Poll: Do You Think The Xbox ActiBlizz Deal Will Still Go Ahead?

It will happen but with some major concessions. But it all hangs on the EU's decision tbh though.

Deal is DOA. Move on and fix your studios already in-house.

Nope.
Microsoft need to stop pussyfooting around and start being ultra aggressive when it comes to exclusive content and creating new IP.
Easier said than done of course.

I have absolutely no idea. The regulators are itching to fight, and you can never assume to think you know how any court or government body is going to rule on something. I think it could happen, but I'd go ahead and hedge my bets that it won't.

I think it's very unlikely. If the CAT decide that the CMA reached their verdict irrationally and the EU agrees this month then yes, it'll still go through.

If the CAT rules against Microsoft it's over. The deal can't go through without UK approval as those were part of Activision's terms.

After Redall I mostly want Xbox to focus on the studios they still have. Actiblizz is fine on it's own, just sign some exclusive content deals for CoD like Sony's been doing the past decade or so.

It seems far less likely to me at this point, especially after Phil’s interview where his comments on it were they are still trying to work hard on it but it’s not their only strategy.

It's still gonna go through, though I was cocky saying 112% since I wasn't expecting the CMA to be dummies with their heads in the cloud.

I've been saying it's a lock since day one but politics got involved with the CMA so I'm assuming the deal is dead. The EU has to approve it to bring it back to life, but to avoid further disappointment I'm just saying it's dead

I think the best any of us can say at this point is that it will be an uphill battle.

Having said that, considering regulatory bodies like the CMA turn a blind eye to more serious and meaningful acquisitions, such as Pfizer's upcoming acquisition of Seagen, the opposition to Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard seems like theatrics meant to fool the public into thinking these regulatory bodies are actually doing their job.

I think it won't, but I would like Phil go around and play these games, then say "out of these x amout of games... how much to make 5 exclusive for 3 years?"

I’m 50/50 everyone said the CMA would approve. Yet the EU generally take a tougher stance on big tech, ie Apple recently.

Unfortunately for Microsoft the merger came at the wrong time, many countries are deciding that some of the larger firms are just too big, so years behind the curve are trying to catch up.

Really though it’s on a toss of a coin, but even if it doesn’t go through, it’s not like the games aren’t available to play on Xbox, so doesn’t actually change a thing.

if eu aprove it they will go with it even without CMA but i feel like the deal is ganna fail and eu will block it and FTC will pull up a fight since CMA have blocked the deal

i was excited for the deal but honestly i feel so tired now that i think they should just forget about it and but some small studios and focus on studio management and marketing

Depends on the EU. The EU approve it then it's definitely going through, the EU block it then it's dead in the water.
It really does seem that simple to me.

I don't understand why the government is involved in this anyway

The CMA have dealt a very heavy blow to this deal and whilst not completely dead, its definitely not ideal nor encouraging for Microsoft to have this wholly dependent on how the EU Regulators decide. Microsoft should looking at other alternatives to boost their Cloud initiatives if they want to make the most of their head start.

I don't think it will, I think the EU will rule against the acquisition. If that does happen then I can't see Microsoft battling US, EU and UK at the same time in court. But if the EU approves the deal then there is still a major chance of this going ahead.

Should it happen? Is another question we must ask. Given the current state of First Party studios, there is no way it should happen. I get that people just want Call of Duty and other Activision games on game pass as soon as possible but they are not looking at the overall picture. You can't deny that Microsoft has a huge problem with managing its internal studios, I don't care if its a full hands off approach. Whatever it the approach, its clearly not working as seen with Halo Infinite, the drought of 2022 and the launch of Redfall. Priorities should be in-house for Xbox. Get your studios in a state where they are pumping out quality games consistently first.

@Kaloudz

Microsoft are already involved into fighting the EU Regulators with their Cloud endeavours, not in gaming but its not a good look nonetheless. I just think we need to stay realistic on how this might go😉.

If the media milks this ABK thing any harder we'll have whipped cream.

At this point we just don't know. We can't know anything until we know how the EU goes. If they approve there's really not much of a leg for UK (or US which didn't have one anyway) to stand on. If they don't, it's done.

