Sacred Symbols+, Episode 156: Mergers and Whack-quisitions (Video)

Capcom isn't even the biggest possible target!

Colin Moriarty

If Microsoft buys another publisher PlayStation will be forced to buy Capcom. I don’t care about Call of Duty, but there are thousands of people who bought a PS5 to play it.

Lee Duncan

I'm hearing PC Gamepass isn't too hot.

Colin Moriarty

They cannot. That is why they should see where they can disrupt the market, which is a blind spot for MS and Colin said here the correct thing: creativity in smaller, incubated internal teams and exclusives. Then VR. MS is doing everything they can to move Sony to play their game, because they know their strength - budgets and money to spend. That is why the arguments from Chris and Dustin were so depressing for me, as this is exactly what MS wants Sony to do - get them into the same playfield, play by their rules, which they know have a giant advantage.

Germanos

Before all of these acquisitions, my secret to being a master gamer was owning a PS5 and a PC with a Game Pass subscription. But now that all of this is happening, it's really screwing up my whole pla--.... oh wait... Yeah, never mind. I don't care.

Dave Carsley

I'm not sure they can compete on the same level.

Colin Moriarty

Yes; there are a few others.

Colin Moriarty

Colin. Hope you're well? Microsoft made Forza Motorsport &; Forza Horizon, two of the most beloved racing franchises. I know you're not a racing game fan but it is an example of an IP that "resonates with the industry". They also have a lot of much older IP that were hits at the time. Crimson Skies comes to mind but I'm sure there are others (Dungeon Siege maybe? Could be that all those early PC games were just published by MS but they are part of the heritage nonetheless). This deal might be the push for Sony to look at Socom and other languishing IPs if they believe CoD will go Xbox/PC exclusive?

Greg Dawson

I couldn't listen to Dustin's and Chris take. Sony cannot go the same route, for fuck sake, guys! Microsoft can do Game Pass because they pay for it by non-game industry money. Why is this so hard to understand 😭 Colin's as usual on the spot with his takes. New game day one on a subscription will kill PlayStation as Microsoft can do this game longer and invest more. They need to complete on a level that cannot be filled with money because MICROSOFT will always win there.

Germanos

Interesting take.

Colin Moriarty

This is very apples and oranges. Who has ever been mad at Xbox for second party games and third-party exclusives? It's the most reasonable way to hedge.

Colin Moriarty

It's as I said: I hope liberating IP A or giving Studio B a new life (wishful thinking, this is a megacorporation we're talking about) is worth seismically reshifting everything, for everyone.

Colin Moriarty

Yes, my thoughts exactly!

Caleb Shelton

Even at scale, are you faulting Microsoft for having more money than Sony? Sony started a war with a company with 15 times more money. This is what happens when you refuse to play nice and lock down everything. I fully believe Microsoft Xbox wouldn't make anything exclusive had Sony not been so bullish on keeping IP only to themselves. You reap what you sow.

Caleb Shelton

Surely you can see the difference? It’s a question of scale. Spider-Man has been owned by Sony for two decades, and those are exclusives on a game by game basis. The equivalent might have been for Microsoft to buy and IP like Harry Potter or Batman and make it exclusive. Instead they have bought two of the biggest publishers in the industry, including multiple development teams and dozens of IPs, and will own them forever. And it’s not about being ‘salty’ it’s about concern for where this leads the industry. They couldn’t have been clearer in the podcast.

Rich Price

Nintendo showed us that quality matters. Sony showed us that technology matters. Microsoft showed us that community and interconnectivity matter. But then, I would argue that Sony showed us something else matters. Content matters. The exclusivity deals that Sony have been relentlessly pursuing are significant. Some IP carry so much weight. Final Fantasy and Persona are two huge JRPG franchises. The same is true for Street Fighter among fighting game fans. In regards to the KOTOR remake and Elder Scrolls VI, had Sony had their way, both would have been exclusive for an indefinite period of time. Those games ARE the WRPG genre. Sony doesn't own Square Enix, but the effect is the same. Sony would not have owned Bethesda Game Studios, but the effect would have been the same. Sony showed us that content matters. That’s what this Activision/Blizzard/King acquisition was about. Sony, in my opinion, has brought us here.

Ian Everett Trout

To add to your comment people praise the two year exclusivity of Kotor (originally an Xbox title) then get angry about hellblade. Collin saying Microsoft should just build all these teams sounds like a good idea, but Sony hasn't made a new studio in 23years my understanding is everything after Santa Monica (1999) has been acquisitions. 99 was a different climate otherwise I'm sure Sony would be building more teams rather than acquiring pre-seasoned teams. I get where he's coming from I just don't completely agree with him. That is the beauty of conversational podcast though (thought provoking subject matter)

Brian k lane

When Sony made Spider-Man exclusive. I was told get over it and buy a PlayStation. When Wolverine went Sony exclusive, I was told to get over it . Microsoft responded in a competitive way and I’m supposed to be outraged?

