Skip to content
Do you have adblock enabled?
 
If you can read this, either the style sheet didn't load or you have an older browser that doesn't support style sheets. Try clearing your browser cache and refreshing the page.

(Kotaku)   UK regulators are very concerned about Microsoft having the ability to make games console exclusives. Sony seen twiddling its thumbs, as it would never do such an outrageous thing   (kotaku.com) divider line
30
    More: Interesting, World of Warcraft, Heart, Call of Duty, Microsoft, Blizzard Entertainment, Warcraft, Robert Kotick, European Union  
•       •       •

367 clicks; posted to Fandom » and Business » on 08 Feb 2023 at 12:20 PM (6 weeks ago)   |   Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook



30 Comments     (+0 »)
View Voting Results: Smartest and Funniest
 
NeoCortex42 [TotalFark]
2023-02-08 12:16:59 PM  
This obsession over Call of Duty is just weird.  You know you can just make a different game, right?  If it's better, people will jump ship.

At least Microsoft's exclusives tend to also get day-and-date release on PC lately.  I'm not a huge fan of all the consolidation in the industry, but between the Big 3, Microsoft is easilythe most open to multiplatform releases, even for its in-house games.  They even often show up on Switch after a bit.
 
imashark [TotalFark]
2023-02-08 12:27:29 PM  
I'm mega-pissed that FFXVI appears like it will be a PS5 console exclusive. In their original trailer, Sony's materials said,

"and on PC"

So, as a member of the PC master race, I was happy.

Then, on the end of the next trailer, it said

"and on PC 6 months later"

Which made me irritated, but okay whatever. I'll just have to be disciplined to not watch any spoilers.

Then, in an interview with producer Naoki Yoshida, he said,

"I've not heard of FFXVI coming out on PC. Just buy a PS5!"
(paraphrased)

Which of course made me unpleased.

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure Sony wouldn't do such a thing.

bastards
 
G. Tarrant [OhFark]
2023-02-08 12:36:08 PM  
It's one thing for the regulators to raise points about this, but it does seem ridiculous that *Sony* keeps complaining about this, given the number of PS exclusives has dwarfed the number of Xbox exclusives for years now. Not just with studios that Sony runs, owns, or has long-term exclusive deals with, but also games that Sony has outright bought exclusivity for (whether permanent or time-gated for a year or more).
 
Concrete Donkey
2023-02-08 12:36:33 PM  

imashark: I'm mega-pissed that FFXVI appears like it will be a PS5 console exclusive. In their original trailer, Sony's materials said,

"and on PC"

So, as a member of the PC master race, I was happy.

Then, on the end of the next trailer, it said

"and on PC 6 months later"

Which made me irritated, but okay whatever. I'll just have to be disciplined to not watch any spoilers.

Then, in an interview with producer Naoki Yoshida, he said,

"I've not heard of FFXVI coming out on PC. Just buy a PS5!"
(paraphrased)

Which of course made me unpleased.

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure Sony wouldn't do such a thing.

bastards


meh. FF is no different than COD these days. Just pump shiat out to formula and do nothing original or interesting in any way, and only make things fractionally better than the previous game.

Remember, FF was the only series that they farked up so royally that they had to nuke the game to fix it
 
Concrete Donkey
2023-02-08 12:38:04 PM  

G. Tarrant: It's one thing for the regulators to raise points about this, but it does seem ridiculous that *Sony* keeps complaining about this, given the number of PS exclusives has dwarfed the number of Xbox exclusives for years now. Not just with studios that Sony runs, owns, or has long-term exclusive deals with, but also games that Sony has outright bought exclusivity for (whether permanent or time-gated for a year or more).


I would say that the real problem is in long term contracts tying shiatty studios to a game franchise. We all have games that we know used to be good until they were gutted for the micropayments and every aspect of the game shifted to that shiat
 
The5thElement
2023-02-08 1:04:40 PM  
I know I'd like to have NBA Jam available for the Playstation. Still love that game after all these years.
 
Flappyhead
2023-02-08 1:20:00 PM  
On one hand I understand companies trying to control IP given how messy copyright can get as games get older.  On the other, fark off and let people have games.
 
Dibikad
2023-02-08 1:30:35 PM  

The5thElement: I know I'd like to have NBA Jam available for the Playstation. Still love that game after all these years.


I know it was available when the PS3 was.....think I might have it on mine. Just looked on the PS App and apparently it didn't carry over, appears to be something similar looking in NBA 2k Playgrounds 2 though. Surprising that it was on PS3 but not able to get it through the Store.
 
padraig
2023-02-08 1:43:12 PM  

Flappyhead: On one hand I understand companies trying to control IP given how messy copyright can get as games get older.  On the other, fark off and let people have games.


