Microsoft buys Activision/Blizzard for $70 Billion.

faithvoid

Wow.  This is the biggest shake up in AAA publishing in a long time.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/microsoft-to-buy-activision-in-687-billion-all-cash-deal/ar-AASTTbF

Slapshot1188

I was just going to post this but was distracted by the other silly thread....

The big gobbling up the big...

Consolidation is generally bad for us... but this will be interesting for sure.

JeroKane

HAHAHA! This is actually awesome news!

Bye bye Bobby Kotick! Good riddance that nasty pig will finally be fired!

I can actually see all the employees at ActivisionBlizzard hanging out their flags now and celebrating, as there is no way Bobby K. is going to survive this buy-out.

Aeander

Can we get Crash, Spyro, and Banjo in a crossover game now?

Slapshot1188

JeroKane said:

HAHAHA! This is actually awesome news!

Bye bye Bobby Kotick! Good riddance that nasty pig will finally be fired!

I can actually see all the employees at ActivisionBlizzard hanging out their flags now and celebrating, as there is no way Bobby K. is going to survive this buy-out.

Sure.. until they lose their jobs as "synergies" kick in.

Xarko

We might see the victor of console wars in our lifetime.

JeroKane

Slapshot1188 said:

JeroKane said:

HAHAHA! This is actually awesome news!

Bye bye Bobby Kotick! Good riddance that nasty pig will finally be fired!

I can actually see all the employees at ActivisionBlizzard hanging out their flags now and celebrating, as there is no way Bobby K. is going to survive this buy-out.

Sure.. until they lose their jobs as "synergies" kick in.

ActiVisionBlizzard has already done a good job at that. I don't think there is much left to fire, except for the incompetent management at the top they can fully axe away, since Microsoft Gaming will take over after the transaction is complete.

JeroKane

Xodic said:

Not yet they haven't. Still have to get it through the FTC.
It's currently trading below the $95 price.

There is nothing stopping this, when you have much larger behemoths like EA, Ubisoft, Sony, Warner, Disney, SquareEnix, etc.


This was an excellent strategy by Microsoft, since ActiVisionBlizzard is in a huge turmoil atm with all the scandals and stock have been tanking.

Microsoft can fix this by firing the entire top management, who were solely responsible for the mess they are in and the mishandling of the whole situation.

So in the end this will be a win for the employees at least, as Microsoft (especially gaming division) is very inclusive and will not rollerate the current situation inside ActiVisionBlizzard. 

Xarko

JeroKane said:

HAHAHA! This is actually awesome news!

Bye bye Bobby Kotick! Good riddance that nasty pig will finally be fired!

I can actually see all the employees at ActivisionBlizzard hanging out their flags now and celebrating, as there is no way Bobby K. is going to survive this buy-out.

UM, ACKCHYUALLY

"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. Once the deal closes, the Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming."

JeroKane

Xarko said:

JeroKane said:

HAHAHA! This is actually awesome news!

Bye bye Bobby Kotick! Good riddance that nasty pig will finally be fired!

I can actually see all the employees at ActivisionBlizzard hanging out their flags now and celebrating, as there is no way Bobby K. is going to survive this buy-out.

UM, ACKCHYUALLY

"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. Once the deal closes, the Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming."

"Now that Kotick and the rest of Activision Blizzard will be reporting directly to Spencer following the completion of the acquisition, however, it remains to be seen how Spencer will deal with the organisation’s ongoing issues."

It's most likely part of the transaction that Bobby K. will stay on.
When the transaction is complete, nothing will be stopping Phil Spencer to kick Bobby K.
He simply doesn't fit in Phil Spencer's work culture and has done nothing to address and fix the current problems. So there is simply no way he can continue to stay at ActiVisionBlizzard when the transaction is complete.

That statement is just to calm investors and not tank the stocks of ActivisionBlizzard.

They will work on a graceful exit for Bobby K. and let him leave the company on his own terms, as that is how things work at those levels.

MaxBacon

Industry giants monopolizing is not a good thing for gaming I'd say. This turning into buyout all competition.

From owning the platform it gets sold on, the platform it gets played on, the publishers and studios who maintain and develop, holy kek 

laserit

Wow

speechless

Slapshot1188

On the plus side.. my Gamepass Ultimate just got better.

(Of course I'm sure that will mean more expensive too...)

laserit

MaxBacon said:

Industry giants monopolizing is not a good thing for gaming I'd say. This turning into buyout all competition.

From owning the platform it gets sold on, the platform it gets played on, the publishers and studios who maintain and develop, holy kek 

It can be good or it can be bad. It really depends on who is running the show.

The decisions Activision/Blizzard was making….

Maybe MS ownership isn’t a bad thing imho

look at the business model surrounding MSFS

Microsoft has been good for gaming imho

skip the Steve Balmer days but that shows you the power of one.

Slapshot1188

laserit said:

MaxBacon said:

Industry giants monopolizing is not a good thing for gaming I'd say. This turning into buyout all competition.

From owning the platform it gets sold on, the platform it gets played on, the publishers and studios who maintain and develop, holy kek 

It can be good or it can be bad. It really depends on who is running the show.

The decisions Activision/Blizzard was making….

Maybe MS ownership isn’t a bad thing imho

look at the business model surrounding MSFS

Microsoft has been good for gaming imho

skip the Steve Balmer days but that shows you the power of one.

What studios have been "better" a few years after being acquired?  

laserit

Started with Flight Simulator by Sublogic personally.

