Major FTC Hearing Begins This Week With Microsoft & Activision CEOs In Attendance

The fact they keep going on about this deal meaning more choice for gamers obviously means no Activision games will become xbox console exclusive, otherwise that's taking away a choice and they lied to the courts/governments.

So Jim has nothing to worry about, no need for him to get involved.

Okay so now I'm nervous, but here's my thinking. Xbox seems to be getting off its feet and with a strong showing, it's gonna be okay without Activision.

If the deal don't go through prepare for the mega march of doom and gloom featuring all your favourite trolls haha.

Phil said it won't affect their plan but it will slow down the road to their end goal, which is mobile.

That said, I believe the deal will go through, and I also believe its possible UK get diddly squat, which means I'll have to move to new Zealand, or somewhere else

From what I've heard on here, it looks like it'll go through, with or without CMA.

All that aside, I'm not worried about xbox, it has an awesome line up of studios to the point Booty even said there are lots more, and even possibly more directs, and reveals in places such as Games con.
In fact, I'd wager that after starfield, people will be adopting a series x or s as a secondary consoles for exclusives like Fable and Clockwork (is that what it's called?) And xbox will change its tune on console sales haha.

But anyway, at least this is happening sooner than later. Can't help feel xbox wanted it this way, openly talking about closing the deal so FTC trap itself in a date it wished to avoid, clearly wanting to stall the deal to death because they're weak and have no real grounds to fight.

With all that said, I'll still find myself nervous over the coming weeks haha

Can I also say that Jim Ryan should be there in person. If he's going to sling mud, at least be man enough to make it stick.

@UltimateOtaku91 Phil seemed clearly affected by the bad press of redfall so I agree with you, they don't wanna shake that hornets nest by going back on their word.
Do you think maybe because Sony seems invested in live service games they don't want xbox to take away the attention by announcing cod games on gamepass, which are heavily multilayer?
Or is it just business to oppose it? I guess opposing it makes sense. As much as I disagree with Jim Ryan, I'm pretty sure he's only doing his job.

This is it, folks! The real final boss battle! The CMA is like, the optional boss battle in the post game.

Sony's Jim Ryan will also testify as part of the hearing to discuss market competition, but the PlayStation boss will only appear via video link

Well, uncle Jim is too busy renegotiating with Squeenix the forever timed exclusivity on FF16 and FF7R games, yep, taking care of the serious business 😂.

@Zoidpilot4 I think it's down to Sony being scared of potentially losing one of their biggest source of incomes, Call of Duty brings Sony around £250 million per year which is enough to fund one of their big AAA single player games.

Also, Sony are investing more into live service games as they are becoming more and more popular and it's what all the casuals want to play, Sony want their console to be home to all the biggest live service games. At the moment all the biggest live service games are on both playstation and Xbox consoles so players have a choice, but as soon as one of those games becomes exclusive to one console then that console will become The console to get for those casuals. That's also what Sony are worried about Microsoft doing with call of duty.

Finally, I don't think anyone can be too hard on Jim, he's just doing his job and doing what those above him are expecting him to do. If he didn't put up a fight then he'd probably be facing the sack.

@UltimateOtaku91 it sounds like live services are vital, and potentially the king maker of casual gamers.
Question is, will they be any good?
I'm assuming if Sony is putting their all in it, probably yes.
I hope the deal goes through for xbox still, mostly because I think Sony is at its best when they compete, and also I love gamepass.
But now it make sense why people who prefer Sony are more concerned about the deal. Thanks for the context

Ohhh shaaade! FINISH HIM!

Kind of inappropriate shade but entertaining all the same.

@SplooshDmg 😂

@UltimateOtaku91 also didn't know how much Sony gets from cod. Now it makes a whole lotta sense why Jim would fight to stop it. That's a lot of money =o

Hopefully MS lose that can then send a message that this very unhealthy acquisition heavy time period really needs to end.

@WallyWest why is it unhealthy? And please keep to facts. I'm no good with opinions etc

I have autism so that's why I asked for facts, not to try argue etc

Also I'm going to bed but will read it tomorrow morning.

@UltimateOtaku91 IMHO Jim's the one that went rogue on this to "prove" himself.. His superiors haven't seemed to care for a long time and mostly seemed to be undermining his stance at every turn.

@Sol4ris Well i guess that takes longer then Uncle Phil demanding Atlus do pointless reveal embargos on a game series that sells best on PS and most likely Switch 😉

@NEStalgia You understand right that if Sony were buying Activision then Phil would be everything Jim has and is doing? If Jim let this happen it would look so bad his and Sony's end, he's got no choice but to fight this just like Phil if the roles were reversed.

@UltimateOtaku91 eventually they will make them exclusive - but not this gen. Let the public, courts and govt forget. That's always the plan. It always works.

I find it very embarrassing the United States has become so toothless on anti-trust violations. It is as if we aren't even pretending we aren't all totally in favor of giant monopolies.

