China Grants Approval to Microsoft's Acquisition of Activision Blizzard

[Blitz4]

https://80.lv/articles/china-grants-approval-to-microsoft-s-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard/

I wonder what those obstacles or why US & UK feel it's not a good purchase for the public.

[Pierce Dalton]

引用自 Blitz4：

I wonder what those obstacles or why US & UK feel it's not a good purchase for the public.

They don't feel it's not a good purchase for the public, they're just being lobbied by someone.

[Ȼħⱥꞥꞥēł8753452]

Yikes, honestly the less microsoft owns the better, also what about all those other studios they purchased? Whatever happened to those? Shouldn't they focus on those instead of eating up studios just for them to contribute very little?

Seems like a scheme of some kind to me

[❤ Sly Succubus ❤]

引用自 Channel_04：

Yikes, honestly the less microsoft owns the better, also what about all those other studios they purchased? Whatever happened to those? Shouldn't they focus on those instead of eating up studios just for them to contribute very little?

Seems like a scheme of some kind to me

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Game_Studios#Subsidiaries_and_divisions
They got like 22 under em, including having bought out Zenimax Entertainment directly who was the parent company of ID Software and Bethesda

[[H.E.] ✟ GrandEmperorVandheer ✟]

Are you sure about that?

[Ȼħⱥꞥꞥēł8753452]

引用自 Shizune：

引用自 Channel_04：

Yikes, honestly the less microsoft owns the better, also what about all those other studios they purchased? Whatever happened to those? Shouldn't they focus on those instead of eating up studios just for them to contribute very little?

Seems like a scheme of some kind to me

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_Game_Studios#Subsidiaries_and_divisions
They got like 22 under em, including having bought out Zenimax Entertainment directly who was the parent company of ID Software and Bethesda

Yes I am aware, my point wasn't how many but rather wtf they were doing. I've seen companies buy up studios or smaller companies before only to kill them off with layoffs and other nonsense.

It's never good when a company as large as microsoft is eating up companies. These "approvals" reek of insider under the table influencing tbh

Same vibes

[Ulfrinn]

引用自 JustSomeLego：

Does this mean we can get a good crash game now

That means Crash will probably be shelved and never touch again. It'll go the way of the Conker.

[Faster With Feeling]

So asking seriously why is China involved in this?

[Blitz4]

引用自 Cyanide Pumpkin：

So asking seriously why is China involved in this?

https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/156934/why-does-microsoft-need-china-s-approval-to-buy-blizzard

In Japan. Previous gen XBox and all XBox's before sold next to none in Japan. Consider both Sony and Nintendo are headquartered there, but that link above summed it up. It's not just about the approval making Microsoft less profits. Think about Australia for example where purchasing some games are banned. Those gamers in China might want to buy Microsoft's products. Someone traveling to China for vacation may want to buy Microsoft's products while there.




EU approved. But US and UK didn't. It's nice to see countries (UK) part of the EU still able to individually have the ability to make a decision on the matter. I'm from the States and don't understand how that works.

引用自 US Federal Trade Commission：

The regulator believes that Microsoft's Activision deal would "enable Microsoft to suppress competitors to its Xbox gaming consoles and its rapidly growing subscription content and cloud-gaming business."

One of the regulators' main concerns about the deal has been the possibility of Microsoft making Activision games Xbox exclusives which, according to them, might hurt the competition in the market.

In its complaint, the FTC also pointed out that Microsoft might use the move when its Activision deal is closed drawing attention to the fact that the tech giant has a record of "acquiring and using valuable gaming content to suppress competition" from other console makers, including its acquisition of Bethesda owner ZeniMax when the company made some of Bethesda's games exclusive to its gaming ecosystem despite the assurances to regulators that it wouldn't withhold games from rival consoles.

