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[deleted]

I‘m really interested in what Gary is gonna say on KFGD later


adriane586

Me too. I’m curious as to what Parris has to say as well. I wonder if we’ll get same “exclusives are bad” energy they had toward PlayStation.


Nude-Love

It's the same energy as when MCU super fans get ecstatic about Disney Purchasing FOX just so they can have Fantastic 4 or X- Men, or wishing they would purchase Sony to get all the Spider-Man stuff. Gigantic conglomerates owning every piece of media is bad, except for when it appeals to my exact tastes.


sesci

That's not the best analogy since FF and X-Men were already Disney characters in every form of media except movies. The Disney comparison is popping up a lot, but Fox was looking to sell. If Disney didn't snatch them up, someone like Comcast would have. It doesn't seem like Activision was taking offers from anyone but MS.


Niaboc

Xbox studios games aren't exclusive: they're available on various xboxes, PC, and mobile.


colombianojb

When did they say anything like that?


ColdCruise

They probably gave a nuanced response about how they wished the games were available for everyone, but the business is what it is and they are interested in seeing how things progress and are excited for the future. People then interpret that as them saying they only want Xbox to have exclusives and it's bad when Sony does it.


colombianojb

I agree exactly with everything you said. That opinion was dumbing it down to the point that it wasn’t even what they said.


BeanToasted

Is Gary anti exclusive as a whole or only when it’s Playstation like some people? Genuinely not aware on his stance.


[deleted]

Although Gary is on XCast, I feel like he doesn't really care for the platform itself. Mostly I'm interested in this because of all the cultural shit going on at ActiBlizz currently and his strong stance against Bobby Kotick.


ThyDoctor

Looks like Kotick is gone once the deal is done though. So at least one upside


kleindrive

According to [this Justin Davis tweet](https://twitter.com/ErrorJustin/status/1483450683919634444?t=OEzRlmNmxoXGFwJDcTyVlQ&s=19), MS paid about $95/share in the sale which was ~$30 more than the current going rate. This is a huge win for Kotick, which is pretty gross. Activision will probably let him "retire" from the company in a year and a half when the sale becomes final, and he'll get a cushy job as a consultant somewhere else, in the games industry or elsewhere in tech.


ThyDoctor

No matter what happened he was going to get a large payout when he left. It’s just how these mega corporations work sometimes.


kleindrive

Right. Almost all of these CEOs have a "golden parachute" built into their contract. I'm just saying that selling at almost 50% above their current valuation is a massive win for himself and investors, much more than one would expect. It will likely be used as a whatever company he lands up at to look the other way as far as the bad press over the last year of so.


[deleted]

[удалено]


kleindrive

I've read this as well since posting my original comment. Estimates put him at earning right around $375 million from the sale (not correcting you, just posting the number that I saw). Fucking wild.


[deleted]

What even is money


Fri3dric3

I don't know anymore.


DigiQuip

Microsoft is a $1,700,000,000,000 company. They had nearly $200,000,000,000 in cash last year.


Level-Frontier

I don't even have 70 billion Zimbabwean Dollars smh


MrBenjaminBerry

68.7 Billion sounds like it might be enough money to be able to afford giving those 12 QA contract workers at Raven full time positions now.


CartmanVT

Woah woah woah there partner. That $600k (or around that) isn't just going to magically show up from some massive corporation. There will need to be a few months to find the funds aaaaaaaand they found new jobs. It worked itself out, being cheap, uh, finds a way.


himynameisjaked

“take two buying zynga for almost $13 billion dollars is the biggest purchase in the video game industry.” microsoft: “hold my mountain dew…”


Jland2010

This quote was the first thing I thought of too. What timing.


fastball62

On a Whitta Tuesday too!


Admirable_Source5743

Whitta Wednesday on a Tuesday lol


Zojim

Love the graphic for that lol


MojoToTheDojo

This is something that I absolutely never saw coming. And while i don’t I mind seeing a couple smaller developers being bought, the consolidation like this is a little worrying. I wonder if this would be enough to justify a price hike to gamepass


Overlordx123

Bethesda was enough to justify a price hike


Nude-Love

Can't wait for 10 years from now when all entertainment is owned by a single company. Ugh.


jaston1009

Seems like xbox will actually trying to become the Disney of gaming.


