Microsoft Is Quietly Building A Video Game Monopoly

162 Comments

1. Considering what a soulless fustercluck Activision Blizzard has become, being taken over by a faceless mega-conglomerate like MS might be the best thing that has happened to it. Am I worried that MS will become a gaming monopoly? Not really, for years now the best games on the market have been made by indie to mid tier devs with no budget, small team but huge passion for gaming, while the so-called 'AAA' studios have been shovelling out one grindy buggy cash-grabby mess after another.
   So go ahead, put the next yearly COD regurgitation on GamePass, as a GamePass subscriber I'm grinning from ear to ear cos I'll play that crap for free for a week then move on greener pasture.

2. Netflix ain't making money. Activision/blizzard sucks. They used to be awesome in the late 90's but not anymore.
   PlayStation players are not dominated by Call of Duty. There are many franchises available, e.g. Final Fantasy, Yakuza, etc.
   No money to be made here. Better look at small caps instead.

3. Let's step back for a second and ask: Do we care? Will anything bad happen if one company owns the major franchises? If they introduce pay-to-win or get lazy in development most people will just play something else.

4. Sounds like another walled garden being build

5. Sony buys rockstar

6. Sony was one the first main stream giants to launch a cloud gaming platform with the PlayStation now back when the PS3 launched but they never invested in it or saw it as a priority.
   The next generation of technology is service. Even car companies are going to offer their cars like a service.

7. Ive never heard your variant of the pronunciation of Bethesda before! XD

8. I work in games at Microsoft and I has no idea this was coming

9. Maybe Microsoft can make something out of this creatively and morally bankrupt organization. I've watched them chew through better developers for decades, making very little with their acquisitions. They're one of those rare companies like those rare people in middle school, that even when they cheat on the test, they still fail.

10. LOL no they're not.
    Even with this acquisition they're only 3rd in size, after tencent and SONY.
    They're buying companies in response to their lack luster exclusive line up from last gen.

    Bad research

11. Exclusive games = less power to the consumers. It is never a good thing.

12. why does he say Bathesda like that? lol

13. 8:27 the we he pronounces "BETHESDA", I know he is not a gamer.

14. Isn't monopoly is illegal . The deal may go through Because Microsoft Is most likely will buy the government To support it The deal

15. So, Sony should buy Nintendo

16. Sony and Tencent (which is almost a sub-branch of the Chinese Communist Party) are way bigger compared to Microsoft. To be a monopoly they need to absorb those gaming Titans something would never happen. EA, Ubisoft, and Square Enix are still fully operational everyone with their respective games/franchises generating money.

    Remember that EA did the same over 20 years ago by absorbing and dismantling smaller studios like crazy.

17. You can't really have a video game monopoly, because the market changes quickly and you can't impede people from NOT buying your game, i guess "game pass" comes close, but only if you can keep people subscribed for a long time.
    We would need completely different government regulations, a different country to allow for a monopoly over new software to happen. Because some creative kids on their now ridiculously powerful home PCs, can create the next big thing with a nothing budget.

    Not to mention the tsunami of new games constantly being churned out and the growing market.

18. This is what happens when you build your console in China…….they can block your production line in a second because they seized all the microchips and distribute them to CCP own corporations……..after the FIASCO of the Playstation 5 launch, (which still continues after 2 years), MANY people got fed up and started to buy the new X-BOX (some even started to buy PS4 PRO because it was being on sale….now a PS4 PRO can cost as much as $600 new, and it's starting to be rare to find)……both X-BOX were sold for $250-350 for almost a year (and now is also sold out, and only way to get one is through resellers, for 2 or 3 times the original price).

    Also, the fact no one wanted to buy the digital version of the X-Box, made it now probably the only one available, so no shock the subscriptions to digital content is rising also.

19. Nah lol wake me up when they own Riot

20. Why would anyone think that this is acquisition make Microsoft a gaming monopoly? it does not
    They got a raw deal , they brought activation blizzard above the current market evaluation and if you pay attention to what has been happening even that is an overvaluation.

    Activision does not have many IP that is alive and well save a few (COD being the obvious one) their strength is not making good long lasting video game but rather their marketing (and business strategy) team as they have successfully Nickle and dime gamers make them thank Activision for it, I would argue that this alone make them worthwhile for acquisition but not at current market evaluation.

    Blizzard is the main reason why this is a crap deal for Microsoft as they have to do a full structure overhaul if they want to keep the studio , its basically a car with no engine as most of their senior developer and founder have left (and those that remain has either zero experience or is damaging to the whole corporate structure basically leeches in suit) with most of their IP is either dying or is already halfway into the graveyard.

    Unless they had an incredibly generous interest rate from their creditors / they had investment for it(suckers) its a terrible deal in the long run.
    Much better to acquire unreal engine(or the other numerous essential tools in making video games) and make it exclusive to Microsoft games if their goal is capturing the whole market.

21. Not even close to a monopoly

22. Even after this acquisition Microsoft will still be 3rd largest gaming company behind tencent and sony. Dont see where the monopoly is.

