Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard

[Nemesis X2]

I’m not at all convinced by what Phil tweeted there. He spoke of honouring ‘existing‘ agreements. All good. Then he spoke of their ‘desire’ to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Nice sentiment but there’s nothing legally binding there. No doubt Microsoft’s lawyers will be watching everything he says. The name of the game right now is to appear to being as reasonable as possible until the deal’s finalised.

It's purposefully vague and can therefore be interpreted in various ways. Honour agreements was always a given, same as Bethesda, Deathloop and Ghostwrite Tokyo being timed exclusives etc. PS always have COD marketing deals and may have a timed block ongoing agreement of 3yrs marketing for example in which case they'd be referring to such agreements by default meaning the game would have to be on PS.

As for Phil's desire to have COD on PS...well Warzone is still COD, and it's a given it will remain, but we all know his desire is to have GP on PlayStation, and COD would be in GP, so could be interpreted that way too. At the end of the day they don't own Activision yet so can't make sweeping bold statements either way.

 

[reecie]

As said it is all carefully worded. I saw a calculation that in essence "guesstimates" that if you can get 2.7M Sony users onto Gamepass at full rate that equates to the yearly money MS would get from Sony COD sales. Plus you then have all the microtx stuff and extra sales. Either way Xbox should become the best place to play COD be daft for that not to be the case.

 

[shoemaker666]

As said it is all carefully worded. I saw a calculation that in essence "guesstimates" that if you can get 2.7M Sony users onto Gamepass at full rate that equates to the yearly money MS would get from Sony COD sales. Plus you then have all the microtx stuff and extra sales. Either way Xbox should become the best place to play COD be daft for that not to be the case.

It will be very odd for Sony marketing COD which they have the marketing deal for. Also sony will still get timed exclusivity on dlc

 

[shoemaker666]

Activision have lots of IP


Apache Air Assault
Blood Drive
Blackthorne
Blur
Cabela's series
Caesar
Call of Duty
Candy Crush
Commander Keen (the last game in the series was Activision published)
Crash Bandicoot
Diablo
DJ Hero
Empire Earth
Gabriel Knight
Geometry Wars
Guitar Hero (and Band Hero)
Gun
Hearthstone
Heroes of the Storm
Hexen
Interstate ’76
King’s Quest
Laura Bow Mysteries
Little Computer People
The Lost Vikings
Mixed Messages
MTX Mototrax
Overwatch
Phantasmagoria
Pitfall
Police Quest
Prototype
Rock 'n' Roll Racing
Quest for Glory
River Raid
Singularity
Skylanders
Solider of Fortune
Space Quest
Spyro the Dragon
StarCraft
Street Hoops
Tenchu (the first three games only)
TimeShift
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
True Crime
Wizards and Warriors
World of Warcraft
Wreckless
Zenji
Zork