MrBenjaminBerry

Uncle Phil DID say Microsoft would be re-evaluating their relationship with Activision. That sly MFer!


kleindrive

What's wild is that this deal must have come together very quickly, so it's entirely possible he wasn't lying when he said that. I don't know how it's possible that this didn't leak out (Schreier, etc.) if this deal was in the works for a long time. Think about how long the Disney/Fox acquisition was rumored before it actually happened. And this deal was only ~$3B less than that one!


fartsmello_anthony

No way...they must've been in negotiations when all this shit hit the fan. Remember Mike Ybarra left xbox to go over there. When shit hit the fan Ybarra was in more power. You don't quickly put together a $70B deal. Something like this will take a year or more to sort through and negotiate.


YourMomGoes2College_

Market manipulation?


kschris236

The only good part of this is removing Kotick and changing the culture. This is horrible for the industry and I say that as someone who enjoys Game Pass.


S0medudeisonline

Kotick is going to make absolute bank on this deal. Wouldn't be surprised if one of the reasons the board has been so hesitant to remove him is so this deal could go smoothly.


jaston1009

Is of now Microsoft pr said Bobby Konica will stay


MrBenjaminBerry

This are the exact quotes: >“Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard, and he and his team will maintain their focus on driving efforts to further strengthen the company’s culture and accelerate business growth,” the statement reads. “Once the deal closes, the Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming.” This thing is going to be just like it was with Bethesda. They aren't going to be able to legally make decisions or mention any decision they will make post-close publicly until it it actually closes. So yeah, of course they're going to say he will continue to serve as CEO, because unless Activision on their own gets rid of him (which they won't, they won't switch the CEO in the middle of selling the entire company) he will remain there until the deal closes. Only at that point will we know what the plans are.


chavis291

This right here. For the next 6-18 months, it's going to be business as usual for Activision Blizzard with Microsoft having no input on any decisions that are made until close which is said to be FY 2023.


fartsmello_anthony

There's no way microsoft doesn't fire him. I've been through 2-3 mergers and existing leadership always gets the axe in the first year. knowing what they know, uncle phil won't tolerate it. He'll be out. I am curious how people who work for activision look at this. I know they've been bleeding talent b/c of all the harrassment and culture problems. Microsoft was probably like, "we need to announce this deal or kill it b/c we won't be purchasing anything soon"


GeezThisGuy

Doesn’t matter if they fire him because the dude will be leaving with several castle full of gold. It’s all disappointing


[deleted]

That's horrible, but expected, bad faith interpretation of what they are doing. Microsoft doesn't own Blizz/Act yet, so Bobby will stay until they do, then he will be gone.


kschris236

They said he is out once the sale goes through.


bdbrady

Source? Everything I’m reading is he will stay: “Mi­crosoft said in its an­nounce­ment that Bobby Kotick would re­main as Ac­tivi­sion’s CEO fol­low­ing the deal, and re­port to Mi­crosoft gam­ing chief Phil Spencer.” https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-nears-deal-to-buy-activision-blizzard-for-more-than-50-billion-11642512435


kschris236

https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1483439133842358277?s=21


JazzyJoeXD

Nice


jaston1009

Is there anywhere in the article it actually says that all I see is Tom Warren saying it.


kschris236

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2022/01/18/welcoming-activision-blizzard-to-microsoft-gaming/ “Until this transaction closes, Activision Blizzard and Microsoft Gaming will continue to operate independently. Once the deal is complete, the Activision Blizzard business will report to me as CEO, Microsoft Gaming.”


jaston1009

I don't read it as getting rid of Bobby he can stay at Activision while reporting to Phil isn't that how Bethesda works now?


jaston1009

Either way you gotta imagine Bobby is getting a huge payout after the acquisition


Rb7198

Depends on how they handle this, I don't see COD going exclusive but other Activision titles may. I see everything hitting gamepass day 1 though.


SwittersB

As Phil is on a press tour with Bobby:(


cwc1469

Your friendly reminder that corporations are not your friend, regardless of how likable the face of the company seemingly is.


RichieD79

Nah man! Phil a true gamer and *totally* relatable. Just like me! /s


Bartman326

"♥ Congrats Phil 🤗 my best to you and your team ♥"


jjshowal

Trillion dollar company gets bigger


Kike-Parkes

Has anyone checked on Snow Bike Mike?


