substill

That’s the Cheesecake Factory.

“Oh no! Our engagement is up right when we’re prepping for an IPO.”

We’re handling this breakup about as well as a woman faking a pregnancy.

Ok Malcolm.

Meh. From my antitrust course in law school (which was admittedly a long time ago), nothing about this screams antitrust. I don’t see that this deal gives Microsoft monopoly power over any defined market, and Microsoft definitely hasn’t flexed any existing monopoly power over the gaming space.

Certainly Microsoft has a history of anticompetitive action and flouting monopoly power whenever it has the chance in a sector. But I don’t see this deal as giving Microsoft a vertical or horizontal monopoly. It’s just typical consolidation within the industry. It’s not for consumers, but it isn’t the result of illegal price fixing type arrangements between competitors or using an existing dominant market share to overpower the market. That isn’t illegal. That’s just a shitty industry with shitty practices.

The best argument against allowing the deal to close, under US law, is likely targeted towards the cloud and subscription models. Microsoft really does seem to have a huge edge there. But I’m not sure anyone in the industry (except Epic Games) wants to challenge the subscription practices on another player’s hardware.

So telling that Sony waited until the weekend after the Ninth Circuit denied the temporary injunction appeal. This is the same deal Microsoft proposed months ago as a means to offset anticompetitive concerns. Sony waited to give the FTC ammo for the case, but otherwise was ready and willing to ink the contract.

I’m not a fan of massive consolidation of media companies (though I think that goes without saying for most fediverse users). But using Call of Duty as a rallying cry was a false alarm from the get go. Microsoft recognized from the outset that would have been a dealbreaker. Microsoft offered great terms to Nintendo and Sony to guarantee continued access on all current platforms.

For me personally as a consumer, Zenimax and Activision are about the only viable options I can see to give Microsoft decent single player games. Microsoft has been so far behind Sony and Nintendo for so long. Microsoft has tried to build a stable by adding smaller developers, but they just can’t match Sony and Nintendo AAA products.

Remember when Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert drove an electric car to leave a press conference about fossil fuels? Then was photographed a half block away ditching it for a full size SUV? Then was arrested for financial crimes involving unreported payments to a young man who Hastert? Then it was revealed that Hastert was paying the young man hush money? Then Hastert pled guilty to felonies because the hush money was to cover up Hastert’s molestation of multiple young boys when Hastert was their wrestling coach?