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Bloomberg: Microsoft will keep publishing Activision titles on PlayStation

Because they will get in trouble with regulators. They wont allow moves that will significantly harm a competitor or consumers.

All the other games I'm sure will be fine to go exclusive but COD will stay multiplat.
It’s their property, it’s not like there aren’t any other shooters lmao. There are a lot of developers and a lot of games so there’s not even a slight possibility of this to be considered a harm to consumers.
 
It makes sense.

Put CoD on game pass and also sell it for 70 usd on Playstation.

Season 3 World GIF by American Gods
That would be amazing, just like Sony likes it.
 
Releasing them on other platforms isn't a be all and end all reason when it comes to aquiring them , All these ips will target xbox hardware 110 percent with big zero on holding themselves back and they'll look different on the eyes and not just theoretically or on paper , parity will vanish and it could force other non-aquired publishers to follow suit in order to stay relevant and competitive , ms is playing their own game now , imagine Japanese studios being forced to take advantage of the xbox hardware to stay competitive, I don't think they'll be pissed, it's just pure common sense.
 

bender

What time is it?
I want what number in the billions is the willingness to "pull communities apart"? 7.5 billion: rip and tear. 70 billion: not so much.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
It’s their property, it’s not like there aren’t any other shooters lmao. There are a lot of developers and a lot of games so there’s not even a slight possibility of this to be considered a harm to consumers.
Exactly.

The gaming industry is around $200 billion. And Activision's annual income statements show they do about $8 billion sales. Out of that $8 billion only some of it is Sony based as they got multiplat games, WOW, King etc.... Out of all of Sony's gaming division sales, that Activision portion is going to be a small part of it.

Despite Activision being the biggest third party company, they are actually still just a tiny part of the gaming ecosystem.

MS's Minecraft and Bethesda games have shown zero "cutting the cord" too against PS or Nintendo gamers. So even if people get nervous at the deal, full support is still there.

Now whether full support comes later who knows.
 
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njean777

Member
I really hope Diablo 4 comes out on PS, but if it doesn't I am going to have to skip it sadly. I don't want to go buy a series X for one game....and I doubt my MacBook Pro (intel) will run it how I like. So we shall see.
 
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COD sells more on Playstation. So much, they switched from Xbox to Playstation for the marketing rights. If Activision makes it console exclusive that would cut huge amounts of profit and potentially its popularity.

It would incentivize EA, Epic, or even Sony with SOCOM to fill in that gap.
 

pratyush

Member
COD is bit different to Starfield and Elder Scrolls. Its profitability depends on MTX so i guess Sony and MS will try to do some deal to get it on PS platform.

Sooner PS has something to rival COD the better it is. We might finally get a good FPS game. Also hoping MS fix COD
 

01011001

Banned
Because they will get in trouble with regulators. They wont allow moves that will significantly harm a competitor or consumers.

All the other games I'm sure will be fine to go exclusive but COD will stay multiplat.

they are still #3 in revenue behind sony after that buyout.

there is no chance this would have any affect
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
COD sells more on Playstation. So much, they switched from Xbox to Playstation for the marketing rights. If Activision makes it console exclusive that would cut huge amounts of profit and potentially its popularity.

It would incentivize EA, Epic, or even Sony with SOCOM to fill in that gap.
Phil Spencer spoke about those marketing deals a few years ago. He said essentially that the publishers don't care whose logo appears at the end of the adverts, just who wanted to pay most for the privilege. There's no discount for selling more games. The marketing deal is not a reward for selling more games on a particular system.

So, essentially, Sony outbid Microsoft when Activision offered to put someone's logo on the ad.

There'll be some games that sold more on PlayStation but feature Xbox branding on the ads.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
I think Warzone will stay, and ofcourse already released games will stay.

But the next CoD? not sure. This is a huge investment for MS, they want the player base to fully adopt their ecosystem for returns. CoD appears on gamepass, which means I don't have to buy it if its a decent one. I'm fine with it really.
 



There you go. Sony isn't going anywhere and the Playstation brand will be perfectly fine.

JIM RYAN IS GOD!
Listen to it will you...

MS isn't spending $70 Billion dollars for it to make PS games. Come 2023 it will be Xbox only
 
Phil Spencer spoke about those marketing deals a few years ago. He said essentially that the publishers don't care whose logo appears at the end of the adverts, just who wanted to pay most for the privilege. There's no discount for selling more games. The marketing deal is not a reward for selling more games on a particular system.

So, essentially, Sony outbid Microsoft when Activision offered to put someone's logo on the ad.

There'll be some games that sold more on PlayStation but feature Xbox branding on the ads.
exactly my point.

