Another development that's pushing me to indy-only pc gaming. The AAA gaming space has been such a bore for the past 5-10 years.
Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard
171–180 of 1001 posts
Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard
#172I hope they bring back Battlezone - Activision rebooted it in 1998 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlezone_(1998_video_game))
A great single player and co-op "real time strategy" game that ran on a simple protocol called ANET (http://www.kegel.com/anet/) (http://www.strickleton.com/anet/)
Most servers are dark now but there's still a great community keeping this game alive. It had very robust tools for building and sharing your own maps for deathmatch and strategy campaigns. One of the first games I ever fell in love with.
Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard
#173Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard
#174So now I'm boycotting Microsoft products? What a weird purchase to make. Did they not know this company is the current star of the gaming industry's long-standing workplace harassment issues?
I have been boycotting Microsoft since the Halloween documents, and now I have to uninstall Hearthstone from my computer.
Joking aside (I got over my Microsoft hatred when they started to finally embrace Linux and FOSS, YMMV (though I was salty about Nokia ditching Maemo!)), I have a deja vu:
Microsoft + Elop -> Nokia + Elop -> Nokia + Elop = Microsoft.
Microsoft + Ybarra -> Blizzard + Ybarra -> Blizzard + Ibarra = Microsoft.
Sure, I don't mention Kotick. I don't give a shit about Activision's IP, so no problem for me there. Its Blizzard's IP which I like, or perhaps rather, liked. Cause its gone downhill.. ehh.. 'somewhat'.
Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard
#175> Upon close, we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog. [Xbox PR] > The acquisition also bolsters Microsoft’s Game Pass portfolio with plans to launch Activision Blizzard games into Game Pass [MS PR] In case anyone still doubts that Microsoft is all-in on Game Pass.
If they want to be all-in on game pass, then they should actually go all in. As somebody who just got game pass, I feel kinda cheated for what I get; All the games offered there are the “f2p” versions, even MS first party titles like Halo only offer the “default” versions to play “for free” when paying a monthly subscription. It’s like those free versions Epic hands out; They are playable, but they usually lack any a…
This “f2p” versions cost 60 dollars.
You’re getting the “standard” edition of the game. Sure, you’re not getting the expansion packs or other cosmetics, but neither is any other person that doesn’t buy the deluxe editions.
Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard
#176These acquisitions are ridiculous. How long till Disney buys Microsoft? Why even bother having more than one company in the US?
how do you think the laws should be changed to prevent this?
I'm not a business law type person. Something like, any business with a valuation above, say, $100B (number pulled from ass) should be broken up.
Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think there should be more (gaming) companies, and (gaming) companies should not be owned by the platforms, so I see this as a pretty big negative for the industry and customers. Congrats to Phil on his resume bump I guess.
There actually are a ton of gaming companies right now. The indie game space seems to be much healthier and accessible than say, the indie movie business. I hardly buy AAA titles anymore because you can get so many good games for under $20 dollars made by independent studios. Of course, this is based on mostly staying on PC and Steam. I would suspect consoles are not as indie friendly, but it does seem like they have…
What is a good way to discover these?
Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard
#178The most important question I have is: will they replace Bobby Kotick? EDIT: "Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard. [...] he and his team will maintain their focus on driving efforts to further strengthen the company’s culture." Shame on you, Microsoft.
I remember a Starcraft II fan map named Bobby Kotick TD. If he hits you, you loose money. If you hit him, you loose money too. It was banned after a short time. To be honest, I think Microsoft and Activision deserve each other.
>I remember a Starcraft II fan map named Bobby Kotick TD. If he hits you, you loose money. If you hit him, you loose money too.
I love it! Political Opinions as a Game!
Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard
#179I wonder if this will trigger any antitrust lawsuits. I know Microsoft isn't that of the 90's but it seems like the political situation is ripe for politicians to go after "big tech" and this is a pretty major acquisition that will help Xbox be the dominant player in terms of content.
I doubt it. There are much bigger monopolies in the webspace / ecommerce space than the gaming space.
I know there are but I've been doing research on a ton of gov officials (starting a new gig in DC in tech policy) and wow, so many of them are taking a hardline stance on anything "big tech" now, so the political calculus may have changed since previous acquisitions went through.
Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard
#180With these kind of acquisitions, other companies are going to find it very hard to compete with Game Pass. I think we'll look back in 10 years and wonder why antitrust regulators did nothing, but it may be too late by then.
At this rate it's going to be Tencent vs Microsoft and if I have to choose I pick Microsoft.
On gaming side the Microsoft from big players actually producing games seem the least bad option. Lot less bullshit in general than likes of Ubisoft and EA or Activision.