Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard

The consolidation of the gaming industry will be just another tale of oligopoly in a capitalist society I guess. Yaaay.

I think everyone saying market consolidation is bad is missing the point for this particular one.

This isn't Google buying and killing another product. This isn't AT&T buying and merging something. This is the failed company Activision that bought Blizzard and tarnished its name and branding once again being sold off.

What's more, this is (effectively) the death of Activision. The bane on gaming since it first started mouthing syllables to the words "corporate profits".

I can only really see this as a good thing from pretty much any angle you try to look at it from. The fact that the only thing all the comments here have to say is that "consolidation bad" should be very telling. I'm no fan of Microsoft, but they generally let departments have a vision and execute them. They seem to have less awful stories than most tech cultures, so one would imagine that going from managers who don't care or are actively participating in hazing you to a place where you are given the space to foster your creative ideas... I'm gonna say this consolidation is probably a good thing if only because of the small chance that the workplace culture changes. In regards to the company, there may even finally be a litany of IP have a chance of seeing the light of day again!

Time will tell of course but I'd say all you need to do is read the timeline. The last decade has been nothing but awful actions from Blizzard leading up to the buyout, ranging from people doing multiple different boycotts against them for Blitzchang to their now parent company Activision just going full 1970. Microsoft will never be a golden pinnacle of perfection but they haven't been fostering workplaces where people feel fear and have their freaking bodily fluids stolen.

I guess I'll put it this way. Would you rather have the execs behind CoD and WoW or would you rather have the execs behind Halo and Starfield?

Both suck but one is clearly trying to allow space for heart to exist while having lots of skeletons and decomposing corpses in the closet while the other is whipping its junk out and rubbing it in your face while laughing about making skeletons... too much? lol

Seriously though? They bought Bethesda and look what they're doing there. Now they get to add another massive developer as if they weren't already ridiculously huge? This monopoly stuff has to end. I don't just mean gaming either. Like 5 companies control our entire food supply. There can only be one internet provider in any area. It's insane.

On one hand this just means further consolidation of an already oligopolic industry. On the other hand, Activision is a terrible company run by a terrible man, so it's not like things could get much worse.

I still don't understand all the people who are cheering this on. Why is consolidation of the industry a good thing. Is it really just because you want the games on gamepass?

Edit: in retrospect, I do agree I would be happy to see the leadership be ousted from acti-blizz. Since the merger is happening, I may as well see the good in it (if they are indeed getting ousted, that remains to be seen). I do think it is a worrying trend overall though

So how long until Microsoft restricts all Activision or Blizzard games to being only on Xbox or PC?

As primarily a Playstation and Nintendo gamer, I think this acquisition is going to be 99% bad news for me. Oh well.

Boooo. Competition is always better in capitalism. Even Activision blizzard as terrible as they are, is competition. No one should be happy about this after how they've gobbled up a huge chunk of the gaming market.

How long until we're forced to log into these games with Microsoft accounts and pay for Xbox live

Normally, I would not be happy about this, but this is the exception. Even as a Mac gamer (and please don’t at me - I have had decades of sass coming from the PC community. Let me enjoy my platform. I get what I need) this is a win. Activision was always poison for Blizzard. At the bare minimum, Microsoft will enforce corporate HR standards - may not be awesome standards, but it’s a lot better than Activision turning a blind eye. And it’s in Microsoft’s best interest to support native Mac development where it exists (and while I don’t see Blizzard ramping up their Mac dev team to previous (if meager) levels, I expect that the games I enjoy will continue to work fine on my machine, which is a modest ask.

I mean, if Microsoft bent over backwards to prop up Apple in those dark days (and you could have concussed me with a feather when Gates announced MS was investing in Apple IIRC on stage during an Apple keynote) they’ll support other platforms.

Should all gaming fall under several big umbrellas? No. But getting the Activision Board and C-suite out of the “day to day” of studio development can’t hurt.

Interesting. CMA are really looking like the odd ones out now. Wonder how their appeal over here will go.

This is just the fight for the preliminary injunction. The FTC can still use antitrust proceedings to prevent/unwind the merger.

I'd like to see this go through just to get Bobby Kotick out.

What kind of games does Activision Blizzard release besides the obvious ones? COD, WOW, and Diablo? I mainly buy indie games but I know those are giant series.

It would be funny if sony decided to release their games for pc only for linux, just to spite microsoft.
Slim chance of it happening, but one can dream.

Honestly I can't remember the last game I played from Activision/Blizzard. I know this is bad because market consolidation is bad. But I think this will have no impact on my gaming.

Another judge blatantly ignores the law.