Microsoft is buying Activison-Blizzard

[Xath]

So...no responses to anything and just a bunch more made up bullshit without sources or citation.

https://www.computerscience.org/reso...nited%20States.

It's 18% nowhere near the pushed for 50/50 which means making not entirely merit based decisions in hiring to reach that lauded 50/50 goal.

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Telling their employees what's up is an invitation for insider trading. That's why these things are kept a secret.

Yup if their employees did know there would be a massive temptation to increase their networth by over 20% in a day.

[Hawg]

Activision-Blizzard has never given out financial data on how much a particular game earns.
The only financial information ActiBlizz gives is how much Activision, Blizzard and King earn in total each.

I thought they did until 2018/19 (going off memory) -- I've definitely read "expert" forecasts on it... but who knows, I don't claim to be an expert.

[desertlizard]

well i dont think this is a good idea if Microsoft does not make ACTUAL GAMES... or new ips... so why bother owning companies.

[Verdugo]

According to this, when Bobby heard the proposal from Microsoft, he tried to find other potential buyers.

One of those was Metaverse... Talk about dodging a bullet.

[GreenJesus]

https://www.computerscience.org/reso...nited%20States.

It's 18% nowhere near the pushed for 50/50 which means making not entirely merit based decisions in hiring to reach that lauded 50/50 goal.

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Yup if their employees did know there would be a massive temptation to increase their networth by over 20% in a day.

pssh 20%? You mean 10,000% returns. Just buy some out of the money calls expiring the day after the announcement. Although they would definitely get a little visit by the SEC for that one.

[Edge-]

According to this, when Bobby heard the proposal from Microsoft, he tried to find other potential buyers.

One of those was Metaverse... Talk about dodging a bullet.

Seriously, can you imagine the response from staff if they found out their new boss was Mark Zuckerberg? You know, the guy who oversees a company that facilitates ethnic cleaning and knowingly causes emotional/psychological damage to teens on their platform because trying to address either issue might drop the share price down a few bucks.

[ati87]

According to this, when Bobby heard the proposal from Microsoft, he tried to find other potential buyers.

One of those was Metaverse... Talk about dodging a bullet.

If you really want to know how bad this guy was becoming.

CEO Bobby Kotick was reportedly “eager to change the public narrative about the company,” according to a new report published Tuesday from the Wall Street Journal. Kotick’s alleged big idea? Buying a video game news publication like Kotaku or PC Gamer.

[froschhure]

This is too good. So gates hated Sl that bad he had to buy the whole thing to fix his favourite grinder?? XDdd

[Ethas]

FF14 was a flop and a PR disaster at launch, so much so that it stained the brand name of Square Enix and then-president Yoichi Wada ordered that FF14 be salvaged to repair the name of the company and the franchise. Over the past 8 years, FF14 has rebuilt its reputation and now stands as the most prestigious MMO in the market. No reason why Blizzard couldn't theoretically do the same with WoW.

Sorry but FF14 current state has nothing to do with what SE did. I tried the game on consoles and it was the worst MMO experience I ever got. They have ugly launcher and registration process, starting locations are just bad, UI is bad and looks like it was exported right from 90s. I deleted the game next day. So I conclude that the game didn't end up like countless WoW killers in the trash can just because some WoW streamers decided to support it because they wanted to spew the hate against Blizzard. This must be the only reason such crap got any attention at all.

[Verdugo]

Sorry but FF14 current state has nothing to do with what SE did. I tried the game on consoles and it was the worst MMO experience I ever got. They have ugly launcher and registration process, starting locations are just bad, UI is bad and looks like it was exported right from 90s. I deleted the game next day. So I conclude that the game didn't end up like countless WoW killers in the trash can just because some WoW streamers decided to support it because they wanted to spew the hate against Blizzard. This must be the only reason such crap got any attention at all.

Man this attitude is just sad. "That game sucks, its only popular cuz of Blizz haters!"

[Utrrabbit]

Last time I looked it was:

1) Call of Duty
2) Candy Crush
3) WoW
4) Overwatch

Not sure how much those have changed, but COD was brining in 4 times what WoW was bringing in.

BLIZZARDS highest earner. I do not care about the other studios. The question was ablout blizzard. Cod and candy crush are different studio.

[crusadernero]

Man this attitude is just sad. "That game sucks, its only popular cuz of Blizz haters!"

to be fair, FF14 is a total shite experience on console, starting from the registration. Utter, utter shite. Atleast for todays standard.

ESO is like miles ahead, atleast on console.

[Utrrabbit]

Man this attitude is just sad. "That game sucks, its only popular cuz of Blizz haters!"

The game does suck? It is a candy crush pg7 style mmo

[Verdugo]

The game does suck? It is a candy crush pg7 style mmo

Pardon me if I take opinion of a known Blizz shill with a pinch of salt.

