I don’t play that many video games anymore but if this happens, holy crap. They will basically own almost all the video game market right?
No, not “almost own”. A bigger chunk than they do now, for sure, but the industry is huge now.
Seems like they’re acknowledging that their forays into RPGs suck so they’re just gonna buy their way into the niche while also gaining a ton of other IP.
Maybe they can buy out Bobby Kotick and kick that jackwagon to the curb. Fingers crossed.
I can only think of one Activision Blizzard game I’ve bought in the last ten years (Diablo III).
If anyone can be said to “own the market”, it’s Valve, since almost everything is distributed primarily or solely through Steam. Though they’ve been very careful to allow the actual creators as much freedom as they can.
I doubt that there’s any company that has as large a share of the market as all of the independent developers combined.
The deal is done and Activision/Blizzard will be reporting to Phil Spencer of Microsoft.
Edit from PCGamer article:
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer clarified that Bobby Kotick will continue in his position as CEO of Activision Blizzard for the time being, though staff will begin reporting to Spencer once the transaction closes.
FWIW I just meant of AAA titles. I know there are literally hundreds if not thousands of developers.
Even among AAA developers, Blizzard has, what, three current games? Maybe four, depending on how recent you count as “current”.
Over 25 years in the game industry, at multiple companies… and somehow, against all odds, I have never managed to be at a company when it gets bought out by a larger studio. I’m doing something seriously wrong.
Kotick staying on- and no doubt getting a huge bonus and Microsoft stock- is just a kick in the pants to the protesting employees.
Very interesting. Mike Ybarra, who was named as head of Blizzard after J. Allen Brack was fired during the shitstorm last year, spent 20 years at Microsoft overseeing various XBox services.
Tomorrow we’ll hear that World of Warcraft will receive an overhaul and will be renamed Asheron’s Call 3: A World of Warcraft.
A few more than that but the Activision side of things plus the other subsidiaries account for a lot of games. Call of Duty alone is kind of a big deal.
And now Microsoft owns that. Forget AAA titles. Follow the money. Candy Crush and all that associated mobile/casual gaming revenue has been the real breadwinner for a while.
Microsoft owns Minecraft.
Typically in mergers like this, the current CEO of the bought-out company will stay on for about a year to tie up lose ends and then will leave. That’s not really soon enough for Kotick, but I can’t see the boards changing away from whatever plan they just signed.
Jason Schreier, whose reporting on the Activision Blizzard fiasco has been top notch, seems to think that the acquisition may be a positive for Blizzard. Honestly, anything that puts a leash on Kotick can’t help but be beneficial to the long-term health of the studio. And the history that Mike Ybarra has with XBox may put him in a particular position to exert some autonomy at Blizzard.
But the biggest benefit to Activision Blizzard may be exposure to actual professional executives and managers who know what the fuck they’re doing. The response to the California lawsuit and subsequent fallout has been the most ham-handed act of corporate ineptitude I’ve ever seen.
Not a big console gaming fan, I take it?
Sounds like the Blizzard CEO was in hot water for being not a great person and now will retire with a ton of Microsoft stock for his trouble.
Gotta wonder how this is going to affect the employee’s efforts to unionize.
I’ve been playing World of Warcraft for 17 years now. It’s the only computer/video/on-line game I give a damn about. So I guess my only selfish concern is how this buy-out would/would not affect that game.
If they decide to shut it down, well, I’ll miss it as I still enjoy it but I’m actually a bit surprised it lasted this long.
Or maybe they’ll continue with it. Who knows, it might even experience a renaissance. More likely, just more of the same.
WoW is guaranteed revenue. This is like buying property that includes an apartment which has a reliable 17 year tenant. You don’t kick that guy out. I think WoW is safe until it really declines.
Technically is has already declined - the peak of 12 millions subscribers was in 2010. It is “only” around 4.5-5 million right now. Even so, 4-5 million subscribers is still a huge player base, hence why the game is still getting expansions and still in existence.
The other concern is that the new company will want to make “improvements” that actually suck. But that’s always a concern whether the property is sold or not.