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Microsoft has Closed the Activision Blizzard King Deal

First and only warning. Drop the console Warri g.
Imagine spending $100 billion on developers and publishers only to be in third place and have to give your flagship games away with bags of doritos lmao

Microsoft is malignant rectal cancer to this industry and I can't wait to watch them torpedo another half dozen established franchises with their hilariously out of touch management
 
Imagine spending $100 billion on developers and publishers only to be in third place and have to give your flagship games away with bags of doritos lmao

Microsoft is malignant rectal cancer to this industry and I can't wait to watch them torpedo another half dozen established franchises with their hilariously out of touch management
You sound very upset. Who hurt you?
 
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skit_data

Member
I was managing a cell phone store at this time, and that was by far the biggest issue windows phones had. People would love the hardware, but would quickly change their tune when they found out they couldn't download their pinterest, Instagram, etc.
That reminds me of my worst phone ever: The Xperia X1. An unholy alliance between Sony and Windows Mobile.

It had tons of issues but the most obvious one was that every now and then it was impossible to charge the phone. The led indicator just lit up red instead of orange. You had to just keep taking out and inserting the battery over and over until it indicated it was charging. Usually took 10-15 minutes of constant removal/insertion of the battery. Absolute shit show.

Pretty wierd that that was the arrangement back then, Windows Mobile in a Sony phone. I promised to never buy a Sony phone or a Windows Mobile phone ever again because of that Xperia X1, and that's a promise I've kept.
 

Gavon West

Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
Given we only have guarantees of COD coming to PlayStation out of their two large publisher buyouts - I'd say they are well on their way to software monopolism. They've bought a lot of studios and IP to shut Sony out.

That's not arguable. Their leaked emails even said as such. Outspend Sony.
I'm sorry but. I still find it kind of comical how alot of people were clowning the warchest. Now that SOB has folks losing sleep because another publisher might be bought out.

Also. Just a few years ago, Xbox had about 4 or 5 studios trying to compete with Sony and Nintendo. Now they have over 30!! And quite arguably the best stable of developers in the industry. Like, phil wasn't kidding when he said "industry leading" stable of developers.

Now, this is just a whole new era for Xbox. Next gen is going to be utterly nuts. They'll practically be drooling heavy hitters from the gate. Just, crazy to think about..
 
I've said a million times before if Sony announced Sly Cooper 5 I'd buy a PS5 right-goddamned-now.

Sly Cooper 4 is what caused me to spend an absurd amount of disposable income on a PS3 Slim. It was what caused me to be a PS4 guy until Sony decided only Xbox wanted to have competent mods on Fallout 4, and Skyrim SE.
 
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Natalie Portman Politics GIF by Star Wars


Empire has won. Nothing drastic probably In the near future but in the long run this will probably be the start of the great consolidation. Other multi billion dollar companies can now jump in. Disney buying ea, tecent buying probably ubisoft and who knows who else will be gobbled up.
I really wished Microsoft used that money to grow new developers and add to the gaming world but we'll just see take away at this point.
 

Riky

$MSFT
I'm sure he'd like that, yes, but it's not happening (anytime soon), and what they do have now isn't going to cover the 5 or more 80+ million dollar budgeted AAA games on the horizon either.

Not backed up by figures.

What we actually know is Gamepass had at least 25 million subscribers. We know it now has another 11 million moves from Gold and that doesn't include people signing up for the likes of Starfield and Forza.
We know Spencer says the division is profitable despite already funding the biggest first party line up in history and leaked figures from the court back that up.
We know some Gamepass owners will not buy COD next year when it is on Gamepass but we know that it's likely to be a big Treyarch release and that people will still be paying full price on PlayStation and PC as well as the game increasing that day one revenue by releasing on Steam and Switch 2. That sounds pretty healthy to me.
Plus of course Activision already bringing billions in profit yearly.

I'd say that's a pretty strong position myself.
 
Just a few years ago, Xbox had about 4 or 5 studios trying to compete with Sony and Nintendo. Now they have over 30!! And quite arguably the best stable of developers in the industry

The stable of developers they have are mediocre at best, and poor at worst. Having 30 of them doesn't make them suddenly exciting to the vast majority of the fanbase.

