The Best Arguments AGAINST the Microsoft Activision Deal

[@DestinL]

What are your thoughts about the arguments? Are any of them strong? Let me know and please consider subscribing here! kzbin.info Become a Member here kzbin.info/door/gUOWrjLEhmHE9tqYtoeS_gjoin/join`11`

[@knuckless7788]

Can’t wait till it’s over either way tired of hearing about it’s. I don’t care about the gaming politics. All companies lies. But the both lose if the game goes exclusive to Xbox

[@observer7070]

If MS did not have Windows or Azure (probably the more relevant), there wouldn't be any potential anti competitive issue. Probably, the effects won't be felt this generation but in the future Cloud Gaming space. If you want to equate to the previous DOJ lawsuit, Windows=Azure and IE=Gamepass. Gamepass is not free but it is priced very low, questionably profitable and borderline "dumping". Do MS publishers need to pay for Azure at equivalent market prices that a competitor will have to pay for a Cloud Service that they do not own? What happens when Gamepass eventually needs to be profitable and is the main platform option (assuming other competitors are by this time very weak)?

[@duncanself5111]

@@Ryan-yi5ro is that why Microsoft have stop reporting the Gamepass figures? There's no way it's profitable with only 25 million subscribers

[@ShadowDemonSB]

Everyone hates Activision Blizzard and their practices... until Microsoft wants to buy them and now its a better to leave them at their own devices "For all of Gaming." The gaming community is still large with a diverse amount of companies around the globe. With Gamepass and self publishing options (and like systems and structures), new gaming companies will always be welcome into the space.

[@Z3ROMyth]

Exactly

[@pensoul5362]

Yea people bipolar and picky

[@CrazyAlienLady051]

Last time I checked, the Activision acquisition was a “nothing burger” and that CoD was dead and Microsoft was buying dead IPs. According to Sony fanboys.

[@vaguedreams]

No. Everyone hates ABK. Microsoft buying them will change ABK. We do not want MS to leave ABK to their own devices at all.

[@nay909.]

Sony+Fanboys= Affluenza. The truth is these PS fanboys are just hating on Xbox. They can’t except Gamepass is to good to pass. The can’t handle Xbox making Sony look weak. There still able play COD PS. Now there arguing MS is going to hurt the quality of the game after PS fanboys trash COD. This shit is hilarious..😂

[@arcadius3257]

All of these arguments are weak because the fact of the matter remains that Nintendo and Sony aren't held to the same standard.

[@Jagosix]

Arcadius - EXACTLY.

[@ॐIo]

Whataboutism?

[@LamontC42]

@@ॐIo But true.

[@attemptityourself5662]

But you could imagine how quickly they would be if MS suddenly had 70B$ put back in their pocket to lobby the USTC into sinking every Sony deal that pops up for the next 2 decades 😅

[@michaelyeboah7789]

@@attemptityourself5662 been thinking the same the thing lol

[@TheFirstRealChewy]

If not for the competition from Xbox and Game Pass, Playstation Plus would not have improved this much in such a short timeframe.

[@NXDf7]

PS plus remaster is literally half ass response to gamepass quickly cobbled together because they were worried. Even showing their weakness by denying games to go on gamepass while paying the devs.

[@ramerefauntleroy4881]

Ps plus is trash especially when Sony fanboys keep claiming they don't play old games but will spend $70 bucks for a game 2 gens ago

[@duncanself5111]

Xbox still isn't offering PlayStation much competition sadly which is why the PS5 can get a price hike with little to no effect. It's no coincidence the solitary market they are genuinely competing is the one region not seeing a price increase

[@NXDf7]

@@duncanself5111 It's fine, I like seeing blind sheep getting fucked over by corporations. Serves them right lol.

[@kylefletcher1002]

@@duncanself5111 think so? The sole reason the hike didn't happen in the u.s. is because Ms has a major lead in the u.s lol sounds like competition to me....lol

[@whoshotya410]

That take by Sacred Symbols was kinda garbage considering Sony has purchased 11 game studios since 2019. These guys do not rely on all in house games . Look at the third party exclusives. Seems like to sum it up there is no real argument that justifies not allowing this deal

[@dnice4145]

You're deluding yourself. None of Sony's purchases you referenced has resulted in 3rd party ip being removed from the other 2 platforms. Bethesda and Activision games were already going to appear on Xbox with or without Microsoft buying these publishers. That's the difference if you're being honest.

[@Respectfully10]

@@dnice4145 most of Spider-Man games were on xbox and PC before 2017 acquisition by Sony. & they took the old games off these platforms even before releasing the new 1 by insomniac. Sunset overdrive 2 was supposed to be made by insomniac for Xbox and PC.

[@kinetic3971]

Sony built it's empire with third party games. It's hilarious to claim otherwise.

[@kinetic3971]

@@Respectfully10 Don't forget wolverine as well. It's amusing to hear these people twist facts and attempt to revise history to build a case for sony being the noble and organic company that everyone loves and adores. Meanwhile the facts paint a different story. I still haven't forgotten they killed the sega console by moneyhatting.

[@Respectfully10]

@@kinetic3971 I didn't want to try listing things from 2002 without going on Google. Googling would take too long.

[@stinger822]

Looking back when Xbox was in such a bad place during Xbox One gen compared to how Xbox is looked at now by Microsoft is a bad argument and shows ignorance. They now have a leader at the table, a huge budget and full backing from the CEO and CFO of Microsoft. I haven't watched Colin Moriarty since that episode.

[@vaguedreams]

So, Steve Ballmer didn't support the XBox and was just doing some calisthenics?

[@tahan9323]

​@@vaguedreams And Xbox did extremely well under Ballmer's watch.

[@sully8317]

Xbox one had a few reasons why it failed so the fact It didn't have funding like playstation had Sony funding them. Sony paid to keep games off xbox, xbox had very few studios and the leadership just wasn't there. Scalebound that Colin and his friends spoke of was the fault of platinumgames not xbox this further came to light after they through xbox under the bus to take the fall for it few years later they admitted it was their fault. Sony is throwing a tantrum now because xbox have now gotten leadership who knows what he's doing, he has gotten the CEO of MS to back them fully and their studios are growing a lot with some of the biggest games on console/pc and mobile as for bad management 2022 has been terrible for everyone Sony has only released games that got delayed last year so they haven't released a 2022 game other then delays, Nintendo delayed their biggest Zelda to next year, square Enix delayed to next year, unfortunately xbox delayed 2 of their first party and then 2 of their 3rd party got delayed because theyre currently in a Warzone so theyre still not perfect but theyre a 100% better team then xbox one and Sony are really scared.

