Microsoft Tries to Buy Activision Blizzard

[hudson]

Nonny can you tell your uncle Phil that he could potentially ruining the future of console FGC scene.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I long for the day there is only 1 MS console on the market and I have to play games via the Internet!!







I'm lying... I'd rather be dead.

[wakka]

Tony Hawks seems to get mentioned a lot too but I'm not betting on that one. It's a name and genre that's past its sell by now and has recently been attempted by the company too. It's also a licensed game in a way so all things considered seems hard to see as being a priority for MS.

I don't know about this. It's a real crowd pleaser and is unlikely to be particularly expensive or demanding in terms of resource compared to other games. I think it could happen. But then, I would love it to happen, so maybe that's wishful thinking talking.

It's one of those games that maybe isn't all that viable if you were to sell it for money, but is something loads of people would try on Game Pass.

is Call of Duty the bargaining chip Microsoft need to get game-pass on playstation? is that the long game here, or do you think i'm talking crazy.

Even if MS were up for it, I don't think this will ever be an option for Sony because the money in being a videogame platformer holder is in selling the games and the subscriptions. Once you turn that over to someone else you're just left selling and supporting the console itself, which is very low margin.

I'm lying... I'd rather be dead.

[nonny]

Nonny can you tell your uncle Phil that he could potentially ruining the future of console FGC scene.

Am I the Fresh Prince now?

We'll have to see how MS steers this and whether the potential negatives are realised. It's interesting that Activision in its current state reached out to Facebook first for sale... that I think would have been disastrous.

There are negatives to a platform holder owning them but equally I think I'd rather it was Microsoft than someone like Amazon, Zuckerberg or Tencent.

So far with Bethesda they seem to basically just treat them as a separate entity with their own culture, processes and management. Hopefully the same will be true with Activision but the major difference is we know the sexual misconduct going on and the amount of studios directed to keeping the cash cow alive means MS has to do something with that culture and setup to change it for the better.

[Tobal]

Seems like they should just gut out Activision top brass and just end Blizzard entirely it's to tainted, all the talent they had has either disgraced themselves or moved on many years ago (the latter problem is basically Bioware and Rare) which explains the lack of new games, and driving overwatch and wow into the ground with new hires having no clue what the playerbase wants.

[Asura]

Seems like they should just gut out Activision top brass and just end Blizzard entirely it's to tainted, all the talent they had has either disgraced themselves or moved on many years ago (the latter problem is basically Bioware and Rare) which explains the lack of new games, and driving overwatch and wow into the ground with new hires having no clue what the playerbase wants.

No chance of that. Blizzard, for all their controversy, have a distinction in the industry among their peers, i.e. games companies of their size - they have never made a single truly bad or unsuccessful game. They've even cancelled games that are mostly finished because they thought they might not turn out very good (like Starcraft Ghost).

[Cassius_Smoke]

Warcraft has quite a rich lore which I'd like to see explored in some interesting spinoff game.

[teddymeow]

Warcraft has quite a rich lore which I'd like to see explored in some interesting spinoff game.

Maybe as an FPS?

[fishbowlhead]

No chance of that. Blizzard, for all their controversy, have a distinction in the industry among their peers, i.e. games companies of their size - they have never made a single truly bad or unsuccessful game. They've even cancelled games that are mostly finished because they thought they might not turn out very good (like Starcraft Ghost).

Warcraft3 remaster thingy stomped all over that perception, especially when they closed and deleted all the mods for the original.

[fishbowlhead]

Warcraft has quite a rich lore which I'd like to see explored in some interesting spinoff game.

Needs to be on consoles as well not just isolated to pc.

[Neon Ignition]

Warcraft I imagine needs a look at. It's huge but it's also very PC orientated and World of Warcraft is archaic at this point. MS might be best to leave it alone for now whilst it's all ticking along and prioritise other things that will bring in audiences faster, then look at it more carefully down the line.

I imagine it won't be long before 'Activision', 'Blizzard' and 'Bethesda' are dismantled in all but name as well as pre-existing senior staff and projects clear with time. It won't work well for any perception of outsider elements or their being a tier to Xbox Studios structure in trying to have Activision exist and integrate alongside Rare or Obsidian. In effect Activision is no longer the big dog here, it's component studios are and the 'Activision' part of the company is in effect pointless and at this rate should be abolished to negate bad PR associated with it.

Honestly, in time I imagine whether you boot up a new Elders Scroll, Call of Duty, Halo, Perfect Dark or Psychonauts they'll all end up being fronted by the Microsoft studios splash screen, then the game studio that made it followed by the title screen and eventually the names Activision, Blizzard and Bethesda will drift away for the most part

[endo]

Maybe as an FPS?

Kart racer or Smash Bros clone.

[Tobal]

No chance of that. Blizzard, for all their controversy, have a distinction in the industry among their peers, i.e. games companies of their size - they have never made a single truly bad or unsuccessful game. They've even cancelled games that are mostly finished because they thought they might not turn out very good (like Starcraft Ghost).

Heroes of the Storm wasn't successful at all and i'd count probably Hearthstone as a flash in the pan but did retain some sort a player base but isn't Diablo,OW or the Crafts levels. Can't speak to the quality of them never play Dota or PVP Magic Card videogames.

But you're right, Blizzard going nowhere and the mainstream and those that don't live on twitter(which is the majority) don't know about what went on behind the scene's.

[Asura]

Heroes of the Storm wasn't successful at all and i'd count probably Hearthstone as a flash in the pan but did retain some sort a player base but isn't Diablo,OW or the Crafts levels. Can't speak to the quality of them never play Dota or PVP Magic Card videogames.

Hearthstone has been an enormous financial success, and it's done so because there's a dedicated playerbase who for years absolutely loved it. It's probably the most successful digital card game ever (that doesn't have its roots in a traditional one; the Warcraft card game and Hearthstone were different things). At one point it was making $40 million per month, and while that might have been the peak, the debate would be whether it's earned 3 or 5 ****loads of money.

Even Heroes of the Storm actually did quite well. They closed it because it was clear they weren't going to be #1, and they were only interested in shaking up that market. You're right in that it's probably the closest thing they have to a failure.

[Neon Ignition]

Main thing with Blizzard is those hits such as Hearthstone, World of Warcraft etc I can't imagine will successfully transition to console well. Despite it's current bad situation Overwatch 2 remains their best bet even if it needs taking back to formula