Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion

Blizzard Entertainment, Vicarious Visions, Infinity Ward, King, Raven Software, and more will fall under leadership of Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer.

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Today marks another major day in the way of video game industry business and deals. Microsoft has announced it will be acquiring the entirety of Activision Blizzard and all studios that fall under it. The deal is said to be in its final stages and will see Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer take over leadership of all Activision Blizzard properties once complete. The deal is said to be valued at around $70 billion USD.

The deal was officially announced by Microsoft via the Xbox Twitter account on January 18, 2022. In a blog post written by Phil Spencer on Xbox Wire, he announced that he would taking over the helm of Activision Blizzard as it becomes part of Microsoft Gaming. The deal encompasses all Activision Blizzard studios, including Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, Beenox, Demonware, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Major League Gaming, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Toys for Bob, and Treyarch. Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is said to be valued at around $68.7 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Dina Bass.

The deal follows up on, and is substantially more costly than, Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda last year, which was closed at a value of $7.5 billion. It also follows closely on the heels of Phil Spencer condemning Activision Blizzard for its continued negligence towards its employees in an ongoing lawsuit from California, including the poor response to a recent walkout for sudden layoffs at Raven Software QA. There is no word on whether or not current and problematic Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick or the current executive board will stay on once the deal is complete.

With Activision Blizzard falling under the Microsoft Gaming umbrella, the Xbox ecosystem is about to get that much larger and one of Microsoft’s first orders of business is to move that library into its Game Pass program. As we await the closure of this deal, stay tuned for further updates and details on the ongoing story.

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    January 18, 2022 6:55 AM

    TJ Denzer posted a new article, Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:22 AM

        Whenever called Kotick being out by the end of 2022 might have just made their big bet for the year

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        January 18, 2022 5:22 AM

        Shieeeeettttttttt

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:23 AM

        Tuesdays, I could never get the hang of Tuesdays.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:18 AM

          No joke, Arthur. I mean...wow.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:41 AM

            Do you even towel, bro?

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 6:42 AM

              I actually do keep a towel in my car at all times. Partially because of the book.

        • rms legacy 10 years legacy 20 years mercury super mega
          reply
          January 18, 2022 6:48 AM

          I'm just beginning to see, now I'm on my way!

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        January 18, 2022 5:25 AM

        Is there any relevant fps or western rpg series left that isn't ms exclusive after this?

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          January 18, 2022 7:59 AM

          It depends on your definition of relevant, but off the top of my head, these are currently multiplatform publishers or studios and their FPS or RPG franchises that have released to some level of sales/acclaim/anticipation.

          Ubisoft (Far Cry), EA (Battlefield, if it didn't commit suicide last year, Apex Legends, Bioware RPGs), CDProjekt (Witcher, Cyberpunk), Larian (Divinity, Baldur's Gate 3), Valve (I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that they'll release a game someday), Take Two is making a Bioshock sequel... Having trouble thinking of any more.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:01 AM

          Lol my first thought as well

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:21 AM

            Now Spencer’s statement reads like he’s barely containing his laughter

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:26 AM

        That's wild if that's true.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:26 AM

        Microsoft is hungry! om nom nom

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:27 AM

        Okay so if this happens, do you think it'll be more or less than the Zynga deal? Which I think is the highest one yet. 12.7b.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:31 AM

        Also we actually might have to consider if this would trigger antitrust concerns too.

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          January 18, 2022 5:38 AM

          It most definitely will. I could still see this getting approved though.

          I forgot that Activision owns King too, MS would gain a significant chunk of the mobile games market with this move.

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          January 18, 2022 6:20 AM

          I think so. This would make Ubisoft and EA the last major publishers not directly...well, no EA is tied in with MS with Game Pass, so it's just Ubisoft without a direct tie. What crazy times we live in.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:22 AM

            I'm thinking just on the console side though. PC still has Epic and Valve, but those are big console publishers.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:56 AM

            I thought Ubisoft is adding their stuff Gamepass as well via their plan like EA's soon.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 7:02 AM

            Ubisoft game pass is coming soon I am pretty sure.

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            January 18, 2022 8:41 AM

            Take Two Interactive

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 8:44 AM

            Don't forget about Nintendo

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 1:32 PM

              I believe he was saying last developers without their own console.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:34 AM

        What in the holy everloving fuck....

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:35 AM

        $70B to fire Bobby Kotick? I'm in.

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          January 18, 2022 5:52 AM

          No, to keep him.

          "Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard." says the Verge article.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 5:56 AM

            There's no way he's there permanently.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:00 AM

            He’s gone once the deal goes through

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              January 18, 2022 6:12 AM

              Yep, if nothing else, they'll make him disappear in the bureaucracy. He'll have no authority or media presence.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 8:45 AM

                Nah they will make very clear that he is leaving. They would have a serious morale issue on their hands with existing MS employees if they don't announce loudly that he is gone.

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              January 18, 2022 9:15 AM

              Nope, lol. Don’t count on him leaving for at least 2-3 years after. Probably more like 5 years. And he will NEVER not be on the board. In fact, he will wind up on the board of Microsoft or will run Xbox, when it gets spun off as its own corporate entity, if Phil Spencer doesn’t.

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                January 18, 2022 9:21 AM

                I’d bet good money he is out as soon as they are legally able, once the deal closes. Admittedly that could be a while from now (6-12 months?).

                There is no reason to keep him around. Nothing about the way he and Activision leadership have been running their business fits Microsoft’s culture or brand IMO. Business-wise I don’t think he would bring any relationships MS doesn’t already have or could easily build themselves. He’s radioactive and will be out, MS won’t care how much they might have to pay him.

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                  January 18, 2022 9:42 AM

                  He’s not going anywhere. This deal is already projected not to close until ‘23, but it will probably get delayed. And he will stay there to steer things afterwards at Activision/Blizzard. Perhaps make a play for a leadership role. Kotick is a political animal.

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                    January 18, 2022 10:55 AM

                    I don’t doubt Kotick is a political animal. But I don’t see Phil or Satya having any interest in or patience for keeping him around. I guess I just disagree that he will bring enough value to win over Microsoft leaders.

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                      January 18, 2022 11:04 AM

                      i agree, he's a big fish but he's going into the bigger pond. they don't want that stink.

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                      January 18, 2022 11:05 AM

                      I’m glad you think their ethics are so much better.

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                        January 18, 2022 11:21 AM

                        It's not even about ethics to me, it's just an easy PR and employee morale win.

                        I do think MS has better company culture, it ain't perfect though.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 10:35 AM

              Yes, he’ll suddenly leave to spend more time avoiding his family.

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            January 18, 2022 1:14 PM

            Lol no fucking way. They’re going to destroy their investment.

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              January 18, 2022 5:44 PM

              It will be very interesting to see how it plays out.

              I’m strongly on the side that he’ll be there for a while after the deal is approved. I also think he will vie for a place on the board of either Xbox or MSFT and he’ll leave at his own discretion.

              But even if MSFT kicks him out sooner with that golden parachute, what it will mostly show is how much or how little Xbox/MSFT feels their plans are well enough in effect without their customer base and talent base’s support. That’s the real key to watch, as it indicates how successful their view of the business plan is and how consumer oriented the management will be going forward.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:46 AM

          How long has Phil had the CEO title? I didn’t know there could be multiple. Though it says Microsoft Gaming? But CEO implies he reports to no one else right?

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            January 18, 2022 11:26 AM

            CEO title will be new for him with this acquisition. Multiple CEOs within a company isn't that unusual, usually reserved for large companies with separate mostly autonomous business units.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:36 AM

        WTF!

        Seriously thats an atomic sized bombshell

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          January 18, 2022 5:43 AM

          Yup. Love a good megaton announcement. The last one was Bethesda haha.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:36 AM

        this is a huge move to get rid (and pay off) kotick.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 5:37 AM

          https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1483432118441099266?s=21

          Not unless this statement is a way of letting him save face

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            January 18, 2022 5:50 AM

            "Until this transaction closes, Activision Blizzard and Microsoft Gaming will continue to operate independently. Once the deal is complete, the Activision Blizzard business will report to me as CEO, Microsoft Gaming."

            Phil Spencer

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              January 18, 2022 5:55 AM

              “CEO, Microsoft Gaming” is a new title for him too. He’s having an incredible run at MS, exciting for him.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:36 AM

        That is a lot of money for a Cosby room.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:36 AM

        So Are we going to see New CoDs on Playstation?

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          January 18, 2022 5:45 AM

          Probably not.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 5:51 AM

          Not unless they allow gamepass on the PS, which the way it's going they probably will.

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            January 18, 2022 5:54 AM

            MS has wanted GP on Playstation very badly. If this is how they’re going to force it then this is how they do it. CoD is the biggest thing on Playstation and I think the only thing that’s anywhere close is GTA5 online. Imagine being given that choice of allowing Game Pass or no CoD

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          January 18, 2022 4:18 PM

          que fools arguing yes

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:38 AM

        Would they see the price as being lower than value because of their troubles? Seems weird/crazy.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 5:41 AM

          They would definitely see this as being a good time to buy. The price would have been significantly higher 7-8 months ago.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 5:42 AM

          They’re about 40% off of their all-time high a year ago, they’re trading at a good healthy earnings multiple, and they have fucking CoD and all of the Blizzard stuff.

          Even at the premium they’d be paying its worth it

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 5:51 AM

            King Games absolutely prints money too an MS doesn’t have much of a mobile presence at all yet. Great move if you have the dough to do it!

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:40 AM

        Wow.

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        January 18, 2022 5:41 AM

        Sony today: “Fuck.”