The bigger questions is how Activision stays alive if it doesn't which is doubtful and/or who buys it. I'll be cheap afterward. I'd guess Tencent, already a major stake holder, who then owns most of the big earners in mobile lock and key. Thank goodness the governments save us from monopolies not based in Beijing.

The other question is what MS does after that. Another acquisition strategy? Or just "subsidize" customers further to buy market? It could be interesting.

@Wheatly 100% agree. I understand MS and shareholders will profit handsomely off it — especially since this is being pursued for the mobile division — but it feels like Xbox has been sandbagging their own brand for over a year to get this through. Now we’re looking at possibly another year and them possibly trying to look even weaker (is that possible?) to have the CMA overturn their ruling — the odds of which are already stacked against Microsoft.

I get the financial incentive to grow. I understand why people went Call of Duty games added to Gamepass . And of course some console warrior types just want to see Xbox “win” no matter what. But it seems like this is starting to do more harm than good. And honestly with the first-party output during this entire generation so far, I don’t know if adding even more studios to manage is a great thing for MS either when they’re clearly struggling to get the absurd amount already in their collection under control. Imagine if MS spent this money and focus on aggressively expanding market share?

Microsoft spend $68.7B to acquire Activision-Blizzard. But between the legal costs, the resources and attention, and the brand damage, the true cost is looking to be much, much steeper.

At this point I'd rather the EU just kills the deal. it's taking up all Xbox's time. But If it does collapse or not.
I'd rather hear what Arkane Austin's plans are for Redfall.
A great Summer Show in June.
Microsoft making sure that Starfield is ready fully before launch.
An Agressive push to get 3rd party games on Xbox starting this year.
Mend broken relationships. Platinum Games & Square Enix come to mind & create new ones.
Invest & sort out management issues, invest more in first party studios.
Just to name a few.

I think it will go through if, and only if, the EU does not block. I don’t know how it will go through, it might be via winning the appeal or via somehow sidestepping the UK entirely, but that is only possible if the EU does not block.

I still think it goes through. The appeal doesn't necessarily mean they need to convince the CMA that they were wrong. They can still rework the cloud issues. Britain might end up with a different xcloud then the rest of the world. If EU approves then I think it's going through.

Seems like a messy system over there if the corporation is blind sided by your decision after a year+ of dialog. Why would they not say that they need to focus on cloud based concessions? Seems like the FTC case where the decision to block was made the second they heard about it and the reasoning would come later. I heard the FTC met with CMA shortly before the decision which raises suspicions.

I don't enough to say really. I do think it relies heavily on what the US and Europe says though.

What @pip_muzz said. With EU approval the deal will go through.

They can’t back down from this. If they back down from this, any kind of merger, with anything will constantly be scrutinized, they have to stand their ground, even if they lose.

The FTC will be forced to approve by judge.

the US Senate and rest of US government seem for it.

CMA’s is where I’m lost. But the head of the FTC is from the UK. You’ll see the common denominator.

Nope, Europe will say no, the deal will die. The End.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….someone wake me up when this is over.

@species8472 100% I need to focus hard on catching up. They can't just give up. We've all spent too much money on this for them just to quit

@Total_Weirdo why this is not good for gaming at all

I don't think it matter's unless you're a share holder at one of these company's.

What happens if it doesn't ? Cod isn't going away but we could see Activision start selling assets off if that is what share holders want.

I'd prefer Midtown Madness came back,
MS remembered all their IP,
Fixed Deathloop so i can finish it without it locking up,
Told us why Hellblade 2, FM, perfect dark, fable, everwild, avowed are seemingly in limbo and taking this long,
Were honest that in a few years once they've acquired everything my massive library of xbox games won't vanish into a streaming sub service,
I can leave my digital library to my son or daughter in my will,
Theres quite a lot i like MS to do. Other than blizzard games Activision has nothing im interested in.
£70 billion. We could have Xbox VR/AR. MS could be doing something. Get us VR and Half-Life Alyx. Get gamepass on steamdeck.
Just give me something as to why ive stuck with Xbox since the OG one and continued to spend other than im an idiot

They should take every ip owned and have the modern warfare series and black ops while leaving warzone

No option for "I don't care?"
Honestly, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft should not be allowed to buy any second/third party developers.
When that happens, games that could have been Multi-Platform get stuck either in "purgatory" never to be seen again or they become an exclusive which is only fine for 1st party titles.