Cammoses87

Listen.. I get it… acquisitions are bad and all that… but as someone who has watched world of Warcraft get its budget cut over and over again simply because it doesn’t make as much money as candy crush… and someone who has fallen off cod and would love to see these support teams that are stuck on cod duty to back to making actual games, and us seeing cod actually perhaps have innovation… I really can’t see the bad in this… it also seems like Phil wants to keep cod on PlayStation…

Tyler Bello

It could be. You cannot ignore the value.

Colin Moriarty

I would hate to see it happen, but I feel like something like that is possible.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you for your kind words.

Colin Moriarty

Great podcast. Disney buying Sony is the last thing I want, but it would certainly stop Microsoft’s plan short. They would never need to backdown.

Rich Price

Loved listening to the discussion. To me, the ultimate goal for Microsoft in these acquisitions is to make Game Pass ubiquitous. They want it everywhere, and I think this is how they're going to begin to apply that pressure to Sony. You guys have discussed it in the past, but this seems like how they would begin to stack the deck to make that insane reality possible.

Zachary Zelinsky

Another fantastic SS+ episode i think we will still be feeling the shockwaves of Microsoft buying Activision/Blizzard for years to come.

Wayne Moss

I'm not sure I agree. SEGA had vision, but lacked execution or coherence.

Colin Moriarty

I will always say my piece. =)

Colin Moriarty

=)

Colin Moriarty

I don't think Xbox was that innovative. Most of the stuff they did Sega was already doing. The difference was the amount of money they had.

Jeremy Seal

Just like that, the console wars are hot again. I haven't heard if I'm shipping out yet, but everybody waiting for the word is on edge. Spending as much time with my family as I can for now. Reading these comments, I do find solace in Colin's clap back game. Don't bother with these kids trying to kick your shins over game consoles. Great episode as usual gentlemen.

MJ SKA BOI

What does this have to do with anything? Very weird comment.

Colin Moriarty

You know, I keep making "murder and execution" references. In light of this news, today, I don't think that I want to... Long live Sony!

Max Stahl

Thank you. Welcome!

Colin Moriarty

Thank you.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, Microsoft did us all a favor!

Colin Moriarty

Then I don't think you listened to the episode.

Colin Moriarty

Most influencers have no intellectual or economic depth, and just want to buy things.

Colin Moriarty

I was really disappointed to see many in the games media/influencers trying to spin Microsoft owning more of the industry as a good thing.

It came out that Acti approached MFST for a purchase, this is why these kind of knee-jerk fanboy whine fests are annoying. ACTI approached THEM TO SELL , STOP BEING SALTY AF.

Colin, just wanted to let you know I joined this patreon tier specifically to hear your take on this topic! Keep up the excellent work.

This feels like Copium, not gonna lie.

Cole Kinghorn

You're right, MS should have let Tencent or FB get Activision. We know that would be great for the industry.....

Plissken

Your best single episode out of every podcast I've listened to so far in my opinion. You guys covered so much from so many different angles. Keep killin' it!

Nerd Boi Games

Hey John, wrong thread!

Colin Moriarty

Next week.

Colin Moriarty

Definitely moving towards a digital future. Propertyless? Not on my watch.

Colin Moriarty

I am also playing Vita. =)

Colin Moriarty

Hey CDC, Hope all is well. My question is in regard to the recent "whack-quisition" by Microsoft. I wholeheartedly agree that this Microsoft/Activison deal is disastrous for the industry and anyone celebrating this as a consumer is going to lose in the end. Understandbly this a playstation centered podcast and I know most questions coming in this week will be focused on how Sony should "react!" But focus should also be equally aimed at Nintendo. Thoughts on how this would effect them, if at all? Thanks for all you do - John P.S. Nintendo's net worth is $59.39B

As important as this discussion is, and might I add how well you guys laid it out on the table, can you make this episode free for non-Patrons? I really want to share this with my friends, and through this thoughtful podcast, you may gain some new followers with the offering of good faith. This was an excellent discussion.

Tony Rivera

I can’t believe people can’t see what Microsoft is really doing. These mergers and Gamepass are all about one thing. The Great Reset. “You will own nothing and you will be happy”

Alexander Dean

And I'm just here playing my PS Vita and trying to buy games for it. :D Anyway, great episode, I love hearing this kind of in-depth analysis.

We'll see. I hope they just continue to invest in new things.

Colin Moriarty

Could be.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you!

Colin Moriarty

All deals happen at a 45% premium? Don't think so, professor.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you.

