guru3d Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion all-cash deal

[UltraMega]

I've never argued that sub models won't become the standard, only that to date Microsoft has not eliminated any non sub options for purchasing software and they have not stated any plans to do so. 

Edited January 23, 2022 by UltraMega

[pio]

22 minutes ago, UltraMega said:

I've never argued that sub models are won't become the standard, only that to date Microsoft has not eliminated any non sub options for purchasing software and they have not stated any plans to do so. 

You still have yet to show me where one can purchase a HOME license of Office Premium with all the features of the subscription model mate.  You say they're not doing these things.....but they are.  You just keep comparing apples to oranges.  You really think they're not going to do the same with games, when they've flat out stated they're going to?

[UltraMega]

9 hours ago, pioneerisloud said:

You still have yet to show me where one can purchase a HOME license of Office Premium with all the features of the subscription model mate.  You say they're not doing these things.....but they are.  You just keep comparing apples to oranges.  You really think they're not going to do the same with games, when they've flat out stated they're going to?

I didn't say office 2021 and office 365 are the same and I'm not arguing that, but there is nothing missing from Office 2021 that would typically be in older non subscription models of Office. The only real difference that people might actually care about is office 365 comes with more OneDrive storage which is the one thing that makes sense as a subscription. Realistically the differences between the two are meaningless. 

 

Also, the screenshots I included show that you can purchase whichever version of office you want. If you wanted Outlook included but don't want to spend a ton you would want the "home and business" version.

 

Microsoft has never said it intends to release games that have features only available to the subscription model. Feel free to include a source if you think I'm wrong about that. If anything, they have done the opposite by releasing all their games on Steam. 

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by UltraMega

[UltraMega]

15 hours ago, Diffident said:

Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 will both be Microsoft platform exclusives, not just timed exclusives.  This is an example of anti consumer behaviour.  Buying a franchise that was multi platform then after purchase only making it available for your own platform.

 

Imagine if Nvidia bought a couple major game studios and somehow locked the games to only Nvidia GPU's.  I'm sure everyone would be singing a different tune.  Twitter and Reddit would essentially be DDos'd from the outcry.

The potential for Sony to lose out on a few games is the downside, but there are arguable upsides as well like stronger incentive for both companies to produce high quality content to stand out from the competition. Won't be long now before Sony had their own subscription offer and arguable that's a result of competition from Microsoft. Acquisitions in the tech world are nothing new, they're not even rare to gaming specifically. The only real difference between this and other acquisitions is that Microsoft is a bigger company making big acquisitions, but they are still well behind Sony in the gaming world. 

[Diffident]

2 hours ago, UltraMega said:

The potential for Sony to lose out on a few games is the downside, but there are arguable upsides as well like stronger incentive for both companies to produce high quality content to stand out from the competition. Won't be long now before Sony had their own subscription offer and arguable that's a result of competition from Microsoft. Acquisitions in the tech world are nothing new, they're not even rare to gaming specifically. The only real difference between this and other acquisitions is that Microsoft is a bigger company making big acquisitions, but they are still well behind Sony in the gaming world. 

 

Rose colored glasses. 

 

It's the people that already own a Playstation that are losing out.  Encouraging more vendor lock-ins doesn't help anyone. We'll see if it happens.

 

Microsoft-Activision Deal Likely to Face Close Antitrust Scrutiny

WWW.WSJ.COM

---

The $75 billion acquisition will have to navigate a regulatory environment that has become less friendly to deal making, especially...

 

[UltraMega]

5 hours ago, Diffident said:

 

Rose colored glasses. 

 

It's the people that already own a Playstation that are losing out.  Encouraging more vendor lock-ins doesn't help anyone. We'll see if it happens.

 

Microsoft-Activision Deal Likely to Face Close Antitrust Scrutiny

WWW.WSJ.COM

---

The $75 billion acquisition will have to navigate a regulatory environment that has become less friendly to deal making, especially...

 

I agree people who own Playstation already are potentially going to miss out on a few titles. That's the negative. There are also positive aspects to heightened competition as I've stated. 