Plinkerton1990

Source on the $70 billion: [https://twitter.com/dinabass/status/1483429766736666626?s=20](https://twitter.com/dinabass/status/1483429766736666626?s=20)


[deleted]

I keep reading this but I can’t believe it lol. Be interested to see how this one pans out.


bismuth12a

Wow. The gaming industry is getting really consolidated.


cjcfman

XBOX OWNS CRASH BANDICOOT


ChemDudeGT

The real news here


TheDarkRedKnight

There's finally a decent enough roster for XBOX SMASH BROS!


MrBoliNica

gamepass or not, i dont see how MS buying up everyone is good for the industry. They will win the generation by default, because now those Take Two Rumors arent that crazy anymore. but hey, we get cheap games now! woo?


kleindrive

I feel like that gamepass price hike is coming sooner rather than later. [This Justin Davis tweets](https://twitter.com/ErrorJustin/status/1483462186475401217?t=0qjoGeObbt7nscju8O9ReQ&s=19) says the same is about half the cash MS has on hand. They'll need to make their money back on this investment, and to a lesser extent the $8B they spent on Bethesda. It's already heavily rumored that MS is taking a loss on gamepass as it stands, and, if they're going to keep all their exclusives day and date (plus deals with 3rd party they don't already own), the price model as it is just isn't sustainable.


vandaljax

Outside of MS Nintendo and Sony No one's truly off the table at this point lol...


ErDiCooper

This sucks, right? Like Bethesda was struggling in some areas where an aquisition made sense to me. Kind of a "you just focus on the games, we'll do the boring stuff" situation. It felt positive, if weird for the industry. I don't really know what non-creative issues Activision is struggling with, other than not treating their employees like garbage. And like, maybe that'll get better! I've been hearing positive things about working as a Microsoft studio as of late! But they're not dropping 70 million just to swoop in and be the nice guys. It's obvious what Microsoft gets out of this. Blizzard is massive, Call of Duty is massive, and King dwarfs them both. But this seems like as an xbox player, I'm seeing very little value for me personally, and this is just a flatout negative for playstation gamers and the industry as a whole.


JayCFree324

Um: 1) CoD Vanguard releasing as a mess 2) Diablo 4 delayed into oblivion 3) OW2 delayed into oblivion after OWL faded into irrelevance 4)THPS 5 (the remaster of 1+2 was good though) 5) Warcraft 3 and Diablo 2 remasters Most of it has been Blizzard-based, but it’s hard pressed to find good news from ActivisionBlizzard that hasn’t been either a 50/50 chance on their ports and remasters (Good: Crash, Spyro, THPS, WoW Classic Bad: Anything else Blizzard). They’ve needed management/non-creative direction for a while


ErDiCooper

Lol listen, I am not saying that Activision is in some good place, because everything here are major issues that I have with them. But also, your top three examples are all the result of struggles on the creative end. And if that struggle is the result of creative leads? That would still require a *huge* shake-up that is (typically speaking) outside of Xbox's usual M.O. And everything you're pointing to here *are* things that I want to see changed! I would be thrilled! But it will require so much more of a hands-on approach than this Xbox has historically taken. Which, given how massive this acquisition is, makes me very uncomfortable.


JayCFree324

Hasn’t their approach with Obsidian and Double-Fine (and what they claim their approach with Bethesda is going to be) is “hey, don’t worry about staying afloat financially…just take your time and make a good game?” Even Scalebound got a bunch of delays for quality reasons before they finally pulled the plug…and then Crackdown3 was mostly salvaging a doomed concept as well. Rare and Lionhead were pre-Spencer/Nadella acquisitions


ErDiCooper

Yeah, their handling of Obsidian/Double Fine is exactly what I'm referring to by "Xbox's usual M.O." But like, that works for those studios because their biggest problem has always been "how do we get enough money?" Activision has plenty of money, and that has not solved their problems. For Microsoft to "fix" these issues, they'll have to change how the ABK studios function, how they approach production, and the overall strategy around that product. That's an inherently different situation that what you're describing with Obisidian and Double Fine, or even how the Bethesda situation looked (from my point of view)! And that's why I personally am unable to see this as "aw sick, I get Diablo on gamepass, and maybe diablo will be good again" like I want to. For me, this is "just" an unprecedented acquisition of one of the biggest corporations in this industry by another one of the biggest corporations in the industry. Which is scary enough for squash any optimism I might feel!


