I think thanks to all the legal hurdles, Bobby forgot this was an acquisition deal and not a merger.......poor Bobby, guy probably thinks he'll still have his job once the deal is done.
I'm pretty sure that his near $300,000,000 golden parachute means he won't really need his job.
I think thanks to all the legal hurdles, Bobby forgot this was an acquisition deal and not a merger.......poor Bobby, guy probably thinks he'll still have his job once the deal is done.
I'm pretty sure that his near $300,000,000 golden parachute means he won't really need his job.
If I were him I'd load up all that cash onto a dumptruck (or three), truck it over to Bill Gate's house, dump it in his yard and scream "TRY AGAIN #%^$#!"
He would never say that his new game will be on Gamepass in the future. It would be suicide for sales. Don't believe a word he says.
But it might only go to GP next year or even the year after that, GP is not going anywhere, it can wait.
Sure. It wont be this year. No way. But it WILL be on Gamepass.
Agreed. There are a few variables at play here. So, how soon ABK games come to GP is going to depend on the game,
Microsoft's goals for Xbox and GamePass, and how well new releases like
D4 meet ongoing retention and revenue expectations.
I think thanks to all the legal hurdles, Bobby forgot this was an acquisition deal and not a merger.......poor Bobby, guy probably thinks he'll still have his job once the deal is done.
For Bobby, this is always been about greed. He will be given a large lump sum of money and he will exit to his next venture and he knows this from the day he made the deal with MS. My guess he will end up at Amazon Games division.
I think thanks to all the legal hurdles, Bobby forgot this was an acquisition deal and not a merger.......poor Bobby, guy probably thinks he'll still have his job once the deal is done.
For Bobby, this is always been about greed. He will be given a large lump sum of money and he will exit to his next venture and he knows this from the day he made the deal with MS. My guess he will end up at Amazon Games division.
He should start a crowdfunding campaign for a space simulation. He could double his money.
I think thanks to all the legal hurdles, Bobby forgot this was an acquisition deal and not a merger.......poor Bobby, guy probably thinks he'll still have his job once the deal is done.
For Bobby, this is always been about greed. He will be given a large lump sum of money and he will exit to his next venture and he knows this from the day he made the deal with MS. My guess he will end up at Amazon Games division.
He should start a crowdfunding campaign for a space simulation. He could double his money.
Too much work. Why not just wring Amazon dry and if Bezos drops the hammer, he can challenge him to a cage match.
Why are people so obsessed with having everything shoved on the Game Pass?
They won't like it after buying DLC for a game on game pass only for the game to no longer be on game pass later.
I have saved so much money on gamepass that it's simply the best gaming deal ever. My suspicion is that they will jack up the rates at some point but it has saved me hundreds of dollars so far. At least hundreds.
And, that very thing just happened. Next billing cycle the fee for ultimate is now $17. Think I'm going to cancel for a while, buy a year of Gold, and resub when a bunch of stuff hits I really want to play.
Part of my dilemma is that, for the last couple of months, I've mostly been using GamePass to test games and save money on things I might have otherwise purchased. I'm not really playing a main game on GP just to play it and most of the stuff I'm playing or have bought hasn't been on GP at all.
I can get a 12 month digital code for Gold from Amazon for $55. I could actually save money because the only big GamePass title I plan on playing is Starfield, and I will still have to buy the digital upgrade to get all the content and stuff, so why not just buy it outright and skip the fluff in the middle.
Having titles on GP without all their content has been one of my biggest annoyances about the service.
Why are people so obsessed with having everything shoved on the Game Pass?
They won't like it after buying DLC for a game on game pass only for the game to no longer be on game pass later.
I have saved so much money on gamepass that it's simply the best gaming deal ever. My suspicion is that they will jack up the rates at some point but it has saved me hundreds of dollars so far. At least hundreds.
And, that very thing just happened. Next billing cycle the fee for ultimate is now $17. Think I'm going to cancel for a while, buy a year of Gold, and resub when a bunch of stuff hits I really want to play.
Part of my dilemma is that, for the last couple of months, I've mostly been using GamePass to test games and save money on things I might have otherwise purchased. I'm not really playing a main game on GP just to play it and most of the stuff I'm playing or have bought hasn't been on GP at all.
I can get a 12 month digital code for Gold from Amazon for $55. I could actually save money because the only big GamePass title I plan on playing is Starfield, and I will still have to buy the digital upgrade to get all the content and stuff, so why not just buy it outright and skip the fluff in the middle.
Having titles on GP without all their content has been one of my biggest annoyances about the service.
I have 3 years of GP saved up for free. Do people really pay for it?
Why are people so obsessed with having everything shoved on the Game Pass?
They won't like it after buying DLC for a game on game pass only for the game to no longer be on game pass later.
I have saved so much money on gamepass that it's simply the best gaming deal ever. My suspicion is that they will jack up the rates at some point but it has saved me hundreds of dollars so far. At least hundreds.
And, that very thing just happened. Next billing cycle the fee for ultimate is now $17. Think I'm going to cancel for a while, buy a year of Gold, and resub when a bunch of stuff hits I really want to play.
Part of my dilemma is that, for the last couple of months, I've mostly been using GamePass to test games and save money on things I might have otherwise purchased. I'm not really playing a main game on GP just to play it and most of the stuff I'm playing or have bought hasn't been on GP at all.