引用自 UK Competition and Markets Authority：

UK's regulator has issued its final ruling on Microsoft's attempt to acquire Activision Blizzard, declaring that "Microsoft’s proposed solution failed to effectively address the concerns in the cloud gaming sector."

The CMA had previously voiced concerns that Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass subscription service, which offers cloud gaming as one of its benefits, could undermine competition in the emerging cloud gaming industry. The regulator argued that this could ultimately limit innovation and choice for UK gamers, prompting its decision to block the acquisition.

"The CMA carefully considered whether the benefit of having Activision’s content available on Game Pass outweighed the harm that the merger would cause to competition in cloud gaming in the UK," the regulator wrote in a press release.

"The CMA found that this new payment option, while beneficial to some customers, would not outweigh the overall harm to competition (and, ultimately, UK gamers) arising from this merger, particularly given the incentive for Microsoft to increase the cost of a Game Pass subscription post-merger to reflect the addition of Activision’s valuable games."

[Blitz4]

引用自 Drink and Snack：

引用自 Blitz4：

EU approved. But US and UK didn't. It's nice to see countries (UK) part of the EU still able to individually have the ability to make a decision on the matter. I'm from the States and don't understand how that works.

Did you travel travel through time? UK hasn't been part of the EU for quite a while now.

Thanks. I see that happened some time after I stopped reading the news around 2016. Is innocent ignorance a thing? Anyway thanks for letting me know.

[Pocahawtness]

引用自 eram：

the people that blocked the uk deal never played a computer game before

You think the people who approved it have?

[[N]ebsun]

Approved - let M$ take it, run it through the money milker, crash it, then abandon it... the same way they do to everything else they touch.

[Ȼħⱥꞥꞥēł8753452]

引用自 Nebsun：

Approved - let M$ take it, run it through the money milker, crash it, then abandon it... the same way they do to everything else they touch.

^This
Why aren't people seeing this from a mile away lol.

The only thing that's improved since the 360 days is their controllers. Everything else from the xbox brand to windows has been a disaster. At this point people are using windows out of necessity not because they enjoy windows as a OS.

[Blitz4]

引用自 Channel_04：

引用自 Nebsun：

Approved - let M$ take it, run it through the money milker, crash it, then abandon it... the same way they do to everything else they touch.

^This
Why aren't people seeing this from a mile away lol.

The only thing that's improved since the 360 days is their controllers. Everything else from the xbox brand to windows has been a disaster. At this point people are using windows out of necessity not because they enjoy windows as a OS.

I've another example of Microsoft's failures.
Remember Skype? Have you ever used Microsoft Teams? What about Windows Messenger or Windows Live Messenger? All 3 of these were products bought by Microsoft, they were growing in features and popularity when purchased, and have since been run into the ground.



About using Windows as a necessity.
Windows doesn't have competition for gaming.
Because Microsoft made sure they were the only option.


If you say Apple, I say maybe if you look at the early 90's, but since then, no. https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/05/09/how-apples-macs-lost-an-early-lead-in-video-gaming

That same year, Jobs laid out Apple's graphics strategy and announced from the Macworld Expo stage that"we are starting to see some great games come back to the Mac, but this is one of the coolest I've ever seen," as he invited Bungie to debut its advanced new 3D shooter Halo for Mac, based on Apple's recently released support for OpenGL— the main competitor to DirectX.

Steve Jobs was excited to debut Halo for the Mac in 1999.
The next year, however, Microsoft acquired Bungie and scuttled its Mac game. A year later in 2001 it used the game's concept to launch Halo: Combat Evolved as an exclusive launch title for its new Xbox console, providing a standout game that wasn't available on Sony's PlayStation 2, and which used the DirectX APIs Microsoft was working to make essential to gaming everywhere.

