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News Microsoft Finalizes Activision Blizzard Purchase
- Thread starter ILikeFeet
- Start date
ItWasMeantToBe19
Manakete
I’m pretty sure “Team Asano” consists of like 10 people working with four different external devs. They make no sense to “purchase”
The "Contractual Right" piece means it's Microsoft's obligation to release future ABK content on Nintendo platforms that's enforceable by law.
Nintendo needs to provide hardware that can play this future content, otherwise Microsoft can say they did their due diligence to try and release it but were unable.
Hailinel
Musou Mania!
Wait for the layoffs to hit before claiming that.
Youre too pessimist.
HockeyBird
Villager
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Microsoft confirms more job cuts on top of 10,000 layoffs announced in January
On top of the 10,000 layoffs Microsoft announced in January, the company is now slimming down its number of salespeople.
www.cnbc.com
343 layoffs affected 95, including top directors
A report from Bloomberg shed light yesterday on the issues facing 343 Industries, which was significantly hit by layoff…
www.gamesindustry.biz
Not saying it will for sure happen but Microsoft loves doing layoffs. They love closing down entire teams and studios. That's part of the reason why they needed to buy so many studios in the first place.
I wasn't just talking about that post. Same for 9-volt. More specifically about most of Activision franchises being dead.Microsoft confirms more job cuts on top of 10,000 layoffs announced in January
On top of the 10,000 layoffs Microsoft announced in January, the company is now slimming down its number of salespeople.
343 layoffs affected 95, including top directors
A report from Bloomberg shed light yesterday on the issues facing 343 Industries, which was significantly hit by layoff…
Not saying it will for sure happen but Microsoft loves doing layoffs. They love closing down entire teams and studios. That's part of the reason why they needed to buy so many studios in the first place.
9-Volt
Adept
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Hell yeah. Crash Bash. Gimme more of that.
D
Deleted member 3433
Guest
That was only a gesture. Nothing changes in terms of the relationship between Microsoft and SONY.
Team Asano is like 5 people and not a company
It wasn't just a gesture. Microsoft leveraged 10 years of ABK software support to secure EU/UK/US approval of the acquisition. I believe Nintendo/Sony/Valve all received this offer.
Nintendo didn't challenge the acquisition and benefited by gaining the legal obligation from Microsoft. Sony gambled on the deal falling through and had to settle on just CoD when it looked like Microsoft would win approval. Valve didn't care since Microsoft is already releasing content on Steam.
Soul Skater
Koopa
RoqueSanteiro
Rattata
Seen some people thinking Microsoft will free Activision's studios from the yearly CoD grind. Not sure if they're optimistic or just naive.
It's pretty gross, seen people on other places hoping Sega gets bought next.
It's pretty gross, seen people on other places hoping Sega gets bought next.
I immediately thought of the Spectre chart from James Bond
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They sure paid a pretty penny. ActiBlizz is (very) profitable but I am interested to see how much of that profitability playbook Microsoft will be willing to burn in service of their wider strategy.
ActiBlizz profits, as significant as they are, remain a figurative "drop in the bucket" next to Microsoft's own earnings.
Its crazy to think, but now that Microsoft has Kirby'd ActiBlizz, they can probably absorb and obscure away revenue drops as they presumably seek to align output for GamePass first-and-foremost.
Phil Spencer has stated that he has a mandate to run an overall profitable gaming division so there must be a tightrope with these decisions.
They will be spurning a nice chonky money hat from Sony for marketing exclusivity, will uptick on GamePass and expansion to other platforms make up for that?
For long-term health of the brand, Is Microsoft willing to adjust the cadence of the COD factory?
To build out an increasingly diversified exclusive lineup, are they willing to spend on revitalizing dormant IP?
Somewhat insulated from the relentless demand of annual revenue growth, will they allow pullback on aggressive monetization-first strategies that may have adversely affected brands like Overwatch?
Lugia667
Gerudo
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is this really what things have come to?
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Activision Blizzard was already a very layoff happy company, they could have the most profitable quarter in the world, and then line up to lay off workers.
I don't think microsoft is a saint by any means, but I do not think Activision Blizzard employees chances of being laid off increase with this acquisition. At the very worst, it stays the same.
Galgavias
Koopa
It's not out the realms of possibility. We got a COD every single year becuase Activision needed to get a COD out every year to keep the lights on. It became business critical for them. Now Microsoft is footing the bill that same necessity isn't there. You'd expect them to still aim for annualised games for sure, but if one year there needs to be a delay then it's less disastrous and maybe Phil can make that call.
At the very least we can expect (or hope) the non-COD studios like Toys for Bob to not get dragged into the COD conveyor belt going forward, which should give opportunities for stuff like Crash/Tony Hawk etc.
They will want to keep COD yearly. Consumers want it no matter what some niche hardcore gamers on message boards complain about.
MS can hire other people for other IP if they want.
