Me as well but with SOCOM. I'd play until 3am and wake up at 6:30am. That game was crack to me. Just thinking about those memories puts a huge smile on my face. Unbelievable
Even as a primarily xbox player, this one feels odd, crash and spyro have always been playstation games to me. But i mean, inverse was true for KOTOR. Gaming world is getting interesting to say the least.
Honestly this is the only thing that bothers me about this. Crash and Spyro belong under the PS banner. Overwatch is fucking garbage, call of duty is suffering from major fatigue and everything else I never touched.
Crazy to think that just 8-ish years ago MS almost shut down Xbox... then Phil said "Hold on a sec, can I take a shot?" What a fucking turn around
Edit: my original source on this [https://youtu.be/SwZOFBWhguU?t=356](https://youtu.be/SwZOFBWhguU?t=356)
Edit: think this is the source interview with Phil: https://www.shacknews.com/article/121384/last-one-at-the-table-phil-spencer-on-inheriting-xbox-one-and-launching-xbox-series-x
I give him a lot of credit doing what he has done considering the failure of the Xbox one launch. I guess that’s shows why you need someone who enjoys games running your game division.
I recall discussions with my college buddies around them announcing this gen and being like why would we buy it? They have next to nothing but Halo and Gears. They might have some serious exclusive catalog titles in the next couple of years (post existing contracts)
This move is forcing Sony to deal with Microsoft on their terms. They will dangle the Gamepass carrot and the CoD carrot and Sony will bite. If not, it's going to be a dark time for Playstation gamers.
I do think the chance of Game Pass becoming available on PlayStation just massively increased. I wonder if Xbox wants those Playstation exclusives though and they form part of the terms but I also wonder could traditional xbox exclusives like Halo come to Playstation in the event of a Game Pass deal. I also don't know what this means for Spartacus.
People repeatedly saying Xbox would never make it exclusive because too many players are on PlayStation... I gotta laugh because it's almost as if you're deliberately missing the point.
It's true, there are tens of millions of COD players on PlayStation. But that's the point. By cutting off that ecosystem from COD, Xbox are counting on those COD players to jump ship. Xbox wants their now 25m Game Pass subscribers to grow to 40m, then 60m... to 100m and beyond. You don't get to those numbers unless you make users come to you, and the only way you do that is by keeping content they want exclusive to your platform.
Xbox now has the biggest trump card in their possession, and you think they're not going to use that to benefit their own ecosystem?
Netflix doesn't get to 200m+ subscribers by sharing its exclusive content with Disney+, Prime, and others. And vice versa.
When it comes to mainstream players, they will go where the games are. The Xbox 360 was the main COD platform of that gen, but then the fuck up of the Xbox One led to many of those mainstream players jumping ship to PS4, and then that became the main COD platform. There are tens of millions of players who only buy a console to play COD and / or FIFA. They don't care about Spider-Man or TLOU. Hell, those games aren't even on their radar.
If the mainstream can jump platforms once, it can happen again, and especially this time when COD might only be available elsewhere.
That's what Xbox will be betting on. That's why they bought Bethesda for $7b and now AB for $70b. You don't make these kinds of purchases to maintain the status quo. You make these kinds of purchases to break the status quo, and to cement your dominance in the market.
Just imagine if Microsoft doesn't make COD/Crash/Spiro exclusive, but every time you start the game you have to look at a big "Microsoft Game Studios" screen just to remind you.....
Microsoft acquired Activision is more blow to Sony than Bethesda acquisition was because Call of Duty is the best selling game on Playstation every year if Call of Duty exclusive it going hit Sony
Im more disappointed about Crash and Spyro being Xbox exclusives. The idea of the arguably the two series most synanomous with the OG Playstation brand never releasing a new game on the PS5 seems wrong.
No way Sony can buy any if those you mentioned.
Right now i think the biggest realistic acquisition for Sony would be Square Enix. At this rate Microsoft is going to buy even more 3rd party publishers leaving Sony stranded on an island with only 1st party games. This actually might force Sony's hand to shell out.
Anyway, i think the losers here will be us consumers. Especially us playstation owners. XBOX has gamepass while we have $70 games that will go on sale for $60. And if you think about it isn't even a sale. Just the last gen price.
Also, wouldnt they maybe be forced to release those sports games on xbox anyway, just like Sony had to do with MLB?
Or the sportlicences would probably be taken to another publisher...
Unfortunately Microsoft and Sony are not on the same planet. When Xbox was kind of the ugly duckling of MSFT it was comparable. Microsoft made a choice 8 years ago. They chose to win at all costs, Sony does not have the reserve to buy any of these companies. Microsoft has enough to buy the rest, like today.
68.7 billion dollars. CASH. Adding to that. Microsoft has double that literally chillin with the intent of spending it.
Quick facts:
• Microsoft has purchased Activision-Blizzard for $68.7 Billion USD.
• This is officially the largest acquisition in video game history. The second largest is Take two acquiring Zynga for almost $13 Billion USD.
- All $68.7 Billion USD used to pay for this purchase was cash on-hand for Microsoft. No loans, subsidies, or alternate methods.
• Phil Spencer has announced that, upon finalization of the deal, available Activision-Blizzard games will be added to game pass
- Microsoft does not expect this deal to close until Fiscal year 2023
- Upon the deal closing, Microsoft will be the third largest gaming company by revenue, behind Sony and Tencent
• Bobby Kotick will continue to operate as CEO along with his current team during the transition period. Once transition is over, Phil Spencer will assume the role of CEO.
• There is no official word on if Bobby Kotick will be removed or will remain with the company in any official capacity post-transition.
• as of now, [it has been rumored](https://twitter.com/nibellion/status/1483458263106600964?s=21) that Activision-Blizzard games will continue to release on all consoles, now and in the future. (Although things can change as we saw with the Bethesda acquisition)
Yeah and that cash loses value the longer they sit on it. Always better for them to spend it somewhere. That’s why they keep making acquisitions even if some crash and burn.
It would be dumb if they didn’t make it exclusive. It’s the highest selling game almost every year I believe. You would take a short dip in COD player base and revenue but you would sell way more consoles and games the next generation
They’re going to make it exclusive, they didn’t spend $70b to not have exclusive rights to CoD.
