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[Topher]

 

[Unknown Soldier]

After you’ve spent months arguing MS was on a path to monopolize the industry, it’s a bit jarring to see you claim they’ll ruin Activision.

Either way, we already have ample evidence MS is largely hands off with acquired publishers. At worst, COD and Diablo will remain the same. At best? They’ll have more resources and time to improve.

Seems like a win-win for everyone, especially since they’re being pushed to support Proton for all future Activision games.

What are you going to do after the acquisition closes? Have you been reassigned to your next project yet?

 

[ThisIsMyDog]

Just give me call of duty to game pass co i can play campaigns and that's it.

 

[HoofHearted]

 

[HoofHearted]

Thanks God, it's almost over

Finally - someone update the damn poll with “I’m here for the Bourbon and Popcorn” so I can close my fucking tab already ….

 

[Ozriel]

What are you going to do after the acquisition closes? Have you been reassigned to your next project yet?

I’m going to be playing Spiderman 2 first, then run through Activision games on GamePass.

You?

edit: Forgot about my Quest 3 arriving October 12th.

Hard to believe you don’t know this?
Here’s one, a quick google will show millions of other complaints about their overuse of contractors.



It’s not just Xbox either, their love of contractors over full-time staff runs company wide.

What part of that backs up your claim that they’re terminating full time employees and replacing them with contractors at studios they’ve purchased?

You’ve also apparently forgotten ABK employees have the greenlight to unionize at MS.

 

[adamsapple]

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

You see the irony here in Xbox coming to acquire ABK and a graveyard behind him right?

 

[sainraja]

The two positions can be true. They've already pushed a 58 page document at Ofcom to dissuade any investigation at all, demonstrating a continued lack of respect for regulations, as they have in this situation by leaning on the government to lean on the CMA.

They have in the past ignored laws to pay fines even with the Block, so they have a history of which using this deal as a disincentive to forewarn them of the penalties and escalation from a failure to fully comply with this wider cloud investigation is probably just good advice.

How you think that undermines my position to have accepted the likely disappointment in the CMA for this deal passing, I don't quite understand.

It is because the ones trying to isolate you right now are the ones whose lives really depend on this deal passing. Most of them were quick to disappear when it looked like the deal was going in a direction they did not like.

 

[Timberwolf25]

You see the irony here in Xbox coming to acquire ABK and a graveyard behind him right?

That's the bodies of the all members in GAF that are buried who predicted the deal would fail?

 

[adamsapple]

You see the irony here in Xbox coming to acquire ABK and a graveyard behind him right?

They're reviving Activision ala Jason

 

[Topher]

You see the irony here in Xbox coming to acquire ABK and a graveyard behind him right?

What could go wrong?

 

[adamsapple]

What could go wrong?

Just wait, that 60 FPS patch is coming any day now.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

What could go wrong?

But then again we already have this in COD

 

[Roxkis_ii]

I'll wait to hear from the CMA. It been a couple of times the deal was going to pass for sure and we see where that lead us.

 

[splattered]

I wonder if the whole COD dlc to full release plan was due to Activision being most likely acquired by Microsoft? Kind of phone one in one last time heavy on nostalgia maybe cutting down on costs a bit even though it'll still be majorly profitable? If that makes any sense.. haha

 

[King Dazzar]

lol What a date of Friday 13th October to log all this against in the chronicles of gaming history. A date linking back to the deceitful arrest of the Knights Templar some 700+ years ago. On Friday 13th October 1307 King Louis of France, envious for the orders massive wealth, stabbed the order in the back and arrested the order under charges of heresy. And then proceeded to torture them for the next couple of years to obtain false confessions!!!

 

[Ozriel]

It is because the ones trying to isolate you right now are the ones whose lives really depend on this deal passing. Most of them were quick to disappear when it looked like the deal was going in a direction they did not like.

Lives?
It’s just videogames. You were really taking a census of posters here?

 

[sainraja]

Lives?
It’s just videogames. You were really taking a census of posters here?

Is this where I play the reverse uno card?

