Activision Blizzard Thinks Sony's 'The Last Of Us' Can Help Justify The Xbox Acquisition

Here we go again.

Off topic but episode 3 was boring.

“the FTC appears to be worried that "Sony’s position as market leader could be jeopardized by this deal"

So, are they meant to be market leader’s permanently? If that really is the FTC’s stance isn’t that anticompetitive in itself.

@Chaudy how is the show? I’ve not watched because I want to keep my fond memories of the game. I’ve heard good things.

Lol this just stinks of desperation and she shouldn't really be saying stuff like this about TV shows which aren't even made by sony and which have nothing to do with playstations gaming market share if they were to lose Activision's games, makes no difference, even Microsoft has a TV show of one of their popular series as well so I don't get what her point is, this just gives her a bad look.

Its like saying we can have the biggest publisher around for 70 billion because you have a hit TV show 😑

Sony will obviously be 'Successful' if MS acquire A/B. Sony has more IP's for a start and the strength of their Exclusives are well known in the industry. When was the last time MS had a GotY nomination, when was the last time it 'won' - then do the same for Sony.

Uncharted, Last of Us, Ghost of Tsushima, Spider-Man, R&C, Returnal, God of War, Horizon etc - these are award winning Exclusives that people have to buy a Playstation to play Day 1. I can't imagine 'fans' of PS exclusives giving up those, just to save some money on CoD every year instead of buying it as they always have. Give up their Trophies, their preference etc just to play via Game Pass on another platform.

Just because you 'could' play via streaming for a small monthly fee, that is great for casuals, but I doubt a PS5 CoD fanboy would opt to play at 1080/60 streaming when their PS5 offers a 'Premium' experience at 4k or 120fps for $70 and they can play for 'years' if they want, versus $10 'every' month to keep playing.

We all know that the deal isn't anti-competitive in any way. A/B as a Publisher and developer still has a LOT of competition - the likes of EA, Ubisoft, TenCent, Embracer, Sony, Nintendo, MS etc all 'compete' to develop and publish Software. CoD itself has 'competition' from ALL the other FPS games, its not even the 'most' popular Online FPS game 'globally'. Sony owns Destiny, Killzone, Resistance, MAG, Haze, SoCoM etc - all FPS IP's that could 'compete' with CoD, Halo, Doom, Apex, Fortnite, Battlefield etc.

Sony has about 5x more Exclusives on their platform so there will always be reasons to buy a PS to play games on - whether its your 'main' platform or not. Xbox may always come '3rd' in Hardware sales, just because its not 'necessary' to own an Xbox so Gamers could buy a Samsung TV and a PS5 and still play 'Xbox' games via GP - at an 'entry' level standard, PS5 still offers a 'premium' experience and 'better' CoD experience...

@Fenbops the first 2 episodes are very good. It's well acted, thrilling, it keeps the Lore of the game. It's worth a watch. However on episode 3 they deviated from the game, I won't say how due to spoilers, but this episode was just filler. I'm pretty sure it'll get back on track by next episode. It's a very good show and has serious potential.

theres lots of reasons MS have a case.

HBO making a good TV show isnt one.

these type of tweets dont affect any decisions regulators. just riles up the fan boys.

For the past year or however long this whole situation has been going on, I've always been able to understand the arguments on both sides, to some extent. This is the first time I can't. This is a reach.

@Chaudy be careful. Anything negative about this stuff in todays political climate can u get pegged a as a phobic

No lies told. FTC is a joke

@themightyant the main issue I had was that the episode didn't really progress the main story forward. I get it's a different perspective to see back stories of characters etc.. but to me the deviation wasn't worth it, also there was a lot of things that didn't make sense. At one hand we see how a certain character is overprotective yet fine to let a stranger in?
of course a lot of people do like the episode, we're always going to get mixed opinions. However I do believe the overall show is still pretty good.

I like to think of this as HBO, doing their usual "hitting the brakes" to their shows where they slow the pace of the series down for filler. True Detective season 1 which is essentially a master piece and one of the greatest shows of all time had this issue where the first 3 episodes had extremely poor pacing and were so slow yet the last 5 episodes were phenomenal.

Filler and pacing issues are common with HBO shows, think Big Little Lies, The Leftovers, Mare of Eastward and The Outsider. All suffer from this. If you see imdb you'll see a decline in Ratings for last of us series due to episode 3. The first 2 episodes are rated above 9 yet episode 3 is now almost at a high 7.

@UltimateOtaku91 It's jointly produced by Sony and co-written by Druckmann, so you are wrong. And the fact that they both have shows (and The Last of Us is clearly much larger than Halo), proves the point that there is competition in the market and Sony still will remain on top this generation, after the Activision acquisition.