Let's not forget that Nintendo enforced it's walled garden with the NEs, because memories were still fresh of the glut of terrible third-party games on the Atari 2600 that precipitated the '83 videogame crash.
 
NeoCortex42 [TotalFark]
2023-02-08 1:45:10 PM  

padraig: Flappyhead: On one hand I understand companies trying to control IP given how messy copyright can get as games get older.  On the other, fark off and let people have games.

Let's not forget that Nintendo enforced it's walled garden with the NEs, because memories were still fresh of the glut of terrible third-party games on the Atari 2600 that precipitated the '83 videogame crash.


Which is funny when you look at the absolute dreck that is allowed to be listed on the Switch eShop these days.
 
misanthropicsob [OhFark]
2023-02-08 1:51:48 PM  
It's A-Me, Exclusive Platform IP!
 
Sgt. Expendable [OhFark]
2023-02-08 1:53:10 PM  

G. Tarrant: It's one thing for the regulators to raise points about this, but it does seem ridiculous that *Sony* keeps complaining about this, given the number of PS exclusives has dwarfed the number of Xbox exclusives for years now. Not just with studios that Sony runs, owns, or has long-term exclusive deals with, but also games that Sony has outright bought exclusivity for (whether permanent or time-gated for a year or more).


When the KOTOR remake was still gonna be a thing Sony was making it PS5 exclusive.

It really makes their obsession with CoD feel like an "every accusation is a confession" thing.
 
imashark [TotalFark]
2023-02-08 2:14:07 PM  

Concrete Donkey: Remember, FF was the only series that they farked up so royally that they had to nuke the game to fix it


Final Fantasy XIV 1.0 in a nutshell
Youtube aWIrju3F6nU


Yes, but the result was an excellent game with reliably productive staff.

I'm looking forward to FFXVI because the same team that is responsible for FFXIV is doing FFXVI.
 
G. Tarrant [OhFark]
2023-02-08 2:29:48 PM  

Sgt. Expendable: G. Tarrant: It's one thing for the regulators to raise points about this, but it does seem ridiculous that *Sony* keeps complaining about this, given the number of PS exclusives has dwarfed the number of Xbox exclusives for years now. Not just with studios that Sony runs, owns, or has long-term exclusive deals with, but also games that Sony has outright bought exclusivity for (whether permanent or time-gated for a year or more).

When the KOTOR remake was still gonna be a thing Sony was making it PS5 exclusive.

It really makes their obsession with CoD feel like an "every accusation is a confession" thing.


One could also point out that currently, Sony is paying incredible amounts of money to get exclusives and time-walled content, for Call of Duty, right now, on the PS4 and PS5. So their hysteria over Xbox potentially getting some exclusive content (especially since MS has made it clear the PS would continue to get CoD) is a bit hollow when they're getting exclusive content RIGHT NOW in the same franchise.
 
Iczer
2023-02-08 4:39:31 PM  

NeoCortex42: This obsession over Call of Duty is just weird.  You know you can just make a different game, right?  If it's better, people will jump ship.

At least Microsoft's exclusives tend to also get day-and-date release on PC lately.  I'm not a huge fan of all the consolidation in the industry, but between the Big 3, Microsoft is easilythe most open to multiplatform releases, even for its in-house games.  They even often show up on Switch after a bit.


Yes and no. The COD nutters are so obsessed with the series that they can't admit that anything else may even be even on par with their precious. Not sure Activision developing a new series titled "Cry to Arms" so something would wrench them away even if the COD series took a crash so epic the Hindenburg would be jealous.

And as to the headline, Sony has actually been opening their gated community lately. Horizon, Spider-Man, Persona, Red Dead Redemption... all of them once were exclusives that have since come out into other platforms. Hell, even God of War is also in PC.
 
Craw Fu
2023-02-08 7:22:26 PM  
starecat.comView Full Size
 
dywed88
2023-02-08 7:32:29 PM  

NeoCortex42: This obsession over Call of Duty is just weird.  You know you can just make a different game, right?  If it's better, people will jump ship.

At least Microsoft's exclusives tend to also get day-and-date release on PC lately.  I'm not a huge fan of all the consolidation in the industry, but between the Big 3, Microsoft is easilythe most open to multiplatform releases, even for its in-house games.  They even often show up on Switch after a bit.


