A bit of wider industry news today. News which completely blows my mind - Microsoft are out to acquire Activision Blizzard. Pending all the regulatory approvals they need to go through which takes times and can be denied.
This continues the very worrying trend of these mega companies amassing huge resources. Microsoft now control a ridiculous amount of publisher and developer teams, easily helping towards more lock-in with Microsoft services and products. For Microsoft, it makes sense of course, since they can continue dumping titles into Game Pass and get more subscriptions for recurring revenue.
Activision Blizzard has been in a lot of hot water lately, which is probably a big understatement. Employees and investors have repeatedly called for the removal of the current CEO, Bobby Kotick. The press release is a bit vague on what will happen with Kotick, as it mentions Kotick "will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard" and then "Once the deal closes, the Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming". So it somewhat makes it sound like Kotick might only be there until the deal is fully done but it's pretty vague. Probably intentionally vague due to the ongoing issues. Update: Kotick will remain, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed via email. Update #2: They tried to clarify again later that they were speaking generally about the acquisition so it's anyone's guess what will happen with Kotick (IGN).
This will be an "all-cash transaction valued at $68.7 billion" which is so much money I can't even begin to imagine it.
Microsoft will then own the likes of Activision, Blizzard and King studios with Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Call of Duty, Candy Crash and global eSports activities through Major League Gaming. The press release states this will make Microsoft "the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony".
Since Microsoft isn't quite the same as the Microsoft of old, we might end up seeing more Activision Blizzard games come to Steam and so making it even easier to run them on Linux through Steam Play Proton. Imagine having Diablo, Starcraft, Overwatch, various newer Call of Duty games and so on being a few clicks away on Steam + Linux.
What do you think to this news? The deal is expected to close in 2023.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Wait ...
ElamanOpiskelija Jan 18, 2022
Quoting: KimyrielleOk, and tbh, is anybody really going to miss what was one of the most toxic companies to work for in America?
Other than that, geesh, did REALLY nobody in charge ever read a Economics textbook to realize that market concentration is bad? Will this stop only when there is only MS and Sony and their two consoles left? Does nobody realize that for a free-market economy to work, it takes a think called competition. And does nobody realize that if companies can spend that kind of money to buy all their competitors, we're not taxing corporations nearly high enough?
Hear, hear.
I didn't see positives in what is a creative enterprise (making games) when one has such a boss, and now even less positives when one has such a boss who also has a boss.
I would like to see more opportunities for small indie developers. I am hoping that the Steam Deck makes certain games more attractive, like Tooth and Tail, Blasphemous, etc... and on the other hand, looking at games like that makes (for me) the Steam Deck more attractive.
In the meantime, the list of intellectual property that would be in the hands of Microsoft after this merge is chilling:
Call of Duty
Diablo
Warcraft
Overwatch
Starcraft
Crash Bandicoot
Guitar Hero
Tony Hawk Pro Skater
Fallout
Doom
Quake
Psychonauts
Elder Scrolls
Prey
Wolfenstein
Dishonored
Minecraft
Candy Crush
Not to forget the XBox franchises:
Halo, Forza, Fable, Gears, Perfect Dark, Age of Empires ...
There is grounds for some lawyers to at least look into this.
BlackBloodRum Jan 18, 2022
ElamanOpiskelija Jan 18, 2022
Quoting: BlackBloodRumCrash Bandicoot? Wasn't that Naughty Dog? (owned by sony?)
As far as I know, latest ones:
- Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time (Activision, to be acquired)
- Crash Bandicoot: On the Run! (King, to be acquired as well)
Quoting: subSo no more native Linux games from Activision Blizzard.
Wait ...
Native no (released, internal they at least used to), but at least they've been decent at keeping them pretty WINE compatible esp with their anticheat and fixes. Even reversing all those Overwatch bans when it hit a false positive resulting in a large banwave. Will that go on?
I usually swing hard towards the No Tux No Bucks camp but I still see this is not a good look for the future, also now there being a 0 chance of ever seeing a native release from them in the future no matter if things change 'enough' for more AAA interest.
Anyway, I think this is an absolutely stonking brilliant move by MS, if they manage it well. Totally taking advantage of Activision's weakness right now to swoop in and give X-Box a huge IP boost for the indefinite future. If we're ever going to get a Netflix of gaming, MS will likely be it... I mean, the IP here has to be worth waaaay more than MS is paying. Some of these properties themselves are individually in the billions or tens of billions if sold on their own. So, so much they can do with this IP over so many different media outlets.
The modern MS is proving VERY savvy.
PS: MS can say whatever they want today about Kotick, but there's zero way he has any future here (especially given some insensitive XBox gender history) other than a very neutered one if MS gives him a very limited sandbox.
Last edited by iiari on 18 January 2022 at 8:02 pm UTC
Last edited by Shmerl on 18 January 2022 at 8:11 pm UTC
PublicNuisance Jan 18, 2022
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