@themightyant I very much agree. In the game, much of Bill and Frank's story is told through collectibles and other visuals you may or may not come across as the player. That kind of storytelling wouldn't work in a TV Show so they had to change it up. The overall purpose of Bill and Frank remained the same - to provide a truck and supplies for Ellie and Joel - just the way that they got to that point was changed and expanded.

"Sony is the first of us." Everywhere I look, Sony is held in such high regard. Yet, I keep going back to what probably matters most to Microsoft - they are a trillion dollar company and Sony isn't. Bill Gates once said "Sony is not our competition - Google, Amazon, Apple and Disney is our competition." The Xbox is such a small part of Microsoft and I believe that the Playstation is such a huge part of Sony. I have a Series X and PS5 and, although I do play some exclusive games on my PS5 (Demon Souls and GOW Ragnarok), I hardly ever use it. I just don't think it's in the same league as the Series X. I think that's more fact than opinion nowadays. Everyone is just talking about Sony like it's the PS2 days and those days are long gone. So, Sony does have some good exclusive games, but that's where it ends which means, starting today, I have decided the Playstation is third in the console wars, the Series X is first and the Switch is in second place. The end.

@Chaudy If you're referring to Bill as the overprotective character that lets a stranger in, then I would argue that was done on purpose to show the human nature of Bill. Yes he's overprotective, but he's barely had human interaction for 20 years. He comes across someone who poses no threat and who seems like a decent human being. Loneliness sets in at some point and as you can see later in the episode, Bill was craving some human interaction.
By the way, I'm not trying to make you like the episode, you are completely entitled to your opinions. I just thought I'd bring up that point because it stuck out to me in your comment.

Sony also said that they are worried about Call of Duty "parity" after years of paying third parties just to make Xbox a worse place to play on. I don't think that anybody in the world believes what Sony is saying, not even the fanboys. Back on topic, the main point is that Sony has its own powerful first-party IPs and business and they're not endangered. Why should the world ensure that they're unconditionally ahead of everybody else when that means IPs and companies that they don't own? Why is more important what Sony thinks than what Activision thinks when Sony is ahead of Xbox anyway? Sony's hypocrisy is sky-high and they don't care about anything but themselves. That's why they lie shamelessly.

@bpomber don't worry this is all about interpretation this is what makes discussing fun. Different opinions are always welcome and I like your interpretation of the character. It's a solid point.

@Trmn8r But it's a different market, Sony are worried about the gaming market not the TV and Entertainment market, and the Activision deal is for the gaming market so I dotn get why she's bringing up tv shows.

A lot of the people watching the show probably don't even own a playstation and probably won't buy one either after watching this, and overall the percentage sony will get off this show and the sales increase to its last of us games won't come any where near the revenue they make off call of duty in just one year.

@Banjo- You couldn't be more correct that Sony only cares about themselves. Same can be said for Microsoft and really any multi-billion dollar company. These companies didn't become world leaders by being caring and considerate of their competeition. They are looking out for their own interests and nothing else. It's business.

@UltimateOtaku91 I like how you keep saying it's unrelated, then proceed to talk about how little involvement and money (you think) Sony will get. The show will most definitely boost sales of the game. The fact that Microsoft has needed to make all these purchases to just be a formidable competitor shows how far ahead Sony is right now. Didn't see the FTC saying anything about Sony's huge lead before Microsoft bought Bethesda. Just shows how ridiculous this all is. But I get it. You are a Sony person and you want your exclusive CoD DLC and XP Boosters...

They both are companies, of course but Microsoft is not lying to regulators, crying about Sony acquiring studios, complaining about lack of parity while paying for destroying platform parity and moneyhatting third parties while Sony is.

How can Sony complain about potential lack of parity after paying for delaying the Xbox version of Final Fantasy VII Remake indefinitely or the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Collection, available everywhere but on Xbox or after paying for early access and exclusive features on Call of Duty? Suddenly they care about platform parity? 🤣

@Trmn8r And Final Fantasy indefinite PlayStation exclusivity...

@Banjo- Instead they're spending an astronomical amount of money that only a handful of companies in the world would be able to comfortably spend, in order to gain some market advantage (which could be considered to be moneyhatting). They have every right to do so. Sony has every right to fight back. It would be bad business practice if Sony just rolled over and let Microsoft use their $69 billion to gain ground on them.
Microsoft and Sony are both using what resources they have to attempt to strengthen their business. In the gaming division, they are each other's biggest competition, it's not all going to be flowers and rainbows. Like I said, both companies are looking out for their own interests only, and will do what is necessary to defend those interests.

Edit: Just saw all your edits to your comment. I'll just say this, you're not wrong about what you're saying about Sony. But don't act like Microsoft is any different.

