Wish they would've blocked the Bethesda deal, I don't care who owns Activision trash.
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UK Regulator Blocks Microsoft's $70 Billion Activision Blizzard Acquisition
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You really have no clue what you're talking about do you?
CMA are run by a bunch of fools and all their arguments are easily refuted, hopefully that CAT appeals this and let’s the acquisition happen. MS has done enough to guarantee the content being available everywhere else (unlike Sony is doing with more and more games) and all this has huge potentials gains for all the ABK employees that might potentially be able to unionize after this.
The reason is more simple than this. Mac users are a very small slice of the overall PC market. It makes no sense for AAA game studios to invest a huge amount of time and energy for such a niche market.
I hope so but Sony made a mess of the last of us on PC.I'm a PC elitist Sony Pony.
Just for calling me an Xbox fanboy we're taking another one of your precious exclusives. Ghost of Tsushima is gonna look pretty sweet in 4K 144 FPS.
The appeal will go through, same with the FTC court case. These regulators are pay to win, it’s going to cost Microsoft a pile but it will win on appeal.
Microsoft's list of studios isn't any shorter than Sony's, so that can't explain the difference in quality exclusives.
After what happen to Halo, I'd rather Microsoft never touch another gaming franchise EVER again....
The Last of Us Part 1's PC release is one miss out of many hits. You forget how amazing Spider-Man is, and Sackboy, and God of War, and Returnal.
I know Mac gamers are considered niche but they're not that niche. There's a massive Mac userbase for World of Warcraft and Hearthstone, and while Mac users are only about 2% of steam, that's still millions of users with how many people use Steam daily.
Linux is arguably more niche and yet developers have no issues supporting them. Many even optimizing their games for the Steam Deck with unique controls.
I think the ultimate problem with the studios/developers is the lack of desire to spend any money "re-inventing their wheel"...
Historically, Blizzard has had some of the best Mac support in the industry... intriguingly, Microsoft is also a fairly good Mac supported (they have stumbled in recent times with trying to apply the same crazy they used with Office for Windows on the Mac but someone so that folly and the Mac version went back to the design language of macOS.)
Right now, under Activision executives, Mac gaming from ABK is basically being withered on the vine and support is as minimalist as it can be... they would probably outright stop it if it did not create such a depression on the MAU and they would lose long time subs.
SO, something needs to change at ABK and this was probably as good as it could get, honestly.
Historically, Blizzard has had some of the best Mac support in the industry... intriguingly, Microsoft is also a fairly good Mac supported (they have stumbled in recent times with trying to apply the same crazy they used with Office for Windows on the Mac but someone so that folly and the Mac version went back to the design language of macOS.)
Right now, under Activision executives, Mac gaming from ABK is basically being withered on the vine and support is as minimalist as it can be... they would probably outright stop it if it did not create such a depression on the MAU and they would lose long time subs.
SO, something needs to change at ABK and this was probably as good as it could get, honestly.
hilarious people think most AAA devs are going to start focusing on the Mac.
MOST unreal engine games don't even port to the Mac despite being fairly easy to do implementation wise. In practice, it requires a lot of QA to get it right and that almost always exceeds the potential profit Mac brings in.
MOST unreal engine games don't even port to the Mac despite being fairly easy to do implementation wise. In practice, it requires a lot of QA to get it right and that almost always exceeds the potential profit Mac brings in.
Microsoft crying out against regulation after demanding that their competitors need regulating.
I literally can’t read the word “Activision” without feeling nostalgia about playing Pitfall on a 2600. Every. Damn. Time.
The $69 Billion Microsoft-Activision Deal Faces a Big E.U. Test
The bloc’s antitrust regulators could side with Microsoft on Monday, but the tech giant still faces an uphill battle to gaining full approval.
Will Europe muddy the future of Microsoft’s big deal?
European antitrust regulators are set to weigh in Monday on Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard. In a twist, the European Commission is reportedly set to approve a video game megadeal that its American and British counterparts have already rejected.If that happens, tech giants will be left with an even more confusing regulatory landscape to contend with, as three of the world’s most powerful antitrust regulators take different policy tacks.
The E.U. is expected to be satisfied with Microsoft’s concessions on the deal, namely pledges to make sure top titles like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft are available to rival video game platforms like Sony’s and Nintendo’s.
That would be a very different conclusion than that reached last month by Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority, which argued that Microsoft could end up dominating the nascent business of cloud gaming — and that no solution apart from selling off big chunks of Activision would be acceptable.
