Gaming Discussions

[darkmadcat1]

As a PC gamer, I'm always watching tech and gaming news. A big announcement today was that Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard. I think that this could be a big win for the Call of Duty community in the future (especially with the downturn of the game lately), but Activision Blizzard will be maintaining independence until 2023. What are your thoughts?

Reference: Welcoming the Incredible Teams and Legendary Franchises of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft Gaming -...

[elstaci]

At least all the future Games from Activision should be optimized for Windows OS since Microsoft will be owning that company.

Microsoft seems to have decided to expand its Market in the Gaming sector which should bring more profits for the company. Unfortunately it also will bring a lot of spam from Microsoft from those games they produce and market.

But Microsoft did make some good games in the past like the Mech games.

[darkmadcat1]

Oh to be back in the days of FASA again. I agree the Mech games were great!

I think Windows optimizations would be excellent, my thoughts on their buys are trying to make up for the original Xbox One and it's lack of games (it's a media center and you can't share games!). They are wanting to reclaim their gaming space as it once was, or they are great at disguising it as such. 

[Krizonar]

It's probably for the best. Most Blizzard games have been on a downturn to freefall in quality, and many, such as Starcraft, are left to rot. Microsoft Game Studios tends to take decent care of things it acquires. A lot of the problems the company faces are also work culture related in embarrassing ways, and with the Blizzard CEO set to leave as soon as this is done some articles seem to hint at, that may get fixed too. 

It will likely fix a lot of games, but also help a lot of people. That could be overly optimistic, but my thoughts.

[Robbert]

Given the turmoil at Activision Blizzard, investors most likely wanted to get out of the mess called Activision Blizzard. The move makes perfect sense from Microsoft's point of view, in the sense that they are now vying for the "Metaverse" type of world we are heading towards.

I'm somewhat surprised that AB was bought like that, as their line up of releases has somewhat slowed down, as compared to the early 2000s. However, games like CoD Warzone and WoW still pull in big numbers. Diablo still has a massive fanbase as well, not to forget NBA2K. 

Honestly, if Microsoft was in the market for such a company, EA would be a more interesting target in my opinion, in terms of "metaverse". Especially since every EA game now seems to have a built-in pay-to-win structure for the online part of their games. Also, EA has something bundled into the XBOX game pass as well.

Just my two cents on the matter.

[jamesp185]

Bungie was smart to escape from Activision!

[darkmadcat1]

Haha, they would have been owned by Microsoft again! I completely forgot about that, could have been interesting.

[morphinebear]

Downturn? Did they not grow even bigger after Warzone?

[darkmadcat1]

@morphinebear sorry I should clarify that the downturn I mentioned would be very recent. Yes, the popularity of CoD has grown quite a bit since Warzone was released, I would expect that there are many returning players and people that have never played any Call of Duty titles. I would argue that since the release of Caldera, the new Warzone map, there has been a decline. The release saw issues on all platforms, many of which still have yet to be resolved. Modern Warfare has been broken since Caldera, issues with crashing before, during and after matches, the inability to party with friends without a lobby dying, invisible player and environment models, the list goes on, several of these issues plague Warzone as well. This would be on top of the normal weapon balance issues that are to be expected.

Call of Duty has acknowledged these issues and is working on them, but it's been very rocky. Ref: https://twitter.com/CallofDuty/status/1481689396885790726

[Cyberburnout59]

Smart move by Microsoft. Focus on selling Gamepass Subscriptions over consoles. They lose money on consoles. With cloud gaming becoming a more common feature in GP you wont need a gaming ready PC or New Console to play all titles. Play on your phone or Browser. Microsoft is way ahead of the game. Sony sees the writting on the wall but was slow to react to Microsofts moves. This started years ago. 25 Million GP subs.. My mother even has a GPU sub. Can you say Winning?

as for COD/WZ I think this is great for them. Microsoft is known for how they allow developers to be themselves. Good move for Gaming. 

