Good News - The value of gamepass is even more unreal than usual Bad News - Microsoft is is creeping eerily close to what some might consider monopolization of the gaming market
How do you even monopolize games? It's honestly not even possible. There will always be creative people out there turning ideas into great games. It will just make the indie pipeline even more important.
I remember this being rumoured months ago on the gaming leaks and rumours subreddit, but all we got was "something massive that makes us rethink acquisitions and their legality".
I certainly did: I used to be anti-monopoly but if a single developer with 2 functional brain cells is allowed near Overwatch or WOW, I guess I"m suddenly fine with it!
@@Jose-se9pu that may be bit of a different situation in the sense that there are FAR more game developers than there are film studios. There are only really five film studios of note, but there are an absurd amount of independent game studios that aren’t being frozen out and who have far easier access to the gaming market than a small film studio would have to theater chains and streaming services. Microsoft also isn’t really buying up competitors, it’s buying products from among a sea of them. If Microsoft was buying up steam, Sony, or Nintendo or freezing out smaller developers that would be a different situation. But again, I’m just guessing at how that may be legally defensible here, I’m no lawyer.
I’d imagine that the regulators in someway will go along with this. There have been many acquisitions in the past that should have been stopped like Disney buying Fox or t-mobile buying sprint, but they were all able to justify the purchase as them not becoming a monopoly of sorts. Curious to see the outcome of this, but I’m sure we all know what’s next.
Maybe, maybe not. It's worth remembering that MS buying Activision DOESN'T just affect Sony or Nintendo (who probably don't really care, they're doing their own thing). If Microsofts intended plan is to start putting all Activision games on game pass in the future, then the immense value of Game Pass starts to directly affect every single retailer across the world who sell videogames. We're talking a range of your Gamestops, CEX and even Steam, because why would you bother buying a game from a third party retailer when MS is giving it to you with your membership? Particularly with CoD where you need a membership on console to even play online. If those companies start preaching about potentially going under and the job losses that would come with that then things start to get spicy.
@@Jose-se9pu They will, it's not blocking the other companies to compete, they still have plenty of other studios in the world and Sony and Nintendo are still manufacturing their hardware
I'm a die-hard Playstation gamer, but honestly, the regulators _should_ "go along with it". These are two American companies, and while I understand that anti-trust law exists (and why it exists), two American businesses _should_ be able to make a totally voluntary transaction amongst themselves without the government getting in the middle of their deal and saying, _"No no. You're getting too successful and we don't like it"_ unless there's *VERY CLEAR* proof that nobody else will ever possibly, conceivably, even _potentially_ be able to compete with them ever again. People said the same thing about the Zenimax/Bethesda deal, but it's 2022 now, and sales numbers don't lie-- I'd say Playstation is doing just fine. The government fucks up literally everything it touches. The less they're involved in, the better. Mitch McConnell; Nancy Pelosi; Donald Trump; Joe Biden; AOC... THESE are the type of people you want deciding who should own video game franchises like Call of Duty??? Really?
If Microsoft were to buy Ubisoft, that would probably make gamepass the best option out there for most consumers. I can even see them making gamepass $20 a month.
I mean to be honest, MS has been pretty forward thinking, when it comes to the future of gaming. Not only that, but they take pretty good care of the studios under their umbrella. Not saying MS is perfect, but I do think that activision/Blizzard will be in good hands.
@@martinmateer2925 Not necessarily, COD and other huge games will still be on all platforms. However xbox will have more exclusives and pre order bonuses.
@Vulpes Inculta we dont know that yet Microsoft might bite the bullet and make CoD xbox and pc exclusive. I mean it could possibly make gamepass go from 25 mil to 30 mil
@@_Blonca That's true. I'm curious if future games will be Xbox / Gamepass exclusive or not. On the one hand, removing it from playstation would cut off a huge part of COD's audience, which sounds counter intuitive. On the other hand, having the playstation audience of COD be made to move to Xcloud / Xbox / Gamepass could be gamble that could work out in Microsoft's favor. But again, it'd be a gamble
@@williammoore1030 I know, I’m saying that cause of EA’s infamous reputation of buying studios and eventually destroying them. Lets just hope Microsoft doesn’t do the latter, but I’m not giving my hopes up.
Idk what to think of this acquisition. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I was excited for the Bethesda acquisition but Activision? This seems to be more of a monopoly and a monopoly isn't good for the consumer.
With Bethesda, we see the potential of the company and were aware that Microsoft would act as a leesh in controlling Bethesda, as well as getting the company heads in check of their actions. With Activision, we're seeing the abusers getting out scott free with no repercussions (be they social or economic), Microsoft acting very high and mighty of avoiding federal overview of everything and pushing the people/customers into accepting the money side of things only, and causing conglomerates into making assumptions from things they do not completely understand or know how it will react to should they fail, caring only that the deals pass through. Also, the merge will most definitely cut many employees under the guise of redundancy and give the ceo millions in compensation for the deal, so theirs also that.
Thats the point, the gaming industry ain't so different from big tech, remove competition and control the market. Not to mention, their is a lot of FUD in the markets so ATVI could go parabolic when markets are up, but it does depend on ATVI's rule in the industry as a developer.
The future of modern gaming is really concerning me to a point where I feel like for now at least I'm just going to stick to catching up on my huge back catalogue of games for the next few years.
I'm glad that everyone suddenly thinks monopolies are bad, while going to see Marvel movies and paying for Disney Plus. Me an Xbox owner is suddenly a fan.
