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[AtomicStarving]

So Microsoft is lying again like a little B**?

 

[IntentionalPun]

Can’t make this shit up. “We changed strategies.” Did ya? You have spent 80bn on acquisitions in the last few years.

That's the change in strategy, ironically.

(buying exclusive content vs. just buying up entire publishers lol)

Essentially MS kinda did stop going after big 3rd party day 1 Gamepass games (which that email seems to be about), and instead just started buying companies.

 

[Dr_Ifto]

This is why anti trust lawsuits are a thing. To stop this.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

 

[nowhat]

This is the email they already covered on day 1 of the trial, the one he said was the "old strategy".

"So, you no longer beat your wife?"
"No your honor!"
"Case dismissed!"

 

[Jigsaah]

Curious though. He says they were in a position to spend 2-3 billion to "prevent competitors from getting AHEAD in content at a later date"

I feel there needs to be some clarification here. Is he talking about spending this kinda money for parity? What does he mean by "AHEAD" in content?

If this is what Microsoft would have to spend to be on equal footing as Sony, then Microsoft's got bigger problems

 

[Rick Dangerous]

This is going to end in a settlement at best, isn't it..?

I'm honestly more surprised that the EU didn't manage to find a reason to block this deal.

This. As a European, I'm totally ashamed by my antitrust regulators. Lobbying is too much tolerated.

 

[Shakka43]

Time to increase Xbox's prices again.

 

[Varteras]

Then why are they walking into court holding a PlayStation and then badgering Phil to make commitments for PlayStation. Something is fishy as hell.

Take off the tin foil hat and think. Who has more money to buy a regulator off? Microsoft. What does Sony have to do with their attempt to block the deal? A lot, considering it's a huge impact to them. Why does the FTC want this case? So Lina Khan can win a big tech sector battle, like she has said she wants to get under control, or use the loss as evidence that reforms are needed. Which she also has said she wants to do. Drop the "Sony is buying the regulators" thought process. It paints you in a very unflattering light.

 

[Crispy Gamer]

You know why he did tho? Cause they're just like MS, they have a ton of money, ironic lol

That true but Google didn't get into gaming to stop a competitor in the gaming space like Microsoft got into gaming to stop Sony 20+ years ago it's the sole reason you see those aggressive quotes from Sony about Microsoft during the PS2 era that people are trying to use now as some sorta gotcha Sony have always seemed to be suspicious of Microsoft when looking back

 

[8BiTw0LF]

Here's my prediction: If the actiblizz merger goes through, MS will buy another big publisher, like EA or Ubisoft - they'll add as much as they can to GamePass, to outperform every other competitor. People will be ecstatic for the first 5 years after they've eradicated Sony and Nintendo, and then we'll see Disney "quality" (quantity) content.

If you guys thought free-2-play and mtx were bad....

 

[Hendrick's]

Take off the tin foil hat and think. Who has more money to buy a regulator off? Microsoft. What does Sony have to do with their attempt to block the deal? A lot, considering it's a huge impact to them. Why does the FTC want this case? So Lina Khan can win a big tech sector battle, like she has said she wants to get under control, or use the loss as evidence that reforms are needed. Which she also has said she wants to do. Drop the "Sony is buying the regulators" thought process. It paints you in a very unflattering light.

I didn't say Sony was buying them, but it is something that you can't ignore. It's clear bias. What it stems from or what the angle is I can't say.

 

[Gone]

Microsoft has more money on hand than Sony is worth… that’s the difference

Have they tried like... Not being poor?

 

[Deerock71]

Well I'm ready for MS to dip out so we can get a different 3rd platform holder again.

SEGA:

 

[DeepEnigma]

Have they tried like... Not being poor?

 

[recursive]

Spencer will be fine at least but Booty will definitely get the boot.

Why? All this nonsense happened under Phil's watch. He is also a large part of the reason xbox has had medicore content when he was in bootys position. Time to clean house due to poor performance.

