Microsoft to Acquire Game Studio Activision Blizzard for $68.7 Billion

[dontwalkhand]

Microsoft keeps acquiring studios. They really know gamings and streamers are next generation of big things.
What is Apple doing? Apple TV? not doing anything at all in gaming? start acquiring AAA studios and come up with a console.

Do you remember the Pippin? Just kidding, nobody does lmao!

 

[maflynn]

Why would a studio/publisher want to cut their addressable market in half?

I'll give you 68.7 billion reasons why.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Apple's equivalent games subscription service to Xbox Game Pass is Apple Arcade.

Equivalent? No, it’s not.

 

[4743913]

You can play Game Pass on an Apple device. What’s the problem?

in your browser. 😆

the problem is apples creepy dictatorial control of the appstore..

 

[smeagol]

To the folks saying Apple should start purchasing triple AAA studios to compete, you’re missing the plot there. The only thing Apple has in common with Microsoft in the gaming space is the word “game”. I would consider Nintendo more of a direct competitor. They’re going after the same market, casual gamers, kids, and kids at heart.

Who you should be worried for is PlayStation. This is Microsoft’s direct competitor. If Microsoft keeps buying up these massive publishers and gets everyone on the game pass/Netflix model, they’re really forcing the industry to move to that model eventually and it may not be as rosy as you think. singe A, double A and indie devs are going to get crushed and I think innovation is going to be lacking.

Take Call of Duty for example. Huge game, massive player base, but very formulaic every year. I don’t want one single company ruling the industry. We need to have a gaming space where everyone can enjoy all kinds of games and devs get properly compensated for their hard work.

Hopefully this deal gets flagged as anti-competitive and dies on the vine.

 

[Moonjumper]

I'm gonna say it and leave it here.

The smartest big tech CEO in history, will be the one who buys Nintendo.

*Looking at you Tim*

I don't think anyone buying Nintendo would be a good thing as Nintendo would almost certainly lose the freedom to make the seemingly odd decisions that work out so well.

But in the dedicated gaming market (hard to know how to label Nintendo as they sit somewhere between core and casual that I don't think can be called mid-core), family-friendly Nintendo are probably the most closely aligned with Apple.

 

[4743913]

I'm gonna say it and leave it here.

The smartest big tech CEO in history, will be the one who buys Nintendo.

*Looking at you Tim*

we already have enough phone games.

 

[gnipgnop]

I know, and I'm not disagreeing but we're not talking about mobile gaming, but gaming on consoles/computers.

Which is easier: getting games originally created for mobile onto consoles/computers OR getting games originally created for consoles/computers onto mobile?

Look at Apple Arcade: one of the primary points is for the games to be available across ALL of Apple's devices.

 

[ilikewhey]

But that's my point... Microsoft could sell games on PC, XBox *and* Playstation. Why cut out the largest console?

It just seems weird to limit the places to play these games. But I guess they have their reasons.

As someone said earlier... maybe Microsoft could bring their subscription service to Playstation. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

because then people will buy xbox instead of playstation, therefore allowing MS to have a bigger marketshare.

 

[skaertus]

I agree with what others have said about Apple ignoring the gaming space. It’s a mistake given the industry they’re in. Instead of Apple TV+, which is essentially an ego project for the executives, they should have been making company purchases like this one. Gaming makes much, much more sense for Apple over TV and exercise. Imagine Apple offering WoW free to Apple Arcade subscribers and could be played, in some form, on all devices. Yeah, it’s old and its popularity has waned, but that would be a huge boost and would attract people to at least try Apple Arcade. Call of Duty and Diablo would be huge upsides. Given that Candy Crush and Hearthstone are already big on the iPhone, these would just be fantastic additions to Apple’s portfolio. Instead we get a second season of crappy TV shows for a very limited audience trying to compete with much better streaming services making more appealing content.

Apple is heavily oriented around mobile gaming. Mobile gaming is now larger in terms of revenue than PC gaming and console gaming combined. How does that qualify as "ignoring" gaming? Apple is a big player in the largest segment of the industry as it currently exists.

Apple's problem, in both TV and gaming, is that it cannot compete seriously without heavy investment in IP.

Apple is putting $6 billion in Apple TV+ to produce original content and now it plans to spend billions in sports content. Good luck with that.

