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[ChorizoPicozo]

The nuance is how the acquisition came about. Naughty Dog worked with Sony extensively before their purchase, so did bend and insomniac. Sony funded Killzone and Guerilla impressed with tech so Sony invested. Sony funded LittleBigPlanet, were impressed and bought Media Molecule. Housemarque had most of their IP funded or owned by Sony. FireSprite were working on a couple of Sony IP before purchase. BluePoint had been doing remakes or remasters for SIE for years.

The outliers have been ones where Sony has invested to plug a gap in their studio output.

Bungie - GAAS
Haven - GAAS and cloud development
Nixxes - PC ports and remasters
Firewalk - GAAS
Savage - Mobile

Broadly Sony’s growth has been organic. That makes for a high level of success and staff retention post acquisition.

Xbox’s best example of that is Playground. They’ve been a wonderful studio and Xbox were right to buy them.

they don't any sound arguments. it would have more useful to write: "But sony too™"

 

[Heisenberg007]

Phil Spencer simply sucks at his job.

Isn't that the tragedy of our life?

Phil Spencer sucks. Girlfriend doesn't.

 

[Heisenberg007]

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

The cock.

 

[BlueLyria]

For both of the trades, because the calls they purchased expire next friday, it's either a gamble that some sort of definitive decision is announced over the course of next week, or a hedge against an already profitable position.

Short term options trades like this never have anything to do with intrinsic value or cashflow. Those things typically take a much longer time to be reflected in a stocks price and if someone wanted to capture that safely they would simply buy the stock. These are short term directional gambles.



Yes, but it needs to happen next week.

But didn't the stocks go up when the cma blocked the deal or am I misremembering? Weird bet but also feels like the stocks go up anyway

 

[Varteras]

But didn't the stocks go up when the cma blocked the deal or am I misremembering? Weird bet but also feels like the stocks go up anyway

No. Microsoft's stocks went up. Activision's went down.

 

[GHG]

Can you explain the ending of Trading Places to me? I never understood how they made money.

I'm sure ghg can do a much better job explaining it, but the idiot explanation is that Eddie and Dan gave the dukes bad info, took the real info themselves, and tricked the dukes and others into buying lots of orange futures at an inflated price. When the actual crop report was revealed, they bought at a much lower price from everyone except the dukes. Thus making themselves rich and bankrupting the dukes.

I've actually never seen that film so can't comment.

Maybe I should watch it, seems like it could be interesting. Will grab it next time it's on sale on Apple TV.

 

[ToadMan]

Well the 7th is passed. It’s one week since the end of the FTC PI hearing and, as predicted by quite a few, no judgement has been released…

Document submissions to the FTC should have been completed today.

There’s nothing new on the court document list. I assume the docs have been submitted but some are potentially under seal and need to be redacted before going up on the website. We may see those over the weekend if the court minions are working.

Just to point out that a few people here thought we’d get a judgement this week - over at Ree it was basically accepted there’d be a judgement this week.

Those “experts” were <trump_wrong.gif>

I just point that out to show that this case isn’t special - it will be handled like the myriad other cases the court has before it. We’re interested in this one, but the court and FTC are progressing many other cases with limited resources.

EDIT
So onwards to Monday which is NOT the last day a judgement could be received and MS could close the acquisition in the US before 18 July. In fact it us Tuesday 11th.

Monday is the first plausible day to get a decision because all normal submission deadlines have past - the Judge is finally in possession of all the evidence the parties have submitted together with their arguments from law supporting their positions.

Recent history suggests these judgements take more like a month following the end of the hearing. So we could be looking at more like 3 weeks of waiting and watching.

To put it another way, if we get a judgement Monday or even any time next week, the Judge will have come in well under the normal timescales for such hearings.

It’s also still eerily quiet on MS-ATVI announcing they’ve extended the acquisition agreement to allow for these decisions. I wonder what the hold up is?

 

[drganon]

I've actually never seen that film so can't comment.

Maybe I should watch it, seems like it could be interesting. Will grab it next time it's on sale on Apple TV.

Complicated commodity exchanges aside, its a comedy classic. Easily one of Eddie Murphys best films.

