I think Microsoft will pull out of the deal to buy ActiBlizz

[khazmodan]

With games like Diablo Immortal doing more damage to the Blizzard reputation and the Call of Duty reputation going down the Guitar Hero path of over delivery of mediocre content, I think Microsoft will see a company gutted of talent and bleeding customers like the White Star line in 1912. With the recent news of losing 63 million players in one quarter and net revenue down 22 percent there will be questions and a nervous CEO that will think twice about spending 68 billion dollars on a company that is starting to look more like a dying cash cow.

[Santti]

Oh, hell no. Even if Diablo and Call of Duty would sink (I doubt it, D:I is going to milk people for years to come, I'm sure), they'd still get Candy Crush, and that's the money maker. Blizzard's launcher is another they really seem to want, I think.

I also have a feeling that backing out at this point would also cost Microsoft quite a bit.

[Orange Joe]

I think people who have no idea how these things work shouldn't speculate on what is going to happen

[s_bushido]

It's pretty adorable when people convince themselves that the "internet controversy of the week" matters in the slightest.

[Ripster42]

I also have a feeling that backing out at this point would also cost Microsoft quite a bit.

Unless blizz disclosed all their liabilities WRT workplace complaints, which doesn't seem likely, or MS waved their right for due diligence like musk, I'd be surprised if they couldn't pull the ripcord w/out paying blizz a dime.

I'm with you though, I think MS going to go ahead with it unless the SEC gives them the thumbs down, which doesn't seem real likely.

[KOUNTERPARTS]

With games like Diablo Immortal doing more damage to the Blizzard reputation and the Call of Duty reputation going down the Guitar Hero path of over delivery of mediocre content, I think Microsoft will see a company gutted of talent and bleeding customers like the White Star line in 1912. With the recent news of losing 63 million players in one quarter and net revenue down 22 percent there will be questions and a nervous CEO that will think twice about spending 68 billion dollars on a company that is starting to look more like a dying cash cow.

Thank goodness you are not in any relative position of power or authority within the hierarchy of any business… let alone Microsoft.

[Soulwind]

If anything, it'll make the purchase more likely. Microsoft doesn't want to be seen as an evil monopoly absorbing everyone's favourite gaming companies.

Them purchasing a tainted ActiBlizz and publicly cleaning its image, on the other hand, will make any future purchases easier and cheaper.

[Very Tired]

Hate to break this to you, but no amount of past forum whining or fanbase complaining has ever so much as budged Blizzard's stock, let alone affected major buyouts.

[Edge-]

With games like Diablo Immortal doing more damage to the Blizzard reputation.

Doesn't matter. Money does. Diablo remains an incredibly lucrative franchise, and Diablo: Immortal is likely already raking in the cash. Same with Call of Duty, even if it's contracted recently. Microsoft wants the IP's and the tech and the install base, all of which they will get no matter what ATVI proper's reputation is.

With the recent news of losing 63 million players in one quarter

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/85802...lip/index.html

Year* across all titles for Activision, Blizzard, and King, while still being at around 375M MAU's.

net revenue down 22 percent

For last year, where many companies revenues dropped as folks returned to "normal" life slowly.

The only thing that will stop this purchase is the FTC.

[ParanoiD84]

All that matters is how much money the games pull in sadly, quality not so much but perhaps we will no longer get garbage like reforged or expansions like bfa and shadowlands.

[Athorha]

Ragnarok is inevitable, the absurdity in spending so much money acquiring ip's will probably be fully realized with the flop that is micro-blizz in the coming decades. No doubt there'll be a few strings of expansive content which has mild success... it's pretty hard to not have success in video games when you have such an addiction / depressive marketing strategy, except when we all see the the necessity of micro transactions in order for micro blizz to make well on their investment, they'll be competing against studios with no such reliance and we'll realize firsthand how investing in the takeover of ip's creates a negative environment which forces lifelong fans against their favoured titles, while the next generation of gamers flock towards innovative studios backed by angel investors, more akin to the original fans of diablo and warcraft.

The time to turn the ship around was over 10 years ago, I think microsoft is too late for something fan friendly and while they'll probably make good on their investment by keeping such titles alive for a few more rounds, I think most are going to die under Microsofts mantle and they know this, they just want to milk out the last few bits of cash from their addicted, dieing fans. Who knows maybe when wow is dead and the cash shop is padding their pockets, they'll allocate that money towards buying out the next big studio and the cycle can begin anew, and then finally people can accept that selling out to the largest bidder is not for the best interests of the people buying the end product but the people looking to make a buck.

[Rennadrel]

I dunno, Activision and Blizzards current problems are due to shitty management and decisions being made that are anti-consumer. So long as gullible fools continue to give those companies money, it's not going to matter whether Microsoft buys them. MS is using the acquisition to get exclusivity rights to more franchises in order to push Sony out the door so they can be the top dog. So now there's a turf war between them to see who can acquire the most studios even though being able to buy games on whatever platform you like is better for consumer interests and sales volume potential than exclusivity. Either way, they don't give a damn about us.

[Unlimited Power]

With games like Diablo Immortal doing more damage to the Blizzard reputation and the Call of Duty reputation going down the Guitar Hero path of over delivery of mediocre content, I think Microsoft will see a company gutted of talent and bleeding customers like the White Star line in 1912. With the recent news of losing 63 million players in one quarter and net revenue down 22 percent there will be questions and a nervous CEO that will think twice about spending 68 billion dollars on a company that is starting to look more like a dying cash cow.

Diablo Immortal was never designed for the western market. It will make a shit ton of money in Asia and even within the western market, it'll still make an astounding amount of money.

If anything, the most valuable assets of ABK is King, the mobile games division.

Regardless, the very fact that Blizzard was announcing OW2 and Diablo IV at the Microsoft showcase already goes to show that they're publicly committed to the acquisition.

[Breccia]

With games like Diablo Immortal doing more damage to the Blizzard reputation--

Yeah, I'm going to stop you right there. We are talking about Microsoft here. A cash grab phone game isn't even a blip on their radar.