@bpomber That's not moneyhatting, how do you think that Sony created his own PS Studios portfolio? Buying them just like Microsoft, that makes sense. Lying to regulators and being the most cynical company in the industry is not the best way to defend their interests.

@Banjo- I mean it seems to be working for them. Who are you to say that it's not the best way? They have been the market leader for many years now.
All we can do as a consumer is hope they both continue to produce high quality games for us to enjoy. Let's let them do their thing and enjoy the product.

@bpomber Playing dirty and lying won't help them, especially in court. It's not my opinion, it's a fact.

EDIT:

That's what Sony should focus on instead of trying to hurt Xbox players.

@Banjo- Alright so what I've got from this entire interaction is that you're only interested in expressing your disdain for Sony.
That's your choice, but I'd recommend lightening up a bit and enjoying the product that these multi-billion dollar companies, who do not care about you and I, produce.

@bpomber Of course, that's my priority as a player but I usually play in the evening and this is the comments section of an article about the Activision deal, right? I'm just stating how hypocritical Sony and people defending them are.

@Microbius but what were those sales like before? Even with those boosted sales those games still didn't enter the charts lol for example if those games were selling 50 copies a week then a 300% boost would be 200 copies a week which still is nothing.

@Banjo- And Like I said earlier, you're not wrong about that. But let's not act like Microsoft is innocent and not hypocritical. Someone who follows Microsoft as much as you clearly do should know this.
Both companies are just looking out for themselves. Let's just continue to enjoy the products and services they produce.

@themightyant Your point is totally meaningless to the topic though. I'm completely aware as to why Last of Us TV show is bigger than Halo. The games reflect a similar market though.

@uptownsoul Ok... And???

@Microbius You nailed it. A lot of hypocrisy from Sony that is reflected in their users.

@Romans12 By sales and revenue, currently, PS curbstomps Xbox and by no small margin. That may change, and Sony's argument is that this deal will make that change, but personal preferences aside, there's no question Sony is is the top dog by revenue of the big 3. Though Tencent and Apple are both leagues ahead of either.

In terms of the gaming market, the statement is right, Sony is "the first of us", however this weird and inappropriate Activision rant still makes no sense at all. Even in Sony fan circles there's raving about the 350% sales increase of the game remake following the series, and I keep asking the same question, there's no sales numbers listed, and the game doesn't appear anywhere on the sales charts. It reminds me of when WiiU sales would spike "300%" after something like MK8 launched and fans would cheer, and the reality is they'd go from selling like 1000 units to 3000 units while PS4 was selling 20,000 units. TLOU is doing fine, but I'm not convinced that the game sales are THAT much ROI due to the series minus series costs and remake costs.

And as a gamer, not a TV/film fan I don't want it to, I don't want to see gaming diluted as a side-coupled business to the larger, mainstream film industry.

@UltimateOtaku91

The TV Show is developed by Sony Pictures, PlayStation Studios and Naughty Dog.

Also, the show has made The Last of Us game sales grow more than 200%. And no, it wasn't a low sales number as The Last of Us part 1 entered top 20 sales.

Both of those markets are connected. Sony is making TV shows to boost game sales.

@Chaudy give ya an awkward semi did it? 🍆😧😧😧😂😂😂😂

@Fenbops i think the problem is Microsoft or Xbox buying it self to the top. If Xbox released a bunch of exclusive games that were on a level with Playstaion exclusives and Xbox became the number one selling console this’d be fine.
It’s a bit like football, (English football), they have financial fair play to stop a team like Newcastle with billionaire Arab owners spending a few billion, buyin every good player an dominating football. This is wat they would do if they could an it’s unfair to others.

@jordan1992 looks like someone is talking from exprience. Probably had it on Replay.

I love the last of us , my xbox and comment sections. so I win

@NEStalgia Yes, when it comes to gaming, Sony is in the lead. But at the end of the day, Microsoft is a trillion dollar company and Sony is not. I mean as a whole company. Financially, Sony is not even in the same stratosphere as Microsoft, or Apple, or Disney, Amazon etc.

What baffles me is that everyone (not referring to you) has their tongue up Sony's A**. And here in CT, there are always PS5's at my local Walmart and Target. There are also Series S consoles but no Series X.

@Romans12 Absolutely. I think that's where ftc has it backwards. They're comparing the corporate market cap and not the actual gaming market where ms is the underdog right now. Both in console and in gaming overall (Sony on one side, Apple and tencent on the other)

Interesting that they're PS5 on shelves and not xsx in ct. Granted a lot of population on these forums are uk and PS is much more entrenched there, so there's region bias, but even in the us ps tends to be tops. It's much more equal here though. Which is why Sony didn't raise prices only here!

