Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard • Hacker News Board

Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard

#621

Post by Hamuko » Tue, Jan 18, 2022, 5:29 PM UTC

brendoelfrendo wrote: post #545

smileybarry wrote: post #414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sony practically owns their cloud platform too, with their Gaikai purchase a decade ago[1] and PS Now being "PS3/PS4s in the cloud". [1] https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-07-03-sony-acqui...

This is actually an area where I think Sony has dropped the ball; PS Now is an interesting service, and they have a pretty interesting catalog of older games from the PS2/PS3 era. But they don't advertise it well enough, and I don't think they put enough focus on new releases and keeping them available the way Microsoft does with Gamepass.

There's rumours of them revamping PS Now and PS+ into a new service.

Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard

#622

Post by mercy_dude » Tue, Jan 18, 2022, 5:31 PM UTC

maweki wrote: post #184

mercy_dude wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or May be the whole woke uprising thing was to drive the market cap down so Microsoft could get a better deal. As usual the media doing the bidding for the big tech.

Dismay over Kotick actively hiding sexual abuse and protecting the abusers is a "woke uprising"? That's a shitty take.

Yeah and surely the timing of this whole campaign has nothing to do with it. That’s exactly what a “woke uprisings” is. Conveniently exploiting victims to fit your own benefits be it political or economic. Last 2yrs have seen plenty of that.

Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard

#623

Post by doikor » Tue, Jan 18, 2022, 5:31 PM UTC

Server6 wrote: post #588

awill wrote: post #572

Microsoft is not building the future of gaming, they're buying it. Seeing a bunch of excellent third-party cross-platform games become xbox-exclusive is really sad for gamers. Microsoft has not been making money on xbox. They're not investing money made with xbox. They're using Office/Windows/Azure funds to boost Xbox, and it's not a fair fight. Sony and Nintendo don't have that kind of money. I get Sony has acquired…

Sony spent 20+ years building up and planning their 1st party studios. Microsoft could do that too, but it would take 20 more years. They don't have the time for that and acquisition is really their only option. I don't like it either, but that's the reality of it.

Playstation has also bought (and closed) a lot of studios (and one publisher) over the years. A lot of the Playstation 1st party studios were not built from ground up but instead bought.

Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard

#624

Post by no_wizard » Tue, Jan 18, 2022, 5:32 PM UTC

awill wrote: post #572

Microsoft is not building the future of gaming, they're buying it. Seeing a bunch of excellent third-party cross-platform games become xbox-exclusive is really sad for gamers. Microsoft has not been making money on xbox. They're not investing money made with xbox. They're using Office/Windows/Azure funds to boost Xbox, and it's not a fair fight. Sony and Nintendo don't have that kind of money. I get Sony has acquired…

Doesn't Sony have an insurance / financial business subsidizing their operations[0]? Not to mention a movie studio that rakes in the cash, especially since riding the backs of Disney with Marvel[1]

The interesting one here for me has always been Nintendo, they are a still a pure gamers play, and have managed to thrive in a world of shifting sands, sometimes bucking entire trends in the industry with success, like going all in on the Nintendo Switch form factor (a lot of the industry people thought mobile gaming consoles were dead in the water)

I think there's a lot of competition in this space still, and while I don't like consolidation either, its also hard to say Activision Blizzard is a well managed company at this point

[0]: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/28/business/global/sonys-bre...

[1]: https://www.cbr.com/spider-man-no-way-home-sony-most-profita...

Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard

#625

Post by skohan » Tue, Jan 18, 2022, 5:32 PM UTC

faisal_ksa wrote: post #590

cududa wrote: post #551

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can run gamepass on Linux, so when all these games hit gamepass (which they will) it’s a net positive for Linux gamers.

You could run them on Linux for how long? MS will not allow any competition for its dominance over PC gaming. And trust me, they will use gamepass against Linux gaming and Valve and others.

Yeah exactly, MS will only play nice as long as they have to. If they own most of the popular AAA titles, you'd better believe everyone is going to have to use their launcher, with DRM which doesn't work on Proton, and log in to a MS account to play games.

Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard

#626

Post by nixass » Tue, Jan 18, 2022, 5:32 PM UTC

Server6 wrote: post #588

awill wrote: post #572

Microsoft is not building the future of gaming, they're buying it. Seeing a bunch of excellent third-party cross-platform games become xbox-exclusive is really sad for gamers. Microsoft has not been making money on xbox. They're not investing money made with xbox. They're using Office/Windows/Azure funds to boost Xbox, and it's not a fair fight. Sony and Nintendo don't have that kind of money. I get Sony has acquired…

Sony spent 20+ years building up and planning their 1st party studios. Microsoft could do that too, but it would take 20 more years. They don't have the time for that and acquisition is really their only option. I don't like it either, but that's the reality of it.

Yeah for MS is easier to dump cash (you don't have to be creative for that) and outright buy whole studios with their IPs, rather than using brains and actually create something new. Sony is way ahead in that regard, so sad to see money dumping on the other side

Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard

#627

Post by revel » Tue, Jan 18, 2022, 5:32 PM UTC

This makes a lot of sense for both companies. Activision need to clear out large swaths of their board and executive suite. Microsoft has consistently lost console market share to Sony with each console generation. They are also ceding ground in the computer gaming sector.

Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard

#628

Post by doikor » Tue, Jan 18, 2022, 5:33 PM UTC

skohan wrote: post #620

mdoms wrote: post #603

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Seeing a bunch of excellent third-party cross-platform games become xbox-exclusive is really sad for gamers What are you talking about? Microsoft is embracing PC and cross play more than ever.

They will be MS exclusive. It's fine if you're a windows gamer, but this is bad news for anyone who plays games on Playstation, Linux/Steam/Proton, or Nintendo platforms. It also really should be the target of anti-trust action if that was a thing anymore. It's going to be a reality fairly soon that anyone who wants to play all the latest AAA titles will have to own at least two gaming devices. That's not only annoyi…

> but this is bad news for anyone who plays games on Playstation, Linux/Steam/Proton, or Nintendo platforms.

Microsoft has been releasing their PC games on Steam the same day they do on their own store for a few years now.

Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard

#629

Post by k12sosse » Tue, Jan 18, 2022, 5:33 PM UTC

awill wrote: post #572

Microsoft is not building the future of gaming, they're buying it. Seeing a bunch of excellent third-party cross-platform games become xbox-exclusive is really sad for gamers. Microsoft has not been making money on xbox. They're not investing money made with xbox. They're using Office/Windows/Azure funds to boost Xbox, and it's not a fair fight. Sony and Nintendo don't have that kind of money. I get Sony has acquired…

Microsoft didn't invent (video game) platform exclusivity, they merely have perfected it. Thank Sony and rockstar games or Activision, ironically, for this, going all the way back to.. GTA San Andreas, or Tony Hawk franchise.

Re: Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard

#630

Post by phendrenad2 » Tue, Jan 18, 2022, 5:33 PM UTC

awill wrote: post #572

Microsoft is not building the future of gaming, they're buying it. Seeing a bunch of excellent third-party cross-platform games become xbox-exclusive is really sad for gamers. Microsoft has not been making money on xbox. They're not investing money made with xbox. They're using Office/Windows/Azure funds to boost Xbox, and it's not a fair fight. Sony and Nintendo don't have that kind of money. I get Sony has acquired…

Any economic statement can be turned around and stated in the reverse way. Maybe it's the gamers who are unwilling to pay enough for games, so the only companies that can afford to make games are console vendors?