If M$ bought out Activision, would it be game over for Sony?

Actually M$ has the cash to buy out Activision, EA and Ubisoft tomorrow and put an end to the console wars. Nintendo would still exist in their niche market but Sony would be history.

I think MS should at least buy one of those companies so they can have a bunch of "exclusives" which everyone here goes crazy for.

it would not matter sw is too cool to play activision games these days. :P

I heard on the news today that a "gaming company" had been bought out for a billion dollars plus by some unnamed corporation and honestly my first thought was: " MS finally forked up the dough and bought Acti".

Found out EA bought Popcap. i.e. something I could not give a s*** about.

If MS reeealy wanted to be the market leaders, they should have done that long ago. It's too late now though, CoD's insane popularity won't last much longer methinks.

IF they did that than Sony would probably offer EA and outrageous sum of money to buy them, which would be the end for MS since all Activision publishers for consoles in Call of Duty.

Either way that would never happen

Those companies you listed would actually have to be on the market before Microsoft could buy them. Then they have issues like shareholders and boards of directors to navigate. Why would shareholders agree to narrow the market their investment serves by limiting their games to one console? You are familiar with the economic theories of "markets", no?forrester_fire

Welcome to the amazing magical imagination land of System Wars.

Those companies you listed would actually have to be on the market before Microsoft could buy them. Then they have issues like shareholders and boards of directors to navigate. Why would shareholders agree to narrow the market their investment serves by limiting their games to one console? You are familiar with the economic theories of "markets", no?forrester_fire

if you throw a couple hundred million at the board of directors the numbers telling stockholders how it would benefit them would be there.

it won't happen but rest assured that it is not because of honesty.

MS don't have enough money to buy Activision, plus it's anti-competitive, i'm not sure USA would allow the transaction to take place due to the marketshare of console games Activision brings to the table, it would be the end of a lot of games for Sony but one law suit and a high court ruling would kill MS's new aquisition.

MS should buy Activision and EA. That would be funny day on SW.

Activision Blizzard is a publicaly held company whose assets are primarily owned by Vivendi. They could buy out subsidiaries of Activision, but getting the whole company would cost more than you think.

MS don't have enough money to buy Activision, plus it's anti-competitive, i'm not sure USA would allow the transaction to take place due to the marketshare of console games Activision brings to the table, it would be the end of a lot of games for Sony but one law suit and a high court ruling would kill MS's new aquisition.

JohnF111

http://ycharts.com/companies/MSFT/assets

http://www.dailyfinance.com/financials/activision-blizzard-inc/atvi/nas/balance-sheet

100 billion vs.13 billion

MS don't have enough money to buy Activision, plus it's anti-competitive, i'm not sure USA would allow the transaction to take place due to the marketshare of console games Activision brings to the table, it would be the end of a lot of games for Sony but one law suit and a high court ruling would kill MS's new aquisition.

JohnF111

They absolutely could afford to buy them, in theory, but it would never happen for a number of reasons.

[QUOTE="JohnF111"]

MS don't have enough money to buy Activision, plus it's anti-competitive, i'm not sure USA would allow the transaction to take place due to the marketshare of console games Activision brings to the table, it would be the end of a lot of games for Sony but one law suit and a high court ruling would kill MS's new aquisition.

Riverwolf007

http://ycharts.com/companies/MSFT/assets

http://www.dailyfinance.com/financials/activision-blizzard-inc/atvi/nas/balance-sheet

100 billion vs. 5 billion

Activision is owned by another company. They aren't their own entity. They're worth much more than that.

[QUOTE="JohnF111"]

MS don't have enough money to buy Activision, plus it's anti-competitive, i'm not sure USA would allow the transaction to take place due to the marketshare of console games Activision brings to the table, it would be the end of a lot of games for Sony but one law suit and a high court ruling would kill MS's new aquisition.

Riverwolf007

http://ycharts.com/companies/MSFT/assets

http://www.dailyfinance.com/financials/activision-blizzard-inc/atvi/nas/balance-sheet

100 billion vs.13 billion

People here don't see how these corporate buyouts work. MS could never by Activision. First of all, MS would be stupid to spend nearly all their money on Activision. Activision is owned by Vivendi, so it's worth a lot more than the raw numbers show. Also, there are tons of laws that would not permit it.