Colin Moriarty

I think Nintendo is in another realm doing another thing.

Colin Moriarty

A billion is a lot, there's no doubt about it.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you for your kind words.

Colin Moriarty

They have virtually no record of successful internal development. They've always gone and poached. That's fine if people are into that; I find it hollow and corporate. It is what it is.

Colin Moriarty

It's funny that pundits are talking about Game Pass coming to PlayStation, which I've said for literally three years.

Colin Moriarty

They will almost certainly retaliate, and that sucks.

Colin Moriarty

If you want to insult people, make sure you get it right. It's "deep seated."

Colin Moriarty

Maybe.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you.

Colin Moriarty

Yes, salt. Good input.

Colin Moriarty

The only people defending it are those who are looking to score easy points. The way Sony conducts business and the way Microsoft conducts business are in no way similar; that would require a working knowledge of how Sony's first party has grown, shrunk, and then grown again, which most critics simply don't have.

Colin Moriarty

Yes, Microsoft's long history of turning studios around should really come into play here...?

Colin Moriarty

You sound nice. (As we discuss in the show, Hoeg tells us the chance of this being stricken down by antitrust issues is "not zero," but that the three billion guarantee indicates confidence. That certainly sounds a lot smarter than what you just said.)

Colin Moriarty

I definitely think the holistic picture of the situation must indeed include Sony being acquired by an outside entity.

Colin Moriarty

They had one! It was called PubFund, and it gave us a ton of great games. They don't care anymore.

Colin Moriarty

Sony buys Konami/Konami IP and Square-Enix ...In the wise words of one Chaz Michael Michaels; BOOM! Sony is gaming! lol, just kidding around but would be an interesting response. However, much like how you have discussed I really don't want to see things getting more and more monopolized.

Josh Jelen

You and me both!

MarkGrouch

I’m with you, but even saying “COD players on PS” are the unfortunate casualties: Like, first of all, PS has had CoD timed-exclusivity and exclusive content deals for like a decade or more, so I’m not shedding any tears that that may now transition to Xbox. Secondly, I can’t imagine CoD will be exclusive beyond those types of deals they had with PlayStation now being for Xbox. Seems more like a Minecraft situation rather than an Elder Scrolls one or something, which I find strange that many are assuming the latter first.

Caleb Greer

I feel like this is more so a move against Google, Amazon and Facebook than Sony.

Chris Evans

Good to hear all the concerns I thought of in my head since the announcement yesterday were brought up here. I'm honestly baffled at the people cheering this on. This is highly concerning and I'm worried for the future of gaming.

RobinDF

Sacred Symbols + is the best gaming podcast out there. Incredible value and worth my subscription. Good work fellas.

John Harlan

Colin, Love you, but your takes on acquisition prices are not great. All acquisitions happen at a premium over pre-deal market prices. The 45% premium Microsoft paid for Activision is really close to the average premium paid on all deals across all industries. This is not a case of "over paying." There are very good economic reasons that premiums like this exist. By almost any metric Microsoft got a pretty good deal here. Just to let you know I am not talking out of my backside, I am finance professor and financial analyst and have worked in and around the industry for 30+ years.

Prof JJJ

Salient points raised in this episode.

Elliott Morgan

I'm surprised there was little mention of Nintendo. Do you think that they aren't really affected by this at all? Do they need to have any response of their own? Or are they so far removed that they can continue doing their own thing? I think that Sony’s response to this could very much impact Nintendo. A lot of third party Nintendo games are published by Square Enix, Bandai Namco, and Atlus. Bandai Namco specifically has even developed some of Nintendo's first party games. If Sony took one of those publishers away it could be pretty bad for them.

Good episode, the difference between these 2 companies in terms of money is staggering and raygun is right it's hard to wrap your head around billions of dollars for most people. Put in terms of the passing of time and for me, it makes it easy to wrap my head around how big one billion is. 1 million minutes is about 11 days or so, 1 billion minutes is about 31 YEARS lol. There isn't anything that Microsoft can't buy really, How they proceed forward is precedented by who is whispering louder in MS's ear the cherub or devil lol. great show guys thanks.

Chris

First off, what a great show guys! Colin was on 🔥. Brought up points I didn't really consider. On a surface and personal level I own all the systems so I won't miss anything, and generally I think people make too big a deal of exclusives. I understand gaming is an expensive hobby and not everyone has the means to buy all the consoles, but this isn't like being able to only by electricity from Con Edison in NYC with literally no other option unless you go solar. At the end of the day it's just videogames. However, the affect on the industry itself is MASSIVE, and I just wanted to give a shout out to the boys for such and informative show and giving a perspective I would have overlooked if I had not listened. 👍

Evan Erickson

Xbox showing up to the field with all the best equipment their rich parents bought them, and then you see them run and they look like a wheezy dork missing a contact lens. $77b in two years just to lose to Sony and Nintendo for Game of the Year every year for another two decades.