I can get a 12 month digital code for Gold from Amazon for $55. I could actually save money because the only big GamePass title I plan on playing is Starfield, and I will still have to buy the digital upgrade to get all the content and stuff, so why not just buy it outright and skip the fluff in the middle.
Having titles on GP without all their content has been one of my biggest annoyances about the service.
Just be aware that they changed the GOLD-GAMEPASS upgrade ratio. It used to be 1-1, so the trick was to load up years of gold (up to 3 max) and then get 1 month of Gamepass Ultimate and it switched all the time over. Its now 2:3 ratio. Still better than buying Gamepass straight up but not as good as it was.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
Why are people so obsessed with having everything shoved on the Game Pass?
They won't like it after buying DLC for a game on game pass only for the game to no longer be on game pass later.
I have saved so much money on gamepass that it's simply the best gaming deal ever. My suspicion is that they will jack up the rates at some point but it has saved me hundreds of dollars so far. At least hundreds.
And, that very thing just happened. Next billing cycle the fee for ultimate is now $17. Think I'm going to cancel for a while, buy a year of Gold, and resub when a bunch of stuff hits I really want to play.
Part of my dilemma is that, for the last couple of months, I've mostly been using GamePass to test games and save money on things I might have otherwise purchased. I'm not really playing a main game on GP just to play it and most of the stuff I'm playing or have bought hasn't been on GP at all.
I can get a 12 month digital code for Gold from Amazon for $55. I could actually save money because the only big GamePass title I plan on playing is Starfield, and I will still have to buy the digital upgrade to get all the content and stuff, so why not just buy it outright and skip the fluff in the middle.
Having titles on GP without all their content has been one of my biggest annoyances about the service.
Just be aware that they changed the GOLD-GAMEPASS upgrade ratio. It used to be 1-1, so the trick was to load up years of gold (up to 3 max) and then get 1 month of Gamepass Ultimate and it switched all the time over. Its now 2:3 ratio. Still better than buying Gamepass straight up but not as good as it was.
It means if you convert 12 months of Gold to Ultimate you will get 9 months.
Thank you! That is clear now. Strange and I hadn't thought about converting.
That sort of puts me in an awkward position. If I buy 12 months of Gold and then want to just buy a month or two of GP in the middle, it's going to screw me out of 3 months of Gold. I thought it would be something I could turn on and off again. I can see how it can be taken advantage of, but it's also a bit of a dark pattern that tries to lock you in. We should never lose what we purchased. Just another good argument to get rid of the online fee.
Isn't there some rich class action law firm that wants to squeeze Microsoft hard and change the industry?
I appreciate the tip though, because now I'll make sure I really want to activate the GP sub again before pulling the trigger.
I can promise you Bobby Kotick will not have much say so once the acquisition is finalized. Both sides can say what they want for PR purposes now, but I've been through a fortune 200 acquisition before. The reality is that everyone is going to get an @microsoft.com email address and be put under a Microsoft VP in the org chart. Anyone not willing to tow the new corporate line will be cut. If there's redundancy in job function, there will be layoffs. Heck even the CEO of my deal was promised a seat on the board of directors and within 2 years he was gone. Fat golden parachute, of course, but gone nonetheless. Bobby's likely already negotiated his 8-figure payout and is just going to stick around for a "transition period" and then he'll either retire or leave to start a new studio with his fat sacks of cash.
I fully expect a significant reduction in force post acquisition. They may state something silly like they're "buying the team and the culture", but the fact of the matter is they want the IP's and everyone there is totally expendable all the way to the top. Microsoft has a CEO.
Spot on analysis and exactly what is going to happen. There is a good chance if MS is approved for acquiring AB that D4 will be on gamepass if MS wants it to be. And yes AB will continue to exist only as far as MS wants them to. They could exist in name only or MS could give them autonomy to do what they want again unlike Kotick and Activision.
I'll second this as having been involved in M&A in the software space on both sides of acquisitions. You go through a rationalization phase where you demonstrate to the board how you are optimizing EBITDA through cost reductions/synergies, and then even if your revenue grows to original plan, your profits are significantly higher as you have reduced your costs.
Moving D4 to Game Pass will absolutely happen. Why? They will have made a nice chunk of change on the upfront game sales but recognize the long-term benefit of the game is in live service sales and expansions, so they will make the base game accessible to everyone on Game Pass. It is a small step away from making the base game FTP, which isn't outside of the realm of possibility once the live service is giving people more reasons to spend incremental $s and they prove the viability of it.
Comments
https://www.thewrap.com/bobby-kotick-activision-blizzard-ceo-golden-parachute/
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
If I were him I'd load up all that cash onto a dumptruck (or three), truck it over to Bill Gate's house, dump it in his yard and scream "TRY AGAIN #%^$#!"
He could double his money.
Too much work. Why not just wring Amazon dry and if Bezos drops the hammer, he can challenge him to a cage match.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
What do you mean 2:3 ratio?
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
I'll second this as having been involved in M&A in the software space on both sides of acquisitions. You go through a rationalization phase where you demonstrate to the board how you are optimizing EBITDA through cost reductions/synergies, and then even if your revenue grows to original plan, your profits are significantly higher as you have reduced your costs.
Moving D4 to Game Pass will absolutely happen. Why? They will have made a nice chunk of change on the upfront game sales but recognize the long-term benefit of the game is in live service sales and expansions, so they will make the base game accessible to everyone on Game Pass. It is a small step away from making the base game FTP, which isn't outside of the realm of possibility once the live service is giving people more reasons to spend incremental $s and they prove the viability of it.