FrodoFragins

JeroKane said:

Xarko said:

JeroKane said:

HAHAHA! This is actually awesome news!

Bye bye Bobby Kotick! Good riddance that nasty pig will finally be fired!

I can actually see all the employees at ActivisionBlizzard hanging out their flags now and celebrating, as there is no way Bobby K. is going to survive this buy-out.

UM, ACKCHYUALLY

"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. Once the deal closes, the Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming."

"Now that Kotick and the rest of Activision Blizzard will be reporting directly to Spencer following the completion of the acquisition, however, it remains to be seen how Spencer will deal with the organisation’s ongoing issues."

It's most likely part of the transaction that Bobby K. will stay on.
When the transaction is complete, nothing will be stopping Phil Spencer to kick Bobby K.
He simply doesn't fit in Phil Spencer's work culture and has done nothing to address and fix the current problems. So there is simply no way he can continue to stay at ActiVisionBlizzard when the transaction is complete.

That statement is just to calm investors and not tank the stocks of ActivisionBlizzard.

They will work on a graceful exit for Bobby K. and let him leave the company on his own terms, as that is how things work at those levels.

I'm pretty sure MS inherits AB's commitments and Kotick has a contract that requires a hefty buyout.  I'm sure MS will get rid of him within a year or just supersede his decisions.

Lumeria

Worrying about industry giants in gaming in 2022 seems a bit out dated. 

This won't have any impact on gaming as we know it that we aren't already use to however I'm curious about the blockchain side of things & the metaverse - what Microsoft is moving toward with this evolving tech in mind.

JeroKane

FrodoFragins said:

JeroKane said:

"Now that Kotick and the rest of Activision Blizzard will be reporting directly to Spencer following the completion of the acquisition, however, it remains to be seen how Spencer will deal with the organisation’s ongoing issues."

It's most likely part of the transaction that Bobby K. will stay on.
When the transaction is complete, nothing will be stopping Phil Spencer to kick Bobby K.
He simply doesn't fit in Phil Spencer's work culture and has done nothing to address and fix the current problems. So there is simply no way he can continue to stay at ActiVisionBlizzard when the transaction is complete.

That statement is just to calm investors and not tank the stocks of ActivisionBlizzard.

They will work on a graceful exit for Bobby K. and let him leave the company on his own terms, as that is how things work at those levels.

I'm pretty sure MS inherits AB's commitments and Kotick has a contract that requires a hefty buyout.  I'm sure MS will get rid of him within a year or just supersede his decisions.

Exactly. Either way it will become an impossible situation for Kotick no matter what.
He is a top dog (predator) right now at ActivisionBlizzard and is never going to accept/being happy to suddenly having to report to someone higher.

laserit

MS will clean it up, like they usually do

What a way to spark a conversation

klash2def

Interesting. This is a chance for AB to start with a clean slate. I like it, they have made some legendary games over the years so it would be a shame to see it go down with all the bs that was happening there the past few years. Maybe now they can not only start anew but start working on some new games.

Pipedream but I would love to see an immersive Starcraft MMO game on Xbox.

laserit

If I had to pick a company video game company that has treated me fairly over the decades, MS would be at the top or very close to it. They can also make a good game.

 Imho 

moosecatlol

I haven't played a Microsoft game in some time that has impressed me, but I hope this works out for the games now under their umbrella.

laserit

JeroKane said:

FrodoFragins said:

JeroKane said:

"Now that Kotick and the rest of Activision Blizzard will be reporting directly to Spencer following the completion of the acquisition, however, it remains to be seen how Spencer will deal with the organisation’s ongoing issues."

It's most likely part of the transaction that Bobby K. will stay on.
When the transaction is complete, nothing will be stopping Phil Spencer to kick Bobby K.
He simply doesn't fit in Phil Spencer's work culture and has done nothing to address and fix the current problems. So there is simply no way he can continue to stay at ActiVisionBlizzard when the transaction is complete.

That statement is just to calm investors and not tank the stocks of ActivisionBlizzard.

They will work on a graceful exit for Bobby K. and let him leave the company on his own terms, as that is how things work at those levels.

I'm pretty sure MS inherits AB's commitments and Kotick has a contract that requires a hefty buyout.  I'm sure MS will get rid of him within a year or just supersede his decisions.

Exactly. Either way it will become an impossible situation for Kotick no matter what.
He is a top dog (predator) right now at ActivisionBlizzard and is never going to accept/being happy to suddenly having to report to someone higher.

Kotic will be gone, he probably wants it that way.

MaxBacon

laserit said:

MaxBacon said:

Industry giants monopolizing is not a good thing for gaming I'd say. This turning into buyout all competition.

From owning the platform it gets sold on, the platform it gets played on, the publishers and studios who maintain and develop, holy kek 

It can be good or it can be bad. It really depends on who is running the show.

The decisions Activision/Blizzard was making….

Maybe MS ownership isn’t a bad thing imho

look at the business model surrounding MSFS

Microsoft has been good for gaming imho

skip the Steve Balmer days but that shows you the power of one.

After Microsoft's decisions with Minecraft leading to this silly situation where 2 games on 2 different engines are developed simultaneously copying eachother to be in parity because MS couldn't start to phase out java without massive backlash is just the type of thing that I don't trust much good comes out with having the decision people too distanced from their costumers, aka players here.

Scot

Gaming has become more and more homogenous over time and that's even without mergers and acquisitions. Not sure this will benefit our gaming in any way.