@Moonglow The problem is CMA has given no indication as to what they'd even accept, and seem committed to obfuscating their opinion so that it's not possible to do so. The fact that it even got as far as a block after they asked for, and were offered behavior remedies, and then just flatly rejected all behavioral remedies on account of "it would take effort to regulate them" seems like a back door way of saying they're not actually open to concessions anyway. "Structural" maybe, but nothing "structural" is actually workable in this deal, the idea it would indicates they don't actually understand the merger they're regulating, which brings it back to square one. Seems like their whole position is "sell CoD to someone else or no deal" in total ignorance of the idea that 70% of the company itself is nothing but CoD.

@Spider-Kev and more market space is free for new developers or previously small studios to grew

I have no idea whether the deal will go through at this stage.

Personally, I'd prefer it if Microsoft spent its money getting certain games on xbox gamepass from other developers.

I'd probably buy the Call of Duty games whatever but its nice to have a steady stream of games that I wouldn't buy without a huge sale but would like to try out.

Microsoft have done well in the past with games like Shredder's Revenge, Tetris, Streets of rage 4, Hotwheels but the past few months, games I like do seem to have been drying up slightly.

@Tasuki They wouldn't have to pull MS, or even Xbox from the UK, they'd just have to pull direct business entities out of the UK, or restructure them as separate entities not directly part of the company, so UK customers would be buying from a EU subsidiary instead. Employees would either be screwed or functionally placed in a "new" shell company.

US is a lock in the courts, CMA can be worked around. But all of them plus EU can't be worked around, which is why it all comes down to EU and only EU now.

@Kaloudz
If it goes the other way, I'll call you whatever you like 😁

I'll take the odds mate and in case you're wandering I'm rather modest with what I want people to call me😉.
For the record, I was almost certain and hoping the deal would go through but after the CMA, not so sure anymore.
Regardless of what transpires I'm super excited for what Xbox has in the pipeline for the future. Just my position.

@NEStalgia I wonder if what you said about the CMA offering no concrete indication of what would be acceptable will be how Microsoft wins it's appeal. As for a regulator block the deal because it doesn't want to regulate the industry later which is it's primary purpose is laughable.

@cragis0001 Yeah, I think that's a very solid argument. The whole argument has that "bad divorce court" vibe of "You should know what you did wrong, I'm not going to tell you" making fixing it or even explaining it completely impossible.

Especially when their previous document "recommended" structural remedies but acknowledged they'd look at behavioral remedies, and the in the final decision cited that they looked at the behavioral remedies offered, but will ignore them because regulating it would be too much work. Not because the offered remedies are unsatisfactory, but because they don't want to have to oversee it. Which implies that they were never going to consider behavioral remedies from the start, meaning their preliminary evaluation was a lie.

They never stated what they want, misled in terms of what they'd accept, and the thing they "suggested" is entirely unworkable in the context of the deal, yet they never acknowledged that. It's all very much a decision in search of a reason because "We think MS is too big a business" isn't a viable legal decision.

I'm certain the appeal will be focusing on that. They pretty much offered the moon, including every cloud competitor with the exception of Amazon Luna and Netflix a deal (neither of which has ever raised any objections.) Including Sony that merely rejected the offer. Yet CMA cited as a problem the limited list of competitors offered a deal.

I think that's why it's still 50/50 and we don't know how EU will go. The CMA decision seems arbitrary and disjointed from their own statements, and while EU is anti-big-merger, they've also been pretty even handed in terms of understanding the business specifics so far. CMA never indicated it understood the business at all.