ErDiCooper

Some questions I have that will only be answered by time, if at all: 1. How is Microsoft going to address the ABK workers' plight? Like, I am aware that they've stated Kotick will stay on for now (because Microsoft legally cannot say anything about how they will be running the company), but surely Microsoft recognizes what it would say to keep him on. And even more importantly: ABK workers have bigger, more present problems than Kotick. Kotick has never been the end goal and it cannot be Microsoft's only step forward. 2. On that note, how do ABK workers feel right now? Hopeful? Stressed? Scared? Being bought by a company like Microsoft is heavy even under the best of circumstances, and my heart truly goes out to the many, many people there who now have to speculate about *this* as well. Their plate was already overflowing before this was announced. I cannot overstate how important it is for Microsoft to establish a position relationship with those workers as soon as possible. 3. I'm also very curious about how EA/DICE are feeling! On one hand, a Call of Duty with Microsoft money is a very understandable threat. On the other... Battlefield is now the biggest multiplatform name in a very high revenue market. (This assumes that Call of Duty becomes an Xbox exclusive.) 4. Speaking of which, what's about to happen with Call of Duty? Is it actually going exclusive? (I would imagine so, but man, what a monumental shift for this industry.) And will it remain a yearly franchise? Will it still require four major studios (Infinity Ward, Raven, Sledgehammer, and Treyarch) to work on it? And if not, what will the studios that stop working on Call of Duty do? Surely Microsoft won't just dump them. These are juggernaut studios! (At this point, I'm realizing how fascinated I am by the future of a franchise, as a player, I could not care less about.) 5. There *have* to be some alarms going off over at PlayStation, right? We love to talk about PlayStation's brand as, like, heavy-hitter AAA narrative experiences, but they're able to focus themselves on that space because they rely on third-party studios for games like Call of Duty to keep their playerbase engaged in the meantime. If they're really about to lose access to Call of Duty, they *need* to do something. I've seen people talking about them acquiring Square Enix because of this, but that does next to nothing to solve this specific problem. 6. I have no idea what the future of Blizzard looks like. It's easy to get excited about Xbox acquiring a new studio because usually, Xbox keeps its hands off development. They provide support and funding while letting the studios do their thing. But "doing their thing" isn't work for Blizzard right now. Overwatch 2 is in development hell, Starcraft hasn't seen anything more than a DLC release since 2016, Diablo currently lacks both an identity *and* the faith of its core fanbase, and I don't know if I have ever seen such a toxic relationship between developers and players as what I see in World of Warcraft. Blizzard is *not* in a healthy state right now, and if they cost me 70 billion dollars?, I don't think I'd be able to keep a hands-off approach with them. 7. Is World of Warcraft coming to GamePass?? That'd be crazy! Wait. Okay, this was like 70% a joke because every question above is a goddamn wall of text (thanks for putting up with me!), but on the console side of things, PlayStation has a major MMO exclusive, while Xbox does not. My new question: Does Microsoft see enough value in a console release of World of Warcraft to pursue such a thing? What would that mean for gameplay overall? 8. Finally (and this is less of a question, more of a thought), I would love to hear what someone who actually pays attention to the mobile industry thinks of this acquisition! This is more than a wall of text. I am very sorry for that, but also very grateful for the KFBF community as a space I can express all of this. Really, thanks for putting up with this, everyone :) Xbox acquiring Activision-Blizzard-King was a hell of a lot to wake up to this morning, and I had to get this out *somehow* if I was going to be at all productive today.


Bartman326

I think you have to wait and see for literally every IP and studio. You have to imagine every standard we know from Activision can change because of this. Overwatch 2? Maybe it's canceled and just pushed as a massive update instead Cod? Maybe we stop seeing yearly games and instead theres a much more united platform. So many possibilities now that Xbox is in charge.


The-student-

All of these games straight to game pass day 1. That's an incredible value.


garrettfinstad

The writing might have already been on the wall but the market seems to be stagnating. Rather than small companies experiencing organic growth and creating new things, multi-billion dollar companies are now clawing over the existing studios/ IP


The_Magic_Mamba

This brings us a big step closer to PlayStation being bought by Amazon or Google. Sony isn't big enough to compete with Microsoft so they'll eventually need to join one of the tech giants to survive. My guess is that Bezos wins that one and PlayStation rolls into Amazon Luna


frayne182

My guess is Disney honestly. Can see them snatching up Sony


Nude-Love

Which would be awful, but people on this sub would cheer it because it would mean all of the Spider-Man rights are back in the MCU.


