Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it has more to do with “if we hold this one up, what does it say about all these other mergers that we let through that are more egregious?”
I can’t believe anyone would approve it to begin with…
The main reason it didn’t face as much resistance is how far behind Sony (and IMO Nintendo) Microsoft is in this console generation. And the merger was still really close to not happening at all despite there being no chance that it turns MS into anything resembling a monopoly.
And since AB isn’t really a platform in the same way Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo are it’s not as though it’s directly reducing competition in that market.
And blocking the merger also benefits the market leader in the space.
And MS is a US company, while Sony isn’t (which matters in the context of the FTC).
I would still like to see a damper on companies buying their way into market dominance. I hate the way Meta bought Oculus and all those game devs and just blew money on device subsidies to get to where they are now. The market leader… owner… of vr.
I just wish they could recapture the magic of the older Xbox systems. Especially the original felt more like a PC. I think they could dominate in that market, especially with Windows installed on it.
I think it would be wise for Microsoft to jump into the console PC hybrid before Valve does.
I can’t believe anyone would approve it to begin with… but then again maybe some bribery was involved.
Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if it has more to do with “if we hold this one up, what does it say about all these other mergers that we let through that are more egregious?”
Oof what a painfully terrible precedent if true.
The main reason it didn’t face as much resistance is how far behind Sony (and IMO Nintendo) Microsoft is in this console generation. And the merger was still really close to not happening at all despite there being no chance that it turns MS into anything resembling a monopoly.
And since AB isn’t really a platform in the same way Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo are it’s not as though it’s directly reducing competition in that market.
And blocking the merger also benefits the market leader in the space.
And MS is a US company, while Sony isn’t (which matters in the context of the FTC).
Ok, interesting points.
I would still like to see a damper on companies buying their way into market dominance. I hate the way Meta bought Oculus and all those game devs and just blew money on device subsidies to get to where they are now. The market leader… owner… of vr.
Xbox, at least, is a 20+ year old brand.
I just wish they could recapture the magic of the older Xbox systems. Especially the original felt more like a PC. I think they could dominate in that market, especially with Windows installed on it.
I think it would be wise for Microsoft to jump into the console PC hybrid before Valve does.
Maybe…lol