[Edge-]

https://kotaku.com/phil-spencer-xbox...uni-1848395067

Real, real glad that the now CEO of a major division within Microsoft is still playing stupid on unions. You know, giving the same answer he did years ago. And still apparently knowing nothing about unions despite buying a major publisher with a concerted union push ongoing.

But hey, why would you want to have smart and informed people running your division? Or he's just playing dumb because that's what the script calls for.

Man, my opinion of Spencer was never super high. He's a corporate shill at the end of the day and necessarily has to be, but he talks up a good "gamer" game so it's not hard to find him fairly likable. Especially compared to a Don Matrick. But like, I think he drank the coolaide.

Compared to say a Larry Hyrb/Major Nelson. He's a corporate shill, but he knows he's a corporate shill and doesn't try to pretend otherwise. And he's very likable because he owns it and has fun with it. He doesn't try to play off like he's some champion for "gamers", he's a Microsoft executive.

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https://kotaku.com/bobby-kotick-acti...ayo-1848394837

And more fun, using Kotaku because WashPo is paywalled.

Bobby's done y'all. He's got senioritis and is just counting down the days until the deal clears and he fucks off with $300M. First "fireside chat" and homeboy fuckin shows up late and it lasts 15 minutes, with him answering absolutely no actual questions, hinting that there will be layoffs as Microsoft will "try to retain" all employees, and jokes about not making developers use MS Teams which literally nobody gave a shit about.

The collective response from ATVI staff seems to largely be, "This should have been an email."

[Dhrizzle]

I'm finding it a little hilarious reading back to some quotes from Phil Spencer about the Acti-Blizz lawsuits.

Phil Spencer said he and the gaming leadership team are “disturbed and deeply troubled by the horrific events and actions” and “evaluating all aspects of our relationship with Activision Blizzard and making ongoing proactive adjustments.”

Buying the company is certainly proactive, and a part of me likes the idea that Microsoft just spent 70 billion to force Kotick to clean up his shit.

[Xath]

Seriously, can you imagine the response from staff if they found out their new boss was Mark Zuckerberg? You know, the guy who oversees a company that facilitates ethnic cleaning and knowingly causes emotional/psychological damage to teens on their platform because trying to address either issue might drop the share price down a few bucks.

I do like how you are ignoring that there literally aren't 50% of graduates to meet the goals Cali is pushing for. Weird how you stopped replying as soon as I posted stats. Most bosses suck if you are seriously effected by the character of your boss you are sitting in your room crunched up in a ball. Most CEOs got there by stepping on others it's kind of required it's why a lot of us don't even try to push to go that high.

[Lahis]

https://kotaku.com/phil-spencer-xbox...uni-1848395067

Real, real glad that the now CEO of a major division within Microsoft is still playing stupid on unions. You know, giving the same answer he did years ago. And still apparently knowing nothing about unions despite buying a major publisher with a concerted union push ongoing.

But hey, why would you want to have smart and informed people running your division? Or he's just playing dumb because that's what the script calls for.

Man, my opinion of Spencer was never super high. He's a corporate shill at the end of the day and necessarily has to be, but he talks up a good "gamer" game so it's not hard to find him fairly likable. Especially compared to a Don Matrick. But like, I think he drank the coolaide.

Compared to say a Larry Hyrb/Major Nelson. He's a corporate shill, but he knows he's a corporate shill and doesn't try to pretend otherwise. And he's very likable because he owns it and has fun with it. He doesn't try to play off like he's some champion for "gamers", he's a Microsoft executive.

Do you really expect that an executive in any American company has anything good to say about unions? They'd make unions illegal if they could.

[LazarusLong]

Seriously, can you imagine the response from staff if they found out their new boss was Mark Zuckerberg? You know, the guy who oversees a company that facilitates ethnic cleaning and knowingly causes emotional/psychological damage to teens on their platform because trying to address either issue might drop the share price down a few bucks.

By all accounts, Facebook is a fantastic employer though.

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Do you really expect that an executive in any American company has anything good to say about unions? They'd make unions illegal if they could.

Besides, it's really not part of Spencer's job.

[Beefhammer]

I'm finding it a little hilarious reading back to some quotes from Phil Spencer about the Acti-Blizz lawsuits.

Phil Spencer said he and the gaming leadership team are “disturbed and deeply troubled by the horrific events and actions” and “evaluating all aspects of our relationship with Activision Blizzard and making ongoing proactive adjustments.”

Buying the company is certainly proactive, and a part of me likes the idea that Microsoft just spent 70 billion to force Kotick to clean up his shit.

Except it was reactive. Kotic came to MS with an offer to sell to them.