• Activision acquisition uncertain

    From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg on Fri Sep 16 21:11:00 2022
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg

    So, what am I to think of Microsoft's attempt to buy Activision? On
    the one hand, Activision desperately needs a shake-up. Their
    leadership is a mess, and the company has become complacently reliant
    on a tiny number of IPs (and the associated MTX, especially in the
    mobile space) rather than on innovation and quality.

    On the other hand, it's obvious Microsoft is mostly interested in
    Activision for their powerful position in the mobile domain, and the
    company is big enough already. And while it's currently quite
    supportive of PC gaming, that support has been very uncertain in the
    past, and it's push towards subscription/software-as-a-service gaming
    isn't something I can get behind.

    Still, it might not matter in the end, with European regulators likely
    to put the kibosh on the whole deal; they're no happier about
    Microsoft getting any bigger either. The fact that it will control one
    of the big-three triple-A publishers and is also a console manufacture
    is a major concern, not only to regulators but also its competitors.
    Having been so hands-off with other mergers between big-tech companies
    (and seen the harm that caused), governments are now becoming more
    proactive, and Microsoft hasn't offered any convincing arguments that
    it won't be a dangerous monopolist. So while the acquisition isn't
    off, it certainly is going to be delayed for a while.

    Which is a shame, because I'd really like to see Kotick and his
    cronies get the boot. It's also a problem because - until the
    acquistion is complete - it's unlikely that we'll see anything even
    marginally risky from the Activision; maintaining the status-quo and
    making short-term-focused moves that bolster the company's value (even
    if long-term those actions might sink the company) is the usual
    strategy until the contract is signed and the money changes hands.

    Well, maybe some other company will swoop in and offer Activision a
    better deal without the monopolistic entanglements that come with
    being associated with Microsoft. Say, CD Project RED, I don't suppose
    you have $75 billion lying around?



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  • From T987654321@qwrtz123@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg on Tue Sep 27 09:53:43 2022
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg

    Can't even remember the last Activision game I bought, or even if I ever have.
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  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg on Wed Sep 28 12:44:38 2022
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg

    On Tue, 27 Sep 2022 09:53:43 -0700 (PDT), T987654321
    <qwrtz123@gmail.com> wrote:

    Can't even remember the last Activision game I bought, or even if I ever have.

    Oh, so THAT'S what happened to this post. I wondered why it didn't get
    any responses. Turns out I dropped it in the wrong newsgroup.

    But, yeah, Activision is mostly dead to me too, mostly because I don't
    like the company, but it doesn't hurt that none of their games are
    particularly interesting to me. The company has been sticking to its
    'safe' IPs for years - not surprising if they were expecting a merger;
    you don't rock the boat until the deal is complete - but their lack of innovation hasn't made me look any more fondly on them.

    Of course, Nadella, Microsoft's CEO, is making noises about how he is
    "very confident" that the deal will go through*... but then that's
    exactly the sort of thing you'd expect him to say. I'm not sure he's
    wrong either but there is a lot more wariness about allowing such
    large tech mergers these days than there was even two years ago. It's
    not just the regular scrutiny these sorts of mergers usually have to
    endure.

    In the meantime, we can rest assured that Call of Duty XXVIII pt 2 The
    Rebooted Edition (or whatever the franchise is up to) is available for
    us to play, and this time I'm sure it will be as revolutionary as
    Activision is promising, right? ;-) ;-)




    ============================
    * https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-22/microsoft-ceo-is-confident-about-activision-deal-approval-handling-of-economy
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