 

Vendor lock ins absolutely have their benefits and it's completely short sided to ignore that. The reason Sony is on top in this race is because of their exclusive first party content. Being first party, their content is very high quality and it makes perfect sense that Microsoft would want to try to do the same. 

 

Yes it's always a bummer when games are not multi-platform but it's also not unusual at all in this industry. Sony has done the same, like when it acquired Naughty Dog for example. 

 

 

And let's not ignore that if Activision wasn't struggling and in need of new management Microsoft probably would not have done this. 

Edited January 23, 2022 by UltraMega

[schuck6566]

20 hours ago, Diffident said:

Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 will both be Microsoft platform exclusives, not just timed exclusives.  This is an example of anti consumer behaviour.  Buying a franchise that was multi platform then after purchase only making it available for your own platform.

 

Imagine if Nvidia bought a couple major game studios and somehow locked the games to only Nvidia GPU's.  I'm sure everyone would be singing a different tune.  Twitter and Reddit would essentially be DDos'd from the outcry.

So, it's OK for Playstation to do it but when Microsoft follows THEIR lead you flip a gasket?

"Insomniac games : With Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales being such huge hits, it's no wonder Sony scooped the studio up in 2019." "Current Projects: Insomniac is sticking with Marvel for its next couple of games. Marvel's Spider-Man 2, the next title in the studio's Spidey saga, is currently in the works for PS5. Beyond that, a separate team is working on Marvel's Wolverine, also exclusively for PS5."

Naughty Dog:Acquired in 2001. The Last of Us 1 & 2 , Uncharted... "Current Projects: Naughty Dog is hard at work on a standalone multiplayer game set in the Last of Us universe. It's widely accepted that this will build on The Last of Us: Part II's combat to bring a fleshed out Factions game to life."

Bluepoint Games: "Famous for its work on Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Shadow of the Colossus, and Demon's Souls, Sony scooped up this talented team in late 2021."

Guerrilla Games : Creators of the Killzone franchise, and acquired by Sony following the release of Shellshock: ‘Nam 67 in 2005. "One of SIE's most technically capable studios, it's now best known for Horizon Zero Dawn, which runs on the studio's own Decima Engine.Guerrilla is developing Horizon Forbidden West for PS5 and PS4. It's also making Horizon Call of the Mountain in collaboration with Firesprite Games."

 

So, when's the last time you were able to play these games on your xbox console unless it was using a browser to stream them from a service????

You're gonna jump Microsoft for going Playstations route???

And I'm NOT getting into the pc software issue since that's been talked to death for years.(Back when they FIRST talked about making it a subscription service) If you don't want to subscribe,find open source that covers your needs or admit they can do as they choose with their product.

Edit: Oh, 1 more thing, when's the last time you played a ps2 or ps3 game on a ps4 or5? Microsoft has games galore for the xbox 360 that are now compatible on the xbox 1 AND xbox series X/S. At least microsoft supports it's players and their older games also.

Gamers can log into PS Now, Sony’s gaming streaming service, and play many PS3 games as well as some of the best PS2 games.

This streaming subscription allows gamers to play titles from yesteryear without having to drag out old consoles from the attic. <-- ONLY way to play former generation games on ps4.

List of backward-compatible games for Xbox One and Series X/S - Wikipedia

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by schuck6566

[UltraMega]

Imagine if facebook had bought activision instead... 
 

Activision pursued a Facebook buyout before selling to Microsoft, report claims

WWW.MSN.COM

---

The publisher reportedly spoke to at least one other company as well

 

[Diffident]

6 hours ago, schuck6566 said:

So, it's OK for Playstation to do it but when Microsoft follows THEIR lead you flip a gasket?

"Insomniac games : With Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales being such huge hits, it's no wonder Sony scooped the studio up in 2019." "Current Projects: Insomniac is sticking with Marvel for its next couple of games. Marvel's Spider-Man 2, the next title in the studio's Spidey saga, is currently in the works for PS5. Beyond that, a separate team is working on Marvel's Wolverine, also exclusively for PS5."

Naughty Dog:Acquired in 2001. The Last of Us 1 & 2 , Uncharted... "Current Projects: Naughty Dog is hard at work on a standalone multiplayer game set in the Last of Us universe. It's widely accepted that this will build on The Last of Us: Part II's combat to bring a fleshed out Factions game to life."