Call of duty is the biggest franchise on hime consoles, by far. If that was exclusive to one, it would massively impact sales of consoles.

It isn't the only concern, it is just the biggest single concern so it gets most of the attention.

And, no, you can't just make a different game. Call of Duty has built up massive brand recognition and loyalty over the last 20 years. You would need at least a decade of highly successful titles to even come close to an equal place in the market to what CoD has today.

And I don't give a fark what Sony or Microsoft say, having either acquire one of the major developers/publishers will stifle competition and harm consumers.
 
NeoCortex42 [TotalFark]
2023-02-08 8:38:07 PM  

dywed88: NeoCortex42: This obsession over Call of Duty is just weird.  You know you can just make a different game, right?  If it's better, people will jump ship.

At least Microsoft's exclusives tend to also get day-and-date release on PC lately.  I'm not a huge fan of all the consolidation in the industry, but between the Big 3, Microsoft is easilythe most open to multiplatform releases, even for its in-house games.  They even often show up on Switch after a bit.

Call of duty is the biggest franchise on hime consoles, by far. If that was exclusive to one, it would massively impact sales of consoles.

It isn't the only concern, it is just the biggest single concern so it gets most of the attention.

And, no, you can't just make a different game. Call of Duty has built up massive brand recognition and loyalty over the last 20 years. You would need at least a decade of highly successful titles to even come close to an equal place in the market to what CoD has today.

And I don't give a fark what Sony or Microsoft say, having either acquire one of the major developers/publishers will stifle competition and harm consumers.


CoD is as big as it is because it's multiplatform. If it went exclusive (which Microsoft has given zero indication they want to do), another developer would gladly fill the gap.
 
dywed88
2023-02-08 8:53:36 PM  

NeoCortex42: dywed88: NeoCortex42: This obsession over Call of Duty is just weird.  You know you can just make a different game, right?  If it's better, people will jump ship.

At least Microsoft's exclusives tend to also get day-and-date release on PC lately.  I'm not a huge fan of all the consolidation in the industry, but between the Big 3, Microsoft is easilythe most open to multiplatform releases, even for its in-house games.  They even often show up on Switch after a bit.

Call of duty is the biggest franchise on hime consoles, by far. If that was exclusive to one, it would massively impact sales of consoles.

It isn't the only concern, it is just the biggest single concern so it gets most of the attention.

And, no, you can't just make a different game. Call of Duty has built up massive brand recognition and loyalty over the last 20 years. You would need at least a decade of highly successful titles to even come close to an equal place in the market to what CoD has today.

And I don't give a fark what Sony or Microsoft say, having either acquire one of the major developers/publishers will stifle competition and harm consumers.

CoD is as big as it is because it's multiplatform. If it went exclusive (which Microsoft has given zero indication they want to do), another developer would gladly fill the gap.


COD is bigger than PlayStation or Xbox now. if the first COD of the next console generation is Xbox or PS6 exclusive, it would drive a crapload of people to buy that console.
 
mjbok
2023-02-08 9:12:23 PM  

dywed88: COD is bigger than PlayStation or Xbox now. if the first COD of the next console generation is Xbox or PS6 exclusive, it would drive a crapload of people to buy that console.


Like say Spider-Man?
 
dywed88
2023-02-08 9:26:31 PM  

mjbok: dywed88: COD is bigger than PlayStation or Xbox now. if the first COD of the next console generation is Xbox or PS6 exclusive, it would drive a crapload of people to buy that console.

Like say Spider-Man?


Spiderman is not even close to the same league as COD in home console gaming.
 
NeoCortex42 [TotalFark]
2023-02-08 9:38:49 PM  

dywed88: mjbok: dywed88: COD is bigger than PlayStation or Xbox now. if the first COD of the next console generation is Xbox or PS6 exclusive, it would drive a crapload of people to buy that console.

Like say Spider-Man?

Spiderman is not even close to the same league as COD in home console gaming.


Minecraft was one of the most popular games on the planet when Microsoft acquired it. If anything, it's gotten even more available since the acquisition, not less.

It's just weird that Sony never gets this same level of scrutiny when they've demonstrated they are way more closed off to exclusives and cross play.
 
mjbok
2023-02-08 9:44:11 PM  

dywed88: mjbok: dywed88: COD is bigger than PlayStation or Xbox now. if the first COD of the next console generation is Xbox or PS6 exclusive, it would drive a crapload of people to buy that console.

Like say Spider-Man?

Spiderman is not even close to the same league as COD in home console gaming.


