Microsoft expected to finally buy Activision Blizzard next week

Sad times for everyone that still believed in antitrust.

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Honestly I'm okay with this one, but it's mostly because Activision Blizzard has great IP with some seriously awful management ... and Microsoft actually has been doing much better in that department for games.
- Yeah… In practice, every time a company gets anything that even slightly resembles a captured market, they stop investing in quality and starting shafting consumers.
  
  Make no mistake, that is Microsoft’s end game. And that’s why they’re buying Blizzard.
You still believed?
Trust = one or more independent organizations making secret agreements to mutual benefit.

Mergers: not a trust.

Monopoly = a single organization that controls an overwhelming amount of the market.

Microsoft buying a publisher that put out 2 games in 2023: not a monopoly.
- How many times do they have to buy that 2 game publisher before they reach a monopoly?
Meh. A competitive monopoly has a better outcome than the near monopoly PS4 got when it came to exclusives. Yeah a lot of existing IP will be for one or the other. But for third party studios, they will be much less likely to make exclusive games if the console market is more balanced between the two. Nintendo is kind of in a world of its own. And with the steam deck helping push PC into a base level standard, I think we might see some opening up of high quality third party stuff.

Activision Blizzard has become such a huge pile of disgusting shit that people are quite tempted to see what would happen if the devil Microsoft buys it.

What a time to be alive

Yeah, never thought I'd live the day to see it but here we are. Blizzard use to be the darling of all gamers, only one who did things right and released games when they were actually done. Then money hungry shitheads took over.
I'm just happy to potentially see Bobby Kotick, Ion Hazzikostas, Mike Ybarra, etc ousted.

Don't get me wrong. Fifteen years ago I would have flipped if Microsoft put in a bid to buy Vivendi and get their paws on Blizzard, after seeing how badly they ruined Rare. Activision tanked the brand so bad that I'm actually rooting for Microsoft.
- I don't think Kotick is at all certain to be kicked out. As easily as I can see MS letting him go with an enormous golden parachute, I can just as easily imagine them keeping him onboard because all they care about is Activision's ability to make money.
  
  In all likelihood Blizzard isn't going to be managed any differently. Microsoft's modus operandi with gaming acquisitions is to leave the leadership in place and let the dev/publisher run itself. Why is everyone expecting different here? The most likely outcome is MS does nothing to Blizzard and Blizzard continues on more or less the same trajectory as before.
Absolutely nothing.

Ugh, I hate these giant corporations gobbling each other up.

Now: "Don't worry! Call of Duty will remain on the Playstation! We have a 10-year agreement!"

Next week: "leaked: internal memo, Microsoft renaming to Call of Doods, to be Xbox exclusive"

Anyone who still cares about CoD to the point where this is a concern is probably not an adult.
- children are people, too.
- Over 1 million PlayStation users solely plays CoD on their system, and 6 million spend 70% of their time playing CoD. It also represented 1,5 billion dollar in revenue for PlayStation worldwide.
  
  Anyone dismissing CoD because "I'm an adult and too cool for Call of Duty" should really question how mature they actually are.
- The sad thing was that CoD Mobile was the last decent game in the series. Just think about that for a moment: a freaking cell phone game is better than any CoD title to come out on actual gaming systems in practically a decade.
- CoD is mostly an adult game because it was popular with kids back 10-15 years ago
  
  It’s Minecraft and Fortnite that kids play
- I agree that it's probably mostly children / teens that play those games, but I'm sure a non-insignificant portion of their player base is the type of person who is A-OK with listening to nothing but pop music.
  
  Nothing inherently wrong with that, but they are either afraid of trying something new or they aren't interested in discovering what they may end up enjoying more than the same derivative time-wasters.
Coming soon to a Microshaft GameBox™ near you!

Call of Dookie: Modern Shartfare™
Yep.

One good thing to come of this (hopefully) is the chance to clear the C Suite people from AKB. I hope all of the AKB employees get what they deserve, which is a new set of higher ups that aren't sexist dickbags.

