Microsoft Blizzard purchase getting approved by the EU

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

The FTC will most likely get overturned since they have no case. Their block is only a stall tactic as they pulled the same stunt on Meta trying to block their acquisition of VR fitness app Supernatural, only for their block to instantly get overturned in court.

As for the CMA, their block is looking dumber and dumber, and if they stand their ground, unlike Apple, Microsoft can actually leave the UK since Xbox's presence there is dwarfed by PlayStation.

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

...unlike Apple, Microsoft can actually leave the UK since Xbox's presence there is dwarfed by PlayStation.

Xbox Series X V Playstation 5: world map reveals the most in-demand console worldwide 🎮

In the battle between XBox and Playstation, which games console is most in demand around the world? Our new data reveals all.

riseatseven.com

Part from the link:

The above info is from 2020.
I would not call that 'dwarfed', or do you have more recent information?

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Xbox Series X V Playstation 5: world map reveals the most in-demand console worldwide 🎮

In the battle between XBox and Playstation, which games console is most in demand around the world? Our new data reveals all.

riseatseven.com

Part from the link:

View attachment 2206459

This article doesn't even factor in Nintendo Switch.

The above info is from 2020.
I would not call that 'dwarfed', or do you have more recent information?

so it's even more outdated as the sales gap was widened tremendously since then, especially now that PS5s are no longer having supply issues. In January the PS5 passed 30 million units sold and is now outselling the competition globally, and is on track to outpace PS4's lifetime sales. The gap is 2:1

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

This article doesn't even factor in Nintendo Switch.

Why change the goal posts and pull the Nintendo Switch into the discussion? Your claim was that Xbox was dwarfed by Playstation in the UK. Do you have any source to that claim?

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

What has the Nintendo Switch to do with it? Your claim was that Xbox was dwarfed by Playstation in the UK. Do you have any source to that claim?

Yeah, Microsoft themselves:

www.videogameschronicle.com/news/playstation-has-a-70-share-of-the-global-console-market-versus-xboxs-30-microsoft-claims/

www.videogameschronicle.com/news/71-of-uk-ps5-owners-say-its-their-main-console-versus-48-of-xbox-series-x-owners-research-finds/

Why Microsoft's claim that it has 20% market share in Europe vs PlayStation's 80% was accurate

During this week's hearing in Europe over the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft made a case that -- when it co…

www.gamesindustry.biz

It's not even close. The last time Xbox actually controlled the UK and EU was during the 360. The Xbox One allowed PlayStation to retake their home turf and the sales gap only gets bigger and bigger. That's why Microsoft is fighting so hard to get ActiBlizz as getting Blizzard's IPs as well as CoD marketing is their last ace in the hole.

So the console race in Europe is between PlayStation and Nintendo.

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Yeah, Microsoft themselves:

www.videogameschronicle.com/news/playstation-has-a-70-share-of-the-global-console-market-versus-xboxs-30-microsoft-claims/

www.videogameschronicle.com/news/71-of-uk-ps5-owners-say-its-their-main-console-versus-48-of-xbox-series-x-owners-research-finds/

Why Microsoft's claim that it has 20% market share in Europe vs PlayStation's 80% was accurate

During this week's hearing in Europe over the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft made a case that -- when it co…

www.gamesindustry.biz

It's not even close. The last time Xbox actually controlled the UK and EU was during the 360. The Xbox One allowed PlayStation to retake their home turf and the sales gap only gets bigger and bigger. That's why Microsoft is fighting so hard to get ActiBlizz as getting Blizzard's IPs as well as CoD marketing is their last ace in the hole.

That is not only for the UK then. Then, in your logic, Microsoft could just as well pull out of the whole of Europe or even globally. And still I wouldn't call 30% global market share 'dwarfed'.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Did you delete your previous message? I can't reply to it.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

That is not only for the UK then. Then, in your logic, Microsoft could just as well pull out of the whole of Europe.

Why would they though? EU just approved it lmao.

Also

PS5 Accounts for Over Half of All Console Sales in the UK This Year

Purchases up by 180%

www.pushsquare.com

PlayStation 5 Leading With Almost 80% Market Share In The UK

According to the latest reports, PlayStation 5 holds almost 80% of the consoles market share in the UK leaving Xbox behind.

tech4gamers.com

PlayStation 5 Was The Best-Selling Console in the UK Last Month; Zelda OLED Accounted for 1/3 of Switch Sales

Sony's PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console for April in the UK, thereby beating the Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X|S.

wccftech.com

PS5 Makes Up 50% of UK 2023 Console Sales as Xbox Declines - PlayStation LifeStyle

Sony's PS5 console now makes up more than half of UK 2023 console sales while both Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X|S have declined.

www.playstationlifestyle.net

Yeah UK is PS5 controlled, and the console in second place is Nintendo Switch. Xbox has been relatively forgotten in the UK due to the lack of game releases, and the fact the UK is PlayStation's home turf as a lot of PlayStation executives and studios hail from the UK.