5:50 - Incorrect, they’ve already spoken publicly on it, stating that their intent is not to make these titles exclusive as they “Respect their relationship with Sony” in the gaming marketplace.
There’s also a considerable lack of information and context in your video which is unusual for you. You glossed over massive amounts of information, the fact that Acti-Blizzard is run by a Board (meaning Kotick never had a hand on the deal) and more.
Not to mention the fact that you immediately state they’d intend to make these titles exclusive when.. they couldn’t. That’s actually legally impossible. Creators need to think about objectively responding to situations like this, even if it requires you to wait a few days for more details..
The video game industry as a whole is so astronomically massive that this acquisition still doesn't put them even remotely close to having a monopoly. It's still funny to me seeing all these people suddenly up in arms about the potential for certain frachises to become exclusives. During the PS4 generation, Sony spent more on exclusive marketing deals than the rest of the industry combined, but nobody seemed to be concerned about that consumer manipulation.
The shareholders will also have a say in that deal, the $95 is substantially less than the $100+ ABK was worth before commotion. Why not ditch Kotik and wait for the stock to relax?
I don't know why everyone assumes Xbox would pull huge franchises like Call of Duty off of Playstation. These are MASSIVE purchases Xbox is making, and investors are going to want a return for spending that money. I would think they'd do the exact opposite. Playstation is the most successful console in the world. Sure, you want people to buy your subscription service, but for anyone who simply can't or won't, hell yeah I'd still let them buy COD for $70 a pop! Gamepass is losing a ton of money, and Xbox is spending a ton of money. They need to get that money back somehow. And they sure as hell aren't going to do it selling Xbox consoles (since hardware loses money). Just buying massive publishers, putting all their games on Gamepass, and not allowing the majority of console gamers to buy them from you anymore is absolutely NOT sustainable. They can't just keep doing that and giving all these games away for the same $15 a month.
I think people dont realise the difference in sales, and the fact that (im pretty sure) Microsoft doesnt care about console development any more....the subscription service is far more profitable as it costs less to develop. They only need to purchase studios and publish games, instead of expensive console development. The numbers are staggering. Sony's PS4 and PS5 are currently at 129+ million units sold. Xbox's One and the Series' are only at 47 million units. Many consumers dont have the money to buy new consoles, why not just tap into Sony's market for quick and easy profits now. They can still make their tentpole franchises exclusive to PC and Xbox (Halo, Gear, Etc.) if they really want to milk the cash cow. I dont really think that many people buy consoles specifically for exclusives. They only slightly help to reinforce a purchase. I'd argue that people buy the consoles based on the features they prefer and what their friends are buying.
Yes. From a business perspective that is what you do. What if Microsoft said they want to bring Gamepass to PlayStation but Sony says no? Imagine the backlash Sony would face knowing they are all that was in the way. Once Gamepass is in though it is over. It does not matter what you buy. If you play games then you have Gamepass wherever you are. Phil has been building to this. This is why they are investing heavily into cloud gaming too. Any device. All you need is the Gamepass app. Now they have the exclusives that make it a must own and solved the problem in a way very few companies could afford to. They just went and bought the games you already love rather than trying to make you fall in love with new IP’s it cost them nearly $77 billion dollars to do it. That is why it had to be Microsoft. One of the only companies that had the funds in the gaming sector.
Activision has like 3 active franchises, CoD Warcraft and Overwatch, that's all that is probably gonna be affected that's in the market right now if this goes thru, at least as far as regulators know
I honestly don't see CoD going Xbox exclusive. Wouldn't CoD profits on PS for Microsoft be higher than profits that come with having it exclusively on their platform, given how many players swear by PS?
I hope it happens in a sense. I don't trust these corpo giants at all, nor AAA developers they cannibalize for profit. This is just a massive threat to independent developers, who have really flourished because of game pass; MS has more issues than money, but, honestly unless it is purely from a financial standpoint, the first shot of the bullshit nobody likes, was due to the Activision Blizzard merger ever happening at all.
Also, damn that would suck, as I'm actually a new "re-adopter" of Sony, with gaming, as I didn't have a PlayStation since the launch of PS2, and was very late to that as well. I feel Sony would have a field day with this, ace up the sleeve if nothing else, and be able to slap MS in the face, if they screw every console gamer over. I mean I never experienced a PS4 until recently, and own a PS4 1TB Slim, so no powerhouse, but damn if they don't already have such good games, from the very few i've had so much fun with already.
Minor correction, the top dog in the gaming industry is Apple. Last year they made more revenue from gaming than Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and Activision combined.
This might be one of your best videos, Luke. Really sharp and concrete analysis. Thank you for putting up so quickly after the news broke. Regarding the topic at hand, I think it’s a brilliant move by Microsoft, the deal will most likely go through and what’s most interesting is to see how Sony will respond. I just don’t think Sony can afford to stand pat.
@@Xerczar Top five studio? In what category have they both been in to be considered top five of anything? Most padded out open world games put out in an annual basis? Most times winning worst company twice in a row? Most times sucking the players wallets dry? Most times fucking up the games industry and screwing the consumer? Most times breaking the "worst reviewed on Metacritic" records? Most time screwing the fan bases? Most IP's ruined? Most releases of the same game? Be honest with yourself it's not much of a monopoly when the two companies you specifically listed isn't because of how beloved they are but for how anti consumer and how low their reputation is. Not because they're " 2 of the top 5 quality publishers" because that's just fucking stupid to think especially in todays climate and after pieces of shit like Valhalla, Watchdogs Legion or Fifa and Mass Effect Andromeda. Let's be thankful this ain't a publisher that cared about putting out actual good games people actually want to play like Super Giant Games, Night Dive or even Devolver Digital.