All I know is that whatever way it falls we are entering a new era of deals making games exclusive. Already Sony and Konami did a deal. We will all have to buy all hardware systems to play all games (already has happened for those who can afford)

@code45709 Did you ever think Apple would have VR before Microsoft? I am beginning to think that the Xbox XS is going to be the last console produced before Microsoft goes cloud only…

@AlwaysPlaying Rumor is the Apple VR kit will cost between $2000-3000..... clearly a play for the corporate crowd, but even as an avid VR fan, I don't see that product going anywhere beyond some corp/govt uses and some extreme enthusiasts.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love more than anything to have Xbox VR support including just using 3rd party HMDs, but that Apple product if the rumors are true is such extreme fringe it's almost not worth remembering exists beyond it's "concept car" status.

@AlwaysPlaying Xbox has made it very clear they are a service provider and like you dont expect new hardware from them. Maybe a dongle to plug into your TV packaged with any number of controllers they provide.

@AlwaysPlaying it does worry me that the infamous E3 of TV TV TV and always online has just been repackaged and sold slower.

I mean 7billion for nokia to shutter them. WP was brilliant!

MS goal was "windows in every home" yet they seem to purposely shoot themselves in the foot in achieving that.

They are a software company, with a long history of bullying and just paying the fines as they're a pittance to them to achieve what the shareholders want.

If MS/Xbox actually wanted to grow its business, it wouldn't have wasted all these years. Which is years ive wasted financially and time wise

@NEStalgia exactly. If Microsoft can convince the appeal board that the CMA never had any intention of being impartial in it decision. It's game on if the EU approves.

Don't really care if it does or doesn't. I just want some decent AAA games to play. Had series x and gamepass since December but find i play on ps4 more as the games on ps extra are better.

@Kb42 Makes my comment on owning both systems prescient…

@old-dad loved the “any number of controllers” jab!

The money theyre spending would be enough to pay the entirety of Lionhead and Bizarre Creations to reform and build Fable IV and PGR6 from scratch. It's then an additional £5bn to buy Sega and build Outrun 3, Skies of Arcadia 2 and JSR3 and make them all Xbox exclusives forever. And then sofa change to buy Deep Silver and get the actual creators of Goldeneye making Perfect Dark 3. Announce all this and the internet would melt.

But instead it's £60bn on Crash Bandicoot, a company that has massively misread the room on Diablo 4 and the literal definition of generic FPS.

I hope it doesn't go through so they can spend the money on something good.

I think if EU approves, Microsoft will move forward despite the UK decision. Maybe they will even remove xcloud from UK and move on if that is the CMA issue.

The thing is the CMA already said they are fine with the deal on Console and worried about Cloud. So MS will make concessions in the UK on the cloud side and the deal should pass in the EU and US. Thing is if MS is willing to go to court and drag it out they would win. So this comes down to how much they want ABK. The other thing I’ve seen discussed is you could still have ABK without the CMA and just not bring ABK games to GP in the UK while the games will be on GP in other countries. This is anger UK players and the UK will give. Remember all the UK cared about was the pricing of GP and Cloud competition. These seem like things they could work out. I hope it does cause this strengths GP a lot. Which is the glue to the strategy for Cloud, PC and Xbox.

i dont know , but i pray it does. $ony really needs competition, because peope think they're actually good this gen, when the ps5 is hot garbage right now.

In all truth I'd rather have seen them focus on buying and Publishing for smaller studios like they did in the XBLA days for some form of exclusivity, either permanent or just timed (still miss Twisted Pixel under Microsoft), and just be very buddy-buddy with ABK after any current deals with Sony end. Depending on the outcome of the deal, this may be what they shift to, but with much less money than when they started.

@AlwaysPlaying low hanging fruit 😆

I think we have a chance that MS and Activision will ignore the CMA and merge anyways then leave the UK market. It used to be the best market for both companies to cross the Atlantic to all Europe because of the English language and easy communication, but that gateway into the EU is dead following Brexit. I’ll sit here with my popcorn and enjoy the fireworks as people jump ship to EU accounts.

@nomither6 "but Sony will reinvest all those profits into making new great games" the choir sings as they close their studios and buy more 3rd party exclusivity as though that's not literally Don Matricks strategy.