No COD has outsold spider man.  33 vs 31 (highest COD seller).
 
mjbok
2023-02-08 9:45:50 PM  

mjbok: dywed88: mjbok: dywed88: COD is bigger than PlayStation or Xbox now. if the first COD of the next console generation is Xbox or PS6 exclusive, it would drive a crapload of people to buy that console.

Like say Spider-Man?

Spiderman is not even close to the same league as COD in home console gaming.

No COD has outsold spider man.  33 vs 31 (highest COD seller).


Actually the 33 might include miles morales, but that is on just one console
 
dywed88
2023-02-08 9:49:33 PM  

NeoCortex42: dywed88: mjbok: dywed88: COD is bigger than PlayStation or Xbox now. if the first COD of the next console generation is Xbox or PS6 exclusive, it would drive a crapload of people to buy that console.

Like say Spider-Man?

Spiderman is not even close to the same league as COD in home console gaming.

Minecraft was one of the most popular games on the planet when Microsoft acquired it. If anything, it's gotten even more available since the acquisition, not less.

It's just weird that Sony never gets this same level of scrutiny when they've demonstrated they are way more closed off to exclusives and cross play.


Sony has never tried to acquire a company in any way comparable to Activision.

If Sony was trying to acquire Activision, EA, or Ubisoft I guarantee you this same discussion would be occuring.
 
Unsung_Hero
2023-02-08 10:15:41 PM  
Sony would happily lobby for slavery if it meant they could chain their products to your collar.  There are corporations that try unethically to dominate the market and squeeze every possible cent out of you, and then there's Sony, that wants to own all your stuff even if they didn't even sell it to you.
 
Jim_Callahan
2023-02-08 10:16:23 PM  

NeoCortex42: This obsession over Call of Duty is just weird.


The board doesn't give a shiat about Call of Duty specifically.

What they're noting here is that MS just cut off Sony by buying one of its suppliers, almost certainly materially harming them and possibly illegally interfering with existing contracts between Activision and everyone else Activision had standing contracts with.

Acquiring games from producers who do not have current deals with anyone else to secure their products exclusively is an entirely different thing, and in most places fairly explicitly legal when you're talking about entertainment products so long as you don't become a total or regionally total monopoly (and when the product can be instantly purchased and distributed anywhere on the planet because it's digital, the bar for monopoly is absurdly high).

Tortious interference is a big thing in common law and basically always has been, just because the US ceased to be an actual democracy with rule of law a couple decades ago and lets corporations do anything to anyone at any time doesn't mean other nations based on common-law are going to let things skate without some real effort being made to address obvious discrepancies.  In this case, basically splitting off the properties with existing good-faith contracts in place into a form where those obligations continuing to be met within reasonable expectations will be compulsory, and not rely on some vague airy faith that the rape company for rapists that occasionally also makes a videogame between all the sexual misconduct will ensure an ethical transaction from the goodness of its heart.

// If the MS acquisition causes Activision to cease to exist, basically all of its executives to be fired, and its employees all split up and put under new, stricter management we'll actually have to add this to the short list of corporate monopolies actually improving the world.  For all its shiatty corporate behavior Microsoft has always been known as at least a relatively good employer.
 
mjbok
2023-02-08 10:38:00 PM  

dywed88: NeoCortex42: dywed88: mjbok: dywed88: COD is bigger than PlayStation or Xbox now. if the first COD of the next console generation is Xbox or PS6 exclusive, it would drive a crapload of people to buy that console.

Like say Spider-Man?

Spiderman is not even close to the same league as COD in home console gaming.

Minecraft was one of the most popular games on the planet when Microsoft acquired it. If anything, it's gotten even more available since the acquisition, not less.

It's just weird that Sony never gets this same level of scrutiny when they've demonstrated they are way more closed off to exclusives and cross play.

Sony has never tried to acquire a company in any way comparable to Activision.

If Sony was trying to acquire Activision, EA, or Ubisoft I guarantee you this same discussion would be occuring.


Sony has acquired a ton of Dev studios over the years. None as big as Activision, but Microsoft was not canceling cod on Playstation, can Sony say the same about their acquisitions
 
dywed88
2023-02-08 11:11:10 PM  

mjbok: dywed88: NeoCortex42: dywed88: mjbok: dywed88: COD is bigger than PlayStation or Xbox now. if the first COD of the next console generation is Xbox or PS6 exclusive, it would drive a crapload of people to buy that console.

Like say Spider-Man?

Spiderman is not even close to the same league as COD in home console gaming.

Minecraft was one of the most popular games on the planet when Microsoft acquired it. If anything, it's gotten even more available since the acquisition, not less.

