Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion [FTC sues to stop - CMA issues updated preliminary findings]

[Alayaes]

4 hours ago, jgm4789 said:

I guarantee you this is only happening because of all the abuse alligations around bobby kotick are now devaluing his company and he is just trying to find the easiest way out of the shitstorm he could potentially be in. He may still be ceo now but i guarantee you he will probably announce his retirement within 1-5 years.

And I can guarantee you that it has nothing to do with it. These deals don't happen with a phone call while Sadja Nadella is waiting for his order at McDonald's. This has been months in the making. Also, the buyout share price is fantastically high; no devaluing took place there.

 

Keep in mind as well that the CEO has voting rights, but can't just make deals. The entire board and shareholder majority have to agree, on both sides. Then it has to pass regulatory hurdles as well, which I doubt will be a problem here.

 

What many may not realize is that there's a good chance that US-based residents might actually get a piece of the pie on this. If you have a 401k through your employer, or any type of IRA for that matter, the price of your ATVI shares just boomed today.

Edited January 18, 2022 by Alayaes

[MD_91]

Microsoft buying the Unlock All dlc when it comes to IP's because they can't create anything original that people give a shit about outside of Halo and Forza

 

 

[craig_obviously]

if this is an effort to push people into an Xbox it won't work on me... if anything I would go PC before Xbox

 

I like my PS5.. let's see what is coming when PSNow and PS+ merge or a "new" entity is created

[Foremanskin]

I don't know how to feel about this deal. On one hand, I'm not too interested in any Activision owned game series nowadays (well, the upcoming Diablo has been on my radar, but who knows how that game will pan out), but on the other hand, I'm scared for the future of gaming if Microsoft can just literally buy anyone. We've all seen what happened with movies and Disney, and now it looks like we are going the same direction. It would've been cool if Microsoft just bought a couple of big ip's, like Call of Duty or Overwatch, but the WHOLE company? That's some scary shit.

[diskdocx]

2 hours ago, Rozalia1 said:

 

People need to catch up to the fact that Sony is very much beyond those troubled years where their other divisions were in trouble. 

 

As for the talk of Sony being doomed. Are they really? Even if this doesn't end up in court and Microsoft stopped, it has been shown with Nintendo that you can be a platform holder and completely immune to Microsoft's attacks. Sony undoubtedly will respond in some manner to counter Microsoft's ugly tactics though how it remains to be seen. Personally I think the best move would be to not buy up these bigger companies for huge amounts, but to spread out such money and grab smaller studios and create new ones.

Perhaps I am incorrect, but I don't think Sony is quite as solid as you think

 

Sony's Entertainment Revenues Climb As Group Quarterly Profits Tumble - Variety

 

This is the most recent report I can find, for 2021 Q2. Gaming division is still the leading profit generating division, and has been for some time. The electronics arm hasn't been profitable in ages. 

 

I'm not talking gross revenue - I think the gaming division is still a small part of gross, but in terms of profit, it is responsible for more than a quarter of the annual profit.

 

Sony is certainly not bleeding money like it once was (and I suspect No Way Home will probably give a huge boost to the pictures division profit), but without gaming, they certainly lose a significantly profitable division, with no easy replacement.

 

Nintendo has taken up the portable market, with a niche product and significant Asian market support. The philosophy shift from Nintendo around censorship, which is an absolute about face for them, interestingly comes at a time when Sony has really started to take a much stronger stance, puts Nintendo at the advantage overseas. Sony kind of turned their back on their heritage and has become a Western company, and they don't have a clear and easy path to reinvent. 

 

I see them very much as the odd man out here. They don't have anywhere near the financial clout to take on MS. I don't like the approach MS has taken, but if they are heating up the console wars and intend to take Sony down, they have the finances to do it.

 

I think PS5 is the end for Sony as a console holder. I think they may move to become a 3rd party software developer, and they certainly have the talent to do so, but if MS wants to end them, Sony isn't going to win. More likely we see Google or Amazon step in with a console or purchasing Sony as they have the financial means to do so and could actually compete with MS.

 

Only time will tell, but I don't like where MS is heading and I certainly don't trust them at all.

[Alayaes]

2 minutes ago, diskdocx said:

Perhaps I am incorrect, but I don't think Sony is quite as solid as you think.

 

I think PS5 is the end for Sony as a console holder. I think they may move to become a 3rd party software developer, and they certainly have the talent to do so, but if MS wants to end them, Sony isn't going to win. More likely we see Google or Amazon step in with a console or purchasing Sony as they have the financial means to do so and could actually compete with MS.