@RadioHedgeFund You know those times in RPGs when you can spend your xp/gold pool to zero to buy gear/upgrades that quadruple your xp/generate gold automatically making the rest of the game stupid easy? That's the abk buyout with King..... That's why they want it

No it is dead in the water. MS have no case for appeal, the CMA were right to block it on the grounds they did, and I expect the EU will follow suite.
Sucking up to the Prime Minister is t going to help, he's more than useless and self cantered.

@themightyant MS want to monopolise and own the cloud streaming market, hence the comment you've posted. That is why the CMA will never allow it and I suspect neither will the EU. If the EU block it it's dead. MS aren't interested in the traditional console or it's business model or making AAA games according to Spencer. Because they want the cloud.

@RadioHedgeFund Microsoft should make more exclusive deals/partnerships with Sega regardless of if they get ABK or not. All areas of the Xbox business would benefit. Games Pass would get classic console & arcade hit. We could get new exclusives including Japanese RPGs from Atlus. Xbox mobile store could get all Rovio content. Heck Sega could help Microsoft understand Japanese culture better or help in getting more titles on Xbox. More partnerships with Sega Devs like we had with Ages of Empires 4.

I will say that the CMA appeals process will take months, and if as I suspect the EU block it also, add many more months for that appeal process. All the whilst that 69 billion is tied up and can't be spent elsewhere. And MS doesn't seem overly keen to get further exclusives, or be hands on with its current studios.
I've lost faith in them now, they don't want to follow the console model, they want a cloud model. So I am not sure what support they'll offer consoles, bar game streaming moving forward? I'm waiting for those Game Pass only exclusive games to start appearing...

To be honest this deal started before I bought my Xbox so I wasn't bothered either way, I mean i own most Activision games I currently care about and if it goes through then I might play some that I'd never have bought but personally as a consumer it makes no difference to me.

@themightyant Agree with all of that. I'm just not ready to go down this path yet. Must be old fashioned lol.

I think it’s going to come down to the EU verdict. If it’s blocked then the deal is dead but if it’s approved then I think MS will fight hard against the FTC as they are more likely to win against them than the CMA. May 22nd is the day we will find out whether the deal is over or going through.

I still expect MS to sell Xbox console owners down the river to get this deal to happen…more so now after recent comments.

Personally I’m at a point where I don’t particularly care about this deal either way. If MS get it I’ll get to play cod as part of my sub (assuming it’s on the uk gp)…but nobody should be confident that quality control will be there.
If they don’t get it I still get to play the games I want…only they will be released by a more competent publisher who doesn’t already have the bag for those games.

So yeah, let’s just get this whole thing over with and move on

Their entire argument around the reason to Block is Flawed. MS can Never Monopolise Cloud Gaming - even if they do open up a 'decent' head start on EVERYONE else.

The ONLY games MS has any authority on to put into 'Cloud' services would be their own. The can never put Spider-Man, LoU, R&C, Wolverine, Final Fantasy etc into their Service - so if Sony decided to start a cloud service, they have MORE games/IP's to 'compete' with MS.

Its like Netflix started Cloud Streaming for Movies/TV, but that hasn't let them 'monopolise' streaming, didn't prevent Disney+ from starting up and keeping their 'Marvel, Star Wars, Disney content exclusive to 'compete' with Netflix, Amazon etc etc.

Its that lack of understanding of the market, along with the fact that Cloud by its very nature isn't 'tied' to any OS, any specific hardware etc and can be played on Android, iOS, Linux etc devices - literally any 'internet' connected device. It doesn't need to be 'Windows' as I bet Sony wouldn't use 'Windows' if they decided Cloud was the 'future' and wanted to 'compete' with MS.

Therefore they would have a tough job trying to prove that this deal would hurt Competition in the Cloud market and that adding 'ABK' IP's to MS specifically would somehow prevent ALL the other Publishers from Competing with their OWN IP's etc. Nothing is preventing Sony, EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo, TenCent etc from 'competing' in the cloud market - if that's where they wanted to 'compete'.

All I think about ,not the price of food ,household bills and the day to day expenses of life ,but will Microsoft be able to buy Activision.It brings a warmth to my soul that keeps me warm ,so in turn I don’t have to put the heating on .So thanks FTC and CMA for keeping my heating cost down this winter .