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:41 AM

        Oh Bobby.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:41 AM

        Damn, official done deal from Phil Spencer? https://twitter.com/XboxP3/status/1483431362094796800

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          January 18, 2022 5:45 AM

          Yeah it’s official, but not a done deal. FTC will be taking a very close look at this before it goes through. They don’t stop a lot of acquisitions these days though.

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            January 18, 2022 5:45 AM

            Yeah, I’d be kind of surprised if FTC blocked this

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              January 18, 2022 5:54 AM

              I can't see it happening, nobody has stopped Disney eating anything yet, and the gaming market is vastly more dynamic and competitive than the film market.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 8:35 AM

                Yeah, I don’t either. Still plenty of competition out there.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:43 AM

        I guess this means Diablo 4 will be on Game Pass if this closes lol

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:43 AM

        Wow. Great news for GamePass, I guess.

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        January 18, 2022 5:44 AM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 5:46 AM

          I don't understand what. MS bought Activision?

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            January 18, 2022 5:51 AM

            that's what people are reporting yeah

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              January 18, 2022 5:53 AM

              Ohh fuck yeah!

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 6:00 AM

                I hope this means they can bring back Wolfenstein 2009!!!!!!!!
                !!!

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 5:52 AM

          [deleted]

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 5:54 AM

          [deleted]

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 5:58 AM

          Fucking hell.. didn't see that one coming.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 5:58 AM

          https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-will-acquire-activision-blizzard/

          I hope they fire Bobby Kotick as their first action.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:06 AM

          But…. Does this mean we won’t get Diablo 4 on PS5?

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            January 18, 2022 6:08 AM

            I'm sure all massive IP will continue to be multiplatform just like Bethesda RPGs...is what they have to say until the deal finalizes

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              January 18, 2022 6:20 AM

              They would be stupid not to! I don't care who owns it, just give me my Diablos!

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                January 18, 2022 6:48 AM

                i wouldn't hold my breath if I were you

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            January 18, 2022 6:21 AM

            they are reviving the windows phone to make diablo a windows phone exclusive

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 6:24 AM

              I'd be ok with that, LOL. Windows Phone was pretty great.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:21 AM

          We are excited to announce that the world-renowned scandals and despicable people at Activision Blizzard will be joining Team Xbox!

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:34 AM

          Yay! I look forward to employee discounts on Diablo 4 micro-transactions!

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:38 AM

          Holy fuck sticks...... I'm excited but on monopoly much.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:44 AM

          [deleted]

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:48 AM

          Microsoft now has almost all space marines knockoffs lmao

          Master Chief
          Doom Guy
          Whatever the shit in Starcraft

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:50 AM

            Government will break them up into Space Marine South, Space Atlantic, Southwestern Space Marine, etc.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 7:17 AM

          I'm surprised no one mentioned gamepads yet. Despite having some massive money making up, this could potentially prevent Sony's game pass from getting day one Activision games.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:48 AM

        Bethesda + Activision in such a short time. I liked it better when the landscape was more balanced.

        I wonder if this is the time for Sony to strategically align themselves with Nintendo somehow, as sure as shit they don't have money to buy EA or Ubisoft.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 5:51 AM

          One more step of consolidation towards the Weyland-Yutani mega-conglomerate

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:48 AM

        NYTimes is reporting it now too.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:50 AM

        im not sure our copium reserves will be sufficient for all the sony fanboys

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:50 AM

        Oh wow

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:51 AM

        WTF. I do actual work for 30 minutes and come back and this huge news drops.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:51 AM

        Guessing we'll see new Warcraft & StarCraft content. That'll make my son happy.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:52 AM

        In terms of gamers I think Bethesda and Activision being owned by MS is better for us, both companies have been run so badly these last few years. Maybe Blizzard can get back to where we'd want it to be.

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          January 18, 2022 6:00 AM

          Don’t think they’d change anything in terms of output. In terms of the treatment of personnel, I’d certainly hope so, but in terms of games MS has been very hands off with their acquisitions the last couple of years.

          They buy companies with long established track records and let them do their thing, very different from the old days when they’d buy less mature studios, try to nudge them where they thought they should be, and it ended up a mess.

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            January 18, 2022 6:05 AM

            Bethesda already giving noises that they have extra time to ship games, which I think has been a problem with both them and Activision. But yes in terms of treatment of personnel MS is very aware they have a good reputation that side, there's no way they won't force changes through at Blizzard / Activision. And I do think that's better for gamers long term. Plus games will stay on PC as well.

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              January 18, 2022 6:12 AM

              Those games were always going to be on PC.

              We’re watching continued consolidation and monopolization as fewer and fewer entities have more and more of the pie. Whether this is a convenient thing for people with Game Pass (it is), its also broadly symptomatic of concentration of power and influence which isn’t so great. It is inevitable though, so oh well!

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                January 18, 2022 6:17 AM

                Yeah don't get me wrong I don't want MS to be owning everyone/everything. I just think Bethesda and Activision in particular were extremely badly run companies for gamers (Activision charging for next gen upgrades etc) I'm hoping with MS ownership a lot of that will change.

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                January 18, 2022 7:25 AM

                As for the gaming industry, I'm somewhat ok with this. I'm not usually attached to IPs. I may be disappointed but whatever.

                My biggest concern is if the devs are paid decent. This allows them to quit and form new companies, ip, and gameplay.

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            January 18, 2022 6:41 AM

            Kinda wonder if they might revamp overwatch, get rid of the 2 and kinda come forward with a new plan to make it F2P and sell skins or something.

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              January 18, 2022 7:23 AM

              Not a chance, the scope is way too big to drop, not to mention all of the new players they’d bring into the PvE section of the game. Its basically their Destiny 2.

              It’ll be on Game Pass either way, plus the PvP is the same OW2 content for everyone who bought the original game even if they don’t buy OW2.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:05 AM

          Nah, Blizzard is never going to get back to where it was, before it was acquired. Maybe Microsoft's ownership will shine a light on bad behaving employees & make it more likely that they'll be forced out -- but I'm not holding my breath.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:53 AM

            Im optimistic about the Blizzard IPs here, that said not thrilled with the exclusives. It doesnt affect me but if you own a PS5 and like Call of Duty this is a pretty big bummer and I hate that for the others that enjoy this hobby.l

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 1:37 PM

            If creating a better culture that brings people back like Jeff Kaplan back I think that’s a step in the right direction.

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          January 18, 2022 6:06 AM

          It also means more and more 3rd party games suddenly become exclusives. I don't see much positive in this.

          And they keep Kottick in so it looks like all this "we evaluate our relationship with Activision" talk from Phil Spencer not so long ago was just PR crap.

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            January 18, 2022 7:32 AM

            Sounds like they reevaluated their relationship and decided to just buy the whole fucking thing.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:54 AM

        Best reaction I have seen. https://twitter.com/SwiftOnSecurity/status/1483435071243788288

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:32 AM

          Deleted

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:38 AM

            it was a joke about the ever increasing cost of e5 enterprise licenses

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:55 AM

        CoD and Skyrim, Xbox exclusives

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:55 AM

        They'll probably just buy Sony next. These tech companies have such deep cash reserves right now.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:03 AM

          About $160 billion for Sony on the stock market right now. Add a 40% premium for fun and you’re looking at about $224 billion dollars, and its a Japanese company.

          Wild things can always happen but I’m not so sure!

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            January 18, 2022 6:24 AM

            Hopefully not, but it wouldn't surprise me. A one console future can't be good for consumers.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:59 AM

            Why would they buy Sony?

            Sony is a hardware company and hardware companies have low margins.

            Microsoft is a service company and more subscriptions (Gamepass) means higher stock.

            If this keeps up MS might stop making consoles and make Sony pay for Gamepass on Playstation.

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              January 18, 2022 7:09 AM

              I do not think they would buy Sony. Hardware model aside, I don’t think they would just by virtue of it being a Japanese company, you don’t really see those kinds of acquisitions

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:30 AM

          That would never pass regulatory approval.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 7:06 AM

            Seeing as Dish and DirectTV are in talks and Sirius/XM and T-Mobile/Sprint exist, maybe!

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 5:59 AM

        This is huge. Holy shit

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:05 AM

        https://i.imgur.com/EDWYU3A.png

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        January 18, 2022 6:05 AM

        Lol didn't see that coming.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:06 AM

        Can my WoW sub roll into gamepass now? Money saved!

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:25 AM

          Office E3 contains a Wow subscription, but Office E5 doesn't. You need to upgrade to get your company's productivity back.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 7:41 AM

            anti-productivity pack

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:07 AM

        Also insane this didn't leak.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:08 AM

        This is actually pretty cool. I can play diablo 3 again knowing I'm not supporting Kotick and co.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:09 AM

        BUY ALL OF THE STONKS, MY APES!

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:10 AM

        This would be the only way Bobby Kotick would ever find himself unemployed. Fuck that dude.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:13 AM

        This is as good as time to repost this as anytime.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuHqUpleIfA

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:13 AM

        Game pass keeps looking better every day.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 10:22 AM

          Gamepass now 80 dollars a month...and you'll fucking pay it

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:18 AM

        Nintendo is like ~$60B do it next

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:19 AM

          No, please no. I love Xbox but competition is good.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:21 AM

          That would be bad! AB was already doing multiplatform titles. Part of Nintendo's success and charm is them owning the software and hardware experience.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:23 AM

            Sony and Nintendo are Japanese companies, fat chance. More importantly, Nintendo is a Japanese company based in Kyoto, extra fat chance.

            Acquisitions for American companies though, watch out!