 

Only time will tell, but I don't like where MS is heading and I certainly don't trust them at all.

Microsoft has Azure. That's the death blow right there. The only thing on par/bigger than Azure is AWS. This is why cloud gaming will always dominate on PC/Xbox versus Sony. Azure is absolutely fantastic.

 

Google certainly has the cash to make an incredible acquisition, but the biggest one of all is Apple. Then don't discount another absolute cash-printing juggernaut; Meta (Facebook, Instagram, etc). I highly doubt Apple will make a move though, considering Tim Cook does not like mega-aquisitions.

 

In the end, I love my Sony consoles and I'll always most likely always own one. But from a financial/business perspective? I've been a Microsoft shareholder for many years and will continue to be one for the foreseeable future.

[steel6burgh]

3 hours ago, diskdocx said:

No. This is a terrible take. While I'm not really going to mourn COD, and I increasingly don't care much for AAA games, the point is that 3rd party AAA studios sell massive quantities of games. Go look at the top games on this site for number of owners - EA, Activision, Rockstar, Ubi - they dominate that list.

 

The problem with saying fuck Activision and Fuck EA, is that once they become first party MS developers (for all intents and purposes), Playstation is dead. As it stands, the 3rd party independent AAA studios basically support both Sony and MS. Once you lose that balance, then Sony no longer has the $$$ or the console install base to support the amazing in house AAA developers. And make no mistake, that is the end game here. Sony has so many more amazing 1st party titles, MS can't hope to beat them (and haven't been for several generations), so what they are going to do is take away the 3rd party support.

 

So be very careful what you wish for. This transaction comes very shortly on the heels of the Bethesda one, and really losing EA or Ubi to MS would be the end for Sony.

 

Ironically, this is not unlike how Sony took over from Sega in the home console market. If PlayStation fails, then Sony as a company is dead in the water as their electronics and media arms are barely profitable as it is.

I quite honestly don't think sony is anywhere near their end.  Developers like Activision and EA lack anything fresh and new.  Trust me if they become a microsoft xbox exclusive that will only pave the way for other companies to step up and develop similar games for both consoles.  It's because of the EA's and Activisons and their massive advertising budgets that stomp out the better more artistic and less greedy smaller companies from becoming AAA.  Its like a box of tissues Companies like Activision and EA.  You pull one out use it blow your nose on it toss it aside and there is another one there to take it's place.  Have you played an EA game lately?  The only reason they sell is because of advertising and name recognition.  So make them exclusive to another console someone will step up and take their place.  i highly doubt COD will be made exclusive anyway.  Too much money lost.  Those bastards are all too greedy honestly don't think they are gonna cut out over half of their player base.

[ASMODAIOS344]

38 minutes ago, MidnightDragon said:

Make of this what you will.

 

Could be they just honor past commitments like with Bethesda, but new stuff under the XBox banner only.

 

Correct, till the old deals expire.

[Rozalia1]

1 hour ago, Abby_TheLastofUs said:

At least something good is coming out of this.

 

 

 

As I said, people need to stop with this talk. People at the company are already concerned that Microsoft is taking attention away and will paper all this over. Unionisation efforts? Microsoft will be crushing that first thing. As for Bobby, what a winner in all this. He gets likely the biggest payday in industry history and if people like it or not, he'll also be the highest value CEO in history (in business that means being the best) for having the company sold at such a price, even more so because as he took over when the company was in trouble all the credit is going to go to him and nobody can say somebody else made it happen and he was just there at the right time.

[totakos1]

I hope they learned their lesson and for gamers sake also they let them do what they do best and they don’t ruin these companies like they did back in early 2000….. when they bought Rareware and silicon knights, incredible and promising I would describe them, but they still disappeared under the supervision of Microsoft when they bought them! Still miss Killer Instinct!!!!!!!! 

[Undead Wolf]

What in the Goddamn?

 

I don't much care for Activision Blizzard's IP and the games they make, but these big acquisitions are concerning. Like all these developers getting gobbled up by Tencent and whatever else is bad enough, but Microsoft are out here buying entire publishers. This can't be good for the industry at large. It's only a matter of time until Microsoft acquire a publisher I really do care about - there have been rumours about Sega for a while which would be pretty awful. Maybe even Capcom. Who knows at this point?

