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Forums - Gaming Discussion - CMA blocks MS /ABK merger (Update: UK gov smears the CMA)

Chazore said:
LurkerJ said:

I didn't mean dominance in PC gaming revenue. What I was alluding to in my initial post is their dominance in the PC space in general, or that's how I understood their documents anyway (some comments about the remedies provided by MS being too windows centric). 

You do realise the PC space means all software providers, publishers, studios making apps, game publishers, etc.


You do realise that MS has money, but they cannot literally buy everyone and everything that is being used within PC's universe. 

They *could* put a lockdown on everything and just be an outward brute to everyone, but we all know how that worked out when they tried their EEE strat, so them going from a subtle strat to an outlandish one would get shut down so much faster.

PC in general is so much bigger than you think you know, bigger than anyone here knows, and I'm not on about the gaming sector, I'm on about everything else (yes literally everything else within it's sphere). MS cannot afford to buyout or control absolutely everything on PC, it's both impossible and entirely impractical (Which is why they have their OS, the cloud and some services, instead of hw, and literally everything else anyone else has made for and on PC, past present and future, because that's just not possible.

I'm legit trying to mull over this ability to somehow own/dominate an open platform, and it sounds so bonkers, like not a "whoa man, far out", I mean as in "wow, not possible, why we we even trying to think of this?".

Despite what others will tell you, Mac, Windows and Linux, as well as Amiga, are all OS's that are used for PC's, so regardless of Windows existing, MS would still somehow have to dominate/own Mac OS and Linux, as in prevent any and all growth, because time changes everything, things grow, and dominance can certainly wane, so for them to dominate all of PC, they would have to eliminate or own those following OS's, or risk them growing and making their "dominance" a non factor or "whatever".

I don't understand what you're to say here, really. Just literally hours ago the EC ordered Microsoft to uncouple Teams from Office because Slack, the product MS copied, lost all of its lead to Teams after MS flexed its muscle and leveraged its dominant position to promote their copycat product. MS is a convicted monopolist and a repeat offender, they will abuse whatever power they're handed, whether they're successful at this or not is a different matter; one the CMA isn't keen on finding out. 

The funny thing is that MS didn't protest the EC decision at all and complied immediately, because as a repeat offender, they know better than anyone how they challenged similar decisions in the past and lost. 



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LurkerJ said:

I don't understand what you're to say here, really. Just literally hours ago the EC ordered Microsoft to uncouple Teams from Office because Slack, the product MS copied, lost all of its lead to Teams after MS flexed its muscle and leveraged its dominant position to promote their copycat product. MS is a convicted monopolist and a repeat offender, they will abuse whatever power they're handed, whether they're successful at this or not is a different matter; one the CMA isn't keen on finding out. 

I don't even know why 4 people are agreeing with you, on the subject you mentioned about MS "dominating ALL OF PC", and that's not how this works, like at all...


The only part MS actually owns on PC is their own operating system, which is of their own design, but it is in no way "all of PC", because Linux and mac OS exist.

Last edited by Chazore - on 29 April 2023

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Chazore said:

The only part MS actually owns on PC is their own operating system, which is of their own design, but it is in no way "all of PC", because Linux and mac OS exist.

Did you really used Linux as an argument about MS not dominating PC space ?



SKMBlake said:

Did you really used Linux as an argument about MS not dominating PC space ?

Did you really just pull an "akcutally" on me?



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Chazore said:

SKMBlake said:

Did you really used Linux as an argument about MS not dominating PC space ?

Did you really just pull an "akcutally" on me?

No, not at all.



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SKMBlake said:

No, not at all.

yes, I actually think you did, because you're trying to imply something here, please tell me what it is you think.



Step right up come on in, feel the buzz in your veins, I'm like an chemical electrical right into your brain and I'm the one who killed the Radio, soon you'll all see

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Chazore said:
SKMBlake said:

No, not at all.

yes, I actually think you did

Well, I didn't. At all. 



UK gives more "power" to the CMA

The whole article : https://www.allenovery.com/en-gb/global/news-and-insights/publications/uk-revamps-competition-and-consumer-regimes



CloudxTifa said:

UK gives more "power" to the CMA

The whole article : https://www.allenovery.com/en-gb/global/news-and-insights/publications/uk-revamps-competition-and-consumer-regimes

Bipartisan bill that passed despite blocking the CMA history of blocking massive mergers like Nvidia + ARM, and smaller acquisitions like Meta absorbing Giphy, and stopping domestic disasters like ASDA merging with Sainsbury.

Non of the CMA actions, so far, have phased tech investors. London in 2022 maintained its massive lead over Paris and Berlin and is still ahead by a big margin. In Q1 2023, London VC funding is still double what its closet European competitors have received (Berlin or Paris have received). So when ABK comes out and say, the UK is closed for business, that's misinformation (aka lies) that do not align with the numbers and the facts. MS statements aren't any better, it's amazing how little press and scrutiny their veiled threats and misinformation (again, lies) have received. 

And you know what, now that the weather is less cloudy in the dystopian corporates' lands and my vision is less blurry, I can actually say that the initial structural remedies suggested by the CMA were too soft, all they asked for (to my limited understanding anyway) is for MS not to acquire CoD, and keep the rest, the and rest are massive IPs, some of which have proven to be evergreen like Overwatch, WoW, and Diablo, some would've given the Xbox a diverse family friendly line up like Crash and Spyro, and some would've furthered their mobile ambitions like Candy Crush. There was a fantastic deal for MS here, and still is. 

The CMA have been handling MS proposed acquisition with gloves, but evidently, even that wasn't enough.  

Last edited by LurkerJ - on 30 April 2023

SKMBlake said:

Well, I didn't. At all. 

Alright then, so it was a nothing post, gotcha. 



Step right up come on in, feel the buzz in your veins, I'm like an chemical electrical right into your brain and I'm the one who killed the Radio, soon you'll all see

So pay up motherfuckers you belong to "V"