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              January 18, 2022 6:35 AM

              What about Kyoto makes it extra unlikely? All I know is it used to be the capital and has lots of temples.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 6:40 AM

                Japan has become more .... I'm at a loss for the word, I'm not sure if national is right... Basically they don't want foreign influence in their country. If you're old enough, you may remember back in the late 70s and 80s it seemed Japan was going to own much of the US. Then you stopped hearing as much and it moved more to China is going to own us, and that's still kind of true today. Japan has turned more inward and doesn't want as much external influence.... Ugh, there's a word for this, but it's escaping me completely. Kyoto is smaller than Tokyo, and less western, so going to be even more against western influence

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                  January 18, 2022 6:42 AM

                  Gotcha, makes sense. I learned Japanese in primary school in Sydney for similar reasons, it looked like they’d take over Australia then too so my parents wanted me to learn it haha.

                  • reply
                    January 18, 2022 6:45 AM

                    Yep, I took a few years of Japanese in university. Mostly to watch anime, but they only offered 2 years, which wasn't nearly enough. There are so many cultural aspects to learn that just learning the spoken language isn't enough. How many forms of please/excuse me are there?

                    shitsurei shimasu is a perfect example.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 6:53 AM

                Kyoto is more traditional and conservative. There is a difference between a Tokyo company and a Kyoto company, the latter being even more insular than the former which is already pretty insular

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 7:54 AM

            Anheuser-Busch can suck it!

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:25 AM

          Nintendo has already laughed Microsoft's offer once, I'm pretty sure they would do it again.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:21 AM

        So chances are Sony will think about that gamepass on playstation offer again? Because between elder scrolls, cod, star field, fallout, doom and bunch of other shit it looks like they will be paying rockstar/capcom and co a ton of money for timed exclusives to be relevant.

        Ms even has a partnership with sega going.

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          January 18, 2022 9:02 AM

          Hopefully Nintendo thinks about it too

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 12:33 PM

            Is there even anything at this point that would run on the switch? The gamepass installer probably already exceeds the system ram of it.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 12:57 PM

              There are at least a handful of games on Gamepass and on the Switch. But I was thinking more about cloud game streaming

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 12:58 PM

                I think nintendo has their own streaming service for japan so there might be a bit of a conflict of interest same as Sony.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:24 AM

        Good! If this doesn’t kick Sony to offer something actually competitive to game pass, I don’t know what will.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:26 AM

          Several recent things have pointed to Sony offering its sub thing rsn... pulling ps now cards, adding ps3 games to wishlist, etc.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:27 AM

            This would be excellent, especially since I haven't played like any ps 3 games

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:30 AM

          I think this shows that it's going to be very difficult for Sony to have their form of gamepass. I'm not even sure they should bother at this point and maybe stick to their model of big AAA games but less games coming out.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:33 AM

          Sony won’t be pivoting from their first party studios to mass acquisitions, with or without a competitive subscription service.

          They’ll make PS+ better for sure but there’s still going to be a limit in terms of what’s offered because of their different strategies. Sony is not in the business of spending $100 billion in the course of a year on studio/publisher acquisitions. :)

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:17 AM

          You know gamepass is being basically given away for almost nothing thanks to office and azure money, right?

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 9:41 AM

            Yup, and as long as it's for the benefit of gamers, I'm ok with that, here it seems like overall gaming will win

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 9:45 AM

              My point is that is easier for MS to do that than Sony. PlayStation is one third of the revenue of the whole company, they are not in the same position financially to compete at the same level on a similar subscription service, so that's why I don't think it's realistic to expect something of the same calibre as Gamepass from them, but we'll see.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 9:56 AM

                That's true and fair, MS has what like 4-5x the profit of Sony?

                • reply
                  January 18, 2022 10:46 AM

                  More like 29 times.

                  • reply
                    January 18, 2022 10:50 AM

                    MS Q2 2021 net income was 20.5 billion

                    Same quarter Sony: 709 million.

                    • reply
                      January 18, 2022 10:58 AM

                      In its 2020 financial year, Sony Corporation reported a net income of over 11 billion U.S. dollars

                      Microsoft 44.28 billion U. S dollars net income in 2020

                      Is google failing me?

                      • reply
                        January 18, 2022 10:59 AM

                        No that’s probably right, but check 2021 MS exploded in revenue the last year

                        • reply
                          January 18, 2022 11:10 AM

                          Either way you're right about my original comment

                          • reply
                            January 18, 2022 11:13 AM

                            Let’s enjoy it while it lasts, but I believe eventually there will be a reckoning on the subscription price to sustain this in the long run. For the moment it’s cheap while adding tons of games because they want us to be hooked.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:29 AM

        Oh fuck me, I just noticed the announcement includes “will provide building blocks for the metaverse” FUCK OFFFFFFFFFFFFF

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:31 AM

          Honest question: is "metaverse" 2020 leetspeak for a VR server?

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:36 AM

            No, it’s code for “Zuck has a raging boner for Snow Crash and wants to make it real, so now it’s a meaningless tech bro buzzword just like crypto”

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 6:48 AM

              Metaverse = Second Life in VR

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 6:49 AM

                Seriously. Furries all the way down.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 8:00 AM

            Metaverse : 2020s = Multimedia : 1990s

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:35 AM

          I caught that too. It's an odd statement and I can't immediately figure out how it fits. I made my wife watch Ready Player One last night, just to help her understand what this whole thing about "metaverse" is trying to be. I can only assume they want to lock in IP as a safety net for whatever comes next.

          Uhhhh, unless it's BNET that is the real gem? Even Activision moved to use Bnet as it's online platform. Wonder if Blizz is further down the VR/meta road with Bnet than anyone guessed. They've been silent on any new IP besides Overwatch 2. Big company for not much noise on another dev push, so maybe it's been working on Bnet metaverse?

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:44 AM

          It's just the latest investor buzzword.

          Mention it in your press release and the stock market bot algorithms will make your stock go up.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:45 AM

            Yup. It’s fucking eye-roll inducing.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:50 AM

          Wait, is MS collaborating with our boy Zuck or are they building a competing metaverse?

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:28 AM

          Meh. This metaverse crap is just a thing they have to go through for a couple years before the market makes it clear the majority of consumers are not interested in this idea

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:31 AM

          It's an interesting move, almost like they're intentionally diluting the term in the face of Facebooks usage.

          Look how many people are already tying "Metaverse" to Facebook and "Meta." It would behoove other companies to start trying to generalize the term.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:45 AM

          Yeah the Times piece announcing the deal make it sound like some huge Metaverse play which... It most definitely isn't. I guess the regular media is just so far Facebook's ass they need to frame it this way?

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:29 AM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:33 AM

          "$199"

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:42 AM

          Sony: "We are buying Electronic Arts"

          Nintendo: "We are releasing Mario Kart 9"

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:54 AM

          Sony Steam sounds sexy as fuck, not gonna lie.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:33 AM

        Better Microsoft than Tencent, I guess.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:36 AM

          Oh, hell yes it is. Infinitely better.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 7:31 AM

          Most definitely.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 9:21 AM

          TenCent doesn’t just take money and leave, you know. These things have to be negotiated and unless the SEC steps in, TenCent will continue to have some ownership.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:38 AM

        MICROSOFT Is crushing it with these aquisitions. Diablo 4, Overwatch 2 - free on gamepass?!?!

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:39 AM

          Hopefully they port GamePass over to Battle.net instead of maintaining their terrible Xbox app.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:41 AM

            They need to get rid of the Bethesda launcher/store.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:45 AM

            Oh that is interesting. I forget that the launchers will all be merged eventually.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:51 AM

            No chance. It’ll all come over to gamepass and your Microsoft account once they sort the migration plan out.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 7:33 AM

            It'll probably be like the EA stuff on game pass, which keeps their separate launcher.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:40 AM

          Almost guaranteed. Watching the battle.net>MS store migration will be a cluster fuck though.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:52 AM

            can't worse than the EA integration right? right????

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 7:42 AM

          New 3d lost vikings

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 9:46 AM

          Crushing what exactly

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:39 AM

        Bobby did it! We knew only he could fix this! So glad to see it work out for the super rich.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:45 AM

        gamepass I paid $120 for til June 2024 is looking better and better each day.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:50 AM

          Same dude. I’m switching ISP for my next billing cycle to one that’s just as good but offers a free year of gamepass ultimate to top that up with too!

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:51 AM

          Man, I should have done that, from the PC side at hte time the deal looked worse but NOW. man.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 12:45 PM

          In June 2025 it will cost $125 per month.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:50 AM

        big if true, and bobby's death sentence i'd expect - although i'm sure he'll be well compensated.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:51 AM

        Diablo Immortal Exclusive to Windows Phones.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:53 AM

          And it actually came out years ago. Just no one noticed. It’s the Frog Fractions of Diablo games.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 3:00 PM

          They still make Windows phones?

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:51 AM

        Yay, more consolidation. As inevitable as it is, I'm sure it's not going to lead to greater creativity/innovation within the AAA space.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:52 AM

          in this particular case that's a tree falling a forest full of call of duties.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:53 AM

          Arguable - do you think AB would be more creative as a third party driven by stock price?

          Sometimes acquisition can free dev teams from bottom line math. It probably all depends.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 7:01 AM

            I almost think Bethesda and Activision were run in recent years with a take over in mind. Look what Activision/Blizzard are doing with Overwatch 2 they're not interested in releasing games at the moment, just pushing up share price.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 7:05 AM

              OW2 was announced way too early. From what I’ve played and seen of its scope, the release was always late 2021 at the most optimistic.

              This was even before COVID hit! Announcing games when a fair chunk is still in the exploratory phase isn’t a great idea!

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 7:01 AM

            I hate to say it but Blizzard would no longer have the pressure to deliver only billion dollar home runs every single time.

