Blizzard will have a Campfire Chat about the Diablo 4 changes

Diablo 4 global community development director Adam Fletcher revealed the developer will be holding a Campfire Chat tomorrow, July 21, to “talk more” about the player feedback surrounding the class nerfs and other changes that were made in the Season 1 update. The chat will be held at 11 a.m. PT and will feature Fletcher, associate game director Joseph Piepiora, and designer Joe Shely.

The Diablo 4 Season 1 update, which was released on July 18, made a swath of changes in preparation for the start of Season of the Malignant. Of the class nerfs in the patch, the Barbarian Hammer of the Ancients, Druid Werewolf Shred, Necromancer Bone Spear, and Sorcerer Ice Shard were the skills that were hit the hardest. The reduction to the Barbarian skill in particular was felt to make a lot of the class’ endgame builds redundant.

Another of the controversial changes made was to introduce level requirements for World Tier III (level 40) and IV (level 60). A small update made today has now removed that requirement. The patch notes for update 1.1.0b also made it so Malignant Hearts always grant armor that directly maps with their item power.

In the meantime, the start of Season of the Malignant has come with its own issues. Blizzard has reported that players in the Americas have been facing “unusually long queue times” and has been working to get all players into the game as quickly as possible. Of course, long queues aren’t a new problem for the game and are something that should be expected at the launch of a new season.

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Overwatch 2’s rocky launch keeps getting rockier

The financial report in question from the second quarter of 2023 lays out the seemingly dire situation regarding Overwatch 2’s competitive league. It started out by saying that it continued to “face headwinds” and detailed how teams will hold the league’s future in their hands. They can either receive a $6 million termination fee from Activision Blizzard or continue onward.

“During the second quarter, we amended certain terms of our collaborative arrangements with team entities participating in the Overwatch League. According to the amended terms, following the conclusion of the current Overwatch League season, the teams will vote on an updated operating agreement. If the teams do not vote to continue under an updated operating agreement, a termination fee of $6 million will be payable to each participating team entity (total fee of approximately $114 million). As of June 30, 2023, a termination liability has not been accrued.”

This huge decision doesn’t have any sort of date associated with it, but it hasn’t come out of nowhere. According to The Verge, the company just laid of 50 people in its esports division. Esports reporter Jacob Wolf also reported in May 2022 that Activision Blizzard was owed around $125 million to $150 million in franchise payments (which were initially postponed because of the pandemic). In June 2023, Sport Business Journal reported that Activision Blizzard canceled some of those fees. The Overwatch League then lost a whole team, as the Chengdu Hunters left in June.

This all paints a grim picture of the league’s long-term viability, but it seems as though there are plans in place to continue competitive Overwatch in some form. Overwatch League commissioner Sean Miller told The Verge in the aforementioned report that the company was “committed” to the game’s competitive future.

“I want to be clear on one thing in particular, that Overwatch remains committed to a competitive ecosystem in 2024 and beyond,” said Miller. “And we’re building toward a revitalized global scene that prioritizes players and fans.”

Miller didn’t provide further details, but said the team is looking at other Overwatch leagues like Apex, which was a South Korean tournament series.

“We’re in ongoing conversations with teams internally and [players] are our top priority to ensure that this transition, should it occur, happens in the best way possible,” he continued. 

Miller expressed optimism for the future, which was not matched by The Verge’s sources that were laid off nor does it appear consistent with the various other previously mentioned developments.

Overwatch 2 itself has also taken some lumps. While players have constantly ragged on the sequel for its gameplay changes, heavy monetization, and number of missing features, the biggest blow happened when Blizzard announced that it was severely downsizing the story missions (which won’t be free, either). To many, this mode was what differentiated the sequel from the original.

It seems as though that might have had an effect on the game’s player numbers since Activision revealed in that financial report that the player count was down. However, it is anticipating some of those players to return for the first batch of story missions and new hero that are dropping in August.

“While engagement and player investment in Overwatch 2 declined sequentially in the quarter, the Overwatch team is looking forward to the August 10 release of Overwatch 2: Invasion. This will be the largest seasonal update yet, planned to include new PVE Story Missions, a new game mode, and a new hero progression system as well as an additional hero.”

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Activision was previously set to receive $3 billion if the Microsoft deal failed

The previous deadline for Microsoft and Activision Blizzard to complete their merger agreement was yesterday, July 18, 2023. In the previous agreement, if Microsoft had failed to close the merger by that date, Activision Blizzard was set to receive $3 billion in compensation.