I think it's a good thing for Call of Duty at least, these half baked annual releases need to stop. Now that they're not being pressured to pump out these games full of microtransactions by the board of shareholders hopefully we might get some games with artistic integrity.
@@yme3267 It can't get any worse. They're literally games that still need another year in the oven, and by the time the next one comes out it finally gets into a playable state.
They'll be coming every year still to get new gamepass subs every year.... Plus the gamepass partnership with EA will mean the sports games will go to gamepass to every year... Xbox will be the "casual" way to play... Nintendo and playstation will be able to keep doing what they are doing... I think japanese companies like square enix and sega will want to be loyal to Sony and nintendo because if they sell to Microsoft exclusively they'll be heavily criticised in Japan
As a PlayStation/Pc player this kinda breaks my heart thinking that they’d only publish to xbox/pc the loss of revenue from PlayStation in a game like warzone just doesn’t seem like that’s a good idea. But getting rid of Bobby Kodic or however it’s spelled I like. The idea of ow and ow2 finally getting some new life I something I can get behind but just alienating the entire PlayStation market just doesn’t sit right with me. I know Sony and Xbox are competitors but for years activision/blizzard have published to both platforms and just to tell PlayStation players to go fuck themselves I don’t appreciate. Sony has some great exclusives but those are coming over to pc reaching an entirely different market. Idk man
This acquisition from Microsoft surely won't make me purchase another 300~400€ brick to play my games on. Sony will probably have to double down on their first party IPs from now on
it will be interesting to see the sony reaction to this strategic strike. We will not see the outcome of this operation until some years but the console war is becoming very interesting
Biggest thing I’m concerned about is exclusives and releases You used to always be able to get call of duty early on PS4 I wonder if that will stay the same also there will no doubtably be XBOX exclusives that come from this deal and I like what Activision blizzard put out and I want to play it
I like that this will most likely help with the quality. I don't like that there is chance that this will cut me out of the console gaming market for some of the titles that I like. However, most everyone has a personal computer as well as a console so I will be able to access the games on PC instead of my Playstation.
In terms of money, would this deal have been worth it if microsoft didn't plan on making the games exclusive? Like what is the value for a company to add 3 billion to their cashflow?
The deal will probably go through. They will never remove a product that has already released on other platforms. If there is exclusivity for cod i would speculate that warzone will stay multi platform and maybe the mp and campaign will be exclusive to xbox/gamepass.
I think that for Ubisoft was rumored that Xbox will not acquire them but that this year they will bring Ubisoft+ games to Gamepass as they did with EA Play. As for Activision i think that its absolutely better and good news for people working there.
This will bend Sony to allow Gamepass on PlayStation. If that happens Xbox will not even care if they never sell another Xbox. As long as Gamepass is on PlayStation who cares who’s name is on the hardware.
I kinda feel like the Xbox Series X/S is just a console that Microsoft is using to keep themselves in the market while also preparing to drastically shift the market in their favor when the successor to the Series X/S is released years from now. It’s gonna take years for these acquisitions to pay off for Microsoft.
It seems to me that after being demolished by Sony in almost every generation, Microsoft has decided to try and buy their way to the top. They have bought both Arkane and Obsidian (which is heartbreaking since I can't afford a Series X in addition to my PS5), two of the most talented, and some of my favorite, developers in the industry. And now they shell out even more for Bethesda and Blizzard. Amazing games are what sell consoles. Xbox has always had fewer A+ exclusives. Not that there isn't many fantastic Xbox games of course, but not on Playstations level. It just feels like a cheap way to try and win the generation. Use their bottomless capital to buy out both the biggest, and also the best developers and lock them down to only develop for them.
Using the monopoly strategy by buying every company to make up for the loss from the previous generation. Sony should’ve just kept their exclusives so that they don’t need to worry about anything. Now their sweating bullets trying to think of a comeback. A shame
@@jamaphy8621 Sony bought up successful individual indie to standout developers, not entire publishers, their in-house teams, and their I.Ps. If the difference isn't apparent to you, that's sad.
They dont really care. Kotick gets a soft exit with more money. Sure the company finally gets rid of the asshole, but the employees wont receive any justice. They'll likely have a better working environment under Microsofts banner but its really only a half win for the employees.
Why would you buy the worst gaming company that is a sinking ship for billions of dollars. Microsoft thinks they can throw money at a problem and we all know that never works. This will only help Sony imo. I love it.
I don't think Microsoft will pull exclusivity. Better to just make money with every purchase on every platform. The only game I can see them making a Microsoft exclusive is WoW. Not like it wouldn't run. I think Microsoft's ideal world is one where every game Sony sells makes Microsoft some money.
They are going to go forward I don't see the competition regulation be a thing there. They are not blocking the hardware sells or anything. Sony still can create studios and so does Nintendos and there are TONS of studios and different developpers. It would be a thing if Sony got bought by Microsoft for example but I don't see this as something blocking the sale.
I could see that, or them buying Konami and reviving metal gear and castlevania. Could also see them going after Capcom, sega or atlus. But it really wouldn't surprise me if they pick up a JRPG publisher with success of FF7 remake and Persona 5 last gen.
Square Enix is nothing compared to that,activision games (mainly COD)are the majority of the best selling games in PlayStation,the only way they can counter that is with Take2 acquisition.
