https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/11/23779039/microsoft-activi…
Does this mean more AAA games will be added to gamepass when the purchase is complete?
Also Bobby will get his 600 million AUD payday 🤯
FTC approves Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard buyout, more Game Pass games soon?
AustriaBargain on 12/07/2023 - 16:02
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I hope the deal does go through and we got those games before three years from now when the Oldubil stack runs out.
I think Apple buying EA would have a bigger impact, but Tim Cook doesn't go for big acquisitions.
Why do you think more consolidation is a good thing?
Why would you assume they think that? All they're saying is that they hope for those games to be on game pass, since they got a great deal on that. Obviously consolidation is not a good thing.
I think Microsoft will be a more ethical owner than Bobby was. Plus consolidating old and powerful devs and publishers makes more room for new ones to pop up. Games today isn’t like supermarkets where a duopoly chokes competition. Microsoft lets anyone publish their games on xbox for a standard fee and on Windows for free. You just need a good game to succeed. AAA games are more expensive to develop today though, compared to 8 bit days when a single person could make a game and early 3D games when half a dozen people could make one.
I think Microsoft will be a more ethical owner than Bobby was
'Getting bought out by Microsoft' isn't the only solution to bad corporate leadership.
Microsoft lets anyone publish their games on xbox for a standard fee and on Windows for free.
That also applies to Sony or Nintendo's storefronts. As for Windows, it's less Good Guy Microsoft 'letting' anyone publish games on it vs. they literally have no control over the distribution of .exes. Microsoft would love for you to source everything from the Microsoft Store, where they can get a cut.
The issue that consumers should be wary of, is that Microsoft is historically one of the most anti-competitive companies in the world, has the resources to outspend anyone else in gaming by an order of magnitude, and they just bought the world's largest third party publisher (and their catalogues). Do you trust them to not thumb the scale in favour of their console and storefront in the future? I don't. Expect fewer new multiplatform IPs in the future, and even in-gestation projects could be switched to be Xbox exclusives mid-development. Sure, cheap game pass now, but who's to say they won't use their war chest to buy studios to fill the game pass shelves, get everyone signed up because of it, then jack up the subscription fee like every other streaming service? Even Xbox owners should be wary when there's one fewer big game publisher on the market.
@SydStrand: Why would it matter if Actibliz games became exclusives. It’ll hurt Sony https://kotaku.com/call-of-duty-1-million-ps4-activision-ftc… but then again if Sony sells consoles at a loss and they only buy one game, maybe it’ll help Sony save some money…
does this mean MicroActiBlizz will make good games …..again? and stop abusing its female work force?
It also means that Crash Bandicoot and Spyro will be 100% owned by Microsoft.
Small technicality: The Judge rejected FTC's request for a preliminary injunction. FTC have till Friday to decide if they will take it further to court in August or not (most likely won't though based on previous).
So the FTC haven't quite approved it yet but seems matter of time. CMA appeal was put on-hold and they are now in further discussions as well so it seems inevitable now.
Most likely tons more games being added to GamePass but who knows if Diablo 4 and WoW subscription will too.
There will be a huge long-term impact to the industry though from this acquisition and that remains to be seen.