I enjoyed this subject but i got tiered im not ganna follow the news, actually i didn't read the article (but thank you for the effort you put on them)

I just want to see the final decision

@Zoidpilot4 Because large super corporations swallowing another one whole is really not good for anyone but them. Kids and fanboys on the internet can be happy in the short run because COD will be on Gamepass but that comes at a cost meaning price hikes, more MTX and battle passes, Gamepass exclusive games (oh that will happen) and more. I won't go deep into my opinion as you don't want it but i will just say this gen is going for MS as i predicted and if this Gen ends as i predict then oh boy Xbox users are going to lose harder then anyone, i mean just look at Sega. MS are preparing for a future and i don't think its a future that has Xbox as we know it in it, Phil's interview not long back gave more fuel to my prediction as well. So yeah deals like this do more harm for us then good.

Just look at LucasFilm and how far they're falling since Disney tainted them. Yes the money is being made but no one is truly happen with what Disney put out with them. Look at Marvel and how far its falling since Endgame, Disney played a big role in that. Point is a Corp having too much is never a good thing and Disney is proof of that.

Internal xbox email just leaked stating what everyone said all along. Xbox will continue buyouts to forcibly eliminate Sony. Block the deal

@TakeItEasy I feel that way currently too. Will see what happens at the end game.

@Kaloudz lol love the LAN cable idea - made me think…
Other suggestions:
Have an AI Jim speak so he doesn’t say anything off the wall
Have Jim do the Teams in full VR2 tech to do a demo

@Rmg0731 You mean this.

https://www.gamesradar.com/the-random-gamers-suing-microsoft-say-they-have-uncontroverted-evidence-that-xbox-wants-to-put-playstation-out-of-business/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_content=gamesradar

Microsoft haven't denied it either, they just said it was an internal exchange but still just shows what Matt Booty's plan is.

Apparently the judge dismissed it was evidence due to it being obtained illegally, but it's now blowing up on twitter. If the email is legit then I hope people see Microsoft in a different light and that they are using their superior wealth to bully the competition into submission. But I suppose we need to see what was exactly said in that email first as at the moment it's just "REDACTED", I expect it to be leaked soon.

Some people in here posting in bad faith. Call of Duty is going to go the same place that Minecraft, which was the biggest game in the world when it was bought, went. That is to say, every platform to this day, with each release in the franchise that followed.

Those who spew otherwise in here, who the hell are you trying to convince?

A lot of you just live on this site, with absolutely nothing better to do, despite the fact that you have the "superior" platform with thousands of exclusives.

Play those instead of hanging around here, chipping away at your empty souls. Jesus, save these people for real.

You'll be playing FF in a few days, desperately trying to enjoy it all the while the looming presence of Starfield has you dragging yourself back to the internet to port beg and bemoan every negative thing that goes on in your lives as being Xbox's fault.

Good luck trying to enjoy your hobby.

@UltimateOtaku91 Honestly, good. I like the attitude. For one, even with ABK MS probably wouldn't have nearly the ability to put PS out of business, and most regulators have seemed to agree on that. It's high time people at Xbox had a little confidence again. These are pretty unfriendly competitors, I'd prefer they all being trying to wipe each other off the map at all hours of the day, that's how I know they're trying.

@Rmg0731 Where is the text of this leak?

@WallyWest People say that, but again his superiors haven't seemed that interested and continuously undermined his position.. I don't think he's following orders, I think he's doing his own thing with this despite them.

@NEStalgia REDACTED

@Kaloudz Imagine believing a single world MS (or any corp) says, Phil lies all the time. Yeah Gamepass only exclusives will happen, notice how Disney, Amazon and Netflix (though they used too) don't release their stuff on DVD? MS will take it slow with an exclusive GP only Indie here and there and once users are used to it then Halo 7 is now Gamepass only. As for MTX and battle passes being optional? Technically yes but let's not pretend they aren't forced on you, after all there's entire conferences teaching gaming corps and devs how to exploit players into buying this stuff and becoming whales and MS jumped on that train as early as forcing a price on horse armour because yeah from what i've read that was more MS then Bethesda with that choice.

@NEStalgia Dude that'a not how this stuff works. Jim is not acting rogue here this is a move he has to make just like Phil would if Sony were the ones buying them. Jesus Jim would lose his job if he just happily let MS do this. Sony are keeping quiet because unlike Phil they don't really do social media or endless interviews talking BS.

@WallyWest I'm not really sure why I can buy Lightyear, The Rings of Power, and Stranger Things season 4 all on Blu-ray then. None of them are forcing me to pay for their subscription for these major releases, and these are all relatively new releases, of course. So I'm not sure what you're really getting at here, but I don't think your point is entirely factual.

Plus, considering ABK has some of the most predatory MTX in the industry, I don't see how MS buying that would make it worse than it already is. So, I don't think this point is anything but knee jerking for the sake of it.