Colby Freda

I think Colin said a few months back about there being a more curated list of games if a version of gamepass shows up on PlayStation. At the same time I can see Sony being a bit stubborn. And hopefully laugh Microsoft away just like Nintendo did when MS tried to buy them. It will be interesting to see if this changes anything about project Spartacus. I have a gut feeling that it is gonna be a bit underwhelming. But we shall see. Hopefully they will be able sort out some sort of backwards compatibility for pre ps4 games. Not something I would personally use, but would be a good PR move. And backtrack on the 10 quid upgrade fee, that has never sat right with me. This latest news has me even less keen on getting an Xbox or subscriping to any of their services. I might even get a MAC to replace my windows pc. 😂

Johnny Shoulder

I do admit that waving around that nightmarish amount of money to buy entire game studios like that is freaky, and I really hope PS doesn't lose out on COD and Crash etc. And I certainly hope that Sony doesn't then retaliate and buy Square/Capcom (and further force me to buy their games on PS and/or have even less PC support). But there is an excitement in all this, for sure. My only satisfaction is in knowing I have all the platforms and I'm not the fanboy I used to be. However, as a mainly PC and Xbox player these days, it DOES benefit me greatly, but your concerns are very much valid.

JusticeSoulTuna

I love the sodium and deep seeded bias of these guys. The deal will be done and millions will benefit. I look forward to more whining.

@Colin is that a "dank nugs" pipe? ;-)

warren chue

I'm speaking hypothetically. If Sony had done this, then there would be none of this condemnation or atleast there would be very little.

But sony won't acquire such a company because the money Microsoft spend is way out of sony's range. Sony could never have done this.

I paid a sub purely to hear Colins bias in all its glory. If this had been Sony acquiring activision he'd be singing from the rooftops. You along with many others for years took the piss out of xbox for not having games. They realise the subscription model of business is the future. Its not their fault they're ahead of the game. Youre jealous af. BTW the fact you're a Microsoft shareholder doesn't mean you wouldn't prefer Sony taking Activision, it's irrelevant.

Just here for the salt. Carry on

PORK ‘n’ BEANS

Lots of salt today - understandably so. Microsoft is continuing to force GamePass availability across platforms. One element I didn’t here talked about on this episode: Sony can react by allowing GamePass on PlayStation.

Daniel

After sitting at my desk and listening to everybody’s reactions to this all day it’s kind of funny that the most negative takes are coming from the people the least affected by this move. The employees have been tweeting out support for this move and inside reports are saying that the idea of joining Xbox’s dev friendly studios is spreading positivity around the company. Blizzard fans are happy they now stand a chance to get their favorite franchises back like StarCraft, Warcraft and others that Activision said they will never make again. The COD fans are happy that the franchise is going to a company that they have hope will treat COD with care. The truth is that Activision needed to be bought out to fix the situation they where in. Xbox was literally the best case scenario here. They have made strong moves to expand Xbox to three platforms so they’ll be available to more players then they would with Sony. If they got bought out by Tencent I think we all know how dire that would have felt for fans and employees. What about Blizzards history on PC that has been nearly abandoned by current Activision? What better company then Xbox to bring that portion of gamers the games they love back? Colin saying “ I dare anybody to say anything good about this” like there’s nothing good that can come from this is hyperbolic as hell. After listening to different opinions on this all day this was the best case scenario for Activision. One group of people lost from this acquisition and that’s COD players on PS. Unfortunately casualties are imminent when the take down of a major corporations board and CEO take place. The people who care about those games and work for that company are in much better hands and I’m personally happy for those people that are excited.

bix hutch

Surprised you got so many people defending this and using the timed exclusivity as a reason. Can’t help but feel like people are missing the forest for the trees. Timed exclusives suck, especially the really long ones. But this is just evil - Sony’s heavy dependence on fostering extremely talented studios that collectively propelled it to another level is what made PlayStation what it is today. Third party support has always been strong, and they could have gone without securing timed exclusives, which they strategically used throughout the year to bolster their repertoire, but at the end of the day people talked about the exclusives that Sony developed. You came for those, and enjoyed the rest of the games in between Sony studio releases. Microsoft is a giant, and while you can’t have Xbox without Microsoft, it wasn’t Xbox that gave them the ability to make these juggernaut moves, it’s Microsoft. On the contrary, Sony’s games division and studios are what got them to where they are. To say that success was no earned you would be lying to yourself. Microsoft is basically throwing its weight around to remove competition instead of organically gaining users through creation. You guys are being too hard on Colin for making similar points. It’s okay to defend this move but it’s also okay to admit the way they’ve gone about this is also dirtying the playing field. Others pointed out that it HAS to be this way, because of Netflix and Disney, this is the future apparently, what sad days we have to look forward to. Final Note: I do 70% of my gaming on my PC, just listen to digital foundry’s immediate take on this and realize that not all impartial gamers are down with this move.