[QUOTE="forrester_fire"]Those companies you listed would actually have to be on the market before Microsoft could buy them. Then they have issues like shareholders and boards of directors to navigate. Why would shareholders agree to narrow the market their investment serves by limiting their games to one console? You are familiar with the economic theories of "markets", no?Riverwolf007

if you throw a couple hundred million at the board of directors the numbers telling stockholders how it would benefit them would be there.

it won't happen but rest assured that it is not because of honesty.

[QUOTE="JohnF111"]

MS don't have enough money to buy Activision, plus it's anti-competitive, i'm not sure USA would allow the transaction to take place due to the marketshare of console games Activision brings to the table, it would be the end of a lot of games for Sony but one law suit and a high court ruling would kill MS's new aquisition.

Riverwolf007

http://ycharts.com/companies/MSFT/assets

http://www.dailyfinance.com/financials/activision-blizzard-inc/atvi/nas/balance-sheet

100 billion vs.13 billion

It would cost significantly more than 13 billion to buy them though.

IF they did that than Sony would probably offer EA and outrageous sum of money to buy them, which would be the end for MS since all Activision publishers for consoles in Call of Duty.

Either way that would never happen

BPoole96

Maybe they can get the COD back on-track then? Heil68

[QUOTE="Heil68"]Maybe they can get the COD back on-track then? _VenomX

Edit: "As of November 27, 2009,Call Of Dutygames had sold 55 million copies for $3 billion in revenue." hmm... maybe more than 3-6 billion dollars, in fact i don't think anyone can calculate this other than Activision themselves.

Those companies you listed would actually have to be on the market before Microsoft could buy them. Then they have issues like shareholders and boards of directors to navigate. Why would shareholders agree to narrow the market their investment serves by limiting their games to one console? You are familiar with the economic theories of "markets", no?forrester_fire

sony has actually a higher revenue than microsoft so the question is irrelevant

Microsoft is too cheap to even buya small company. All three of console makers are willing to invest only the bare minimum in software development. I mean look at Nintendo, did they acquire or open even one new studio with their Wii/DS money?

MS don't have enough money to buy Activision, plus it's anti-competitive, i'm not sure USA would allow the transaction to take place due to the marketshare of console games Activision brings to the table, it would be the end of a lot of games for Sony but one law suit and a high court ruling would kill MS's new aquisition.

JohnF111

sony has actually a higher revenue than microsoft so the question is irrelevant

HFkami

Yes. It would be game over for pretty much everybody except MS. Well, I could see Nintendo still surviving. But Sony would be done, unless they had some new media format to push with the system, even then, Call of Duty being exclusive means that system wins.

None of those three publishers would allow themselves to be bought by Microsoft and go from developing for multiple platforms to one. Ridiculously dumb thread, would never, ever happen.

Activision is only surviving on Call of Duty. So no. Once that tank fizzles out, MS is the one that is screwed.

The no-logic game? Sure I'll play. So, in the no-logic world MS buys Acti. Then, since we are in the no-logic world, anything Xbox related doesn't work on Sony TVs anymore. Anyone care to think up the rest of the story?

no

but it would be game over for PC gaming

no Blizzard = no PC gaming

People here don't see how these corporate buyouts work. MS could never by Activision. First of all, MS would be stupid to spend nearly all their money on Activision. Activision is owned by Vivendi, so it's worth a lot more than the raw numbers show. Also, there are tons of laws that would not permit it.

Cheesehead9099

Well MS certainly COULD. Legally it would not be a problem at all. It's not like Activision is a telecom and there is an issue with monopolies. There would still be Sony's studios, Nintendo's studios, Take Two, Bethesda/id, Electronic Arts, THQ, Konami, Codemasters, Warner Brothers. Disney, and a whole host of smaller players. It's actually a rediculous argument to think that the acquisition would be blocked by government force - anti-trust would not even be a consideration.