I grew Up playing Crash bandicoot. I absolutely Love that Franchise. Thinking it may be a Microsoft exclusive just feels wrong. :/ Hope These Games will still be available on Playstation.
MS would be stupid to stop releasing ActiBlizz games on PS. At most there probably won't be anymore PS exclusive gamemodes/skins/items in Activision games
@@f1jones544 I'm just talking about console gaming. Right now the PS5 is out selling the newest Xbox 2/1. Yeah Microsoft as a whole has a big edge in that they have the PC market cornered and have since the early 90s.
They're gonna ditch the Xbox console and just release the controller like the Stadia. They're going full cloud with Gamepass app available on as many devices as possible.
why would they not round it up to 69 billion, what a waste
100%, this is not nice
300 million for the meme bruh
Dost thou even know how rounding up works? Anything between 68.5 and 68.9 rounds up to exactly 69.
@@azure5584 *nice*
@@alamariyan3826 nah brah 420 Billion
Microsoft’s Game Pass was the Netflix of gaming. Now after this huge buyout it is Netflix plus Disney+ and HBO max of gaming.
Once they get Ubisoft+ they will have unlimited power.
Except you can still buy and own the content…
does anyone think that a price hike for Gamepass is inevitable?
@@johnnyjets2343 If all the Activision stuff gets added to it, then yes. Because MS would be able to justify it as GP having a much larger offering.
@@francis6775 ultimate is what 15 bucks right now? What would you think a fair price increase to be? 5-10$?
Good News - The value of gamepass is even more unreal than usual
Bad News - Microsoft is is creeping eerily close to what some might consider monopolization of the gaming market
They'll have to fight Tencent for that title.
Have you saw Disney? The mouse owns all.
@@Blackemperess True
How do you even monopolize games? It's honestly not even possible. There will always be creative people out there turning ideas into great games. It will just make the indie pipeline even more important.
@@Blackemperess Will only make it easier for Tencent to take it over in the near future, Gates has good standing with China.
I remember this being rumoured months ago on the gaming leaks and rumours subreddit, but all we got was "something massive that makes us rethink acquisitions and their legality".
I certainly did: I used to be anti-monopoly but if a single developer with 2 functional brain cells is allowed near Overwatch or WOW, I guess I"m suddenly fine with it!
I think this is breaking the law, just like Disney buying Fox in 2017...but these corporations own half the US Congress, so, who will opose them?
@@Jose-se9pu that may be bit of a different situation in the sense that there are FAR more game developers than there are film studios. There are only really five film studios of note, but there are an absurd amount of independent game studios that aren’t being frozen out and who have far easier access to the gaming market than a small film studio would have to theater chains and streaming services.
Microsoft also isn’t really buying up competitors, it’s buying products from among a sea of them. If Microsoft was buying up steam, Sony, or Nintendo or freezing out smaller developers that would be a different situation. But again, I’m just guessing at how that may be legally defensible here, I’m no lawyer.
@@Jose-se9pu Bruh that Disney acquisition of Fox was so stupid and monopoly. I mean they are the same company within film industry
I’d imagine that the regulators in someway will go along with this. There have been many acquisitions in the past that should have been stopped like Disney buying Fox or t-mobile buying sprint, but they were all able to justify the purchase as them not becoming a monopoly of sorts. Curious to see the outcome of this, but I’m sure we all know what’s next.
Keep in mind who was in the White House when Disney bought Fox...I dont think Congress is going to let this pass
Maybe, maybe not. It's worth remembering that MS buying Activision DOESN'T just affect Sony or Nintendo (who probably don't really care, they're doing their own thing).
If Microsofts intended plan is to start putting all Activision games on game pass in the future, then the immense value of Game Pass starts to directly affect every single retailer across the world who sell videogames. We're talking a range of your Gamestops, CEX and even Steam, because why would you bother buying a game from a third party retailer when MS is giving it to you with your membership? Particularly with CoD where you need a membership on console to even play online. If those companies start preaching about potentially going under and the job losses that would come with that then things start to get spicy.
@@Jose-se9pu They will, it's not blocking the other companies to compete, they still have plenty of other studios in the world and Sony and Nintendo are still manufacturing their hardware
I'm a die-hard Playstation gamer, but honestly, the regulators _should_ "go along with it". These are two American companies, and while I understand that anti-trust law exists (and why it exists), two American businesses _should_ be able to make a totally voluntary transaction amongst themselves without the government getting in the middle of their deal and saying, _"No no. You're getting too successful and we don't like it"_ unless there's *VERY CLEAR* proof that nobody else will ever possibly, conceivably, even _potentially_ be able to compete with them ever again.
People said the same thing about the Zenimax/Bethesda deal, but it's 2022 now, and sales numbers don't lie-- I'd say Playstation is doing just fine. The government fucks up literally everything it touches. The less they're involved in, the better.
Mitch McConnell; Nancy Pelosi; Donald Trump; Joe Biden; AOC... THESE are the type of people you want deciding who should own video game franchises like Call of Duty??? Really?
@@davecarsley8773 Finally someone who gets it
Sony's response, "here's another video of horizon forbidden west".
"We made god of war and uncharted 4 free again! What, do you mean you've already played it? Do it again!"
@@BrightPage174 You nailed it!!!
Knowing your background, you were the first person's take I wanted to hear when I read this. Thanks for giving us your thoughts, Luke!
Came here to say this.