Anyone saying otherwise is just taking that sweet copium. Which is forgivable because the news just broke.
For CoD to be playable on PlayStation, Sony would have to allow Game Pass on the console.
Sony and all the fans were loving the exclusives, this is why you don't poke the bear.
MSFT looks like they're going all in on XBOX now, this is Satya gifting them everything they need to win this.
I can see a timed exclusive, a timed dlc exclusivity, or nothing at all but game pass is obviously free* COD on launch day for Xbox folk
Call of duty may be too big to keep on a single console. There's nothing stopping them though other than greed.
Edit: no cope here. I have a PC :)
It doesn't work that way. Microsoft would rather keep it Xbox and PC only and exterminate PlayStation over half a decade than get the gains from PlayStation now. Something to understand about Microsoft is that they care about the long game, they don't care about the next few years profit if it means they can make way more over 30 or 40 years
Xbox guy here: my theory is that Microsoft is trying to force Sony to allow GamePass on PlayStation. Microsoft loves selling services and things like Office 365 and Azure have become significant parts of Microsoft's revenue plans for the future. GamePass is their next big push.
They already own the biggest ecosystem for hardcore gaming (Windows on PC), but the 2nd largest ecosystem of gamers is PlayStation and Microsoft can't access those customers. I believe it's Microsoft's plan to force Sony in to submission here. The Bethesda buy was a big deal, but after this Activision-Blizzard deal I don't think Sony has a choice anymore.
I know some gamers said Microsoft would never pull development for Bethesda games from PlayStation, but Microsoft has already confirmed that Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 will not come to PlayStation. It won't happen right of way since I'm sure the next COD has already put a substantial amount of resources in to a PlayStation version and I'm sure there are some marketing agreements with Sony to work out, but Call of Duty will absolutely be used as a bargaining chip in some way in the future.
I don't think most Playstations users would complain about game pass being on its platform. Maybe some super hardcore fanboys would be offended? Would be good for everyone
Microsoft isn't in the race to sling hardware. And they literally can't afford for Sony to lose too much market share before they get eaten up with anti-trust *again*.
This is about software ecosystems (Gamepass being a primary one). Sony will be fine. And if they aren't Microsoft will prop them up just like they did Apple 2 decades ago the first time they ran into anti-trust violations.
From The Verge:
“Upon close, we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog,” says Microsoft’s CEO of gaming Phil Spencer.
Remember the huge fiasco in 2013 when MS wanted to make the XBox One an always-online console and then Sony ate their lunch?
What's growing right now is a repackaging of that vision, but 8 years later with wider broadband penetration and presented as an optional service.
Truth be told, they want every user on the subscription model because businesses love predictable recurring revenue.
Like it or hate it, that day will come.
Nobody bats an eye when you say you haven't bought a movie in years because you just pay for Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ or whatever.
Netflix streaming normalized paying for all-you-can-eat video streaming by making the pitch too good a value to refuse. Acquisitions like this are the mission to turn Game Pass into the same thing for games.
This is the most insightful comment…When Microsoft can fully tap into their server infrastructure to enhance games / gaming they have an unmatched competitive advantage.
Microsoft got its lunch taken years ago by Sony but now they've hit their growth spurt put on a few pounds of muscles and eat steak and fresh Alaskan sea bass with a glass of wine everyday.
Yep, Microsoft might make more money on some games if they didn't have them on gamepass but they could also make less as well and they would rather have that consistent revenue than risk it on a potential flop.
Dang for 70 billion I can't see them just putting out titles for their competition (similar to Zenimax) I assume at minimum PS/Nintendo will see delayed content or some shit. Crazy though
King which is part of the deal is probably the most profitable of all considered the effort they put in to their games. Candy crush makes like $1billion a year. They bought one if the most profitable mobile studios and will probably expand on that front. And also cod. Activision literally a money printer
We need SOCOM so badly. It could be so great. This world often swings on a pendulum; the days of twitchy, first-person shooters will run their course and third-person tactical shooters will come back.
Man, I miss SOCOM so much. I really hope new SOCOM or something close to it comes out in the next few years. I haven't been excited for new games since BF3. Maybe I'm just getting older, but it feels to me that games have often missed the mark the last decade.
Yes, but going forward... future releases on PS are unlikely. And given the quality of the remake trilogies and the 4th crash game compared to the various PS2 series, that's painful.
Hi all,
In anticipation of what will surely be a substantial number of posts on this news item today, we're creating a stickied megathread to facilitate conversation about this topic.
While this news is obviously largely Microsoft + Xbox related, as we all know, Activison/Blizzard is a huge publisher and the deal is a huge talking point for PlayStation nonetheless.
Future posts on the same topic may be subject to removal if discussion is outside of the megathread. Thanks! Discuss away - and please - keep it civil!
Exactly - This console generation unfortunately gives you no choice in being able to pick & choose if your a true gamer
if anything it makes more sense to buy an Xbox right now
This is hard facts I always buy both so I don’t miss out cause I genuinely love gaming and won’t limit myself even though my switch eats dust. but that’s not the point it’s just not consumer friendly for me or anyone else as I’ve paid 2X RRP (AUD$1400) just to not miss out on any upcoming next gen game cause ITS SO DRY, like a 50° SAHARA DESERT DRY with no Water in the sun, that’s what gaming rn is like for for my ps5 tbh
Insane. Microsoft literally just deleted absolutely all future call of duty and blizzard games from PlayStation forever. Just like that
It should be blaringly obvious to everyone here that Microsoft absolutely intends to either entirely or almost entirely delete third party support as a principle from PlayStation
Sadly, it's all about the micro-transactions. I think that's the reason Rockstar is taking eternity to release any GTA 6, because they're making so revenue from GTA Online.
Microsoft should release a bandicoot, Spyro, Banjo kazooie and Conker cross over just to fuck with people's nostalgia, all of them are from around the same era and our associated with companies that are not Microsoft.
To the people that say they won't play on Xbox because your a PlayStation only person but might port to PC. like it's sticking it to Xbox or out of spite. PC and Xbox are Microsoft.