            All of the incubator projects that got squashed which led to long time employees forming their own studios (because there is a METRIC FUCKTON of VC out there so now there are multiple new $100 million companies in OC now) might actually manifest in new products that aren’t as conservative.

            Like, we know Diablo 4 and OW2 are going to be amazing, but they’re also piggybacking on old established IPs. Diablo Immortal, even though it actually looks and plays well, was a blatant grab at what they knew would generate dumptrucks of cash.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 7:17 AM

              Wildest outcome would be that there would be room to use the dormant IP that had been sidelined as all of those studios were converted to support for CoD and Blizzard.

              Let’s get goofier than a new Crash, how about a No One Lives Forever revival?

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 7:44 AM

                Jesus fucking Christ if Microsoft enables a new NOLF I'll offer myself as a blood sacrifice to give thanks.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 7:29 AM

              I think the more interesting outcome will be if they're permitted to return to a 'when it's ready model' of development.

              There's no doubt that WoW has suffered a lot trying to push out their expansions before they've had the right amount of dev time and there's been a lot of talk from former devs that it's in no small part because of the COD mindset imposed on them post merger.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 7:34 AM

                Many argue/complain that they’re still in that mode, at least with Diablo and Overwatch. :)

                For WoW, yes, definitely, where they now have room to release things in a good state rather than having to rush a deadline for quarterly earnings.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 7:24 AM

            Yeah, maybe.

            I'm just thinking that in any other industry this much consolidation would presumably lead to stagnation in the long term due to reduced competition. Why would not it be the same in gaming?

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 9:00 AM

              games have really bad market footprint. instead of using cash cows to fuel the innovation, they just... stay with the cash cows. now, your COD and BF and WoW and all that are *REALLY* important to arrive at some manageable cash flow. we all know that.

              however, stagnation has been really biting recently, where multi million dollar (and multi year) endeavors go POOF within a week.

              consolidation does not alleviate that - better management and planning/pipelining does. learning what to create and when to launch it.

              as a brain teaser, in theory, consolidation SHOULD actually help the games industry. getting more free cash flow under one roof means they COULD spin up a lot of riskier stuff, because everyone is still gonna be employed if it flops.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:53 AM

        man, if MS puts all the blizzard games on steam, I could play diablo 3 on my steamdeck natively.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:55 AM

          oh man didnt think about that, those games could come to Steam!

          Wonder what hapesn to Bnet, it get shut down? The xbox app sucks, wish they'd just embrace Bnet and make it Xboxnet or something.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 7:06 AM

            Well Activition with Bungie ported Destiny 2 last year to Steam IIRC.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 7:07 AM

            I hope not, BNet is one of the few launcher apps I don’t totally despise. I don’t even tolerate it, its just good!

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 7:15 AM

              Agreed!

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 7:35 AM

              Maybe they will interface it with the Xbox App, like they do for EA Play + Gamepass. At least initially, until they suck in all the infrastructure to Azure

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 1:45 PM

              EGS at least wants to compete with Steam. BattleNet exists purely so Valve doesn't get a cut of their sales. It's bad for consumers imo.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 4:16 PM

                Battle.net predates the existence of Valve you two year old

                • reply
                  January 18, 2022 4:23 PM

                  so?

                  • reply
                    January 18, 2022 4:40 PM

                    Their online infrastructure predates Valve's founding, it predates Steam by nearly a decade, and it is well within their rights to sell their games directly.

                    Is it anti-consumer that Minecraft or countless numbers of indies on Itch.io avoided selling on Steam in order to avoid giving Baron Harkonnen a cut?

                    • reply
                      January 18, 2022 4:49 PM

                      Of course it's within their rights. I don't care about AB's bottom line though, I'm talking about what's best for consumers. We're better off in a world where we can choose to purchase Overwatch 2 on Steam or BattleNet.

                      • reply
                        January 18, 2022 6:06 PM

                        Developers and publishers are better off not giving 30% to a company that almost entirely exists for rent seeking if they have the option (Minecraft) or the means (ABK).

                        In terms of means, AB has what I would argue is the best launcher. Them deciding to keep their games there wasn't a detriment because of execution. Going forward we'll see what happens. Hopefully it remains an option, and hopefully it doesn't get rolled into the Game Pass app

                        • reply
                          January 18, 2022 7:24 PM

                          Steam isn't rent-seeking. Rent-seeking means wealth extraction without contributing value to the production of a good. Rent-seeking would be if Valve tried to manipulate the regulatory environment to knock out its competitors and then never updated its platform again.

                          Valve makes a service that people want to use. It integrates friends, messaging, social media, streaming, news, virtuality reality, and soon mobile gaming into a centralized platform with a huge number of users. The 30% fee Valve gets from every sale is their compensation for all that work to make their platform better. Developers benefit because they get access to all those users. Nothing is stopping them from not using Steam, and many choose not to! Nothing wrong with that. But if developers didn't get any value from Steam, no one would use it and the platform would die. It's obviously a mutually beneficial exchange for most developers.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 5:42 PM

              Oh man haha I hate it

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 7:15 AM

          Yeah did WoW come to gamepass? That would be weird.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:54 AM

        So for Real though, Diablo Immortal on PC Game pass? I could see it. THey have controller settings built in.

        Also I assume the Blizzard remakes will come to gamepass? thats pretty cool.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:55 AM

        Maybe this is as good a place as any to point out I have a signed and notarized build of DevilutionX on my site so you can play Diablo 1 natively on your M1 Mac

        https://macsourceports.com/game/diablo

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:56 AM

        I wonder how much MS has its eye on Bnet. You wouldn't normally think MS would care about that, but Bnet is a key differentiator from other studios and publishers. If Blizz was expanding that tech for something like a metaverse push, I could see why MS might want to pounce now. I have no insight and only arm chair speculation, but it's an interesting technology question.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:57 AM

          This is interesting. Could see B.net fold into the Xbox apps.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 6:59 AM

        I guess that leaked SKU for WoW on xbox is looking a lot more real now.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:06 AM

        Holy shit.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:06 AM

        WoW and new expansions will most certainly have an included $15 sub for GPUltimate users... damn, I may actually have to go back if its free. They better get those extra servers built in Azure. This is crazy.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 7:40 AM

          Yeah I'll def play some WoW if it's included in Gamepass.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:11 AM

        Kerrigan is now a Microsoft Princess!!!

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:26 AM

        Holy fucking shit that's insane. Also stupid Blizzard/Microsoft mmo idea World of Fable.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:26 AM

        this does not feel real. i just don't get it.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:27 AM

        The crazy part is that Microsoft spent more than half of their cash on hand. Microsoft is truly all in on gaming.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 7:31 AM

          Considering they have millions of people paying them $15 a month for gamepass, I imagine some spreadsheet somewhere said this was the right move.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 7:54 AM

            25 million, to be exact. And that number keeps growing. This is their new cash cow. Truly the Netflix of gaming. I mean think about it, Netflix has over 200 million subscribers world wide. If Ms achieves half that in the next five years they'll be rolling in dough.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 7:56 AM

              even at $10 a month, that means MS is making 250 million month.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 6:20 PM

                $120 a year for someone is basically about two brand new AAA games a year. And most people don't spend that much on even on publisher.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 8:50 AM

              That is in immense amount of cash that they bring in. I am sure that some CFAs ok'd the deal, but with my quick math not even looking at depreciation, that is a simple payback of 25 years. Now I am sure that their subs are about to go to the moon, so it probably doesn't matter.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 9:02 AM

                And they will eventually have to spin off the gaming arm of the business. This is where current Microsoft shareholders will really get their return.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 10:22 AM

            To be fair, with the gold conversion deal I'm paying closer to $2/mo and have been for years. I wonder what % of those subs used that deal.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 11:40 AM

            We don’t really know how many are paying full price though. I paid 120 euros for 3 years of ultimate. And everybody I know did the same trick. That’s almost 4 dollars per month, like 3,70

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:14 AM

          Let us not forget how ATVI refused to settle with the state of CA and drive their share price down.

          From the very first, I’ve been saying that was done purposely to fuck the shareholders and facilitate a cheaper corporate buyout.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 8:16 AM

            Microsoft paid a large premium. $70B vs $50B market cap.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 8:25 AM

              That’s still way below what the stock was trading at before the lawsuit came out.

              Shady as fuck. The only reason I didn’t buy back in as soon as it cratered was I assumed TenCent would be the buyer, haha.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 8:48 AM

                Fair enough! Craziness.

                • reply
                  January 18, 2022 8:54 AM

                  I’ve been through this before with other stocks. Be prepared for a shareholder lawsuit against ATVI, but it won’t go anywhere since people investors would rather hold MSFT.

                  • reply
                    January 18, 2022 10:51 AM

                    is it a stock swap or a cash buyout? linkedin was cash. of course, i would have preferred microsoft stock.

                    • reply
                      January 18, 2022 11:08 AM

                      No stock at alll? Double LOL

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:28 AM

        I don't know how to feel about this over the long, long haul. Feels like too much consolidation but in the short term hopefully there's a quick path to getting rid of the bad leadership and giving the employees a better work environment!

        Also, Blizzard games on Game Pass sounds pretty freakin sweet from a short term consumer perspective.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 7:30 AM

          Call of Duty on game pass would be fucking nuts.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 7:37 AM

          Yeah it’s interesting. Right now it’s good. All it takes though is for someone like Kotick to be in charge of Microsoft and see the whole thing be terrible.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:11 AM

          Staff changes can't happen very fast. There's the obvious regulator approval process, and given the size of this deal it's going to get scrutinized heavily in many markets, not just the US. That 18mo window does sound about right. MS might try to prep a lot for changes after they're cleared to finalize, but they can't put projects at risk either. There's going to be limits on what can be shared to MS for them to make too many staffing decisions. This is common in buyouts. Some key leadership may change, but the lower ranks take longer so they don't disrupt the projects.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 9:14 AM

          I feel similarly

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:30 AM

        Remember when it was a big surprise that MS was entering gaming with the XBOX? Now 20-ish years on they own Bethesda, Activision, Blizzard, Obsidian, Bungie, RARE, etc... Wow.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:05 AM

          Especially since the name Xbox was derived from "DirectX Box", an early name for the concept they were trying to do (a box/console that could play DirectX games without needing to be a full fledged Windows PC.