Bluepoint Games: "Famous for its work on Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Shadow of the Colossus, and Demon's Souls, Sony scooped up this talented team in late 2021."

Guerrilla Games : Creators of the Killzone franchise, and acquired by Sony following the release of Shellshock: ‘Nam 67 in 2005. "One of SIE's most technically capable studios, it's now best known for Horizon Zero Dawn, which runs on the studio's own Decima Engine.Guerrilla is developing Horizon Forbidden West for PS5 and PS4. It's also making Horizon Call of the Mountain in collaboration with Firesprite Games."

 

So, when's the last time you were able to play these games on your xbox console unless it was using a browser to stream them from a service????

You're gonna jump Microsoft for going Playstations route???

And I'm NOT getting into the pc software issue since that's been talked to death for years.(Back when they FIRST talked about making it a subscription service) If you don't want to subscribe,find open source that covers your needs or admit they can do as they choose with their product.

Edit: Oh, 1 more thing, when's the last time you played a ps2 or ps3 game on a ps4 or5? Microsoft has games galore for the xbox 360 that are now compatible on the xbox 1 AND xbox series X/S. At least microsoft supports it's players and their older games also.

Gamers can log into PS Now, Sony’s gaming streaming service, and play many PS3 games as well as some of the best PS2 games.

This streaming subscription allows gamers to play titles from yesteryear without having to drag out old consoles from the attic. <-- ONLY way to play former generation games on ps4.

List of backward-compatible games for Xbox One and Series X/S - Wikipedia

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

 

 

Two wrongs don't make a right.  An action that is anticompetitive can't be used to justify another anticompetitive action.  I don't think it's ok for Sony to do it either. Since I haven't owned a console since the original Playstation, and Sony exclusives aren't talked about on PC forums, I have no idea what games are available on Playstations other than the ones that are also on PC's.

I'm a Linux user, I believe in multi-platform and open standards.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by Diffident

[UltraMega]

20 minutes ago, Diffident said:

 

Two wrongs don't make a right.  An action that is anticompetitive can't be used to justify another anticompetitive action.  I don't think it's ok for Sony to do it either. Since I haven't owned a console since the original Playstation, and Sony exclusives aren't talked about on PC forums, I have no idea what games are available on Playstations other than the ones that are also on PC's.

I'm a Linux user, I believe in multi-platform and open standards.

 

 

Open standards are great but video games are an entertainment business with huge dev costs. There are positives and negatives to this kind of ramped up competition but as PC gamers we get the best of both worlds. I'd also argue that we can expect higher quality games, but there is no denying some console gamers might miss out of a few games in the process. 

 

Even if you are a staunch Linux gamer, there's more games available now than ever. 

[pio]

1 hour ago, UltraMega said:

Open standards are great but video games are an entertainment business with huge dev costs. There are positives and negatives to this kind of ramped up competition but as PC gamers we get the best of both worlds. I'd also argue that we can expect higher quality games, but there is no denying some console gamers might miss out of a few games in the process. 

 

Even if you are a staunch Linux gamer, there's more games available now than ever. 

And I'd argue that we've seen nothing but a decline in the quality of games since at least 15 years ago.  To be honest, I think the last real good year of gaming in general was 2007, when things were still actually new and innovative.  And this anticompetitive, day one DLC, subscription model, intrusive DRM for paying customers system we're into is directly to thank for that.  Every one of the large companies in the industry is at fault here, not just Microsoft.  There was a comment above about why are we complaining so hard about when Microsoft does this.......how about because this thread is about Microsoft doing it and not Sony?  Sony is just as guilty here, but that's getting off topic.  And yes, there are exceptions to my statement.  There are some good titles here and there still.  But they're getting fewer and further in between.

Just because they put more pretties in the games doesn't mean the games are better.  All they're doing is rehashing old ideas, and copy / pasting old games with new flair.  I mean jeez, speaking of Activision, look at COD MW "Remastered".  It's quite LITERALLY a copy / paste of COD4 from 2007, and that game sold millions.  Why, WHY when the same EXACT freaking title was already available since 2007?  And there's talks of them re-releasing MW2 as a "remaster".  How about GTA III, Vice City, and SA Remastered?  Again, titles that were ALREADY available.....and the remastered copies are actually worse than the originals even!

