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Post by spidershinobi on Aug 24, 2017 20:45:12 GMT
Most of you who know me don't expect me to get mad at this kind of thing, but here's my issue with that: the companies doing that aren't known for delivering great games. As much as it sounds like something that's ok to do, when it comes to shopping time any game by Blizzard (just as an example) has visibility advantage over games such as Ninja Gaiden simply because a considerable amount of resources in those was spent on PR and marketing departments rather than actual development.
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Cervantes
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Post by Cervantes on Aug 24, 2017 21:16:39 GMT
I mentioned this video in the "Would you willing to pay..." thread, and this practice is a load of bullshit. The funny thing is how intead of using the money from tax avoidance to at least provide better environment and salaries to programmers/artists and create better products, these are the exact same companies that are firing entire teams all the time and creating more exploitative games filled with microtransaction every year.
It really does create an unfair advantage against well made games from not-so-scummy companies.
At least now I understand why Activision spent billions buying King (makers of Candy Crush). It only sounded as a terrible financial decision, as Candy Crush was... well, *crushed* by Pokémon Go in the mobile market just a few months later - it was only a queston of time when that fad would be replaced by the next one. But this video (and the article mentioned by it) explains the reasons pretty well: Activision can't bring the money to the US, so they use it to buy another company that also doesn't pay any taxes. It's quite ingenious and all decisions purely driven by market/taxes rules, not by any interest in producing/selling games.
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Post by spidershinobi on Aug 24, 2017 21:36:48 GMT
Oh I guess I wasn't paying attention to that thread then. But I guess it makes anyone who tried to explain Activision "buying" Candy Crush back when it happened a huge fool now. XD
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Dan E. Kool
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Post by Dan E. Kool on Aug 25, 2017 20:23:52 GMT
Most of you who know me don't expect me to get mad at this kind of thing, but here's my issue with that: the companies doing that aren't known for delivering great games. I like how your gripe is, "Why avoid taxes if you aren't investing in better games?!"
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Post by winnersdontusedrugs on Aug 26, 2017 4:48:41 GMT
Forgive my complete lack of economic knowledge, but aren't a lot of European countries known for having high taxes? Is that only in regards to sales tax or taxes on citizens?
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Dan E. Kool
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Post by Dan E. Kool on Aug 26, 2017 8:21:20 GMT
Forgive my complete lack of economic knowledge, but aren't a lot of European countries known for having high taxes? Is that only in regards to sales tax or taxes on citizens? Some countries, like Germany and France, have very high tax rates. That includes sales tax, income tax, etc. Depending on your earnings, you can kiss as much as half, maybe more, of your money goodbye. So it should come as no surprise that their neighbors have become tax havens. Countries like Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Ireland have very low tax rates to draw in accounts from other countries. Those nations have taxes in the single digits (or lower!) depending on some highly convenient stipulations like if the revenue is coming from royalties, which is the case in the Netherlands. The average citizen of Holland is not getting off with 0% tax, believe me.
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Spirit Bomb
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Post by Spirit Bomb on Aug 26, 2017 13:27:42 GMT
Corruption and America go hand in hand.
Although I've heard that Brazil's recent politicians are also corrupt. Is this true?
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stratogustav
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Post by stratogustav on Aug 26, 2017 17:43:05 GMT
Candy Crush didn't hit as Pokémon Go. Nintendo really kill it there. However Candy Crush still has a bigger fan base in terms of consistency, and even in 2017 continues to grow. It still makes more money for Activision than Pokémon Go will ever do fo Nintendo. Companies like Activision make multi-billion dollars decisions like that based on multiple factors. Even if they purposefully aim to save in taxes, they also aim to many other things, from advertising and marketing alone, to app revenue. Everything counts.
