![]() ![]() A similar, if not exactly the same, thing could happen with the recent acquisitions by Microsoft. It happened to movie studios in 1948 when the Supreme Court ruled that movie studios could not own movie theatres and therefore only play their own films or films starring the actors contracted by the studios. Antitrust laws exist in their neutered versions for a reason. Contrary to popular belief the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) still has the power to investigate and, if necessary, negate acquisitions such as these. What was once a six month long headache for Activision-Blizzard is now a years long headache for Microsoft.īut here’s the kicker: none of these latest big acquisitions are set in stone yet. But with this figurative gold mine comes unresolved law suits and a host of irate, fed-up staff who are more than willing to unionize. The biggest challenger to Call of Duty was Halo or Gears of War. With the acquisition of Call of Duty publisher Activision and all of the game’s development companies Microsoft has the AAA budget shooter locked down. Microsoft now own three of the biggest game franchises – Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Overwatch – in the world. An enormous amount of money certainly but it’s also an enormous consolidation within the industry and that’s without taking the Sony-Bungie deal into account. Microsoft paid $68.7 billion for Activision-Blizzard. Many others named in the lawsuit will likely follow him while their mostly female victims will have no such safety net and be left with a comparatively paltry sum should the lawsuit succeed as well as years of trauma to contend with. Activision-Blizzard’s CEO Bobby Kotick – the head of the snake so to speak – is due to leave the company on a golden parachute of $390 million once the acquisition is complete. It was a fair assessment that Microsoft would clear house when the Activision-Blizzard deal was finalized but it was never going to be the righteous delivery of justice it should be. More so what does this mean for the future of the games industry? One that is already dominated by three enormous conglomerates. ![]() So yes Microsoft and Sony have bought two of the most successful gaming companies in history but they have also bought their problems. They have also been stuck with labor misconduct and crunch issues since their very inception. Later the same month Sony bought Bungie, a company that had once held sway over the first person shooter market with the Halo series and later the live service Destiny games. In January of this year Microsoft bought Activision-Blizzard, owner of some of the most popular game franchises of all time and a publisher and studio collective deeply mired in workplace harassment and misconduct controversies. Although this time the shift is both cultural and financial. Not since GamerGate has the industry been forced to witness such a seismic shift. 2022 is already the biggest year for the games industry since 2014. ![]()
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