How can Sony outbid Microsoft? They can’t.
But if one console represents 60% of your sales, you can just offer them higher spilts of sales. Sony can go we can offer you 85-15% spilts for the first month. While Microsoft can offer them the same, their market share is way smaller. Hence Sony not needing to spend a single penny.
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
COD is bit different to Starfield and Elder Scrolls. Its profitability depends on MTX so i guess Sony and MS will try to do some deal to get it on PS platform.

Sooner PS has something to rival COD the better it is. We might finally get a good FPS game. Also hoping MS fix COD

We’ll still do COD if you give us Spider-Man lol
 
Remain cordial, acquire or have the goodwill remain so that people still buy and play Activision Blizzard games and spend money on microtransactions.

All for the purpose of when Microsoft does acquire Activision Blizzard they get all the profits that comes with it.

And when the deal is done, they backtrack. Classic Microsoft and a good business move. Albeit a dick move not gonna lie.
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
Somebody is gonna be disappointed, no idea if that will be PlayStation fans or Xbox fans. I do know that Whatever happens activision games will be day one game pass even if available to buy on playstation
 
Exactly.

The gaming industry is around $200 billion. And Activision's annual income statements show they do about $8 billion sales. Out of that $8 billion only some of it is Sony based as they got multiplat games, WOW, King etc.... Out of all of Sony's gaming division sales, that Activision portion is going to be a small part of it.

Despite Activision being the biggest third party company, they are actually still just a tiny part of the gaming ecosystem.

MS's Minecraft and Bethesda games have shown zero "cutting the cord" too against PS or Nintendo gamers. So even if people get nervous at the deal, full support is still there.

Now whether full support comes later who knows.
They did cut the cord with Bethesda games really quick though, you won’t see a single one of those games released for PlayStation.

One thing is sure, they can make CoD exclusive to Xbox if they want but im pretty sure that will end up killing the franchise, it’s the final blow they need. Call of duty doesn’t work as an exclusive, it’s the go to shooter because it’s available everywhere and because is free. It they go against that and make it exclusive im sure people will move on pretty quick.
 

trikster40

Member
“It’s not our intent”…

But it’s going to happen.

AKA it’s not our fault if people switch consoles for our exclusives including Call of Duty, etc.

Didn’t we lean anything with Bethesda? TES is bigger than any A/B game and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t MS “intent” to pull PS gamers to their console either.
 

FStubbs

Member
Nvidia deal with ARM is stuck. I think after Bethesda deal, this one will get more scrutiny because of the sheer size of this deal and its implications
This isn't in the same zip code. Regulators will only care some big games (and not a majority or all) went exclusive if politics are involved.

The argument boils down to "CoD is Playstation's biggest system seller and having it withdrawn is a blow".

Microsoft buying Nintendo would raise their eyebrows a bit more. Or if, Microsoft was buying 6-7 big AAA third parties and Sony lost 90% of their games.
 
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Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
Microsoft just tossed a megaton nuke on the gaming industry today... whether the next COD will be exclusive or not is irrelevant to their long term plans.

People are still scrapping over console wars when MS just rolled a tank over it.
Exactly. This is bigger than Xbox and PlayStation.
 

Boss Mog

Member
Well it's obvious that Warzone will stay on PlayStation since F2P games require as many players as possible to be sustainable and profitable which is why they're usually offered on as many platforms as possible.
 

pratyush

Member
This isn't in the same zip code. Regulators will only care some big games (and not a majority or all) went exclusive if politics are involved.

The argument boils down to "CoD is Playstation's biggest system seller and having it withdrawn is a blow".

Microsoft buying Nintendo would raise their eyebrows a bit more. Or if, Microsoft was buying 6-7 big AAA third parties and Sony lost 90% of their games.
Then you have next to no understanding of regulations in Europe. Big company buying competition for 70 billion dollar will be scrutinised. It has nothing to do with Sony or Nintendo.
 

Lognor

Banned
Just check Microsoft statements for the past 5 years. The writing is on the wall. Their end goal is moving towards the cloud.

And yes, their short term goal is *this* generation and their long term goal is the *next* generation.
I've checked their statements. You're wrong. Time to buy an Xbox!
 

FStubbs

Member
Then you have next to no understanding of regulations in Europe. Big company buying competition for 70 billion dollar will be scrutinised. It has nothing to do with Sony or Nintendo.
It's not competition is my point, if EU looks at it and tries to block it,it's purely political.

Don't make assumptions.
 
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We probably won’t see exclusives from this deal until 2023.

I can see warzone remaining on PlayStation but most of these games will be exclusive for sure.
 
I initially thought the same, but if anyone believes this after getting more insight into this deal, and why Microsoft has to say specific things right now, then I have a bridge to sell you. Call of Duty is going exclusive, just not Warzone. Microsoft isn't playing around. Nearly everything that they can use to bolster Game Pass and their new corporate structure under Microsoft Gaming, which Phil Spencer is now the CEO of, they will absolutely do. This represents a significant shift for Microsoft that many thought they would never make.