@BAMozzy "I bet Sony wouldn't use 'Windows' if they decided Cloud was the 'future' and wanted to 'compete' with MS."

Ironically Sony's Plus Premium cloud streaming works only on Windows (and their consoles).....much to the dismay of everyone that wants to run it on Android or iOS...nope.

@themightyant "Personally IF we can get to a time when we no longer need to invest £450+ in a console every generation"

But what will the gaming media and the "insiders" do if there's no more "Pro" upgrades to monger rumors for for years? I guess we'll have to have Rumor: Grubb says 5098 Ti Super upgrades will go live in September absolutely definitely maybe fersher!

As for "ownership" I don't see cloud replacing digital purchases any time soon/ever. MS is one of the only cloud platforms not supporting digital purchasing, but it's still in the plans, so I don't see, really any chance from console and PC currently there other than physical.

@NEStalgia There is nothing stopping Sony from building their own 'server' blades using their own 'Playstation' blades - like Xbox uses their Series X APU's. The games would then be running on 'Playstation' in the 'cloud' and just streaming the image and receiving the inputs over the internet to ANY device.

Its perhaps their own choice to do things that way - but even if they didn't, they still own their own IPs and Games they could use to compete with MS. They have 'exclusives' going back to the OG Playstation - ok so old, but still iconic games that Microsoft can't put in their Cloud service. If they wanted to, they could make Spider-Man, Wolverine, Last of Us, Uncharted, R&C, God of War etc etc available in their 'cloud' service to 'compete' with Microsoft and their IPs like Forza, Halo, Gears, Perfect Dark, Fable, Starfield, State of Decay etc.

All I am saying is that being 'first' to offer Cloud isn't going to monopolise gaming because MS can't put Spider-Man, Final Fantasy, Zelda, Mario, Sonic, Battlefield, Assassins Creed, Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter or ANY of those other 'massive' gaming IP's into their Cloud service so the 'owners' of those can start their 'OWN' service with their OWN IPs - just like Disney did when they decided to start their own Streaming service.

Netflix essentially lost rights to make Marvel shows - now you need Disney+ - same with Star Wars - Marvel & Star Wars - 2 of the biggest ever 'movie' franchises that Netflix can't put into their Service which enabled Disney+ to 'compete' with the Market Leader and the company that had a 'massive' head start in cloud based movie/TV services.

MS can ONLY guarantee their OWN content - that's First Party, Commissioned or 3rd Party Published (like Contraband), ID@Xbox (self Published through Xbox) games. Its up to the 3rd Party Publishers (like EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Sony etc) to decide if they want to make a deal with MS to put their games into Cloud and only if it suits them - it obviously doesn't suit Sony as they have their 'own' platform and if they 'believed' the Cloud was the future, would have their OWN content and '3rd party' games that would 'compete' with Game Pass Cloud - perhaps more successfully as they have 'More' exclusive critically successful IP's and a larger 'fan' base too and certain Publisher(s) Partnerships that would 'benefit' Sony in competing in the Cloud space.

It really doesn't stop those other Publishers from Competing as MS doesn't own the vast majority of games, of studios etc so the 'vast' majority of games aren't theirs to offer, to prevent those from competing with their 'own' IPs etc...

Game Pass would have MS owned Games, PS+ would have Sony owned games, maybe Ubisoft+ has Ubisoft games, EA Access has EA games etc etc so all these can 'compete' with MS - EA has Dead Space, Mass Effect, Battlefield, Fifa etc - they can Compete with MS if they 'wanted'....

Also, on the subject of Cloud, I can see a time when potentially 'local' hardware is not up to the same 'standard' you could play on Cloud. At the moment, the 'latest' hardware has an advantage over Cloud - higher PQ, lower latency/lag and/or higher frame rates.

But there is still 'hardware' in active use that isn't perhaps able to 'match' cloud. Take XB1 for example - often below 1080p with 'low' Picture Quality settings, capped to just 30fps with the increased Lag that 30fps has - but could stream the Series X Quality visuals with Visual settings, object density etc even RT enabled supersampled down to 1080p so looks sharper/better etc and play at 60fps with lower lag/latency. 60fps often reduces Lag down by 40ms+ and streaming adds less than 10ms so overall a net gain. GeForce Now can stream games with DLSS3.0 and the highest possible settings that make games much better to play than playing locally on a 2080Ti - can't get the PQ or frame rate as high.

