Blizzard did that several times other own, IMO. Making all PVE the same level, for instance.
True. I have mixed feelings about that although on the whole I think the game has improved over the years. Too many have nostalgia for the grind-from-hell the originally Vanilla version was. Of course, those folks now have an option to go back to that.
Presumably Microsoft’s goal here is to add WoW (and other Activision Blizzard properties) to its Game Pass subscription service. That would bring WoW’s subscriber base to XBox, but also probably substantially grow WoW’s player base as Game Pass subscribers tried it out. There are currently 25 million Game Pass subscribers according to Microsoft.
So I don’t see them shutting down WoW anytime soon. As for how WoW will change under the new regime, that’s harder to say. But it’s hard to imagine things getting much worse than the current player reaction to the systems and story in Shadowlands.
I mean, hey, if Everquest is still kicking around (and just released a new expansion last month!)…
Nah, just going by Google’s infoboxes,
\text{PC game market }($45\text{bn}) \in \text{video game market } ($250\text{bn})
Sony
Tencent
Nintendo
Microsoft+Activision
EA
Take Two Interactive
Ubisoft
~Max
Sony may have something to say about that.
Bandai Namco and Square Enix also deserve mention (both larger than Ubisoft)
Yeah, except I have zero interest in a “game pass” and yet another subscription service. And I play it on my PC, I have zero interest on having to buy more hardware to continue to play this game. I want to continue to play my game on my hardware without any additional crap needing to be added on or subscribed to. I am ESPECIALLY hoping that this doesn’t start pushing virtual reality crap.
I actually find Shadowlands superior to the prior two expansions. As for the story line - I pretty much ignore those, and have done so once we got past Wrath of the Lich King. But then I’m probably not the typical player. Gating on end-game content is always an issue, but then, I lag so far behind all that it’s not relevant to my game play.
Last I heard, most of the player base would be happy to see the end of Sylvannus - she’s tipped over into just plain evil.
I read somewhere that this acquisition makes MS the 3rd largest gaming company (obv just counting their gaming parts) after Tencent and Sony. So I think they have a way to go.
Well, Bandai Namco is mostly budget games. I think the only AAA titles they do are Dark Souls and Tekken, oh, and Smash Bros. Forgot about Square Enix though.
~Max
Elden Ring is also Bandai Namco. Kind of a big buzz upcoming AAA title.
King Games (the mobile division) was, by a small margin, the biggest division last year by revenue. And doing those games can’t cost as much as the next Call of Duty.
I don’t normally like giant corporations becoming even more giant, but it’s hard to see this as a bad thing as Activision-Blizzard is deliberately and spitefully run badly. I would have a hard time believing that Microsoft could make their structure any more dysfunctional or their products worse. I haven’t played a call of duty game in like 15 years, but if they throw them up on gamepass I might give them a try.
Let me revise the list. AAA games that would still not be owned by Microsoft include, ordered by top-level company market share, (click to expand/collapse):
Sony Interactive
- PlayStation platforms
- PlayStation Studios
- Crash Bandicoot
- God of War
- Gran Turismo
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- MLB: The Show
- Ratchet & Clank
- Spyro the Dragon
- The Last of Us
- Uncharted
Tencent Studios
- 100% ownership of Riot Games
- League of Legends
- Valorant
- 100% ownership of Funcom
- Age of Conan,
- Anarchy Online
- 40% ownership of Epic Games
- Fortnite,
- Rocket League,
- Unreal,
- Infinity Blade
- 5% ownership in competitors Activision-Blizzard, Ubisoft, and Paradox
Nintendo
- Nintendo platforms
- Animal Crossing
- Fire Emblem (publisher)
- Mario
- Metroid
- 33% stake in Pokémon
- Splatoon
- Super Smash Bros. (publisher)
- The Legend of Zelda
Electronic Arts
- BioWare
- Dragon Age
- Mass Effect
- Star Wars: The Old Republic
- EA Sports
- EA Sports UFC
- F1
- FIFA Football
- Madden NFL
- NHL
- Tiger Woods/Rory McIlroy PGA Tour
- Maxis
- The Sims
- Motive Studios
- Star Wars Battlefront II (2017 remake)
- Dead Space (upcoming remake)
- PopCap
- Bejeweled
- Plants vs Zombies
- Respawn Entertainment
- Apex Legends
- Titanfall
Take-Two Interactive
- 2K
- BioShock
- Borderlands
- Civilization
- Mafia
- NBA 2K
- XCOM
- WWE 2K
- Private Division
- Kerbal Space Program
- Rockstar Games
- Grand Theft Auto
- L.A. Noire
- Red Dead
Bandai Namco Entertainment
- Bandai Namco Studios
- Dark Souls
- Elden Ring (upcoming)
- Super Smash Bros. (development)
- Tekken
Square Enix
- Final Fantasy
- Kingdom Hearts
- Eidos Interactive / Square Enix Europe
- Deus Ex
- Life is Strange
- Just Cause
- Tomb Raider
Ubisoft
- Anno
- Assassin’s Creed
- Far Cry
- Just Dance
- Rabbids / Raving Rabbids
- Rayman
- Rocksmith
- The Settlers
- Tom Clancy’s […]
- Watch Dogs
~Max
BTW, the price tag was US$68.7B, in cash:
I really, really. really hope that cash was in huge burlap bags with green dollar signs printed on them.
Probably XBox gift cards
~Max
It’s ActiBlizz so they probably insisted on $100 bills that had already been used to snort drugs off random streetwalkers. I can’t imagine Bobby Kotick seeing anything wrong with that.
It was paid for entirely in microtransactions.
Anyway, I can’t see this purchase making ActBlizz more disappointing than they already and consistently are. We’ll see what happens.
I liked the Warcraft III remaster, and I enjoyed a cute cartoon skin on their modern Starcraft port.
~Max