Jason K

Extra thought::: Microsoft has potential incentive to bring games to all platforms: avoiding antitrust eyes. In a decade or so when more consolidation has been finalized, Microsoft can flip exclusive game pass switch.

Benjamin Sagar

I don’t see anything wrong with the acquisition, makes sense for both parties. Between the state of Warzone and how bad the past 3 Call of duty’s have been and the sexual assault stuff, I’d much rather see Xbox take Activision over and straighten them out. Also I’d much rather see American companies like Microsoft buy these studios then the inevitable Chinese companies buying them all up.

Keenan

takeaway Microsoft is competing with amazon, google, meta, apple on a much larger scale than with with Sony. Short term, “affordable” acquisition Sony could make is bungie or CD Projekt Red. I don’t see the purchasing of any Japanese publisher to even playing field for what cost would be (unless Microsoft continues purchase spree). Mega acquisitions I can see biting are Ubisoft and/or Epic. What seems like more probable scenario in the face of such massive numbers is the purchasing of Sony by apple or amazon.

Benjamin Sagar

Weird that Colin is getting worked up at MSFT for buying ATVI, but never cared that Sony had multiple year deals for Call of Duty despite the sexual harassment scandals.

NotJack

Calling the pro forma MSFT a monopoly only points out that you know nothing about how antitrust laws are calculated. Having 10% market share of revenue doesn't imply a monopoly, it just makes for a bunch of pearl-clutching adult fanboys.

NotJack

I could see Apple buying Sony and getting away with it. Apple needs content for its streaming channel and Sony provides that with Sony picture studios. Apple doesn't have a major presence in hardcore gaming either. PlayStation fulfills that need. Also Don't music would enrich their Apple Music service. Having Sony Tech on their phones could improve their cameras even more. It makes a ton of sense from both sides honestly.

Card Captor Corey

I honestly would want Sony to create a program similar to the EA Originals program, where they fund indie game development, and all the developer has to do is pay back the investment, seemingly interest free. So basically, once the dev breaks even, they keep the profit. In Sony's case, they could have the game be a six month to one year exclusive as part of the funding deal. I think that would foster a ton of good will for Sony and wouldn't be a massive financial drain. Then, in the future, if one of those studios happens to be an award-winning studio, maybe you offer them a couple million to include them in Team Sony.

looper

For some, this is true.

Colin Moriarty

=)

Colin Moriarty

Me too.

Colin Moriarty

Well, consider it!

Colin Moriarty

Listen to the show.

Colin Moriarty

How many people made it to the very end of the episode? 😂😂

Jeremy Shook

Sony has the most loyal fans in the entire entertainment industry, they could just look at the ui all day and be satisfied….it’s unfortunately the way it is.

So what if Tencent buys Sony? You done with Sony?

drivebyjoe

It’s truly wild and unprecedented what’s going on in the industry. I can’t wait to see how Sony responds.

Carlos Enrique Sierra

God. Disney buying Sony is the nightmare scenario that I didn't even consider

The Funky Monk

Thank you for listening.

Colin Moriarty

I mean, they don't need to say that.

Colin Moriarty

It's already happening.

Colin Moriarty

Oh!

Colin Moriarty

They will think of those things, though they shouldn't.

Colin Moriarty

Sony could afford to do whatever they want; it's a matter of how the deal is structured, debt, etc.

Colin Moriarty

Impossible to say, truly!

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, interesting reference for sure.

Colin Moriarty

It's fucked up 'cause it's true.

Colin Moriarty

=)

Colin Moriarty

Great episode as always guys. Crazy times in the industry, I do think Sony will respond with an acquisition of their own, although I agree I don’t want it to happen. I don’t think these gigantic publishers and teams under just one company is good for the industry. If Sony do respond though I think it will be either Square Enix or Konami. Possibly Capcom or FromSoft. I think they will buy Ember Lab too, not that that would be a direct response to Microsoft or anything, I just think they have their eyes on that studio since Kena.

Has MS said that CoD will be day one on Gamepass? People need to consider the possibility that Activision acts as it's own entity under MS control. Thats a whole lotta money to throw away if they put it on Gamepass at it's current price and make it exclusive to their platform.

