Microsoft seems intent on buying the gaming industry with $68.7bn purchase of troubled Activision Blizzard
- Reference: 1642522510
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/01/18/microsoft_buys_activision_blizzard/
- Source link:
The company also announced its Game Pass service had passed the 25 million subscribers mark.
It's a huge transaction, considerably more than the [3]$7.5bn spanked on Zenimax (the holding business for properties such as Doom and The Elder Scrolls ) and the $26.2bn lavished on [4]LinkedIn in 2016 .
[5]
Activision Blizzard, besides being behind some impressive gaming IP, is having a few legal troubles at the moment. A lawsuit [6]filed in 2021 complained of a "frat boy" toxic culture that, it is alleged, led to lower pay for female employees as well as discrimination and harassment. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) [7]weighed in on the company's attempts to end the lawsuit with an $18m settlement last week.
[8]California files appeal in latest bid to intervene in Activision Blizzard's $18m discrimination lawsuit settlement
[9]Activision shareholders demand Kotick's head after CEO 'failed' to take claims of staff sex assault seriously
[10]Blizzard co-leader Jen Oneal leaps into escape pod after just three months in the role
[11]Multimillionaire Activision Blizzard CEO cuts annual pay to $62,000 amid sexual harassment probes
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft didn't directly address these issues, although Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer did say: "We … believe that creative success and autonomy go hand-in-hand with treating every person with dignity and respect. We hold all teams, and all leaders, to this commitment.
"We're looking forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams across Activision Blizzard."
[12]
As a reminder, Microsoft [13]hired a law firm this month to review its own harassment policies following a shareholder vote on the issue.
The deal is expected to close in Microsoft's fiscal year ending June 2023 (pending regulatory approval – and we're expecting a bumpy ride in store) and has already been given the nod by both Activision Blizzard and Microsoft boards. Once the deal is done, Activision Blizzard will report to Spencer. Until then the company will operate independently.
[14]
That close date will be important for gamers, or at least Microsoft's Game Pass subscribers, as Spencer added: "We will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard's incredible catalog."
Activision Blizzard is responsible for the Warcraft , Call of Duty , and Diablo franchises among others. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2022/01/18/welcoming-activision-blizzard-to-microsoft-gaming/
[2] https://microsoft.gcs-web.com/node/30311/html
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/08/microsoft_zenimax_takeover/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2016/06/13/microsoft_buys_linkedin_26bn/
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YebyN3oNFAK6-0iyxd9kvgAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/23/blizzard_lawsuit_discrimination/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/11/activision_dfeh_appeal/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/11/activision_dfeh_appeal/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/17/activision_ceo_shareholders/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/03/activision_jen_oneal/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/28/activision_ceo_salary/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YebyN3oNFAK6-0iyxd9kvgAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/14/microsoft_sexual_discrimination_review/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YebyN3oNFAK6-0iyxd9kvgAAAME&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Surely business is the last main foothold for Windows? Most gamers these days are on consoles (including one from MS)
Oh great. They've already borged Minecraft, now they've got Diablo
For fuck's sake, Borkzilla, can you leave my gaming life the fuck alone ?
I already have to deal with your shit every single workday.
As a long-term Playstation owner with a Mac all these MS purchases are starting to worry me some. Right now I now I'm not going to be able to play Starfield or Outer Worlds 2 on my current kit as they're MS exclusives. I can only hope they don't tie down the Fallout and Elder Scrolls franchises (maybe a timed exclusive?). It's got to the point where I've dabbled with NVIDIA GeoForce Now and am considering a Steamdeck.
Though I think MS has played a blinder with Game Pass. A great idea fairly well done. Makes me jealous, Sony really haven't got much of a clue on that front. I believe they've got something similar in the works, but I'm not too up on the details like what games and how much. And more importantly, will it be on top of PS Plus?
> As a long-term Playstation owner with a Mac all these MS purchases are starting to worry me some
The latest Office update made its way onto my Mac a couple of days ago. MS are quite happy to sell things for other platforms if they can make money...
I suspect Office on Mac is only to hold the monopoly on office suites. If they didn't do a Mac version, offices which use Macs would have found something else to use.
While I am only a casual gamer these days. I can see that the more we end up with just a few huge corporations owning all the gaming studios, the more it is going to restrict consumer choice. Just like you now have to subscribe to several different streaming platforms if you want to watch your favourite TV and movies, Im sure Microsoft want to use these acquisitions to get more exclusive Xbox and Windows games, which won't be released for other platforms.
Oh No!
Anyway.
I could not be less bothered by this. The older I get, the more disenfranchised I am of the gaming scene. Long gone are the days where you could just switch on the console and jump in to a game for a quick 5 minute blast. Now you have to sit there while the console decides whether or not to install an update, and when it does it takes forever, then you get bombarded with loads of screens about "what's new" and it's always f**king new skins or new ways to steal money out of my wallet. Your 5 minutes goes fairly quickly on witnessing bullshine.
That said, thankfully there are still smaller studios and developers who are making games that are truly unique and hark back to an earlier time when the game play and story were everything in a game. Instead of now where the consumer demands movie like games, and then pour total scorn on anyone who tried and stumbled to deliver a unique experience. I'm thinking of Cyberpunk for that one, but there's LA Noire as well.
Because of this, studios have to be bigger, have more people working for them for longer hours for (ultimately) less pay, and have to deliver a game that suits the market because a studio or it's owner won't stomach a loss. The margins are razor thin, so they have to sell in the millions otherwise it's failed. That's why we're drowning in a sea of unoriginal games like Call Of Duty and FIFA. Just rinse and repeat, and the sad thing is people are buying in to it.
Bring back my Nintendo 64, all is forgiven.
Data
Likely they just want data on youngsters, what they chat about, what are their concerns and then they will be using those games to nudge and manipulate them into the correct ways of thinking as directed by WEF.
They know gaming is the last firm foot hold for Windows. It's the only reason I still have a Win10 machine and not gone 100% Linux. If they can monopolize gaming on Windoze they assure their future profits.
Corporations and gaming do not go mix well together.