          There's a story that goes that Bill Gates was originally livid at the concept that it wasn't going to run Windows (as in, also be a regular PC - the thing always ran something akin to Windows) but he cooled off and obviously they moved forward with it

          https://www.gamesradar.com/microsoft-xbox-edge-game-changers/

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:31 AM

        Starcraft themed Gears of War.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 7:33 AM

          They should just turn the next Overwatch into the Smash Bros. of team fps.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:33 AM

        Just remembered that MS used to own Bungie.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 7:35 AM

          And carmack said he would consider working for the Microsoft today. I think Xbox brand mad gaming has made a real good turn since spencer

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 7:37 AM

            Don't forget Satya Nadella. This guy has been on fire since he took over in 2014 for Ballmer. M365 + Gamepass + Azure etc. all have been massive hits and turned Microsoft around.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 7:46 AM

              No promise it will last, but when you compare to google, facebook, amazon etc MS are pretty much the best tech company of that size around.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 7:54 AM

              Yep nu-Microsoft kicking ass and taking names. They could have so easily become an Oracle - lumbering, expensive dinosaur waiting for extinction. Instead they're a gaming and computing powerhouse. Just look at all their offerings: XBox, Azure, M365 - hot damn.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 8:05 AM

              Don’t forget he convinced Sony to build their ps5 game cloud on azure. Read that a few times.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 11:41 AM

              Agreed, Ballmer was bad

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 10:07 AM

              Carmack is such a dipshit

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 7:57 AM

          That was a very different time. MS goal now is to make as much content available on GamePass as possible. Recurring revenue is the name of the game.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 8:00 AM

            Yep, I think they see M365 very similar to Game Pass and these investments show it.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:36 AM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:42 AM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:42 AM

        Excerpt of email from Kotick: https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1483457074268880901?s=21

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 7:49 AM

          Yeah so don’t expect anything Blizzard till mid next year at the earliest.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 8:02 AM

        it seems like MS owns like half of game publishing in the US at this point. I think the only other big players left now are 2k and EA

        (by revenue it seems to be more like 2/3rds though)

        I dunno, that seems kind of bad imho?

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:25 AM

          Yeah, 10 years from now I don't think it will be good. In the short term, there will be a benefit for people that have Gamepass, and a little more creative freedom for studios like Ninja Theory, until the bean counters start cracking down

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:47 AM

          It’s honestly amazing the SEC has let it get to this point without a peep. The game industry is completely misunderstood by the old fart regulatory boards/legal system. Probably one reason MSFT has kept on in the game sector as it has for all these years, profit or loss.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 8:49 AM

            Especially in this case, with TenCent owning a chunk of ATVI.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 9:06 AM

              ^^^ they don’t just give up ownership in a buyout. It has to be negotiated. So much dirty pool. I just can’t stop laughing.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 8:05 AM

        Will this force Sony to implement proper game pass-like?

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 8:07 AM

        Loooooooooooooool

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:09 AM

          Last April: http://www.shacknews.com/chatty?id=40565977

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 8:23 AM

              And since I see their whole mindset from the bird’s eye view, strap in for tiered GamePass in a couple years:

              http://www.shacknews.com/chatty?id=40483834

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 8:38 AM

                I mean this kind of a no brainier as is eventually raising the base price. Once they think they've hit the ceiling on their growth potential the next step for achieving never ending growth, that the shareholders demand, is juicing the price.

                • reply
                  January 18, 2022 8:41 AM

                  Haha you’d be surprised at how much resistance I’ve gotten since day one on this. Look at all the people in this thread happily thinking all their Blizzard games will be part of their base subscription and “free”.

                  • reply
                    January 18, 2022 8:54 AM

                    There is no way WoW is going to be part of the base Gamepass price. Maybe in five years. But I 100% agree there will be a tiered or separate level. Microsoft would be throwing money away and they aren’t stupid.

                    • reply
                      January 18, 2022 8:57 AM

                      It won’t just be WoW. Elder Scrolls 6 and whatever else they can turn into a live service/MMO will be in there, and at least some of them will be kept in the lowest tier to provide a reason to raise the base price too.

                      • reply
                        January 18, 2022 9:16 AM

                        Oh sure I agree I just meant they aren’t bring any MMOs to they’re base price.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 10:15 AM

                They already kind of do that already. i.e you get Gears 5 base game for the regular sub price but if you want to play the expansion you have to pay for the Ultimate game pass for extra and then you get extra benefits. So it wouldn’t be surprising in the least.

                • reply
                  January 18, 2022 12:26 PM

                  Hehe anything seems possible now. My tier predictions were not too welcome around here either.

                  But yeah, US video game industry. It’s being run more and more like a high stakes blood sport to acquire an industry that they regulators do not understand that can easily be shaped to cater to addicts.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 9:59 AM

            Nostradamus up in here!

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 5:52 PM

              You might not know I worked on the Xbox end when Vivendi and Activision merged and then for ATVI afterwards.

              It was clear more than a decade ago what Xbox expected from publishers and developers as far as their branding and technical priorities went. It was always about creating a GamePass/metaverse-ish online platform independent of hardware.

              It was also really clear how ATVI approached mergers & acquisitions and where the game development sat in relation to strategizing strictly for the institutional stockholders.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 8:08 AM

        If they're not seriously cleaning house, and that does include booting the upper management, then this just makes me add MS to the list of companies I'm uninterested in and won't buy from.

        And I hate that, as I like a lot more of their properties than I do AB's.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 8:13 AM

        So, where does this put the SEGA rumors?

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:15 AM

          I imagine Sony would buy Sega up at this point.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 8:40 AM

            Yeah I think they kind of have to. But also it took people like Corey Balrog pushing Sony to finally get them to port big titles to PC. Sony doesn't yet realize they need to compete on PC. Adding Sega would give them a strong foothold.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 8:53 AM

            I would think they would buy Capcom before Sega

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:56 AM

          Sega was going to partner with MSFT originally with the Dreamcast but their owner passed away and the people who replaced him backed out and stuck to the Dreamcast. Elements of the deal remained like the DC using Windows CE.

          This pushed MSFT to make the Xbox on their own.

          So I guess Xbox is to Sega as was Playstation was to Nintendo as a parallel.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 9:06 AM

            I'm specifically talking about all the rumors for last year about MS buying Sega. Sega started to shed parts of its busiess that MS would be uninterested (all those physical location game center stuff). I wouldn't be surprised if we see more rumors if not an outright announcement before Q2.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 9:12 AM

              Well I'm just providing insight that this has been a thing for a long time so it's almost a matter of time.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 12:39 PM

              Sega is a Japanese company it can't be bought out as easily due to legal protections iirc, ms also announced that they would partner with sega on a bunch of games if i'm not mistaken.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 8:17 AM

        Also, this likely means an end to unionization efforts. GG msft

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 8:26 AM

        What's nutty to me is that for years there were this small handful of companies we knew to treat PC gaming well

        - Blizzard
        - Valve
        - id Software
        - To a lesser extent, Bethesda

        Zenimax owns Bethesda and bought id Software. Now Zenimax is owned by Microsoft.

        And now Blizzard is owned by Microsoft.

        And I can almost guarantee you the concept of Microsoft buying Valve has been brought up before.

        Other than things like games skipping the PS5, Microsoft buying Zenimax is probably a net positive. Zenimax's studios are great but Zenimax themselves as a company left a lot to be desired with its litigious nature and less than ideal decisions like launching Fallout 76 in the state it did.

        Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard is probably a net positive as well, given their issues at the moment. I actually haven't kept up with what the fuck all happened or went down (I know it was all really bad but it's not something I read much about) but it seems like a drastic change would be necessary and Microsoft would be that change.

        I don't think Microsoft buying Valve would be a net positive. As critical as I am of Valve's "flat" structure and how it doesn't encourage game completion or shipping games, but the result are games like the HL games being how they are (including Alyx). I don't know if it's a good idea to rock that boat.

        Also I'm not sure if I could find it because it was on a podcast but on Idle Thumbs they discussed the rumor that J Allard had to step down from being head of Xbox because it was discovered he was part of a swingers club that would have wild sex parties and the club was made up entirely of Microsoft employees (it wasn't created by Microsoft, it's just if you have 30,000 employees in the same spot these things just sort of crop up naturally). At some point the lawsuits and accusations started flying and Microsoft had him step down. So, Microsoft has some experience dealing with this shit.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 12:16 PM

          I don’t think Microsoft could buy Valve if they wanted to.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 8:28 AM

        The PS5 will be fine since the deal won't go through for at least couple more COD games.

        But I do wonder how the PS6 will fare when people know it will never have COD, Overwatch, etc.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 8:33 AM

          There is a zero percent chance that CoD becomes Xbox exclusive

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 8:34 AM

            Oh it definitely will. Probably the 2024 version I'd guess.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 8:34 AM

              PC and XBOX I mean.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 8:37 AM

              I’d wager a full copy of the game on it. I think that people still vastly underestimate how big of a cash cow cod is across platforms, and Sony is a bigger player.