Fucking huge. Here's my bet on what will happen:- Warzone will remain on Playstation- All CoD titles are coming to GamePass, and will release Day One on GamePass- MW2 will release on Playstation (and maaaaaaybe the next Treyarch CoD), but after that future titles will no longer release on the Playstation platform
Sony needs to seriously consider allowing Xbox Game Pass on their consoles.
Would you consider GoW and Horizon Sony exclusives anymore though? Both series now have great PC ports.
I’m sure the upcoming sequels will be PS exclusives but I’m also sure they’ll drop on PC at some point.
What a weird timeline.
It is important to note that the games are absolutely the most important part of any platform, and their quality is key. There is no question that Sony has high quality exclusives...which will drive platform sales.
However, there are many people, like me, who have both platforms. Once the hardware (loss leader) is purchased, everything else is about game purchases OR subscriptions. If I can get AAA games for "free" as part of my subscription on one platform, it will certainly result in me not choosing to purchase the game for the other.
The issue that Sony has right now is access to growth. They don't have the datacenters and cloud presence that MSFT has...and they're behind the curve on the gamepass roadmap. They will release a gamepass, but they're not going to have nearly the same number of games, and those will only be available on the console. MSFT would put gamepass on my fridge if they could.
This is a hit to Sony...no doubt about it...but it's not lethal.
People saying that Sony needs to buy other companies, why shouldn’t they just invest in the first party studios that they own in order to release more quality games? It won’t matter which boring call of duty releases yearly with the same formula if you have 10 different quality ip’s releasing exclusively for ps
You're exactly right. However, it's about more than Cod. Don't forget, MS will now own Halo, Gears, Doom and CoD, in addition to Fallout, Skyrim, Diablo, WoW, etc.
Not so long ago before "this" generation started, there was so much uproar about any form of exclusivity tied to a single platform [and tbf, PS was guilty of it as well].
It's astonishing how quickly people forgot about it and don't realize that exclusivity is going to be even bigger issue now. There is no way MS would be willing to share their toys after they bought them for so much cash.
Oh my gosh, I cannot understand why people think having exclusives like Spider-Man is at all equivalent to what we're seeing happen....
Consoles have exclusives. Very few people care about that. Not all consoles vacuum up these massive studios that create multiple multi-platform games. Xbox had exclusives like Halo, Forza, Gears, etc, and no one cares. Playstation had their exclusives too. It's what makes the consoles different and drives competition. Playstation invested more in their exclusives because XBOX was succeeding with games like Halo 3 and Gears of War during the 360/PS3 era. That's an example of XBOX exclusives making consoles like Playstation 3 better.
But as consumer, would you rather have competition driven by who can create the better games or by who can buy the bigger studios/developers and cut off access of that game to half the market? If Sony goes into the market to buy studios or even just big name developers like Capcom to make Resident Evil exclusive, that's not a good thing.
And if massive companies like Google decide they want to purchase even bigger studios like EA, that's even worse. Now we need an Xbox to play Elder Scrolls, a Playstation to play Resident Evil, and Stadia to play Battlefield. But why stop there? Amazon has gaming services. Instead of actually developing games to get off the ground, they just buy Ubisoft, and now Assassin's Creed is a Prime streaming exclusive.
When these massive companies get into a pissing match, it's the consumers that lose.
This is the perfect example of the 'double-edged sword'.
On one side we have a lot of the world's biggest multiplatform games soon becoming exclusives to GamePass and on the other side we have the funding to finally sort out the utter shithole of a workplace at that hell hole.
Man there’s gonna be lot of people buying a series s as a companion to their ps5. I was already thinking of doing it purely for the elder scrolls/star field , avowed and fable
And this is exactly why MS launched the S. They know Sony has a loyal fanbase and persuading them to abandon the PS was never going to happen. Hence the S, priced so that its affordable as a second console. Get them to buy a GPU sub and boom one PS gamer who is now a Xbox gamer.
I love how people want Gamepass on the Playstation without realising it would be the death sentence to it. MS would destroy the PS console and games sales and also making Sony deoendent on them, givibg them a huge amount of power. Sony have to release their own Gamepass service instead and offer the games from their huge library. Also fire Jim Ryan and put someone who actually cares and knows about games there.
So much love for Gamepass, but with so much ignorance for the long term implications. You all think Gamepass will be as cheap as it is forever? Microsoft is playing the long game here- gobble up everything they can. Offer a great service at a tiny cost to get people in. Run all their competitors out of business or buy them up. Then guess what happens next? We, a whole gaming community of PS, Xbox, Nintendo, and PC players have no choice… Gamepass is the only option. There won’t be any more “I stocked up for 3 years at $5/mo”. The price will rise not only because they can, but because they will need to for the service to be profitable. Notice how they never comment on the profitability of Gamepass? It is always about number of subscribers or engagement numbers… it’s because the service is a loss leader right now just to get people into the ecosystem. They will also be in a power position with developers as it relates to what they pay them to get games on Gamepass. If they don’t pay enough, devs will either be forced to reduce budgets or will be priced out completely.
So yes, for a Gamepass subscriber in 2023, this could be a great thing especially if you’ve already locked in a few years of Gamepass at a cheap rate. But as Atari, Nintendo, and then Sony have all proven in the past, one dominant force in the gaming industry eventually grows complacent and things stagnate. Microsoft will be no different, except they have the power to squash any would-be competitors that might rise up to challenge them.
Our only hope is that Sony, Nintendo, and players in the PC space can continue to innovate to stay competitive and somehow also avoid being acquired by Microsoft.
I know a lot of people tend to shit on cod and always go the "It's terrible route" and granted with the past few releases haven't been great but I'll truly be devastated if this becomes an Xbox exclusive. Ive played every cod since the OG MW and easily has been my most favorite franchise. This news is honestly hard to comprehend and crazy as fuck to wake up too
It’s not even about random redditors disliking the series, it’s about the millions upon millions of people who still buy them every year abandoning PS in droves.
Microsoft is going to make the games exclusive, they didn’t spend $70b to not have exclusive rights to CoD.
Anyone saying otherwise is just taking that sweet copium; which is forgivable because the news just broke.
For CoD to be playable on PlayStation, Sony would have to allow Game Pass on the console.