And yes, as far as "console exclusives", that's been a thing since the NES and Sega Genesis days.  It's expected.  What's NOT expected is when you're literally splitting the gaming community in half with exclusives.  They used to be the occasion not the norm, and today exclusives are slowly becoming a norm.  Every generation there's more and more exclusives for one system or another.  Exclusives USED TO BE very specific titles, usually released at launch of a console kind of like tech demos for the consoles themselves.  Most titles were available on all systems back in the day.  With one exception of course that I have not mentioned yet......Nintendo.  They've ALWAYS had a large number of exclusives, but that's because they develop their own games.

Edited January 24, 2022 by pioneerisloud

[UltraMega]

33 minutes ago, pioneerisloud said:

And I'd argue that we've seen nothing but a decline in the quality of games since at least 15 years ago.  To be honest, I think the last real good year of gaming in general was 2007, when things were still actually new and innovative.  And this anticompetitive, day one DLC, subscription model, intrusive DRM for paying customers system we're into is directly to thank for that.  Every one of the large companies in the industry is at fault here, not just Microsoft.  There was a comment above about why are we complaining so hard about when Microsoft does this.......how about because this thread is about Microsoft doing it and not Sony?  Sony is just as guilty here, but that's getting off topic.  And yes, there are exceptions to my statement.  There are some good titles here and there still.  But they're getting fewer and further in between.

Just because they put more pretties in the games doesn't mean the games are better.  All they're doing is rehashing old ideas, and copy / pasting old games with new flair.  I mean jeez, speaking of Activision, look at COD MW "Remastered".  It's quite LITERALLY a copy / paste of COD4 from 2007, and that game sold millions.  Why, WHY when the same EXACT freaking title was already available since 2007?  And there's talks of them re-releasing MW2 as a "remaster".  How about GTA III, Vice City, and SA Remastered?  Again, titles that were ALREADY available.....and the remastered copies are actually worse than the originals even!

And yes, as far as "console exclusives", that's been a thing since the NES and Sega Genesis days.  It's expected.  What's NOT expected is when you're literally splitting the gaming community in half with exclusives.  They used to be the occasion not the norm, and today exclusives are slowly becoming a norm.  Every generation there's more and more exclusives for one system or another.  Exclusives USED TO BE very specific titles, usually released at launch of a console kind of like tech demos for the consoles themselves.  Most titles were available on all systems back in the day.  With one exception of course that I have not mentioned yet......Nintendo.  They've ALWAYS had a large number of exclusives, but that's because they develop their own games.

Good thing you have plenty of retro systems to keep you entertained until the gaming industry gets more inline with your preferences. Until then I'll be enjoying having a huge library of games for less than a pack of cigarettes, on top of all the games I might choose to buy. 

 

More than anything the reception game pass gets from some PC gamers is proof that PC gamers are extremely eletist and anal sometimes.

Edited January 24, 2022 by UltraMega

[pio]

3 minutes ago, UltraMega said:

Good thing you have plenty of retro systems to keep you entertained until the gaming industry get more inline with your preferences. Until then I'll be enjoying having a huge library of games for less than a pack of cigarettes, on top of all the games I might choose to buy. 

 

More than anything the reception game pass gets from some PC gamers is proof that PC gamers are extremely eletist and anal sometimes.

Actually yes its a VERY good thing I'm building retro systems to enjoy the games I've paid for.  Thank you.   Just played Quake again just 2 nights ago.....a game that got a FREE revamp recently, 26 years after release.  Talk about customer service.

 

It has absolutely nothing to do with platform of choice here mate.  I used to play on NES, SNES, PSX, N64 too.  Also played on DOS and original Mac systems too.  I had an original Gameboy as well.  I quit consoles after the original XBox and PS2, never owned either but my friends did.  It had nothing to do with the consoles it was more....why should I keep buying boxes when my PC can already play the games I enjoy?  Back then, the exclusives for the consoles didn't really tickle my fancy too much and the games I did want were available on all platforms.  Only reason I switched to PC gaming was because I was already in love with building my own dream hardware from the ground up.

