Gamers react to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision
Measure the temperature of reactions on social media regarding Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
This morning, the massive announcement of Microsoft’s $68.7 billion cash acquisition of Activision Blizzard and all its development studios and IPs sent shockwaves across the industry. The reactions and hot scenes have grown tremendously as gamers question what it means for the future of video games, “console wars”, work culture struggles and Activision Blizzard’s ongoing legal, etc.
Most of the talk and reactions around Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Primarily exists on two fronts: What does this mean for the future Call of Duty and how Microsoft addresses Activision Blizzard’s workplace culture issues. As that day passed, several positions were clarified by Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, and other statements compiled by the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Video Games Chronicle, and others.
First of all, what does it mean for the future of Call of Duty and other cross-platform games? The reaction is strongest as Xbox will now control two of the biggest FPS games on the market in Call of Duty and Halo. Activision still has a marketing deal with Sony to bring certain exclusive content to the PlayStation first until 2024. After that, all bets are over that the console will even get one. is different Call of Duty game. And what will that mean for Overwatch, Diablo, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Crash Bandicoot, and many other games that are traditionally cross-platform and exist under the Activision publishing house? Phil Spencer’s statement offers some vague assurances that some titles will remain cross-platform. But the same was said after the Bethesda deal and pre-existing arrangements outside to release games like Deathloop and coming soon Ghostwire Tokyo, everything else is almost expected to be an Xbox exclusive.
On the other side of the spectrum, Activision Blizzard still has a lot of controversy surrounding its workplace culture and many loose ends that still need to be worked out before the acquisition is officially completed. Activision Working Group Better ABK has made a statement after the announcement was made pledging the team’s efforts to make Activision Blizzard a better place to work regardless of who’s in charge. There are still 18 months to make changes in the company before it becomes Microsoft entities and groups want to ensure that in the meantime, the situation will change for the better. At the same time, the status of current Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has been called into question. At first, it seemed like he would stay with the company in the future and benefit greatly from the deal. In subsequent clarifying statements, it was revealed that at some point Kotick would be departing, albeit with a sizable amount of time.
Dust is still settling on many of the circumstances surrounding this bomb announcement. There’s some whispering that the deal might even ruffle federal antitrust feathers. However, that is only questioned in some circles and may not work out official intervention of the FTC or the Biden Administration’s crackdown on tech giant monopolies. The gaming community has a year and a half to sit with this announcement, and there will be more answers to the long list of questions remaining in that time.
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https://gamerant.com/gamers-react-microsoft-activision-acquisition/ Gamers react to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision