4 ms·

>I also think the CMAs rationale for their decision is bizarre and shows a lack of understanding of the space. They blocked the acquisition on a premise that c

>I also think the CMAs rationale for their decision is bizarre and shows a lack of understanding of the space. They blocked the acquisition on a premise that cloud gaming will be huge in the future and that Microsoft might make Activision Blizzard games exclusive to their Xbox Cloud. Taking in consideration Microsoft's enormous comparative advantages like owning Xbox, Xbox Cloud, Game Pass, Windows, Microsoft Azure plus lots of gaming franchises, this block somewhat makes sense. But what worries me the most is Zenimax acquisition that gave Microsoft some of the most iconic gaming franchises of all time (Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein, Fallout, Elder Scrolls) and the reality is that most likely these franchises will never see a day of light on any other cloud gaming platform except Xbox Cloud. I can't believe that Zenimax and Bethesda gave in and sold out to the Microsoft despite thriving on their own. CMA and FTC should've blocked Zenimax acquisition first which would then discourage Microsoft from attempting to acquire Activision Blizzard. But that unfortunately didn't happen, quite the opposite Microsoft grew even more greedier after acquiring Zenimax.

etempleton 3y ago
The problem is by size Sony is larger, with more studios and more exclusives. Nintendo is also huge. Cloud gaming has a lot of competition and they all are companies with deep pockets: Microsoft, Sony, Nvidia, Google, Amazon. They can afford to do what Microsoft is doing if they so choose. This isn’t some new paradigm. This is how this business is run. If it is not console exclusives it is platform exclusives. It is the only real differentiator.
- mrkramer 3y ago
  But Microsoft has the upper hand in the cloud gaming industry according to CMA. Apparently Xbox Cloud has 60-70% of the market share. Activision Blizzard acquisition would only strengthen Microsoft's position and would not improve competition.
  - qwytw 3y ago
    > Apparently Xbox Cloud has 60-70% of the market share. Activision Blizzard acquisition would only strengthen Microsoft's position and would not improve competition. The same way they "controlled" the smartphone market with Windows Mobile in the pre iPhone/Android days? It's an entirely new market. 60-70% of all current users is an insignificant proportion of all potential users so it doesen't mean much. And well it's not their fault that they other megacorps like Google are so incompetent.
  - etempleton 3y ago
    You are a subscriber to cloud gaming if you have GamePass, but I don’t think many actually use it, so to say they have such a huge advantage is an argument in either ignorance or bad faith.
qwytw 3y ago
> likely these franchises will never see a day of light on any other cloud gaming platform except Xbox Cloud. Do you know somebody nobody else outside MS does? Cause that doesen't seem at all likely to me. I looked at some of the most recent games released or to be released by Microsoft, like: Grounded - Age of Empires IV - Forza Horizon 5 - Halo Infinite - Psychonauts 2 - Minecraft Legends - Ara: History Untold Guess what, every single one of them is available on Steam.
- mrkramer 3y ago
  I was speaking about other cloud gaming providers not Steam. And Steam is the biggest digital distributor of Windows PC games so it makes 100% sense for Microsoft to offer their games on Steam.
aardvarkr 3y ago
A large part of the remedy that Microsoft offered was to give cloud streaming licenses to every competitor for free for its entire portfolio of games. Every single cloud gaming company is wildly in favor of the merger for this reason. Funny how it works - with CMA killing the deal it’s likely that Microsoft will go back to the status quo and keep its IP to itself to increase the barriers to entry
smileybarry 3y ago
> But what worries me the most is Zenimax acquisition that gave Microsoft some of the most iconic gaming franchises of all time (Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein, Fallout, Elder Scrolls) and the reality is that most likely these franchises will never see a day of light on any other cloud gaming platform except Xbox Cloud. And this time: that's already the case for Activision Blizzard. They are not available on any cloud gaming service, by design. They were cease-and-desist-ed off NVIDIA's GeForce NOW and the EULA directly forbids running on cloud gaming services or devices.

etempleton 3y ago

The problem is by size Sony is larger, with more studios and more exclusives. Nintendo is also huge. Cloud gaming has a lot of competition and they all are companies with deep pockets: Microsoft, Sony, Nvidia, Google, Amazon. They can afford to do what Microsoft is doing if they so choose. This isn’t some new paradigm. This is how this business is run. If it is not console exclusives it is platform exclusives. It is the only real differentiator.

mrkramer 3y ago
But Microsoft has the upper hand in the cloud gaming industry according to CMA. Apparently Xbox Cloud has 60-70% of the market share. Activision Blizzard acquisition would only strengthen Microsoft's position and would not improve competition.
- qwytw 3y ago
  > Apparently Xbox Cloud has 60-70% of the market share. Activision Blizzard acquisition would only strengthen Microsoft's position and would not improve competition. The same way they "controlled" the smartphone market with Windows Mobile in the pre iPhone/Android days? It's an entirely new market. 60-70% of all current users is an insignificant proportion of all potential users so it doesen't mean much. And well it's not their fault that they other megacorps like Google are so incompetent.
- etempleton 3y ago
  You are a subscriber to cloud gaming if you have GamePass, but I don’t think many actually use it, so to say they have such a huge advantage is an argument in either ignorance or bad faith.

qwytw 3y ago

> likely these franchises will never see a day of light on any other cloud gaming platform except Xbox Cloud. Do you know somebody nobody else outside MS does? Cause that doesen't seem at all likely to me. I looked at some of the most recent games released or to be released by Microsoft, like: Grounded - Age of Empires IV - Forza Horizon 5 - Halo Infinite - Psychonauts 2 - Minecraft Legends - Ara: History Untold Guess what, every single one of them is available on Steam.

mrkramer 3y ago
I was speaking about other cloud gaming providers not Steam. And Steam is the biggest digital distributor of Windows PC games so it makes 100% sense for Microsoft to offer their games on Steam.

aardvarkr 3y ago

A large part of the remedy that Microsoft offered was to give cloud streaming licenses to every competitor for free for its entire portfolio of games. Every single cloud gaming company is wildly in favor of the merger for this reason. Funny how it works - with CMA killing the deal it’s likely that Microsoft will go back to the status quo and keep its IP to itself to increase the barriers to entry

smileybarry 3y ago

> But what worries me the most is Zenimax acquisition that gave Microsoft some of the most iconic gaming franchises of all time (Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein, Fallout, Elder Scrolls) and the reality is that most likely these franchises will never see a day of light on any other cloud gaming platform except Xbox Cloud. And this time: that's already the case for Activision Blizzard. They are not available on any cloud gaming service, by design. They were cease-and-desist-ed off NVIDIA's GeForce NOW and the EULA directly forbids running on cloud gaming services or devices.