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computers / comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action / Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz

SubjectAuthor
* No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBlizSpalls Hurgenson
+* Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBlizGeeknix
|+- Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBlizAnt
|`- Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBlizWerner P.
`* Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBlizJAB
 `* Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBlizSpalls Hurgenson
  `- Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBlizJAB

1
No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz

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From: spallshu...@gmail.com (Spalls Hurgenson)
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Subject: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz
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 by: Spalls Hurgenson - Tue, 18 Jan 2022 20:13 UTC

When I read the headline - "Microsoft to buy Activision for $67
Billion" - I honestly thought it had to be a joke. I mean, so many
things seemed unbelievable about it. Activision/Blizzard was for sale?
Microsoft was interested in the company (especially after all the
scandals)? And it was going for only $67 billion USD (sure, that's a
lot of money, but this is the company that owns World of Warcraft
/and/ Call of Duty!).

But no, apparently it's actual fact. Microsoft is in a deal to buy the
beleaguered company.

I guess it shouldn't surprise me so completely. After all, Microsoft
purchased Zenimax (a.k.a., Bethesda and Id software) just a few years
ago. They've been a major player in the video-game market for close to
two decades now, thanks to their XBox console (and, of course, have
been developing games almost since the start; Microsoft's "Adventure"
was one of the earliest games available for the IBM PC/Compatible
platform!). And under Satya Nadella's leadership, Microsoft has made a
big move back towards becoming a major player in PC Gaming again. So I
don't know why I'm so shocked by this move of theirs.

Maybe it's just my general distrust of the company. They've definitely
improved since their 'bad old' days when they more aggressively
utilized their monopoly status, but seeing them get bigger still makes
me angst. I'm not a fan of their push towards ever-increasing online
connectivity, especially since they are a major player in advertising
too.

I also wonder if this is a reaction to Valve's move into console-space
with the SteamDeck. Although it may seem like a wolf worrying about a
mouse, Valve is something of an existential threat to Microsoft. Not
so much the company itself - Valve is never going to outperform
Microsoft - but Gabe Newell's little company punches way above its
weight class. It is a major force in PC game sales, and it can
leverage its vast customer-base in ways that can hurt - or at least
slow - Microsoft's goals. Without Steam, I think Microsoft's app store
on Windows 10 would have been much more successful. And now Steam
wants to push into the game-console market? With a library of tens of
thousands of games, and hundreds of millions of people on its
platform, Steam isn't a force to be ignored.

But if Microsoft were to start pushing its stable of well-regarded
games (the next Doom, the next Fallout, the next Skyrim, the next Call
of Duty) as Windows-store exclusives? Valve's cachet amongst gamers
will drop dramatically. I wouldn't be surprised if we see other major
purchases in the future too; perhaps Epic Games is next?

Far-fetched? Perhaps. But Microsoft has always had a longer-term view
than most tech companies (they were working towards
software-as-a-service back in the 90s, before the idea even had a
name!).

Well, whatever the reasoning and whatever the outcome, this is big
news. It will jump Microsoft to becoming the third largest video-game
publisher in the world (only Tencent and Sony will be larger). It may
take a few years for it to become apparent, but this is going to
change the video-gaming world.

Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz

<slrnsuej59.4vd.usenet@raspberrypi.geeknix.net>

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From: use...@apple.geeknix135.net (Geeknix)
Subject: Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz
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 by: Geeknix - Tue, 18 Jan 2022 23:26 UTC

On 2022-01-18, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
> When I read the headline - "Microsoft to buy Activision for $67
> Billion" - I honestly thought it had to be a joke. I mean, so many
> things seemed unbelievable about it. Activision/Blizzard was for sale?
> Microsoft was interested in the company (especially after all the
> scandals)? And it was going for only $67 billion USD (sure, that's a
> lot of money, but this is the company that owns World of Warcraft
> /and/ Call of Duty!).

Again you save me from having to read the news on those new fangled
websites.

Feel like MS now owns all AAA gaming companies, accept as you say Epic,
I feel mixing a platform developer and gaming company is bad for us. How
many games will now become Xbox exclusives.