@Romans12 i completely disagree, ps5 is first, switch second and series is last, the end

@Moonglow whats the next publisher then take two ? xox fanboys are in denial

@themightyant Here here. For me Ep3 is the highlight of story telling, the pinnacle of cross media adaption and creation. They took what was a rather grim story in the game and turned it into an amazing true love story. The acting was phenomenal. I was in awe.

As others have said, there is reasons that this deal can go through and reasons why it shouldn't but using a TV show sure isn't the way to try and get it over the line especially when MS has one of its biggest franchises Halo also has a TV adaption.

@theGoodChap Thank you so much for your supposedly transparent, unadulterated and pure enlightenment but what you understood is the result of your own prejudices and doesn't apply to my comments. If you believe that realising that Sony is hypocritical is "nonsensical unadulterated fanboyism", well, good for you, if that makes you happy and entitled.

@theGoodChap you sure attributed a lot of things I never said from your high horse. I'm rooting for a closer parity. Sony has dominated the market and will still lead it after the acquisition. It'll just be closer now and that's healthier for competition. Sure, It'd be nice if just everything was utopia cross-platform. But then everyone would just buy the stronger console, which is Xbox. If I am calling them hypocrites, am I not by definition, saying both companies are doing the same things in this area? But yeah, that's somehow "unadultered fanboyism"... Oh please...

@uptownsoul why is every company required to follow the same blueprint? They aren't. The fact that all these Sony fans are constantly on here freaking out about Xbox becoming actually formidable again just shows how entitled you all are to having the dominate console and Sony reflects that same attitude.

@jordan1992 this isn't sports. Business doesn't function with equal cap space and draft picks. If companies want to dump more capital into "buying itself to the top" they can. They are risking more capital by doing so. And the fact that this doesn't even put them over Sony, negates that point. This merely makes them a legitimate competitor again with the dominate Sony. If Xbox then proceeds to buy EA and Ubisoft, then I'd be getting concerned about that.

@theGoodChap I can agree with you there. It is getting pretty crazy overall with gaming. Lot of rugs being pulled out from under established IPs and fanbases on both sides. I will say that I do believe most of Activision's games will remain cross-platform. Some of them are too big of a cash cow to pull exclusive. But, you'll get the whole "buy it on PS5 or get it on Game Pass" comparison.

@uptownsoul Yes, but not at the same level. There are multiple ways for them to try to get at the same level. They could go a different path, but this is one path.

@Trmn8r i’m simply explaining why i see there’s a problem. Ok, it’s like me inventing a new car. The car becomes the 6th best seller in the world, i buy Ford, BMW an Audi, continue to make their cars but call them Bray cars an Bray cars becomes number 1. My comparison with the sport thing is the same principle.

@uptownsoul Compulsion games is not Naught Dog. Same number of studios is a meaningless comparison when different studios produce different levels of games. Not every studio makes AAA budget games and not all should. I shouldn't have to be explaining this...

@jordan1992 I have no idea what you just said...

@Trmn8r never said a word.

@Trmn8r an wat are AAA budget games??? An indy is a budget game. AAA means it’s a huge game being made for years an costin millions to put together. Sayin AAA budget games is like saying the fast, slow car!! 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️😂😂😂

@jordan1992 Is language your first language?
"Budget - an estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time"
AAA budget means: "an estimate of income and expenditure for a set period of time" for "a huge game being made for years".
It's very sad that I am explaining this right now...

@Trmn8r AAA budget!! 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️😂😂😂
AAA - a multi million dollar game that has lots of media attention.

Budget - a game with a limited budget an hardly any if any media attention.

AAA Budget.
Big Small things.
Fast Slow things.
Tall Short things. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️😂😂😂😂😂😂

@jordan1992 Wow dude, you do realize that words can have different meanings based on how they are used in a sentence right? Like when someone says they are buying a "budget item", that is short speech for saying they are buying a "low budget item". The term "budget" does not always mean cheap. When a corporation announces it's annual "budget", it doesn't announce it's annual "cheap".
And wow, you literally defined the term "budget" with "limited budget"!!! Seriously, how do you function in a society without this understanding? I am honestly amazed that you have. You are mocking me for your complete lack of understanding basic language. Keep facepalming and digging that hole though...

@jordan1992 https://www.theicon.com/5-aaa-games-and-their-budgets-how-much-was-spent-how-much-was-made-and-was-it-worth-it There you go pal. Now run along to English class.

@Trmn8r 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️😂😂😂😂😂😂
Budget game means a game with a small, limited budget.
AAA game means huge, hotly anticipated game.
Have a long short think about it!! 😂😂😂😂

@jordan1992 Yeah I'm done... Can't help willful stupidity...

@Trmn8r i’m starting done too. Gonna go up down stairs in a bit an maybe go for a walk drive. 😂😂😂😂😂