[@MemoriesDestroyUs]

He’s is very bias no matter how hard he tries to appear otherwise

[@SensaiChill]

When the Xbox brand was dying around 2016 and Sony was still money hatting exclusive games, dlc & modes, where was this cry for competition? Its disingenuous. People have an attachment to playststion and they want them leading the way. Period. No other way to look at that. Especially considering Sony just raised the price of their console and leading the rising price of games during a period of high inflation for consumers.

[@hdeazy]

Exactly my thoughts...you have a company doing everything in their power to piss people off but no one wants to bring that to the table as hard as this Xbox x activition ... This is mind boggling

[@dnice4145]

Sony has done an excellent job this generation and last in producing great games for their customers that's what this is all about and why the brand is so popular. Microsoft failure since the mid-point of the 360 generation till now has been their own. Trashing Sony ain't going to magically make Microsoft a better platform holder/publisher.

[@travishastings1414]

@@dnice4145 all I see is retreads is f with lid games not really any new games every exclusive they do is 3 to 5 hours long mostly cutscenes and very linear that’s every Sony exclusive

[@kinetic3971]

@@hdeazy Brand loyalty is a thing both sides have it but sony and nintendo especially.

[@MegaBadseed]

The Xbox brand was never ever dying around that time, they were just starting to make their new moves. Now they’re a behemoth in the gaming world.

[@plkrtn]

I've just sat here and thought of a hypothetical... I wonder what Sony's reaction would've been if ActiBlizzard had announced their own hardware or cloud platform and COD going exclusive to it?

[@KyleSetFire]

I think the assumption that to compete you must do the same as someone else just better is where many people (Including the majority of your responders) are missing the point with this whole thing. Xbox wasn't competing with the direct sales model so they created a new model, GamePass. Nintendo didn't want to share space with Xbox and Playstation, so they made devices like the Wii and the Switch to target a different part of the market. ANYONE can do this. Competition isn't locked to the market leaders approach. Think David and Goliath.

[@Z3ROMyth]

But Xbox GamePass doesn't stop Xbox/MS from competing with the direct sales model, in fact, Xbox still does compete with the direct sales model, GamePass is just additive.

[@KyleSetFire]

@@Z3ROMyth Oh yeah I know. I'm just saying Xbox themselves have shifted focus from consoles and walled gardens to GamePass as an ecosystem with open doors. Rather than go head to head at a disadvantage they're changing the landscape. Playstation moving into PC is as a direct result of Xbox changing approach.

[@ShadowDemonSB]

Right.... small games can make it big. Minecraft, Fall Guys, Among Us... list goes on. Creativity and hardwork sells

[@smturner68]

gamepass made me realize that it would be a better value for me since I was starting over after shipping last gen. if you aren't already entrenched in exclsives, gamepass opened the door for new customers that just want great games and not have to pay $700 for 10 games. it worked. I was less aware of PlayStation services. now they compete with their revamped service I bought a ps5 two weeks ago. when there are 10 first party bug budget games from the generation out, and they are all included..vs feet dragging for PlayStation 1st party, that will sway new purchases for new customers.

[@TerraWare]

Yeah the Game Pass approach is forward thinking. Removing that mandatory console purchase of $300 or $500 for those that aren't interested or can't only makes your brand more accessible. Today it's a partnership with Samsung but tomorrow Game Pass may come packaged with most tv brands and Roku sticks. I'm more of a hardware guy but other people may not be.

[@TheFirstRealChewy]

The biggest criticism is that Microsoft allows the teams to have full, creative freedom and management. The teams have access to resources. It's a double edge sword. Not all the studios have issues. The Coalition, Playground Games, Mojang, etc. are doing fine with this freedom. What I feel may be needed is for each studio to take a serious look at how they are managing things and reach out to Microsoft and other studios for assistance when needed. Also, the studio needs to be able to recognize when they have a problem. If the end user (gamers, etc) feel like there is a problem, they should seriously consider why people have this perception and see what they can do to continuously improve things. This way they keep their independence. What they don't want to have happen is for Microsoft to step in and forcibly change the culture of their studio. This is the same thing each studio would have to do if they remained independent.

[@arch_..]

Mojang is absolutely not doing fine with this freedom. Look at the new report system in Minecraft and how many players are being banned FOREVER for doing/saying stuff on servers that should be moderated by said servers. Mojang is showing its true colors right now and it pains me.

[@CrazyAlienLady051]

@@arch_.. Personally,I think Microsoft is scared to nudge their finger at these studios because they believe it might create a toxic work environment . Especially after that big breakup they had with Bungie due to Bungie believing that their creative freedom wasn’t being respected.

[@nabe999]

i highly disagree with the coalition, there games look great but their business decisions are abyssmal

[@Csal92]

I feel like managing studios, especially new ones, is something they should learn to do, but slowly as to not seem like that boss that's constantly looking over one's shoulder to make sure they're doing their job. That annoyance might be detrimental to the quality of the final product, leading to something that's rushed and incomplete.

[@obzen901]

The bad thing about it is that instead of actually providing new franchises and innovating, they are just paying up big and locking off already established games that everyone play away from their competitors. They are not the geek who wants to make amazing worlds, they are the bully stealing his lunch.

[@bodang03]

And sony must be a little cheap broke bully with their practice since day 1

[@Kretenn]

Regarding hardware they have a moot point, they weren’t concerned when Sony killed Sega or when they almost killed MS.... why is it all of a sudden a concern? Can’t take those seriously when they are clearly hypocritical with bias against MS

[@kinetic3971]

Bingo. Playing the world smallest violin. Poor sony.

[@_MisterC]

Sega killed herself with poorly decisions. Remember 32X? Sega Saturn surprise launch? They selves digged the own grave in the console space.