It would be a striking show of leniency by a notoriously tough regulator. The E.U. has been among the most aggressive in policing Big Tech, having fined companies like Google billions and forced changes in their business practices. But in recent years, American regulators like the F.T.C., under Lina Khan, have gone even further, pushing back against takeovers by tech giants, and openly questioning whether they should get even bigger.
Microsoft and others are left trying to navigate an increasingly complicated thicket of global rules, where regulators are coming to very different conclusions about the same issues. And given the size and importance of the British, European and U.S. markets, simply ignoring any one of them is impossible.
EU Blazes Own Path on Microsoft-Activision Deal
Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.
www.bloomberg.com
Microsoft’s $69 billion deal for Activision Blizzard is expected to be approved by the EU’s competition enforcers today, just weeks after the UK’s watchdog moved to block the record-breaking gaming merger. Commission approval — which is slated to be announced today but could be confirmed anytime before the May 22 deadline — comes after Microsoft made commitments to open Activision’s game library to rival platforms for a 10-year period. Alongside UK opposition, the US Federal Trade Commission also sued to block the merger. EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager has maintained that different regulators may reach different conclusions on Microsoft’s largest-ever acquisition.
To be fair aside from the US and UK all other regulators have approved the deal. Also, to be fair suggesting the UK market can’t be ignored is daft. The key market (given the portfolio of games) aside from Europe is Asia.The $69 Billion Microsoft-Activision Deal Faces a Big E.U. Test
The bloc’s antitrust regulators could side with Microsoft on Monday, but the tech giant still faces an uphill battle to gaining full approval.www.nytimes.com
Will Europe muddy the future of Microsoft’s big deal?
European antitrust regulators are set to weigh in Monday on Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard. In a twist, the European Commission is reportedly set to approve a video game megadeal that its American and British counterparts have already rejected.
If that happens, tech giants will be left with an even more confusing regulatory landscape to contend with, as three of the world’s most powerful antitrust regulators take different policy tacks.
The E.U. is expected to be satisfied with Microsoft’s concessions on the deal, namely pledges to make sure top titles like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft are available to rival video game platforms like Sony’s and Nintendo’s.
That would be a very different conclusion than that reached last month by Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority, which argued that Microsoft could end up dominating the nascent business of cloud gaming — and that no solution apart from selling off big chunks of Activision would be acceptable.
It would be a striking show of leniency by a notoriously tough regulator. The E.U. has been among the most aggressive in policing Big Tech, having fined companies like Google billions and forced changes in their business practices. But in recent years, American regulators like the F.T.C., under Lina Khan, have gone even further, pushing back against takeovers by tech giants, and openly questioning whether they should get even bigger.
Microsoft and others are left trying to navigate an increasingly complicated thicket of global rules, where regulators are coming to very different conclusions about the same issues. And given the size and importance of the British, European and U.S. markets, simply ignoring any one of them is impossible.
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Could see a situation in which Microsoft geofences (so to speak) the UK so that they don’t offer some stuff in the UK. Market there really is not as important as folks think it is. That satisfies CMA and everyone is good. FTC lawsuit of course is a wildcard, who knows thereEU Blazes Own Path on Microsoft-Activision Deal
Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.
Microsoft’s $69 billion deal for Activision Blizzard is expected to be approved by the EU’s competition enforcers today, just weeks after the UK’s watchdog moved to block the record-breaking gaming merger. Commission approval — which is slated to be announced today but could be confirmed anytime before the May 22 deadline — comes after Microsoft made commitments to open Activision’s game library to rival platforms for a 10-year period. Alongside UK opposition, the US Federal Trade Commission also sued to block the merger. EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager has maintained that different regulators may reach different conclusions on Microsoft’s largest-ever acquisition.
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Just in
ec.europa.eu
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard (‘Activision') by Microsoft. The approval is conditional on full compliance with the commitments offered by Microsoft. The commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the Commission and represent a significant improvement for cloud gaming as compared to the current situation.
Today's decision follows an in-depth investigation of the proposed acquisition of Activision by Microsoft. As always, the Commission has based its decision on hard evidence, and on extensive information and feedback from competitors and customers, including from game developers and distributors as well as cloud game streaming platforms in the EU.
Mergers: Commission clears acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, subject to conditions
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard (‘Activision\') by Microsoft.
The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard (‘Activision') by Microsoft. The approval is conditional on full compliance with the commitments offered by Microsoft. The commitments fully address the competition concerns identified by the Commission and represent a significant improvement for cloud gaming as compared to the current situation.
Today's decision follows an in-depth investigation of the proposed acquisition of Activision by Microsoft. As always, the Commission has based its decision on hard evidence, and on extensive information and feedback from competitors and customers, including from game developers and distributors as well as cloud game streaming platforms in the EU.