 

[Alex Scott]

Well the 7th is passed. It’s one week since the end of the FTC PI hearing and, as predicted by quite a few, no judgement has been released…

Document submissions to the FTC should have been completed today.

There’s nothing new on the court document list. I assume the docs have been submitted but some are potentially under seal and need to be redacted before going up on the website. We may see those over the weekend if the court minions are working.

Just to point out that a few people here thought we’d get a judgement this week - over at Ree it was basically accepted there’d be a judgement this week.

Those “experts” were <trump_wrong.gif>

I just point that out to show that this case isn’t special - it will be handled like the myriad other cases the court has before it. We’re interested in this one, but the court and FTC are progressing many other cases with limited resources.

So onwards to Monday which is the last day a judgement could be received and MS could close the acquisition in the US before 18 July.

Monday is the first plausible day to get a decision because all normal submission deadlines have past - the Judge is finally in possession of all the evidence the parties have submitted together with their arguments from law supporting their positions.

Recent history suggests these judgements take more like a month following the end of the hearing. So we could be looking at more like 3 weeks of waiting and watching.

To put it another way, if we get a judgement Monday or even any time next week, the Judge will have come in well under the normal timescales for such hearings.

It’s also still eerily quiet on MS-ATVI announcing they’ve extended the acquisition agreement to allow for these decisions. I wonder what the hold up is?

Which Monday though? 10th or the 17th?

 

[ToadMan]

I've actually never seen that film so can't comment.

Maybe I should watch it, seems like it could be interesting. Will grab it next time it's on sale on Apple TV.

It’s insider trading of commodities - little guys turn the tables on the big guys. Oh and its a comedy!

Don’t go in expecting The Big Short or Wolf of Wall Street though, but its an easy one to watch

 

[Heisenberg007]

Well the 7th is passed. It’s one week since the end of the FTC PI hearing and, as predicted by quite a few, no judgement has been released…

Document submissions to the FTC should have been completed today.

There’s nothing new on the court document list. I assume the docs have been submitted but some are potentially under seal and need to be redacted before going up on the website. We may see those over the weekend if the court minions are working.

Just to point out that a few people here thought we’d get a judgement this week - over at Ree it was basically accepted there’d be a judgement this week.

Those “experts” were <trump_wrong.gif>

I just point that out to show that this case isn’t special - it will be handled like the myriad other cases the court has before it. We’re interested in this one, but the court and FTC are progressing many other cases with limited resources.

So onwards to Monday which is the last day a judgement could be received and MS could close the acquisition in the US before 18 July.

Monday is the first plausible day to get a decision because all normal submission deadlines have past - the Judge is finally in possession of all the evidence the parties have submitted together with their arguments from law supporting their positions.

Recent history suggests these judgements take more like a month following the end of the hearing. So we could be looking at more like 3 weeks of waiting and watching.

To put it another way, if we get a judgement Monday or even any time next week, the Judge will have come in well under the normal timescales for such hearings.

It’s also still eerily quiet on MS-ATVI announcing they’ve extended the acquisition agreement to allow for these decisions. I wonder what the hold up is?

I think Tuesday will also work for Microsoft, no?

If the judge issues her decision on Tuesday (11th) -- and let's assume she denies FTC the PI -- Microsoft will have 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 17th as their 5 working days. They can technically "close the acquisition" on the 18th in that case (if we ignore all the other problems with closing over the CMA).

 

[Varteras]

Well the 7th is passed. It’s one week since the end of the FTC PI hearing and, as predicted by quite a few, no judgement has been released…

Document submissions to the FTC should have been completed today.

There’s nothing new on the court document list. I assume the docs have been submitted but some are potentially under seal and need to be redacted before going up on the website. We may see those over the weekend if the court minions are working.

Just to point out that a few people here thought we’d get a judgement this week - over at Ree it was basically accepted there’d be a judgement this week.

Those “experts” were <trump_wrong.gif>

I just point that out to show that this case isn’t special - it will be handled like the myriad other cases the court has before it. We’re interested in this one, but the court and FTC are progressing many other cases with limited resources.

So onwards to Monday which is the last day a judgement could be received and MS could close the acquisition in the US before 18 July.