But good job gaslighting my rage as "elitist" and "anal" for PC only.

[pio]

Oh, and if you had actually read my projects thread.....you'd have recognized that I'm building my old systems for my kid.  That way he can learn where PC's came from and how they've evolved over the years.  I intend on teaching my nephews about them too.  It's a learning experience for the younger generations, something that it really sounds like YOU could have a lesson or two in as well.

[UltraMega]

43 minutes ago, pioneerisloud said:

Actually yes its a VERY good thing I'm building retro systems to enjoy the games I've paid for.  Thank you.   Just played Quake again just 2 nights ago.....a game that got a FREE revamp recently, 26 years after release.  Talk about customer service.

 

It has absolutely nothing to do with platform of choice here mate.  I used to play on NES, SNES, PSX, N64 too.  Also played on DOS and original Mac systems too.  I had an original Gameboy as well.  I quit consoles after the original XBox and PS2, never owned either but my friends did.  It had nothing to do with the consoles it was more....why should I keep buying boxes when my PC can already play the games I enjoy?  Back then, the exclusives for the consoles didn't really tickle my fancy too much and the games I did want were available on all platforms.  Only reason I switched to PC gaming was because I was already in love with building my own dream hardware from the ground up.

But good job gaslighting my rage as "elitist" and "anal" for PC only.

I don't mean you specifically, but there are a lot of PC gamers who seem to just hate game pass for any and all reasons they can come up with. Your attitude about it is synonymous with a lot of other stuff I've read online. I'm not gaslighting... that's not what gaslighting means. I'm just maintaining my position and it's hard not to roll my eyes at what I see as over the top and unjustified skepticism. I see game pass as simply an option that's a really good deal, from my perspective it's hard to relate to anyone who is unhappy about it. I don't see it as a threat, just a good deal. 

Edited January 24, 2022 by UltraMega

[Diffident]

1 hour ago, UltraMega said:

Open standards are great but video games are an entertainment business with huge dev costs. There are positives and negatives to this kind of ramped up competition but as PC gamers we get the best of both worlds. I'd also argue that we can expect higher quality games, but there is no denying some console gamers might miss out of a few games in the process. 

 

Even if you are a staunch Linux gamer, there's more games available now than ever. 

Open standards don't cost devs money.  Using Vulkan over DX or open media codecs over Microsoft's Media Foundation doesn't cost anything.  Multi-platform may cost more initially, but the customer base is expanded which increases sales.

 

There are more games playable on Linux thanks to Valve, despite what Epic and Microsoft have done by buying Linux game developers, that once existing contracts are fulfilled, will not be making more Linux games.  Second only to Anti-cheat flagging Linux gamers as cheaters, Microsoft's Media Foundation codecs have been a major thorn for Linux gaming.  Do to licensing, Valve doesn't distribute the means to decode Media Foundation codecs with Proton.  Valve has started transcoding cut scenes in games with open codecs so they can be played on Linux.

[UltraMega]

22 minutes ago, Diffident said:

Open standards don't cost devs money.  Using Vulkan over DX or open media codecs over Microsoft's Media Foundation doesn't cost anything.  Multi-platform may cost more initially, but the customer base is expanded which increases sales.

 

There are more games playable on Linux thanks to Valve, despite what Epic and Microsoft have done by buying Linux game developers, that once existing contracts are fulfilled, will not be making more Linux games.  Second only to Anti-cheat flagging Linux gamers as cheaters, Microsoft's Media Foundation codecs have been a major thorn for Linux gaming.  Do to licensing, Valve doesn't distribute the means to decode Media Foundation codecs with Proton.  Valve has started transcoding cut scenes in games with open codecs so they can be played on Linux.

I've got nothing against Linux. I don't think it's realistic to think an open source OS would ever become the OS of choice for your average PC user because that's not the user base Linux aims for anyway, and for many other reasons. 

 

I don't have a dog in the API race, but I don't think devs have to pay to use directX either... That would be news to me. I suppose one reason they might choose to use DX would be since they probably already use it for Xbox so it's just less work to stick with it for PC. I'd imagine there are some trade offs between different APIs and I don't see a problem with it not being open source. 

