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FTC withdraws its in-house challenge to Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal
https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/20/23795591/ftc-microsoft-activision-administrative-challenge
The FTC’s fight to block the deal is on hold.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/20/23795591/ftc-microsoft-activision-administrative-challenge
The FTC’s fight to block the deal is on hold.
And as expected, the destructive consolidation of the industry moves forward again, cheered on by consumers celebrating the short term bump to the value of their subscription service.
I'm seeing a lot of consumers with mixed feelings about this, actually. With most of the positives being that the Activision Blizzard toxic leadership will be replaced.
As much as some gamers will try to frame this as a win, he’s not losing...
There was no real outcome to this situation where Kotick loses. Either he stays, makes millions of dollars and continues to lead the company, or he leaves and makes millions of dollars during his exit. Those were always the two options.
Don't worry, Microsoft will immediately defend and indemnity those who actually matter so nothing will change, really. Bobby will get a golden parachute, and nobody will care he was in Epstein's rolodex.
But hey, Sony still gets Cod (and I know Microsoft will fuck them out of it the moment they can) so it's all good right?
The industry is consolidating and the quality of the product is sinking. A correction in the form of a crash is overdue. As a former PlayStation exec said: the industry is not sustainable.
A tiny short term gain compared to the widespread decades long damage done by corporate consolidation.
Considering how Bethesda under Microsoft has treated its trans workers, I don't think Activision will get any better
I kinda understand this point of view but I don't see how it punishes anyone at Act/Blizz. Bobby Kotick walks away with a literal fortune and I doubt Microsoft fires the management to hire all new people. I'd like to see Act/Blizz shareholders sue the board and Kotick for corporate malfeasance instead and get that money back.
I hate Microsoft and don't want to see them grow. But I also hate Blizzard. But I have also been hopelessly addicted to WoW since childhood and don't want it to die. But Bliz also shits on wow every other expansion. Its a complicated mess but MS seems like the lesser evil since it seems only a matter of time before WoW gets the Overwatch and Diablo treatment.
People will forget all of the potential negatives as soon as Overwatch, Diablo, and Sekiro are added to GamePass.
Knowing the companies involved this is a positive change.
Activision Blizzard is a toxic dump. My hope is Microsoft throws out Activision management and cleans things up.
It literally can't get worse than it is right now.
I think we can all agree that both companies have terrible management in different ways.
But this dream that MS will just clean house with Act/Blizz management is just that. If MS replaces all of senior management over the next year or two, the studios will grind to a halt. Someone has to make decisions about resource allocations. I'm dubious about the competence of senior management in general but someone has to decide the dev budget, the marketing budget, feature set, etc. And someone has to make decisions midstream when it becomes clear your battle royale game will get lost in a sea of Fortnite clones.
If MS starts firing these guys, they'll see the writing on the wall and go elsewhere on their terms, leaving the company unable to make those decisions. I just can't see MS firing anyone but the top guys.