Hi-Res Adventure #1: Mystery House
Hi-Res Adventure #2: The Wizard & The Princess
Hi-Res Cribbage
Paddle Graphics
Skeetshoot
Hi Res #6: The Dark Crystal
Ultima 1: The Original
Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash
Apple Cider Spider
Aquatron
BC’s Quest for Tires
Creepy Corridors
Flip N Match
Learning with Leaper
Mine Shaft
Oil’s Well
Pest Patrol
Sammy Lightfoot
Stunt Flyer
Troll’s Tale
Wall War
King’s Quest
Mickey’s Space Adventure
Donald Duck’s Playground
Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood
BC’s Quest for Tires 2: Grog’s Revenge
Learning with Fuzzywomp
Mr. Cool
Sierra’s Championship Boxing
Story Maker
The Wizard of Id’s Wizmath
The Wizard of Id’s Wiztype
King’s Quest 2: Romancing the Throne
King’s Quest 3: To Heir is Human
Space Quest: Chapter 1 – The Sarien Encounter
The Black Cauldron
Wrath of Denethenor
Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel
Leisure Suit Larry 1: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards
Sierra’s 3-D Helicopter Simulator
Thexder 1
Gold Rush!
King’s Quest 4: The Perils of Rosella
Manhunter: New York
Mixed-Up Mother Goose
Police Quest 2: The Vengeance
Space Quest: Chapter 2 – Vohaul’s Revenge
Silpheed
Hero’s Quest: So You Want To Be a Hero?
The Colonel’s Bequest
Leisure Suit Larry 2: Larry Goes Looking for Love
Manhunter 2: San Francisco
Space Quest 3: The Pirates of Pestulon
King’s Quest: Quest for the Crown (SCI)
David Wolf: Secret Agent
A-10 Tank Killer
Codename: Iceman
Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail
King’s Quest 5: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!
Leisure Suit Larry 3: Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals
Quest for Glory 2: Trial By Fire
Oil’s Well
Firehawk: Thexder The Second Contact
Sorcerian
Space Quest 1: The Sarien Encounter (SCI)
Rise of the Dragon
Heart of China
Stellar 7
Red Baron
Laura Bow 2: The Dagger of Amon Ra
The Laffer Utilities
Leisure Suit Larry 5: A Little Undercover Work
Mixed-Up Fairy Tales
Police Quest 3: The Kindred
Space Quest 4: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers
Jones in the Fast Lane
The Castle of Dr. Brain
Zeliard
Leisure Suit Larry 1: Land of the Lounge Lizards (SCI)
Quest for Glory 1: So You Want to be a Hero? (SCI)
Police Quest 1: In Pursuit of the Death Angel (SCI)
The Adventures of Willy Beamish
Nova 9
Gobliiins
Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood
EcoQuest 1: The Search for Cetus
Quest for Glory 3: Wages of War
Aces of the Pacific
The Incredible Machine
Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
Caesar
Quest for Glory 4: Shadows of Darkness
EcoQuest 2: The Lost Secrets of the Rainforest
Freddy Pharkas Frontier Pharmacist
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
King’s Quest 6: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out
Space Quest 5: Roger Wilco The Next Mutation
Police Quest 4: Open Season
The Shadow of Yserbius
The Island of Dr. Brain
Pepper’s Adventures in Time
Alphabet Blocks
Quarky & Quaysoo’s Turbo Science
Crazy Nick’s Software Picks Collection
Betrayal at Krondor
Aces Over Europe
The Even More Incredible Machine
Sid & Al’s Incredible Toons
Lost in Time
Ween: The Prophecy
Goblins Quest 3
Inca
King’s Quest 7: The Princeless Bride
Yobi’s Magic Spelling Tricks
Slater & Charlie Go Camping
Outpost
Alien Legacy
Lode Runner: The Legend Returns
Aces of the Deep
Battle Bugs
The Incredible Toon Machine
The Incredible Machine 2
Metaltech: Earthsiege
The Last Dynasty
Inca II: Nations of Immortality
Lords of the Realm 1
NASCAR Racing 1
Police Quest: S.W.A.T.
Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within
Space Quest 6: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier
The Lost Mind of Dr Brain
Phantasmagoria
Torin’s Passage
Conqueror A.D. 1096
Lode Runner Online
The Incredible Machine 3
Earthsiege: Battledrome
Caesar 2
Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail!
The Time Warp of Dr Brain
Phantasmagoria 2: A Puzzle of Flesh
Lighthouse: The Dark Being
The Realm
Rama
Shivers
Birthright: The Gorgon’s Alliance
Cybergladiators
Hunter Hunted
Silent Thunder: A-10 Tank Killer II
Fast Attack
Earthsiege 2
MissionForce: Cyberstorm
Urban Runner
Lords of the Realm II
Civil War Generals
NASCAR Racing 2
Betrayal in Antara
Shivers 2: Harvest of Souls
Red Baron II
The Roberta Williams Anthology
Outpost 2: Divided Destiny
Lords of Magic
Civil War Generals 2
Quest for Glory 5: Dragon Fire
King’s Quest 8: Mask of Eternity
Police Quest: S.W.A.T. 2
Leisure Suit Larry’s Casino
Cyberstorm 2: Corporate Wars
Starsiege
Caesar 3
Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned
S.W.A.T. 3
Return to Krondor
NASCAR Racing 3

 

[jdevil]

Gamepass is surely changing the Game industry in a huge way as well as people's spending habits. I would easily spend £200 a year on 4/5 games each year. Past 3 years I must have spent a combined £200, £130 for 3 years Gamepass Ultimate and £70 buying games through Xbox VPN (mostly games I knew that would not hit Gamepass like Valhalla and Cod cold War).

I'm still not sure how the Industry would benefit if I'm spending less overtime unless the Gamepass loophole closes and we're all forced to actually end up paying £130 per year then people may have a change of heart.

 

[King Tones]

I think I would still pay Full Price to be honest, I mean Gold went from cheap deals to maybe £45/50 and I paid it and that was just for Live and maybe sometimes a Game With Gold that was worth loading up. Add on top another £80 and I get access to loads of games.

I think at full price for GamesPass, Live, xCloud and EA Play it's a bargain for gaming plus all the Perks each month and Rewards on top.

I can spend £130 on a night out and just have a hangover the next day

 

[jdevil]

With the Activision games include then it really is value for money especially as I would often buy COD for £45/50 each year.

But like Netflix, it starts at £5.99 then creeps up to £11.99.

 

[King Tones]

I mean I also do Game Share so it halves that plus I use Reward Points to top it up so not like I am going to spend real money on it or full price but can see the value.

Helps that I also share other Subs like Netflix and Disney

 

[iwb100]

Funnily enough I was chatting to someone who works in legal for a tech company today and they said ‘Funny how that went out as a tweet and not part of any official communication or anywhere on the MS website or in their formal call’.

Meaning that on twitter it’s simply Spencer’s personal view and pretty irrelevant. They were careful not to put it anywhere it could be seen as contractural.

But then maybe Spencer is just a good guy and he does think cod stays multi platform. Or perhaps given Sony have a deal till 2024 or 2025 and cod has to release on PS5 it’s a good thing to say because by the time it’s not in their deal nobody will remember what he said 5 years back. And maybe he doesn’t work there anymore. And if cod goes every two years as rumoured we all might be dead before this is an issue.