If Microsoft were to buy Ubisoft, that would probably make gamepass the best option out there for most consumers. I can even see them making gamepass $20 a month.
they prob wont need to, so many of their games have cash shops for skins and etc. Warzone, WoW and OW are huge money makers with their shops
I'd rather see Microsoft buy Activision Blizzard over Tencent buy them.
What if Tencent buys Sony? 😱
@@chapterblaq That'd suck!
Lol as if Microsoft is not a large corporation
@@nehcooahnait7827 Microsoft IS a large corporation but in my opinion it's a better one than Tencent.
@@chapterblaq they cant sony is too big
I mean to be honest, MS has been pretty forward thinking, when it comes to the future of gaming. Not only that, but they take pretty good care of the studios under their umbrella. Not saying MS is perfect, but I do think that activision/Blizzard will be in good hands.
This type of takes is the reason I subscribed to this channel.
*This will either be really GOOD or really BAD*
Good for people's wallet, bad for people who prefer playstation
@@martinmateer2925 Not necessarily, COD and other huge games will still be on all platforms. However xbox will have more exclusives and pre order bonuses.
@Vulpes Inculta we dont know that yet Microsoft might bite the bullet and make CoD xbox and pc exclusive. I mean it could possibly make gamepass go from 25 mil to 30 mil
@@_Blonca bro, do u think they've spent that money to release games on PlayStation...😕
@@_Blonca That's true. I'm curious if future games will be Xbox / Gamepass exclusive or not.
On the one hand, removing it from playstation would cut off a huge part of COD's audience, which sounds counter intuitive.
On the other hand, having the playstation audience of COD be made to move to Xcloud / Xbox / Gamepass could be gamble that could work out in Microsoft's favor. But again, it'd be a gamble
Microsoft is really going to become the next EA at this rate, with their love of buying as many studios as possible.
And running them into the ground to justify cannibalizing the talent who you have trapped in work contracts.
Microsoft is waaaay bigger then EA.
Yep keep pretending like you know what you’re talking bout ponies
@@scottsholtey691 lol as opposed to what, you?
@@williammoore1030 I know, I’m saying that cause of EA’s infamous reputation of buying studios and eventually destroying them. Lets just hope Microsoft doesn’t do the latter, but I’m not giving my hopes up.
Microsoft is still mad about Spider Man
And ghost of tshuima
Zzzz console wars zzzzzzz....
And god of war 😎
@@jamaphy8621 yeah. Just play on a pc. 10x better
@@pandaboogus Wich is now on pc. That is why I didn't mention it
Idk what to think of this acquisition. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? I was excited for the Bethesda acquisition but Activision? This seems to be more of a monopoly and a monopoly isn't good for the consumer.
With Bethesda, we see the potential of the company and were aware that Microsoft would act as a leesh in controlling Bethesda, as well as getting the company heads in check of their actions. With Activision, we're seeing the abusers getting out scott free with no repercussions (be they social or economic), Microsoft acting very high and mighty of avoiding federal overview of everything and pushing the people/customers into accepting the money side of things only, and causing conglomerates into making assumptions from things they do not completely understand or know how it will react to should they fail, caring only that the deals pass through.
Also, the merge will most definitely cut many employees under the guise of redundancy and give the ceo millions in compensation for the deal, so theirs also that.
Bad for us long-term. Good for gaming short-term.
Why is it bad? It increases competition in a market dominated by playstation, and activision just like bathesda is a company in need of new leadership
@@FumblsTheSniper I don't see why it's bad, I only see more games for a modest price that is the gamepass subscription.
Any time two big companies merge, it is always a bad thing for the customer.
Makes absolute sense Luke. Thank you.
Not just uncertainty but also time value of money. $95 discounted by 10% for 1.5 years (which is the earliest the deal is likely to close) is $82
Thats the point, the gaming industry ain't so different from big tech, remove competition and control the market. Not to mention, their is a lot of FUD in the markets so ATVI could go parabolic when markets are up, but it does depend on ATVI's rule in the industry as a developer.
The future of modern gaming is really concerning me to a point where I feel like for now at least I'm just going to stick to catching up on my huge back catalogue of games for the next few years.
Gotta do more of these type of content! Getting educated so much more than the gaming news channels
*The best video on this entire ordeal. Thank you.*
I'm glad that everyone suddenly thinks monopolies are bad, while going to see Marvel movies and paying for Disney Plus.
Me an Xbox owner is suddenly a fan.
We live in strange times
Ahaha paying for Disney plus ..
Good one. .
@@adamkondracki3201 watching anything Disney owns.
Good one..
I mean lots of people still dislike Disney and pirate or just don't watch them. Especially after what they did with Mulan
5:50 - Incorrect, they’ve already spoken publicly on it, stating that their intent is not to make these titles exclusive as they “Respect their relationship with Sony” in the gaming marketplace.
There’s also a considerable lack of information and context in your video which is unusual for you. You glossed over massive amounts of information, the fact that Acti-Blizzard is run by a Board (meaning Kotick never had a hand on the deal) and more.
Not to mention the fact that you immediately state they’d intend to make these titles exclusive when.. they couldn’t. That’s actually legally impossible. Creators need to think about objectively responding to situations like this, even if it requires you to wait a few days for more details..
This is the video I have been waiting for all day.
The video game industry as a whole is so astronomically massive that this acquisition still doesn't put them even remotely close to having a monopoly.
It's still funny to me seeing all these people suddenly up in arms about the potential for certain frachises to become exclusives. During the PS4 generation, Sony spent more on exclusive marketing deals than the rest of the industry combined, but nobody seemed to be concerned about that consumer manipulation.