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Did you delete your previous message? I can't reply to it.

Yes. Sorry my previous reply was based on a wrong assumption I took from the link you provided, so I changed my post (very quickly I must admit ).

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Yes. Sorry my previous reply was based on a wrong assumption I took from the link you provided, so I changed my post (very quickly I must admit ).

Too bad I already saw it. You can't hide the truth

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Why would they though? EU just approved it lmao.

Also

PS5 Accounts for Over Half of All Console Sales in the UK This Year

Purchases up by 180%

www.pushsquare.com

PlayStation 5 Leading With Almost 80% Market Share In The UK

According to the latest reports, PlayStation 5 holds almost 80% of the consoles market share in the UK leaving Xbox behind.

tech4gamers.com

PlayStation 5 Was The Best-Selling Console in the UK Last Month; Zelda OLED Accounted for 1/3 of Switch Sales

Sony's PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console for April in the UK, thereby beating the Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X|S.

wccftech.com

PS5 Makes Up 50% of UK 2023 Console Sales as Xbox Declines - PlayStation LifeStyle

Sony's PS5 console now makes up more than half of UK 2023 console sales while both Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X|S have declined.

www.playstationlifestyle.net

Yeah UK is PS5 controlled, and the console in second place is Nintendo Switch. Xbox has been relatively forgotten in the UK due to the lack of game releases, and the fact the UK is PlayStation's home turf as a lot of PlayStation executives and studios hail from the UK.

Yes my link was from 2020. A lot seems to have changed since then. Or my source was wrong in the first place....

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Yes my link was from 2020. A lot seems to have changed since then. Or my source was wrong in the first place....

Yeah a lot can change in 3 years, especially since during that time there was a global pandemic, a chip shortage that effected everyone, and a lack of games. Fast forward to now, where during 2022 Microsoft released ZERO first party games on Xbox, Halo Infinite's live service fumbled, and PlayStation is releasing two big exclusives this year with Final Fantasy 16 and the highly anticipated Spider-Man 2.

And this isn't even factoring Nintendo Switch which just released this year's obvious Game of the Year The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. We ain't gonna see numbers shift for Xbox until the ActiBlizz merger is done, and even then it's gonna take a lot to repair the damage.

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Yeah a lot can change in 3 years, especially since during that time there was a global pandemic, a chip shortage that effected everyone, and a lack of games. Fast forward to now, where during 2022 Microsoft released ZERO first party games on Xbox, Halo Infinite's live service fumbled, and PlayStation is releasing two big exclusives this year with Final Fantasy 16 and the highly anticipated Spider-Man 2.

And this isn't even factoring Nintendo Switch which just released this year's obvious Game of the Year The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. We ain't gonna see numbers shift for Xbox until the ActiBlizz merger is done, and even then it's gonna take a lot to repair the damage.

I think MS aims more for the online and cloud games (gamepass) sales. Here the XBox functions more as a vehicle to promote that than as a target in itself, since the PC and other systems also can be used. Subscriptions are probably more lucrative than hardware sales.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

I think MS aims more for the online and cloud games (gamepass) sales. Here the XBox functions more as a vehicle, to promote that than as a target in itself, since the PC and other systems also can be used. Subscriptions are probably more lucrative than hardware sales.

All the more reason they can easily just pull out of the UK with Xbox, since Windows would still be there so they can still push their services with PC users and cloud.

 

[Realityck]

Why would they though? EU just approved it lmao.

Yeah UK is PS5 controlled, and the console in second place is Nintendo Switch. Xbox has been relatively forgotten in the UK due to the lack of game releases, and the fact the UK is PlayStation's home turf as a lot of PlayStation executives and studios hail from the UK.