Nik peltier

I am planning to form the following as a question, too for the next episode of SS but I would like to just get this dreadful thought out of my chest. I am dreading the prospect that this move will ultimately reignite the console war mentality in the community that we had like 10 years ago. Up to this point the trend had been mostly dying out, but considering the fact that there is a possibility that people might start seeing IPs like Spyro, Crash or CoD exclusively on Xbox will make many furious. I am scared of this prospect because, if it happens, it will most likely divide the gaming community as a whole and that would be a sad future… It’s ironic when you remember that MS was the one that practically birthed the term “gaming community”… Cheers to the crew!

Dimitris

" I get to bed at around 11 or 12... And then we just DICK around" ಠ_ಠ

ZerophoniK

At this point, I honestly see Sony thinking about acquiring Square Enix, Capcom, Sega, and even Ubisoft. Not the ideal place to be in, but they were basically forced by Microsoft’s aggression.

Luis N.

All of sony is worth around $150 billion. Nintendo around $55 billion. (I'm sure Microsoft would buy the latter if they could, but Nintendo probably wouldn't sell for even many times their value). So people understand how seismic of a deal this is, Sony likely couldn't even afford to do this. They also paid way above market cap for Activision. It's such a big overpay above their market cap that it seems to me activision put out some silly number and Microsoft took it lol.

Kostas Moros

The gaming eco system 10yrs from now is going to be really interesting. I actually can’t picture what it’ll look like because the unexpected keeps happening. I can have a guess but nothing feels solid, just lots of building.

Kiyral Lodge

They should have at least one FPS from first or second party in development; likely more.

Colin Moriarty

I'd rather they make new teams.

Colin Moriarty

This doesn't move the needle for me, but it definitely will for others.

Colin Moriarty

They are certainly throwing haymakers.

Colin Moriarty

I don't think Chris is wrong at all; they will lose the comparable fight.

Colin Moriarty

I generally agree. I don't have any real interest in a subscription service, because it's not how I play games.

Colin Moriarty

We are lucky. Others are losing out.

Colin Moriarty

Shoutout to Chris with that outer wilds reference. Just played it and it was a transcendental experience.

Tick Dickler

We talk about it late in the show, as I recall.

Colin Moriarty

Well obviously there is money to be made.

Colin Moriarty

There will be more.

Colin Moriarty

Yes.

Colin Moriarty

They should just make new teams.

Colin Moriarty

You're welcome.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you.

Colin Moriarty

In the coming weeks, for sure.

Colin Moriarty

I certainly wasn't one of those people.

Colin Moriarty

Those aren't the only options. They could -- and I know this is crazy, but -- create a team!

Colin Moriarty

They are hardly a distant third place this generation, that's nuts.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, I've dodged bullets, but fear it won't last.

Colin Moriarty

YES WE KNOW.

Colin Moriarty

LOL.

Colin Moriarty

It is fixed.

Colin Moriarty

Yes.

Colin Moriarty

Just have to say I liked the very end :)

Joseph Baker

I'd say anything is up for grabs, save Nintendo.

Colin Moriarty

I'll say.

Colin Moriarty

I feel the same, but I doubt Sony will keep its powder dry now.

Colin Moriarty

Phil heard that Colin subscribed to game pass for $1 and decided to buy all of Activision to get back at him 🤣💀

Spencer Young

Glad to deliver.

Colin Moriarty

<3

Colin Moriarty

=)

Colin Moriarty

You're very welcome.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you!

Colin Moriarty

<3

Colin Moriarty

Enjoy.

Colin Moriarty

Thanks for your support.

Colin Moriarty

Today I’ve heard many comments about PlayStation potentially losing access to Call of Duty, but I wonder if that does not mean that Sony should strive for releasing a FPS of their own. Does it make sense for them to bring back Killzone, Resistance, or perhaps create a new franchise?

Jefferson Souza

Great episode. Not saying that I want it to happen but what if Sony pursues EA to rival the acquisition of Activision?

Rob

I’m more disinterested in Xbox more than ever now.

Brandon Soto

Stellar episode! I thought that with Bethesda Microsoft would sell on both platforms to in a way fund game pass…. I doubt that is the case now. Would a publisher the size of activision be able to pull this off? Would the offset of money made from call of duty sales industry wide help them make game pass profitable? Or are they going for the (Sony)kill?

Michelangelo

Chris is wrong. The last thing sony should do is try to out subscription service Microsoft. Why would you play to your opponents strength? That's stupid. Play to your own strength which is qaulity games and try to buy more qaulity studios to put out more qaulity games. For all of Microsoft's acquisitions they really are starting to pile up ALOT of mediocre /generic content on thier end. Sonys best option is to do whatever they can to highlight that and they'll be fine

Big titty drinker

This has been fixed. Redownload the episode (on the audio post of the show) and you should be good to go. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Dustin Furman

This has been fixed. Redownload the episode and you should be good to go. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Dustin Furman

This has been fixed and only on the audio version. Redownload the episode and you should be good to go. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Dustin Furman

This is so weird because I dont even want a service like games pass, I just want to buy what interests me... So cool if Sony can provide more value, but I dont really like this direction.

