Microsoft buys Activision/Blizzard for $70B

[BrawlMan]

It’s amazing that the people behind awesome games like Nier, Astral Chain and Bayonetta made two shitty licensed games. They made a lot of great games but had to make licensed crap to keep the lights on.

At least Korra was $15. I never bought the game, but it's at least a 6/10. The Ninja Turtles game was no excuse however. The Activision still shares a large portion of the blame. What's even more infuriating now, is that you pretty much have to buy this crappy game at a high price if you want it. Transformers Devastation is awesome, but Activision butted in by overcharging. The game was originally going to be $19.99, but when I saw how much effort Platinum put into it they decided to add another $30. I pre-ordered the game and did some trade-ins so I wouldn't have to spend as much. I thought it was worth the price, but it's still a scummy practice. I made sure to get my money's worth though. That game I am never giving up. I bought an Xbox One copy for my brother, so he can enjoy it without borrowing mine.

Just a reminder to you and everyone else, Nier: Automata saved Platinum from going bankrupt. So they were definitely going through some rough times. They still have their partnerships with Nintendo and Square Enix (I do want them to ditch Square Enix though), so they should be fine. Plus, Platinum self-publishes some of their own games now.

 

[Fallen Soldier]

Someone on resetera made a interesting post on this buy out.

Washington Post: Phil Spencer interview on the Activision deal and more

Sony was trying to force Xbox out of the market at the start of this gen just like how they helped to force Sega out of the market when they bought exclusivity for GTA, FF, Sports Games in the late 90s. You think them spending money, preventing games from being on other platforms is good for the...

www.resetera.com

 

[Gordon_4]

It’s amazing that the people behind awesome games like Nier, Astral Chain and Bayonetta made two shitty licensed games. They made a lot of great games but had to make licensed crap to keep the lights on.

Transformers Devastation was a fucking fantastic game, the hell are you talking about?

 

[Fallen Soldier]

Transformers Devastation was a fucking fantastic game, the hell are you talking about?

Please pay attention to the word two. I said two, not three bro. The two I’m referring to is Legend of Korra and TMNT. I consider Devastation to be a good game.
And besides if I did, that be my opinion okay?!

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Someone on resetera made a interesting post on this buy out.

Washington Post: Phil Spencer interview on the Activision deal and more

Sony was trying to force Xbox out of the market at the start of this gen just like how they helped to force Sega out of the market when they bought exclusivity for GTA, FF, Sports Games in the late 90s. You think them spending money, preventing games from being on other platforms is good for the...

www.resetera.com

Eh…Microsoft has always more of a threat to themselves than Sony could ever pose to them. Whatever Sony’s been trying to secure via “money hatting” in regards to exclusivity is also a drop in the bucket next to their efforts of the past several generations actually building a stable of exclusives along with the first party studios making them. Something Microsoft has proven incapable of doing with every multibillion dollar purchase in the industry.

They’ve stumbled in the past to be sure, but Game Pass has given them a prime reason for staying in the game and capitalizing on it. Sony kicked the bull, and now the old, “If you can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em” Microsoft is fully awake and ready to send massive ripple effects into next generation.

 

[BrawlMan]

Eh…Microsoft has always more of a threat to themselves than Sony could ever pose to them. Whatever Sony’s been trying to secure via “money hatting” in regards to exclusivity is also a drop in the bucket next to their efforts of the past several generations actually building a stable of exclusives along with the first party studios making them. Something Microsoft has proven incapable of doing with every multibillion dollar purchase in the industry.

They’ve stumbled in the past to be sure, but Game Pass has given them a prime reason for staying in the game and capitalizing on it. Sony kicked the bull, and now the old, “If you can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em” Microsoft is fully awake and ready to send massive ripple effects into next generation.

Which reminds me.

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[BrawlMan]

​

 

[thestor]

It’s amazing that the people behind awesome games like Nier, Astral Chain and Bayonetta made two shitty licensed games. They made a lot of great games but had to make licensed crap to keep the lights on.

Quite a contrast to Electronic Arts though. Bioware made a greta Star Wars game. Electronic Arts has Bioware. Electronic Arts has Star Wars licence. Electronic Arts fumbles its intelligence check. Badly.

 

[Chimpzy]

Well, that's hilariously dramatic.

Retailer reportedly puts warning notice on PS5s: ‘Microsoft has bought Activision!’ | VGC

Supermarket tells customers to “choose your machine carefully” following deal news…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Fyi, Cora is a small supermarket chain. The chance they actually have any PS5 stock is practically nil.

 

[Dalisclock]

Well, that's hilariously dramatic.

Retailer reportedly puts warning notice on PS5s: ‘Microsoft has bought Activision!’ | VGC

Supermarket tells customers to “choose your machine carefully” following deal news…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Fyi, Cora is a small supermarket chain. The chance they actually have any PS5 stock is practically nil.