Netflix invested $13.6 billion in 2021 alone and will put even more in 2022. Disney plans to spend $33 billion in content in 2022, but that included everything. Plus, it bought Fox for $71 billion, in addition to acquisitions of Lucas Film and Marvel. Amazon bought MGM for $8.5 billion.

It seems that Apple cannot compete with these heavyweights, at least not without massive investment. But, in the gaming department, Apple is pitiful.

Apple invested some $500 million to launch Apple Arcade.

Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Prior to that, it bought several other companies, including Rare (2002, $375 million), Mojang (2014, $2.5 billion), ZeniMax (2020, $8.1 billion). Sony also has its share of big acquisitions.

How is Apple ever going to compete without major IP acquisitions?

 

[4743913]

Apple should buy Frontier Games and Aspyr today.

 

[diamond.g]

Which is easier: getting games originally created for mobile onto consoles/computers OR getting games originally created for consoles/computers onto mobile?

Look at Apple Arcade: one of the primary points is for the games to be available across ALL of Apple's devices.

Apple could just not give developers the option to opt out of their mobile games running on macOS. But they didn't do that.

 

[gnipgnop]

Apple's problem, in both TV and gaming, is that it cannot compete seriously without heavy investment in IP.

Apple has one the largest market caps on planet Earth. They have the money. They just choose to spend it differently. Microsoft spending $70 billion on this deal doesn't change the fact that the gaming industry is now dominated by mobile, not by PC/console.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

That being said, Microsoft's acquisition of Mojang has been incredible for the Minecraft brand. Few games have Minecraft's continued success. And Minecraft Dungeons is another excellent addition to it (the AR/VR Minecraft app was not so good though).

BUT, there’s still no native Minecraft for macOS. Which, one might think would be dead easy given that it runs well on the iPad M1 and there are Macs that can run that code just as fast or faster.

 

[nylonsteel]

sounds like quite alot of billions
lets see what msft can do with it

 

[adamjackson]

Huge news but nothing to do with apple. Xbox players win here as all games will go to game pass.

Facebook Buys Instagram For $1 Billion, Turns Budding Rival Into Its Standalone Photo App | TechCrunch

Facebook has just finished a deal to acquire mobile photo sharing app Instagram for approximately $1 billion in cash and stock. Instagram will remain an independently branded standalone app that's separate from Facebook, but the services will increase their ties to each other. The transaction...

techcrunch.com

LOL. Investors valued Instagram at 500 Million. In an age when there are thousands of 1 billion dollar unicorn valuation companies out there, this is pretty hilarious.

But at the time, Instagram only had 27 million users.

 

[Kazgarth]

because then people will buy xbox instead of playstation, therefore allowing MS to have a bigger marketshare.

I think Microsoft isn't worried about Sony here, or Xbox sales.

They are playing a bigger game, its for the Windows platform to be remain relevant and dominant

Google keeps growing it's share in the PC market with ChromeOS, and so is Apple with M1 success.

But with more games being exclusive to Windows OS, competitors have less power to attracts PC gamers, and have them loyal to their services and eco-system.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Well, WoW's been on a steep decline since TBC/WotLK, so maybe this is a good thing?

BC was WoW's lowest point.

I see you, @Nermal. Pinko commie alliance scum.

 

[Macalicious2011]

Apple is a major player in the largest revenue segment of the gaming market as it exists today.

Fair point. Apple earns a healthy % of in-app purchases on iOS devices.

 

[Lone Deranger]

Now Apple will have to buy Nintendo. ?

 

[Macalicious2011]

because then people will buy xbox instead of playstation, therefore allowing MS to have a bigger marketshare.

Gamepass is the main product of Xbox, not the hardware. MS will likely offer a gamepads subscription service for Playstation e.g pay £5-6/month for access to gamepads catalogue on PS5.

 

[fel10]

What is going to happen to future PlayStation titles like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro?

Crash and Spyro stopped being PlayStation exclusive years ago though.

 

[mnsportsgeek]

If Apple really wanted in on the gaming world, they’d make an aquisition like this.

 

[fel10]

Now Apple will have to buy Nintendo. ?

God no. As a Nintendo fan, I hope this never happens. Don’t want to buy more do consoles for $2000

 

[Kazgarth]

Now Apple will have to buy Nintendo. ?

It's a must at this stage.

I'm sure Microsoft, Google, Amazon and even Facebook (for Metaverse) are eyeing it right now.