 

[HoofHearted]

But then again we already have this in COD

 

[ManaByte]

I wonder if the whole COD dlc to full release plan was due to Activision being most likely acquired by Microsoft? Kind of phone one in one last time heavy on nostalgia maybe cutting down on costs a bit even though it'll still be majorly profitable? If that makes any sense.. haha

It’s still just DLC. People who actually play COD know the game client is now just called “Call of Duty” and MWII, MWIII, Warzone, and DMZ are just DLC inside the client.

 

[adamsapple]

I wonder if the whole COD dlc to full release plan was due to Activision being most likely acquired by Microsoft? Kind of phone one in one last time heavy on nostalgia maybe cutting down on costs a bit even though it'll still be majorly profitable? If that makes any sense.. haha

I doubt it, Activision has to please its own shareholders and Kotick gotta make his profit regardless. Besides, they recently said in an interview that they have the roadmap for a CoD game each year till 2027 already mapped out.

 

[bitbydeath]

I’m going to be playing Spiderman 2 first, then run through Activision games on GamePass.

You?

edit: Forgot about my Quest 3 arriving October 12th.



What part of that backs up your claim that they’re terminating full time employees and replacing them with contractors at studios they’ve purchased?

You’ve also apparently forgotten ABK employees have the greenlight to unionize at MS.

It’s an example, their practice of utilising contractors over full-time staff is well documented and if you’ve ever worked with them personally before you would definitely hear about it firsthand too.

 

[DryvBy]

?

Aside Redfall, all the first party games in the last couple of years have been good.



No, today is the last day for them to receive feedback, so nothing from them today.

No they haven't. Maybe for Xbox they've been good but the past decade has been a trainwreck for Xbox. What you usually think is "good Xbox content" is when they buy up devs and the game gets released. After that? Well, we know what happens. Mismanaged projects that end up coming out as early access and patched later.

How do you have a hit franchise like Halo and have it fall apart so bad? Is that Nintendo's and Sony's fault?

If you want 2027 to hit you hard, keep protecting them. If you want them to do better, start criticizing them. Phil is chasing career notches and making the "direct to video" gaming network and you guys are actually cheering it on. Maybe the next Xbox should be dubbed the Xbox Masochist?

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

?

Aside Redfall, all the first party games in the last couple of years have been good.

I gotta disagree greatly. Starfield is perhaps the biggest disappointment for me. It was the reason I bought an Xbox. It looks good, the art style is fire....but the game is trash to me and a huge disappointment. So much potential wasted on a game with mechanics, storytelling, and highly fragmented structure to it that feels ancient...like 2005 levels of dated. I just can't get into it at all. It should have been so much more. This game will be quickly forgotten about and honestly already has. A lot of people are extremely disappointed in this title.

Redfall is one mistake, but Starfield being such a big blunder, and Halo Infinite not capturing that long-term play, is just one continual disappointment for Xbox first party.

THEY HAVE A LONG way to go....and sadly, just buying studios won't turn it around. Their process is broken, the teams they bought are broken. It's going to be an uphill battle.

 

[CRAIG667]

I gotta disagree greatly. Starfield is perhaps the biggest disappointment for me. It was the reason I bought an Xbox. It looks good, the art style is fire....but the game is trash to me and a huge disappointment. So much potential wasted on a game with mechanics, storytelling, and highly fragmented structure to it that feels ancient...like 2005 levels of dated. I just can't get into it at all. It should have been so much more. This game will be quickly forgotten about and honestly already has. A lot of people are extremely disappointed in this title.

Redfall is one mistake, but Starfield being such a big blunder, and Halo Infinite not capturing that long-term play, is just one continual disappointment for Xbox first party.

THEY HAVE A LONG way to go....and sadly, just buying studios won't turn it around. Their process is broken, the teams they bought are broken. It's going to be an uphill battle.

On the other hand, some folk, myself included are absolutely loving Starfield.

Different strokes.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

On the other hand, some folk, myself included are absolutely loving Starfield.

Different strokes.

True. But there’s always going to be stans for certain games and I can see that for some the things it does will hit alright, but I think you’re in the vast minority given the user scores, critical reaction, and user reaction from YouTubers, it’s overwhelmingly meh/mid…and this game needed to be a lot more than that.