It's just weird that Sony never gets this same level of scrutiny when they've demonstrated they are way more closed off to exclusives and cross play.

Sony has never tried to acquire a company in any way comparable to Activision.

If Sony was trying to acquire Activision, EA, or Ubisoft I guarantee you this same discussion would be occuring.

Sony has acquired a ton of Dev studios over the years. None as big as Activision, but Microsoft was not canceling cod on Playstation, can Sony say the same about their acquisitions


There is a fundamental difference between buying small studios and one of the few major developers/publishers in the industry. If Nintendo or Sony tries to buy one of the big players there absolutely would be massive pushback because the consolidation of massive companies in any industry like that always ends up being bad for consumers.

And there is no reason to think that COD won't be Xbox exclusive long-term. Yes they offered to toss out some candy short-term to try and get the deal approved but there is no reason to believe it won't be exclusive as soon as Microsoft is able to do so. Similar to how Microsoft has announced that upcoming Bethesda games will be Microsoft exclusives.
 
Quantumbunny
2023-02-09 5:18:08 AM  

dywed88: mjbok: dywed88: NeoCortex42: dywed88: mjbok: dywed88: COD is bigger than PlayStation or Xbox now. if the first COD of the next console generation is Xbox or PS6 exclusive, it would drive a crapload of people to buy that console.

Like say Spider-Man?

Spiderman is not even close to the same league as COD in home console gaming.

Minecraft was one of the most popular games on the planet when Microsoft acquired it. If anything, it's gotten even more available since the acquisition, not less.

It's just weird that Sony never gets this same level of scrutiny when they've demonstrated they are way more closed off to exclusives and cross play.

Sony has never tried to acquire a company in any way comparable to Activision.

If Sony was trying to acquire Activision, EA, or Ubisoft I guarantee you this same discussion would be occuring.

Sony has acquired a ton of Dev studios over the years. None as big as Activision, but Microsoft was not canceling cod on Playstation, can Sony say the same about their acquisitions

There is a fundamental difference between buying small studios and one of the few major developers/publishers in the industry. If Nintendo or Sony tries to buy one of the big players there absolutely would be massive pushback because the consolidation of massive companies in any industry like that always ends up being bad for consumers.

And there is no reason to think that COD won't be Xbox exclusive long-term. Yes they offered to toss out some candy short-term to try and get the deal approved but there is no reason to believe it won't be exclusive as soon as Microsoft is able to do so. Similar to how Microsoft has announced that upcoming Bethesda games will be Microsoft exclusives.


I just honestly cannot believe Activision matters in the grand scheme of gaming, and Call of Duty surely doesn't.

Activision Blizzard, by profit is $8.8B revenue in 2021... Of $176B industry wide. It's 5% of the industry by revenue. It so completely does not matter at all, that it's shocking this is even a discussion.

And Call of Duty specifically? Here's some math: Call of Duty Modern Warfare sold 30M copies and is the best selling game of the franchise. Switch has 90M sold... WITH ZERO COPIES OF CALL OF DUTY SOLD, as no version of Call of Duty is available on the console. Turns out you can sell plenty of consoles without Call of Duty.

Sony sold 115M PS4s. From what I can gather - it's shockingly hard to find a platform breakdown of sales for these games - only 7.5M (1 in 4) copies of Call of Duty were Playstation 4. It's not even a majority share. It isn't even the preferred platform of only 2 console options. And more pointedly only 6.5% of people with a PS4 own Call of Duty, let alone supposedly bought a PlayStation to play Call of Duty.

I've seen a lot of screed articles recently and polls that show funny stuff like more people buying a PlayStation for Call of Duty than Sony titles, which might be true. But then how has Spider-Man sold 20M copies as an exclusive BEFORE being released on PC... If they sold demonstrably better than Call of Duty which only sold 7.5M on the same platform?

Certainly seems like despite Call of Duty being a big franchise, it matters basically not at all and is being used as some kind of marketing propaganda by Sony, but it's all complete bullshiat.
 
Displayed 30 of 30 comments

View Voting Results: Smartest and Funniest

Redisplay/refresh comments
This thread is closed to new comments.

Continue Farking

If you like these links, you'll love

TotalFark

Come on, it's $10 a month, just do it.

learn more | sign up
On Twitter

  1. Links are submitted by members of the Fark community.

  2. When community members submit a link, they also write a custom headline for the story.

  3. Other Farkers comment on the links. This is the number of comments. Click here to read them.

  4. Click here to submit a link.