              This isn’t a single player title, or even a bethesda game. Cod is too big.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 8:38 AM

                Microsoft is going to give it away for free on Xbox to game pass subscribers. They’re in the subscription game.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 8:39 AM

              It’s obvious that MSFT would like to push GamePass to be on the other console platforms, all streaming from the cloud, so the games don’t need to be ported.

              Whether Sony will eventually agree to that or not, this is the hardball game they’re playing.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 8:35 AM

            [deleted]

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 8:40 AM

              As much as people may want to deny it, cods value as a cross platform game is infinitely more than any Bethesda game

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 9:36 AM

                It’s not worth more than getting gamepass PlayStation

                • reply
                  January 18, 2022 4:30 PM

                  this is the same dumb shit people said when they bought bethesda, they have no reason not to make every single thing an exclusive. In fact that is more likely to get game pass on playstation.

                  Sony just los every single one of these franchises unless they bend over and start carrying their direct competitors game subscription service on their devices LOL

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 8:35 AM

            I wouldn't be so sure about that

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 8:37 AM

            Then what did MS pay for?

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 8:46 AM

              You don’t think that they would make money as the publisher?

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 9:16 AM

                I think you're probably right since COD is mostly a multiplayer franchise and so more people playing is better for the game than having an exclusive.

                I figure on one end of the spectrum is "Of course Elder Scrolls 6, Starfield and Fallout 5 are going to be Xbox exclusives"

                On the other end is "They let Mojang basically be an independent company and even went out of their way to make sure Minecraft can do cross platform multiplayer"

                I figure COD is more towards the Mojang end of the spectrum.

                • reply
                  January 18, 2022 4:33 PM

                  They also had like a Bedrock edition of Minecraft (rewritten from Java to C++) that has no fun to write mods for it. You could mod it to a very limited extent.

                  It does run a lot faster than the Java version.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 8:40 AM

            War zone will be stay free but guaranteed the campaigns come to gamepass.

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 9:24 AM

              Of course it will be on gamepass, but that won’t preclude it from being released cross platform. This is a vastly different situation then the Bethesda acquisition.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 9:32 AM

                Why is it though? because of the amount they paid? MS can afford to not release those games anymore on PS just like they could afford spending almost half their cash on this acquisition

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 11:08 AM

            Man I dunno, they paid billions..

            I'd expect at a minimum a delayed PS release. like they get a year old COD.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 9:37 AM

        If Diablo 4 becomes an Xbox exclusive I’m going to inconsolably furious

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 7:16 AM

      Anyone photoshop Phil as Dr Evil yet?

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 7:48 AM

      woah! does this mean I can buy their games again?

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 7:50 AM

      wow.... this is pretty major.

      Microsoft Diablo.

      I'd like a version of the game where diablo instead of shooting fire, throws old windows 3.1 floppy disks at you

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 8:09 AM

        Master Chief in Diablo? Oh oh, maybe Doom Slayer

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 7:51 AM

      Maybe Raven can work on Wolfenstein again?

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 7:54 AM

        I would pre-order this.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 8:54 AM

        I mean, what's the point. MachineGames is doing fantastic with it. But it would be nice to free Raven from making Call of Duty.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 9:13 AM

          Summon of Responsibility

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 9:18 AM

          The last game, young blood wasn’t fantastic. Besides, Machibe games is working on Indiana Jones ip.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 9:21 AM

            I never played those. It was obvious they were side projects to me. They’re working on Wolf III too. Of course they never said MachineGames was making it, but Bethesda did say they were making it.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 10:05 AM

        They will for sure. Just you watch, MS is going to be re juice like a MAD Lad all those amazing IPs all the companies where sitting on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        This really is incredible news for all the IPs that they all owned and mark My word the quality of the titles is going to go wayyyyyyyyyyy up!!!!

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 7:53 AM

      Of overwatch, diablo, starcraft, warcraft, candy crush, and call of duty which franchise had the last big hit?

      Is it overwatch?

      Is it kind of fair to say all those games listed best days are behind them?

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 8:41 AM

      lol

      At Sony we wanted to make a very strong and principled stance against employee harassment, which is why 30 minutes ago we decided to never work with Activision Blizzard again

      https://twitter.com/KazHiraiCEO/status/1483438540453289985

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 8:44 AM

      Heroes of the Storm 2, LET'S GOOOOOOOO!!!1

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 8:57 AM

      Alright, MS-Activision pun names & games mashups in this subthread
      I'll go first: Clippy of Duty

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 9:04 AM

        Word of Warcraft or World of Wordcraft

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 9:14 AM

        Destiny 365

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 9:17 AM

        Starcraft: Zune Rush

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 9:21 AM

        Overwatch 3: Bastion Stores date values as 32 bit integers and crashes

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 9:29 AM

          Hey guys I found the dour sysadmin with on-prem Exchange installs

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 9:33 AM

            some of the software we use is getting O365 roadmaps to connect to calendars.

            I have extremely rapid fire tasking/calendaring/journaling stuff that quite literally isn't even supported to write to/from the cloud... until very recently.

            plus, about 10 mailboxes used to be just straight up too large for O365... without forced archiving. I'm not sure what the tiers are now. we have E5 but some mailboxes are well over 100GB

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 9:51 AM

        Please no

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 9:56 AM

        Outlookwatch

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 9:57 AM

        Call of Duty: Teams

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 10:08 AM

        Teams is rebranded “Barrens Chat”

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 10:27 AM

        Quake 3: Teams arena


        Seriously, game was made by Id software which was acquired by Bethesda and then Microsoft. It was published by Activision which is now being bought by Microsoft.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 11:55 AM

        Activi$ion, get it

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 9:31 AM

      And out come the web3 crowd looking to monetize… playing the game?

      https://twitter.com/gregisenberg/status/1483432456548196358?s=21

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 10:04 AM

        What community is referring to?

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 10:22 AM

          Nevermind I followed the thread a bit and then almost killed myself.

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 9:32 AM

      How much will gamepass sub increase to to make the numbers work in the end?

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 9:43 AM

      Something not talked about is you’ll see a lot if layoffs. There is a ton of technical duplication there at ATVI and Microsoft and they don’t fuck around keeping people for fun. I’d expect hundreds to thousands to get the axe within a year.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 9:58 AM

        Does anyone know what happened to Zenimax when MS acquired them? Were there tons of layoffs?

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 10:07 AM

          They def consolidated HR and Finance and IT support. I don’t know if any layoffs in the studios.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 2:42 PM

            Yep those are the go to areas to shred. IT is always a whipping boy

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 3:54 PM

          Bethesda studios has been slimming down through attrition.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 10:34 AM

        Yea, devs etc are probably safe but other positions are probably redundant

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 2:08 PM

          Not necessarily. Microsoft doesn’t pay full time QA but Blizzard does. It will be seen what Microsoft does here and they could just drop everyone and oops you are contractors now since that’s how they do business.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 11:14 AM

        For something like ATVI they probably negotiated retention of most of the workforce. I'm sure folks will get shuffled into different divisions and at least be given an offer of a role, even if it's not one they like or of the same level of 'title' / within the bureaucracy that they hoped.

        It's at that point people resign / move on, but I'm skeptical they'll outright layoff a lot of folks.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 11:21 AM

          Ms is known to consolidate hr and finance functions pretty quickly in an acquisition. People move and consolidate fast

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 2:32 PM

            100%. Their massive HR and finance orgs have constant turnover I'm sure so it's not like fresh blood is unwanted.

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 9:55 AM

      holy fuck...….. wow.... wowow…. 🤯

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 9:56 AM

      HOLY
      SHIT
      Things must be majorly fucked internally!

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 10:00 AM

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-BkrwO_Dck OMG....!!!!!!! This is Ultra MEGA Omega Massive news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      [ passes out ]

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 10:08 AM

      Warcraft, Starcraft, Minecraft actually ARE owned by the same company now.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 10:12 AM

        Doom, Halo, Call of Duty, Wolfenstein and Overwatch. Any other FPS left?

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 10:14 AM

          The Fars Cry

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 10:15 AM

          A lot actually here are two MEGA ones: Spyro the Dragon & Crash Bandicoot !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 10:15 AM

          Dying Light, Serious Sam, Shadow Warrior 3
          Far Cry, Crysis 4

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 10:17 AM

          The Half-Life series
          Crysis games
          Duke Nukem

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 10:37 AM

            ill take "games that havent had a new drop in years", alex

            • reply
              January 18, 2022 10:38 AM

              Well, Alyx. Unless the VR disqualifies it.

              • reply
                January 18, 2022 10:39 AM

                yea thats not first person, that's all-person lol. (also almost 2 years old now)

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 10:17 AM

          Half life 3

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 10:57 AM

          How about these!? Hexen, Heretic, Singularity MS owns them now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 1:46 PM

          Age of Empires owned by the same company as Warcraft and Starcraft feels wild to me.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 3:46 PM

        Should MS buy Kraft next?

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 3:58 PM

        Craft of Duty

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 10:18 AM

      So now they own both BlizzCon and QuakeCon.

      One costs money and attracts a lot of assholes.

      One is free and attracts a lot of assholes.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 10:23 AM

        He gets a fat $300 mil payout to go.

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 10:37 AM

      Call of duty on gamepass??

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 10:42 AM

      Some Sony executives are not going to be sleeping tonight. Sony to buy EA or a Nintendo alliance? They need something to push back with.

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 10:47 AM

      Game Pass is going to look ridiculous in a year

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 10:48 AM

      How many years would it take to recoup the 70 billion? Let's say Activision games make 10 billion a year(?) and will always do so or better. 7 years? 10?

