this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2023

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Microsoft completes Activision Blizzard acquisition, Call of Duty now part of Xbox (www.theverge.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 year ago (4 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (3 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How is a games publisher buying another games publisher not horizontal integration?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Microsoft is not primarily a game publisher. They develop the thing the games run on, while they also own other studios that publish and develop games.

That's vertical integration for a company that also happens to own other vertically integrated assets. Not horizontal just because other game publishers exist under Microsoft.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yes exactly. It's obvious when you compare the pre-merger relationship between Microsoft and ABK to, say, the relationship between Microsoft and Sony. The latter is very competitive, whereas the former is more symbiotic

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

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?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’m sorry there were people expecting Microsoft to act altruistically??

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yes? At the time of my comment all of the other comments were people hoping it would be a good thing.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They also use GitHub to hover up code and resell it as AI... and it's only a question of time before they do a rugpull.

Make no mistake, they bought both for access to the data and use it daily to upend other competitors.

Remember: embrace, expand, extinguish...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They also use GitHub to hover up code and resell it as AI

Microsoft's not the only company doing this. Pretty much all code-focused AI models are based on Github data.

Remember: embrace, expand, extinguish...

This may have been common in the 90s, but I'm not sure it's still relevant. Do you have any examples of Microsoft doing this in the past 10 years?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Regardless at the end of the day microsoft is a business. By that fact alone their decisions are dependent on what is best for the company. If and when this deviates from what is best for the consumers, we will learn to regret the acquisition

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

omg it can't POSSIBLY get worse for Overwatch... can it? ABK execs have treated that product worse than breast milk stored in the company fridge.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Now releasing Overwatch 3, exclusively on GamePass! New features (...Actually no new features because we cancelled them all after discontinuing Overwatch 2)!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Overwatch 3 is just removing one of the supports to make it 4v4

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I don't think the kids are that dumb

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Maybe they can make WoW expansions free with a subscription now, or make it all part of Xbox Game Pass?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Im of the boat that believes innorder to boost gamepass subscription numbers for shareholders, WoW subs will eventually merge into gamepass

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Its less about immedoate profit and more about pumping up gamepass numbers under one umbrella for investors to see a large number increase. Its part of the reason why Xbox Live Gold has been rebranded into Gamepass Core. Microsoft supposedly is under their sub projection (despite having about 40M subs) and trying to pump the numbers as much as possible.

Overwatch makes no sense given its a feee game. Unless your implying gamepass pays for the battlepass, as the game moving to gamepass would be a detriment on console as it does not require gamepass core to play (as its free)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I am uncertain as to the cost/benefit projections for doing that.

Yes, they get to bump subscriptions a bit. But the game would effectively go f2p in the process. And anyone that already pays for both, will not add to any numbers.

I don't know the current player count for WoW. Only MS can estimate as to it's potential benefit.

My money is on them just migrating everything to their storefronts to begin with and then waiting to see what effect it'll have.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm with you and I don't think the other person really gets just how expensive a WoW subscription is. It will never be integrated into Gamepass, it makes far too much money on its own.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's possible they might bundle up all the expansions and make the entire thing "free" with gamepass. They're all bought and payed for as it is.

It'd make it seem attractive and it costs MS $0. And they get to keep the monetization model that's already in place.

Having their cake and eating it too.

The only ones eating the check, so to speak, would be everyone that already purchased all the dlc.

It seems like a appropriate mega-corp thing to do.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

As somebody who has spent years and years working for ABK and Xbox, my prediction is this integration will be hardest for King.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How so? I remember King being a primary target of the acquisition

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

To be fair to Microsoft... Mojang has seemingly been doing gret as another Swedish company under their roof. This might actually be a reprieve from Activision Blizzard management?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

100% Xbox is better lead than AB and Phil Spencer is an awesome person and an awesome leader. So in that respect there might be more time for King post-acquisition. But let’s wait and see

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:

Click here to see the summary

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.

Saved 63% of original text.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

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.