The uphill battle Phil will have is actually turning these poorly run mediocre/poor studios into something that can achieve top tier levels of industry quality. It's not easy. Microsoft has been trying to do just that for the last few decades to no avail.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
The stable of developers they have are mediocre at best, and poor at worst. Having 30 of them doesn't make them suddenly exciting to the vast majority of the fanbase.

The uphill battle Phil will have is actually turning these poorly run mediocre/poor studios into something that can achieve top tier levels of industry quality. It's not easy. Microsoft has been trying to do just that for the last few decades to no avail.
Activision alone makes as much profit per year (about $2 billion), than Sony does as a whole gaming division (also about $2 billion profit).

The profit from Activision's WOW, COD, King mobile games etc... will keep MS in gaming forever.
 

Zathalus

Member
The stable of developers they have are mediocre at best, and poor at worst. Having 30 of them doesn't make them suddenly exciting to the vast majority of the fanbase.

The uphill battle Phil will have is actually turning these poorly run mediocre/poor studios into something that can achieve top tier levels of industry quality. It's not easy. Microsoft has been trying to do just that for the last few decades to no avail.
Xbox has plenty of good studios working for it.

Double Fine
inXile
Ninja Theory
Obsidian Entertainment
Playground Games
Rare
World's Edge
id
Tango Gameworks
Toys for Bob
Beenox
Infinity Ward

I'm not including Bethesda or Blizzard as the games they have released are controversial (despite good reviews and sales).

But if you think the list I provided are not good studios then you have a pretty narrow definition of what good means. Most Sony Studios won't even clear that bar.
 
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Xbox has plenty of good studios working for it.

Double Fine
inXile
Ninja Theory
Obsidian Entertainment
Playground Games
Rare
World's Edge
id
Tango Gameworks
Toys for Bob
Beenox
Infinity Ward

I'm not including Bethesda or Blizzard as the games they have released are controversial (despite good reviews and sales).

But if you think the list I provided are not good studios then you have a pretty narrow definition of what good means. Most Sony Studios won't even clear that bar.

The list you provided is significantly less impactful than those on each other rival platform.

They can still be “good”, but in their current state they are not producing even a single GOTY candidate eligible title. Rival platform holders produce them routinely.

Not all of them need to, but your average consumer is not really looking at those studios with great anticipation (excluding CoD’s mainstream legacy appeal)

I hope they become that someday, but after Bethesda’s recent output amongst other MS studio failings, I’m not holding my breath
 

Zathalus

Member
The list you provided is significantly less impactful than those on each other rival platform.

They can still be “good”, but in their current state they are not producing even a single GOTY candidate eligible title. Rival platform holders produce them routinely.

Not all of them need to, but your average consumer is not really looking at those studios with great anticipation (excluding CoD’s mainstream legacy appeal)

I hope they become that someday, but after Bethesda’s recent output amongst other MS studio failings, I’m not holding my breath
Now you are just moving the goalposts. You claimed that the developers they had were mediocre at best, when one look at the list I provided and the accompanying recent critic/steam review scores would clearly show that not to be the case.

GotY candidate basically limits Sony to two studios. Are the rest mediocre then as well? Insomniac is irrelevant because none of the games they make can crack the 9/10 meta? Sounds silly to me.

Xbox has been releasing and will continue releasing good games. Are they as good as the very best of Sony and Nintendo? Nope, but then again most of Sony and Nintendo is not that good either.

You can certainly argue that Xbox needs a flagship studio and franchise (Halo is no longer it, and Forza Horizon won't do it either). But that is entirely different from the conversation that Xbox has no good developers.
 
GotY candidate basically limits Sony to two studios.

Nope. Pretty much all the major studios from them, or partners, have released GOTY candidate titles. Including ND, SSM, GG, Insomniac, Sucker Punch, and Kojima

Now you are just moving the goalposts. You claimed that the developers they had were mediocre at best, when one look at the list I provided and the accompanying recent critic/steam review scores would clearly show that not to be the case.