That's true, tolerating sexual assault is one of the few things dangerous to them.
Why do you assume the higher-ups will be gone? Bethesda's C level seems unchanged
- Bethesda's C level doesn't threaten to seriously damage Microsoft's image. ActiBlizz's C level tolerated and encouraged sexual assault.
Those c suite folks are about to make mega bank. This liquidity event will let them cash out all their stock options. I have experienced it.
Exactly what I'm hoping for.
That's literally the only reason I'm supportive of this. Super mega corporate mergers are usually bad for consumers, but those fuckwits are so much worse.
AKB

What's that K for?
- King, who makes candy crush and other mobile games
- King

There goes the competition.

Can someone recommend a good indie game? Better spent money than feeding these vampires.

Factorio and Rimworld have kept me entertained several thousand houers each. Hands down the best value for money on steam. Even beat out free to play games ;)
- Haven't touched factorio but played Rimworld. If you value your time don't buy rimworld, it is the most addictive game I've ever played. It's a great game don't get me wrong but I don't think I've ever sat down and played it for less than 3 hrs. You just get sucked in like a void.
Factorio, Satisfacfory, Baldur's Gate 3, Noita, Cities:Skylines, Prison Architect, Rimworld, Overload (Descent clone), Mindustry...
If you like Diablo-likes, there's...

Grim Dawn (new expansion just announced)

Last Epoch

Warhammer 40k Inquisitor

Chronicon (simple graphics but solid gameplay)

PoE of course but I don't need a second job
- Grim Dawn absolutely smokes Diablo 3/4. The true successor to Diablo 2.
The competition! lol! Activision is going to put out 2 games this year. Whatever will we play now that these 2 games are owned by a platform holder?

You are correct though that there are a million cool ass games you can play right now and put your money in the pockets of people who make THINGS instead of people who make value for shareholders.
- Not to detract from your argument (I agree completely), but indie game devs not only make actual games, but they tend to pour passion into them rather than a formula.
Better spent money than feeding these vampires.

Just realizing corporations aren't your friends? Anyways, if you like hard, unique puzzle games, Baba Is You is the best there is, fullstop.
- I mean, if we're gonna namedrop completely unique indie darling difficult puzzles, then Return of the Obra Dinn also deserves a mention.
- I haven't bought a so called 3A game in several years but Blizzard was a part of my growing years.
  
  So, if I have to spend my money on a game, better to do it on someone worthy of it.
Baldur's Gate 3 is amazing
If you're into metroidvanias (platformers where you gain abilities over the course of the game, expanding gameplay and allowing you to access new areas in earlier zones) there are lots of really good indie titles. Hollow Knight is the reference, both Ori games are awesome. Dead Cells is also worth a try if you're into fast-paced action games, though it's more of a platformer rogue-lite.
Terraria is pretty fun
I've been loving BattleBit Remastered lately. It's cheap, fun as hell, and the very small dev team has been very active and responsive. I bought 3 more copies to give to friends so we could squad up.
Just your luck: Dome Keeper is on sale right now
Lies of P
If you like city building/survival style games I've been having an absolute blast with Timberborn
I've been playing delta V: Rings of Saturn recently
I'm really enjoying Valheim lately. It's similar to Minecraft in a lot of ways, but leans a little more into RPG elements with leveled skills. There's a bit more of a story, heavier focus on combat, and NPCs to interact with (though I haven't reached that point myself).
I've been playing a really fun indie spy deception game called Deceive Inc.
I just finished playing Cocoon. It was short-but-sweet - it took me two evenings to finish, so probably in the 5-7 hours range - but it was one of the most interesting and engaging puzzle games I've played in a long time. What's especially fascinating to me is that its controls are so simple - everything is done with one analogue stick / WASD and a single interact button - and it's a very linear game, yet it still feels so engaging to play. It's from the lead designer of Limbo and Inside, so it has pedigree.

I played it via Game Pass (ha...) so it's hard for me to say what the value proposition is like. It certainly isn't going to give you the most time for your money, and it doesn't really have much in the way of narrative or themes, at least beyond abstract ones. But it has a gorgeous aesthetic and some fantastic puzzles.
Dotage just released, it's a relaxing boardgame / city builder made by a single guy over the span of 9 years. It's very addicting in that "one more turn" way, if you're into these types of resource management games.
Hades, Into the Breach
Lies of p if youre into fromsoft like games
- And it's even on Game Pass! Oh, wait...
- Keep in mind that they added Denuvo to the game, apparently post-launch.
Sea of Stars is a pretty fun, especially if you're a fan of old school turn based jrpgs. Pretty decent story too.

