gamers.

What are the negative consequences you see for gamers?



Legend11 correctly predicted that GTA IV will outsell Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I was wrong.

When I play games I do not play the system or the publisher or developer.

So I say more power to them!



    The NINTENDO PACT 2015[2016  Vgchartz Wii U Achievement League! - Sign up now!                      My T.E.C.H'aracter

Ah fk it, against. I wrote a legthy article but got deleted by accident and can't be bothered. Bad for hardcore xbox gamers who wanted more exclusives, and bad for people on other consoles who enjoy games from blizzard/activision.



Shinobi-san said:
Farsala said:

I don't really like it. First we have MS buying Activision Blizzard.

What then stops Sony from buying SE?

Valve then buys Ubisoft?

Nintendo buys Namco Bandai or Koei Tecmo?

Amazon buys EA and Sega?

That is only if this deal goes through and MS becomes extremely competitive with the others, then the other corporations feel threatened.

Have not seen any responses to this concern from those that are overly positive about this deal. Is the thinking that Xbox got the biggest publisher therefore they don't care what happens next? Or is the assumption that the other major companies don't have the will or money to follow suite?

Im not sure if anyone thinks what your saying. But i will say Ms getting Acti isnt going to stop Sony or amazon or Googler or what have you from buying up companys anyways. In fact even if Ms doesnt get acti all that stuff is most likely going to happen anyways.



ConservagameR said:
Shinobi-san said:

I ended up voting as neutral, although I've mostly been against it during debates etc.

I would say I'm fine specifically with this acquisition, provided that there are no additional major acquisitions that follow. In other words, MS stops here, Sony does not retaliate, Amazon and Meta keeps out of it etc.

Xbox needs this to compete and I'm all for the survival of Xbox and strong competition to Sony in the traditional console/hardcore gamer sector.

However, if every other major corporation starts doing the same thing, those that are for this acquisition will very quickly regret it. Sony could buy capcom or Ubisoft, the Saudi Prince can buy EA who knows. Why anyone would be for this type of extreme consolidation of the industry is beyond me.

Furthermore to that, the services impact on gaming quality is going to be noticeable in the coming decade if every major publisher follows suite.

You can't let XB have this and tell PS or anyone else large enough that they can't retaliate. You maybe could've made the argument for that with a Zenimax sized acquisition, but not after dropping $70B all at once on AB. 

If this goes through you can almost be certain everyone will retaliate in some form. I'd bet the odds are good that would likely mean going after whatever else is on the market that XB would want and could have in the future. Meaning someone like Sony would be less likely to acquire Japanese companies and would likely go after Western instead, assuming they see a positive business case for it.

I'd rather this not be the case, even though Sony would probably leave those newly acquired games as multiplatform as well, but you can't let MS get away with that now and stop everyone else.

The thing to do would be to stop the AB acquisition, and force AB to split things up if they want to sell, and then let companies bid. How the timing of the sales was handled along with the bidding is another thing, but this would be the better start. More would have to follow and soon enough. You can't just have this for right now and hold it to gaming related business.

Do you honestly think Sony or any of them other companys where not planning on buying more companys anyway?.