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EU to rule on Microsoft's $7.5 billion ZeniMax deal by March 5
- Thread starter Theorry
- Start date
I don't like the deal, and hope it never happened. But there is literally nothing wrong with it. "European law" can't make stuff up to please people on resetera.com.
Only thing really happening in this thread are people throwing around monopoly and anti trust without actually knowing what they mean. Zenimax wanted to sell. I'm sure they talked to Sony about it too.
Yup.
And what arguments would the EU regulators give to stop the acquisition? "They have too many RPG studios" like someone else has said already? Come on.
It's not possible to have a monopoly over a genre.
Literally any dev could make a WRPG if they wanted to - MS owning a number of studios with a pedigree in the genre isn't going to stop them.
This is hands down the funniest shit I've ever read on here. Imagine someone arguing this in court. "But no one else can develop western RPGs now, your honor." hahaha. Some of y'all need to get real.
There are no rules stopping this. By the way Microsoft makes most of their money with Azure, in which they are #2 in the market. There are only two or three categories Microsoft could be seen as a monopolist or duopolist. Windows, Office365 and LinkedIn. Their other businesses such as Teams, Azure, Bing, Surface and Xbox are nowhere near any monopolistic situation.
"I want to play it on PS, therefore I don't approve and my EU regulator mates, who own a switch don't approve it, too.". To answer your question seriously... I don't even know, because there is no legal reason to not allow it.
there's no defense force, you can't make up bogus arguments using legal terms and expect not to get called out. and european law will do nothing here, as this deal isn't against any law. this is a standard procedure.
Just realized you asked the same question on reddit and got the same answer in both places.
This isn't what a monopoly means and Microsoft almost definitely asked for a preliminary ruling before proceeding to the acquisition so there's very little chances the EU objects to it. Not like there'd be any precedent to it.
"European law" approved the Disney-Fox merger with only minor caveats so we should all drop the pretence that anti-trust laws have teeth anymore (EU or otherwise).
Pretty much this. This is gonna be a long year for some folks on here.
Yes sadly. But we also shouldn't think this is even a antitrust case in the first place.
The EU cares about markets and industries, not about specific genres. It's not like Microsoft can use a dozen RPGs to make sure nobody buys The Witcher 4 or something like that.
Thread turned embarrassing real quick.
This will constantly and forever be ignored by specific people.
Exactly the fileing show that they are evaluating it against the activity J.58.21 - publishing of computer games for all platforms. It's very hard to see how you would end up with a SSNIP-test showing Microsoft having monopoly power over publishing of computer games due to merely aacquiring Bethesda.
They wouldn't block it in any case. The only thing they would really do is tell MS to offload one or two of the European studios. But since between them they only have 4 studios in the EU that ain't happening.
exactly
these topics continue to have hilarious takes in them based off of nothing but bias
the other topic on the main page has someone saying its a monopoly because too many WRPG
EU blocking it won't result in Zenimax not selling. They'll just sell to someone else instead, if everyone (America, EU, Japan, ...) blocks the move.
Good to know. I wonder if we'll get a Xbox direct in April then.
No lies detected.
It's an acquisition and this is SOP. I'm sure nervousness is the last thing on Phil's mind.
I don't think they care about Zenimax selling, more just who they're selling to.
This is not about the studios in EU. Where does this misinformation come from?
EU antitrust laws are about where these companies do business, not where these companies or studios are located.
I think it is Rare, Mojang, Playground Games, Ninja Theory, ID software Frankfurt, Arakane Lyon and Machine Games in Upsalla Sweden.
What other studios do they have there? Those would be 7.
i don't think anyone's worried in the slightest.
yeah.
since the company wanted to sell and was looking for a buyer for a few years, i'd love to know who else people would have preferred to buy them.
Either way there are no grounds to make a case the deal shouldnt go through.
Monopoly on the RPG genre is truly laughable.
Again, this is not about the studios that are located in the EU. It's about the acquisition as a whole.
I guess Rare and Playground aren't part of any EU commision anymore anyway? UK isn't part of the EU anymore.