Both Activision Blizzard and Microsoft remain confident the deal will be closed before the new deadline of October 18. However, in the unlikely event the deal is terminated before August 29, 2023, Activision Blizzard will still receive $3 billion compensation. If the deal is terminated between August 30 and September 15, the publisher will receive $3.5 billion. If the Microsoft deal is terminated after September 15, Activision Blizzard would be in line to receive $4.5 billion in compensation.

Microsoft is now technically free to close its deal in the United States following Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley’s ruling in favor of the company in its court case against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). An FTC appeal was not successful and a gamers’ lawsuit against the proposed deal has also been thrown out of court. However, Microsoft still has to negotiate with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which has blocked the deal in the United Kingdom.

The new agreement sees the deadline extended to October 18 so Microsoft can “continue to work with the CMA on the issues raised in the UK”, according to a statement from Microsoft president Brad Smith. The CMA has now extended its own deadline for its new investigation into the deal; this is August 29, although the aim is to reach an agreement before that date.

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The Sony and Microsoft Call of Duty deal spans a decade

Xbox CEO Phil Spencer tweeted out the deal, explaining that the two entities have signed a “binding agreement” to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation after the Activision acquisition goes through, which is inching closer to completion with each passing day. Spencer did not specify if this was the same 10-year agreement that Nintendo and other cloud services have signed. Sony, however, confirmed to Axios that the deal was indeed for 10 years.

President of Microsoft Brad Smith also commented on the deal, saying that it has been Microsoft’s commitment since day one to address concerns of “regulators, platform and game developers, and consumers.” He also noted that Microsoft “will remain focused on ensuring that Call of Duty remains available on more platforms and for more consumers than ever before.”

This comes after a long public and private squabble between Sony and Microsoft. Sony had said that it feared that Microsoft could purposely tarnish the PlayStation version of Call of Duty. Ryan, as stated previously, also called one of the earlier versions of the deal that wasn’t as specific “inadequate on many levels.”

This was just after he had an email exchange with Spencer, as revealed by emails shown at the trial, after Spencer sent Ryan a list of games that would continue to appear on PlayStation. Ryan said it was “not a meaningful list” since it listed a “particular selection of older titles.” That Call of Duty deal was then extended to 10 years, but Sony didn’t bite. He even said in a previous hearing that he didn’t want a new Call of Duty deal, but just wanted to sink the acquisition.

But one of Ryan’s private emails that came out during the recent trial somewhat went against what he had been saying publicly, as he stated that he was “pretty sure we will continue to see Call of Duty on PlayStation for many years to come.” Spencer also said under oath during the trial Call of Duty would continue to appear on PlayStation, something he had previously said when not under oath.

“I would raise my hand,” said Spencer. “I will do whatever it takes. We have no plan. I’m making a commitment standing here that we will not pull Call of Duty — it is my testimony — from PlayStation. Sony obviously has to allow us to ship the game on their platform. But absent any of that, my commitment is, and my testimony is that we will continue to ship future versions of Call of Duty on Sony’s PlayStation 5.”

The specificity of saying “PlayStation 5” might have been a slip up and not some rug pull where future Call of Duty titles don’t come to PlayStation 6, as the newest Spencer tweet about the deal just generally says “PlayStation.”

It seems very likely that the Activision acquisition will go through, as a United States judge ruled in favor of Microsoft against the Federal Trade Commission, which may have prompted Sony to finally fold and come to an agreement around Call of Duty. However, it still has to contend with the Competition and Markets Authority and its concerns over cloud gaming. Complications from that could delay the deal or alter in some regions.

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The FTC has appealed Judge Corley’s decision regarding Microsoft’s attempt to buy Activision

According to The Verge, the appeal has been filed, but the full arguments won’t be made public until it is submitted to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Because of this appeal, it needs the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to send out an emergency stay to extend the temporary restraining order that is currently going to expire on 11:59 p.m. PT on July 14. If it doesn’t rule before the deal’s deadline on July 18, it would be possible for Microsoft to close the deal rather soon without a restraining order.

President of Microsoft Brad Smith also released a statement on the matter and called out the FTC’s case for being “demonstrably weak.”