Monday is the first plausible day to get a decision because all normal submission deadlines have past - the Judge is finally in possession of all the evidence the parties have submitted together with their arguments from law supporting their positions.

Recent history suggests these judgements take more like a month following the end of the hearing. So we could be looking at more like 3 weeks of waiting and watching.

To put it another way, if we get a judgement Monday or even any time next week, the Judge will have come in well under the normal timescales for such hearings.

It’s also still eerily quiet on MS-ATVI announcing they’ve extended the acquisition agreement to allow for these decisions. I wonder what the hold up is?

I honestly don't believe ABK's shareholders want to sell anymore. I think they have renewed confidence in ABK's ability to get its stock price back to the 90-100 dollar range in a decent timeframe. If they believe that's possible, they won't want to sell the company for $95 a share and lose control of it. It's the largest pure gaming company in the world by market value, even now. The company has $12 billion in the bank to make its own investments. Likely another $3 billion not too long from now. There is no way this deal is anywhere near as attractive to them now as it was a year and a half ago. With the CMA saying no, and the appeal well outside the deadline, I think they made the call to ride it out until then and let the deal die. The CMA and CAT gave them the out they needed. Microsoft can't force the deal to close since they have not fulfilled the contractual obligation of regulator approval.

 

[ToadMan]

Which Monday though? 10th or the 17th?

Is this like which Wednesday for the Sega acquisition?

If the judgement doesn’t come in on EDIT Monday 10th Tuesday 11th - then the deal cannot close by the 18th and MS-ATVI need to extend their acquisition agreement.

The question really is why they haven’t extended that agreement already…

 

[ToadMan]

I think Tuesday will also work for Microsoft, no?

If the judge issues her decision on Tuesday (11th) -- and let's assume she denies FTC the PI -- Microsoft will have 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 17th as their 5 working days. They can technically "close the acquisition" on the 18th in that case (if we ignore all the other problems with closing over the CMA).

Ah yes -11th is the day!

I lost track of days - I thought Monday was the 11th…

Yes Tuesday would be the pivotal day

 

[zapper]

Is this like which Wednesday for the Sega acquisition?

If the judgement doesn’t come in on Monday 10th - then the deal cannot close by the 18th and MS-ATVI need to extend their acquisition agreement.

The question really is why they haven’t extended that agreement already…

I have read that to extend the terms beyond 18 activision would still have to ask the shareholders and it would not be possible by that date, unless they have already done so. Is it possible or do you think the first term is always valid and Kotick will decide? if activision refuses to extend would they have to pay the penalty to microsoft or vice versa?

 

[PaintTinJr]

For both of the trades, because the calls they purchased expire next friday, it's either a gamble that some sort of definitive decision is announced over the course of next week, or a hedge against an already profitable position.

Short term options trades like this never have anything to do with intrinsic value or cashflow. Those things typically take a much longer time to be reflected in a stocks price and if someone wanted to capture that safely they would simply buy the stock. These are short term directional gambles.


...

So in essence the bet only tells us what the bet is with an expected event before next Friday? and without further context of the person placing it, it is impossible to understand the reasoning, I assume is the take away from that.

Say for instance the person already had 1million shares from when the price was at $30 per share, would this type of bet make sense in that context? Either to artificially project confidence for a pump, to then sell off their investment to recoup some of their hoped $95 per share windfall from the acquisition? or would is project confidence in the stock prior to a FTC block, so the fall back price wasn't - relative terms to today- as serve and costing them less on their existing shares that the $3.5m they are gambling?
Or is it just too small a bet to project any influence? and still potentially just reckless drunk trader antics that were reported in the past?

 

[Heisenberg007]

I have read that to extend the terms beyond 18 activision would still have to ask the shareholders and it would not be possible by that date, unless they have already done so. Is it possible or do you think the first term is always valid and Kotick will decide?

If they have been renegotiating that they are going to announce in the next few days, sure.

But they haven't renegotiated yet. They'd have to announce it had they reached an agreement.

For reference, the last time, it took ABK shareholders 100 days to sign off the acquisition. There's just not enough time unless MS has been working on this in the background for months, but we haven't heard a peep or seen any evidence so far.

if activision refuses to extend would they have to pay the penalty to microsoft or vice versa?