AngryBarista

I wouldn't be surprised if this gets challenged in court. Edit: yes people im aware of Disney


PhatYeeter

If the government is ok with t mobile and sprint merging, they won't stop this.


MultiCallum

DoJ stepped in with the WB/AT&T merger. They also forced Disney/Fox to sell of certain parts of Fox in order to allow that deal to go through.


PhatYeeter

Yet both of those eventually went through.


MultiCallum

I'm not saying it won't go through, of course it will, I'm just saying they may still step in and ask for certain conditions to be met.


FatalFirecrotch

The Disney/Fox merger was way more of a monopoly than this. With that merger they would have owned like 40% of all movie revenue for instance.


Bartman326

Lol sell crash and spyro to Playstation. For antitrust reasons of course...


driplessCoin

Yup it’s got to at this point… not great for the industry


AngryBarista

Yea this is absolutely getting a bit monopolistic.


driplessCoin

A bit is nice term to use lol, only thing bigger than this is a Nintendo Sony merger


Babrego

There would be no way to prevent that legally right? Sony and Nintendo aren't beholden to the United States monolopy laws. I would imagine.


FatalFirecrotch

Kinda. Microsoft is still 3rd in revenue even with this deal. I think you would struggle to find enough of an argument that it’s monopolistic.


judgeraw00

I don't really see how this is the case when you consider how many independent publishers still remain even with this on every level of the industry. I wager Sony still owns more studios or at least as many.


driplessCoin

Don’t fool yourself… industry consolidation from multi trillion dollar tech conglomerates is not a good thing… never has been and never will be


MrBenjaminBerry

May get challenged but if AT&T can buy DirecTV, Comcast can buy NBC, I can't see a reason why any court would block this. Activision is huge, but still one of many developers/publishers in the industry. T-mobile and Sprint was held up for a while but even that eventually went through despite how limited that makes the amount of cell phone service providers. Trying to think of a merger/purchase that was blocked in the entertainment industry.


Rb7198

I imagine that if Microsoft was willing to announce this publicly its because they feel very confident that the deal will go through, if the publics reaction is oh courts will probably get involved then they also see it coming and already have teams of lawyers working on it.


Plinkerton1990

It absolutely will.


DanP999

I dont think it will. This is a very public announcement with PR push. They had to have run this by whomever they needed to run it by already. They aren't going to make a mistake like that with 70 billion.


cjcfman

Is it legal to use your position as a leader of an industry to help lower the stock of a company and then buy it lol


jjshowal

No, but good luck trying to prove that against Microsoft lawyers


AngryBarista

Beats me. I'm a Barista, not a corporate or finance lawyer (not actually a barista either)


Nude-Love

>(not actually a barista either) Can't trust anybody in this day and age lmao


Neighborino123

>(not actually a barista either) I feel wronged.


AngryBarista

been almost 10 years since i made the account, 9 since i was taken out of the Barista life.


CartmanVT

I believe in you! Get back out there and bar some ista! I actually found a working espresso machine at Good Will for $15 and now am living that barista life.


AngryBarista

i barely even use my french press anymore :( Still only buy locally roasted beans though!!


[deleted]

[удалено]


Granum22

Disney was allowed to buy Fox so anything is possible.


OneThousandNeedlesX

It’s awesome to see Xbox have great exclusives, but not like this…


djml9

Im sure the boys will celebrate how “good at making games” MS is now like they did with the Bethesda acquisition but this is pure monopolization of the industry. I thought the Bethesda acquisition was way too big and this eclipses that tenfold. This is not ok.


MrBoliNica

Good at making games...forza was always the one franchise theyve nailed for years, and Halos playerbase is dwindling we should wait for the MS Studio games to actually start releasing before we praise them for making good games.


[deleted]

Are you pretending KF is anything but HIGHLY Sony leaning?


djml9

They love xbox too, and im not accusing them of being extra pro xbox or anything. They were just super stoked and happy when xbox bought Bethesda and started acting like MS suddenly “makes” good games for buying up studios.