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 10:51 AM

        They are making like 20 billion in net income per quarter, it’s just insane. That is why they can afford these deals.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 10:54 AM

        Activision / Blizzard has 300 million active users a year. That's almost more important to MS than revenue.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 10:58 AM

        Microsoft can absorb that cost without impediment. Doesn't matter how long it takes them to recoup it since that's not their play and they don't need the acquisition to pay off in that way like others might due to their size.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 11:06 AM

        No need to recoup it, the only thing that matters is that Activision and its properties continues to grow in value. Like when you make an investment, you don’t ask yourself how long it will take you to recoup that investment amount. All you care about is that it grows in value, or at the very least holds its value. All about that stock price baby.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 11:06 AM

        Third quarter net revenue was $630m. Assuming each quarter is the same, it is 2.5b a year.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 3:48 PM

        It's not just Activision games. You have to look at the mobile stuff too. CandyCrush used to just rake it in. Not sure if they have any next killer app game, but CC2 was also big.

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 10:54 AM

      This has to be trolling, right? please

      https://twitter.com/garywhitta/status/1483493313952972805

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 10:55 AM

        Nintendo / Sega / Sony merger confirmed

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 10:56 AM

        I'm assuming yes, he's a cool guy but dry sense of humour.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 11:37 AM

        The only company with deeper pockets is Apple and I don't see them investing heavily in gaming space so I have no idea what that would be.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 1:13 PM

        Apple buys Nintendo. TMWTB wins.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 1:33 PM

          Tesla buys Nintendo and then ports Nintendo games to Tesla cars only

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 5:49 PM

          Lol I would cry myself to sleep for a decade

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 7:00 PM

            Yeah I’d be sad too. I think Nintendo is a great company.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 3:59 PM

        I think he is hinting to an announcement of one of his game related projects.

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 10:59 AM

      Time to reboot Blackthorne

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 11:17 AM

      So it kinda makes sense why ActiBliz wouldn't replace Kotick then. This deal has surely been going on behind closed doors for many months if not more and a giant shift like that would probably change a lot about the deal/diligence that was done, etc.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 11:19 AM

        Wonder if all the blizzard hostile work claims knocked down the sale amount.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 11:28 AM

          The falling stock price almost certainly brought the deal size down

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 12:59 PM

          yeah. I wonder if this is a situation where actiblizz wanted to sell, moreso than MS wanted to buy

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 12:26 PM

        There's no way it didn't. They haven't actually released ANYTHING in basically years

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 11:37 AM

      WSJ reporting that Kotick is expected to step down once complete

      https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-to-buy-activision-blizzard-games-11642512435

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 11:41 AM

      https://youtu.be/BDR5oFhAce4

      Lols.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 11:42 AM

        Thanks Mark Zuckerberg!

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 11:57 AM

      A really expensive way to get rid of Bobby Kotick

    • gmd legacy 10 years legacy 20 years mercury mega
      reply
      January 18, 2022 12:19 PM

      Starcraft Ghost game pass exclusive !!!

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 12:56 PM

      This is freaking huge. Ok:
      1. fire Bobby Kotick (or just arrange an 'accident' for him, I'm fine with either one)
      2. take all but ONE team off CoD and make it a three year cycle... or whatever time they need to actually make a good game
      3. Finish Diablo
      4. wrap up WoW... wind it down and put it out to pasture
      5. Cancel Overwatch 2
      6. revive Project Titan (cancelled Overwatch MMO) and roll everything useful from Overwatch 1 and 2 into it - make that the sequel to WoW
      7. Make GamePass even more unbelievably amazing than it is today
      8. Free up all other talented teams who were stuck making CoD bullshit and give them freedom to make some totally new kick ass games - new IP - NOT based on any existing property

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 1:05 PM

      Seems like a good time to max out that Game Pass Ultimate subscription, too. Before it inevitably gets a price increase.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 1:23 PM

        I really can't see them increasing the price any time soon. You don't spend almost 70 billion so you can add $3 to the 25 million gamepass subs you have. They're looking to get those subs up to 100 million, and increasing cost isn't the way to do it. Don't get me wrong they will put up prices but not until they have huge market share.

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 1:10 PM

      Digital foundry direct about this went up

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU1rZ5Ff65I&t=1

      I'm not a big game podcast listener but I'm curious what the industry insiders take on this will be. Definitely listening to nextlander or waypoint/giant bomb whenever they do their thing. Anyone know when these are scheduled?

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 1:18 PM

        The bobcat is probably finishing up now and should go out tonight. Nextlander goes up for patrons Wednesday evening and Thursday for everyone else.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 1:19 PM

          lol bombcast

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 1:23 PM

            I honestly was like "the fuck is bobcat? must be a new hip thing kids in the know listen to" for way too long before it clicked.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 1:26 PM

        This is my feelings on it as well. Even if you don't really want too many acquisitions, Activision being taken over is a good thing. Tony Hawk dev's being made to make Call of Duty maps is an example of how Activision was working.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 1:29 PM

          Them helping with D2R made a ton of sense though. But yeah more meat for the COD grinder sounds like a terrible use of their talents.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 2:45 PM

            Unless this was about Neversoft, which disappeared into Infinity Ward nearly a decade ago, Vicarious has been under the Blizzard umbrella for about a year and worked on Crash and Destiny 2 prior to that.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 1:44 PM

        "Bobby Kotick: The most important is — it’s funny, you and I were talking about AI last time — as you look at the increased competition between Tencent, and NetEase, and Sony, and now you have Google and Amazon, and Apple, and Facebook, and Microsoft and Netflix. We were looking at over the course of the next couple of years, and starting to realize that we need thousands of people to be able to execute against our production plans. We need them in disciplines like AI and machine learning, or in data analytics, or in purpose-built cloud and cybersecurity — and that we just don’t have. And that competition for that talent is expensive, and really hard to come by.

        And so, as we’re starting to think about all these skills that we need, that we don’t have and that were really necessary, we realized that we should be thinking about ways to get that talent. This was an acknowledgement and recognition. And then Satya [Nadella, CEO of Microsoft] and Phil [Spencer, head of gaming at Microsoft] and I have had conversations over many, many years of bigger things that we could do together."


        AI machine learning data analytics purpose-based cloud cybersecurity???

        Hey I have a thought, how about ya make a fuckin video game that's fun, wtf ?

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 1:52 PM

          Holy shit this entire interview reeks, god damn

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 1:56 PM

          what's sad is that when he (and other CEOs) say AI and ML, they mean to use it to datamine user habits to sell them more shit - NOT to create better AI in games or anything like that.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 2:20 PM

            Yeah that's what's so crazy to me. All his thinking is about tracking user data and making platforms for (let's be honest) controlling people. None of this has anything to do with actual fuckin video games.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 1:58 PM

          pleaaaaase boot him out on his ass

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 1:46 PM

        TL;DR - "Money and my golden parachute. For the love of god get me out of here intact please"

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 1:50 PM

          I mean, he's admitting that he was going to fail, but somehow turned it into a positive.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 1:53 PM

          It sure is something to 'report' on stuff like this without something about how much management and board members stand to profit given how many shares they own.

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 1:54 PM

            Yeah, that whole "article" was just a bullshit fluff piece

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 2:32 PM

            That’s how industry press works though

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 1:37 PM

      am I the only one not really pleased about this type of consolidation?

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 1:48 PM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 2:52 PM

          This pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 6:00 PM

          I agree. This is the only way a shakeup of that company happens.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 1:48 PM

        It's good for smaller projects and passion projects who won't be pressured to deliver. For the market, it will probably lead to homogenized, but high quality , but bland content.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 1:50 PM

        I'm ambivalent.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 2:21 PM

          Same.

          Had this been 6 years ago or so, I probably would have been really against it, but Blizzard has been such a spiraling dumpster fire that whatever, I don't care. Maybe MS can save it?

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 2:37 PM

            As company Activision seems like it’s been mostly stagnant on new IPs and main focused on milking the established cash cows until the bottom falls out.

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 2:57 PM

          I guess I lean more towards this, but more like 3.6 roentgen, not great, not terrible

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 2:04 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 2:16 PM

        the game industry is on such thin margins these days, maybe the future is consolidation to allow for more breathing room in taking risks in game design

        • reply
          January 18, 2022 3:17 PM

          There are also a lot of mid to senior level folks who have been with ATVI a while that will cash out from this deal and go and start their own studios. I’m excited to see what comes of that.

      • reply
        January 18, 2022 2:24 PM

        Lol this entire thread is full of folks who are wary of it.

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        January 18, 2022 4:32 PM

        Somewhat ambivalent only because accelerated consolidation towards the Weyland/Yutani-Tyrell ultra-conglomerate is our world

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          January 18, 2022 4:32 PM

          MS looked at Disney and said "ok lfg". Not great but oh well.

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        January 18, 2022 5:11 PM

        [deleted]

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        January 18, 2022 7:17 PM

        Let Me ask you this, if it was Sony or Nintendo that bought them instead would you be celebrating?

        I mean this means all the those games will be on the PC so unless you are not a PC gamer I am not sure why anyone would think this is bad. On that note let's not kid our self Blizz/Acti was in a total shit state it would of never been saved with out aid. The only other solution would of been that everyone went independent but We all know that would of never happened.

        Honestly I have no idea what the beef could be, the company was in a down ward spiral and MS saved them and all those IPs they should get a medal. It's not like Blizz and Activ where doing anything with their IPs anyways, will see what MS does with them.

        Last but not least the majority was like "Brahhh you have no games lol" well they fixed that so why be made about it(not saying you are specifically mad btw).

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      January 18, 2022 3:04 PM

      I think this is generally a positive, but really in so far as Phil Spencer is in charge. Put some bean counter or MBA in a suit and it will be bad for gamers.