I was gonna ask if those stickers include a price drop on PS5's. Because I'd be happy to take a $250 PS5 off their hands. You know, so they can make more room for XBOXs. I'm charitable like that.

I've yet to see any evidence the A/B deal is making PS5's less sought after and thus easier to obtain.

 

[Bedinsis]

And Sony responds:

Sony Acquires Bungie, the Original Creator of Halo

Sony and PlayStation have acquired Bungie, the developer of the Destiny series and the original creator of FPS legend Halo for Xbox.

www.escapistmagazine.com

EDIT: and this piece of news was important enough for The Escapist to cover it, so as per Nick's small request about sharing news, the link has been updated.
The original link:

Sony Buys Bungie for $3.6 Billion

A blockbuster acquisition, Guardian.

nordic.ign.com

 

[Brokencontroller]

And Sony responds:

Sony Buys Bungie for $3.6 Billion

A blockbuster acquisition, Guardian.

nordic.ign.com

Thats kinda funny. Considering bungie just broke free of activison themselves.

 

[BrawlMan]

And Sony responds:

Sony Buys Bungie for $3.6 Billion

A blockbuster acquisition, Guardian.

nordic.ign.com

​

I'm not a big fan of Destiny, I won't be playing that.

 

[CriticalGaming]

And Sony responds:

Sony Buys Bungie for $3.6 Billion

A blockbuster acquisition, Guardian.

nordic.ign.com

I dunno how popular Destiny is or how much the F2P model makes for them, but this seems like they've overpaid for the studio tbh. It's not like they do anything other than Destiny and there are other IP's linked to them, so it just seems like a limited purchase. Maybe they did it because they felt like they had to buy something.

 

[meiam]

MS buy activision

Sony entertainment: Mom I want COD too!
Sony main office: We have COD at home.

The COD at home:

Sony buying Bungie for $3.6 billion

Sony Interactive Entertainment today announced a deal to acquire Bungie for $3.6 billion, the latest in a string of big…

www.gamesindustry.biz

 

[laggyteabag]

And Sony responds:

Sony Buys Bungie for $3.6 Billion

A blockbuster acquisition, Guardian.

nordic.ign.com

Huh.

I've seen a lot of headlines thrown around with titles like "Halo Studio Bought By Sony", including here on this website, but it really just highlights to me how weird game development "fame" is.

Its just odd how game developers don't really get famous like how the big names in TV or film do. Sure, there are exceptions, with Kojima being the obvious example, but most of the time it is the studio as an entity that gets famous. Like, Bungie made Halo, got famous for it, and are still constantly credited as the original creators of the franchise, regardless of whether many/any of the people who made Halo are still at the studio.

So sure, Bungie made Halo - Im sure they have a hallway with all of the memorabilia from the Halo days, and what have you - but is Bungie anything close to being the same studio that made Halo? I doubt it.

Also to note, Sony paid $3.5B for Bungie alone, whereas Microsoft paid $7.5B for all of Bethesda's studios. Bungie must have negotiated the crap out of that acquisition.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Thats kinda funny. Considering bungie just broke free of activison themselves.

Even funnier, Microsoft bought the company Bungie wanted to break free from, after they already broke free from them in the first place. THEN to top it all off, Bungie partners with Sony. It kinda speaks volumes.

 

[Bedinsis]

Some historical context:

(which does not mention the Bungie acquisition, hence why I post in this thread and not the other)

 

[BrawlMan]

Read exactly how Microsoft’s $68.7 billion deal for Activision Blizzard came together

There were nearly two months of negotiations.

www.theverge.com

Microsoft's talks with Activision started days after report on sexual misconduct sent stock tumbling

Microsoft jumped at a chance to buy Activision Blizzard at a relative discount after troubling stories about the game publisher and its leader.

www.cnbc.com

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Read exactly how Microsoft’s $68.7 billion deal for Activision Blizzard came together

There were nearly two months of negotiations.

www.theverge.com

Microsoft's talks with Activision started days after report on sexual misconduct sent stock tumbling

Microsoft jumped at a chance to buy Activision Blizzard at a relative discount after troubling stories about the game publisher and its leader.

www.cnbc.com

Doesn’t surprise me in the least. Sometimes I wish Steam would just make a full fledged operating system so we could ditch Microsoft completely. Hell, that’s pretty much how Gaben started it all is because he got fed up with their BS when he worked for them.

I’ll also add it’s unlikely to happen but I’d like to see this deal blocked like Nvidia’s acquisition of ARM. Let Activision just call apart and have job placement into better companies for the good ones that had to suffer their bs. Microsoft doesn’t deserve to simply keep getting to buy their way to success in this industry at the expense of others.