 

[Pimpbaa]

True. But there’s always going to be stans for certain games and I can see that for some the things it does will hit alright, but I think you’re in the vast minority given the user scores, critical reaction, and user reaction from YouTubers, it’s overwhelmingly meh/mid…and this game needed to be a lot more than that.

Critic scores are 80 something average on metacritic. User score is lower, but still more people like it than dislike it. Vast minority my ass.

 

[Bernardougf]

Aside Redfall, all the first party games in the last couple of years have been good.

 

[Rubim]

Just wait, that 60 FPS patch is coming any day now.

It did?

 

[Negotiator101]

True. But there’s always going to be stans for certain games and I can see that for some the things it does will hit alright, but I think you’re in the vast minority given the user scores, critical reaction, and user reaction from YouTubers, it’s overwhelmingly meh/mid…and this game needed to be a lot more than that.

83mc is a great score whatever way you look at it so that point is moot. I put in 70hrs in Starfield and I don't play games that much anymore. iIt's rare for me to play longer than an hour before getting bored. When you have posters on here claiming anything below 90mc is a failure then that's just fanboy nonsense or it has to have more players on Steam etc.

 

[King Dazzar]

83mc is a great score whatever way you look at it so that point is moot. I put in 70hrs in Starfield and I don't play games that much anymore. iIt's rare for me to play longer than an hour before getting bored. When you have posters on here claiming anything below 90mc is a failure then that's just fanboy nonsense or it has to have more players on Steam etc.

I think you're missing a key point. Parking the score debate and fanboy accusations. You've got a gamer with an Xbox who isnt happy. Which isnt good. This is the frustrating thing for me. I loved my X1X and really felt Xbox were turning a corner. And initially when getting my preordred launch XSX, I was still confident in the brands direction. But since then following multiple first party releases and for me bemusing management communication pieces. I've lost that confidence in the brand and just felt the commitment to quality hasn't been where it should or could be. Which is why I ended up buying a PS5. And that cant be good for Xbox, let alone for me the customer who spent loads on the Xbox eco system. But I still keep my XSX in the hope that something compelling gets released - I genuinely haven't had that yet though.

So I get the concern for studio management under Xbox and quality of releases. But as I've previously mentioned, I think ABK will be left very much as an autonomous entity with regards day to day running, left to look after themselves. So I'm not sure Xbox will have much impact. Certainly not in the short term.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

And we will move to the next acquisition finally. It's been a long time.

 

[adamsapple]

It did?

You're welcome, it did just hours after I made that post.

True. But there’s always going to be stans for certain games and I can see that for some the things it does will hit alright, but I think you’re in the vast minority given the user scores, critical reaction, and user reaction from YouTubers, it’s overwhelmingly meh/mid…and this game needed to be a lot more than that.

Naw man, it's good. Don't rely on user reviews, I can point you to good games that have 2.6 user scores too, they don't mean shit.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

83mc is a great score whatever way you look at it so that point is moot. I put in 70hrs in Starfield and I don't play games that much anymore. iIt's rare for me to play longer than an hour before getting bored. When you have posters on here claiming anything below 90mc is a failure then that's just fanboy nonsense or it has to have more players on Steam etc.

Nobody thought it would get an 83mc. Everyone was hyping it up to at least break through 90. And the truth is, the 83 is probably way higher than it deserves due to outlets really wanting it to be that 90+ game, "game of the forever", "people will play this for 10+ years", etc. etc.

And then all the major outlets like IGN, Gamespot, Eurogamer, and Edge giving it 6s and 7s.

I don't think anything below 90 is a failure. But for this game? An 83 is not up to the quality bar. And having played the game for 20 hours myself before giving up, it's not up to the quality bar of a major system selling type title. It was the game MOST were looking forward to as a breakout Xbox game to finally turn it around...and it turns out to be something much less than that which will be quickly forgotten about.

 

[Ozriel]

Nobody thought it would get an 83mc. Everyone was hyping it up to at least break through 90. And the truth is, the 83 is probably way higher than it deserves due to outlets really wanting it to be that 90+ game, "game of the forever", "people will play this for 10+ years", etc. etc.

And then all the major outlets like IGN, Gamespot, Eurogamer, and Edge giving it 6s and 7s.