 

[Katt”BuckNasty”Johnston]

Well I'm ready for MS to dip out so we can get a different 3rd platform holder again.

Gotta get that SouljaSwitch-360

 

[Gone]

I guess I should have added /s at the end so "smart" people would get it.

 

[FIREKNIGHT2029]

Oof! Waiting for the corporate clowns to swoop in and try and spin this email.

 

[splattered]

Reading this e-mail again... could be referring to pulling a Sony and going out there snatching up every 3rd party AAA game that mattered. Instead they pivoted to acquiring some devs/publishers for content rather than just buying up all the individual games. Probably a nothingburger in the end. Sony and MS probably both internally have discussions about each other like this. They are competitors after all.

 

[Lucie Goosey]

And that, right there, is exactly why I’m against this merger and why everyone who can think critically should be as well.

Straight from the horse’s mouth: It’s never been about expanding gaming, it’s never been about better experiences for gamers, it’s ALWAYS been about Microsoft leveraging their vast finances to SHUT DOWN competitors.

Which is the absolute reason anti-trust laws exist.

It took me awhile, but I'm beginning to see your perspective.

Microsoft can't be allowed to acquire Activision or any other studios. Sony too.

None of this will result in a better landscape for gaming.

 

[DForce]

??? The FTC has already questioned Matt Booty. And the FTC lawyer didn't even go into the implications of that email.

Some of you here are believing that this is new evidence that suddenly appeared and that it changes the course of the trial in favor of the FTC when, for better or worse, it has already been used by the lawyers of the FTC.

I never said it changes the course of the trial since no one knows where the case is leaning. I said it helps their case.

Yes, he's been questioned, that's where the "thought experiment" thing came from. It's a simple response to something they don't want to admit to. It was just an excuse instead of admitting that's what they really want to do.

It's not MS, the one that has to prove... it's the FTC.

Ftc has to prove and convince the judge that MS is going to make COD exclusive..... What you have for now, through the judge's mediation, is an affidavit from P. Spencer that COD will be released on PS5 and forthcoming PS6.

Where did I say Ms has to prove?

You're putting words in my mouth and failing to comprehend what I'm telling you.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

And the context?

It does so in 2019, then it only had 10 Studios. What surprises me is that people are surprised that MS wanted at that time that their first party games were exclusive to their platform at that time

What must be demonstrated by the FTC is that MS has no intention of making exclusive COD (because in the end it all comes down to COD no matter what) and not launching it on PS5. This on the side of a possible console harm that all the regulators have already taken it upon themselves to deny.

On the cloud gaming side, the FTC must demonstrate that allowing the acquisition will cause real damage to the competition and for that it needs financial data and, among other things, convince the judge that it is a separate market.

What if Microsoft told Activision to stop making games branded as CoD but they basically were the same with a different name so they could legally get around CoD and Playstation...

 

[Unknown Soldier]

So..that's pretty rough. Still bet the judge ignores it and let's Microsoft go on ahead with no injunction.

Seriously, though--I said long ago that it wouldn't stop with ABK, now there's revelations about Sega, Bungie were on the docket.

And they will be if they snake this deal through.

It's actually really hard to block any kind of acquisition in the US. Our laws favor the corporation over the government to a ridiculous degree. It would be exactly as expected of this judge, who by the way has a son that works for Microsoft, to not grant the FTC request for a preliminary injunction.

 

[Oddvintagechap]

Even Apple would be hard pressed to get into the console market.

People have libraries built up already.

You'd have to buy SEVERAL publishers AND beat competitors on price of hardware.

Apple wouldn’t want to downgrade to the “console“ market. They have zero need to buy publishers or sell hardware at a lost. They are the biggest gaming company already.