Mediocre doesn’t mean BAD, there’s no goalposts being moved

Nope, but then again most of Sony and Nintendo is not that good either.

This kind of false equivalency is pretty hilarious. The reason Microsoft is in last place on the console front is precisely because their quality and appeal from their own studios is nowhere near as strong
 

Zathalus

Member
Nope. Pretty much all the major studios from them, or partners, have released GOTY candidate titles. Including ND, SSM, GG, Insomniac, Sucker Punch, and Kojima
Only ND and SSM have released GotY quality titles. The rest are sub 9/10 trash. (Sarcastic obviously but Forbidden West barely got any GotY wins, Obsidian got one less for a indie game). Sucker Punch? Ghost of Tsushima wasn't even top 100 for the year on Metacritic. The last time Insomniac released a 9/10 game on meta was 2004.

Kojima isn't even Sony.

Mediocre doesn’t mean BAD, there’s no goalposts being moved

Right and the studios I listed are not mediocre either. I'm not sure how you can claim Sucker Punch makes GotY calibre games and then turn around and state the likes of Double Fine, inXile, and id are mediocre.

This kind of false equivalency is pretty hilarious. The reason Microsoft is in last place on the console front is precisely because their quality and appeal from their own studios is nowhere near as strong
What false equivalency? Most Sony Studios are not as good as SSM or ND. This is quite obvious when look at metacritic scores. I agree that Microsoft studios are not that good either.

And yes, not having a stable release of good games is one of the reasons (but obviously not the only one) Xbox has not been doing well. The good games issue has only recently been addressed and the stable release is still up in the air. But they have a number of good studios under them.
 
Only ND and SSM have released GotY quality titles. The rest are sub 9/10 trash. (Sarcastic obviously but Forbidden West barely got any GotY wins, Obsidian got one less for a indie game). Sucker Punch? Ghost of Tsushima wasn't even top 100 for the year on Metacritic. The last time Insomniac released a 9/10 game on meta was 2004.

Kojima isn't even Sony.

I said candidates, not wins.

At TGA, all of those studios have been represented in the last 4 years. And some have won it. Kojima studios would not be around as successful as they are today without Sony’s involvement.

Right and the studios I listed are not mediocre either. I'm not sure how you can claim Sucker Punch makes GotY calibre games and then turn around and state the likes of Double Fine, inXile, and id are mediocre.

Because with GoT Sucker Punch created a game that was worthy of TGA and ended being one of the best first party sellers with broad appeal as an AAA title; none of those studios you listed fit that bill. They’re good games, they’re not AAA games, and they’re not doing GoT numbers

What false equivalency?

The false equivalency that Microsoft’s studios can largely compete with those below the two studios you mentioned, they do not in their current state. On a blend of objective metrics like sales and metacritic. They are not the same
 
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Zathalus

Member
I said candidates, not wins.

At TGA, all of those studios have been represented in the last 4 years.

Oh we changing it to TGA candidates now? In that case 4 Xbox studios qualify. But TGA is not the authority on the best games for the year, the Metacritic ranking is far better at that if you want something close to objective as possible.

The false equivalency that Microsoft’s studios can largely compete with those below the two studios you mentioned, they do not in their current state. On a blend of objective metrics like sales and metacritic
They can absolutely compete in Metacritic (and Steam reviews) and have been doing so for a while. Or did you not bother doing even basic research when calling those studios mediocre?

But now you bring up sales when talking about the quality of a studio? Moving those goalposts again? But sure, Infinity Ward shits on everyone.
 
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Oh we changing it to TGA candidates now? In that case 4 Xbox studios qualify. But TGA is not the authority on the best games for the year, the Metacritic ranking is far better at that if you want something close to objective as possible.

Metacritic doesn’t differentiate between an indie game and an AAA game

any metric you use can be argued, but platform splits don’t lie. There’s a reason why Xbox is last and the gap is growing, and that’s because the studios you mentioned aren’t AAA or broadly appealing

But now you bring up sales when talking about the quality of a studio? Moving those goalposts again? But sure, Infinity Ward shits on everyone.