People were most certainly in arms about Sony’s exclusivity deals. You must only hang around fellow corporate bootlicking chuds.
@@milk_bath Xbox's acquisitions are permanent unlike timed exclusivity PS persuaded & before that Xbox360 pushed timed exclusivity.
I cant help but picture sony execs doing the fire drill meme from the office "everyone stay calm!"
Microsoft doesn't need to buy Ubisoft if it offers Ubisoft+ on Xbox.
Sony fans when they bought Zenimax: I sleep
Sony fans when they bought Activision: real shit
The shareholders will also have a say in that deal, the $95 is substantially less than the $100+ ABK was worth before commotion. Why not ditch Kotik and wait for the stock to relax?
Great take on the situation. Let’s see how it plays out.
Finally, a voice of logic and reason... while the Internet has a meltdown 🤣
I don't know why everyone assumes Xbox would pull huge franchises like Call of Duty off of Playstation. These are MASSIVE purchases Xbox is making, and investors are going to want a return for spending that money.
I would think they'd do the exact opposite. Playstation is the most successful console in the world. Sure, you want people to buy your subscription service, but for anyone who simply can't or won't, hell yeah I'd still let them buy COD for $70 a pop!
Gamepass is losing a ton of money, and Xbox is spending a ton of money. They need to get that money back somehow. And they sure as hell aren't going to do it selling Xbox consoles (since hardware loses money).
Just buying massive publishers, putting all their games on Gamepass, and not allowing the majority of console gamers to buy them from you anymore is absolutely NOT sustainable. They can't just keep doing that and giving all these games away for the same $15 a month.
I think people dont realise the difference in sales, and the fact that (im pretty sure) Microsoft doesnt care about console development any more....the subscription service is far more profitable as it costs less to develop. They only need to purchase studios and publish games, instead of expensive console development.
The numbers are staggering. Sony's PS4 and PS5 are currently at 129+ million units sold. Xbox's One and the Series' are only at 47 million units. Many consumers dont have the money to buy new consoles, why not just tap into Sony's market for quick and easy profits now. They can still make their tentpole franchises exclusive to PC and Xbox (Halo, Gear, Etc.) if they really want to milk the cash cow.
I dont really think that many people buy consoles specifically for exclusives. They only slightly help to reinforce a purchase. I'd argue that people buy the consoles based on the features they prefer and what their friends are buying.
Microsoft is already withholding Bethesda games. Which really sucks
Yes. From a business perspective that is what you do. What if Microsoft said they want to bring Gamepass to PlayStation but Sony says no? Imagine the backlash Sony would face knowing they are all that was in the way. Once Gamepass is in though it is over. It does not matter what you buy. If you play games then you have Gamepass wherever you are. Phil has been building to this. This is why they are investing heavily into cloud gaming too. Any device. All you need is the Gamepass app. Now they have the exclusives that make it a must own and solved the problem in a way very few companies could afford to. They just went and bought the games you already love rather than trying to make you fall in love with new IP’s it cost them nearly $77 billion dollars to do it. That is why it had to be Microsoft. One of the only companies that had the funds in the gaming sector.
Activision has like 3 active franchises, CoD Warcraft and Overwatch, that's all that is probably gonna be affected that's in the market right now if this goes thru, at least as far as regulators know
U forgot candy crush that game makes over a billion a year
I honestly don't see CoD going Xbox exclusive. Wouldn't CoD profits on PS for Microsoft be higher than profits that come with having it exclusively on their platform, given how many players swear by PS?
I hope it happens in a sense. I don't trust these corpo giants at all, nor AAA developers they cannibalize for profit. This is just a massive threat to independent developers, who have really flourished because of game pass; MS has more issues than money, but, honestly unless it is purely from a financial standpoint, the first shot of the bullshit nobody likes, was due to the Activision Blizzard merger ever happening at all.
Also, damn that would suck, as I'm actually a new "re-adopter" of Sony, with gaming, as I didn't have a PlayStation since the launch of PS2, and was very late to that as well. I feel Sony would have a field day with this, ace up the sleeve if nothing else, and be able to slap MS in the face, if they screw every console gamer over. I mean I never experienced a PS4 until recently, and own a PS4 1TB Slim, so no powerhouse, but damn if they don't already have such good games, from the very few i've had so much fun with already.
Minor correction, the top dog in the gaming industry is Apple. Last year they made more revenue from gaming than Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and Activision combined.
Not really,apple is still considerably behind Sony and Tenent,but if you said profits i would believe.
I will be curious how this impacts PlayStation. I own a ps5 and as long as Sony releases single player games I like, I'm cool with them lol
This might be one of your best videos, Luke. Really sharp and concrete analysis. Thank you for putting up so quickly after the news broke.
Regarding the topic at hand, I think it’s a brilliant move by Microsoft, the deal will most likely go through and what’s most interesting is to see how Sony will respond. I just don’t think Sony can afford to stand pat.
I rather Activision was bought by Disney
Remember when M$ tried to buy Nintendo and the Nihon Boyz laughed then out of the office?? Turbo Based.
Love you. Nintendo doesn't play shit. These companies may be too big, and stupid for their own good, but, they forgot who saved the literal industry.
@@TheRealPonderingPuffin Love you too bro. Stay safe. Nintendo rules.
ty sir, love your channel
Aaaaanddd this is why I’ve never been a Microsoft/Xbox fan
can't beat Sony or Nintendo since 2001 so they will buy all the third parties to win.