[@gamerspeaks711]

Funny that Podcast saying MS just open their wallet in 2021 - forward to now, Sony have made Exclusive deals on two of those Activison games, bought Bungies, bought shares in two other gaming companies and bought a mobile phone gaming company ???? Wow look at all of the home grown talent they created above,

[@maizeman90]

Colin's perspective seems a little bias. Sony has had management issues with its studios in the past as well. They've also produced bombs (such as more recent Destruction All-Stars). You have Sony funded 3rd party titles like KOTOR Remake in development hell. They shut down their most creative studio (Japan studio) and shut down Sony Liverpool...only to years later buy the studio that the former Liverpool devs formed after Liverpool was shut down. Sony, Nintendo, and Xbox all run into issues with their studios and IP at points.

[@MaNA_tW]

I would say any argument about Xbox mismanaging studios prior to 2018 is null. Microsoft was close to shuttering Xbox after the disastrous failure Xbox had with the One. From 2018 onward Microsoft has gone full in on Xbox and now Xbox has the resources they simply didn't have before to build up teams and properly manage them. It's clear Xbox is going to heavily compete with PlayStation and Jim "Dance moves" Ryan and is ilk aren't happy about it. Sony hates actually having to sweat.

[@MaNA_tW]

Essentially all those "Xbox has no games" fanboys are mad that Xbox agreed with them and put forth the resources to shore up where they were lacking. Now basically they're just screaming into the void of the internet "N-No! Not like that!! You can't just decide to invest in yourself now!"

[@yuzuichikawa]

@@MaNA_tW 343 tho. They still have an issue managing them and that’s a huge problem seeing as halo is their big game.

[@Kretenn]

@@yuzuichikawa yeah like Sony has issue managing their studios like 55 devs leaving SantaMonica past month or so.... Halo changed engines and very ambitious and then work from home hits them.... all PS games got delayed too..... talk about mismanagement what happened with TLOU MP they been working on since 2016? LoL

[@yuzuichikawa]

@@Kretenn still doesn’t change the fact Microsoft has more of an issue with it than Sony. What 1st party game is coming out this year? Oh yeah. None.

[@yuzuichikawa]

@Gaming Playroom It's not my GOW.. 1-3 were better in my opinion. Both are trash companies. Sony just looks worse cause they being babies about this whole ATVBLIZZ thing. They should be doubling down on hat they have. All I'm saying is there's nothing wrong with pointing out mircosoft faults, just like you people like to point at sony's.. BOTH of them have issues.

[@8BitRetroMonkey]

Is it bad for the industry as a whole? Not really. Is it bad for Sony? Absolutely.

[@jackal1185]

Xbox's studio management is a FUD argument and has nothing to do with anticompetitive practices. Still haven't heard a single reason why it's anticompetitive or unfair to the industry or Sony.

[@youwayo]

Honestly, Sony should be grateful that it’s Microsoft is buying Activision not not the other big tech companies. If Google bought Acti/Bliz, CoD would’ve most likely been Stadia Exclusive.

[@Skeletoncross]

I think it will force them to create their own game. I just think Microsoft owns too much capital outside of gaming and they need regulated.

[@Kretenn]

@@Skeletoncross MS needs regulated while sony owns over 95% of anime distribution and actively threatens JP devs from supporting xbox (leaked from multiple devs and contracts) they use their market dominance to crush competition....they raise price of console, they raised price of games.... they blocked EA access for years so it doesn’t compete with their offering....these are all anti competitive/anti consumer things

[@Skeletoncross]

@@Kretenn Microsoft is buying land right now in South Dakota. They’re not a good corporation. You all need to stop supporting them. Microsoft is not a good company you all want these people to succeed shows how educated you all are. But just keep shilling for Xbox. When your rights get taken away remember you buying Xbox contributed towards that

[@FortWorthRaised]

The second guy in the Colin video skimmed over all the good Gears games, Sunset Overdrive, Forza games and Ori games associated with the Xbox brand. I agree that Halo is kind of a struggle, but I think people loved Halo Infinite until the content fizzled. We do need the studios they bought to drop some games though. That’s the most valid criticism.

[@Kretenn]

Games take years and pandemic stuff made everyone suffer

[@MASTERJJ1995]

@@Kretenn Sony and Nintendo were also in the pandemic and are launching games.

[@gamershaven41]

I've really heard no legitimate "good" arguments as to why this shouldn't happen. People against this usually come across as "salty" and they only seem to support Sony buying studios and franchises. Once your mention competition or another acquisition from anyone BUT Sony, it's usually pure fear from the Sony camp and their fan base.

[@Caru14]

I love the tone of this video. I feel like it’s humble and level headed. I also think you’re pretty charitable to other arguments. You hold your view and give thoughtful and respectful critiques over opposing arguments. I appreciate this type of content and I think we need more of it in the industry. Thanks Destin. Also I think your IP point is solid, in some ways the AB deal levels the playing field. Why is Sony afraid to compete?

[@leewashbrooke2500]

I personally think one of the biggest concerns is that Xbox have yet to prove they are able to handle the plethora of studios they have already required let alone the addition of one of the biggest.

[@Z3ROMyth]

Matt Booty oversees the 15 first party studios within Xbox Game Studios so he may need help overseeing them.

[@HalfpennyTerwilliger]

Completely agree. MS has yet to show it has succesfully integrated all previous studios and are ready to support Activision in a constructive way. Right now, one could fear MS doesn't handle well the acquisition 's future which would lead to weakened Xbox and Activision and lesser products offerings for the consumers.

[@travishastings1414]

@@HalfpennyTerwilliger so hear me out Sony makes a game it don’t do well that team gets put on help duty for another group that has a game series going that’s what Sony does so with Sony they can release games that last 3 hours long be mostly cutscenes most are the same game type 1 to 2 people lol n a journey over and over it’s ok while Xbox does this it’s bad o there’s to many halos and gears and forza and look at last of us part 1 o remaster and again remaster the same thing again like where is the brains in that

[@HalfpennyTerwilliger]

@Travis hastings I didn't say MS mismanage their studios. All I'm saying is as long as MS studios aren't delivering more games with regularity, one could hypothesize the management structure has yet to mature. They've bought a lot of studios in a relatively short time, that's one hell of a management challenge and they, so far, do not have much to show for it. Most of the games talked about the last two years still seem far away. They do not look, yet, like a well oiled machine. I, for one, have no idea if there's actually any issue. But it's the only potential issue I could see here. Should the new MS gaming management structure not be solid yet, integrating something as big as AKB could be problematic. Let me stress : hypothesize, potential, should, would, could, we're in armchair land here. Sony have their own studio management and crunch issues (and they have to put up with Jim Ryan uttering stupid stuff every now and then). But since they're not the one buying AKB, it's pretty much irrelevant in that debate.