Anyway, while they COULD do it, it would just be incredibly stupid for them to. And it would be ass-backwards considering they just spent the last decade dismantling their own internal studios. MS is just a very conservative company with where they invest their money. It would be completely irrational for them to acquire ATVI after not really developing their own games internally. MS had the money to develop studios internally, and they STILL didn't even want to spend the money. After letting Bungie go, letting Rare disintegrate, basically stepping out of PC game publishing, does anyone *really* think they are going to pay a massive premium over market value to buy Activision? I actually hope they do. Because it would be hilarioiusly stupid.

Additionally if they were too cheap to outright buy Nokia to get into the mobile phone hardware, they aren't going to spend a relatively similar amount to buy a company that basically does nothing but a few key video games and NOTHING else (basically they have MMO cash flows, and call of duty, and that's it). Seriously Activision is an unbelievably overvalued company when you think about what it is exactly that they actually own and produce. It would be much cheaper for Microsoft to beef up their own game studios, but oh wait, they gutted their internal studios instead. LOL.

The no-logic game? Sure I'll play. So, in the no-logic world MS buys Acti. Then, since we are in the no-logic world, anything Xbox related doesn't work on Sony TVs anymore. Anyone care to think up the rest of the story?

QQabitmoar

Sony's PCs only run Linux, thus initiating the downfall of Windows.

You are aware that Sony also has enough money to buy Activision, EA, or whatever have you BUT seeing as how these companies are not looking to co-brand, i.e. put themselves up for auction it will never happen. Activision rakes in billions each year off of CoD alone...Microsoft or Sony would have to pay a huge amount that they most likely would not want to pay, they would also have to buy the rights to IPs like CoD or Guitar Hero which would also be expensive.

inb4 this becomes a consolite war about who of their favorite console companies has the more money.

None of those three publishers would allow themselves to be bought by Microsoft and go from developing for multiple platforms to one. Ridiculously dumb thread, would never, ever happen.

Merex760

It's not about "allowing themselves" when it's a public company. It would no longer be a concern of Activision if they were on "multiple platforns" or "single platforms". In an acquision they would be bought out, so it would be MS's problem at that point to decide what platforms to put it on (PC+XBOX or just XBOX). If MS *REALLY* wanted Activision, I'm sure they could get them. But it would probably cost more like $20-25 Billion to get shareholders to all agree. The reality is that it won't happen because even for MS, that's a hefty chunk of change, and it's a big stretch to assume that CoD and even Warcraft will have the staying power to justify $20+ Billion valuation (especially if you put CoD on just one platform, that right there reduces the value of the property).

The decision for MS would be to develop internally, or spend $20 Billion on acquiring this company. If they were serious about producting gaming CONTENT, don't you think they'd be MUCH better served spending $20 Billion on their own internal studios? Spending $20 Billion to invest in their own studios I'm sure they could develop some amazing games over the years, but from the looks of MS they don't appear to serious about their gaming content anyway.

It isn't as simple as just having "enough" money to buy Activision. It is a publicly traded company, and investors aren't just going to sell it away.meetroid8

You are aware that Sony also has enough money to buy Activision, EA, or whatever have you BUT seeing as how these companies are not looking to co-brand, i.e. put themselves up for auction it will never happen. Activision rakes in billions each year off of CoD alone...Microsoft or Sony would have to pay a huge amount that they most likely would not want to pay, they would also have to buy the rights to IPs like CoD or Guitar Hero which would also be expensive.

KevinPlanet

Wrong.

Nintendo survived without 3rd parties, Sony has both 1st and 3rd... Plus Sony doesn't really need COD to be successful althou there are rumors about Diablo3 comming to consoles which could save Acti after COD dries a bit.

Anyways why would MS buy Acti? They only care about kinect anyways.

I heard on the news today that a "gaming company" had been bought out for a billion dollars plus by some unnamed corporation and honestly my first thought was: " MS finally forked up the dough and bought Acti".

balfe1990

Oh, Activision Blizzard is worth far more than a billion dollars

Your guess was way off :P

Business Wars.