I would say Starcraft, Warcraft, Overwatch are probably higher priority than Crash/Tony Hawk though.
If you're MS and you're looking at what you've just got, Starcraft and Warcraft immediately stick out as treasure trove IP that aren't being utilized.
If I'm Phil I'm immediately taking pitches for a Starcraft 3 or if it's in development then giving that team whatever they need. Something big with the Warcraft brand I'd also look at and then choosing the best pitch and getting the best team on it.
fiendcode
Like Like
You say that as if mass layoffs wouldn't happen at Activision Blizzard without this acquisition too. Hell, if not for Microsoft it probably would've already happened this fall alongside EA, Epic, Sega and like half the industry.
The opportunity for organizing labor and collective bargaining is always a net positive for workers. Period. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
I mean, they're already doubled since Shinobi didn't include SRD.
ShadowFox08
Paratroopa
I'm still butt hurt about RARE going to MS, but that's on Nintendo for not buying their 51% share.
This though stings. Nintendo would have likely gotten cod regardless on Switch 2. I can't imagine this would be the last big studio they will try to take. They tried taking Nintendo twice already. I hope Sony doesn't try to take EA (not that I care about EA, but they are big).
This though stings. Nintendo would have likely gotten cod regardless on Switch 2. I can't imagine this would be the last big studio they will try to take. They tried taking Nintendo twice already. I hope Sony doesn't try to take EA (not that I care about EA, but they are big).
Valentonis
Rattata
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- Any/All
I'm sorry, Microsoft revealing corporate acquisitions like they're Smash Bros announcements is so funny to me
Sony doesn't have that kind of money. EA has a market cap of about 36 billion but you have to go above that to make the buy-out attractive, so like 45-50 billion? Sony in total (the entire Sony corp) is like 108 billion market cap, so that would be like almost half their market cap. Way too much. Microsoft could do it though, just a question of getting it through regulators though.
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HockeyBird
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What's funny and sad about the whole acquisition discourse is that I think a good portion of people don't actually care about the games. They like the acquisitions because it allows them to make bigger lists for their list wars on the internet. "Look at all the studios my console maker of choice owns". It's amazing how many Xbox fans suddenly became interested in King/Candy Crush.
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It’s somewhat amusing how Microsoft managed to spin this as them somehow being benevolent. Of course they wouldn’t have made the deals if they didn’t need support with regulators. They had to compromise a bit, it’s not an 100% win-lose situation. And now we will be able to access Activision-Blizzard “content” on Nintendo platforms for 10 years, thanks Microsoft /s
RoqueSanteiro
Rattata
Can't see that happening at all, to be honest. If they're going to do something with those ips I think it's more likely that they'll outsource rather than do anything that might affect the COD machine.
thoughthaver
Chain Chomp
have you been sleeping under a rock or something??
MadMarvainy
Moblin
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I'm pretty indifferent to this news. The only property they have that I care about is Overwatch. They killed Heroes of the Storm and Activision doesn't really drop new IPs like they once did.
Hopefully MS be can do right by these IPs and I hope GamePass adds even more of these games.
Hopefully MS be can do right by these IPs and I hope GamePass adds even more of these games.
Rooster
Chain Chomp
I'm psyched ABK is now owned by a company that can barely put out its own first-party games, let alone make them good.
I think the solution was obviously to just buy more companies, so I'm glad things are fixed now.
Though if MS's output continues to falter I think they should do the only logical thing and keep buying more devs.
I think the solution was obviously to just buy more companies, so I'm glad things are fixed now.
Though if MS's output continues to falter I think they should do the only logical thing and keep buying more devs.
Dark Cloud
Warpstar Knight
Microsoft is saving this industry with all the consolidation. Praise be to Microsoft
MadMarvainy
Moblin
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Bobby Kotick did all he could to sabotage OW, it is well documented. He didn't even mention the OW team in his company-wide email today.
He just saw it as an easy esport mill and when that fell flat on its face after his billionaire buddies backed it, he stopped giving a fuck about it.
Microsoft leadership cannot possibly be any worse for the IP than that dude.
thoughthaver
Chain Chomp
making a trailer for your corporate acquisition is fucking cringe
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Nintendo truly have a next level acquisition strategy compared to the competition
Concernt
Optimism is non-negotiable
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Obsidian and Bethesda have been under the same roof for years and even with the MULTIPLE huge leaks, no evidence of New Vegas Remake.
I don't have much hope for how they'll treat the IPs they just gained, but at least if they do use them, they'll come to Nintendo's platform for a couple years.
Remastering Hexen is on a much different level than remastering New Vegas. And they seem to be putting their effort into Oblivion if that's real
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That's true, and I'm not getting my hopes up. More just idle speculation - maybe they could at least make the game available again as I don't think it's on any storefronts.
To be clear, Heretic 2 isn't Hexen. It's a direct sequel to the first Heretic, a third person game using the Quake 2 engine, rather than just a game in the same shared universe.
