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Microsoft / Activision Deal Approval Watch |OT| (MS/ABK close)

Do you believe the deal will be approved?


  • Total voters
    886
  • Poll closed .
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GHG

Gold Member
Shit.....just realized I'm doing this all wrong.

7n8v4u.jpg

You were legitimately in character for a couple of posts there. I was beginning to wonder if he had got to you.
 

DJ12

Member
Ahh lobbying, legal bribery from their motherland.

Best you can do in old blighty is get some prick to ask some questions that ultimately will mean nothing.

anigif_enhanced-buzz-16376-1365434427-6.gif
 
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reksveks

Member
That's true but I think $70 for Redfall and the fact that it hasn't dropped in price is ridiculous and shows that they don't really care much for sales of the game on stores. What's important to them is engagement on their sub.
Yeah, but that's very subjective and going to be extremely hard to nail down in, especially in court.
A separate market to B2P
This, it's not a separate market to B2P.
MS are free to do with the original game licence price as they wish without restriction.
That would be a license to the consumer, right?
Whether that is B2P or MGS, how would the free cloud licence help the cloud provider if they rely on competing MGS services or B2P stores? That licence can be set at any price to partially foreclose any competing MGS or store making those cloud providers just MS customers in a separate market.
Microsoft doesn't have to enable games on other MGS subscription services, that's true but that's not very different to the status quo.

Hopefully we get them. I don't think the EC are obligated to share them but I might be wrong there.
They should be in the full investigation documents that they upload later or at least alot more infom
That's the thing, they're not tied to the streaming platform but the original MGS service or B2P store platform. To the original game license and not the free cloud one. Steam cloud saves, windows store cloud saves and gamepass are what provides the cloud saves. Not boosteriod, not GFN. The streaming platform has been separated. Now if you were enticed into gamepass due to competition in MGS where are you most likely to go for cloud now? I'd bet it's an upgrade to gamepass ultimate, not elsewhere.
That's normal but you do have the option to use your game pass subscription on other cloud providers to get ABK games. The EU thinks that's an improvement for consumers and companies apposed to the alternative.

You won't buy a separate licence at $70-80 to play on some other cloud provider that isn’t a MS customer and lose your progress to boot.
As you said, you wouldn't need to buy another license for 70-80 if the cloud provider has taken up the free license.
 

reksveks

Member
All comes down to the Tribunal now. I posted this last week some time, but not sure if anyone caught it. The CAT can overturn the CMA's decision entirely without returning it to the CMA. As unlikely as that is, it is still a distinct possibility.

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Section 120 (5)(a)
I think your crossed out sentence might be correct. The 'may' is the key word but yeah, it's unlikely.
 
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gothmog

Gold Member
The CMAs decision really made some people fall apart pretty badly. Haven't seen so many crazy theories in a very long time.

They just need to accept that Microsoft is following proper procedure to try and get this through.
The meltdowns have been legendary the past few weeks between this and the PS showcase. Passion is good but you can't let yourself be ruled solely by emotion.
 
Nope. They need to produce some more excuses about the Activision Blizzard Acquisition. Back to the Drawing Board for CMA

Which means they can still kill the deal. I honestly don't see how you are celebrating this.

celebration GIF


It's still not going to be easy.

Edit: Reading through this again they don't have to restart the process. They can still use the data they have to come to the same conclusion or one that's difficult for Microsoft to accept.
 
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To further clarify blocking it isn't the only way the CMA can kill the deal. If they demand extreme concessions that could make the deal seem like a waste. We know Microsoft doesn't want to lose COD for example.
 
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Ogbert

Member
Explain what just came through like I am 5. Please. Legally things...

over my head GIF by Echosmith
MS can appeal the decision.

With the appeal, they are not considering the decision that the CMA made. Rather, they have to demonstrate that there were fundamental mistakes in the ‘points of fact’ that the CMA used to *arrive* at their decision.

It’s like saying ‘lads, you made a mistake, but it’s not your fault’.

So, I assume, Ground 1 is the only real one where they can make some headway.
 
No, they don't. They have to address what the CAT highlights as errors and reconsider. It isn't "back to the drawing board" at all unless the CAT quashes the finding in its entirety.
I still think this deal will go through with Remedies like having games on other cloud services permanently, instead of the 10 year contract. It wouldn't matter if Microsoft said 'Fuck it' lets make Call of Duty exclusive, since the Remedies isn't about console gaming. Microsoft wouldn't do that, they aren't Anti-Consumer.
 

reksveks

Member
Reading through this again they don't have to restart the process. They can still use the data they have to come to the same conclusion or one that's difficult for Microsoft to accept.
It does depend on what the CAT says. If CAT says the marketshare data isn't valid then the CMA will have to find other data or post decision ignoring that marketshare data.
 

splattered

Member
To further clarify blocking it isn't the only way the CMA can kill the deal. If they demand extreme concessions that could make the deal seem like a waste. We know Microsoft doesn't want to lose COD for example.

I know MS doesn't want to divest COD but at this point i almost feel like they should and just get this over and done with. I'm assuming there would be stipulations to divestment in place preventing MS from going back to whoever buys COD and just moneyhatting exclusivity for the foreseeable future? Not that i want that to happen, just curious.
 

Topher

Gold Member
I still think this deal will go through with Remedies like having games on other cloud services permanently, instead of the 10 year contract. It wouldn't matter if Microsoft said 'Fuck it' lets make Call of Duty exclusive, since the Remedies isn't about console gaming. Microsoft wouldn't do that, they aren't Anti-Consumer.

Going to depend on what CAT actually says in returning it to CMA. Microsoft can be just as anti-consumer as anyone when it comes to exclusives, but I trust that Phil Spencer is a man of his word when it comes to COD.
 
Getting data and interpretating it wrong is something that's happened before but just saying that they can't resubmit something CAT has deliberately stuck out.

I don't think they can completely eliminate the data. I guess it depends on what it looks like without errors if it has any.
 
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