“The District Court’s ruling makes crystal clear that this acquisition is good for both competition and consumers,” said Smith. “We’re disappointed that the FTC is continuing to pursue what has become a demonstrably weak case, and we will oppose further efforts to delay the ability to move forward.”

However, it still has the Competition and Markets Authority to deal with in the United Kingdom. Microsoft and the CMA have agreed to pause their litigation, but the CMA noted that a new deal could lead to a new investigation. CNBC first reported that the two had agreed to a “small divestiture” to address the CMA’s qualms around cloud gaming, but an edit explained that Microsoft had just offered “a small and discrete divestiture,” which the CMA had not necessarily accepted. It’s unclear what this divestiture could be, but it’s possible that it has to do some sort of cloud-specific change in Europe.

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FTC’s appeal against Microsoft Activision verdict will be an outlier if it happens

The FTC doesn’t have a great track record of pursuing appeals after initial losses, but Bloomberg claims to have heard from a person familiar with the case that the agency is “leaning towards” filing an appeal. If true, the move will certainly be seen as an outlier.

According to Bloomberg, the FTC has yet to make a final decision on the matter but an appeal could come as soon as today, July 12. The agency is reportedly planning to seek an emergency stay from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals because next Tuesday, July 18, is the merger deadline for Microsoft and Activision.

Judge Corley’s decision has been criticized by some, who have pointed out that the law demands that the FTC should show that a deal “may” substantially lessen competition, not that it certainly will or likely will. However, others say that the FTC presented a weak case.

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Microsoft has some more work to do, though

As reported by The Verge, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley ruled in favor of Microsoft over the Federal Trade Commission. Her statement lays out the ruling, citing the deals Microsoft made to keep Call of Duty on other platforms (and bring it to the Nintendo Switch):

“Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been described as the largest in tech history. It deserves scrutiny. That scrutiny has paid off: Microsoft has committed in writing, in public, and in court to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for 10 years on parity with Xbox. It made an agreement with Nintendo to bring Call of Duty to Switch. And it entered several agreements to for the first time bring Activision’s content to several cloud gaming services.

“This Court’s responsibility in this case is narrow. It is to decide if, notwithstanding these current circumstances, the merger should be halted—perhaps even terminated—pending resolution of the FTC administrative action. For the reasons explained, the Court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its claim this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition. To the contrary, the record evidence points to more consumer access to Call of Duty and other Activision content. The motion for a preliminary injunction is therefore DENIED.”

A few Microsoft and Xbox executives reacted warmly to the news. Xbox CEO Phil Spencer tweeted that he was “grateful” for the decision and said it was “good for the industry.”

President Brad Smith also tweeted that he was grateful for the swift decision. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick even released a positive statement. Kotick, who was reportedly aware of abuse happening at Activision and allegedly left a voicemail that threatened to have an assistant killed, said this merger would benefit the workers.

“Our merger will benefit consumers and workers,” said Kotick. “It will enable competition rather than allow entrenched market leaders to continue to dominate our rapidly growing industry.”

The FTC, understandably, wasn’t as elated. And while the FTC can appeal the decision until 11:59 p.m. PT on July 14, FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar noted that the commission was looking to its next stage of this fight.

“We are disappointed in this outcome given the clear threat this merger poses to open competition in cloud gaming, subscription services, and consoles,” said Farrar. “In the coming days we’ll be announcing our next step to continue our fight to preserve competition and protect consumers.”

Corley’s ruling lets Microsoft close the deal ahead of its July 18 deadline, but it still has to deal with the United Kingdom. The Competition and Markets Authority is still standing in the way, but it’s possible the two parties will negotiate some sort of deal. The CMA moved to block the deal back in April, but Microsoft is reportedly looking to sealing the deal anyway.

Following Corley’s ruling, the CMA and Microsoft, as reported by The Verge, have agreed to halt their battle in order to negotiate and look at the CMA’s concerns around cloud gaming. Smith even tweeted that Microsoft is looking into ways to alter the deal to appease the CMA.

The CMA confirmed this to The Verge, noting that it was “ready to consider any proposals from Microsoft to restructure the transaction in a way that would address the concerns set out in [its] Final Report.” The Competition Appeal Tribunal has to decide on whether this goes forward, but it will likely be approved, as the CAT denied the CMA the ability to delay Microsoft’s appeal of its decision regarding the Activision acquisition.