--
Don't be afraid of the deep...
--[ bbs.bottomlessabyss.net | https | telnet=2023 ]--
--[ /query geeknix on libera.chat | tilde.chat ]--

Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz

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 by: Ant - Wed, 19 Jan 2022 02:07 UTC

Geeknix <usenet@apple.geeknix135.net> wrote:
> On 2022-01-18, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
> > When I read the headline - "Microsoft to buy Activision for $67
> > Billion" - I honestly thought it had to be a joke. I mean, so many
> > things seemed unbelievable about it. Activision/Blizzard was for sale?
> > Microsoft was interested in the company (especially after all the
> > scandals)? And it was going for only $67 billion USD (sure, that's a
> > lot of money, but this is the company that owns World of Warcraft
> > /and/ Call of Duty!).

> Again you save me from having to read the news on those new fangled
> websites.

> Feel like MS now owns all AAA gaming companies, accept as you say Epic,
> I feel mixing a platform developer and gaming company is bad for us. How
> many games will now become Xbox exclusives.

Sierra's games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOMwuPis7qc
--
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Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz

<ss8rru$fvj$1@dont-email.me>

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From: now...@co.uk (JAB)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2022 11:15:08 +0000
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 by: JAB - Wed, 19 Jan 2022 11:15 UTC

On 18/01/2022 20:13, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> When I read the headline - "Microsoft to buy Activision for $67
> Billion" - I honestly thought it had to be a joke. I mean, so many
> things seemed unbelievable about it. Activision/Blizzard was for sale?
> Microsoft was interested in the company (especially after all the
> scandals)? And it was going for only $67 billion USD (sure, that's a
> lot of money, but this is the company that owns World of Warcraft
> /and/ Call of Duty!).
>
> But no, apparently it's actual fact. Microsoft is in a deal to buy the
> beleaguered company.
>
> I guess it shouldn't surprise me so completely. After all, Microsoft
> purchased Zenimax (a.k.a., Bethesda and Id software) just a few years
> ago. They've been a major player in the video-game market for close to
> two decades now, thanks to their XBox console (and, of course, have
> been developing games almost since the start; Microsoft's "Adventure"
> was one of the earliest games available for the IBM PC/Compatible
> platform!). And under Satya Nadella's leadership, Microsoft has made a
> big move back towards becoming a major player in PC Gaming again. So I
> don't know why I'm so shocked by this move of theirs.
>
> Maybe it's just my general distrust of the company. They've definitely
> improved since their 'bad old' days when they more aggressively
> utilized their monopoly status, but seeing them get bigger still makes
> me angst. I'm not a fan of their push towards ever-increasing online
> connectivity, especially since they are a major player in advertising
> too.
>
> I also wonder if this is a reaction to Valve's move into console-space
> with the SteamDeck. Although it may seem like a wolf worrying about a
> mouse, Valve is something of an existential threat to Microsoft. Not
> so much the company itself - Valve is never going to outperform
> Microsoft - but Gabe Newell's little company punches way above its
> weight class. It is a major force in PC game sales, and it can
> leverage its vast customer-base in ways that can hurt - or at least
> slow - Microsoft's goals. Without Steam, I think Microsoft's app store
> on Windows 10 would have been much more successful. And now Steam
> wants to push into the game-console market? With a library of tens of
> thousands of games, and hundreds of millions of people on its
> platform, Steam isn't a force to be ignored.
>
> But if Microsoft were to start pushing its stable of well-regarded
> games (the next Doom, the next Fallout, the next Skyrim, the next Call
> of Duty) as Windows-store exclusives? Valve's cachet amongst gamers
> will drop dramatically. I wouldn't be surprised if we see other major
> purchases in the future too; perhaps Epic Games is next?
>
> Far-fetched? Perhaps. But Microsoft has always had a longer-term view
> than most tech companies (they were working towards
> software-as-a-service back in the 90s, before the idea even had a
> name!).
>
> Well, whatever the reasoning and whatever the outcome, this is big
> news. It will jump Microsoft to becoming the third largest video-game
> publisher in the world (only Tencent and Sony will be larger). It may
> take a few years for it to become apparent, but this is going to
> change the video-gaming world.
>

I'd assume the basic idea is using at least some of the IP they've
acquired to push both their software and hardware platforms so it'll be
interesting to see just how this pans out. Personally I'm really not
sure anything would get me buy an XBox but something like Gamepass is a
possibility for say Elder Scrolls:VI.