@UltimateOtaku91
Dont talk complete rubbish !!! If they do release Xbox exclusive games they aren't lying ,they said they would open the games upto more ( Nvidia /Nintendo etc ) and they will that doesn't say no games will be exclusive to Xbox at all.
They NEVER said that no games will be exclusive

You just don't want them to release exclusives then your precious Sony won't benefit
Prediction of the future : Xbox release a acti game on all systems apart from Sony and this guy will say how Phil lied to courts bs

@WallyWest Again my point is that the brass at Sony, the people above Jim have not been engaged in the process, and have repeatedly said things that make Jim's case much harder. They really just don't seem to be onboard the psdoomed train with him. They're pretty much hubristically convinced of their invincibility really.

@WallyWest or Sony having 2 days start on dlc ? Pointless

Coming to the end....and its getting spicy in here lol.

@YonkoBuggyTheClown this is my favorite post in a long time

@WallyWest so I read your comment, thank you for responding. I get the concern now, and historically you're right, when big corps buy big, they cannibalise quality and take advantage of the consumer.
However, personally I don't believe that will happen with xbox. I think basing on what's happened to other corporations can't be used as fact in regards to what xbox will do if they aquire Activision. You can assume, or make a hypothetical argument against, but until it happens, we just don't know.

That said, I completely understand your point now. Can I ask if you have an xbox?
If not, I understand even more so, why this deal will worry you. I have both consoles, well three, and my concerns tend to fluctuate. Sometimes I worry Sony will push xbox out of the ring, with their aggressive exclusive deals and past history on undercutting the competition like they did dreamcast. Sony can be vicious and cruel.
Then I worry about xbox using its money to push Sony out of the ring, as it looks like Sony will hit a slight dry spell, I worry xbox will use starfield, gamepass and this deal to push them out.
I don't want to see either company lose, but I also recognise they're both as big and bad as each other.

So, I kind of just have to enjoy the games, and have fun with what is there now. I experienced the death of the dreamcast which was my favourite console. Playstation was ruthless and in the end I got a ps2. Its business, I'm afraid. Sometimes someone has to lose and for a long time it looked like it would be xbox.

Which brings me to my other point, I kind of feel Sony forced xbox to get this aggressive. In the past they boasted their ps2 would take over the living room space, directly and openly threatening Microsoft, which in turn forced Microsoft to make the xbox. Ever since then, they've been taking shots at each other. Make sense as xbox was created to fight Sony for the living room dominance.
I don't think for a second Sony will suffer if xbox gets the deal, but I do think xbox might suffer if they don't.
I can't ignore that Sony trier to get a year exclusivity with starfiled, amongst other games. Make no mistake, Sony are also trying to kill xbox.

I guess it gets muddy and unfair when someone provides moral immunity to one side but not the other. That might be why a lot of people on here are arguing with you. Just an observation, but I could be wrong, my brain ain't normal haha.

In summary, I get your concern, and the historic facts are a good enough reason to debate it, but I don't think it's enough to convince me xbox will suddenly do the same mistakes. If I'm wrong, I'll apologise.

Thank you =)

Haha @SplooshDmg said the CMA are DLC 🤣

So what, exactly, is your prediction for the future of Xbox after the acquisition, @WallyWest? In what time frame, and what eventualities do you expect to come to pass? You clearly think it is going to be bad, but don't spell out exactly what you think that 'bad' will be. As it stands, without you saying exactly what you think will be so bad (at whatever point in time you have in mind), fewer sales, or a lower scoring release, or... well anything really, that could be viewed negatively, could be something you could point at and say, 'told ya'. However, I want to know exactly what you have in mind, so that we can compare what troubles you with what comes to pass.

You mention Disney, and the content they have produced. You site Endgame, and what has followed. With Endgame, in particular, I'd agree that was a high point, and that the subsequent content has not reached the same standard. However, if you were to give Endgame a 10/10. and the following films 8/10, that doesn't make the subsequent films bad, it just mean they're good, just not as good as Endgame. Likewise, with Disney pumping out various spin-off TV series of both Marvel and Star War, whilst not everything is going to land, I'd still argue that having more of something, and being able to take your pick, is better than wanting more, and getting nothing. It's better to eat something (even if you don't enjoy it) than starve. I'm more than happy to see Disney providing more content, than having to wait years for a new film in the franchise (and then often being disappointed anyway), and I'll be just as happy if Microsoft do the same with the multiple franchises that they inherit once the deal goes through. It's like now; I'm desperate for a new Gears of War game, but if Microsoft cannot give me Gears 6, I'd happily settle for a remaster, or something new set in the Gears universe. Having nothing at all is much worse...

@S1ayeR74 to be honest i don't even care anymore if its approved i get cod on gamepass if not i would really prefer Microsoft to buy Asobo studio and 2 other studios or build them from ground i would be more happy

@Kaloudz isn't "For What it's Worth"?

@Kaloudz Remember how you said GP won't see a price increase? That didn't age well.

@Kaloudz Inflation my ass, MS don't need to do this at all and its not like Switch Online and Plus have seen price hikes recently so this is MS just wanting more money and nothing more.