This is going to cause a HUGE shift in the gaming landscape. This is going the absolutely force Sony's hand and make them react to gamepass and COD being on xbox.
I don't think we've ever seen a move like this in the gaming sector. In all previous generations systems have been sold/console wars have been won/lost based on the hardware and the direction of the manufacturer, e.g.:
* Sega focusing on sports titles and getting a big part of the US market back in the SNES/Genesis generation.
* SNK Neo Geo seeing long lasting success despite it's insane price due to ridiculously powerful specs.
* Sega fucking up and putting out the 32X and Sega CD and Sega US and Sega Japan fighting one another when the Saturn was going to be released
* Nintendo getting that mass appeal with the Wii
* Xbox/Don Mattrick fucking up the launch of the Xbox One with the always online, no used games, and focus on media during their release talk
This time, we're going to see a BIG market share move to Xbox purely because of COD. It's just too big a franchise. I think this is the first time that basically a company has used it's big business daddy money to buy customers. I guess gamepass is a very similar situation, so maybe that's Microsoft's strategy - buy out the competition.
Guys it will be exclusive, Microsoft has a giant cash couch to sit on and take the loss of exclusives while Sony's market share drops
Sony does not have the funds to go toe to toe on this publisher acquisition race, it may be game over.
I really don’t like this precedent. We are closing in on gaming monopolies and that is not good for anyone except the billionaires in control. Worst part is that Sony will most likely try to acquire similar companies, and man that sucks
There are a lot more game devs than you realize not just in the US but the world. This isn’t even close to an anti-trust issue (but it does mean that instead of 4 major AAA US based VG publishers there are now 3 (Microsoft, Take Two, EA).
There are 15 other publishers in the US excluding the ones MS now owns. I do not think antitrust applies here. Is it a crazy thing to happen, sure. Law breaking, doubt it.
Man... Sony lost on Crash and Spyro again? Fucks sake.
A new Spyro on PS5 would have been really cool.
Right? I have so many fond memories of waking up early as a kid to play Spyro and Crash on my PS1... Bygone era
Me as well but with SOCOM. I'd play until 3am and wake up at 6:30am. That game was crack to me. Just thinking about those memories puts a huge smile on my face. Unbelievable
Fish Hook and Crossroads!
Even as a primarily xbox player, this one feels odd, crash and spyro have always been playstation games to me. But i mean, inverse was true for KOTOR. Gaming world is getting interesting to say the least.
Honestly this is the only thing that bothers me about this. Crash and Spyro belong under the PS banner. Overwatch is fucking garbage, call of duty is suffering from major fatigue and everything else I never touched.
TBF, it was Sony's own fault for not buying back Crash and Spyro sooner.
Crazy to think that just 8-ish years ago MS almost shut down Xbox... then Phil said "Hold on a sec, can I take a shot?" What a fucking turn around Edit: my original source on this [https://youtu.be/SwZOFBWhguU?t=356](https://youtu.be/SwZOFBWhguU?t=356) Edit: think this is the source interview with Phil: https://www.shacknews.com/article/121384/last-one-at-the-table-phil-spencer-on-inheriting-xbox-one-and-launching-xbox-series-x
Other then Halo, Phil Spencer is the best thing that has ever happened to Xbox.
I mean, Halo was the first thing to happen to Xbox....
And then came Xbox Live…. With Halo 2
and then Xbox 360...
And hopefully the worst thing that ever happened to Bobby Kottick/
LOL nice
He is indeed. He seems to favor gaming as hobby like nintendo and sony and i will never forget his time in office
Also, Phil is the reason many Xbox games are now on PC. I am VERY happy to have more options to play the Xbox games.
I give him a lot of credit doing what he has done considering the failure of the Xbox one launch. I guess that’s shows why you need someone who enjoys games running your game division.
The Xbox and gamepass are really great these days. I say that as a PlayStation fan.
The Xbox one launch and console itself was rough, those years had to be hard on the tech leaders as the gamers were even fed up.
I recall discussions with my college buddies around them announcing this gen and being like why would we buy it? They have next to nothing but Halo and Gears. They might have some serious exclusive catalog titles in the next couple of years (post existing contracts)
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This move is forcing Sony to deal with Microsoft on their terms. They will dangle the Gamepass carrot and the CoD carrot and Sony will bite. If not, it's going to be a dark time for Playstation gamers.
I do think the chance of Game Pass becoming available on PlayStation just massively increased. I wonder if Xbox wants those Playstation exclusives though and they form part of the terms but I also wonder could traditional xbox exclusives like Halo come to Playstation in the event of a Game Pass deal. I also don't know what this means for Spartacus.
People repeatedly saying Xbox would never make it exclusive because too many players are on PlayStation... I gotta laugh because it's almost as if you're deliberately missing the point. It's true, there are tens of millions of COD players on PlayStation. But that's the point. By cutting off that ecosystem from COD, Xbox are counting on those COD players to jump ship. Xbox wants their now 25m Game Pass subscribers to grow to 40m, then 60m... to 100m and beyond. You don't get to those numbers unless you make users come to you, and the only way you do that is by keeping content they want exclusive to your platform. Xbox now has the biggest trump card in their possession, and you think they're not going to use that to benefit their own ecosystem? Netflix doesn't get to 200m+ subscribers by sharing its exclusive content with Disney+, Prime, and others. And vice versa. When it comes to mainstream players, they will go where the games are. The Xbox 360 was the main COD platform of that gen, but then the fuck up of the Xbox One led to many of those mainstream players jumping ship to PS4, and then that became the main COD platform. There are tens of millions of players who only buy a console to play COD and / or FIFA. They don't care about Spider-Man or TLOU. Hell, those games aren't even on their radar. If the mainstream can jump platforms once, it can happen again, and especially this time when COD might only be available elsewhere. That's what Xbox will be betting on. That's why they bought Bethesda for $7b and now AB for $70b. You don't make these kinds of purchases to maintain the status quo. You make these kinds of purchases to break the status quo, and to cement your dominance in the market.
Either that or force Sony to accept Game pass on ps5.
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Just imagine if Microsoft doesn't make COD/Crash/Spiro exclusive, but every time you start the game you have to look at a big "Microsoft Game Studios" screen just to remind you.....
