Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard. (Gaming)

by INSANEdrive, ಥ_ಥ | f(ಠ‿↼)z | ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ| ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, Tuesday, January 18, 2022, 07:07 (828 days ago)
edited by INSANEdrive, Tuesday, January 18, 2022, 07:57

Yes. You read that correctly. I did a double take too. Lots of folks are blessing shi-et today with this news.

"Welcoming the Incredible Teams and Legendary Franchises of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft Gaming" is the official announcement to this action. Not only is this Industry-shaking, but... well. It's Activision Blizzard, whose social reputation is, at this point, not requiring any more utterance. I'm not sure what to think.

Side Note: Right now Bungie is like, *whew*, not THIS time Microsoft. :P

Edit:

The one day I go on vacation…

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 18, 2022

BREAKING: The WSJ reports that Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard, the troubled publisher behind Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, which has been facing crisis over the last year following numerous reports of sexual misconduct and discrimination. A seismic gaming deal

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 18, 2022

This deal certainly raises some antitrust questions!

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 18, 2022

Microsoft PR: “Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard… Once the deal closes, the Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming.”

Not 100% clear yet whether Bobby will stay on after the ink dries.

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 18, 2022

I’m on vacation today (lol) but if I were not I would be calling up some antitrust experts because Xbox buying Bethesda and now Activision sure seems like the type of horizontal merging that the DOJ frowns upon

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 18, 2022

While monopolies are undoubtedly bad news for the video game industry, this acquisition could have some positive effects on Blizzard both culturally and strategically. Under Activision, every game had to be a billion-dollar franchise. Under Xbox, that will likely change

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 18, 2022

Bobby’s ultimate goal (other than to get away with everything he did) was to turn Blizzard into another Activision studio cranking out yearly hits. Under Xbox, Blizzard may be able to regain some of its autonomy and fix some big problems. Maybe!

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 18, 2022

Important to also note here that many of Blizzard’s issues were entirely self-inflicted and had nothing to do with Activision, including sexual misconduct and discrimination

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 18, 2022

An excerpt from Bobby Kotick’s email to staff today: pic.twitter.com/qIyM02R31S

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 18, 2022

...and of course, since this is a Destiny Bungie forum...

Good morning.

What news did I miss?

Oh. Wait. What? Holy shit. What?????

— dmg04 (@A_dmg04) January 18, 2022