Yep, this. It's ironic that at least two of the rumored options (Amazon and Google) are worse than Microsoft, because they have no history in this business and haven't shown yet how they manage first party studios. Furthermore the Bethesda games would be limited to less plattforms, if Google or Amazon bought them. The last argument can be used against Sony as well, because they usually support just PS and occasionally PS Now/PC.
I wish Zenimax wouldn't have decided to sell to someone and stayed independent. However I still disagree with your assessment, because this isn't close to a monopoly or a antitrust issue. Companies should be allowed to purchase other companies, if it's to compete more in a market.
For those curious, here are prior MS and Gaming cases
Now, I'm not an expert, but reading through this I think these will be the three biggest questions and answers.
1. With Microsoft and Zenimax owning launchers, will this in any way adversely effect competition in the PC space.
Answer: No. The market is dominated by Steam, GoG and Epic and will continue to be so. MS will likely still put games on Steam anyways.
2. Will this deal effect the ones signed by PlayStation with Zenimax (i.e. exclusivity on Deathloop and Ghostwire, games on PS Now, Fallout 4 in the PS Plus collection)
Answer: No. They will continue to honour past agreements as already publically stated.
3. Will this give Microsoft an overnight majority of the market and overtake its competition without having to compete in the EEAA (European Economic Activity Area)?
Answer: No. Xbox has the smallest marketshare by far in the area. PC is an open platform. Major third parties will still remain.
Now, I'm not an expert, but reading through this I think these will be the three biggest questions and answers.
1. With Microsoft and Zenimax owning launchers, will this in any way adversely effect competition in the PC space.
Answer: No. The market is dominated by Steam, GoG and Epic and will continue to be so. MS will likely still put games on Steam anyways.
2. Will this deal effect the ones signed by PlayStation with Zenimax (i.e. exclusivity on Deathloop and Ghostwire, games on PS Now, Fallout 4 in the PS Plus collection)
Answer: No. They will continue to honour past agreements as already publically stated.
3. Will this give Microsoft an overnight majority of the market and overtake its competition without having to compete in the EEAA (European Economic Activity Area)?
Answer: No. Xbox has the smallest marketshare by far in the area. PC is an open platform. Major third parties will still remain.
The only reason to block the deal will be political. Like sending a message to all tech giants. But i really doubt it.
UK isn't in the EU.
Where do you think those studios "do business"? Disney had to let go of a few EU based channels during the Fox merger. That's the limit of what the EU would do. They won't do that though, because 4 studios is a tiny amount.
That moment you find out the head of the monopolies board is a huge Fallout fan.
Usually, this means they don't want to bring the money to the US because they would have to pay US taxes on it doing that.
Sums it up. Good post.For those curious, here are prior MS and Gaming cases
Now, I'm not an expert, but reading through this I think these will be the three biggest questions and answers.
1. With Microsoft and Zenimax owning launchers, will this in any way adversely effect competition in the PC space.
Answer: No. The market is dominated by Steam, GoG and Epic and will continue to be so. MS will likely still put games on Steam anyways.
2. Will this deal effect the ones signed by PlayStation with Zenimax (i.e. exclusivity on Deathloop and Ghostwire, games on PS Now, Fallout 4 in the PS Plus collection)
Answer: No. They will continue to honour past agreements as already publically stated.
3. Will this give Microsoft an overnight majority of the market and overtake its competition without having to compete in the EEAA (European Economic Activity Area)?
Answer: No. Xbox has the smallest marketshare by far in the area. PC is an open platform. Major third parties will still remain.
Forgot about brexit for a second, like in my early school days every new year I would mark the dates on my school books and notebooks as the previous year and it took me a while to get used to the new year, guess brexit hasnt settled in yet.
Also Ninja Theory not part of the EU commision either then, so it really is only 4.
microsoft threads always deliver the memes. first "is game pass legal?" and now this.
Xbox, the american branch, is doing business in Europe as well so what you're saying makes no sense. The EU will review the entirety of Microsoft and Zenimax' business in Europe, not just their few european studios. They will then determine if this merger provides a threat to the single market and its competition laws, and if it doesn't, will allow the merger to happen. If they have issues, they might require some amendments.