I don't think anything below 90 is a failure. But for this game? An 83 is not up to the quality bar. And having played the game for 20 hours myself before giving up, it's not up to the quality bar of a major system selling type title. It was the game MOST were looking forward to as a breakout Xbox game to finally turn it around...and it turns out to be something much less than that which will be quickly forgotten about.

“The game didn’t meet up to the pre-release hype so it was trash” is such a weird position to take.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

“The game didn’t meet up to the pre-release hype so it was trash” is such a weird position to take.

It didn't need to be "game of the gen" type hyperbole, but it certainly needed to have enough quality to be a legit GOTY type contender and the best Xbox exclusive in years. And it's nowhere close to me. It doesn't deserve to be anywhere near GOTY contending titles. And it's a lesser game than something like Halo Infinite, which is at least fun to play.

If buying a major publisher like Bethesda doesn't get them these kinds of games, how are they going to come up with them? Like I said, Phil's job doesn't end at providing the money bags. The studios he's buying all have tons of issues that are coming to the surface right now. He has a big uphill battle turning them around even still, so many years later.

 

[Negotiator101]

Nobody thought it would get an 83mc. Everyone was hyping it up to at least break through 90. And the truth is, the 83 is probably way higher than it deserves due to outlets really wanting it to be that 90+ game, "game of the forever", "people will play this for 10+ years", etc. etc.

And then all the major outlets like IGN, Gamespot, Eurogamer, and Edge giving it 6s and 7s.

I don't think anything below 90 is a failure. But for this game? An 83 is not up to the quality bar. And having played the game for 20 hours myself before giving up, it's not up to the quality bar of a major system selling type title. It was the game MOST were looking forward to as a breakout Xbox game to finally turn it around...and it turns out to be something much less than that which will be quickly forgotten about.

I can garantee with almost a 100% certainty that it will not be forgotten quickly. In fact it will be around for many years. The potential for mods is almost limitless, if I were you I'd just get used to it.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

On the other hand, some folk, myself included are absolutely loving Starfield.

Different strokes.

Can still really enjoy the game and still be disappointed by it (like myself) if that makes sense

 

[Rubim]

It didn't need to be "game of the gen" type hyperbole, but it certainly needed to have enough quality to be a legit GOTY type contender and the best Xbox exclusive in years. And it's nowhere close to me. It doesn't deserve to be anywhere near GOTY contending titles. And it's a lesser game than something like Halo Infinite, which is at least fun to play.

If buying a major publisher like Bethesda doesn't get them these kinds of games, how are they going to come up with them? Like I said, Phil's job doesn't end at providing the money bags. The studios he's buying all have tons of issues that are coming to the surface right now. He has a big uphill battle turning them around even still, so many years later.

Can this year have any legit contender?

Baldurs Gate 3 is an impossible game to beat.

 

[Negotiator101]

Can still really enjoy the game and still be disappointed by it (like myself) if that makes sense

 

[Negotiator101]

Can this year have any legit contender?

Baldurs Gate 3 is an impossible game to beat.

Zelda.

 

[proandrad]

Zelda.

2nd best DLC of the year, after Phantom Liberty.

 

[Negotiator101]

2nd best DLC of the year, after Phantom Liberty.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Can this year have any legit contender?

Baldurs Gate 3 is an impossible game to beat.

There are two big standouts for sure, but I'm talking about the top 5-7 games each year that really capture the attention for being standout titles. Given how disappointing starfield turned out to be, it doesn't really deserve that sort of recognition.

 

[wolfboy203]

I'll wait to hear from the CMA. It been a couple of times the deal was going to pass for sure and we see where that lead us.

Word! I'll believe it when I actually see it

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

 

[splattered]

?

 

[harry mason 1989]

Deal done ?

 

[zapper]

so it ends next week, finally. but I'm already reading MS supporters who want the next acquisition, are wondering who it will be and are hoping for a Japanese publisher

However, I read that cod may not arrive on the pass, from some internal emails and there are no commercial agreements with Sony that will prohibit it in 2024. How true are these rumors? it would be incredible but strange, one of the points in favor brought by ms and the US judge was that cod would become available to more people at a lower price, if it didn't happen it would be ridiculous