Microsoft buys Activision-Blizzard

Sony lost their chance in VR and just dont realize it. Microsoft is mostly the same, their mixed reality platform is dead too. Valve knows they lost their chance, it's why they've gone quiet on vr and all about the steamdeck atm. Oculus with the quest 2 has thrown such a perfect best of both worlds pitch with the quest 2 that it makes easy converts on all sides of the debate. It would be better for either company just to cut a deal with meta and get xbox or playstation support for the quest 2 rather then investing in a vr headset of their own.

Existing contracts means little to anyone that doesn't know what those contracts are... So all of us.

Call of Duty could still just mean warzone.

Overwatch not mentioned.

Still, that multiplatform future is still there.

I don't know why people are saying GP will be one PS, I just can't see that happening. Just like I don't imagine Spartacus will ever be available on Xbox (natively).

I can see a lesser version of it (such as Xbox-only games) some day coming to PlayStation, but probably not the full version. For example, when Hades was released last year, why buy it on PS5 if you're getting it free on Gamepass on your PS5? Why pay for the higher tiers of whatever revised PS+ they're coming out with if many of those games are on Gamepass too?

Sony need to build up and push people towards their own version of GP (PS+++ or Spartacus or whatever).

As someone who doesn't care at all about COD anymore (like most people I loved it years ago) I think it going exclusive whenever the current contract expires would be a good thing. It would be a major blow to Sony not having that FPS to rely on and they would need to finally back one of their own studios to make something to fill the void left. I'd love another SOCOM for starters.

COD is one of the worst things about gaming right now if you're an FPS fan. It's a cash cow for both MS and Sony which curbs any desire either company has to invest money into the development of a decent alternative because there is no need to. I still play BF4 due to this and that game is going on 9 years old now.

That is the way I hope it plays out anyway 😄

It's no different to the 360 days, when Sony would push for it when they had more to gain than lose.

I actually do think this deal, as of right now, is less interesting than the bethesda deal - I'm more excited about Dishonoured, Doom, Wolfenstein, ES, Fallout, Starfield, Deathloop 2, Redfall etc and see them as more interesting than CoD or Overwatch, which are really the only two AB console games that are worth caring about at the moment, in terms of the hugeness of this deal.

For this deal to become a real interesting one from a gaming perspective and my own perspective, I will be looking forward to the other titles we get from this.

A new Crash Bandicoot or Spyro title could be interesting (and amusing)

New titles in the Tony Hawks, Tenchu or True Crime series' would be really interesting to see.

But beyond that it would be what can the various studios do if MS gives them more freedom to create titles rather than being focused on titles that can be exploited on a yearly basis as AB seemingly was focused on.

Realistically, where does Sony go from here?

I don’t really think it changes all that much right now. They’ll still focus on first party content, PSVR2 and they’ll merge PS+ and Now into a single entity, maybe adding a lot of historic PlayStation classics onto it. They’ll still have a lot of support from Japanese studios too.

If MS continue their spending spree however they could be in real trouble. Whatever about CoD, if MS bought EA it would be a massive blow. However. FIFA makes billions of its own through FUT and that’s one of many franchises, so you’d imagine they’d cost several tens of billions more, and it would really set anti trust alarm bells off. So it’s unrealistic, just feels less unrealistic since this deal has gone through.

If I was Phil and wanted to continue spending though, maybe something like Altus if it were possible. Really strong back catalog for game pass and would certainly help in the Japanese market.

I'd love to see Call of Duty drop the annual release.

I hadn't played CoD for ages, but word of mouth on the 2019 Modern Warfare and the whole enforced staying at home, had me curious.

Turns out it was a damn near perfect game, and warzone got myself and the lads back playing nightly for the first time in years. Of course, that all feel asunder with the release of Cold War and Vanguard. MW 2019 would have had great staying power, and could easily have been supported for 3 years or more. Activision sacrificed all their smaller studios to service the Cod juggernaut and its annual releases.