As for the specifics of this one, Activision/Blizzard do seem to attract
a lot of bad press but I'm not sure just how many gamers really care
about anything besides what actually goes on in the games themselves. I
also get the impression that a lot of gamers are quick to get their
torches and pitchforks out only to get their credit card out a couple of
weeks later.

Even then I could see that just publicity removing some of what may be
considered the 'bad apples' is a quick win to rebrand their image.

Overall though none of this particularity bothers me as my relationship
with triple-A titles has been almost non-existent for many years.
There's loads of games out there so missing a few doesn't matter to me
especially when they're titles that feel like a financial model with a
game attached.

Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz

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From: wer...@gmx.at (Werner P.)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz
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 by: Werner P. - Wed, 19 Jan 2022 13:18 UTC

Am 19.01.22 um 00:26 schrieb Geeknix:
> On 2022-01-18, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
>> When I read the headline - "Microsoft to buy Activision for $67
>> Billion" - I honestly thought it had to be a joke. I mean, so many
>> things seemed unbelievable about it. Activision/Blizzard was for sale?
>> Microsoft was interested in the company (especially after all the
>> scandals)? And it was going for only $67 billion USD (sure, that's a
>> lot of money, but this is the company that owns World of Warcraft
>> /and/ Call of Duty!).
>
> Again you save me from having to read the news on those new fangled
> websites.
>
> Feel like MS now owns all AAA gaming companies, accept as you say Epic,
> I feel mixing a platform developer and gaming company is bad for us. How
> many games will now become Xbox exclusives.
>
>
Epic, Rockstar, Cd Project Red, Ubisoft, EA...

And add on top a ton of japanese AAA Studius and Publishers ...
Tencent has deeper roots in many studios than Microsoft has.

Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz

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From: spallshu...@gmail.com (Spalls Hurgenson)
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Subject: Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz
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 by: Spalls Hurgenson - Thu, 20 Jan 2022 01:20 UTC

On Wed, 19 Jan 2022 11:15:08 +0000, JAB <noway@co.uk> wrote:

>
>As for the specifics of this one, Activision/Blizzard do seem to attract
>a lot of bad press but I'm not sure just how many gamers really care
>about anything besides what actually goes on in the games themselves. I
>also get the impression that a lot of gamers are quick to get their
>torches and pitchforks out only to get their credit card out a couple of
>weeks later.

ActiBlizz has gotten a lot of bad press recently, and deservedly so.
However, as you pointed out, that hasn't really affected their bottom
line. There was a report - which I can't find anymore, because of
course not - that showed that the number of users of their products
hasn't significantly dropped since 2019. There was a moderate bump up
in 2020 due to Covid-19 and sales/users has gone down a bit since
then, but that was in line with what other companies saw it was
considered unrelated to any bad press about Activision.

In other words, despite a lot of outcry by gamers about how awful the
company was, they kept supporting it with purchases.

(This behavior, of course, is nothing new. There's an infamous meme
image showing a list of Steam users who joined a 'boycott Modern
Warfare 2" list... who were all playing Modern Warfare 2".
https://www.pcinvasion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/modernwarfare2-boycott.png
)

It's why game publishers continually engage in behavior they know
players dislike... or even outright detest. We're all too fickle to
actually do anything about it. God forbid we go without the newest
"Call of Duty" for a year or two. *

More worrisome to C-level execs isn't a negative response from gamers
(which, as we said, is all but nonexistent), but how news of the
scandal will affect the stock price. But that's usually easily managed
too:
1) You send out a few apologetic messages to gamers, not because it
matters to sales, but it reassures the stockholders ("We're still
responsive to the needs of our customers; our company is still
strong!"). Stockholders lap this up.
2) Do your best to avoid any lawsuits, even if you have to refund a
bunch of games just to shut up the complainers. Nothing worries the
traders more than the threat of a trial.
3) Then, a week or two later, announce some new project that will
bring in even more money ("Next week we are releasing 'Destiny 3', now
with NFTs!").