Infinity ward is not exclusive and was never a Microsoft cultured studio. They are not indicative of any sort of Microsoft leadership direction or oversight
 

Zathalus

Member
Metacritic doesn’t differentiate between an indie game and an AAA game

any metric you use can be argued, but platform splits don’t lie. There’s a reason why Xbox is last and the gap is growing, and that’s because the studios you mentioned aren’t AAA or broadly appealing

Man, I just pointed out that Xbox has good studios when you made the comment that they had none. I'm not here to argue who is winning the console race or what is AAA. I've pointed out a number of studios that Xbox has that make good games, that's that.

Infinity ward is not exclusive and was never a Microsoft cultured studio. They are not indicative of any sort of Microsoft leadership direction or oversight

What is with you and just going on this wild tangents? Bringing up GotY, broad appeal, AAA sales, and now Microsoft leadership.

That has got nothing to do with your original point. Does Microsoft have studios that make good games? Yes. End of, your point has been debunked, discussion over.

Going on other points you mentioned, do they have good AAA games. Yes. Do they have studios nominated for GotY at the TGA. Yes.

I don't care for who is winning what or the leadership, or sales. I just jumped in to point out MS has good studios.
 
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Fess

Member
The list you provided is significantly less impactful than those on each other rival platform.

They can still be “good”, but in their current state they are not producing even a single GOTY candidate eligible title. Rival platform holders produce them routinely.

Not all of them need to, but your average consumer is not really looking at those studios with great anticipation (excluding CoD’s mainstream legacy appeal)

I hope they become that someday, but after Bethesda’s recent output amongst other MS studio failings, I’m not holding my breath
Nowdays I usually see you complain about the GOTY games so why are you hyping them up so much? Did you even like Elden Ring? What about TOTK for this year? BG3?

Can I ask what you are playing now? Like this weekend? Yesterday?

I mostly played Starfield yesterday, kept building on my ship and base, raided some outposts. Closing in on 150 hours played. Played Minecraft too and did the voting map with the parkour course. Fun times! 👍

GOTY candidate or not, if people keep playing games then they aren’t failures and they don’t need to be in any GOTY talks to be great and important additions to a games library.

In Sony’s case many high profile games are story-focused games I play through once and often enjoy but rarely keep playing when the story is finished. They last a week or two and then I’m back to waiting for the next one, which might be awhile.

On PC, which is where I mostly play now, my most played games are No Man’s Sky, Elden Ring, Cyberpunk, Starfield and Skyrim. Open, non-linear, creativity, roleplaying, exploration. Key ingredients for me for a nice main course, then I jump in for a GOTY dessert on PS5 once or twice per year.
 

sendit

Member
I've said a million times before if Sony announced Sly Cooper 5 I'd buy a PS5 right-goddamned-now.

Sly Cooper 4 is what caused me to spend an absurd amount of disposable income on a PS3 Slim. It was what caused me to be a PS4 guy until Sony decided only Xbox wanted to have competent mods on Fallout 4, and Skyrim SE.
Sly Cooper 5 would have one buyer.
 

elmos-acc

Member
I've said a million times before if Sony announced Sly Cooper 5 I'd buy a PS5 right-goddamned-now.

Sly Cooper 4 is what caused me to spend an absurd amount of disposable income on a PS3 Slim. It was what caused me to be a PS4 guy until Sony decided only Xbox wanted to have competent mods on Fallout 4, and Skyrim SE.
There's two of us! I mean, Sly 5 is not the only announcement to make me jump into the 9th gen, but probably the only one to get me on board immediately. I got a Vita just to have a console to experience the trilogy since my PS2 is not in great shape.
 

RickMasters

Member
It a sad day for al of us!
Not for me it ain’t. 🤷🏾‍♂️


I’m sad about the state of the world, with its rampant poverty, constant economic downturn, and the wars. I’m sad that radical leftists have turned America into a circus. I’m sad that France still has its colonial claws in parts of Africa….. though happy that is changing…..