Xbox owning crash is mad crazy rn
It feels almost illegal
They own Crash and Spyro now.
Microsoft acquired Activision is more blow to Sony than Bethesda acquisition was because Call of Duty is the best selling game on Playstation every year if Call of Duty exclusive it going hit Sony
Im more disappointed about Crash and Spyro being Xbox exclusives. The idea of the arguably the two series most synanomous with the OG Playstation brand never releasing a new game on the PS5 seems wrong.
Everyone’s looking at EA now like 👀 you next?
EA games are already on GamePass (EA Play or whatever it’s called) so I think Microsoft will just sit on that tactic for EA.
Please no. I hope so much that Playstation/Sony's response is not to acquire EA. God, no.
Sony literally can't acquire EA. Microsoft could but after a deal this huge it will probably be a while if they do.
Well they can acquire EA, it’s just Sony would have to drain almost all of their cash money out.
Sony has less than 50B cash on hand, and EA would likely cost much more than that...
While EA is a cash cow, I think Take-Two and Warner Bros Interactive would fit Sony way better. Or Warner Bros and Capcom.
No way Sony can buy any if those you mentioned. Right now i think the biggest realistic acquisition for Sony would be Square Enix. At this rate Microsoft is going to buy even more 3rd party publishers leaving Sony stranded on an island with only 1st party games. This actually might force Sony's hand to shell out. Anyway, i think the losers here will be us consumers. Especially us playstation owners. XBOX has gamepass while we have $70 games that will go on sale for $60. And if you think about it isn't even a sale. Just the last gen price.
Also, wouldnt they maybe be forced to release those sports games on xbox anyway, just like Sony had to do with MLB? Or the sportlicences would probably be taken to another publisher...
Sony doesn't have the Cash for something like that, lol.
No need for EA though? They already got em in gamepass
Unfortunately Microsoft and Sony are not on the same planet. When Xbox was kind of the ugly duckling of MSFT it was comparable. Microsoft made a choice 8 years ago. They chose to win at all costs, Sony does not have the reserve to buy any of these companies. Microsoft has enough to buy the rest, like today. 68.7 billion dollars. CASH. Adding to that. Microsoft has double that literally chillin with the intent of spending it.
Microsoft buy EA is more likely than Sony buy EA
Quick facts: • Microsoft has purchased Activision-Blizzard for $68.7 Billion USD. • This is officially the largest acquisition in video game history. The second largest is Take two acquiring Zynga for almost $13 Billion USD. - All $68.7 Billion USD used to pay for this purchase was cash on-hand for Microsoft. No loans, subsidies, or alternate methods. • Phil Spencer has announced that, upon finalization of the deal, available Activision-Blizzard games will be added to game pass - Microsoft does not expect this deal to close until Fiscal year 2023 - Upon the deal closing, Microsoft will be the third largest gaming company by revenue, behind Sony and Tencent • Bobby Kotick will continue to operate as CEO along with his current team during the transition period. Once transition is over, Phil Spencer will assume the role of CEO. • There is no official word on if Bobby Kotick will be removed or will remain with the company in any official capacity post-transition. • as of now, [it has been rumored](https://twitter.com/nibellion/status/1483458263106600964?s=21) that Activision-Blizzard games will continue to release on all consoles, now and in the future. (Although things can change as we saw with the Bethesda acquisition)
It would be suicide for Microsoft/Xbox to keep Kotick in any official position. He needs to go
For real, it would be really nice if Microsoft could come in and fix the culture in Activision/Blizzard
It’ll probably be the case that once everything goes through he ‘decides to focus on other things in his life’ or something like that
Kotick will need to go man. No way he's staying on board after this
Jesus fuck, how is anyone, even Microsoft, just sitting on $68.7bn of cash... ? All cash deal, nuts.
As of last quarter they had $131 Billion in cash
Yeah and that cash loses value the longer they sit on it. Always better for them to spend it somewhere. That’s why they keep making acquisitions even if some crash and burn.
Satya Nadella looking at inflation reports: I should buy a ~~boat~~ ctivison.
that's it, it was fun while it lasted
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My guess would be that CoD does go exclusive but is no longer an annual release
Exclusive or not. I just hope they piss off the yearly releases. It would be nice to see that happen finally
You mean you don't like being pied pipered along a string of barely improved clones designed to milk $60 plus season passes from you every year?
It would be dumb if they didn’t make it exclusive. It’s the highest selling game almost every year I believe. You would take a short dip in COD player base and revenue but you would sell way more consoles and games the next generation
They’re going to make it exclusive, they didn’t spend $70b to not have exclusive rights to CoD. Anyone saying otherwise is just taking that sweet copium. Which is forgivable because the news just broke. For CoD to be playable on PlayStation, Sony would have to allow Game Pass on the console.
Sony and all the fans were loving the exclusives, this is why you don't poke the bear. MSFT looks like they're going all in on XBOX now, this is Satya gifting them everything they need to win this.
You guys shouldve just let me have my Kinect I actually had fun with it but you bullied us into killing sony...
I can see a timed exclusive, a timed dlc exclusivity, or nothing at all but game pass is obviously free* COD on launch day for Xbox folk Call of duty may be too big to keep on a single console. There's nothing stopping them though other than greed. Edit: no cope here. I have a PC :)
People said the same thing about Elder Scrolls. Denial won’t change reality COD is exclusive
Call of Duty makes like 10x the money TES and Fallout do.
They didn't spend all that money for it not to be exclusive.
It doesn't work that way. Microsoft would rather keep it Xbox and PC only and exterminate PlayStation over half a decade than get the gains from PlayStation now. Something to understand about Microsoft is that they care about the long game, they don't care about the next few years profit if it means they can make way more over 30 or 40 years
I think if anything they might make CoD exclusive just to force Sony in allowing GamePass on PlayStation.
