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Do you believe Microsoft acquisition of Bethesda will be overall good or bad for the industry? (self.gaming)

submitted 11 months ago by alertsleeper to c/gaming

10 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Personally, on the one hand, yes they are going to have more exclusives, but that’s PlayStation’s whole model since forever, they can’t talk about that.

On the other hand, PS acquires and/or founds small/medium size studios, they don’t go and buy Activision-sized companies and make established cross-console AAA titles exclusive overnight.

So I think I’m against the acquisition, but not really sure lol

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[–] dtjones 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think we're in a weird spot where there is currently less competition to make amazing games because Sony has been so dominant. It came out in the FTC trial (or because of it?) that Sony just pays developers for exclusivity. If the console with 80% of your sales is going to also give you extra money, why wouldn't you take that?? Then as a consumer, the pattern becomes that Xbox gets less exclusives (or gets games a year later). Why would I buy an Xbox if it's roughly equal to PS but gets games a year later lol?? This is like a vicious cycle.

The exclusivity deals and consolidation are 100% anti-consumer but I'm hopeful that this will redouble PS-Xbox's competition. E.g., it looks like Xbox really wants starfield to be a massive success; they could have released the game last year but they opted for another year of polish in order to cement a huge winner for the platform. What if every major exclusive got that treatment? That is a win for gamers imo. Only time will tell.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

To add to this, if Microsoft wasn't the one attempting to buy out Activision, then the alternative was going to be some other big company like Google, Amazon or Tencent, IMO we would be worse off in those situations.

The console race in the last 20 years has really allowed whatever leader exists to be anti-consumer, Xbox showed this when they were dominating for most of the 360 era, and as Sony clawed back market-share towards the end, as well as taking advantage of the Xbox blunders towards the beginning of last generation, they also started to go back to anti-consumer ways. The classic one is cross-play, why would the market-leader allow cross-play giving access to their large player-base to their competition. We almost need this back-and-forth in the market to ensure competition.

[–] dtjones 2 points 11 months ago

The whole industry is hellbent on a race to the bottom, with the exception of a few companies who release extremely high quality content once every 5-10 years. I would say that I'm less of a gamer today because of so many disappointing letdowns from groups like Activision. I'm honestly surprised that this is more of a problem than purchasing Bethesda or Obsidian. The court case basically only focused on COD - what about the rest of Activision's massive IP portfolio?? It just seemed like an afterthought in comparison.

[–] jesterraiin 3 points 11 months ago

I don't care in the slightest providing Starfield and TES6 will be as good as advertised.

[–] 47_Alpha_Tango 3 points 11 months ago

I’m against it because Xbox exclusives have been lower quality since they started coming to GamePass day one.

But on the other hand with the prospect of losing CoD Sony might develop a AAA first party FPS and that can only be a good thing.

So I suppose it’s got it’s pros and cons.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

From your language it seems you're really just pro-playstation.

This isn't about Microsoft vs Sony, this is about your choices as consumer. Sony doesn't get to complain because their entire business model is exclusives, but I get to complain. I don't care that Sony has been doing it (in fact they've been better recently, still not ideal but better).

You have everything to lose and nothing to gain in this, with the exception that Activision blizzard is filled with sexists and rapists and that hopefully Microsoft can clean them out.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Sony probably would make Activision and Bethesda sized purchases, but they really can’t

[–] 47_Alpha_Tango 1 points 11 months ago

I can see an EA or Ubisoft acquisition by Sony after this goes through. I kind of hope it’s EA. I’d like to see Phil Spencer try and argue that exclusives are bad and Xbox needs FIFA.

[–] STUPIDVIPGUY 2 points 11 months ago

I'm against all corporate conglomerates, and I guarantee it will reduce the quality of their products

[–] hahattpro 1 points 11 months ago

Bad, I think.

When game company own by corp, they focus on ROI rather than enjoyment and reputation.

You will see incomplete release, first day big patch, in-app microtransaction, battlepass.

And a game will cost like tripple A game, 69.99$, 89.99$, with multiple version like: Stardard, Deluxe, Ultimate, ...