[@LionMagnus]

Colin moriarty is one of the biggest xbox haters out there.

[@LionMagnus]

Tell us Destin why would MS HAVE TO satisfy the demands of all these xbox haters you love to present as good critics? Why would the press be permissive with playstation with every f*ck up but you guys will criticize everything Xbox does?

[@jhowlett1264]

remember when the ponies called COD a nothingburger? now they are throwing temper tantrums because their daddy lying crying Ryan is upset.

[@MalibuJack88]

Activision is better off with MS after the harrassment issues they had.

[@ravee-eh4dd]

They were going under either way probably would of gone bankrupt so good thing Microsoft got them rather than google

[@jorgegarcia5180]

I remember when Nintendo came out. We could not afford to buy new games and would get hand-me-downs. Then the PS came out and I still could not afford it so I played copies from friends. New games were just too expensive. My point, Xbox came out and all the sudden I was playing new games and could wait a bit and prices would reduce significantly. It just gave me an affordable method to play new games now, and always has specials, for those that are patient. Game pass with reward points. Forget about it. The most consumer friendly console ever.

[@Kretenn]

You keep hearing how MS is bad at managing studios because in general gaming journalists are biased against MS.... past month or so 55 devs have left Sony Santa Monica, have you heard any news about it? Sony Japan? Honestly comparing both neither stands out as bad at managing studios

[@lordxboss5700]

I see it as Microsoft wasn’t really to involved or concerned with their Xbox brand for the last 20yrs it was on cruise control 🤯 We are seeing what happens when Microsoft steps in and really starts competing. Microsoft sat back and watched Sony throw money around for 3generations trying to bury Xbox and now they’re making huge moves to ensure that never happens

[@germansuicidegamers9885]

There is no good and reasonable argument against this merger its Business just compete.

[@Omgitsjoshers123]

These are terrible arguments. You can’t base hypothetically situations as an argument.

[@happyh.joyjoy654]

Really, Destin? What is Microsoft doing with their studios? We've seen footage of the games in the pipeline. Were you expecting them to have something come to fruition at this point? Because you'll remember that for most of the XOne generation that MS had far too few studios, resulting in little content. And then they grew with the acquisitions, right? So where are the games from those new studios you're asking? Actually sit back and do the math... The acquisitions started mid-2018. It's 2022. That's only four years ago. Games take about three to five years to make on average, and COVID has added at least a year to that. Now factor in that most had preexisting contracts that they had to fulfill. So there's your answer. Fact is, we're still suffering from when Microsoft lacked studios, and it just isn't very realistic to expect the new ones to have produced results yet, based on the standards of the industry and the state of the world. Hell, speaking of the state of the world, let's put its impact in perspective: Of all the console manufacturers, Sony had the largest stable until Microsoft's acquisitions, right? How many major first party games are they launching this year that they had ORIGINALLY scheduled for 2022? Zero is the number. Every game they have planned for this year was supposed to come for holiday 2021 or earlier. Their next game is God of War Ragnarok in November, was supposed to drop last year. Beyond that? Spider-man 2 in a very vague 2023, and Wolverine... sometime after. That's basically it. And again, Sony had a full stable of developers this whole time. And they are going to spend all of this year releasing last years games.

[@Kretenn]

Not only that, but majority of the time those studios have been under MS has been during pandemic

[@davidforsyth6462]

Injoy you playstation games and pricing Sony never had a banger games for 14 years after they released and they bort a lot off those studios so Microsoft will have these games soon

[@qp2044]

Most comments I see want to talk about Sony, but this deal being approved or not has nothing to do with them. Anti trust issues protect the consumer and industry as a whole, there is no protection for specific companies.

[@Wolvie10]

Nonsense. Playstation: Destin could your write some articles for us we'll publish them for you. You've written some really good stuff you fancy coming to work for us. Xbox: I've heard of a guy called Destin does some good work. Buy him on second thoughts just buy ign! There's a big difference in approaches it's not apples to apples. The final fantasy deal is nothing like xbox buying publishers.

[@bodang03]

If sony did have as huge money as ms, they must already bought big publishers since a long time ago, like they aquisition/merger with bmg n colombia picture in the past

[@MASTERJJ1995]

@@bodang03 It would be like if Sony bought out Colombia Picture and says that all Comobia Picture films will not be shown in this country anymore. Exclusive to Japan, you have to pay to come here to watch it.

[@Wolvie10]

@@MASTERJJ1995I'm not defending sony. Of course they would but your talking hypothetical. Microsoft are actually doing it. It's not an episode of marvels what if. Your bring up deals that happened before most of the people consuming this content were born. I was 9 for crying out loud. Playstation wasn't even launched In to the market for another 5 years. Everyone acts like xbox are some plucky underdog. They're one of the biggest companies in the world. Not your friend. Like sony not your friend. Phil Spencer is exactly the same as Jim Ryan just a better liar and a nicer smile as he slips the money out your wallet.

[@MASTERJJ1995]

@@Wolvie10 Was that meant to be at the other guy? Because I totally agree with your OP ( I'm the thumbs up :P ). My reply was to the other guy as a comparison to what they said about buying film pubs versus game pubs. MS are out to remove games from their competitor's consumers choice of platform despite being there for 20 years. So if Sony was the same with the Colombia Pictures, it would be like them removing access from the US and only allowing Japan and the rest of the world to watch their made movies. Death Stranding, Deathloop, Ghostwire, FFR, No Man's Sky are a few examples of games that aren't owned by Sony BUT did indeed help pay to create. PS consumers never point out Organic Microsoft 1st parties as example to want. We never see people scream for Gears of War, Crackdown, State of Decay, Forza, Halo etc to be on Playstation. Yet we always see Xbox consumers most always pick out Spiderman, God of War, TLOU etc. Why do they point out Organic Sony 1st parties to try to prove a point? Why do they want to bargain for these games so much rather than focusing on improving their own catalogue? Which leads to the obvious answer - quality. Everyone highlights Playstation Exclusives, Critics, Media, and even the opposition. Due to them being a staple of quality. Even Microsoft acknowledges this by investing 80 billion in not improving their own catalogue, but to buy out 3rd party key industry publishers to strong arm consumers into their ecosystem as the creative angle is clearly not working. 3rd parties are well... 3rd party. They can be played on many platforms and have grown on both side evenly, this deal is to financially brute force 3rd party games into the MS ecosystem to give consumers ultimatums to switch if they wish to continue playing their favourite franchises they have done for 20 years.

