Not closing until June 2023? That's one of the longer periods I've seen - Microsoft is really looking towards the future then, because I doubt we'll see most of the effects of this until 2025 at the earliest.
Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard
- Thread starter Kawngi
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Warzone isn't going to go anywhere. I don't play CoD anymore but all of my friends that do only play that at this point. The yearly stuff will probably go Xbox/PC only but I feel like less and less people care about that every year now.
Considering how much people were throwing it around during the Disney-Fox acquisition stuff, I'd say yes lol
everything
Yes. As with Bethesda, MS does not purchase a company for that money without exclusivity.
Yes. As with Bethesda, MS does not purchase a company for that money without exclusivity.
Former regulator who did this exact work - its EXTREMELY easy to prove.
Like, anyone who pulled the trigger on this with knowledge is extra fucked.
MS aren't doing this for the medium term. You don't gain subs by releasing things on your competitor's system.
I don't think this level of consolidation worries me. But as a general principle, consolidation is bad because it gives consumers less power to choose amongst competitors and results in higher prices in the long run.
A huge example of really harmful consolidation in the United States occurred with telecom companies. In my city, NYC, every single apartment building has a choice among (at most) one or two companies for cable and internet. If the industry weren't so consolidated, that choice should instead be more like 7-8 companies - each of which would need to try and offer you the lowest possible price to get you to sign with them.
People are worried here that if Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard that their choices for publishers are going to dwindle over the long run, and Gamepass is going to get very expensive as time goes on. It's a valid concern, but premature so far.
There are so many other publishers out there. This is big, but still kind of just a drop in the bucket.
Well most franchise is on switch from them. (Diablo 2, 3, overwatch, crash, ...)
However, i feel like nintendo has a much much better relationship with microsoft than sony does.
Like the banjo game on the virtual console or games like Ori that doesn't exists on playstation?
Meh. I remain largely indifferent to this. We'll all have multiple ways to consume these games. Even should MS acquire studios I actually give a damn about, it'd suck, but I'd just have to start seriously considering getting a gamepass sub on a PC at some point. I'm not locked out of anything.
This timeline is now so insane that I honestly wouldn't be surprised to hear Sony is going after Nintendo. Yes I want to watch the world burn.
Blizzard launcher is only good because it only supports like 10 games. Add a bunch more titles and it would likely turn to garbo.
They won't stop publishing on Sony platforms. They won't leave all that money on the floor. Most likely the timed exclusivity that PS enjoys now goes to Xbox/PC and a 6 month wait for PS.
Hey Activision also published Spider-Man games.
Does that mean we can get Spider-Man 2?
Right now CoD's largest non-PC install base is PS4 users. Per 2021 NPD, CoD Vanguard was the 2nd best selling game on a Sony platform. For December, CoD was the 1 and 3 entry on the Playstation charts. Any sales of the game now go into Microsoft's pockets. They're not going to get rid of that to maybe sell some Xbox/GP subs. I think we'll see Starcraft/Warcraft/Diablo go exclusive first, and wouldn't be surprised of Overwatch 2 was exclusive, but CoD will make MS more money as a multiplatform release for the short term. We're years away from it being exclusive, if at all.
regarding consolidation, did people forget what happened in the 2000s?
square and enix merged. sammy and sega merged. bandai and namco merged. activision and blizzard merged. ea bought bioware. acclaim died. midway died. atari died and then was bought by infogrames and infogrames became atari in accordance with the santa clause.
the age of consolidation happened. we are living in the future of the age of the industry consolidating.
square and enix merged. sammy and sega merged. bandai and namco merged. activision and blizzard merged. ea bought bioware. acclaim died. midway died. atari died and then was bought by infogrames and infogrames became atari in accordance with the santa clause.
the age of consolidation happened. we are living in the future of the age of the industry consolidating.
They don't have the money to compete in the acquisition race.
Skip the dongle. It will built into tvs. Just buy a controller, subscribe, and off you go.
Depends on if you have money to burn for a few COD releases to see if it pays off. And it might not be for 2 or 3 releases in any case.
Nah but really, if it is between Tencent or Microsoft, I'd rather MS get this. Something tells me Tencent was on the sidelines rubbing their hands together like the birdman too... Microsoft SAVED US.
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On another note, does Sony have the capital to acquire Square Enix? They've been partners for years and as I remember it, Sony owns a small, tiny portion of square RIGHT NOW to this day? Nobody better complain if Sony does after this lol!
🙃
On another note, does Sony have the capital to acquire Square Enix? They've been partners for years and as I remember it, Sony owns a small, tiny portion of square RIGHT NOW to this day? Nobody better complain if Sony does after this lol!
MS solution to exclusives is to just buy the old 3rd party stuff as opposed to fostering creativity and building relationships
So, if you're MS and you are sitting on a literal mountain of cash:
Do you invest hundreds of millions betting on new IPs which may fail to drive sales of GamePass or Xbox or to sell at all?
Or, do you buy up existing IPs that are already printing money, will drive GamePass and Xbox sales, and that already have a huge (and loyal) userbase?
Whether you like it or not, this is a brilliant play by MS.
Company policies change - see the multi media push during the generational change from 360 to One. Mattrick destroyed all the good will of two generations in a few precious moments.
Phil Spencer will not always be the head of XBox. Maybe another 10 years who knows, but at one point that dude is gonna retire. Who knows what will happen next. There might be a point where they go "fuck this" and close down most of their owned gaming studios again.
Remember the early Netflix days where they had all the content at a great price - that sure didn't last either. Prices will surely increase. That's a given. When and how much, who knows, but they won't stay like this.
It is, which is why So y may have the advantage there… Not that I want it to happen for either them of MS.
Likewise, Nintendo are never going to sell. For starters, Nintendo own the majority of their own shares and they have absolutely no reason to sell.
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