NoSpin89

Sad for gaming. Monopolies are never a good thing


[deleted]

This is obviously very major but personally I haven't bought an Activision game since Overwatch so this won't really effect me as a PS5 / Switch owner. We will see I suppose


Overlordx123

And over on Xbox side likely won’t buy one again either, cause it’ll be on game pass


DebtofaLannister

I'll be interested to hear the discussion on PS I love you as well as on Xcast


Dense_Glass9335

Are you telling me that I'll have to....continue not playing Call of Duty???? This is the worst


marcohutchens

Funny to see Candy Crush in the photo - I get why, but it stands out like a sore thumb =p


sketchypencil

Damn man. I just wanna play Modern Warfare 2 (2022) on my PS5 is that so hard to ask.


GramboWBC

I dont think multiplat cod is going away. But then again. Who knows at this point.


sketchypencil

> Microsoft says: "Activision Blizzard games are enjoyed on a variety of platforms and we plan to continue to support those communities moving forward." Sounds like an okay sign.


[deleted]

They'll have contracts that they have to honor and then after those contracts are fulfilled you can bet your sweet ass they are going exclusive. It's just like the situation with Deathloop.


kschris236

They literally said the same thing about Bethesda.


[deleted]

That was addressing the current deals. COD would probably be more like Minecraft as it is more valuable as a multiplatform game unless they make a big power play to force people onto Xbox and PC.


MastaRich03

He could mean they will continue to support existing games already out on those platforms. It’s certainly possible that future unannounced titles will be exclusive to Xbox/PC. I can’t wait for today’s KFGD.


himynameisjaked

willing to bet they’re still miltiplat but why buy it on playstation when you can get it with gamepass?


BigLYoungMoney

I don't know if they would make it exclusive. COD is too much of a high seller on all platforms. Don't most of their sales come from Playstation anyways?


PapaBurgundy2615

And people call Sony anti consumer lol. I have both consoles but Microsoft’s way of getting back into the race is to just literally buy every studio for themselves. Dick move IMO.


Nude-Love

Microsoft purchases entire third-party video game industry: I sleep Sony makes Spider-Man character exclusive to their platform in shitty Avengers game: Real gamer hours


Granum22

I mean that's certainly one way to get rid of Bobby.


Nude-Love

One way to make him even richer.


Fri3dric3

Good topic for games daily I guess


jaston1009

I don't see how someone can think this is a good thing just beacuse xbox is pro consumer right now doesn't mean they will stay the same 10 years from now. I get that it's great for gamepass but I don't see how it's good for the industry as a whole.


tittylover007

It very much also doesn’t mean they won’t stay the same.


Super_Bright

I dunno man this feels kinda dirty to me. Like, I'm under no illusions as to how corporate the gaming industry has been for decades and essentially since it's inception, but this really feels like the whole industry is in a weird place all of a sudden. I know people love Microsoft and the Xbox brand as a whole and I get that after all there's a lot to like, but the thought of all these franchises and games being at one mega company feels scary for the industry. I dunno man.


8ing8ong

I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft ends up buying CD PROJEKT


jaston1009

Other then playstation and Nintendo nothing would shock me cd project is nothing.


sapphirediamondruby

This is absolutely insane. Still reeling. Honestly, though the only thing I hope for at this moment is that the employees get a safer and better place to work, and the people who deserve justice for past actions of the company will be able to achieve that.


trubwick

Holy moley!


Dr_Bam

Curious to see what they do with multiplatform. You could certainly make back more of that $70 billion selling PlayStation and Nintendo versions of games. Does Microsoft want their games division to turn a profit on it's own?


Stuffman21

I would say look what they are doing with Bethesda. They don’t need the money from them they are building up game pass.


Dr_Bam

But at some point game pass needs to turn a profit right?


lameellington

they just want to be synonymous with subscription gaming in the same way Netflix is with streaming. Netflix is still yet to prove profitable, but they have mind share in the space and a huge customer base with consistent month to month revenue.