 

I don't think Microsoft is buying devs to keep games off Linux. PC is an open platform so they don't get anything from PC game sales anyway unless you buy them from Microsoft and for a long time they didn't seem to care about that at all. I think Microsoft is probably a lot more worried about Android in terms of a Windows competitor. 

 

Windows is a small part of Microsoft's overall business now. If Linux did take off someday, Microsoft would probably just go with the flow and release game pass for Linux. 

Edited January 24, 2022 by UltraMega

[schuck6566]

lol, ran across this made up twitter conversation on a site I follow, might help the deep state mind set feel more at home....

[Diffident]

21 hours ago, UltraMega said:

I've got nothing against Linux. I don't think it's realistic to think an open source OS would ever become the OS of choice for your average PC user because that's not the user base Linux aims for anyway, and for many other reasons. 

 

I don't have a dog in the API race, but I don't think devs have to pay to use directX either... That would be news to me. I suppose one reason they might choose to use DX would be since they probably already use it for Xbox so it's just less work to stick with it for PC. I'd imagine there are some trade offs between different APIs and I don't see a problem with it not being open source. 

 

I don't think Microsoft is buying devs to keep games off Linux. PC is an open platform so they don't get anything from PC game sales anyway unless you buy them from Microsoft and for a long time they didn't seem to care about that at all. I think Microsoft is probably a lot more worried about Android in terms of a Windows competitor. 

 

Windows is a small part of Microsoft's overall business now. If Linux did take off someday, Microsoft would probably just go with the flow and release game pass for Linux. 

Open standards are about compatibility with multiple systems while also not being encumbered with licensing fees or patents.  Displayport is an open standard whereas HDMI is not and requires a license.

 

Making a game with DX limits it to only xbox or windows, using vulkan would allow games to also run on Nintendo Switch, Linux or Android with a lot less work than using DX.  Same with Media Foundation, there was no reason for Microsoft to create Media Foundation.  Microsoft likes to reinvent the wheel and release proprietary versions of things that already exist in order to lock users to Windows.  Windows is data mining cash cow, they're not giving it up anytime soon. 

 

[Mr. Fox]

I am in the "this is very bad news" camp. The Redmond Reprobates suck. They ruin everything they touch, including their own OS. They are control freaks and like a slowly metastasizing cancer. They can stuff the subscription SaaS model up their tailpipe. They have already shown us what Micro$lop Game Studios does... forcing gamers to run the latest and not-greatest version of their trashy OS with all of the update filth applied to play their garbage UWP M$ Store games. No thanks. 

Edited January 25, 2022 by Mr. Fox

[ENTERPRISE]

3 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

I am in the "this is very bad news" camp. The Redmond Reprobates suck. They ruin everything they touch, including their own OS. They are control freaks and like a slowly metastasizing cancer. They can stuff the subscription SaaS model up their tailpipe. They have already shown us what Micro$lop Game Studios does... forcing gamers to run the latest and not-greatest version of their trashy OS with all of the update filth applied to play their garbage UWP M$ Store games. No thanks. 

So not a fan of Microsoft then lol. 

[EHW Ai]

On 23/01/2022 at 19:14, UltraMega said:

...proof that PC gamers are extremely elitist and anal sometimes.

 

funny, as one of (if not the only) resident boomers here, that's what I thought about millenials (give or take a few years before and after).

 

anyway

 

 

 

245 ways to say later

 (gotta go, Nurse Ratched calls... enjoy!)

 

 

Edited January 25, 2022 by iamjanco

[Mr. Fox]

5 hours ago, ENTERPRISE said:

So not a fan of Microsoft then lol. 

Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, I suppose. If pressed to identify something nice to say, it would be "they're not Apple" LOL. 

[ArchStanton]

1 hour ago, Mr. Fox said:

 "they're not Apple"

So, the software equivalent of Gamers Nexus's "better than a Dell" certification .

[ENTERPRISE]

2 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, I suppose. If pressed to identify something nice to say, it would be "they're not Apple" LOL. 

 

1 hour ago, ArchStanton said:

So, the software equivalent of Gamers Nexus's "better than a Dell" certification .

 

Lol, I loved that.