I think that Audiophiles and Movie Buffs are a good comparison - they won't settle for watching a 'movie' or listening to Music on their PC/Mobiles, they want the Full Cinema experience on their high-end TV's, dolby Atmos set-up etc - not 'compressed' to stream, Want to listen on their 'high-end' Audio separates and perfectly placed 'speakers' - not 'compressed' audio.

There will always be gamers too that want the best Hardware experience and will buy high end gear to get that. It maybe less common than today, but if Sony or Nintendo decide to keep their Games to 'hardware' first (even if they come to their own cloud at a later date), Dedicated people will buy the hardware to play...

@BAMozzy They already do, just in very limited form. That's the "main" benefit of PS Plus Premium over Extra. Yeah, the retro games and paid demos, but mostly the cloud streaming. But right now they stream PS3/PS4, but not PS5, and it only supports streaming to Windows and PS consoles, NOT to mobile OS's. I'm pretty sure I remember seeing that they will stream PS5 eventually, but so far, no timeline. And no mention of it going beyond Windows + console onto mobile OS's (or even Mac?)

Technically they did cloud streaming before MS did, (PS Now/Gaikai), but for whatever odd reason they just never bothered supporting mobile. Tech limitation, or not being able to/wanting to work around the Apple fees via browser like MS did, or something.

But that's also what's kind of crazy, MS isn't the first to offer cloud, PS actually offered cloud back in 2014, long before xCloud existed. OnLive existed long before that (which Sony bought and turned into the original PS Now.) Everyone laughed at them, including me. Stadia came and went. Under the guise of "protecting the market" MS is basically being punished for being a full featured popular product that's growing.

The second part is such a big topic. Someday when streaming really is viable for much of the market (works great for me, but there's tons of geography it doesn't, and isn't always quite perfect for me, though xCloud is actually the bottleneck more than streaming itself I think....I think that's still some ways away before the telcos really upgrade all that needs to be upgraded) I do wonder how hardware will change. It doesn't make sense to keep buying and throwing away hardware like we do. And it doesn't quite compare to high end audio because those things are lifetime purchases, top end speakers/amps are top end for life, and beyond, with vintage restorations often being more prized than new gear. PC/gaming hardware will always be disposable junk living a few years tops, often less. I don't know if I'll love or loathe what that ends up becoming, but I don't see the local hardware thing outside super enthusiast $$$$ PC gear sticking around for that much longer. It's not there yet, but it will be.

@NEStalgia I know Sony had Cloud streaming before MS, My old TV had PSNow on it until Sony decided to close that side down - which was down to 'costs' of maintaining and updating apps etc and not getting in the revenue to justify the cost.

As I said regarding 'digital', Xbox were ahead of the curve there but met resistance from the gaming market (Same as Sony's Cloud - Gamers not ready to 'stream' so didn't get enough subscribers to keep it going) which weren't 'ready' for a Digital future - it really hurt their XB1 messaging - that and TV too of course. Sony themselves took a dig at MS's digital revolution with their 'this is how you share games on PS with a Physical disc. Less than a decade later, Sony would be 'screwed' if they didn't offer BC and carry your Digital Library forward.

Cloud makes sense from an ecological, environmental perspective. Don't need Millions and Millions of 1TB SSD's to put into a System for example, just upgrade the server Storage, upgrade the server hardware as and when required instead of investing in all that 'consumer' grade hardware.

I don't know if there will come a time when you can't buy ANY hardware that can run games locally at or even better than Cloud can - where Cloud is the 'best' option - even for eSports. eSport gamers are much more likely to play on Hardware for the 'most' consistent and even experience for ALL so I still think Hardware will 'exist' even if its just for 'Professional' gamers and those who want a 'Professional' set-up as Cloud is just not 'good enough' - just like Cloud just isn't good enough for some to stream their movies/music.