Ryan Harvey

Back to back major publishers purchased by Microsoft that I don't really care about. It's been years since I played an actiblizz. As for Sony, I think that playstation may go largely unharmed by this. I'm starting to think that playstation will trend towards being the HBO of gaming. You get less, but you get quality, while Microsoft is trending towards Netflix. Lots and lots of absolute garbage, but sometimes there's a good show in there.

Drew Sleezer

Audio drops out partially into this episode

Jason3d1

Only 12 min in. Everything is resonating with me. The first thought I had about this acquisition is - “physical game purchases are more important than ever.” I’m not too sure I’m confident in digital games going into the future.

gnawtyFOX

Sheesh!!!!!!!! I mean they take Zenimax, they take Activision/Blizzard, they take BASEBALL… What’s next…. Shu!?!?!?!?

Payton Stone

You laid out similar issues I have with this acquisition regarding the broader industry health. I do not particularly want this either. That being said, I am (was, before this morning) a shareholder in ATVI and have played orders of magnitudes more hours of Blizzard games than any other publisher (Diablo, Wow, Overwatch), and from that perspective I am grateful for this acquisition. Overwatch 2 can finally get the funding and organizational power it needs to release sometime this decade, which could revitalize the Overwatch League. World of Warcraft may be able to crawl its way out of the race-to-the-bottom grave it has dug for itself. Call of duty may be able to take a step back - and maybe a few years - to create something truly inspired for a change. It was clear that at the very least, the Blizzard side of ATVI was slowly killing itself by alienating their audience in the pursuit of short-term profits, let alone the terrible work environment and abuse of employees. Maybe these are just the positives that I am focusing on because I am wary of consolidation of gaming publishers. Cheers

Ryan Hayman

Heinous with a capital H!

Luis N.

Hey Colin the podcast version has Dustin muted from about the 20min mark.

Michelangelo

Yah I’m with you. So buying out all the bad actors in Activision (which was literally the only way they were ever going to go) is the same thing as selling your company to communist fucken China?!?!? Really? From everything we know about Microsoft it’s an amazing brand to work for now. Is this move better or worse for Activisions employees? I think anybody with a brain will say it’s a good thing. Taking Bobby Kotic out of the picture with money was the only way it would happen and Colin knows that. Microsoft buying a crumbling infrastructure and attempting to put them back together is now on par with removing black characters from movie posters in China I guess. Wouldn’t a better comparison be a company taking a developer away from Tencent? You know? Removing the problem? Yah unfortunately removing them meant they were going to get paid. That’s what it was always going to be.

bix hutch

I think Sony should respond but not in acquiring a publisher but in announcing an investment in creating a new First Party studio and possibly purchasing a developer of a larger impact that they've worked with before - From Software

I'm pretty sure the EU and US government are actually doing something about this, there should be an article retweeted by Nible on twitter. It might be a VGC article if you wanna check there though

That was quick... That's what she said. Thanks for the content

Liam Mcnulty

This was a super interesting convo. Very insightful overall.

Jakejames Lugo

Was hoping to see Richard Hoeg on this episode. Hopefully y’all do another plus with him 🙏🏿

Yasuke Yosha

Said this on Twitter. Too many people here would have been happy to see xbox fold after last gen and Playstation become a de facto monopoly are now upset with this deal. I don't like xbox making this buy anymore than anyone else but let's not pretend we are all angels.

Adam Turley

Thank god I don’t play any games from activision… like you said, none of these acquisitions really affected me in any way. In the upcoming weeks and months, I don’t know how PlayStation will react… I do not know if putting out top tier super high quality games will be enough. I DO know… that I will continue to play on PlayStation as long as they are around.

PSN: Kalil86

Distant 3rd place company being a monopoly is crazy to say. I don’t see this being the thing that tips the scale to that disaster scenario but I could be wrong 🤷🏿

Yasuke Yosha

Serious question - you guys are always pretty stoked on 1-2 year exclusivity deals, but angry at mergers and acquisitions. Would it have been better if Microsoft took the 68. Whatever billion and purchased 1-2 year exclusivity deals on every/(most) big upcoming title? They obviously have the capital to out bid on most games and after 2 years most if not all the buzz for a game is gone, so you've Essentially bought the game for your system. I'm pretty agnostic on acquisitions as I've personally invested in both consoles and a PC ( I just like playing games) Not trying to stir the pot, just an inquiry. I really love all the shows you and your team have put together. Ps: I didn't tell Jason you guys were crunching before Christmas. I'm sure he'd love to write a scathing article on how bad "communists Collin" drives his team :) have a great day guys (Posted in YouTube comments as well- sorry not trying to spam.)

