Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard

This board does not allow for links, but you can look it up yourself.

This has me very, very worried that Diablo 3 will be the last Diablo game on PlayStation and Switch.

If this goes through there is a 99% chance that will end up being true. Minecraft so far has been the only exception.

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D3 has a good chance of landing on GamePass which is great news for playerbase on XB. If you haven’t sold your PS5, now is the time!

This may also fix cheating as well since now the Owners control the Leaderboards as well.

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Oh, really…

Yeah, I’m expecting it to come to Game Pass, which would mean a huge influx of new players.

Seriously though, Game Pass is worth it, and probably why I use my Xbox more than my PS5.

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nothing will ever get me to buy a XBox, so this is it as far as Diablo games goes. It was one HELL of a run. It is time to move on to something else once D3 support ends.

GamePass is $15/month, so it’s great if you play many games. I don’t and I can’t justify spending $180 on 1 game or $360 on 1 game.

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I mean, yes, the tie rate to consoles typically is under 9 games for the lifespan for your average console user. Microsoft obviously didn’t want to throw away money giving users access to a free huge library. And Sony doesn’t either. (Lifespan of a console, your average user only buys one game a year). But for players who want online access, it’s only like an extra $5, so it is a deal, as it will get people who normally don’t buy more than one game a year to spend an extra $100 or something.

Since I play x-box, I’m not worried, but as Micro has bought Bethesda as well, and stated that Elder and Fallout will still come to PS, I don’t think anyone needs to worry…

The possibilities of cross-platform, at least between PC and PC Lite (XBOX) opened a smidgen.

Sounds like the sort of thing regulators will be looking at.

Asked the same question a few minutes ago on the Russian forum. Late. But we are Russians, God is with us. )

Excellent news. Activision is garbage. Dont really care about D3 since it is boring, but looking forward to D4 and more D2 news.

The winner of this sale is probably going to be…World of Warcraft players. Most likely WoW is going to be included in GamePass which means tons more new players and no real change for veterans. Long time players that are used to pay $15/mo for WoW, now get the entire GamePass library. All the GamePass newbs will have “free” access to hugely popular game. Both still have to pay $60/year for Live tho.

Huh? Elder scrolls and fallout, like every new game under the Xbox umbrella will be Microsoft exclusive. This includes call of duty and diablo 4. Idk about overwatch 2. That might update on playstation, but I’m not counting on it.

Sony better do something, because right now the Series X has far more value than the ps5.

For clarity, I am fortunate enough to have a One X and a PS4 pro, and I really don’t like exclusivity. The hobby is getting too expensive.

Following Microsoft’s acquisition announcement of [Call of Duty] publisher Activision Blizzard, Sony responded Thursday [to the idea] that certain games may eventually become Microsoft exclusives.

“We expect that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform,” [a Sony representative told The Wall Street Journal]. This is in line with what Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer wrote Tuesday following the announcement: that Activision Blizzard games are played on plenty of different platforms, and Microsoft plans to “continue to support those communities moving forward.”

A [Bloomberg report], citing sources, said Microsoft will keep “some of Activision’s games” on PlayStation consoles, but “some content” will be exclusive to Microsoft and [Xbox]. “It’s not our intent to pull communities away from that platform and we remained committed to that,” Spencer told Bloomberg.

Microsoft’s approach to other acquisitions are all over the board: While Microsoft plans to [make highly-anticipated Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6] Xbox exclusives, the company has a history of multiplatform support [with Mojang’s Minecraft]. With this in mind, it’s possible that Microsoft will keep current releases multiplatform, while limiting big new releases with Xbox and PC exclusivity.

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But Sony PSN sub is ~$80 (AUD) a year…and gives you bugger all in comparison imho.

is there any particular reason? I presume you dislike/hate Microsoft?

to be fair MB, not everyone lives on these forums to qualify for being able to post links…most ordinary users will NEVER get this “privilege”

Given Microsoft’s prior anti competitive moves, yes, I will wager that D3 will be dropped on switch and ps4/5 once the deal goes through. ONLY on XBOX and PC. Future Blizzard titles will be exclusives to XBOX/PC too. So yeah, end of the line. Let’s hope the US DOJ doesn’t allow this purchase to go through on the grounds of it being anti-competitive and monopolistic marketing leverage by Microsoft. But hey, the US government and judicial system are both corrupt so, I don’t hold high hopes.

when did they state TES 6 will still come to PS etc? The last I heard, it (and all future TES titles) were going to be XBOX/PC exclusives…

nah, this is the US…the last time the regulators had any male bits (you know what parts I mean) was when they took on AT&T…back in the very early 80s.

exclusivity is great for the company but dreadful for the consumer. You would think that consumer laws were there to protect the consumer, but nah…$$$$$ to corrupt senators far more important.

yup.

This is the very same Microsoft that politically and blatantly interfered with the adoption of ODF (Open Document Format) a dozen or so years ago. That lied under oath back in the late 90s in the US DOJ case (and went unpunished) and pulled political strings to ensure that the judge who originally oversaw the US DOJ vs Microsoft case was pulled from the case for being “biased” LOL.

Some of us weren’t born yesterday, and some of us have very long memories.

At Trust Level 2 anyone can do this…

  1. Copy the URL to the clipboard
  2. Paste the URL into your forum post
  3. Highlight the URL in your post
  4. Click the </> button in the editor
  5. This will turn your URL into pre-formatted text
  6. Whilst not clickable, the URL will be properly formatted so others can copy / paste it like this… http://www.ThisIsAnExample.com/HowToMakeLinks.htm
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I stand corrected as far as Bethesda is concerned. I could have sworn I’d seen a statement like that…
That alone would convince met to switch to X-Box, as I guess the PS payers are truely boned. If Gates Inc ever bought Ubisoft, there’d be no reason for me to even own a PS. And to think that a few years back I was considering getting a PS to play the exclusives…

I guess. Not the same as posting an actual URL though is it…the “L” does stand for “link”.

yeah well, that’d be a further extension of a monopoly, wouldn’t it…it’s already a monopoly (Microsoft owns a monopoly in the computer operating system and office productivity sectors, that has gone unpunished for a VERY long time). Don’t expect the corrupt US political and judicial systems to stop that from happening.

I don’t hate Microsoft, but I already have a PS4 and a PS5. I will not buy another system just to play one game.