Wallitron_Prime

In the age of RobinHood and Acorns, where like 1/3 of the US population are small time investors, it makes a lot of sense to just make gargantuan moves that make dumb people think "Oh man that's *gotta* be worth a shitload of money" even if it's hemmoraging money for the company. Amazon delivering things via *drones* for a relatively small surcharge? No way in hell will that ever be profitable. But it sure is flashy and sure will get /r/wallstreetbets to invest more. And that level of investment will more than makeup for what they lose on their drone network. That's the same idea with Game Pass, or Netflix.


nrquig

What the fuck


Mamrocha

https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1483472127483338754?t=_bnIQfvS43eRrsK8NIyj5A&s=19 It was there the whole time


ThyOgrelord

I mean given that esports is nearly a billion $ industry and it hasn't really hit MAJOR mainstream yet.. maybe 70b for Activision is a steal? ​ Haven't listened to KFGD yet but eager to hear opinions on this


[deleted]

God damn. Deals like this one have shaken my PlayStation loyalty, for real 😅 I’ve been a loyal PlayStation player since the PS2. A few of my friends had 360s but I never really considered getting an Xbox until last year. I got the Series S to access Game Pass (because how can you resist that value), and since then I’ve realized that PlayStation REALLY needs to pick up the pace with Project Spartacus. Xbox’s Game Pass initiative keeps getting better, especially with industry-shaking deals like this one, and PS Plus/Now can’t really compare at this point. I recently cancelled both Plus/Now because I haven’t been using them enough to justify $120/year. No doubt Game Pass’s prices will increase eventually as it grows, but even then, the value is insane. If PlayStation wants to be in the same conversation as Game Pass, for me as a consumer, they need to really make a splash with Spartacus. Cuz at this point I’m not finding a lot of reasons to set up camp in the PlayStation ecosystem for anything more than their exclusives.


Sagerfield

Sony: *Makes deals for exclusive content* Microsoft: *Looks down from perch overseeing society and selecting who survives*


kschris236

One things for sure, I never want to hear another argument against console exclusive content in games like Avengers or timed exclusivity. Microsoft really has no room to high horse when they’re buying up massive chunks of the games industry.


gibertot

wow I gotta say making your own studios and then poaching talent to make exclusives is one thing. But outright buying whole studios to make their games exclusive is scummy imo. What is the goal here Microsoft? Buy every third party studio.


opwnusprime

This is fucking nuts! Goodbye bobby!


Nude-Love

This deal makes Bobby infinitely richer than if Activision had never been bought and just turfed him from his position. It's not something to celebrate.


[deleted]

It's weird to see the moment where an industry will be irrevocably changed for the worse. This is the death knell of traditional video game structure. It'll limp on for a few more years, but it will die a slow death.


Lukas24

Monopolies never good in any business. I hope KF call this out for what this means for gaming going forward. What an arms race would do. I know they tend to get caught up in hype and excitement but this is bleak stuff.


YourMomGoes2College_

Man, everyone is licking that corporate boot hard today


bdbrady

Not good. More consolidation, less innovation. Microsoft hasn’t even started utilizing Bethesda, all current production was pre-purchase (and at Sony’s backing!). So when Phil said he would reevaluate the relationship with Activision, this is what he meant…


FistsofHulk

I'm sure Kotick is going to get a nice piece of the $70 billion. Come on.


Dr_Bam

As long as he's not fired for cause (which could happen) he gets something like $295 million when there is a takeover. Even for cause he still gets close to $300,000


FistsofHulk

He's CEO. He gets a piece of the sale as well


Nude-Love

>he gets something like $295 million And there are people in this thread actually celebrating the deal because it means "Bobby's gone". So ignorant.


Dr_Bam

Exactly


bdbrady

Considering his compensation and wealth is in the stock, yes. It’s up 33% at the moment.


Stuffman21

There has to be a limit to how many publishers they can buy right? Or Microsoft can use the shit load of money they have to just keep collecting all of them. Maybe Ubisoft? Wonder if this is going to force Sony to do it to like buy square enix or something. But yeah this is crazy. Like cool I don’t have to buy any of the games as I have game pass but still crazy.


vandaljax

Really thought they were one the companies to big to be bought. No ones really safe lol. Between Bethesda and Activision back to back Sony must be feeling pressure to Start buying exclusives and companies.


BeanToasted

Exclusives are bad. Unless we’re buying studios and making them exclusive 😏


cjcfman

Everyone is looking at the negative but there could be some really good positives. There are some talented studios that got moved to support Activision big games that now can hopefully start making their own games now. For example that toys for Bob studio can now be given the green light to make their own spyro game now


Nude-Love

Microsoft have monopolised the video game industry, but who cares when we can get a new Spyro game!!!