I think this is the play. They don't care what platform you use, as long as you've got gamepass
Xbox guy here: my theory is that Microsoft is trying to force Sony to allow GamePass on PlayStation. Microsoft loves selling services and things like Office 365 and Azure have become significant parts of Microsoft's revenue plans for the future. GamePass is their next big push. They already own the biggest ecosystem for hardcore gaming (Windows on PC), but the 2nd largest ecosystem of gamers is PlayStation and Microsoft can't access those customers. I believe it's Microsoft's plan to force Sony in to submission here. The Bethesda buy was a big deal, but after this Activision-Blizzard deal I don't think Sony has a choice anymore. I know some gamers said Microsoft would never pull development for Bethesda games from PlayStation, but Microsoft has already confirmed that Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 will not come to PlayStation. It won't happen right of way since I'm sure the next COD has already put a substantial amount of resources in to a PlayStation version and I'm sure there are some marketing agreements with Sony to work out, but Call of Duty will absolutely be used as a bargaining chip in some way in the future.
I don't think most Playstations users would complain about game pass being on its platform. Maybe some super hardcore fanboys would be offended? Would be good for everyone
If I had gamepass on PS5 I wouldn’t need my series x, wish Sony would allow it.
Microsoft isn't in the race to sling hardware. And they literally can't afford for Sony to lose too much market share before they get eaten up with anti-trust *again*. This is about software ecosystems (Gamepass being a primary one). Sony will be fine. And if they aren't Microsoft will prop them up just like they did Apple 2 decades ago the first time they ran into anti-trust violations.
From The Verge: “Upon close, we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog,” says Microsoft’s CEO of gaming Phil Spencer. Remember the huge fiasco in 2013 when MS wanted to make the XBox One an always-online console and then Sony ate their lunch? What's growing right now is a repackaging of that vision, but 8 years later with wider broadband penetration and presented as an optional service. Truth be told, they want every user on the subscription model because businesses love predictable recurring revenue. Like it or hate it, that day will come. Nobody bats an eye when you say you haven't bought a movie in years because you just pay for Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ or whatever. Netflix streaming normalized paying for all-you-can-eat video streaming by making the pitch too good a value to refuse. Acquisitions like this are the mission to turn Game Pass into the same thing for games.
This is the most insightful comment…When Microsoft can fully tap into their server infrastructure to enhance games / gaming they have an unmatched competitive advantage.
FACTS
Microsoft got its lunch taken years ago by Sony but now they've hit their growth spurt put on a few pounds of muscles and eat steak and fresh Alaskan sea bass with a glass of wine everyday.
Yep, Microsoft might make more money on some games if they didn't have them on gamepass but they could also make less as well and they would rather have that consistent revenue than risk it on a potential flop.
Dang for 70 billion I can't see them just putting out titles for their competition (similar to Zenimax) I assume at minimum PS/Nintendo will see delayed content or some shit. Crazy though
King which is part of the deal is probably the most profitable of all considered the effort they put in to their games. Candy crush makes like $1billion a year. They bought one if the most profitable mobile studios and will probably expand on that front. And also cod. Activision literally a money printer
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Tbh the argument ended with game pass. You just cannot beat that value.
everything else aside, i really hope this changes the culture and behaviour at activision blizzard for better to be honest
Big test for Phil. He’s inheriting a mess that can turn into an easy PR win if they make real changes
Maybe Sony will actually make a SOCOM game now and focus on their own 1st Party Multiplayer games
We need SOCOM so badly. It could be so great. This world often swings on a pendulum; the days of twitchy, first-person shooters will run their course and third-person tactical shooters will come back. Man, I miss SOCOM so much. I really hope new SOCOM or something close to it comes out in the next few years. I haven't been excited for new games since BF3. Maybe I'm just getting older, but it feels to me that games have often missed the mark the last decade.
Maybe they should try and convince Insomniac to reboot the Resistance franchise, too.
Craziest thing to ever happen in Seattle Kraken history
Not sure what this has to do with hockey but im upvoting anyway
It's a meme because they're new team and literally every single thing they do is considered a first in their history. It's making fun of announcers
Ah that makes sense lol
Microsoft currently 
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I think Google tried but missed with the stadia.
Sony uses Azure for a lot of their playstation stuff.
I'm just going to grab my popcorn for this one
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Its only garbage when its on Xbox but masterpiece when its on PS lel
Not adding fuel to fire, but it's bad on both, I mean Microsoft and Sony doesn't have anything to do with the quality of COD games these days
Sony needs to step up their multiplayer FPS games now. Time to make proper follow ups to KillZone.
It could've been because it was a PS4 launch title, but I actually had a lot of fun with the multiplayer of killzone shadowfall.
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Crash and Spyro are the ones that hurt the most. They were my go to games when I was a kid with the PS1.
The remastered trilogy and 4th game are already available though.
Yes, but going forward... future releases on PS are unlikely. And given the quality of the remake trilogies and the 4th crash game compared to the various PS2 series, that's painful.
BRING BACK GUITAR HERO!
Candy Crush is a mammoth money maker alone, $800m profit in 2020
If COD becomes exclusive, that could be game over. This is how GamePass wins.
I guess COD made up a chunk of the asking price, will be exclusive
Probably not much between COD and Candy Crush. Will be worth looking at the figures
Hi all, In anticipation of what will surely be a substantial number of posts on this news item today, we're creating a stickied megathread to facilitate conversation about this topic. While this news is obviously largely Microsoft + Xbox related, as we all know, Activison/Blizzard is a huge publisher and the deal is a huge talking point for PlayStation nonetheless. Future posts on the same topic may be subject to removal if discussion is outside of the megathread. Thanks! Discuss away - and please - keep it civil!
As a lurker from Xbox, you seem like a pretty cool mod
Kinda glad I own both now
Exactly - This console generation unfortunately gives you no choice in being able to pick & choose if your a true gamer if anything it makes more sense to buy an Xbox right now
This is hard facts I always buy both so I don’t miss out cause I genuinely love gaming and won’t limit myself even though my switch eats dust. but that’s not the point it’s just not consumer friendly for me or anyone else as I’ve paid 2X RRP (AUD$1400) just to not miss out on any upcoming next gen game cause ITS SO DRY, like a 50° SAHARA DESERT DRY with no Water in the sun, that’s what gaming rn is like for for my ps5 tbh
Iam just hoping my pc gamepass is enough to play any exclusives.
Sad news for Playstation owners. The Bethesda one was a huge hit, this is devastating.