[@remymartin15]

COD will be multiplat but I think Diablo, Crash, Spyro and some of there other games will be Xbox exclusives. Also Activision Blizzard asked to be purchased. I don’t see how it’s so much issues and blocks when they asked Microsoft to buy them.

[@cholderpsalm23]

Destin the amount of sarcasm at the end was killin me

[@SlayerzXtreme]

Nintendo Swith doesn't have any Call of Duty games and the console is about to break PS4 console sales record, plus Nintendo is NOT crying about COD, they simply build high quality and amazing games from their own catalog instead of crying like babies like Sony does which is super pathetic!

[@The-Vitruvian-Man]

It's always good to play devil's advocate. It can help open up the mind and evolve your beliefs, even if it doesn't reverse them.

[@whenisdinner2137]

Competition has been difficult to emerge since the beginning of the industry. It's a cutthroat industry. The big players have been the big players for over 20 years now. I don't understand how Activision alone is going to change that. There are hundreds to thousands of independent publishers. There are well over 30 different Publishers that are valued over a billion dollars. I really don't see just one publisher that will push a platform holder into third place in terms of Revenue is going to kill the competition...

[@TheMajorStranger]

1:Difficult for new competition to emerge: On Game Dev side it's factually wrong. Any game dev with a name leave their big studio and build their own small indie studio right now. There's more and more smaller publisher available (Devolver/AnnaPurna to name 2) and it's easier than ever to self-publish. Hardware is irrelevant as no one has the capital regardless and PC and cloud is the future. Activision was never going to enter the hardware market so it's a moot point here. 2: XGP price increase: all services price increase. Nothing new here.

[@MmntechCa]

My main argument against it is I don't think all this consolidation in the games industry will ultimately work out in the consumer's favour. See what happened to the traditional media industries starting in the 80s as an example. I also wonder what their plans are for the company. AB has a lot of problems: poor quality releases, slimy monetization practices, bootlicking the CCP, and a rather toxic culture that goes from the bottom right up to the top. Whomever takes over NEEDS to ruthlessly clean house. Like I'm talking that every single person who works there should have to reapply for their job like that scene in Office Space. Seems to me like they're inheriting a whole heap of trouble, much like Disney did when they foolishly bought Fox along with all their debt. And of the four things I mentioned as being problems, the monetization is the biggest one, and that's the one I don't see Microsoft solving because that's pretty much the only thing giving AB any value right now. So IDK how this really benefits me as a gamer. That said, I do like seeing Jim Ryan squirm, the little rat he is.

[@digitalbathrx4529]

Microsoft seems to be pro monetization from what I’ve seen. I only see that getting worse in the future. Sony historically was really good. But seeing what they did with GT7 has me concerned for their future plans once they drop all these live service games. I fear bad monetization is going to the be norm very soon.

[@kelxone]

Who knew things get more expensive over time? Poor argument

[@AndrewPandrew]

Do ps players not realise how much microsoft will make call of duty better once in charge? Microsoft will probably change alot of things us gamers have complained about to Activision for years!

[@combatcarl]

I think on the management point, Microsoft has had mixed success with their lasse Faire approach to managing studios, I think mojang, playground, the coalition, rare all operate fine on their own. Buy also it should be noted that Microsofts current dev studios are managed by Matt Booty, where as once activision becomes a Microsoft company their fixing to be headed by Phil Spencer himself so different activision/blizzard could have an entirely different management approach as opposed to the rest of the other Microsoft studios.

[@DestinL]

That's a good point. I think it boils down to the idea that 1 strategey doesn't work for every studio.

[@nabe999]

the coalition did terrible with their monetization and drip feed strategy in gears 5

[@AutarchKade]

To me, the biggest negative is in the game streaming space. If a company tries to launch a subscription service where you can stream video games to your phone, they will be far less likely to succeed after this deal. One service will have Call of Duty or Warzone, the new one won't. Makes even attempting to enter that market a non-starter. It was hard enough when MS owned cloud infrastructure, but the biggest games on their service makes it impossible. Surprised nobody else mentioned this.

[@masterbkb]

I mainly play on xbox and from my perspective all of this arguments are totally BS, good job💪

[@jabron4529]

Anybody who uses “bruh” in their argument I just can’t take seriously

[@biggiebutters2251]

Xbox just announced the Friends and Family plan. There is no better value in gaming. Period!

[@icecold9731]

Game media is bias af. Just look at that drama queen Geoff and 80% of IGN. Let Xbox buy Activison/Blizzard in peace.

[@josiahbicelis304]

Those people that were talking about how Microsoft in the past poorly handled their studios made a very poor argument because of the fact that they’re specifically talking about a time where Microsoft wasn’t even really competing in the industry whatsoever and since that specific frame of time they’ve undergone many big changes like the fact that Xbox has completely new leadership including a new CEO and there are plenty of new people that now work there that didn’t work there during that period of time as well as an entirely new direction for the company so it would be foolish to judge the company based on the business practices of that time period because of the fact that things have changed quite a bit since then so in my eyes there is no trustworthy way of accurately predicting how this current Xbox will handle all the new and old studios they’ve acquired throughout the years.

[@johnnyjoejoe8811]

I'm a COD fan so I want this deal to go through. COD has been trash garbage for over a decade and was incrementally getting more and more shitty after the 3rd COD. This deal will trigger the rest of the industry to make their own version of COD which mean I have a better chance of actually getting a good COD.

[@SotNist]

Raising the price in perpetuity isn't a logical fear. They can never price out the lowest common denominator of income levels as the idea of making one game for only billionaires to buy simply isn't realistic.

[@mmlewis1030]

I'm thinking of the Netflix comparison. They had first entry advantage and overwhelming user base. However, sufficiently financed companies like Disney, HBO, etc have all been able to utilize their other revenue generating platforms + stable of legacy IP to carve out huge chunks of the market for themselves. Funny enough I noticed the Disney+ ad offer on the right of your video at the 2:40 mark for $1.99. So yes, while there is clearly potential danger the truth is the games industry always seems to maintain diversity and new third party IPs rise to become dominant.