And ABK does not have to pay the penalty if they refuse to extend. The contract was until July 18.

On the contrary, ABK will receive $3 billion from Microsoft if they refuse to extend and the acquisition fails come July 18.

 

[Ogbert]

I'm still confused how Eddie and Dan ended up rich on that deal though. Or was the point just to ruin the Dukes?

It's obviously silly and entirely impossible (as they would have never had a trading license) but the idea is as follows:

They are trading 'futures'; so contracts that are fixed at a price but will be rendered at a later date (the actual value may go up or down in the interim)

1. They pooled all of their money together (Winthorpe, Coleman, Billy Ray Valentine and Ophelia).
2. The gave the Dukes faulty information suggesting that frozen orange juice would be worth a much higher price (e.g. 100$ a contract) because there would be a harsh winter and far fewer oranges. If this was true, the Dukes would hold millions of futures that would be worth even more.
3. The Dukes bought everything thinking that the contracts would be worth an enormous amount based on the faulty information. This drives the price up (this is the other silly point as Winthorpe wouldn't have the equity to sell at this point).
4. The crop report comes out revealing opposite information, that the oranges will be worth a good deal less as the harvest has been fine.
5. At this point the Dukes are sat holding hundreds of millions in liabilities.
6. Winthorpe et al buy everything back at much reduced prices, as everyone is desperate to sell to them and get debts off their books. So they get absurdly rich buying at 10$ when the contracts will be worth the price at which they previously sold them (100 plus).

They basically shorted the entire market.

CLARENCE BEEKS?!?!?!

It's an opera.......

 

[X-Wing]

I think Tuesday will also work for Microsoft, no?

If the judge issues her decision on Tuesday (11th) -- and let's assume she denies FTC the PI -- Microsoft will have 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 17th as their 5 working days. They can technically "close the acquisition" on the 18th in that case (if we ignore all the other problems with closing over the CMA).

Is this because of the TRO lasting for 5 working days after the decision? Won't the judge drop the TRO if she decides in favor of Microsoft?

 

[Elios83]

Is this because of the TRO lasting for 5 working days after the decision? Won't the judge drop the TRO if she decides in favor of Microsoft?

Nope the TRO lasts for 5 days after the judge's decision. That is written in the TRO issuing document.

The speculative part is what happens if the PI is denied and the FTC appeals, they might ask to extend the TRO until the appeal is done?

 

[ToadMan]

I have read that to extend the terms beyond 18 activision would still have to ask the shareholders and it would not be possible by that date, unless they have already done so. Is it possible or do you think the first term is always valid and Kotick will decide? if activision refuses to extend would they have to pay the penalty to microsoft or vice versa?

I’m not sure about the shareholder part because when AT&T bought DirecTV they extended twice without a shareholder vote …

 

[ToadMan]

Is this because of the TRO lasting for 5 working days after the decision? Won't the judge drop the TRO if she decides in favor of Microsoft?

I’d expect the TRO term to either persist or be extended while the FTC decides whether to appeal.

Meta/Within the FTC got 14 days for this purpose….

 

[Elios83]

I’m not sure about the shareholder part because when AT&T bought DirecTV they extended twice without a shareholder vote …

Were the terms of the acquisition unchanged though?

 

[Thirty7ven]

Either way we will know what happens in the next ten days.

If MS can’t close by the 18th and the deal is extended then that’s just another fat lie thrown in the pile ain’t that right? Going around crying and telling regulators the deal will be dead only for it to be a bluff. Sounds about right for these companies.

 

[ToadMan]

Were the terms of the acquisition unchanged though?

I believe so, yes. They extended for much the same reason MS would - to allow time for regulatory processes to be completed.

 

[Elios83]

I believe so, yes. They extended for much the same reason MS would - to allow time for regulatory processes to be completed.

But Microsoft needs more than that if they don't want to wait for the whole appeal process with CAT and CMA to pan out in a natural way.
Same if Activision isn't happy with the current breakup fees and the economical terms of the deal change.