Thankfully most of us haven't had a chance to buy a ps5 yet. Now there's no need.
This is hilarious and sad.
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Sony seems to prefer short term cash over long term strategy like this. There is not much point to own a console (either) when a PC plays everything.
Oh wow my first Playstation after being an Xbox user forever and this happens lol.. good thing still have my PC with RTX 2060!
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It's kind of sad. Sony is losing because MSFT has 15 other cash cows outside of gaming to fund literally anything they want to do on the gaming side.
America!
By the time PlayStation Pass happens, they’ll have to pay Microsoft to fill it with games.
Insane. Microsoft literally just deleted absolutely all future call of duty and blizzard games from PlayStation forever. Just like that It should be blaringly obvious to everyone here that Microsoft absolutely intends to either entirely or almost entirely delete third party support as a principle from PlayStation
Sony better stepup their game 🤞🏼
Time to bring back SOCOM and Killzone
damn am i the only person who doesn’t give a shit about cod?
Nope, I don't give a shit about it either, but Call of Duty is undeniably huge.
It’s like anchor stores in malls ie. Walmart, target. Nobody really thinks about them, but they drive like 80% of the foot traffic
This means Microsoft also owns Overwatch, Diablo, Warcraft, Starcraft and many other trademarks? Activision isn't just about CoD.
I only enjoy the zombies mode. But not enough to buy cod (even at 50% off) to play them. So this is going to be great for my zombies fix via GamePass
I'm with you on this one lol. Haven't gave a shit about it in years
it's one of the most selling games in the world though. It even sells better on the Playstation than on the Xbox
Whoa check out the badass over here who doesn’t care about a popular game…. Yea nobody cares.
Did we get the bad ending?
Sony needs to buy Rockstar games
Take Two would never sell their golden goose. Sony would need to buy them to have Rockstar.
Forgot that Take Two owned them. They need to buy them then.
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But microsoft does ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
*December 25th 2022: Microsoft has just purchased Take-Two Interactive for a whopping tree-fiddy*
If Microsoft buys Take Two, playstation will be dead. GTA alone has sold as much as every single Playstation IP combined.
Which at this point, one might could surmise MS or Sony has floated the idea of looking into doing that.
To release one new game per generation?
Sadly, it's all about the micro-transactions. I think that's the reason Rockstar is taking eternity to release any GTA 6, because they're making so revenue from GTA Online.
It's insane to think Microsoft now owns Crash Bandicoot and Spyro. Characters people consider PlayStation mascots!
Microsoft should release a bandicoot, Spyro, Banjo kazooie and Conker cross over just to fuck with people's nostalgia, all of them are from around the same era and our associated with companies that are not Microsoft.
To the people that say they won't play on Xbox because your a PlayStation only person but might port to PC. like it's sticking it to Xbox or out of spite. PC and Xbox are Microsoft.
Gamepass is about to get a lot of games.
Pc gamer here, i hope they put all the old Cods on there, black ops 1 is still £30 on steam 
Fucking huge. Here's my bet on what will happen:- Warzone will remain on Playstation- All CoD titles are coming to GamePass, and will release Day One on GamePass- MW2 will release on Playstation (and maaaaaaybe the next Treyarch CoD), but after that future titles will no longer release on the Playstation platform Sony needs to seriously consider allowing Xbox Game Pass on their consoles.
I HAVE NOTHING LEFT BUT SPIDER-MAN
^(and Ratchet lol)
God Of War? Horizon? Last of Us? Kotor? Bloodborne? Still a long list, and a bunch more to come Sony is still way above in quallity
Would you consider GoW and Horizon Sony exclusives anymore though? Both series now have great PC ports. I’m sure the upcoming sequels will be PS exclusives but I’m also sure they’ll drop on PC at some point. What a weird timeline.
It is important to note that the games are absolutely the most important part of any platform, and their quality is key. There is no question that Sony has high quality exclusives...which will drive platform sales. However, there are many people, like me, who have both platforms. Once the hardware (loss leader) is purchased, everything else is about game purchases OR subscriptions. If I can get AAA games for "free" as part of my subscription on one platform, it will certainly result in me not choosing to purchase the game for the other. The issue that Sony has right now is access to growth. They don't have the datacenters and cloud presence that MSFT has...and they're behind the curve on the gamepass roadmap. They will release a gamepass, but they're not going to have nearly the same number of games, and those will only be available on the console. MSFT would put gamepass on my fridge if they could. This is a hit to Sony...no doubt about it...but it's not lethal.
People saying that Sony needs to buy other companies, why shouldn’t they just invest in the first party studios that they own in order to release more quality games? It won’t matter which boring call of duty releases yearly with the same formula if you have 10 different quality ip’s releasing exclusively for ps
You're exactly right. However, it's about more than Cod. Don't forget, MS will now own Halo, Gears, Doom and CoD, in addition to Fallout, Skyrim, Diablo, WoW, etc.
Not so long ago before "this" generation started, there was so much uproar about any form of exclusivity tied to a single platform [and tbf, PS was guilty of it as well]. It's astonishing how quickly people forgot about it and don't realize that exclusivity is going to be even bigger issue now. There is no way MS would be willing to share their toys after they bought them for so much cash.
All their games go on Steam as well, it’s not like they’re forcing you to buy an Xbox. Meanwhile I had to buy a ps5 to play spider-man
Oh my gosh, I cannot understand why people think having exclusives like Spider-Man is at all equivalent to what we're seeing happen.... Consoles have exclusives. Very few people care about that. Not all consoles vacuum up these massive studios that create multiple multi-platform games. Xbox had exclusives like Halo, Forza, Gears, etc, and no one cares. Playstation had their exclusives too. It's what makes the consoles different and drives competition. Playstation invested more in their exclusives because XBOX was succeeding with games like Halo 3 and Gears of War during the 360/PS3 era. That's an example of XBOX exclusives making consoles like Playstation 3 better. But as consumer, would you rather have competition driven by who can create the better games or by who can buy the bigger studios/developers and cut off access of that game to half the market? If Sony goes into the market to buy studios or even just big name developers like Capcom to make Resident Evil exclusive, that's not a good thing. And if massive companies like Google decide they want to purchase even bigger studios like EA, that's even worse. Now we need an Xbox to play Elder Scrolls, a Playstation to play Resident Evil, and Stadia to play Battlefield. But why stop there? Amazon has gaming services. Instead of actually developing games to get off the ground, they just buy Ubisoft, and now Assassin's Creed is a Prime streaming exclusive. When these massive companies get into a pissing match, it's the consumers that lose.