Some may not buy a new Amp, new Speakers etc - but they buy 'new' TV's that offer 'better' PQ than their current set-up, upgraded to Dolby Atmos from Dolby surround sound...

I still think though that if the Games industry is moving to 'Cloud' based as the most common way gamers access games, leaving 'hardware' behind, the fact that Sony have their OWN IP's will enable them to Compete with MS. Their 'portfolio' of Amazing games as well as their fanbase will help them compete, maybe even attract 'more' gamers than MS, pull some from 'Game Pass' to PS+ to play Spider-Man or Wolverine for example. It doesn't STOP Sony from being able to Compete - just like it wouldn't stop Sony from Competing in the Hardware sector as already determined by the CMA. Having a 'head start' as its seen isn't a guarantee of success and lead to a monopoly because MS would not own the majority of games, studios etc so Sony cannot 'compete'. In terms of Gaming IP's, Sony still has more, still has a bigger 'user' base that would 'convert' to Sonys cloud if that's the direction Gaming is going. Sony aren't going to throw the towel in if Hardware 'disappears' and just put their games into Game Pass as its the 'ONLY' cloud service option...

Also - other Cloud services may require 'ownership' of games - but then that makes sense too as those other Cloud Services don't own those games and would only take away 'sales' revenue from the owners. MS can get by without customers 'owning' their games on their 'own' service, because its their game. 3rd Party games are expecting MS to 'compensate' for loss of sales on Xbox to put their games into their service and still 'sell' the game after it leaves to help those third party Publishers recoup their investment. MS expects 'no' upfront fees from these Cloud providers, they 'sell' the game like any other platform, MS gets their 'sales' revenue, customers get to Play wherever/whenever they want Royalty Free - not just the 'year' its on the service and need to buy it to keep playing, but can't stream it now- like MS's service (as it stands now).

If MS put 'Starfield' into a 3rd Party cloud service day/date, they'd lose a MASSIVE chunk of income from lost sales and that cloud service would make money at MS's expense.

Ownership expects you to be able to play the game whenever and wherever, not just the limited time its available to stream. They expect you to buy the games you want to play to 'stream' on third party services as those third party services aren't going to 'compensate' for lost sales upfront.

I wouldn't spend a fortune making a product that someone else can give away 'free', let them 'borrow it' indefinitely etc. I may let them 'borrow it' for a very short time before 'buying' or sell it to them to get my money back. But I wouldn't charge my family to use it, especially if they are supporting me, paying my 'rent' for example or expect them to 'buy' one - although if they choose to, I'd give them a 20% discount too...

The fact is, it still competes with MS - its just a 'different' structure and way of 'financing' the Studios/Publishers for their Game. If MS adds the ability to 'stream' ALL digital games you 'own', not just the '200' or so in Cloud, then you'll need to 'buy' those too. You can't play 'EVERY' Game Pass game via the Cloud, let alone EVERY available Xbox game so 'ownership' will be 'required' at some point to play 'every' game meaning you had to 'buy' first or 'buy' to keep streaming...

I still believe it'll go through, it may take awhile but I do believe eventually the deal will go through. Why? There's enough big money players that want the deal to go through, if it was just Microsoft & Activision by themselves then I'd say this deal is probably dead but we're talking about Nvidia, Nintendo and many others who WANT this deal to go through which is why I believe the deal will go through. Happy gaming ✌️

I'm British and I'm greatly appalled of our decision to block the takeover, I hope it still happens and Microsoft punishes the UK to a point we regret our decision, it's great to see everywhere else approving it though, screw the UK give them nothing if the deal goes through, show them they was wrong to decline. Good luck, Microsoft!

At this point who cares. Xbox has some serious problems outside of this deal. They can’t seem to ship any games at all from the studios they already own so why think they can manage another huge company like ABK. I’ve canceled game pass. As it’s just the same stale stuff that’s been on there from the beginning. I hope they get this thing turned around. I’ve owned every Xbox and I’m always interested in what they can bring to gaming, but it hasn’t been worth owning one since the 360. I really hope it gets better for the green team but it’s starting to get hard to keep waiting.