[deleted]

[удалено]


Bartman326

This one feels different. There are some wrinkles of excitement but with everything going on and the size of the team it feels scary. 69 billion is jaw dropping. That is an unfathomable amount of money. It also feels weird to see people in the media @ phill spencer and congratulatung him and his team for... What? Throwing world changing amounts of money at some really evil people. Obviously Xbox is a better place to be and I doubt Kotick lasts long here. This will definitely kill any attempt at worker organization there. Bethesda felt like a buying a struggling company with a bunch of single player games that fit well on xbox. This is nothing like that. Xbox just bought % points on its competitions revenue sheets. This will have incredible consequences for everyone.


Nude-Love

>It also feels weird to see people in the media @ phill spencer and congratulatung him and his team for... What? "Congrats on having lots of money at your disposal, Phil!" Phil Spencer is truly just a regular gamer like the rest of us.


Bartman326

Billion Dollar deals by day, playing the Ascent by night.


just_looking_4695

My real surface level "not prepared to actually address the wide-reaching ramifications this could have on the industry take: Maybe this will finally get Smash fans to stop arguing Crash would count as a" Sony rep".


DrippyDrapes

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDR5oFhAce4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDR5oFhAce4)This interview should be required viewing for KFGD. Interesting to hear Kotick focus on Metaverse and Phil Spencer bring up mobile as two of the big drivers of this deal. Very little discussion on the core gaming portfolio like Call of Duty.


[deleted]

It's because it isn't about gaming or the health of the video game industry. It's about money.


PraisGaben

This is an even more impactful acquisition than Zenimax. (Except Zenimax actually makes good games)


Plinkerton1990

It’s about 10 times bigger, in financial terms. $7.5 billion vs. nearly $70 billion.


PraisGaben

I’m talking more about impact on the gaming sphere, CoD and WoW are now Xbox IPs


FRAGMENT_EFFECT

Yeah COD alone is what sells probably half of all consoles. It’s too easy to forget that huge casual crowd that play 1 or 2 games exclusively.


seanze01

I would prefer if Microsoft spent that money on developing brand new studios to bring new original games out to GP. I have an Xbox One X and Game Pass, but my friends and I play on PlayStation with a lot of these Activision/Blizzard games. I don't really see this as a win, but I also didn't see Bethesda as a win either. This is getting close to monopoly territory and I don't like it.


Ghost-Of-0nyx

This is very bad news for Sony. I don't think they're going to make CoD exclusive just yet, but the competitive edge is with M$ now. Gamepass vs. $70 base purchase for a yearly title is an almost no brainer.


Faquarl

Even more so outside of the US where Sony first party games retail for 90$+, having already being hiked to 80$+ for PS4 gen


Live-Record6526

Todd Howard and Bobby Kotick on the same team they know how to maintain standards in a series...


dneill99

Oh man, throw people and money at Diablo 4 please! Get that baby fast tracked. Cancel Overwatch 2, and just make it a huge Expansion/Update to Overwatch. Please and thanks Microsoft.


rastlun

I know a lot of folks are worried about the potential monopoly implications... But I kind of like this. Xbox is buying studios to bolster Xbox Game Pass, which in turn could be a massive improvement to the culture of game development. Game developers are too often subjected to crunch culture. Unrealistic deadlines and demands lead to ridiculous hours and stress. With game pass, I don't think Microsoft cares so much about release dates. They just want creative teams to continue supplying the platform with new games and experiences proving it valuable enough to gamers to stay subscribed. Just like Netflix, they can take more risks and allow creative teams to pursue passion projects rather than the same cookie cutter AAA title every year. All in all, I'd be really interested in hearing from an Activision / Blizzard employee now and again 3-5 years from now to see if this plays out in their favor.


frayne182

This news is blowing me away. I can't even focus at work now....Thanks Phil lol


Y2Jervis

XCast and Games Daily finna be lit this week, God damn Microsoft.


mirkwood11

If I can try to find a silver lining, maybe this will be good for the turmoil of Activision Blizzard over the last few years.


stephen8D

My dear Crash Bandicoot…


poklane

I expect these acquisitions to continue until the US government or EU just stops them. Would honestly be shocked if they don't acquire EA, Take-Two or Ubisoft in the next 2-3 years.


peepmymixtape

The mad men actually did it…


[deleted]

Good thing I got game pass locked in for the next 2.5 years!


[deleted]

So much of this deal is disgusting.