 

[ToadMan]

But Microsoft needs more than that if they don't want to wait for the whole appeal process with CAT and CMA to pan out in a natural way.
Same if Activision isn't happy with the current breakup fees and the economical terms of the deal change.

I anticipate MS will take a “win” from this latest FTC hearing, and use that as a stick to beat the CMA with in the CAT.

Then having got a decision in their favor at the CAT, go back to the CMA and try to find an accommodation they can get over the line with.

Assuming the FTC doesn’t appeal or fails on appeal, and the CAT remits the CMA decision back sometime in August, we’re looking at an extension of 3 months.

That’s doable for both sides if they’re motivated.

Of course the issue of money and whether ATVI is motivated is what we are waiting to find out.

On balance of probability I think ATVI does indeed want to walk away now believing they’re worth more… but in principle extending the deal doesn’t seem to be a major sticking point if both sides really do want to proceed.

 

[Thirty7ven]

One of the things that felt so disingenuous about MS trying to convince the judge the Switch competes with Series and PS5 and that it plays many of the most played games like Fortnite was that Fortnite for example is also on mobile. And it’s the same game on mobile. The FTC should’ve been able to argue that just because Fortnite can be played on mobile and switch, does not mean these are substitutes to a PS5 or a Series.

 

[Elios83]

I anticipate MS will take a “win” from this latest FTC hearing, and use that as a stick to beat the CMA with in the CAT.

Then having got a decision in their favor at the CAT, go back to the CMA and try to find an accommodation they can get over the line with.

Assuming the FTC doesn’t appeal or fails on appeal, and the CAT remits the CMA decision back sometime in August, we’re looking at an extension of 3 months.

That’s doable for both sides if they’re motivated.

Of course the issue of money and whether ATVI is motivated is what we are waiting to find out.

On balance of probability I think ATVI does indeed want to walk away now believing they’re worth more… but in principle extending the deal doesn’t seem to be a major sticking point if both sides really do want to proceed.

The point is that if they intend to do things absolutely not considered in the original contract like closing without CMA's approval or if Activision is unhappy with the current economical conditions to extend, the deal can't be simply extended without notifying shareholders and asking for approval.
About the CAT the judge said he hoped to have a verdict before October/November and IF the thing goes back to CMA then a new decision will slip into 2024 territory. That's not a 3 months delay.

About the rest we'll see how things go in the next 10 days.

 

[FlyyGOD]

Just think if this deal doesn’t go through, MS could’ve spent that $3B fine to fund 15 AAA games development, marketing, and publication, which is pretty close to their output over the last 10 years.

You don't think Microsoft is actively funding more than 15 AAA games right now? I'm sure Microsoft is giving Bethesda, Ninja Games and all the other studios they own all the support they need.

 

[Dick Jones]

1. Naughty dog
2. Bend
3. Insomniac
4. Guerrilla
5. Media molecule
6. Bungie
7. House marque
8. Nixxes
9. Firesprite
10. Bluepoint
11. Haven
12. Firewalk

And there’s other tiny ones and defunct studios.

List of acquisitions by Sony - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

You forgot to mention the biggest hit to team Xbox, the Sony acquisition of Psygnosis.

No socks for you, comrade!

 

[Kilau]

You forgot to mention the biggest hit to team Xbox, the Sony acquisition of Psygnosis.

No socks for you, comrade!

Which is funny because i think it’s the only publisher Sony ever acquired. Every company on that list is a game developer. The context that DeepEnigma was referring to. Most of those studios were born because of Sony investment and or had a long standing development history with Sony and brought with them nearly zero established 3rd party content.

Seems that these comparisons will never stopped being made no matter how many times the differences are pointed out, in one ear and out the other.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Which is funny because i think it’s the only publisher Sony ever acquired. Every company on that list is a game developer. The context that DeepEnigma was referring to. Most of those studios were born because of Sony investment and or had a long standing development history with Sony and brought with them nearly zero established 3rd party content.

Seems that these comparisons will never stopped being made no matter how many times the differences are pointed out, in one ear and out the other.

Hence, the disingenuity.