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Dan E. Kool
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Post by Dan E. Kool on Aug 26, 2017 18:59:45 GMT
Candy Crush didn't hit as Pokémon Go. Nintendo really kill it there. However Candy Crush still has a bigger fan base in terms of consistency, and even in 2017 continues to grow. It still makes more money for Activision than Pokémon Go will ever do fo Nintendo. Companies like Activision make multi-billion dollars decisions like that based on multiple factors. Even if they purposefully aim to save in taxes, they also aim to many other things, from advertising and marketing alone, to app revenue. Everything counts. I have no doubt they will earn the money back. While [Candy Crush] user numbers are down, in-app purchases and revenue per user were up, reaching a new record and growing year-over-year. This is likely due to new in-game events, such as the ones promoting the somewhat surreal new Candy Crush Saga television show. Overall, Activision reports that it generated nearly $1 billion from in-game revenue across all its titles for the quarter.
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Dan E. Kool
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Post by Dan E. Kool on Aug 26, 2017 19:03:37 GMT
Corruption and America go hand in hand. Although I've heard that Brazil's recent politicians are also corrupt. Is this true? Corruption will exist where ever you have politicians (just look at Balder), but the United States is far from the most corrupt country. Not even close.
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Post by spidershinobi on Aug 26, 2017 20:22:49 GMT
Yeah, corruption exists everywhere in the globe. About Brazil, that's a partial truth; politicians have been corrupt since day 1 here, however due to recent (mis)developments the people have this misconception that at some point in recent history we have been "invaded" by corrupt ones.
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Balder
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Post by Balder on Aug 26, 2017 21:02:57 GMT
Corruption and America go hand in hand. Although I've heard that Brazil's recent politicians are also corrupt. Is this true? Corruption will exist where ever you have politicians (just look at Balder), but the United States is far from the most corrupt country. Not even close. Proof yourself.
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Spirit Bomb
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#DeathToAmerica #DeathToTrump
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Post by Spirit Bomb on Aug 27, 2017 4:10:57 GMT
Corruption and America go hand in hand. Although I've heard that Brazil's recent politicians are also corrupt. Is this true? Corruption will exist where ever you have politicians (just look at Balder ), but the United States is far from the most corrupt country. Not even close. As far as first world countries go, America (as in, the US) is absolutely the most corrupt in my opinion. Just look at the scandals in our politics, the overpowered corporations, and shady buisness practices (like the one mentioned in this thread). Then there's our military, which has one of the worst reputations of any on Earth, from killing innocent people and invading their land to starting wars for no good reason (the Vietnam War being probably the best example). America has made so many enemies over the decades that we'd be utterly destroyed if we let our guard down, and I wouldn't feel sorry because we've done it to ourselves.
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Dan E. Kool
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Post by Dan E. Kool on Aug 27, 2017 7:58:07 GMT
Corruption will exist where ever you have politicians (just look at Balder ), but the United States is far from the most corrupt country. Not even close. Proof yourself. No thanks. I try not to do that more than a couple times per week.
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Dan E. Kool
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Post by Dan E. Kool on Aug 27, 2017 8:27:12 GMT
Corruption will exist where ever you have politicians (just look at Balder ), but the United States is far from the most corrupt country. Not even close. As far as first world countries go, America (as in, the US) is absolutely the most corrupt in my opinion. Just look at the scandals in our politics, the overpowered corporations, and shady buisness practices (like the one mentioned in this thread). No offense, Maestro, but considering that you've already said that you have never left the American borders, your opinion - on how the U.S. is seen abroad, its reputation, etc - isn't worth very much to me. The most corrupt countries on earth are as follows: 10. Venezuela 09. Haiti 08. Iraq 07. Sudan 06. Turkmenistan 05. Uzbekistan 04. Afghanistan 03. Myanmar 02. North Korea 01. Somalia That list shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Many of these countries are war-torn and lawless. That people there aren't playing by the rules is hardly surprising. Using that understanding of what makes those countries a breeding ground for corruption, what kinds of places in the Western world would you expect to see the most corruption? Probably countries which suffer from financial crisis, correct? Correct!10. Slovenia 09. Spain 08. Czech Republic 07. South Korea 06. Hungary 05. Slovakia 04. Greece 03. Italy 02. Turkey 01. Mexico Be happy you live in such a nice country.
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