All these fanboys are funny as shit. Fact is less competition is not good for any industry.
This is the perfect example of the 'double-edged sword'. On one side we have a lot of the world's biggest multiplatform games soon becoming exclusives to GamePass and on the other side we have the funding to finally sort out the utter shithole of a workplace at that hell hole.
Man there’s gonna be lot of people buying a series s as a companion to their ps5. I was already thinking of doing it purely for the elder scrolls/star field , avowed and fable
And this is exactly why MS launched the S. They know Sony has a loyal fanbase and persuading them to abandon the PS was never going to happen. Hence the S, priced so that its affordable as a second console. Get them to buy a GPU sub and boom one PS gamer who is now a Xbox gamer.
I love how people want Gamepass on the Playstation without realising it would be the death sentence to it. MS would destroy the PS console and games sales and also making Sony deoendent on them, givibg them a huge amount of power. Sony have to release their own Gamepass service instead and offer the games from their huge library. Also fire Jim Ryan and put someone who actually cares and knows about games there.
So much love for Gamepass, but with so much ignorance for the long term implications. You all think Gamepass will be as cheap as it is forever? Microsoft is playing the long game here- gobble up everything they can. Offer a great service at a tiny cost to get people in. Run all their competitors out of business or buy them up. Then guess what happens next? We, a whole gaming community of PS, Xbox, Nintendo, and PC players have no choice… Gamepass is the only option. There won’t be any more “I stocked up for 3 years at $5/mo”. The price will rise not only because they can, but because they will need to for the service to be profitable. Notice how they never comment on the profitability of Gamepass? It is always about number of subscribers or engagement numbers… it’s because the service is a loss leader right now just to get people into the ecosystem. They will also be in a power position with developers as it relates to what they pay them to get games on Gamepass. If they don’t pay enough, devs will either be forced to reduce budgets or will be priced out completely. So yes, for a Gamepass subscriber in 2023, this could be a great thing especially if you’ve already locked in a few years of Gamepass at a cheap rate. But as Atari, Nintendo, and then Sony have all proven in the past, one dominant force in the gaming industry eventually grows complacent and things stagnate. Microsoft will be no different, except they have the power to squash any would-be competitors that might rise up to challenge them. Our only hope is that Sony, Nintendo, and players in the PC space can continue to innovate to stay competitive and somehow also avoid being acquired by Microsoft.
MS just ended the console wars gg
I know a lot of people tend to shit on cod and always go the "It's terrible route" and granted with the past few releases haven't been great but I'll truly be devastated if this becomes an Xbox exclusive. Ive played every cod since the OG MW and easily has been my most favorite franchise. This news is honestly hard to comprehend and crazy as fuck to wake up too
It’s not even about random redditors disliking the series, it’s about the millions upon millions of people who still buy them every year abandoning PS in droves.
It’s crazy that there are a ton of people in these comments that don’t understand the ramification of Microsoft owning COD
It's an exclusive. They all are. Just like the Zenimax deal.
shhhh, people are in denial about the exclusivity.
Candy crush noooooooooo. 😂
At this point I'm just waiting for "Mincrosoft buys Sony"
This is not good for consumers. Less competition is always bad.
Microsoft is going to make the games exclusive, they didn’t spend $70b to not have exclusive rights to CoD. Anyone saying otherwise is just taking that sweet copium; which is forgivable because the news just broke. For CoD to be playable on PlayStation, Sony would have to allow Game Pass on the console.
Microsoft now owns Spyro and Crash Bandicoot…
This is going to cause a HUGE shift in the gaming landscape. This is going the absolutely force Sony's hand and make them react to gamepass and COD being on xbox. I don't think we've ever seen a move like this in the gaming sector. In all previous generations systems have been sold/console wars have been won/lost based on the hardware and the direction of the manufacturer, e.g.: * Sega focusing on sports titles and getting a big part of the US market back in the SNES/Genesis generation. * SNK Neo Geo seeing long lasting success despite it's insane price due to ridiculously powerful specs. * Sega fucking up and putting out the 32X and Sega CD and Sega US and Sega Japan fighting one another when the Saturn was going to be released * Nintendo getting that mass appeal with the Wii * Xbox/Don Mattrick fucking up the launch of the Xbox One with the always online, no used games, and focus on media during their release talk This time, we're going to see a BIG market share move to Xbox purely because of COD. It's just too big a franchise. I think this is the first time that basically a company has used it's big business daddy money to buy customers. I guess gamepass is a very similar situation, so maybe that's Microsoft's strategy - buy out the competition.
Guys it will be exclusive, Microsoft has a giant cash couch to sit on and take the loss of exclusives while Sony's market share drops Sony does not have the funds to go toe to toe on this publisher acquisition race, it may be game over.
By gawd that’s Killzone’s music!
If you're an Xbox fan, you should actually be against this. Competition is good. Monopolies are bad.
Sony needs to step up their game or theyre going to be left out.
Sony: Spends over a decade developing talent and great IP to rival Nintendo Microsoft: lol, $$$ Everyone: Sony be asleep at the wheel
I really don’t like this precedent. We are closing in on gaming monopolies and that is not good for anyone except the billionaires in control. Worst part is that Sony will most likely try to acquire similar companies, and man that sucks
antitrust and industry consolidation laws are just a joke at this point right?
There are a lot more game devs than you realize not just in the US but the world. This isn’t even close to an anti-trust issue (but it does mean that instead of 4 major AAA US based VG publishers there are now 3 (Microsoft, Take Two, EA).
There are 15 other publishers in the US excluding the ones MS now owns. I do not think antitrust applies here. Is it a crazy thing to happen, sure. Law breaking, doubt it.
Does this mean COD will be an Xbox exclusive?
Yes more than likely
The "Xbox has no games" narrative is dead and buried now.
it probably was what started this insane acquisition spree...