 

It wasn't even that long ago that Xbox was in a bad spot with with the Xbox One's launch to the point where Microsoft considered abandoning the brand, but the whole "Netflix of gaming" concept is apparently so appealing to the big wigs at the top that they're willing to throw such insane amounts of money behind it. What a turnaround. The Xbox fanboys don't seem to realise that once all the competition has been eradicated/bought out, Game Pass won't be "the best deal in gaming" for long. Prices will rise since there won't be any alternatives for people to go to. They absolutely intend on recouping their investments after all.

 

I don't like where this industry is heading...

[Carmonkey94]

I really hope that future Crash and Spyro games continue being released for PS consoles, pretty much all I care about Activision.

[cometowner]

Microst first party studio failed to deliver games as expected so 

 

If you cannot make them own them ?

 

 

[samijon2004]

This will affect the trout population.

[Zephrese]

And the world cheers as the industry gets bleaker... Activision's always been a garbage company, but the acquisition of Bethesda was arguably already too much of a monopoly.

 

This magnitude of an acquisition - especially right after the Bethesda one - shouldn't be legal whatsoever.

However, just like Disney, good old MS will get away with it and people will praise 'em because they were nice to them once and told them all the kind words they wanted to hear.

 

Anyone who argues that having this stance is nothing more than a stupid "console wars" thing is blind to the greedy game Microsoft is playing at, which is exactly what they want.

It wouldn't be okay for Sony to perform this level of an acquisition either, imo, and I honestly don't see Bethesda or Activision being fixed up that much realistically anyways.

 

If nothing else, I hope that things will get better for the employees at the company because of this. Which I'd imagine, while likely, is more of a matter of "by how much".

Edited January 18, 2022 by Zephrese

[Rozalia1]

1 minute ago, Undead Wolf said:

What in the Goddamn?

 

I don't much care for Activision Blizzard's IP and the games they make, but these big acquisitions are concerning. Like all these developers getting gobbled up by Tencent and whatever else is bad enough, but Microsoft are out here buying entire publishers. This can't be good for the industry at large. It's only a matter of time until Microsoft acquire a publisher I really do care about - there have been rumours about Sega for a while which would be pretty awful. Maybe even Capcom. Who knows at this point?

 

It wasn't even that long ago that Xbox was in a bad spot with with the Xbox One's launch to the point where Microsoft considered abandoning the brand, but the whole "Netflix of gaming" concept is apparently so appealing to the big wigs at the top that they're willing to throw such insane amounts of money behind it. What a turnaround. The Xbox fanboys don't seem to realise that once all the competition has been eradicated/bought out, Game Pass won't be "the best deal in gaming" for long. Prices will rise since there won't be any alternatives for people to go to. They absolutely intend on recouping their investments after all.

 

I don't like where this industry is heading...

 

It ain't impossible for Microsoft to hit Japan, but I think management is likely wary of doing so. Big European and Japanese companies have an element of risk as the governments there have good odds of involving themselves and stopping your move and punishing you on top of that. With big American companies however there is a lot less risk involved for a number of reasons.

 

The Xbox One was the culmination of everything that Xbox entered the console market for. The all in one (hence the name) multimedia machine that would dominate the living room. When that crashed and burned that was why they were ready to pull out and some possible CEOs for Microsoft did certainly want to do away with it. The one that Microsoft ended up getting however was swayed by the whole "We can be Netflix for gaming" talk and so more money has been poured down the money pit in pursuit of the new dream. The problem with all that is what happens if in say 5 years Microsoft is no closer to being this Netflix of gaming and Sony is still above them... then that'll be when investors will start wanting to see hard stats on the status of their gaming division (which will show a money pit) and then that is when the CEO starts being in danger of losing his job and his replacement will obviously likely want cuts happening. Though that wouldn't be the end as Microsoft might then sell it all off to Google/Amazon (their real competitors according to Microsoft) or whoever and then everyone would have to deal with them instead.

 

As for prices. Microsoft not that long ago attempted to double the price of Gold. They'll be pumping up the price of GP as they're able.

 

9 minutes ago, Zephrese said:

And the world cheers as the industry gets bleaker... Activision's always been a garbage company, but the Bethesda acquisition had already gone too far.

 

This magnitude of acquisition - especially right after the Bethesda one - shouldn't be legal whatsoever, but just like Disney good old corrupt Microsoft will get away with it and people will praise 'em for it because they were nice to them once.

 

America is really bad for this yeah, but there was an announcement literally today that they're looking to improve how they handle these sort of matters. Microsoft honestly couldn't have picked a worse day to have this announced as they'll be case number 1 to be looked at now.

