Microsoft completes Activision Blizzard acquisition, Call of Duty now part of Xbox
Microsoft completes Activision Blizzard acquisition, Call of Duty now part of Xbox
The deal has closed after 20 months of legal battles.
I'm not sure why people are expecting Microsoft to act altruistically in this merger. They're a publicly traded company that exists to create profit for their shareholders, and they're not going to do a single thing that won't increase their profits.
Mergers like this are always bad for the consumer, and the FTC is betraying the citizens by letting it happen.
Mergers like this are always bad for the consumer
This is not true. Horizontal mergers are always bad for the consumer. Vertical mergers, like this one, can either be good or bad or neither. In many other cases they have been a net benefit to consumers and actually increased competition
No one is expecting Microsoft to act altruistically. We are expecting them to rake in more cash, especially from King, and invest that cash in games, gamepass, and actual competition to Sony and Nintendo. We are expecting them to make smart business decisions and, SHOCKER, there are smart business decisions available to them that are also beneficial to consumers
No company is your friend. But a smart company finds ways to make money off you while still leaving you happy and content after
No company is your friend. But a smart company finds ways to make money off you while still leaving you happy and content after
Exactly. If this weren't the case, companies wouldn't exist in the first place.
That said, MS has historically been pretty anti-competitive and monopolistic so I don't see any reason to expect that to change. But I think that even at their worst, this isn't going to be as bad as people are making it out to be. Playstation won't go away because of this. Playstation is already worse than Xbox in almost every way, they're just coasting right now. People will point to this merger as a turning point for PS but I think that ignores where PS is already at.
Activision Blizzard is such an awful company that I stopped playing their games, for ethical reasons. I'm no fan of Microsoft or consolidation, but at least they don't have a habit of supporting human rights abuses. This acqisition has me considering playing (ex-)Blizzard games again.
Vertical mergers, like this one, can either be good
Do you have any examples?
Mergers like this are always bad for the consumer
Microsoft's acquisitions of Github and LinkedIn both worked out pretty well.
Github actually has more free features now than it did before the Microsoft acquisition - they made some paid features free (like the ability to have private repos) and added a lot of new free features (like Github Actions which is built on Azure), without removing or paywalling any existing free features. Github likely wouldn't have been able to afford that investment without Microsoft.
I’m sorry there were people expecting Microsoft to act altruistically??
Yes? At the time of my comment all of the other comments were people hoping it would be a good thing.
It's been so long since proper new Starcraft content (not including the basic remaster) I am almost at the point where I might take a wallet-sucking lootbox and microtransaction infested nightmare of a mobile app game if it means new lore for Starcraft, over nothing.
Stormgate and ZeroSpace are looking like the spiritual successors to Starcraft, with the former developed largely by ex-Blizzard staff and the latter by some prominent members of the Starcraft community.
Not a fan of market consolidation. It's bad for the consumer at the end of the day.
But if I were to look for a silver lining: 1 More quality Gamepass content and 2 Maybe MS can save Blizzard from itself.
I look forward to 5-10 years from now when the people who were kids now start pointing to this acquisition as the negative "turning point" for Blizzard because they liked Overwatch 2.
Maybe they can make WoW expansions free with a subscription now, or make it all part of Xbox Game Pass?
WoW being included with a GamePass sub (similar to Fallout 76 or ESO) would be great, but don’t expect any expansions to be included.
All I want is the Xbox adaptation so I can do the grinding/leveling from the couch and only go to the PC for raids. I think with my current lifestyle (work work work, family family family), that's the only way I could realistically play again.
I wonder if MS is more interested in the Activision side. MW/King etc. I think blizzard is just a baggage addon at this point.
Activision has a ton of old unused IP's under their name. Could be a treasure trove if handled correctly.
But have no doubt, Blizzard is part of the prize. It's just a matter if MS can turn the current "climate" around somehow.
Im of the boat that believes innorder to boost gamepass subscription numbers for shareholders, WoW subs will eventually merge into gamepass
I doubt it.
WoW is too old and there's more profit in keeping the subscriptions separate. You might get a couple more expansions though. Whatever is in the works currently.
More likely they'll be trying to bank on D4 and Overwatch to start with. Then, maybe, move on to something else.
Either way they'll try to milk whatever newest franchises are out for as much as they can before doing anything. But current WoW isn't likely to be a flagship for anything.
As somebody who has spent years and years working for ABK and Xbox, my prediction is this integration will be hardest for King.
How so? I remember King being a primary target of the acquisition
AB and Xbox are both North American corporate culture companies, for better or worse. King is very much a Swedish company, and spends a lot of time on the softer side of management.
King was already struggling fitting into AB culture. That work-24/7, Drive for Success™️, I-read-six-books-week-and-get-up-at-4-am-to-exercise culture will now be driven up to 11.
MS knows that everyone is gonna have their own Sub service just like how Netflix spawned all the Hulus and Disney+s., and it's already started with EA and Ubisoft. To stay relevant they need to own the content, not just rent.
To keep GP relevant they need to cater to all types of gamers. You need RPGs, shooters, indies, classics, strategys, casuals, sims etc. "Something for everyone".
I'ma be honest, I'll consider this a win if Phil does actually get Raven on Hexen 3 like he kinda hinted at. Let's get Warcraft 4 or Prototype 3, some new Tony Hawk. There are a lot of dead IPs that can use a comeback that isn't just a remaster. Maybe they can go back and fix Warcraft 3 and make an Xbox port so that I can lay back on my couch and play that like I have done with AoE2.
If they decide to keep things business as usual it's gonna suck.
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Microsoft has finalized its $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, the publisher of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Diablo.
The acquisition required 20 months of battles with regulators in the UK and US, but Microsoft has closed its Activision Blizzard deal after defeating the Federal Trade Commission in a US federal court and restructuring the deal to appease the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK.
“As one team, we’ll learn, innovate, and continue to deliver on our promise to bring the joy and community of gaming to more people.
“Today we start the work to bring beloved Activision, Blizzard, and King franchises to Game Pass and other platforms,” says Spencer.
Activision Blizzard made it clear earlier this week that Modern Warfare 3 and Diablo IV won’t be coming to Xbox Game Pass this year, though.
After the FTC then failed to secure a preliminary injunction to block Microsoft from finalizing its Activision Blizzard acquisition, the CMA and Microsoft instantly agreed to pause their legal battles for a remedy in the UK and eventually negotiated an agreement over cloud gaming rights.
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