Blizzard

A few random thoughts on the Microsoft/Activision merger

After almost two years of fighting regulators, Microsoft finally completed its $69 billion merger with Activision Blizzard. Here are a few thoughts on the deal, in no particular order:

  • GOOD? BAD? That Call of Duty/Halo crossover featuring Master Chief can finally happen
  • GOOD: Activision CEO Bobby Kotick will be gone as of January 1, 2024
  • BAD: After overseeing a toxic culture of sexual harassment, Kotick will get a $300 million+ golden parachute
  • BAD: One of the biggest companies in the world (Microsoft) is now merged with another very big company (Activision Blizzard). I’m pretty sure this is another chapter in the dystopian future we are heading toward, where there are only three megacorporations on the entire planet. And Apple.
  • GOOD: Microsoft will probably somehow squander the potential of this, making it seem not as big a deal in hindsight
  • GOOD: I can check out Diablo 4 on Game Pass without “buying” it
  • BAD: It won’t be out on Game Pass until 2024. And it still won’t be a good game.
  • BAD: This probably means you won’t be able to ever uninstall future versions of Candy Crush from Windows 11
  • BAD: World of Warcraft will probably now include a “funny” Clippy joke

My detailed analysis on the proposed Microsoft purchase of Activision Blizzard for US $68.7 billion

mosaic alien on wall
Photo by Francesco Ungaro on Pexels.com

First, what does it say about me that when I see “analysis” in the title, the anal part leaps out? Does this make me a perv? A butt fetishist? I can’t answer these questions, only raise them.

On the subject of Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, a few thoughts in list form:

  • That’s a lot of money.
  • Really, think about what this says about the size of the video games industry. I remember when the home market crashed in 1983 and some thought it would all go away, that we’d go back to checkers and playing outside. Haha, nope!
  • People thought Microsoft was silly for paying $2 billion for Minecraft, but that game manufactures money. I would not have predicted that from the early alpha days of 2011. So maybe close to $70 billion for an entire passel of games (and tech and employees) will pay off sooner than you might expect, too.
  • The conventional wisdom is this will clean up the rotten, frat boy culture in Activision Blizzard’s executive suite, because most of them will be ejected once the deal is complete and Phil Spenser assumes control as Xbox CEO. The downer part is most of these cretins will get fat rewards on the way out, essentially getting away with it.
  • Still, better that they’re gone in the end.
  • I still don’t care about the five million different Call of Duty games, and suspect I never will.
  • I am, however, interested in certain Blizzard games becoming available on Game Pass. Specifically, I’m interested in playing but not actually buying Diablo II: Resurrected, so this deal is really about saving me $54.99 before tax.
  • I might try World of Warcraft again. Maybe.
  • This will make it easier to play Diablo IV with a clear conscience, assuming it’s actually good. Mind you, improving on the story of Diablo III is a pretty low bar.
  • Possible modern version of Rock and Roll Racing.