 

[Gone]

Reading this e-mail again... could be referring to pulling a Sony and going out there snatching up every 3rd party AAA game that mattered. Instead they pivoted to acquiring some devs/publishers for content rather than just buying up all the individual games. Probably a nothingburger in the end. Sony and MS probably both internally have discussions about each other like this. They are competitors after all.

But that's goes against the narrative of "Microsoft bad, Sony good" so it can't be here.

Microsoft can't send Sony or Nintendo out of business, that's a fact but people here would be exaggerating everything so let them have it.

 

[semiconscious]

ms: 'we are in a unique position to spend [fill in the blank] out of business'...

 

[gokurho]

The real question is why Tom Warren (a known MS mouthpiece) would be the one to post all that stuff before it comes out in trial?

The Verge is missing from the list.

 

[Doncabesa]

The real question is why Tom Warren (a known MS mouthpiece) would be the one to post all that stuff before it comes out in trial?

Everything coming out right now is part of the planned release of documents to the public. None of this is "new" to the courts. These are the documents we heard referred too during Thursday and Friday's proceedings. This isn't a "leak", it's just being made public for the first time, and has been known to the FTC/CMA/Courts etc for a long time.

 

[angrod14]

No matter what they say, or how much they spend trying to brute force their lack of competence with money, they'll keep getting surpassed by Sony in the gaming space.

 

[CLW]

Man the guys at Xbox running the show are just ABJECT MORONS no wonder they have no quality games and think they can just spend Sony out of the business

 

[VAVA Mk2]

"So, you no longer beat your wife?"
"No your honor!"
"Case dismissed!"

 

[Ansphn]

If this is not a Monopolistic move, I don't know what is...They were trying to buy up the whole gaming industry to push out competition and hoard all the popular I.Ps so no one will be able to compete. Microsoft is literally the Death star.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

FTC right now.

 

[Gobjuduck]

Of course you don't.

lay it out for me boss, Im sure it will be a stupid reach like always.

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

‘Another view different to the general view below, might be …’

Hardly the smoking gun it’s being made out to be. A bit of selective quoting helps with a good headline tho

 

[RoboFu]

yeah, that’s cool… now about releasing a steady stream of games?

 

[jm89]

FTC right now.

The FTC always did really, they opposed it before any other regulator.

The problem now is convincing the federal judge.

 

[Snake29]

One side of me says that MS should get ABK, so that don’t get the change to acquire other pubs with more interesting IP’s then ABK.

They will still cry that they still can’t compete. It will make PlayStation stronger, and shows that having more money, won’t help them.

 

[Represent.]

None of the additional platforms Xbox puts their stuff on (PC, cloud) have any effect on the quality of the game. The two examples you give (cross-gen, Switch) are bad examples because they're last gen consoles, which isn't relevant to the comparison

The point is Microsoft has openly said they want to put stuff on Switch, and eventually, even your goddamn Samsung TV. The games will suffer. I guarantee it. Its naive to think anything else will happen. This is a 2 trillion dollar company. They dont give a shit about quality video games. Games are not their main money maker. Xbox could die tomorrow and they would still be 20x richer than Sony. This is not Sony who is dependant on good quality AAA games to stay relevant. Nor Nintendo. MS can and will flood the market by putting their games on every platform available (by having GamePass available on every platform) and the games will suffer.

 

[rickybooby87]

Guys… you’re missing the big picture, less choice is MORE choice, how hard it is? Geez.

 

[Neff]

Well I'm ready for MS to dip out so we can get a different 3rd platform holder again.

I don't want anyone else dipping their toe in the pool unless they fundamentally understand videogames like Nintendo and Sony do.

More and more it looks like MS' goodwill during the Xbox/360 era was earned by giving lots of money to very talented people, rather than informed, astute business calls on their part.

 

[tmlDan]

‘Another view different to the general view below, might be …’

Hardly the smoking gun it’s being made out to be. A bit of selective quoting helps with a good headline tho

It's a matter of complementing evidence, seeing the M&A list on top of internal emails to buy Sega and their actions like Buying Zenimax, then Buying ABK, that shows intent - intent to buy everyone for content on GP, and in that email he says Sony is the only viable competitor in cloud/sub services, so they can essentially out content Sony out of gaming when cloud/Sub services is mainstream in 10 years or so. It may not happen but that's what they're essentially trying to do.

 

[Darsxx82]

What if Microsoft told Activision to stop making games branded as CoD but they basically were the same with a different name so they could legally get around CoD and Playstation...

Do you really think that such an absurd and obvious ruse was not going to be attacked by the judge as a lie under oath? Do you really think that it could be interesting for MS to rename COD (which would already mean damage to the IP), giving up PS income and the possibility of losing the user base to other competing products?

 

[Arkangelus0]

Where, exactly, has Sony driven anyone off the road with these deals? Final Fantasy? Please. Square Enix didn’t need to be moneyhatted when Xbox gamers haven’t been buying SE games on that platform. Every single SE release has sold least on Xbox dating back to FF13, which was the closest at a 2:1 sales split. Crisis Core FF7 Reunion on Switch outsold Xbox copies. SE was one foot out the door with Xbox long ago.

Bungie? Oh no, a 3.6B purchase of a studio with one live game and one game in development, compared to Microsoft who casually dropped $7b to buy Zenimax based on the mere speculation that Starfield might be exclusive.

Sony doesn’t have, and has never had, the kind of money to buy mega acquisitions like Microsoft does.

And I swear to god if I hear one more MS fanboy whine about PS’ COD timed exclusive shit, I’m going to fucking snap because all those fanboys seem to have forgotten that buying up timed exclusive COD DLC was started by Microsoft in the X360 era when they had the slight edge over the PS3. When that edge was lost with the PS4, Activision went where the money was highest.

But when Microsoft starts a shitty industry practice, that’s okay; When Sony plays by the same rules Microsoft made up SONY BAD!

Xbox started the whole exclusive deals bullshit


Ace combat 6, tales of vesperia, they even make fifa 07 exclusive and claim they own football

And the DLC timed exclusive was beyond bullshit, GTA 4 have 2 1 year exclusive DLC for example

 

[lughnasadh123]

Ooked it in the Dooker.

 

[Gone]

It's a matter of complementing evidence, seeing the M&A list on top of internal emails to buy Sega and their actions like Buying Zenimax, then Buying ABK, that shows intent - intent to buy everyone for content on GP, and in that email he says Sony is the only viable competitor in cloud/sub services, so they can essentially out content Sony out of gaming when cloud/Sub services is mainstream in 10 years or so. It may not happen but that's what they're essentially trying to do.

So you think Sony isn't doing the same thing? It's a competition. Sony has an excellent market share and of course they'd like to continue have that or even make it larger. That's why they signed for Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo exclusivity and were ready to do the same for Starfield, and they do it with lots of other games (see FF 16 or FF7R).

Microsoft is trying the subscription route and they'll have to secure content for it same as Sony does.

 

[DangerDiabolik]

Jimbo when MS opens the warchest:

 

[VAVA Mk2]

Do you really think that such an absurd and obvious ruse was not going to be attacked by the judge as a lie under oath? Do you really think that it could be interesting for MS to rename COD (which would already mean damage to the IP), giving up PS income and the possibility of losing the user base to other competing products?

Microsoft has proven before they do stupid shit:

 

[tmlDan]

So you think Sony isn't doing the same thing? It's a competition. Sony has an excellent market share and of course they'd like to continue have that or even make it larger. That's why they signed for Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo exclusivity and were ready to do the same for Starfield, and they do it with lots of other games (see FF 16 or FF7R).

Microsoft is trying the subscription route and they'll have to secure content for it same as Sony does.

Stop comparing it to Sony, this is about MS's buying power and their purchase of ABK.

jfc you and "what about Sony tho"