I was done with Activision BEFORE Microsoft came along.

Not with a 100 foot pole. Get fukt Activision

Please I'm begging you just fire everyone who works at blizzard

The decisions made do not reflect what the developers want. Honestly, they've done a good job. Blizzard has just made them make shitty things. Technically they are good games, just not as an experience.
- Warcraft reforged barely even functions compared to the original game that they ruined. The whole company is trash from the top to the bottom.

Please bring back Overwatch 1 the very next day.

Halo Watch

It's fine, they already turned into shit.

Microsoft will make it worse but it's easy to avoid this stuff, unlike Github.

I'd argue GitHub is one of those project they didn't absolutely fuck up.
- yet

I know this isn't a popular opinion but I'm actually pretty optimistic about this. Blizzard has been shit for a while and this will at least change things, even if it might be for the worse. Also give me their entire catalogue on gamepass pls.

Blizzard’s only game worth playing is HOTS and it’s a prime candidate for being trimmed out

But I don’t expect this to improve the rest of Blizzard
- Diablo 4's foundation is pretty good in my opinion.

Cool, can WoW be part of my Gamepass sub now? Thanks.

You think they're spending billions to give away money??
- No, I think they're going to continue adding massive value to the Gamepass system to keep it afloat and competitive. Maybe a WoW sub is a bit of a stretch, but basically all other games will thrive on the platform. StarCraft 2 is still the benchmark RTS for competitive play. Overwatch and Diablo are not my cups of tea but they would also make great offerings on the platform. Most of Blizzard's core franchises outside of WoW itself are heavily MTX'd out the ass, battle passes, cosmetics, whatever - even if it's included in the gamepass sub, the theoretical higher volume of players will likely compensate for unit sales through the aforementioned MTX.
That's the only take from Xbox players about this merger that I can get behind.
This would be dope for all the WoWheads being adopted by MS (I'm one). If I'm bored with everything I just revert to WoW. If my subscription included Gamepass, I may be more inclined to check out titles I wouldn't otherwise play.
- It's funny that I lead with this because I had a minute to think about it and honestly I kind of just don't care. Dragonflight did not renew my hopes for retail, although it had some neat mechanic changes. Classic will be over for me probably by the end of January, unless they announce basically Classic+ based around the WOTLK talents. I am going to get my Shadowmourne, kill Arthas on heroic, and then go play FFXIV.

Will it then be MicrosoftActivisionBlizzatd?

Nah, it's an acquisition, not a merger
- So they'll just call it Microsoft. Got it.

I really do hope they get rid of Bobby.

I only care if MS makes blizz bring back OW1

Getting rid of Bobby Kotic would be priority number one if you ask me.
- The problem is, even if they get rid of bobby kotick, he still wins. He is going to walk a way with millions of dollars in a separation agreement.
Why do you want OW1 back?
- Because I paid for it

The logical question here is: will COD be in gamepass? otherwise what's the point of this takeover.

Starcraft 3 is the point
- Those devs already left. At best it would be a hollow shell of a game like aoe 4.
- Nah nah, StarCraft: Ghost is coming back. It’s just a matter of using the Gears of War engine & adding in StarCraft textures & models & SFX.
Candy Crash instead of blue screens.
I'm sure black ops 1-4 will definitely be a part of it!
You can bet your sweet ass CoD will be part of it. Possibly not MW3 but the next game will be a big day 1 game pass launch, guaranteed.
Maybe they'll make warzone no longer free to play but instead included in game pass as a means of recruiting more members.

Wonder if more blizzard games will end up on steam now?

With Diablo IV arriving soon, I wouldn't be surprised to see most, if not all of their games on Steam over the next few years.
- Just remember that with game pass growth, more attention will be put on the xbox ecosystem overall, including the xbox launcher & marketplace app. So I'm not sure games are more likely to go to Steam than before.

Will we finally see WoW on consoles?

It would be a dream but I doubt it. Too many macros required that only a keyboard can handle. Controller wouldn't be able to do all that.
- I mean, FFXIV has just as much and manages it.
- There is KB/M support on Xbox so it could be possible

The smallest of companies