[@ramerefauntleroy4881]

Sony and it's fanboys are mad because those same games that they would be getting is going to be cheaper and on a sub service and also the series S makes this deal look enticing even for the biggest Sony fanboys because they're going to have to pay $70 for that same game

[@mrwalker6026]

The only negative being you won't be playing any new Call of Duty title's in 3 year's on a PlayStation... If your a competitive multiplayer gamer your probably already playing on PC anyway at twice the framerate of consoles

[@Kretenn]

Nicks comment is absolutely invalid... look at PUBG taking on FPS scene, the difference between that team and COD teams is as big as it gets.... did it prevent PUBG from being success or able to come into market and compete?

[@Gygesdcom]

With Xbox owning Activision and COD being on Gamepass vs $70 on Playstation. Sony can't compete. COD is the poison pill for XBOX Gamepass. It is so huge that it will change peoples mind about which brand to go with. When all your Xbox friends are getting COD day one for free on GP and you have to wait until payday to get it. You start to see the true benefit of GP.

[@Kretenn]

And how is this bad for consumers? How is this bad for competition when it puts MS closer to level field with Playstation?

[@Kretenn]

Sony is so concerned about it that they raised their console price

[@ravee-eh4dd]

You’re not a Sony fan if you buy just COD so if you are a fan of COD you have to pay extra on Sony

[@Gygesdcom]

@@Kretenn I was thinking about that increase in price and at the same time they lowered the cost to build each PS. I wonder if they are raising that money to buy more studios

[@Gygesdcom]

@@Kretenn it's not bad for consumers. In fact PS owners owe GP a big thank you for the New Gamepass clone Playstation Plus. Without that Sony fans would not have access to all those games.

[@bodang03]

For the time being, i'm more exciting about to wait what kind of hillarious move will jim ryan take than waiting new games announcement

[@SuperAngryWalrus]

Destin, how would you feel if Sony removed Destiny from Xbox? That’s how a lot of PS gamers are feeling right now.

[@DestinL]

Bungie said that wont happen. Xbox said CoD wont happen. People need to stop over reacting.

[@EthanRom]

Well we lost Spider-Man and Final Fantasy so everything is fair game

[@bensmith9984]

That first point is idiotic, if your games good enough it breaks through and shines, there are many examples of this.

[@azzaprime7257]

I can agree with 343 and maybe the Initiative however saying MS cannot handle their own studios is a farfetched approach. Turn 10 and the Coalition have been doing great things and Studios like Rare are on the up. We forget games like Psychonaunts 2, Flight Simulator, Age of Empires etc have all done well. Sony have mismanaged studios as well. Its just easier to attack MS because they buy more.

[@FreeJAC]

Hurt the competition is lame. You have two competors trying to do one better than the other. Just like sports teams one scoring more than the other.

[@balaam_7087]

Destin, please invite that lawyer dude Mr Hoeg on the channel again to discuss the back and forth between Spencer/Ryan. It’ll put a lot of fanboys in the comments of your recent videos (on both sides) in their place.

[@SsavageCamaro]

My only reservation to Microsoft buying Activision is the severe mismanagement of 343 and the rumored mismanagement of their new studio in Santa Monica. Activision is a company that is heavily riddled with complaints of mismanagement and I don’t know how Microsoft is going to balance all of these studios. Not to mention sever delays from major first party title releases. Halo Infinite not being complete, despite it being the Xbox flagship title. If I was a regulator I would be heavily questioning Microsoft over how they are going to not only right size Activision, but all of its currently owned studios.

[@EthanRom]

343 is horrible because the ex-studio head, Chris Lee lied to the hire ups about the state of the game during project checkpoints.

[@77Asiris]

As a PC gamer, I want this to go through so that I can have one less launcher and get all of their games through Steam.

[@jingtroc23]

When xbox was being dragged through the mud at the xbox one launch i remember Sony at every opportunity treading xbox down even more, they wanted to stamp xbox out of the market so bad. Now xbox made a respectful come back Sony be acting like the victim lol... I like the ps but i hope they fail to humble them. Nintendo still the kings though, never acted like Sony, even now not bothering about this Microsoft Act deal, Nintendo to be bust making quality games for their fanbase :)

[@bossredd-77]

You forgot to also say that Microsoft should've asked Sony if they could have Activision first.

[@rafaelchavez5559]

The main point here is that Activision was willing to sell, if they a got confidence in their product they would not sell, but I believe they know they have lost some reputation in the market and they don't know how to take it back

[@RavagHer]

who cares if game pass prices rise? everyone agrees its a good as deal as is. u can still buy the game for 60 or 70 bucks. no one is forced to get gamepass

[@Ice9kills78]

In fact, if you buy into the friends and family plan, itl be cheaper. Gp will cost me 5 bucks a month.

[@RavagHer]

@@Ice9kills78 right not only that there is the the rewards program where most ppl get gamepass for free just by playing certain games and doing certain things

[@tannermiller3967]

Destin you are using a Playstation centric podcast to prove a point against Xbox. I have watched Sacred Symbols enough to say they are too biased towards their favorite piece of plastic. They do not have the integrity, specifically Collin to be able to talk about anything but Playstation.

[@sweetpixiesmile]

Actually device interfaces has more fundamentally altered the gaming experience than acquisition. There are plenty of games that have been designed fundamentally for the console controller, which is fundamentally limited by the number of ergonomic inputs when compared to KBM. Many games that would have or could have been better because of KBM are reduced in order to fit the numbers of rational commands that a controller restricts inputs to. Game design has fundamentally altered to accept simplified and reduced inputs either through environmental prompts or reduction of available commands.

[@ItalianBoy31890]

Going to watch this now. However quick comment before based solely on the title. No "excuse" here is valid simply because Sony and Nintendo are not held to this same standard. Most recent case and point is FF7 Remake. It's still not on Xbox. Xbox took a lot of punches during X1 Gen, most of it well deserved. However they have made many good changes. Unfortunately this "Exclusive" talk is completely omitted. It happened after every company was brought into Xbox's ecosystem, but didn't happen in the same breathe with Sony and Nintendo when they did it. It's completely 1 sided.