But I’ll tell you what I’m not sad about…..I’m not sad about a multitrillion dollar company buying a multibillion dollar company. There are simply far more important things going on in the world. Don’t let video game industry politics make you feel emotional. It’s just a form of entertainment and the people who work in it are making tonnes of money. Worry about yourself.Save all that ‘ sad for the industry’ shite for the internet crusaders with no cause going on in their own lives to distract them from the business of companies who don’t even know they exist.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
Imagine spending $100 billion on developers and publishers only to be in third place and have to give your flagship games away with bags of doritos lmao

Microsoft is malignant rectal cancer to this industry and I can't wait to watch them torpedo another half dozen established franchises with their hilariously out of touch management
Sooo you are against or for this deal? 🤔
 

Gavon West

Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
The stable of developers they have are mediocre at best, and poor at worst. Having 30 of them doesn't make them suddenly exciting to the vast majority of the fanbase.

The uphill battle Phil will have is actually turning these poorly run mediocre/poor studios into something that can achieve top tier levels of industry quality. It's not easy. Microsoft has been trying to do just that for the last few decades to no avail.
Bruh....you too, are notorious for peddling your substandard opinions as a fact -- like you believe in your own online keyboard warrior legend created by a whole ass two people on this forum. Peddle that shit elsewhere. You're obviously feeling the sting of the latest acquisition.

I can't believe you had the Gaul to say all 30 studios were mid. Even the hardest Sony fanboy knows thats bullshit. Congrats! You've graduated from barely tolerable to blocked. Have a good one chief.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
I'm sorry but. I still find it kind of comical how alot of people were clowning the warchest. Now that SOB has folks losing sleep because another publisher might be bought out.

Also. Just a few years ago, Xbox had about 4 or 5 studios trying to compete with Sony and Nintendo. Now they have over 30!! And quite arguably the best stable of developers in the industry. Like, phil wasn't kidding when he said "industry leading" stable of developers.

Now, this is just a whole new era for Xbox. Next gen is going to be utterly nuts. They'll practically be drooling heavy hitters from the gate. Just, crazy to think about..
From next year to next gen :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 

BlackTron

Member
Imagine spending $100 billion on developers and publishers only to be in third place and have to give your flagship games away with bags of doritos lmao

Microsoft is malignant rectal cancer to this industry and I can't wait to watch them torpedo another half dozen established franchises with their hilariously out of touch management
You sound very upset. Who hurt you?

BFau5Zw.jpg
 

GrayDock

Member
We know that some games, like RE 7 and 8, can't be in gamepass because of clauses in marketing contracts with Sony.
'If' (big IF) the same clause exists in the Sony CoD marketing for the last 10 years, which is plausible because Activision itself said it doesn't like the gamepass model so it would be easy to ask them to agree with it, can those games be in gamepass?
 

Jigsaah

Member
I don't understand why anybody would logically wish for Microsoft's failure at this point. Suggestion for the Sony fans...Since the deal is done, why not take the lemons and hope they can make lemonade. It means better games in the future or, the alternative, them basically destroying some very popular franchises. I mean this doesn't really threaten Playstation anyway.

That seems like a harsh reality to bear just for an opportunity to say "I told you so".
 

Gavon West

Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
Now you are just moving the goalposts. You claimed that the developers they had were mediocre at best, when one look at the list I provided and the accompanying recent critic/steam review scores would clearly show that not to be the case.

GotY candidate basically limits Sony to two studios. Are the rest mediocre then as well? Insomniac is irrelevant because none of the games they make can crack the 9/10 meta? Sounds silly to me.

Xbox has been releasing and will continue releasing good games. Are they as good as the very best of Sony and Nintendo? Nope, but then again most of Sony and Nintendo is not that good either.

You can certainly argue that Xbox needs a flagship studio and franchise (Halo is no longer it, and Forza Horizon won't do it either). But that is entirely different from the conversation that Xbox has no good developers.
Have to disagree here. They dont need just one flagship dev house or IP. This will happen with playing the long game with more and more banger releases from multiple studios over a period of time. In fact, I'd say this transition has already begun. Xbox is literally at the point where they are too big to fail - hence all the recent purchases. I firmly believe (of course this is my opinion, I'm not Moses with ten commandments or some shit....) that in five to ten years time, we will be having VERY different conversations about the house that is Xbox.
 
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