@@tHeWasTeDYouTh it’s such a douche move. “Well if we can’t beat ur sales we’ll just buy everything u sell”
This reminds me so much of the Fox acquisition. Still not sure how I feel about that one, let alone Act-Blizz.
$69bn could pay my country's debt and yet many bn would left
They gonna inherit the Activision herpe effect! Don’t do it…
I think these monopoly concerns are not well placed at all. Microsoft isn't even close to begin monopolizing the gaming market.
Lol? If they go near EA or Ubi they’ll own 4 of the top 5 studios xdd
LOL , THEY ARE
@@Xerczar Top five studio? In what category have they both been in to be considered top five of anything? Most padded out open world games put out in an annual basis? Most times winning worst company twice in a row? Most times sucking the players wallets dry? Most times fucking up the games industry and screwing the consumer? Most times breaking the "worst reviewed on Metacritic" records? Most time screwing the fan bases? Most IP's ruined? Most releases of the same game?
Be honest with yourself it's not much of a monopoly when the two companies you specifically listed isn't because of how beloved they are but for how anti consumer and how low their reputation is. Not because they're " 2 of the top 5 quality publishers" because that's just fucking stupid to think especially in todays climate and after pieces of shit like Valhalla, Watchdogs Legion or Fifa and Mass Effect Andromeda. Let's be thankful this ain't a publisher that cared about putting out actual good games people actually want to play like Super Giant Games, Night Dive or even Devolver Digital.
Great breakdown of this big news!
Love this style of video and would enjoy more business talk XD
I think it's a good thing for Call of Duty at least, these half baked annual releases need to stop. Now that they're not being pressured to pump out these games full of microtransactions by the board of shareholders hopefully we might get some games with artistic integrity.
@@yme3267 It can't get any worse. They're literally games that still need another year in the oven, and by the time the next one comes out it finally gets into a playable state.
Imagine still playing COD in the year 2022.
They'll be coming every year still to get new gamepass subs every year.... Plus the gamepass partnership with EA will mean the sports games will go to gamepass to every year... Xbox will be the "casual" way to play... Nintendo and playstation will be able to keep doing what they are doing... I think japanese companies like square enix and sega will want to be loyal to Sony and nintendo because if they sell to Microsoft exclusively they'll be heavily criticised in Japan
No Call of Duty should be an annual release
I just switched to Xbox seemed like the right time
As a PlayStation/Pc player this kinda breaks my heart thinking that they’d only publish to xbox/pc the loss of revenue from PlayStation in a game like warzone just doesn’t seem like that’s a good idea. But getting rid of Bobby Kodic or however it’s spelled I like. The idea of ow and ow2 finally getting some new life I something I can get behind but just alienating the entire PlayStation market just doesn’t sit right with me. I know Sony and Xbox are competitors but for years activision/blizzard have published to both platforms and just to tell PlayStation players to go fuck themselves I don’t appreciate. Sony has some great exclusives but those are coming over to pc reaching an entirely different market. Idk man
Awesome informative video , loved it 👍
This acquisition from Microsoft surely won't make me purchase another 300~400€ brick to play my games on. Sony will probably have to double down on their first party IPs from now on
Shut it down!!! Break them all up
Remenber when they passed a law to prevent cinema's from having exclusive rights to movies? Yeah
Yeah.. they better pass that law again for Disney Plus
it will be interesting to see the sony reaction to this strategic strike. We will not see the outcome of this operation until some years but the console war is becoming very interesting
Biggest thing I’m concerned about is exclusives and releases
You used to always be able to get call of duty early on PS4 I wonder if that will stay the same also there will no doubtably be XBOX exclusives that come from this deal and I like what Activision blizzard put out and I want to play it
Used to be xbox early😥
I like that this will most likely help with the quality. I don't like that there is chance that this will cut me out of the console gaming market for some of the titles that I like. However, most everyone has a personal computer as well as a console so I will be able to access the games on PC instead of my Playstation.
As soon as someone brings up the two words "corporate finance" I'm just like.
Aight Imma Head Out
Honestly I’m interested in seeing a game-pass that lets me download almost any game I want. With just one subscription.
This is so upsetting.
Me a pirate, that just means more free games.
In terms of money, would this deal have been worth it if microsoft didn't plan on making the games exclusive? Like what is the value for a company to add 3 billion to their cashflow?
The deal will probably go through. They will never remove a product that has already released on other platforms. If there is exclusivity for cod i would speculate that warzone will stay multi platform and maybe the mp and campaign will be exclusive to xbox/gamepass.
I think that for Ubisoft was rumored that Xbox will not acquire them but that this year they will bring Ubisoft+ games to Gamepass as they did with EA Play. As for Activision i think that its absolutely better and good news for people working there.
I literally just stopped by here after watching Yong's video so when Luke's shade hit @ 1:15 the cackle that occurred was uncontrollable 🤣😂
Hope they don't add overpriced micro transactions like they did with halo infinite multiplayer to make up for what they spent
This will bend Sony to allow Gamepass on PlayStation. If that happens Xbox will not even care if they never sell another Xbox. As long as Gamepass is on PlayStation who cares who’s name is on the hardware.
😂😂
Specially that to my knowledge hardware sales is always with a loss to make money on games sales!
Luckily I don't care about any of these games lol
There's no way this is MS becoming a monopoly when Nintendo and PS are out here selling consoles and games like hot cakes.
I hope the games will be good? Imagine buying all of these huge publishers just to put out mediocre releases. They still need to execute on that.