It's even clear that Apple has given up on gaming around 2019 or so many developers just dropped them due to a number of reasons. Personally, I'm disgusted by their application review process. https://www.gridsagegames.com/blog/2019/09/sorry-mac-users-apple-doesnt-care-about-us-devs/
Then 2020, Apple dropped x86 and now their desktop computers run on a very powerful mobile cpu. It made no sense to me why they'd ever do that. Until I see they own a store for mobile and now allow you to buy mobile games on desktop. So they're done with PC gaming. I'm sure you can emulate a x86 on a modern Mac, but that's stupid, especially considering Mac's are typically 2-5x more expensive than a comparable PC.


If you say Linux, I say not until an organized and well funded company like Microsoft or Apple are able to step in and put a Linux Distro for the average person in place. It'll probably take even more than that. Microsoft holds all the cards.

If you search for "Windows Refund Day", back in 1999, People wanted the money back for buying a pre-built PC that included Windows 98 and cost extra because of that. Per the terms, Microsoft made it impossible to get a refund. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=windows+refund+day

[Ȼħⱥꞥꞥēł8753452]

引用自 Blitz4：

引用自 Channel_04：

^This
Why aren't people seeing this from a mile away lol.

The only thing that's improved since the 360 days is their controllers. Everything else from the xbox brand to windows has been a disaster. At this point people are using windows out of necessity not because they enjoy windows as a OS.

I've another example of Microsoft's failures.
Remember Skype? Have you ever used Microsoft Teams? What about Windows Messenger or Windows Live Messenger? All 3 of these were products bought by Microsoft, they were growing in features and popularity when purchased, and have since been run into the ground.



About using Windows as a necessity.
Windows doesn't have competition for gaming.
Because Microsoft made sure they were the only option.


If you say Apple, I say maybe if you look at the early 90's, but since then, no. https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/05/09/how-apples-macs-lost-an-early-lead-in-video-gaming

That same year, Jobs laid out Apple's graphics strategy and announced from the Macworld Expo stage that"we are starting to see some great games come back to the Mac, but this is one of the coolest I've ever seen," as he invited Bungie to debut its advanced new 3D shooter Halo for Mac, based on Apple's recently released support for OpenGL— the main competitor to DirectX.

Steve Jobs was excited to debut Halo for the Mac in 1999.
The next year, however, Microsoft acquired Bungie and scuttled its Mac game. A year later in 2001 it used the game's concept to launch Halo: Combat Evolved as an exclusive launch title for its new Xbox console, providing a standout game that wasn't available on Sony's PlayStation 2, and which used the DirectX APIs Microsoft was working to make essential to gaming everywhere.

It's even clear that Apple has given up on gaming around 2019 or so many developers just dropped them due to a number of reasons. Personally, I'm disgusted by their application review process. https://www.gridsagegames.com/blog/2019/09/sorry-mac-users-apple-doesnt-care-about-us-devs/
Then 2020, Apple dropped x86 and now their desktop computers run on a very powerful mobile cpu. It made no sense to me why they'd ever do that. Until I see they own a store for mobile and now allow you to buy mobile games on desktop. So they're done with PC gaming. I'm sure you can emulate a x86 on a modern Mac, but that's stupid, especially considering Mac's are typically 2-5x more expensive than a comparable PC.


If you say Linux, I say not until an organized and well funded company like Microsoft or Apple are able to step in and put a Linux Distro for the average person in place. It'll probably take even more than that. Microsoft holds all the cards.

If you search for "Windows Refund Day", back in 1999, People wanted the money back for buying a pre-built PC that included Windows 98 and cost extra because of that. Per the terms, Microsoft made it impossible to get a refund. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=windows+refund+day

It's sad tbh

and yea mac has largely dropped out of the gaming scene. So it's windows or linux if you're lucky

[GlaceonChireiden]

引用自 Ulfrinn：

引用自 JustSomeLego：

Does this mean we can get a good crash game now

That means Crash will probably be shelved and never touch again. It'll go the way of the Conker.

You know what, considering how Crash 4 turned out, that may not be such a bad fate for him.
Rest well Crash, you did well (until the very end)