Xbox may no longer get buried inside Microsoft's larger earnings report, and we may start to get more specific details. It may not lead to specific Xbox console sales figures, but that is irrelevant when what they'll be reporting on most importantly is their gaming revenue. That will be the focus and how Game Pass is doing.
 
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FStubbs

Member
Lol, no. EU will look at it just as the US will - does the deal affect EU customers / citizens in a negative way, that's the question to answer.
Exactly. My point is unless there's politics involved there's no way they'd have a problem with it. It's not the same as nVidia buying ARM.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
They did cut the cord with Bethesda games really quick though, you won’t see a single one of those games released for PlayStation.

One thing is sure, they can make CoD exclusive to Xbox if they want but im pretty sure that will end up killing the franchise, it’s the final blow they need. Call of duty doesn’t work as an exclusive, it’s the go to shooter because it’s available everywhere and because is free. It they go against that and make it exclusive im sure people will move on pretty quick.
They did?

So all the existing Doom and Skyrim etc.... you cant buy that for PS anymore?
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
They did?

So all the existing Doom and Skyrim etc.... you cant buy that for PS anymore?

CoD's even more complicated because there are so many older entries still in circulation, plus ongoing stuff like Warzone and Vanguard, plus this holiday season's releases and no doubt a year of support content, plus Activision will have to have a proper 2023 release fairly far along as a contingency plan just in case regulators block the sale.

Bottom line, nothing can change til 2024 at the earliest because its like trying to turn an oil-tanker around, momentum is so strong at this point there's no stopping it.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
CoD's even more complicated because there are so many older entries still in circulation, plus ongoing stuff like Warzone and Vanguard, plus this holiday season's releases and no doubt a year of support content, plus Activision will have to have a proper 2023 release fairly far along as a contingency plan just in case regulators block the sale.

Bottom line, nothing can change til 2024 at the earliest because its like trying to turn an oil-tanker around, momentum is so strong at this point there's no stopping it.
Totally. I dont think many people are thinking about the mid 2023 closure date.

Even if MS is self assured it'll go through, the chances of them messing with their game schedules cutting the cord in the short term (ie. No PS version of COD 2022) is basically zero.

You never know, I remember seeing people either here or Resetera saying maybe MS doesn't really do anything this gen, but flips the switch leading up to PS6 and Series Y. Who knows.
 
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Novacain

Member
The complete meltdowns caused by a gigantic corporate amoeba eating another gigantic corporate amoeba has been glorious.

Thank you.
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
Hah, MS are not putting any games on PS5 if they can help it. Spencer claimed the same rubbish after Bethesda was bought. I'd rather Phil grew a pair and admitted as much. That way this board won't be filled with people thinking MS will continue COD as multiplatform. Now we have people who think the PS5 will have COD in 2023. It won't.

I stopped buying Activision games due to Bobby K. MS please fucking bury this man.
He'll be buried all right but in hundreds of millions of dollars.

Truly stunning, outside of cutthroat business tactics, being the CEO of a successful gaming company has to be such a cake walk. I mean shit, it's not like Kotick is coding or programming these games. He's literally like, "Yes, keep making COD games..."

Whatever, power to him but what a cushy gig that must be.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Until all the titles that are under contract are out, then it'll be exclusive to Xbox/PC.

Its just not that simple.

Until the addressable market from their platforms and services can exceed what was formerly attainable with multi-platform publishing its the definition of leaving money on the table because what it boils down to is abandoning a proven, highly lucrative revenue stream.

Will going exclusive drive more users into the ecosystem? Sure, but you aren't going to get 100% conversion even assuming that you have capacity to support that extra number of customers - something that isn't assured by any means.

There are a whole load of other considerations both pro and con, but the loss of revenue on an annualized multi-plat franchise thst runs as a live service is especially impactful.

The objective is to make money and become dominant, not to win every battle on every front even when doing so inflicts damages on your bottom line. That'd be stupid.

No company ever "moneyhats" everything. Because its just not necessary.

More than that, if the only way you can "win" is by locking down everything, what does that say about confidence in your brand and reputation?
 

The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
I think that they make it interesting, but Europe would simply stop playing CoD or just play it on PC.

You really underestimate how popular multiplat/online games like CoD and overestimate how much Sony exclusives matter. Outside of Gaf and other "hardcore" gaming communities, the majority of casuals play fifa, nba, cod etc.

Theres one ps exclusive game, the spider man being fifth place, the rest is multiplat. Cod vanguard, which wasn't among the most popular game in the franchise, is number 2 om both Europe and USA.

I think its more likely people would buy as series s than buying a PC, and Microsoft don't care where you're playing it because they get their money either way.

Edit: come to think about it. The second most sold game on playstation 2021 is a Microsoft game lol.
(pls it's a joke, I just think it sounded fun)
 
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