23. This deal won't help xbox catch up to PS. PlayStation still has the best games by far. Microsoft needs to stop wasting billions on stupid acquisitions and just support the studios they already do have into making good games like how Sony and Nintendo do.

24. To Microsoft credit as much as hate to say games that Microsoft developed no ones they published but actual developed always been good if not decent. Can't recall a title that actually received negative feedback or flopped on. I doubt they would make them exclusive as long as Sony keeps competitive with their consoles because that would limit their revenue to only one type of customer instead of multiple console owners

25. I'd love to see Microsoft provide the funding for Blizzard games like Heroes of the Storm to resume an official professional league. The game itself is way more innovative than League or DOTA, but Blizzard/Activision execs pulled the plug on the professional league early.

26. I'll be honest, I hope this deal doesn't go through because Microsoft needs to stop trying to buy their way to gaming dominates and start creating games.

27. Buying Activision is not very quiet bro, and still they only have /3 of the market behind Sony

    Bruh

28. Nothing quiet about it

29. Activision is mired in IP that are long in the tooth and havn't been performing well for two years. Call of Duty and World of Warcraft are two IPs that really need to be retooled and Activision knows this. Activision are the ones that approached Microsoft after Meta turned them away, so you know the company is in a very bad place. This reminds of the Bethesda purchase of 2020. Their Fallout franchise with that past two releases weren't the best with Fallout 76 being a new low. All Triple A developers are facing tough times ahead. Put EA and Take Two into the in troubled future mix.

    I bought Take Two yesterday because of Rockstars inability to get RDR2 Online issues sorted out. A game released in 2018. GTA V Online is floating Rockstars boat. GTA Trilogy was a complete fiasco. Its my belief you could not release GTA V today without it being destroyed by the gaming press for all kinds of offenses. Take Two or EA will likely be the next acquisition targets either for Microsoft or other Media entertainment companies.

30. lmao, a monopoly with Nintendo and Sony as fierce competitors? Idiotic clickbait. Disliked.

31. You are a man to my heart. Someone who can talk business as confidently as gaming.

32. Bethisda

33. "Quietly"

34. Yea there’s no way they’re gona make COD exclusive but it would be a great cash cow to fund the development of some really good next gen games with the developers they have but don’t sleep on Sony.

35. Except for the part where playstation is better… Lol

36. A monopoly of games I don't like, how convenient

37. I don't understand how things like video games and tv shows can be considered anti-competitive. They are just forms of mass produced art.

38. They’re trying to do the licensing game. Makes way more money.

39. You still can't figure out that outro edit.

40. It’s bad for gamers it’s good if you own Microsoft.. I hope the government blocks it.. Microsoft is horrible

41. Video Game Monopoly. A Bait …..

42. What Microsoft purchased was a bunch of well known IPs but the thing is in gaming, a well known IP can be destroyed almost over night if the game developers make bad games with those IPs. Also with the advances in gaming tech, many game developers can start new companies and create new IPs which can dominate the market in the future. Microsoft has to make sure that they treat their new IPs like gold or else they will fail.

43. Microsoft is working with Gamestop to create the future of gaming. Power to the players and creators. Nft marketplace

44. As a PC gamer, I'm happy this is happening. It is getting extremely expensive to make a AAA game, especially ones with open-world like Fallout, GTA, Elderscroll. Game studio burn through their cash very quickly so they need the big boys to come with with cash injection as exclusivity deals or direct buyout.

    MS has a BAD rep managing game studios. The studios making Fable & Mechwarrior, etc. You can watch their failures in the XBox documentary. But with Phil Spenser at the helm, there's hope.

    I am looking forward to Elder Scroll and Diablo sequels.

45. Am I the only one who think this deal might be blocked by the government.

46. How tf did you manage to pronounce Bethesda that way

47. Microsoft is walking on a very thin line where one wrong move can bring tons of investigations and regulations.

48. I hope this deal go through

49. Quietly? they just executed the biggest tech acquisition in history. that's pretty loud.

50. I think it is a bit hyperbolic to suggest this deal means game over for Sony. I think it should be noted that all three of the major video game companies, Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, all run on different models of targeting their core demographics. Also while it is very likely that Microsoft will use Bethesda and Activision-Blizzard to create new exclusive IPs, Microsoft has never been a company to make exclusivity at the cost of profits. Take Microsoft Office for instance. By any measure it is the most well known and used suite of office programs, yet when given the opportunity to extend its reach to Apple it took it. There are just some computer users that were never going to jump to Windows and by extending to Apple it increased its market share. Creating content for game pass is important, but I'd think if a game became popular enough Microsoft wouldn't be hesitant to extended it to multi platform. Same goes for its acquired titles. There is no way any of those current franchises are going exclusive. It just doesn't make good business sense. If anything Microsoft has proven that you don't really need exclusive titles in this day and age to sell a console, just good games. Aside from Halo what well known titles are exclusive to the Xbox? Microsoft has lived in the world of PC gaming mostly where nothing is exclusive to the Windows experience beyond what developers program for. All this purchase does is insure future quality content for Game Pass to make it a more dominant brand.

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