Submitted by Brook030 t3_zu1aju in technology
Macr0Penis t1_j1gybyu wrote
Reply to comment by Heijoshinn in Microsoft will fight U.S. over $68.7-billion Activision Blizzard deal by Brook030
Yes, Sony have dominated the gaming market, but that's because they developed better consoles and exclusive content.
Yes, Sony has had exclusively deals, same as Xbox, but these are often just timed and even some of their bigger IP's are now making their way to PC.
Yes, Sony has in house studios and deals for exclusive content, just the same as Xbox has, but this takeover is totally different because this isn't buying and supporting studios, this is buying the major publishers that own dozens of studios for the sole reason of removing their games from Sony's library. They bought Bethesda so games like Doom, Wolfenstein, Elder Scrolls, Fallout and many more will no longer be released outside of the MS ecosystem. And Activision is far bigger than Bethesda.
Sony supports content generation, MS is trying to remove content access- two very different strategies and it IS anticompetitive and must be stopped or everyone will suffer.
Heijoshinn t1_j1h2ms4 wrote
Your argument, as you've clearly admitted, is biased for Sony for weak reasonings. I'd strongly suggest you actually read the articles I posted.
> Sony have dominated the gaming market, but that's because they developed better consoles and exclusive content
How does Sony make "better" consoles? I can tell you that the ecosystem of the Xbox is much more player centric. So much so that it's very intuitive and responsive. PlayStation's isn't bad but by comparison, Microsoft is demonstrating that they research what works for gamers and what doesn't. Sony is reveling off of PlayStation's recognition and hardly innovates like it used to.
And the "better content" argument is baseless. Sony has exclusivity deals for DLC with studios and have been engaging in that type of practice for years. Sony has strict deals with the express purpose of crippling Microsofts efforts in the gaming market.
> these are often just timed
Yes, both companies have had timed exclusivity content deals.
> the major publishers that own dozens of studios for the sole reason of removing their games from Sony's library.
Smart money dictates that would be a foolish move on any companies part let alone Microsofts. Why would a company that would earn profits as a result of their acquisition of another company entirely close off a revenue source? Even if that revenue source is from a rival companies platform, it's still leaving money on the table. This move is to explicitly increase market share. Microsoft will have control over the publisher but even top execs wouldn't outlaw releases of these games from other consoles "just because". I'm willing to bet they'll use timed exclusivity much like Sony has in the past.
> Sony supports content generation
I again refer you to the links I shared.
> it IS anticompetitive
Companies engage in this type of maneuvering regularly. Windows has the highest market share for home operating systems because Microsoft engages hardware manufacturers to have them preloaded the OS most laptops. Google corners the market with the with Android OS on phones that aren't iPhones. Apple corners the market with their walled garden ecosystem and disables iMessage functionality for non Apple devices. The list of this kind of business being conducted is non-exhaustive.
Sony has had dominance in market share primarily due to the past exclusivity deals that solidified their present foundation.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_acquisitions_by_Sony
Honestly, this deal isn't going to break anything other than Microsoft's wallet. And people against this deal, primarily the UK government, are hypocritically overreacting. All this energy over this deal but people weren't saying a thing when Sony was making waves in the past using similar tactics.
KnG_Kong t1_j1hpjf5 wrote
But the Sony console isn't better ? The Xbox has higher specs and is cheaper.
And Microsoft has already addressed concerns of removing content by offering long term contracts for the content. Its going down a different path to the single device, and its looking at a broader market.
ResidualSoul t1_j1hea9v wrote
Idk how you're jumping from acquisition to removal of content. If anything Microsoft will either milk IPs or let them rot just look at Rares IPs after they were acquired, most of them were left to collect dust. Sony until just recently has been almost as strict as nintendo with their IPs being exclusive to their consoles not to mention what they did with the content roll outs when they temporarily held the destiny ip locking it away from the rest of the community for like 6 months.
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