This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
I'm torn between wanting Activision to get new management and not wanting Microsoft to aquire two major companies and dominate the market
It's really bad. This is all about Game Pass. MS wants to acquire enough of the industry big IPs to force people onto Game Pass. All of tech right now is trying really hard to get people locked into subscriptions because it's effectively free, easy money. You don't have to convince consumers to constantly buy new stuff. You just need to dissuade them from canceling a subscription, which is much easier.
Then they just gobble up more of the market share until they've hit their theoretical maximum. Then they can raise prices because they've captured the market and driven competitors away. They've already made it so you pretty much need Game Pass if you own an Xbox. Long-term they could stop selling PC games on Steam, but they probably won't because the PC market is so much smaller than console and they can point to that as a "win" for consumer choice.
Sony has nothing successful enough compared to Game Pass and as they fall further behind they'll likely abandon it entirely.
Then enshitification sets in and all the games suck.
We're well past that point.
I mean when Microsoft purchased Bethesda it made things better than they were at the time and we got access to a lot more older titles. Just look at what Redfall was and then compare it to Starfield. Microsoft didn’t have any hands in Redfall but did in Starfield.
I don't think this is really a good comparison since Starfield was in development for years before Microsoft came in. Plus, Redfall was forced by management to shoehorn in a live service model with mtx during its development, butchering what it had been before.
And, this is just my personal opinion, but I think Starfield is a pretty mediocre game. Besides the ship design, it's largely the same design that Bethesda has had since Oblivion.
People keep thinking this is bad for Activision. Activision wants this. That should tell you all you need to know.
Bobby Kotick might quit after the buyout because he's a power-hungry wannabe-murderer, but there's zero chance he doesn't get hundreds of millions in payout no matter what happens. He's happy about the buyout.
This isn't going to affect much of how Activision develops games, except 0 of them will be on Sony hardware going forward, unless they actually honor that deal for Call of Duty, but that's it. All this does is ensure consumers have less choice.
People keep thinking this is bad for Activision
This isn't bad for Activision or Microsoft. It's bad for everybody else.
Welcome the new management, same as the old management.
Fuck Activision
Fuck both Activision and Microsoft*
Anyone have a map of who remains after the mega mergers of the last 15y? At this point I'm just waiting for our EA/Bioware/Activision/Blizzard/Microsoft/Tencent future.
Isn't $69B also the amount the IRS just said Microsoft owes them? 🤔
Nah, it's only 29B. But ifthey have such money why won't they pay taxes? 🤔
Will Microsoft also bend the knee to China for gaming $$$? We'll soon find out.
Why would they not?
I remember for Rainbow 6 Siege the cost of updating two separate instances of the game (Chinese version had slot machines on maps removed, no blood, no skull/death icons, etc) was adding development time so devs tried to push a single “global” version to everyone. They claimed it was going to save on development time but the player base was not pleased
Any management that would greenlight a global version of a game centered around Chinese restrictions is a moron. Not once have restrictions gone well for ANY game much less one with an already existing player base.
They don't need to do anything except weather some consumer backlash for a title or two. Eventually as publishers make their games compatible with Chinese regulations, they'll stop making games with content that offends China. Players may not even realize it's happening and publishers get to spend less money. So say goodbye to skeletons and such in massive games.
Very possible for AAA games. But that’s also the reason some indie games are hitting it out of the park so it’s not all downside when AAA games are censored. That being said Baldur’s Gate 3’s success, I’m sure, opened publishers eyes.
You seem to be under the impression this mega-corporation cares about what the playerbase thinks.
They only care about money.
There is only pointless hope that Microsoft will make Activision Blizzard great again cause their gaming track is just a total joke so far. And AB, as a gaming company, are totally fcked. Every game they did in the last 5 years is a middle finger to their fans and thumbs up to their share holders. There is no way AB gets a single dime of my money..
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The UK’s competition watchdog has cleared Microsoft’s $69bn (£54bn) deal to buy Activision Blizzard, the maker of games including Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, in a move that paves the way for both companies to complete the transaction.
However, last month the watchdog said a revised deal that included selling cloud gaming rights outside Europe to Activision Blizzard’s French rival Ubisoft had addressed its concerns, indicating the tie-up would be approved.
In a statement on Friday Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s chief executive, said: “With the sale of Activision’s cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft, we’ve made sure Microsoft can’t have a stranglehold over this important and rapidly developing market.
As cloud gaming grows, this intervention will ensure people get more competitive prices, better services and more choice.”
The UK regulator had appeared increasingly isolated in its position blocking the takeover after its EU counterparts passed the deal – after Microsoft offered alternative concessions on cloud gaming rights – and the US competition regulator failed to secure a court injunction to stop it.
The Federal Trade Commission is maintaining its opposition to the deal but it cannot prevent Microsoft and Activision from completing it.
The original article contains 244 words, the summary contains 194 words. Saved 20%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
What did the anti-monopoly office (whatever they are called) smoke to greenlight this?
If they bring back Heroes of the Storm I will dick ride Microsoft for the rest of my life
Mason: what do the numbers mean?
Reznov: TPM, 4GB, Secureboot. All is required
4GB? More like 400GB...
4GB min ram for ms windows 11 lol
Nice.