      I also don’t believe they will make COD exclusive, they have a great way to try to force Sonys hand. Included with gamepass with extras or pay $70 for the PS5 version. PS5 owners are going to quickly start wanting gamepass on PlayStation and Spencer has openly said he would love that to happen. Sony doesn’t have anything to compete with that.

      Microsoft wants you to spend $15 a month they don’t really care if you buy the console.

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        January 18, 2022 3:23 PM

        I think Sony would detonate their own headquarters before allowing GamePass on PlayStation.

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          January 18, 2022 3:25 PM

          That may be the belief but at the end of the day video games sure aren’t getting any cheaper and people’s disposable income sure isn’t getting much larger so one platform seems like great value and on another one I get the privilege of “owning” the game at full price.

        • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
          reply
          January 18, 2022 3:32 PM

          I wouldn't rule it out completely but it's definitely an emergency lever if/when Game Pass and MS' acquisitions have gotten so powerful that Sony can't refuse them anymore. Maybe it would use MS' cloud gaming stuff so they don't have to go to the trouble of porting the games.

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            January 18, 2022 3:37 PM

            In any case exclusive or not, gamepass or not Sony doesn’t come out ahead. Maybe they could try to buy take two and have GTA6 exclusive. I don’t know if they have the cash or the will for that. I’m sure Microsoft has already tried.

      • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
        reply
        January 18, 2022 3:30 PM

        They're making Bethesda's games exclusives IIRC, so I think they'll make as many of Acti-Blizz's games exclusives as they can as well. The more studios you do that with, the lower the negative impact is since everyone will feel obligated to buy an XBox.

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        January 18, 2022 3:49 PM

        They can force Sony's hand simply by making it a firm requirement for COD to have crossplatform multiplayer.

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      January 18, 2022 3:35 PM

      How soon before EA+Sony rumors start? I could see Ubi being more in Sony's stable than EA.

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        January 18, 2022 3:44 PM

        The Guillemot brothers and their cronies fought of Vivendi. Could still happen I guess but only by hostile takeover I’d say.

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      January 18, 2022 3:41 PM

      Replies to this douche nozzle web3 crypto bro’s take on this are gold. https://twitter.com/gregisenberg/status/1483432456548196358?s=20

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      January 18, 2022 3:47 PM

      ROCK & ROLL RACING EXPANSION FOR FORZA HORIZON CONFIRMED

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        January 18, 2022 3:50 PM

        I expect all those Blizz IP main characters to be included in Minecraft the year after this is finalized.

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        January 18, 2022 4:01 PM

        That would be cool

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        January 18, 2022 6:14 PM

        THE STAGE IS SET, THE GREEN FLAG DROPS!

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          January 18, 2022 9:47 PM

          OLAF LOOKS LOST OUT THERE!

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      January 18, 2022 4:06 PM

      BNET - Would MS ditch their horrid Xbox PC app in favor of moving to BNET's architecture? I'm not sure how it handles COD, but for the original Blizz games, it was so much better than the Xbox app that seems to wreck games that MS puts on the platform.

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      January 18, 2022 4:12 PM

      Does this mean Microsoft has the Project Gotham Racing IP?

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        January 18, 2022 4:43 PM

        Microsoft has a LOT of legacy IPs now

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          January 18, 2022 4:55 PM

          Motherfucking PITFALL!

          • reply
            January 18, 2022 6:53 PM

            That's what I thought of too - all the classic 2600 game licenses they now hold. C'mon Fishing Derby 2!

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        January 18, 2022 5:07 PM

        It means I'm pretty certain they have NOLF

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      January 18, 2022 4:31 PM

      The horde will be renamed to developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers developers

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      January 18, 2022 5:33 PM

      Given that Activision-Blizzard was already a dystopian nightmare of a mega-corporation gone wild, maybe this is for the best? But hell...I also dislike the idea of one company owning everything.. Feelings mixed!

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      January 18, 2022 6:09 PM

      My head is spinning because I thought the zenimax purchase was too mucj. How the hell did Spencer walk into Nadella's office and say

      "The company has $130 billion in cash. I want you to give me/my division 70 of that."

      And Nadella said "Okay".

      I hated my Xbox one and said there was nothing they could do to get me back but this isn't leaving me with options.

      Just buy Nintendo next.

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        January 18, 2022 6:32 PM

        I think it was probably a pretty easy sell, actually. Videogames are the hottest thing in entertainment right now, by far, with endless growth potential. Imagine a box that sits in every household on Earth, bringing in monthly subscription fees from now until the heat death of the universe. Microsoft wants as big a piece of that pie as they can possibly get, and this was an easy way to take a step in that direction.

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          January 18, 2022 6:40 PM

          Besides it being strategized for over a decade. Spencer mainly struck now at the ideal time, but MSFT has been planning this strategy in the game sector for many years.

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            January 18, 2022 6:49 PM

            They're going to end up dominating with Gamepass. But you already know that :)

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              January 18, 2022 7:02 PM

              I’m in a wait and see position still. It’s certainly a money maker, and there’s enough money to cushion any rough patches, so there’s that. But the saga for what happens with the global game industry is far from over.

              It will always come down to the games. The public is pretty fickle on a long term, generational scale.

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                January 18, 2022 7:10 PM

                I think the writing's on the wall that free-to-play / Gamepass-style services are the future, and $70 discs are going the way of Blockbuster video and cable TV.

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                  January 18, 2022 7:36 PM

                  I don’t believe that, based on not only consumer habits, but more importantly, developers who want autonomy to make the kinds of games that they feel passionate about.

                  It will affect the AAA market, but even that is not set in stone. I think about the young gamers who worship at the alter of old PS2 games, for example. They are intense in their collector mentality and want to own their games. They might pay for a service, but they’re also going to purchase games they love, so that they can have them without them disappearing off the services. If devs decide they want to do projects that they can always offer and support, they’ll want to break free from services too.

                  It all will come down to developer support, which Sony has a special talent for, despite what the media FUD has been on that, which mostly came from Xbox influencers and marketing. I saw how involved Sony (and Nintendo) were with third party developers compared to Xbox way back when. Some of those people are gone now or in different roles but the know how is still there. Xbox/Microsoft will be wise to be serious about that level of support and production management, but the jury is very much out on that still. Everything will be a lot clearer in ‘23-24.

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            January 18, 2022 6:55 PM

            Borg gonna Borg! This is the company that shrugged off flushing $7 billion down the toilet and bringing down Nokia in the process

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              January 18, 2022 7:06 PM

              I don’t think Microsoft will lose money, especially in the short to medium term.

              I don’t think Nintendo or Sony will need to worry about the security of their platforms either, in the short to medium term or longer.

              I mostly feel for all the talented developers out there who have to figure out a new paradigm for funding mid-tier innovative gaming and keeping their studios afloat past a single release.

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          January 18, 2022 7:03 PM

          It's not so much you're competing for money but people's limited time. If you can grab their time, they won't spend money on something else. Or more on premium experiences with your service.

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            January 18, 2022 7:20 PM

            I’ve had a pet theory for many years that there are two types of gamers: those who start many games and finish few and those who demand a full experience from beginning to end.

            The other axis are who spends money on games vs. who pirates games/ gets them for free.

            The third axis is of course the people who spend a lot of time gaming vs the people who only watch others play and don’t do much hands on.

            GamePass caters to the short attention span type who wants to try everything. I used to be one of those much more, so I know the mindset. Having a deluge of games served up in a subscription is perfect for that.

            Now I’m a much more satisfied gamer overall, although I play fewer games and spend less time overall. It makes it easier for me to buy a game at full price when I want.

            I do feel like my style of game consumption is more demanding in advance of quality or artistic merit, but service based gamers are still going to get tired of low quality experiences.

            We really have to wait for Microsoft to actually release their big bangers and after that first wave of releases to see how much they care about providing the customer base with quality vs quantity and at what price (not to mention if indie devs decide to continue working within that funding structure or want something else(.

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      January 18, 2022 6:15 PM

      COME ON!!!!!!!!!!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I14b-C67EXY&t=10s

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        January 18, 2022 6:33 PM

        Never forget. There are so many good parts to this.

        "Give it up for meeee!"

        "I...love...this...company....YEEEAAAHH!"

        No Steve. You love...the power and privilege that comes from...running this company.

        Microsoft was lucky they got rid of that guy. If he had hung around for another five years they'd probably still be throwing money at mobile, buying blackberry or some shit.

        Anybody still remember the Nokia acquisition?

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        January 19, 2022 12:14 AM

        Still utterly embarrassing in 2022

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      January 18, 2022 6:33 PM

      Hm. I'm very good with this.

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        January 18, 2022 6:39 PM

        I am too. Normally, I'm opposed to mergers this large. But in this case, I'm okay with it because Activision/Blizzard sucks so bad.

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      January 18, 2022 7:00 PM

      WoW and ESO are now owned by the same company o_0

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      January 18, 2022 7:10 PM

      All they need to buy next is Games workshop for all the Space Marines.

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      January 18, 2022 7:26 PM

      Damn it's good to see a 500+ post thread about videogames on the Shack again!

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 7:39 PM

      Lololol fake Kaz still got it

      https://mobile.twitter.com/KazHiraiCEO/status/1483438540453289985

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        January 19, 2022 12:16 AM

        So good, I'm so glad that guy just posts when he thinks of something funny rather than retiring the account like he was considering.

    • reply
      January 18, 2022 7:55 PM

      Lolololol
      https://i.redd.it/65rlljc5zhc81.jpg

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      January 19, 2022 12:08 AM

      Holy shit Microsoft will rule the gaming world. Please buy EA next so that Battlefield 2042 can be fixed.

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        January 19, 2022 12:15 AM

        Nah, we need SOME large independent publishers out there.

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