The post Microsoft Wins FTC Case Over Activision Acquisition appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Crash Team Rumble Season 1 update patch notes

The Crash Team Rumble Season 1 update patch notes are fairly short and simple, only mentioning fixes for crashes on the PS5 and those related to N.Tropy’s abilities. The update went live at 9 a.m. PT on July 6, 2023. You can see the full patch notes below:

General

• A crash involving hero abilities associated with N.Tropy has been resolved.
• A high-volume crash that has affected some users on the PS5 has been resolved

Unsurprisingly, the patch arrived at the start of Season 1. The main draw at the start of the season is the early access Ripper’s Lost It! event for Ripper Roo. From 8 AM PT today until July 10, players need to find and collect marbles that are scattered across the game’s maps. As well as the character himself, there will be skins, emblems, and other rewards to unlock. The good news is that players are unlocking Ripper and other rewards at a quicker rate than they should. Toys For Bob are aware of the problem but won’t be changing the progression rate, so make use of this bug while you can.

Those who miss the event will be able to unlock the character from July 20 when he is fully released. Toys For Bob also wanted to stress that the character is not for sale and is not locked behind the Battle Pass.

July 20 is also the debut for the new Bogged Down map. This will arrive alongside the Bogged Down challenge which will see players collecting fish across all maps to earn more rewards. And on July 13, there will be the Zap Trap limited-time mode running until July 17.

August begins with an early access period for the Sticky TNT power from August 3 to August 7. This will be fully released on August 24. The Zap Trap 2 limited-time mode will run between August 17 to August 21. Finally, between August 24 and August 28 there will be an early access period for the new Dr. N. Gin character. He will be fully released on September 14.

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Call of Duty could be worth $1.5 billion on PlayStation worldwide

The document submitted to the FTC is written by PlayStation head Jim Ryan and includes various details about the Call of Duty franchise and its value to the company. Whatever was used to redact the sensitive information (The Verge claims it was a Sharpie) didn’t work properly, and several bits of information can still be made out. In 2021, the Call of Duty franchise made $800 million on PlayStation in the U.S. alone. While the next figure is less clear, the document also suggests the franchise is worth $1.5 billion on PlayStation worldwide.

Between 2019 and 2021, it seems like Call of Duty players raised $15.9 billion (or $13.9 billion) on PlayStation worldwide. This spending includes hardware, accessories, subscriptions, games, and other PlayStation services. Again, the following figures are a bit difficult to make out, but it seems like this large sum of money was generated by more than 89 million PlayStation players worldwide.

Another section of the document was analyzed by The Verge and reveals that “over [14?] million users (by device)” spent more than 30% of their gaming time playing Call of Duty in 2021. There was also more than 6 million players who spent more than 70% of their time playing Call of Duty, an average of 296 hours per person. Finally, 1 million players use their PlayStation device to play Call of Duty for 100% of their gaming time.

When added to the fact that the best-selling PS5 and PS4 games for the last 10 years were Call of Duty titles, it’s easy to see why Sony would be worried about losing the franchise on its consoles if the Microsoft-Activision deal were to go ahead. Xbox CEO Phil Spencer has vowed to “do whatever it takes” to keep the franchise on PlayStation, though.

The post Call of Duty Worth $800 Million to PlayStation in US Alone, According to Poorly Redacted Document appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Why did Sony turn against the Microsoft-Activision deal?

On day 1 of the legal battle between the FTC and Microsoft/Activision, the latter produced a bombshell email from Ryan in which he wrote that although the merger isn’t great news for Sony, the PlayStation business will be more than okay. In his video deposition played on day 3 of the court proceedings yesterday, Ryan confirmed that it wasn’t until August 2022 that Sony became concerned about the deal.

Unfortunately, Spencer’s email was completely redacted, meaning that it was entered as evidence, and only Judge Jacqueline Corley and lawyers are aware of its contents. What we did get to hear, though, was that Sony isn’t against Starfield’s Xbox exclusivity and doesn’t see it as anti-competitive. Furthermore, Ryan alleges that Spencer sent over a list of games that would be supported on PlayStation platforms, and the list only contained older Activision games. As an example, Ryan said that the list included Overwatch but not Overwatch 2.

Ryan went on to confirm that following Spencer’s mystery email, he told Activision CEO Bobby Kotick that he thinks the deal is anti-competitive and he hopes regulators block it.

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