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Microsoft have bought Activision Blizzard

R.R. Bigman

R.R. Bigman

Coolest Guy
Is there any property Activision owns that isn’t years past it’s prime? Why spend almost ten times what Disney paid for Star Wars on…this?
 
MetManMas

MetManMas

Me and My Bestie
(He, him)
I'm not surprised Microsoft would buy ActiVision Blizzard.

I'm disappointed they announced that Kotick would stay on instead of throwing him in the trash where he belongs...but I get it. Got to play nice with the company you're buying until things are all finalized even when their culture is shitty and scummy and they've been rightfully under fire for all their horrible bullshit for months.

Also Call of Duty and the Blizzard stuff are huge money makers...so I get it. I'm not thrilled that Microsoft keeps buying companies or that they would throw a mountain of cash to a company that's getting a much-deserved thrashing for all its bullshit...but I get it.

Another gem for MS's Infinity Gauntlet.
 
Becksworth

Becksworth

Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
Yeah, the IPs are huge. The current state of many of the studios and the upper management is an out of control dumpster fire, but the IPs are huge.
 
Phantoon

Phantoon

I cuss you bad
I do worry for the state of the industry. It's like Disney buying up most of the film industry, I don't think it's healthy.
 
Mogri

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
I kind of agree. They haven't put out a new IP in nearly a decade. The IPs they have are powerhouses, but they're past their prime.
 
JBear

JBear

Internet's foremost Bertolli cosplayer
(He/Him)
But just think of the cross-over potential! We can have an arena battler with Master Chief vs. Diablo vs. a shitty CEO vs. a legion of sex pests.
 
MetManMas

MetManMas

Me and My Bestie
(He, him)
I would make some Animal Crossing images in regards to this latest shit show, but...
sPAkfkd.jpeg

There's no topping this.
 
Kazin

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
Awful news, and I could not care less about either the Xbox or any of Activision Blizzards IPs. Terrible for the industry.
 
MCBanjoMike

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
When Microsoft bought Bethesda, I was actually kind of positive about it. Compared to Sony, MS didn't have much by way of first-party games, so the purchase made the Xbox a bit more competitive. Competition is good! But this feels like a very big bridge too far. Not only have they locked down a huge proportion of the 3rd party AAA-game space, but they've bought Activision at a time when its company culture is completely in the toilet and they aren't showing any immediate signs that they intend to do something about that. I don't actually believe Microsoft will leave things as they are - no-one invests SEVENTY BILLION into a company on the rocks without plans to shore things up - but keeping Kotick on doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Hopefully, he'll be out the door soon enough and they can start making changes. But either way, this is too many eggs in one basket for my liking.
 
Issun

Issun

Chumpy
(He/Him)
Nintendo isn't the most customer friendly company in the world, but shit like this makes me happy they're still alive and doing their weird, quirky thing.
 
ArugulaZ

ArugulaZ

Fearful asymmetry
This isn't going to turn out like that episode of The Simpsons where Bill Gates "buys" Homer's internet startup, only to smash his equipment with a baseball bat and run away cackling, is it?
 
RT-55J

RT-55J

space hero for hire
(He/Him + RT/artee)
They should have bought Sony's Japan Studio when they had the chance instead imho.
 
JBear

JBear

Internet's foremost Bertolli cosplayer
(He/Him)
Mogri said:
I kind of agree. They haven't put out a new IP in nearly a decade. The IPs they have are powerhouses, but they're past their prime.
Click to expand...
From Patrick Klepek, which seems on the money to me:

Sexual harassment and the toxic corporate culture that comes with it is a problem, but not enough of a problem to stop us from acquiring Game Pass content! Which is what this is all about, of course. Microsoft is beyond doubling down on Game Pass for the next decade of Xbox—it's the whole ballgame... B and C-grade content is what Game Pass needs. Game Pass needs "good enough."
Click to expand...
 
chud_666

chud_666

WisteriaHysteria said:
Any angle on this story that isn't focused first and foremost on the antitrust aspect tells me how foregone we all are as a society
Click to expand...
Yeah - this is def akin to Disney / Fox situation.
But the trashiness of ActiBlizz i feel was being leveraged for better buy?

I'm a big Xbox-o, but this feels not great
 
ShakeWell

ShakeWell

Slam Master
(he, etc.)
YangusKhan said:
Well this is definitely the video game industry equivalent of Disney buying Fox.
Click to expand...

I mean, I hope not in a lot of ways. One of the things that kinda flew under the radar of that deal was Disney no longer allowing revival screenings of Fox movies (Alien, etc). At least for for-profit theatres (which saved me, my local spot that had a great midnight program before COVID is non-profit). It seems like MS wants to make games available, not mothball them to kill competition. So at least there's that.

The continuously frustrating take from the hoi polloi on these things is "NOW NINTENDO SHOULD BUY CAPCOM, DURRRRRRR," as if more consolidation is a good thing.
 
FelixSH

FelixSH

(He/Him)
ShakeWell said:
The continuously frustrating take from the hoi polloi on these things is "NOW NINTENDO SHOULD BUY CAPCOM, DURRRRRRR," as if more consolidation is a good thing.
Click to expand...
Why, what? Is this the take from THE INTERNET? Dumbest timeline, this is all stupid. I'm just glad, that there are still Indies, and I hope they will be a thing for a long time, so I can ignore all AAA games (which I do anyway, AAA bores me, except for Nintendo) forever and ever.

Just don't buy Square-Enix, Microsoft, ok?
 
Violentvixen

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
ArugulaZ said:
This isn't going to turn out like that episode of The Simpsons where Bill Gates "buys" Homer's internet startup, only to smash his equipment with a baseball bat and run away cackling, is it?
Click to expand...

I am going to pretend that Microsoft is buying them to fire all the sexist assholes. Or round up those sexist assholes and force them to make sensitivity training/HR games with their IP. Lalala I can't hear you this is absolutely the reason please let me have my fantasy lalala
 
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