[@Gnilretsam]

Aww The Phantom Dust Name drop hurt :(

[@thegamerguy327]

Halo should go to treyarch if Ms gets activision....

[@EthanRom]

lmao then they make the game using the CoD engine then everyone complains that it doesn't feel like Halo then it goes back to 343 and the Ring cycle is complete. Now that's a Halo

[@katmiller614]

I believe the deal will go through because Microsoft and Activision are both American companies PlayStation is a Japanese company so Xbox has home Field advantage.

[@alejandromartin7045]

I don't agree 100% with the initial statement done by sacred symbol's podcast, as many of the most important studios on Sony's catalog created their footprint and success by developing games that have nothing to do with Sony's involvement initially, besides being multiplat and being associated as Sony's mascot as part of marketing (Naughty dog was the studio behind Crash, Insomniac behind Spyro), these were big studios by the time of its acquisition. Time will tell for the newest acquisitions by Microsoft if they will make bigger impact, but all of them have a good background like any of the Sony's acquisitions

[@ridiculous_gaming]

I personally feel that having Activision part of Xbox Gaming would actually provide better opportunities for smaller, independent game developing companies. Also, the biggest access to gaming is not console or PC, but smart devices. Even with game streaming, downloadable games continue to produce better visuals and not require an internet source to play anywhere.

[@yuzuichikawa]

I just don't like everything going into a service where you have no ownership or control.

[@Ice9kills78]

Honestly, idc about ownership. For me, as long as I can play it, finish it and move on, I rarely, if ever, go back to replay a game since there's more then enough to play nowadays.

[@yuzuichikawa]

@@Ice9kills78 I mean hey. It works for you. I’m different as I do replay my games. But I’m old and stuck in my ways as I don’t even use Netflix or any other subscriptions.

[@Ice9kills78]

I'm 43, so I'm not young either. I used to wanna own the stuff...but then got tired of looking at the stuff collect dust on a shelf

[@yuzuichikawa]

@@Ice9kills78 fair enough.

[@Kretenn]

Did you read the fine print on the back of game disc boxes? You don’t own the game and they can block the access to it at any time they choose even if you have a physical disc

[@Supermir1207]

Wouldn’t the coalition and both forza and horizon be an example of a well managed studio, flight sim show how they work with outside groups on exclusive ip and double fine on how they boost new acquisitions. All of the above led to multiple awards in 2021

[@victime4360]

People dont care about Flight sim because its a sim, and psychonauts 2 because its multiplatform. Its like they dont exist

[@Kretenn]

That video is pathetic lets see... Scalebound canceled because dev was using resources to work on Sony game, what about TLOU MP that’s “in the works” since 2016? 90% of Sony studios were acquired... Insomniac was making xbox games too, and Spiderman was multiplat....... just one example of this hypocrisy and plain lying to make one side look better.... how has Sony managed their biggest studio Naughty Dog, which they also acquired? Such a great studio and they have them making remakes of remakes

[@thanzinho88]

27:16 oh, is It? Have we already forgotten what Microsoft tried to pull off at the begining of last gen?

[@Kretenn]

What have they tried to pull off exactly? You mean exactly what you are doing right now they tried to give you a better deal..... everyone is connected 24/7 and 80% ppl buy digital only..... we lost selling digital games and lost sharing games across multiple consoles

[@kevinlachance669]

Can they also switch who works om COD and have some of the studios switch to a console exclusive FPS games. If they only have 1 COD game every 3 years then technically aren't lying and existing franchises with continue to be multiplatform. If they minimize the amount of games produced in those franchises and make those studios make new games outside existing franchises. I feel that they need to make a clear statement that we play to make a COD game every year or 2 and have the same studios work on those projects. When people mentioned maybe a COD studio switching to Halo I just thought why not have a few of them ditch COD and make a new shooter that plays just like COD. Could they do this and would that be something that would hurt Sony? I'm sure it would but by how much and is this something fair to Sony. Even if they say existing franchises will stay multiplatform, is there anything they can do to keep them from switching studios around and making new franchises that will be better just as good as COD but it's exclusive

[@lordxboss5700]

No I believe Xbox can do what they want with all the studios they aquire. They definitely won’t just kill off the big cash cow titles like COD/Warzone, Overwatch, Diablo but I don’t think Activision will remain a COD machine they will definitely utilize those Studios to revive more of their IP from their Vast Library and make New IP

[@Cricis11700]

To all the ponies that are BIG MAD, cope 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤣🤣🤣

[@shaundowning8559]

I think the cod franchise will remain on all capable platforms, it’s the fact their newest games and dlc will be on game pass

[@MrGalax00]

I'm kinda tired of hearing about this deal, now I kinda don't want it to get approved. Microsoft should just recruit most of the developers from Activision, and make new IPs exclusive to Xbox, and PC. It would end up being cheaper, and it would increase the number of IPs.

[@Blackronin357]

Games take time to make, 2021 being an off year is the only criticism that can be made and next year that will all be laid to rest w/ Redfall and Starfield. Pentament comes out this year, but I know it's not the AAA banger every one wants for clout.

[@PixelleHearts]

I would not want Killzone to come back. Killzone was interesting in itself as an alternative to all the shooters of the era, but I feel like Guerilla Games has a better flow of things in the semi-open to open world gameplay than just a straight up shooter game.

[@zwei3179]

So why this isn't a good idea for many reasons Mircosoft as of late seems to targeting any video game studio created here in America and buying them out. Mircosoft is creating a monopoly within the American gaming market. Thus choking any and all competition within the area. Like if they can do this what will stop them from buying but every gaming company in the USA. Then they can force sony to put their games on play station ON top of that I got no clue why people don't bring this up. Phil said he wanted to bring all games to all consoles. He wanted to remove exclusive games and bring halo gears of war and more to sony consoles, but he's doing the very opposite of that. Wouldnt that be a anti gamer move i think it is by locking others out of the games my last problem is Mircosoft has a huge track record of shutting down or merging studios in others. Bungie was the only one who got out of this and they talk heavily why mircosoft isn't good and explain what they did. Mircosoft isn't thinking about gamers its thinking about how much money they can milk out of everyone. Whats going to stop them in increasing the gamepass sub whats going to stop them from making gamepass Xbox and doing what they intended to do DRM

[@JocofAllTrades]

“We want to do more shady dealings and be rewarded and praised for it”

[@AngelRodriguez-oc2eb]

I think CoD going ţo Microsoft will force Sony into making there own shooter or bring back great games like Socom or Killzone I can't see why wouldn't they bring that back. SOCOM Was always a huge hit.