Brian k lane

Where is the checks and balances to make sure this kind of monopolization doesn't happen?? This is so bad for the industry on so many levels. While I don't want PlayStation to go and buy Publishers and lock them down. I feel like they may have no alternative if they want to survive. I would expect Sony to come out and flex it's muscle also now. I was thinking today. Do you think it's out of the realms of possibility that PlayStation and Nintendo come together and bury the hatchet, not a merger or anything but combine to lock publishers to their platforms to counter Xbox

Zack Fair

Dustin’s audio keeps cutting out

Kiyral Lodge

Thanks Dustin for your input 😂

Brandon Young

Long silence about 30 mins in.

Jake Watson

You have to see a difference between Sony buying the odd studio here and there, and funding the odd exclusivity deal, and Microsoft buying parent companies containing dozens of studios and IP.

Liam Fagan

I think Colin needs to relax a little. Kotick wasnt going out without taking a bag. He owns a large amount of the company and he wasnt under a criminal investigation. This was the cleanest way to get him out and cleanse the company of the scumbags who would have been leftover to fill the vaccum. The only title Activision puts out yearly is COD and nobody knows if that is leaving Playstation. All this does is save a company of people that is spiraling downward and allows tons of teams who have been relegated to support studios to go and make new titles they want. COD has the chance to not be annualized trash every year. Crash and Spyro and Tony Hawk can live again with Toys for Bob or other studios externally or internally at MSFT. Activision gets an HR that actually listens now and holds predators responsible. Do mergers suck? Yes. But please do not say this is ruining the industry because the industry changes constantly and much like movies, streaming and subscriptions is the future and we shouldnt act like this isnt true just because Sony cant hold the gloves up against a competitor who could have eaten them and shit them out years ago, but just decided to treat gaming as a kids hobby they had a closet full of people working on. Sony fans pressured MSFT for years that they needed games and Sony signed down exclusives over and over. They forced the hand of the Giant and now both fans and Sony itself are going to have to deal with the outcome.

Joe B

Yah audio is muted for Dustin at 32:15

I think Dustin's audio is muted starting at about 32:15?

Grant McNeil

While I’m all with you guys on the consolidation of the industry I think people are acting like Sony wouldn’t do this if they could. They do it all the time just on much smaller scales. Remember that Sony tried to keep Starfield off of Xbox. This is a game that Sony has played for a long time. Look at FF7. They have clearly paid to keep that game away from Xbox gamers even longer then intended. KOTOR? Sony is very guilty in this war of keep away and ALWAYS has been. Xbox just decided to start dropping nukes instead. Xbox got completely bullied over the last generation and while Sony made all kinds of “keep away” deals, Xbox was getting laughed at. Now that nobody’s laughing, I see a lot of people crying. I agree that this does suck for PS gamers as Microsoft just bought half of the casual gamers market in one fell swoop. It sucks for me that my favorite franchise Final Fantasy was taken from me to. My biggest concern is that while Phil Spencer is probably easily the most gamer friendly head of the 3 major consoles but he won’t be here forever. If another Don Matrick comes around it could knock down the beautiful skyscraper Phil built and take out everything around it. The Xbox platform expands to PC and mobile so realistically this acquisition is only bad for PS exclusive gamers. Everybody else will probably just get better versions of all of these games. I am happy that studios like Raven and Toys for Bob can make new IPs again though.

bix hutch

A turning point for the entire tech industry as we know it. I'm now very curious to see what else unfolds in the future. Is Ubisoft and EA also on the table? Is Nintendo up for grabs?

Andrew Duda

Ah shit CJ, here we go again!

Eric Bushell

Even after this bullshit acquisition I still don't want Sony to acquire anyone.... most big Japanese devs make exclusives for both Sony and Nintendo so it would be fucked if any of them got acquired.

Kaleb

Been waiting all day for this to drop.

RFK Rodgers 2024

Thanks for this Colin, tweeted at you today if you'd do a podcast on it and you've delivered yet again amigo

Zack Fair

Grabs popcorn

DanXcel

Thanks for the crazy timely content!

Josh Naylor

Appreciate all the hard work and effort you put into get this out so quickly. I will be increasing my tier, you guys deserve the best!

Wyatt the Riot

Going straight from a successful day at work to a sacred symbols plus is what keeps me going. Hell yes. I figured SS+ would be delayed after this morning’s news and I’m glad I was right! Can’t wait to watch, dab pen in hand of course :)

Gandalf

Golly ive been waiting for this all day 😍

Brian Walsh

This!! This kind of on point and more importantly timely posts are why we are here, thanks Colin & Crew

Rob Aitken