You might find these stats useful

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/studies/online-gaming-statistics/

This page includes relevant online gaming statistics for 2023, such as a digital versus physical game comparison, UK game producer demographics, UK and global revenue statistics, player statistics, eSports data, and so much more

One could say the CMA really did overstate Microsoft’s cloud gaming share when blocking the Activision Blizzard acquisition earlier looking over some of these stats.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

You might find these stats useful

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/studies/online-gaming-statistics/

One could say the CMA really did overstate Microsoft’s cloud gaming share when blocking the Activision Blizzard acquisition earlier looking over some of these stats.

Yeah no duh they overstated it. It's why everyone is roasting them for the decision and speculating they blocked it just to protect PlayStation. Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is headquartered in London, Sony has several studios in the UK like London Studio, Media Molecule (Creators of Little Big Planet,) and XDEV (Who is Sony's third party arm to work with third party developers on exclusive projects such as Detroit Become Human,) and are big business partners with the UK. So protecting PlayStation is gonna be top priority for them since the UK is lagging far behind in the tech industry especially after Brexit.

If Microsoft buys ActiBlizz, the free Call of Duty marketing for Sony goes away, and every CoD ad will have an Xbox logo instead of PlayStation, and that makes Sony look bad, which we can't have the market leader who happens to be headquartered in your country looking bad now can we?

 

[dmccloud]

You might find these stats useful

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/studies/online-gaming-statistics/

One could say the CMA really did overstate Microsoft’s cloud gaming share when blocking the Activision Blizzard acquisition earlier looking over some of these stats.

Not hard to do, depending on which data you're looking at and in which segment of the market it applies to. If they somehow were counting PC and console gamers as entirely separate users (despite many of them owning both a gaming PC and console(s), then the numbers would be overinflated to a large extent. Part of that is also on Microsoft, as they have a weird way of measuring "unique" users.

 

[maflynn]

FTC expected to file injunction to block Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard

Not terribly surprising.

 

[Realityck]

FTC expected to file injunction to block Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard

Not terribly surprising.

Especially after CMA had met with FTC so many times discussing this.

CMA met with FTC 26 times to discuss Microsoft-Activision merger, CEO Sarah Cardell says

UK regulators at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) met with the FTC 26 times to discuss the Microsoft-Activision merger, CEO Sarah Cardell says.

www.tweaktown.com

 

[TopherMan12]

Especially after CMA had met with FTC so many times discussing this.

CMA met with FTC 26 times to discuss Microsoft-Activision merger, CEO Sarah Cardell says

UK regulators at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) met with the FTC 26 times to discuss the Microsoft-Activision merger, CEO Sarah Cardell says.

www.tweaktown.com

Believe it has more to do with Microsoft reportedly looking into closing the deal despite the CMA's order prohibiting them from doing so. This was reported by MLex and posted on resetera. I'll try to find the post.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

FTC expected to file injunction to block Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard

Not terribly surprising.

Those fools. That's what Microsoft wanted them to do, as now that means they can head to court and accelerate their challenge on the FTC.

Quoting the legendary World of Warcraft streamer Asmondgold: “How the **** are these clowns doing this but somehow turn a blind eye when the Google play store and Apple play store have 99% market share on the monetization and distribution of smartphone apps? Something nearly every American uses. Is the FTC full of PlayStation fanboys?”

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

FTC expected to file injunction to block Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard

Not terribly surprising.

Time to wake this thread up again because we got an update

Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard

Microsoft can now go ahead and close its giant deal.

www.theverge.com

It's over. The Injunction failed. The merger can close now should Microsoft chooses. I told ya the FTC fell for Microsoft's trap.

Call of Duty on Game Pass. The death of the horrible BattleNet launcher with Blizzard's games on Steam. Oooooh I can't wait.

If anything, it's more proof Lina Khan needs to get fired. During her tenure as the chairwoman of the FTC she has tried to go after Big Tech but everytime failed horribly due to poor cases and picking the wrong battles.

 

[maflynn]

It's over. The Injunction failed. The merger can close now should Microsoft chooses.

Interesting, though they still have to face a antitrust suit, it does appear that a major obstacle was removed. There's still the UK but I can see MS doing some sort of action to isolate the UK

 

[diamond.g]

Congrats Microsoft!


I wonder if Sony would be willing to try to buy Take Two interactive...

 

[salamanderjuice]

Call of Duty on Game Pass. The death of the horrible BattleNet launcher with Blizzard's games on Steam. Oooooh I can't wait.

Until they decide they have enough carrots to get people into the Microsoft Store instead. Imagine, Minecraft, Diablo V, Elder Scrolls VI, all only available on the Microsoft store but don't worry it will work on your Asus ROG Ally 4 with Windows 12 Xbox Edition or whatever...