[@Shywhitefox]

Especially with the current 'Inadequate' deal of keeping CoD for 3 extra years. They have more than enough time to make a game just like that, either bringing back said series, or using one of their many talented studios to make a brand new I.P. There is really no need for Sony to be crying the way they are.

[@johnjohnson-wd1yo]

They can also remake or make newer resistance games.

[@vaguedreams]

If it was suge a "HUGE" hit, then why did they stop making them? Gran Turisimo is a huge hit. They didn't stop making them. God of was was always a huge hit. Ohh look, there are making it. Drak, Ratchet, etc... huge hits still being made. Socom and Killzone were not huge hits and interest in the properties dropped significantly.

[@deranemira7230]

@@vaguedreams surprisingly socom is still wanted some fan project pop here and there (some are scam)

[@AngelRodriguez-oc2eb]

@@vaguedreams I just found out the devs from both Killzone and Socom are possibly making it . But it's not confirmed it's a game in the making over 4 years so who I knows my guy.

[@wilsonsantiago3095]

If this is what I have to compete against only after a year that I started my own game studio I’m. It worried about it…..

[@EvilSlayer398]

These studios need to follow the Obsidian Games, and Insomniac Games model. Those two devs are able to put out games in little time. Insomniac tending to have a better track record than Obsidian, but Obsidians smaller titles have excited me (I really love grounded, amd am excited for Pentiment)

[@GodEmperorSofaKing]

From what I’ve seen from all these arguments are basically They don’t want change in the market nor do they want to see somebody else on top they want stagnation they don’t want change people have gotten to used to what happened last generation and have came to think that was a norm

[@joancastillo]

The fallacy of composition is an informal fallacy that arises when one infers that something is true of the whole from the fact that it is true of some part of the whole. ...When talking about Xbox mishandling developers and fail to mention the success of Forza games, gears, Minecraft, sea of thieves and like or not Halo Infinite has been a (mishandled) success. Halo infinite was voted the Player's choice awards on last year Video Games awards, don't be a prisoner of the moment....now you start destroying comment :)

[@jeremyg5269]

If the deal doesn’t go through Microsoft still has over 60 billion dollars to buy other gaming companies How many companies can you buy with over 60 billion dollars?

[@sufficientlyoldskool]

I see a lot of arguments why people _don't_ want the acquisition to happen, but not many arguments why it _won't_ happen. If I were Jim Ryan I would take Phil's offer of keeping COD multiplatform for several years and use that time to develop my own competitor. Or revive some dormant IPs like Destin said. There are things he could be doing besides raising prices for Playstation fans and talking to the media.

[@bodang03]

The big question is we don't know excactly what happen in sony as a whole company, are they profit or loss in every divisions of their business, that push them to hike the price as now?

[@jacobslifka1358]

However, Mojang does well, the Coalition has done well, work with Asobo has done well. I agree that MS has a spotty record, not as consistent as Sony, but there are successes as well.

[@cruelwraith2games926]

I don't really care what happens on the business side as long as it doesn't affect us gamers/consumers in a negative way like price increases for no reason giving us Half Baked products and trying to deceive us

[@SpaceShot]

There's nothing wrong with considering arguments from an "opposing side". It helps sharpen your thinking and keeps you intellectually honest. For one thing, we are typically considering whether the regulators should allow it under their own charters to regulate. But maybe there are problems with Microsoft acquiring Activision in that maybe they are buying brands on the downside from peaks. Is Diablo still what it was when it was Diablo II? All I hear about COD is that it's yearly shovelware. Microsoft has a history of buying things that are on their way down and then just ending up writing it off. So forget whether it's good for consumers, the industry, etc... maybe MSFT is about to flush a ton of money down the drain.

[@HalfpennyTerwilliger]

"to hurt the competion" is the defintion of what you do when there's competion. Right now MS, Sony, Nintendo, Netflix, Amazon, etc. are vying for our leisure time and actively trying to hurt each others. Regulator's role is to preserve that competition. They shouldn't try to preserve a status quo. They shouldn't care if a move by a competitor gives them an advantage. Only should they care if it provides them an unfair advantage that hurt not their competitors, but competition itself.

[@MASTERJJ1995]

The elephant in the room is the scale and buying power of Microsoft vs Sony or Nintendo. Microsoft can buy both with money to spare. So what is a huge acquisition for you and me (and the industry, and it is), is still a drop in the ocean of Microsoft's buying power. Microsoft can afford to take huge losses and invest more than the other companies for a bigger future return. The competition gets hurt when the industry is bought out. Competitors are get injured by losing key 3rd party publishers over the fact one mega corp is buying them all out to bolster their ecosystem. Game Pass is at 25 Million, Xbox could sell Game Pass at $1 a year for absolute years without damaging Microsoft. It's competitive actions only Microsoft can afford to do due to their huge buying power, margins and COH. So with this in mind, Xbox can afford to look good, haemorrhage more money, at a longer time to play the long game. No other main platform company can fight that. So with them buying key IPs and Publishers, restricting access from their competitor, they can have a stranglehold on the market and dictate the prices eventually. While Game Pass looks great right now at the cost of Microsoft footing the bill, once Game Pass will be the ONLY place to play all the consumers favourite game they once had the freedom to play anywhere, MS can crank up the price and people have no option but to agree to the cost if they wish to continue. Alwhile stifling the competition along the way through financial brute force. There's a huge difference in creating your IPs to work for you audience and paying out the nose of a 2 Trillion Megacorp to dictate the flow of the whole industry.

[@DooD7942]

My issue is that sony has had years to create different IPs adjust their buisness model to where gaming was heading but they chose to sit on their hands and just get by with 3rd person action games and the cod money they get. MS seems to have prepared themselves for where gaming was going. Sony has now put themselves in a bad position. I enjoy what you do and this question you asked. I wonder if there would be this amount of backlash from news media and you tubers if it was Sony buying up studios somehow i doubt it

[@joshsfox6266]

Game Pass price got to increase by 100s of % before it becomes as expensive as buying a game every month on PlayStation.