All I'm hoping for is that there is a WarCraft 4, and StarCraft 3, and they're not full of MTX.

VaranDragon wrote on Jan 19, 2022, 05:27:

Kxmode wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 21:41:
Perhaps they can do a Bethesda / Blizzard crossover RPG now.

Please God no. Just. No.

But the Metathirst is all the rage!

I misplaced my time machine crystal ball that keeps track of Wall Street gambling in the future.
Correction duly noted.

RedEye9 wrote on Jan 19, 2022, 11:29:
Microsoft negotiated a purchase price of $95/share. They didn’t do it expecting the share price to magically jump to $95.
That’s not how those things work.

Well, it might have if the deal time line was shorter. Assuming regulators don't step in and no one changes their minds, it will eventually rise to just under $95 just prior to the deal.

Microsoft negotiated a purchase price of $95/share. They didn’t do it expecting the share price to magically jump to $95.
That’s not how those things work.

bhcompy wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 20:40:

HorrorScope wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 20:14:
MS finds out all the talent has left the building already.

As always, media acquisitions these days are about intellectual property rights.

Microsoft will be acquiring or creating a film/television studio (once again) sometime in the future to compete with Apple and Sony. Sony's turning their gaming properties into valuable movie franchises and Apple is doing alright with Apple TV+. You don't spend the money on these acquisitions if you don't have plans to monetize them, and those plans probably have little to do with the dev studios or the talent in those studios

You are right, but they will also need to maintain the properties they have and make new releases and sure someone can make something, but not just anybody/team make something great. To make their money back they have to produce quality vs just owning them. I've been apart of several mergers at work, some work out and some don't.

Zenimax, continue with what you are doing, we'll have your back and done.

Acti-Blizz has had an exodus of talent leave or so we've been told, well that's different Zenimax didn't, you also want to buy that talent that makes those names. Probably one of many reasons Activision said adios, they know what they are dealing with internally (that's why some of our mergers failed, lot worse shape than realized. If they were going great, they most likely wouldn't sell.

This comment was edited on Jan 19, 2022, 11:41.

Kxmode wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 21:26:
ATVI traded at 65 a share before the announcement (down from the all-time peak of 103.81 on 2/12/21). Even after the announcement, it peaked at 86. But it nowhere got to 95 a share. I guess Microsoft sees something we don't.

I suspect it is more that offering a premium smooths the way for the acquisition. Knowing you're getting a good deal given ATVI's current stock price makes it much easier for shareholders to vote for the sale. The board is also more likely to vote in favor of the sale as they stand to make more money this way. (It also helps to get them away from the current ugliness with ATVI's corporate culture since the board is very chummy with Kotick.)

Even though I really dislike the guy, I have to give Bobby credit. He found a way to hit the eject button on his terms. I imagine that Microsoft will jettison him shortly after the deal closes but he got what he wanted.

Edit: The Wall Street Journal reports that Kotick will leave when the deal closes.

This comment was edited on Jan 19, 2022, 09:58.

Swat 5 here we come!

With the exception of Minecraft, the house of blue screen death, usually manages to run software products it buys into the ground. Could not happen to a better candidate than Activision. All MS cares about is console and mobile gaming, PC gaming is just a pain in the ass to them. Look for WOW to get way dumbed down so it can be played on mobiles. The rest of Activisions catalog is already far down the dumbing down road.

I imagine they have been courting Activision for some time, and that is why Kotick has had that smarmy smirk on his face through all the scandals.

Kxmode wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 21:41:

Perhaps they can do a Bethesda / Blizzard crossover RPG now.

Please God no. Just. No.

Kxmode wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 21:40:

bhcompy wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 20:40:

HorrorScope wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 20:14:
MS finds out all the talent has left the building already.

As always, media acquisitions these days are about intellectual property rights.

Microsoft will be acquiring or creating a film/television studio (once again) sometime in the future to compete with Apple and Sony. Sony's turning their gaming properties into valuable movie franchises and Apple is doing alright with Apple TV+. You don't spend the money on these acquisitions if you don't have plans to monetize them, and those plans probably have little to do with the dev studios or the talent in those studios

Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made. Spaceballs-the T-shirt, Spaceballs-the Coloring Book, Spaceballs-the Lunch box, Spaceballs-the Breakfast Cereal, Spaceballs-the Flame Thrower!

OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh!

Kxmode wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 21:41:
....
Perhaps they can do a Bethesda / Blizzard crossover RPG now.

Yes !, I would play to death a World of Tamriel, specially with a solo playing option.
( Like ESO. I enjoyed it so much, took 9 months of full tilt playing to finish in *2019*, and recently I bought all the new provinces since then to play in the future.)

One silver lining to all this is Microsoft has been keen to release exclusive titles on Steam. So we MIGHT see Blizzard's games on Steam too.

Sepharo wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 21:02:

bhcompy wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 20:40:

HorrorScope wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 20:14:
MS finds out all the talent has left the building already.

As always, media acquisitions these days are about intellectual property rights.

Microsoft will be acquiring or creating a film/television studio (once again) sometime in the future to compete with Apple and Sony. Sony's turning their gaming properties into valuable movie franchises and Apple is doing alright with Apple TV+. You don't spend the money on these acquisitions if you don't have plans to monetize them, and those plans probably have little to do with the dev studios or the talent in those studios

I feel like that's the opposite of the takes I've been hearing... They're trying to position themselves for the "metaverse" to compete with Facebook, Amazon, and Sony.
Need a lot of developer muscle under your umbrella to do ambitious stuff like create the virtual reality ecosystems you see in scifi movies. The stable of IPs is important in the short term... the giant giant corporation they acquired and all the infrastructure, talent, and sheer labor is the long term play.

Perhaps they can do a Bethesda / Blizzard crossover RPG now.

bhcompy wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 20:40:

HorrorScope wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 20:14:
MS finds out all the talent has left the building already.

As always, media acquisitions these days are about intellectual property rights.

Microsoft will be acquiring or creating a film/television studio (once again) sometime in the future to compete with Apple and Sony. Sony's turning their gaming properties into valuable movie franchises and Apple is doing alright with Apple TV+. You don't spend the money on these acquisitions if you don't have plans to monetize them, and those plans probably have little to do with the dev studios or the talent in those studios

Merchandising, merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made. Spaceballs-the T-shirt, Spaceballs-the Coloring Book, Spaceballs-the Lunch box, Spaceballs-the Breakfast Cereal, Spaceballs-the Flame Thrower!

ATVI traded at 65 a share before the announcement (down from the all-time peak of 103.81 on 2/12/21). Even after the announcement, it peaked at 86. But it nowhere got to 95 a share. I guess Microsoft sees something we don't.

bhcompy wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 20:40:

HorrorScope wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 20:14:
MS finds out all the talent has left the building already.

As always, media acquisitions these days are about intellectual property rights.

Microsoft will be acquiring or creating a film/television studio (once again) sometime in the future to compete with Apple and Sony. Sony's turning their gaming properties into valuable movie franchises and Apple is doing alright with Apple TV+. You don't spend the money on these acquisitions if you don't have plans to monetize them, and those plans probably have little to do with the dev studios or the talent in those studios

I feel like that's the opposite of the takes I've been hearing... They're trying to position themselves for the "metaverse" to compete with Facebook, Amazon, and Sony.
Need a lot of developer muscle under your umbrella to do ambitious stuff like create the virtual reality ecosystems you see in scifi movies. The stable of IPs is important in the short term... the giant giant corporation they acquired and all the infrastructure, talent, and sheer labor is the long term play.

HorrorScope wrote on Jan 18, 2022, 20:14:
MS finds out all the talent has left the building already.

As always, media acquisitions these days are about intellectual property rights.

Microsoft will be acquiring or creating a film/television studio (once again) sometime in the future to compete with Apple and Sony. Sony's turning their gaming properties into valuable movie franchises and Apple is doing alright with Apple TV+. You don't spend the money on these acquisitions if you don't have plans to monetize them, and those plans probably have little to do with the dev studios or the talent in those studios

MS finds out all the talent has left the building already.