The stock price will rebound better than ever and you never need to
change the behavior that caused the uproar in the first place. It's
Business 101.

----------------
* I have largely maintained my boycott of Activision, but that has as
much to do with the fact that the company isn't really making games
I'm interested anymore. The few that do slip through are usually
because I wasn't aware Activision was the publisher, or because the
game was part of a bundle. But there have been a number of times I
have purposely avoided buying a game because of its association with
the company. Still, I'm well aware I am in the minority in this.

Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz

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From: now...@co.uk (JAB)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action
Subject: Re: No, It's not Apri 1stl: MS to buy ActiBliz
Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2022 09:04:18 +0000
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 by: JAB - Thu, 20 Jan 2022 09:04 UTC

On 20/01/2022 01:20, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> On Wed, 19 Jan 2022 11:15:08 +0000, JAB <noway@co.uk> wrote:
>
>>
>> As for the specifics of this one, Activision/Blizzard do seem to attract
>> a lot of bad press but I'm not sure just how many gamers really care
>> about anything besides what actually goes on in the games themselves. I
>> also get the impression that a lot of gamers are quick to get their
>> torches and pitchforks out only to get their credit card out a couple of
>> weeks later.
>
> ActiBlizz has gotten a lot of bad press recently, and deservedly so.
> However, as you pointed out, that hasn't really affected their bottom
> line. There was a report - which I can't find anymore, because of
> course not - that showed that the number of users of their products
> hasn't significantly dropped since 2019. There was a moderate bump up
> in 2020 due to Covid-19 and sales/users has gone down a bit since
> then, but that was in line with what other companies saw it was
> considered unrelated to any bad press about Activision.
>
> In other words, despite a lot of outcry by gamers about how awful the
> company was, they kept supporting it with purchases.
>
> (This behavior, of course, is nothing new. There's an infamous meme
> image showing a list of Steam users who joined a 'boycott Modern
> Warfare 2" list... who were all playing Modern Warfare 2".
> https://www.pcinvasion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/modernwarfare2-boycott.png
> )
>

That meme was one that popped into my head when writing my post. It
still amazes me how many players will 'hate' on a game and a company yet
still support them.

> It's why game publishers continually engage in behavior they know
> players dislike... or even outright detest. We're all too fickle to
> actually do anything about it. God forbid we go without the newest
> "Call of Duty" for a year or two. *
>
> More worrisome to C-level execs isn't a negative response from gamers
> (which, as we said, is all but nonexistent), but how news of the
> scandal will affect the stock price. But that's usually easily managed
> too:
> 1) You send out a few apologetic messages to gamers, not because it
> matters to sales, but it reassures the stockholders ("We're still
> responsive to the needs of our customers; our company is still
> strong!"). Stockholders lap this up.
> 2) Do your best to avoid any lawsuits, even if you have to refund a
> bunch of games just to shut up the complainers. Nothing worries the
> traders more than the threat of a trial.
> 3) Then, a week or two later, announce some new project that will
> bring in even more money ("Next week we are releasing 'Destiny 3', now
> with NFTs!").
>
> The stock price will rebound better than ever and you never need to
> change the behavior that caused the uproar in the first place. It's
> Business 101.
>

Well I suppose it's better than admitting that a large number their of
customers are complete suckers who will basically put up with anything
(as long as they get a chance to vent) and also really don't care about
things such as sexual harassment, generally treating staff like dirt and
the top execs trousering huge piles of money.

> ----------------
> * I have largely maintained my boycott of Activision, but that has as
> much to do with the fact that the company isn't really making games
> I'm interested anymore. The few that do slip through are usually
> because I wasn't aware Activision was the publisher, or because the
> game was part of a bundle. But there have been a number of times I
> have purposely avoided buying a game because of its association with
> the company. Still, I'm well aware I am in the minority in this.
>

I'm in a similar position as, like you, it's a pretty easy choice to
make when the games barely get onto my wouldn't mind getting in a sale
list let alone I'll buy on release list.

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