Q.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard dominated thinking in 2022. What’s your take? How well did Microsoft and Sony make their respective cases, will the deal go through, and what will it mean for the industry in the years ahead?
Dean Barrett, Bastion: I’m not sure it did ‘dominate thinking’ within most companies, for most there were bigger challenges in 2022 to ponder than the travails of a few mega corporations. Two questions come to mind though. Is it a deal that’s good for players – the people who fund our industry? Is it a deal that’s good for the people who work in these companies – the people who are the industry? Time will tell.
Alex Verrey, Embracer Freemode: Admittedly this was a huge announcement, even when acquisitions are becoming commonplace. This one is unusual if only for how it’s being played out in the public, something we rarely see with deals of such complexity.
Rana Rahman, Raptor PR: Neither of them made any friends. Sony in particular somehow managed to turn itself from a supremely dominant games industry brand to a panicky and plaintive one. I and pretty much everyone at Raptor plays CoD, but goodness me - it’s not that good. I think the deal will go through with some concessions and guarantees on the part of Microsoft.
James Kaye, Big Games Machine: The fascinating aspect was seeing two industry behemoths go to even greater lengths to explain how weak their businesses were. However, we expect regulators to see through the charade. In the end, we think the merger will scrape through and whilst we’re not fans of deeper industry consolidation, the evergreen nature of the indie scene combined with ever more powerful tools leave us optimistic that there’s plenty of fun still to be had.
Mike Hendrixen, Vertigo 6: We believe that the deal will go through. Microsoft will move
to the third place after the acquisition, Sony will still remain number one. Yes, MS will be getting more power, but we believe that this is actually good for the consumer. Microsoft is fully committed to cloud gaming and Game Pass, whereas Sony still aims for the traditional platform exclusives. Both strategies are great and leave something to choose for the consumer.
Julia Herd, Five in a Boat: The acquisition hasn’t yet been approved so it’s probably wise to take a cautious view on its potential impact. There’s been a lot of noise about it for sure, mostly around the fact that some of the largest IPs in gaming could end up being denied to players on platforms other than Xbox and PC. This kind of acquisition, if successful, will no doubt be the start of a domino effect of further buyouts. But we’re already seeing a number of independents being gobbled up by the likes of Embracer and others, and this is the nature of business. What we all have to hope is that deals such as these promote creativity rather than stifle it, and that the players are ultimately put first.
Stefano Petrullo, Renaissance: I believe ultimately it will go through and the market will respond accordingly: I do not see Microsoft crushing Sony if the deal goes through nor vice versa. We have Apple, Google, Amazon, and Nintendo within the whole mix so the scenery is complex and not as catastrophic as some people think it is. Looking at the history of our industry, we never truly had a single platform holder “owning” the market. It will never happen as, if it does, this would be the end of the industry as we know it: the meaning of this acquisition is massive because of the money involved, but I am not expecting an immediate massive power shift that will disadvantage the player.
“Microsoft is fully committed to cloud gaming and Game Pass, whereas Sony still aims for the traditional platform exclusives. Both
strategies are great.” Mike Hendrixen Vertigo 6
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