I kinda feel like the Xbox Series X/S is just a console that Microsoft is using to keep themselves in the market while also preparing to drastically shift the market in their favor when the successor to the Series X/S is released years from now. It’s gonna take years for these acquisitions to pay off for Microsoft.
It seems to me that after being demolished by Sony in almost every generation, Microsoft has decided to try and buy their way to the top. They have bought both Arkane and Obsidian (which is heartbreaking since I can't afford a Series X in addition to my PS5), two of the most talented, and some of my favorite, developers in the industry. And now they shell out even more for Bethesda and Blizzard. Amazing games are what sell consoles. Xbox has always had fewer A+ exclusives. Not that there isn't many fantastic Xbox games of course, but not on Playstations level. It just feels like a cheap way to try and win the generation. Use their bottomless capital to buy out both the biggest, and also the best developers and lock them down to only develop for them.
@@jamaphy8621 the bought small successful studios. They didn’t buy a whole company that produces the most money generators every year. Big difference.
A lot of complaining coming out of you
Using the monopoly strategy by buying every company to make up for the loss from the previous generation. Sony should’ve just kept their exclusives so that they don’t need to worry about anything. Now their sweating bullets trying to think of a comeback. A shame
@@jamaphy8621 Sony bought up successful individual indie to standout developers, not entire publishers, their in-house teams, and their I.Ps. If the difference isn't apparent to you, that's sad.
It's not even about the consoles themselves anymore. It's about gamepass and x-cloud. Also Microsoft has the entire PC market on top of it.
Should Sony and Nintendo just band together at this point? 😂
Gaming Cold War.
Even with this purchase, MS is still third behind Nintendo and Sony. Why would #1 and #2 band together to take out #3?
Won't happen.. Nintendo is basically like Apple of the gaming industry. Too much pride to collaborate
my only hope is that MS could save starcraft 2 esports and continue it
Boy I'd love to have that monopoly on samey shooters and tedious pelt-hunting quests...
AAA gaming is a grift.
I hope they at least do something to address the situation in blizzard. Especially for there employees sake.
They dont really care. Kotick gets a soft exit with more money. Sure the company finally gets rid of the asshole, but the employees wont receive any justice. They'll likely have a better working environment under Microsofts banner but its really only a half win for the employees.
The Disney of gaming. I don’t like it
Why would you buy the worst gaming company that is a sinking ship for billions of dollars. Microsoft thinks they can throw money at a problem and we all know that never works. This will only help Sony imo. I love it.
Luke always ready to pull out that bachelor's degree!
I am doing a BA in Literature & Creative Writing. Isn't that better?
The Disney takeover of cinema equivalent for the videogame world begins. EA, Rockstar, and From lined up in their sights next.
From???
Theoretically Arcanum 2 is a thing now.
I think these Microsoft purchases are going to force Sony's hand, where they will eventually drop their new Playstation releases also on PC.
Well I'm sure sony is going to buy a studio in retaliation this does force sony's hand
Did you guys know he had a degree in corporate finance?? Crazy
Gamepass just became irresistible. Concerned about possible monopoly in the future.
I don't think Microsoft will pull exclusivity. Better to just make money with every purchase on every platform. The only game I can see them making a Microsoft exclusive is WoW. Not like it wouldn't run. I think Microsoft's ideal world is one where every game Sony sells makes Microsoft some money.
They are going to go forward I don't see the competition regulation be a thing there. They are not blocking the hardware sells or anything. Sony still can create studios and so does Nintendos and there are TONS of studios and different developpers. It would be a thing if Sony got bought by Microsoft for example but I don't see this as something blocking the sale.
What do you think is there a chance that Sony tries to get square enix
I can see Sony trying to acquire rockstar as well
Honestly think there's a good chance, SE is a great company and could produce amazing shit with Sony
I could see that, or them buying Konami and reviving metal gear and castlevania. Could also see them going after Capcom, sega or atlus. But it really wouldn't surprise me if they pick up a JRPG publisher with success of FF7 remake and Persona 5 last gen.
Or Bandai Namco
Square Enix is nothing compared to that,activision games (mainly COD)are the majority of the best selling games in PlayStation,the only way they can counter that is with Take2 acquisition.
I grew Up playing Crash bandicoot. I absolutely Love that Franchise. Thinking it may be a Microsoft exclusive just feels wrong. :/ Hope These Games will still be available on Playstation.
just boosting for the almighty algorithm, don't mind me
... and thats a good thing
... WOW
... ... ...
MS would be stupid to stop releasing ActiBlizz games on PS. At most there probably won't be anymore PS exclusive gamemodes/skins/items in Activision games
as long as they don't remove the wow token i am all for it
God No… NOooooOOoOoo!!!!!!!
I think if Sony is gonna respond they would probably pick up some Japanese publishers like Square, Capcom, or Konami.
They still don't have the distribution model that Microsoft does. Plus, Microsoft benefits from almost every PC sold. Sony can't begin to compete.
@@f1jones544 I'm just talking about console gaming. Right now the PS5 is out selling the newest Xbox 2/1. Yeah Microsoft as a whole has a big edge in that they have the PC market cornered and have since the early 90s.
Probably an excel typo in WACC
They're gonna ditch the Xbox console and just release the controller like the Stadia. They're going full cloud with Gamepass app available on as many devices as possible.
You'll own nothing and be happy.
That bethesda deal seems kinda minuscule right now. All cash 70 billion dollars 😂 wtf
Microsoft is going to be the Nestle of the gaming world..
And just like that, sexual assault is part of the Microsoft Model.