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

If the penalty is indeed 10% of revenue (I don't know as I haven't verified this, just going off hearsay ATM) there is no way in hell Microsoft's own board of directors would allow this to proceed. 10% revenue loss would cause irreparable damage to Microsoft as a total entity in all likelihood, people would dump stock like their lives depended on it.

Edit: cleaned up some hyperbole in my post

 

[Heisenberg007]

If the penalty is indeed 10% of revenue (I don't know as I haven't verified this, just going off hearsay ATM) there is no way in hell Microsoft's own board of directors would allow this to proceed. 10% revenue loss would cause irreparable damage to Microsoft as a total entity in all likelihood, people would dump stock like their lives depended on it.

Edit: cleaned up some hyperbole in my post

You can confirm the details here.

CMA to issue consumer protection penalties of up to 10% of global turnover - greenwashing becomes more costly

The government has announced that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will be given game-changing new powers to deal with consumer protection…

www.lexology.com

 

[Meicyn]

The cock.

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

You can confirm the details here.

CMA to issue consumer protection penalties of up to 10% of global turnover - greenwashing becomes more costly

The government has announced that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will be given game-changing new powers to deal with consumer protection…

www.lexology.com

Yep, can't see any way this is going through. Ms themselves are probably just riding it out at this point and hoping they don't take too much damage long term.

And also probably regretting the decision to pursue this acquisition in the first place.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

So in essence the bet only tells us what the bet is with an expected event before next Friday?

It’s a big bet that:

1) no injunction granted

That’s literally it, I think

 

[poppabk]

I’m not sure about the shareholder part because when AT&T bought DirecTV they extended twice without a shareholder vote …

If this is possible then the injunction decision is likely vital for extending the deadline.

 

[ShadowkillXNA]

Isn't that the tragedy of our life?

Phil Spencer sucks. Girlfriend doesn't.

The cock.

Are you feeling all right? Seems this thread has gotten you feeling somethings.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Are you feeling all right? Seems this thread has gotten you feeling somethings.

I miss Aaron Greenberg's beautiful body!

 

[Heisenberg007]

If this is possible then the injunction decision is likely vital for extending the deadline.

Possible, yes.

But even then the pre-requisite would be renegotiation with ABK shareholders for which there is no evidence or hints yet. There's more hints, however, toward ABK walking away.

Besides, if MS were extending the deadline with ABK, then the PI would not even be a factor. Even if the FTC gets the PI, it wouldn't matter to Microsoft as much because they would have extended the contract expiry date anyway.

 

[Zok310]

Monday Corley will say. "hey i need more time, too big of a case to make judgment on in 7 days, PI granted, see yall in Jan 2024"

 

[poppabk]

Possible, yes.

But even then the pre-requisite would be renegotiation with ABK shareholders for which there is no evidence or hints yet. There's more hints, however, toward ABK walking away.

Besides, if MS were extending the deadline with ABK, then the PI would not even be a factor. Even if the FTC gets the PI, it wouldn't matter to Microsoft as much because they would have extended the contract expiry date anyway.

I mean if it is true that the deadline can be extended without shareholder approval as was apparently the case in the DirectTV thing, then a prerequisite for agreeing to an extension on Activisions side might be that no PI is in place.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

The nuance is how the acquisition came about. Naughty Dog worked with Sony extensively before their purchase, so did bend and insomniac. Sony funded Killzone and Guerilla impressed with tech so Sony invested. Sony funded LittleBigPlanet, were impressed and bought Media Molecule. Housemarque had most of their IP funded or owned by Sony. FireSprite were working on a couple of Sony IP before purchase. BluePoint had been doing remakes or remasters for SIE for years.

The outliers have been ones where Sony has invested to plug a gap in their studio output.

Bungie - GAAS
Haven - GAAS and cloud development
Nixxes - PC ports and remasters
Firewalk - GAAS
Savage - Mobile

Broadly Sony’s growth has been organic. That makes for a high level of success and staff retention post acquisition.

Xbox’s best example of that is Playground. They’ve been a wonderful studio and Xbox were right to buy them.

The Coalition has been a solid studio for them as well. It remains to be seen how well they will be run now that Rodd Fergusson is no longer there. He delivered two solid Gears games in a short order. His games aren't innovative or original, but they do what they are supposed to do.

