The monopolization of every industry continues
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Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard
71–80 of 490 posts
Re: Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
FTC: Wait what?! We're supposed to be concerned about the rabble first?
Europe considers both direct harm to consumers and harm to competitors because without significant competition, the big players inevitably slide into exploiting customers and their vendors.
The current status quo is on a path to being harmful to both.
I love Nintendo but they compete more with Apple and Google than they do with Sony and Microsoft.
If Microsoft exits game consoles next generation Sony won’t have any real competition and that will be very bad for consumers.
Microsoft needs their own heavy hitting exclusives and they need them sooner than they can home grow them. This acquisition is one of the only ways they can do that.
Re: Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard
#73I find the whole thing to be a tempest in a teapot -- why is the FTC involved in this at all? For christ's sake it's a video game! If we were discussing access to some critical resource I would understand, but how is this not a criminal waste of our government's time and resources? It reminds me of the congressional baseball steroid hearings. Am I totally off base here? Can anyone explain to me why this case is so cr…
You're totally off base. Video games are not just kids stuff. The industry makes nearly three times more money than the film industry. This is exactly the kind of stakes that FTC should be getting involved in.
Re: Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard
#74I find the whole thing to be a tempest in a teapot -- why is the FTC involved in this at all? For christ's sake it's a video game! If we were discussing access to some critical resource I would understand, but how is this not a criminal waste of our government's time and resources? It reminds me of the congressional baseball steroid hearings. Am I totally off base here? Can anyone explain to me why this case is so cr…
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Re: Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard
#75Big loss for regulatory capture fans. Market leader will face more competition now.
Big loss for customers. Industry has less competition now.
Re: Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Lina Khan and the FTC have been brazenly bought and sold by a foreign company and weaponized against US consumers Speaking of spreading misinformation, do you have anything to back that claim up?
Sure: you can see it by reviewing the filings by the FTC in the case FTC v. Microsoft Corp. at https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67494594/federal-trade-... Pay special attention to the theories of harm advanced by the FTC and note that the harm focused on by the FTC is that done to a foreign company (Sony) rather than US consumers.
That is not evidence of your claim. The FTC argues that the deal would reduce competition, and that reduced competition is bad for consumers. To show that the deal would reduce competition, they focused on the impact the deal would have on Microsoft's competitors, i.e., Sony.
Re: Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard
#77Very bad for end consumer in long term.
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Re: Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s not about Sony, but customers that own a PS and not an XBox. Microsoft loves to buy studios and restrict access, just look a Halo it was introduced as a Mac game by the studio, Microsoft bought them specifically for XBox and fuck anyone that owned a Mac. 2 years after release they released a copy of the first game because all the work was done. Nothing from the rest of the series.
Halo: CE was released for mac on 2003, published by Microsoft https://www.halopedia.org/Halo:_Combat_Evolved_for_Macintosh
Yes, in 2003 not 2000 which is when they would have gotten it without Microsoft fucking them over.
First Halo was delayed to port it to windows and XBox on top of that two years after its initial release they let the already working Mac version out the door. That’s a huge fuck you by any standard.
On top of this Halo 2 etc was XBox and Windows exclusive fuck PS owners, fuck Mac owners, and fuck the free market.
Re: Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard
#79A snippet from the case "FTC: We've heard about the harms to Sony... Judge: This is about the harms to the consumer not to Sony. Let's take a break until 4:05."
FTC: Wait what?! We're supposed to be concerned about the rabble first?
harms to the market are harms to the consumer, consumer harm as the court standard is how we got this consolidated state
Re: Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Qualitatively, there are also more harms to the consumer by leaving Actiblizz in the incompetent hands of the current leadership. I still wonder what all of this is worth given that the merger was blocked in the UK.
Given how Microsoft has managed Bethesda (giving them a large amount of autonomy and shipping the doomed Redfall) it's way too optimistic to expect any positive changes for Activision/Blizzard customers. It wouldn't surprise me is Bobby kept running the whole thing, just under Microsoft's ownership. Meanwhile I do expect more Xbox exclusives - which will ultimately harm consumers.
I'm hoping for more along the lines of what happened with Mojang. Whatever Microsoft did there really worked.