[ziggypossum]

 

[DaivRules]

I don't normally read too far into Vice articles before I bail, but this one provided some good discussion on this puchase:

 

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkp3q8/the-consequences-of-microsoft-buying-activision-blizzard-are-dizzying

 

Some bullet points worth remembering:

This deal (if approved by the FTC) will not close for another year. Early 2023 before the effects of this merger can start.

The FTC has a new leader that wants to revert back to the anti-trust scrutiny of the 80's, rather than the rubber stamping that's happened since. This is exactly the kind of merger that would be heavily scrutinized.

 

And this was particularly interesting:

Quote

"And for people who mostly see this as a good thing because it means more cool games will reach Game Pass, I hear that. It's an amazing service. It's also a service that benefits a lot from the games industry ecosystem that Microsoft is radically altering. Put another way, do you think Game Pass is as interesting in five or ten years when Bethesda, Activision, Blizzard, and all Microsoft's other studios are all coordinating releases to stay out of each other's way and have all been reduced in size and scope in order to save money on the corporate bottom line?"

 

Quote

"Game Pass has been around long enough that you can almost make judgement calls on the quality of a game, based on whether Microsoft acquires it right before it’s released. This happened most famously with Outriders last year, a perfectly fine game that almost immediately sputtered out—but was a huge hit on Game Pass for a hot minute. It’s hard not to draw the same conclusion about Rainbow Six Extraction, the long-in-development spin-off that, at the last second, is coming to Game Pass. At one point, you might have assumed that’s because Microsoft wants to make a splashy play, but now, maybe it’s just Ubisoft trying to sell the cable rights to their video game, while Microsoft waits for folks to come knocking."

 

 

[ArabianSwordsman]

I’m not really a fan of this but it is what it is. If Microsoft makes crash or Spyro an exclusive, maybe now we’ll get another jak & daxter game. On top of that, maybe this’ll wake Sony up to get someone to really try to and make rhe “halo killer” they’ve always wanted since cod will start getting exclusive content (maybe). 

[FreshFromThaDeli]

I have been collecting every physical CoD game going back to the PS2 and now it will come to a bitter sweet after Modern Warfare II comes out later this year. Overall, I think this is bad for the industry and a case can be made for monopolisation. I been buying CoD every year at launch since Modern Warfare 2 in 2009 so it will be weird transitioning to Xbox for buying the new CoD games. It could have been worse because if Xbox bought Capcom, I would have been furious. I guess I have to look at the bright side here.

[MidnightDragon]

One thing I’m curious about…why did MS pay almost 10 times more for this than Bethesda? Because they can?

[BEAST_IHMOTEP]

For the first time ever I'm concerned about the future of the PlayStation ecosystem due to competitor's aggressive acquisitions. Sony just can't compete with unlimited amounts of money from one of the "big tech" companies. I'm not just talking just about this particular Activision acquisition, I can see MS keeping purchasing giants of the industry.

 

I've all my gaming history in the PlayStation ecosystem in form of trophies since 2008. I always feel so proud and nostalgic by just watching my trophy list and relating the games with moments of my life. I always thought that I'll continue hunting all my life, even at my 70s. I´'ll keep hunting while I can but for the first time I don't feel confident that I´'ll continue to do so in 10-20 years because I don't know what will be the fate of this brand anymore.

Edited January 18, 2022 by BEAST_IHMOTEP

[Nelson_]

28 minutes ago, Undead Wolf said:

What in the Goddamn?

 

I don't much care for Activision Blizzard's IP and the games they make, but these big acquisitions are concerning. Like all these developers getting gobbled up by Tencent and whatever else is bad enough, but Microsoft are out here buying entire publishers. This can't be good for the industry at large. It's only a matter of time until Microsoft acquire a publisher I really do care about - there have been rumours about Sega for a while which would be pretty awful. Maybe even Capcom. Who knows at this point?

 

It wasn't even that long ago that Xbox was in a bad spot with with the Xbox One's launch to the point where Microsoft considered abandoning the brand, but the whole "Netflix of gaming" concept is apparently so appealing to the big wigs at the top that they're willing to throw such insane amounts of money behind it. What a turnaround. The Xbox fanboys don't seem to realise that once all the competition has been eradicated/bought out, Game Pass won't be "the best deal in gaming" for long. Prices will rise since there won't be any alternatives for people to go to. They absolutely intend on recouping their investments after all.

 

I don't like where this industry is heading...

 

Told you 2022 would be the start of everything going wrong lol i don't play any western games either way.

This might be the right moment to remind "Rip Japan Studio" lmao...

[ziggypossum]

 

 

[MissShake]

I think they need to figure out the PS5 situation out if they wanna keep in the game at all.