Microsoft buys Activision for $69 billion


Video Games


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The biggest news story yesterday in gaming was Microsoft buying Activision-Blizzard for just under $69 billion. The deal dwarfs the $7 billion Microsoft paid for Zenimax/Bethesda less than two years ago and the $2.5 billion they paid for Mojang in 2014. Microsoft also picked up the much smaller Obsidian and inXile in 2018.

The acquisition means some of the biggest franchises in gaming - including CALL OF DUTY, WARCRAFT, STARCRAFT, DIABLO, OVERWATCH, SKYLANDERS/SPYRO, CRASH BANDICOOT, GUITAR HERO and, er, CANDY CRUSH - will now be owned by Microsoft, will become Xbox/PC exclusives going forwards and will likely be available on GamePass and Steam, though not before mid-to-late 2023 when the deal clears regulatory hurdles.

Microsoft's strategy here is to grow GamePass and make it too good an offer to turn down, and in the long run combined it with streaming so you don't even need a console to use the service (although the woeful state of internet infrastructure in many countries, particularly the USA, remains a major block to that). Their previous acquisitions and moves were aimed at more hardcore gamers, but making CALL OF DUTY Xbox-exclusive is a huge shot at getting very casual gamers, the people who maybe buy two games a year and one of them is always the latest CALL OF DUTY, to switch to Xbox. Whether it works remains to be seen.

What is interesting is that Microsoft will likely be not as keen on making sweatshop annual release games, so CALL OF DUTY might switch to a new game every 2 or 3 years rather than every year, potentially freeing up those studios to work on something more intriguing. A new STAR WARS JEDI KNIGHT game from Raven, for example, is a mouthwatering prospect.

Radiant Oath

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A new Guitar Hero, please. I'm desperate.


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Any particular band list?

Sovereign Court

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Who owns the old Lucas Arts stuff? Id love to see a reboot of The Dig and Maniac Mansion.


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Pan wrote:
Who owns the old Lucas Arts stuff? Id love to see a reboot of The Dig and Maniac Mansion.

LucasArts (and hence now Disney). The studio was recently relaunched, although more as a brand name and partnership programme rather than a studio on its own right.


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So yeah, doubtful we'll see anything Star Wars from Microsoft any time soon.

Liberty's Edge

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I wonder which company (or more) Sony buys up in the next 6-18 months to play capital keep up now... hmmm, EA is looking mighty attractive to them right about now, esp if they can somehow score the various SPORTSBALL games as timed exclusives.


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If Sony does that they can challenge everything, and there'll be no stopping them!

Silver Crusade

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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Can't wait for monopoly capitalism to absolutely ruin videogames.


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I thought they already had, DM...


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Thomas Seitz wrote:
So yeah, doubtful we'll see anything Star Wars from Microsoft any time soon.

There's no reason why not. EA's exclusivity contract with Disney expired a couple of years ago and other developers and publishers are on board. Ubisoft are doing an open-world STAR WARS game right now.

Quote:
I wonder which company (or more) Sony buys up in the next 6-18 months to play capital keep up now... hmmm, EA is looking mighty attractive to them right about now, esp if they can somehow score the various SPORTSBALL games as timed exclusives.

Sony does not remotely have the same financial firepower as Microsoft, but it does have around $30 billion in cash reserves, which would be enough to buy out a bit more than half of Electronic Arts' shares. So Sony could buy a controlling stake in EA, but it couldn't buy the company outright, unless it could stump up twice that amount. Of course, Sony could borrow but it would be a bit of a risky venture, especially because EA's portfolio of mega-hits is looking thinner than it has in the past. FIFA is really the jewel in its crown (at least the only thing to really compete with CoD) and I believe the actual FIFA's contract stipulates the games have to be released on all formats.

Microsoft could much more easily buy EA. Hell, Microsoft could possibly buy Sony, if it wasn't for the fact that the anti-trust watchdogs would 100% shoot that idea down.


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All of the EA sports games are like printing money, not just FIFA.

But yes, there is no way in hell anyone is going to releasing them on just one platform.

And yes, Star Wars will always be with us, and I'm pretty sure there will never be a time without a Star Wars game in development somewhere.


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Ha. As was prophecised by the retrospective captain.

EA and Respawn are working on three new STAR WARS games: JEDI: FALLEN ORDER 2 (duh); a brand-new first-person shooter, which I guess will be more in the DARK FORCES vibe; and what sounds like STAR WARS: XCOM, a turn-based "cinematic" strategy game with Bit Reactor, a new studio founded by Firaxis devs and veterans of the CIVILIZATION and XCOM series.

Liberty's Edge

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Well, it turns out the next move by Sony was to buy Bungie of all things and I do not think they are done shopping around either.


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Probably not, Themetricsystem.

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