The most important part is that these studios have THRIVED under Sony. Most studios that get acquired by MS perform poorly. If MS acquiring Bethesda meant we got a steady supply of high quality Doom, Fallout, Dishonored, Quake in a a reasonable development order then I'd be MS biggest fanboy. MS has shown NO ABILITY in the past 15 years to leverage their assets the way Sony has. Playground and The Coalition have been the exceptions to the rule. Playground, it should be noted, has really only developed Forza, which is not exactly as difficult to develop as a high quality single player game, so Fable is definitely an unknown for them.

The second MS acquired Bethesda, they should have been assigning studios to make new games using the properties they acquired with already existing tech. Get smaller studios a chance to get their feat wet. But NO! Good guy Phil thinks its a better decision to make us wait 15 years between Fallout/Elder Scrolls games because Bethesda wants to keep it in house.

 

[StealthGoblin]

The Coalition has been a solid studio for them as well. It remains to be seen how well they will be run now that Rodd Fergusson is no longer there. He delivered two solid Gears games in a short order. His games aren't innovative or original, but they do what they are supposed to do.

The most important part is that these studios have THRIVED under Sony. Most studios that get acquired by MS perform poorly. If MS acquiring Bethesda meant we got a steady supply of high quality Doom, Fallout, Dishonored, Quake in a a reasonable development order then I'd be MS biggest fanboy. MS has shown NO ABILITY in the past 15 years to leverage their assets the way Sony has. Playground and The Coalition have been the exceptions to the rule. Playground, it should be noted, has really only developed Forza, which is not exactly as difficult to develop as a high quality single player game, so Fable is definitely an unknown for them.

The second MS acquired Bethesda, they should have been assigning studios to make new games using the properties they acquired with already existing tech. Get smaller studios a chance to get their feat wet. But NO! Good guy Phil thinks its a better decision to make us wait 15 years between Fallout/Elder Scrolls games because Bethesda wants to keep it in house.

If Obsidian aren’t making New Vegas 2 or something along those lines then he’s a grade A plonker.

 

[Heisenberg007]

I mean if it is true that the deadline can be extended without shareholder approval as was apparently the case in the DirectTV thing, then a prerequisite for agreeing to an extension on Activisions side might be that no PI is in place.

Deadlines cannot be extended without shareholder approvals.

 

[ToadMan]

The point is that if they intend to do things absolutely not considered in the original contract like closing without CMA's approval or if Activision is unhappy with the current economical conditions to extend, the deal can't be simply extended without notifying shareholders and asking for approval.

While I think you’re right ATVI can refuse to go ahead unless all the terms of the contract of acquisition are met, I don’t think the shareholders necessarily get to decide that.

If MS is prepared to “close over” the CMA, then breaking a contract with ATVI shareholders isn’t a concern because post acquisition there are no ATVI shareholders - so who or what could oppose MS?

It would need the board of ATVI to say “no, we are not signing the paperwork to trigger the transaction”. And that’s what I’m thinking is on the cards - I think MS know that’s on the cards too.

About the CAT the judge said he hoped to have a verdict before October/November and IF the thing goes back to CMA then a new decision will slip into 2024 territory. That's not a 3 months delay.

Well the CAT starts 28 July for 6 days. It’s difficult to see how a six day tribunal review requires 2 months of deliberation but I guess maybe..? I don’t know.

All I remember from the CAT CMC is the chairman being amenable to expediting at the request of MS when the CMA wanted a slower timescale.

About the rest we'll see how things go in the next 10 days.

Indeed

 

[poppabk]

Deadlines cannot be extended without shareholder approvals.

What are you basing this on? Like stated in this thread AT&T and DirectTV extended their deadline multiple times and a google search doesnt bring up any info on shareholder votes for each extension.

 

[Heisenberg007]

What are you basing this on? Like stated in this thread AT&T and DirectTV extended their deadline multiple times and a google search doesnt bring up any info on shareholder votes for each extension.

It’s common sense. The contract expires on July 18. After July 18, there won’t be a contract.

If they want to amend the contract, they need the same parties who signed it to sign on it again. That’s how contract amendments work.