[SocratesGS]

I also think this was a smart move by MS. The recent events surrounding Blizzard / Activision has really brought down that company and this is probably the best way for the IP to be brought back into a positive light.

[Nagrenol]

Since activation took over blizzard everything about what made blizzard who they are started nose diving and then with Mike M leaving. I have friends who worked there and most of them left shortly after when the whole vibe of the place changed into super corporate mode etc etc

But look how far they have fallen, the state of Cali suing them.. the insane behavior that went on there.

Microsoft buying them is unsurprisingly with all this going on and really its just a get out of jail card for Kotick who'll swan off with his millions livin his best life.

[TheOutcastVirus]

I am hopeful for the future of Activision Blizzard. Microsoft usually does a good job of managing its game studios, and hopefully it will fix the toxic culture that is plaguing the studio. 

As a PC game pass subscriber, I am happy for their games to come to game pass (especially since the $60 price tag isn't worth some of the games they have been making recently, like COD: Vanguard). Also, it could mean more console exclusives coming to PC.

I am also somewhat worried that Microsoft to be forming a monopoly in the gaming market as a whole, but all we can do right now is watch tentatively.

[darkmadcat1]

I totally understand, Game Pass has been awesome on PC and Xbox, cloud gaming seems like it's fairly decent if you have a good internet connection. It is scary to see a corporation grab up studios, we have seen this happen and then soon after find that they shut down awesome talent, one big loss for me was LucasArts taken out with Disney purchasing Lucasfilm. 

Fortunately, Microsoft seems to be giving studios autonomy for now and hopefully this will keep up. I think they want to make a positive impact in gaming, it's at least the feeling I've gotten from Phil Spencer for a while now. But, as you said, all we can do is hope for the best and see what the future brings!

[ThunderBeaver]

Wow a long respected game developer breathing it's last breath.

I started PC gaming with the Dialo series and Starcraft 1. 

I just don't get how a company like Blizzard went from being great not only to the people who played their games but just decayed into utter collapse.

I just wonder if the main Blizzard Dev Team was ready for retirement and this was the best way they could get there.

Their company will be missed lets hope Microsoft doesn't ruin what they have received. 

[IcySilicon]

I don't really care for most of activision IPs TBH, but I really hope that microsoft won't let the diablo and starcraft franchise fall to obscurity. Also, if microsoft could bring back empire earth that would be cool. A remake of singularity would be nice too.

[dj4aces]

I have several thoughts...

a. First and foremost, there's the sexual abuse issue and investigation by the State of California. This is a huge elephant in the room, and the question on that front is how Microsoft is planning to address this.

b. Another elephant in the room would be that approval process. I imagine game companies like Ubisoft and EA will have a strong case against this acquisition.

c. One of the biggest things that made Blizzard so great, prior to Activision, is that they were largely free to just create. Once Activision got their hands on the company, it became less about creating and more about pleasing shareholders. All you have to do to see this is all t he microtransactions that have found their way into games like WoW, Hearthstone, and Overwatch. As someone who plays Blizzard titles, I'd love to see the dev team go back to creating without having to deal with shareholders.

If this is approved, and the transaction is completed, it'll certainly be interesting to see what happens. Does WoW get the console treatment? Does COD actually become a good game? Which games in this extensive catalog of titles gets ported to mobile? I suppose time will tell, but right now, there's some major hurdles to jump, and I hope Microsoft is prepared to jump them.

[elstaci]

If Microsoft doesn't have a monopoly type share of the Gaming Market, then the other  Developers/Gaming companies can't really do anything about it.

They would have to prove that by Microsoft acquiring Activision, Microsoft can stifle the competition from the other Gaming developers/Companies from the Gaming Market.

[dj4aces]

Yes. Exactly. Acquiring ActiBlizz is far bigger than their acquisition of, for example, Bethesda. I'd say it's entirely possible that it could do just that with other developers. However, it would be up to the other devs to prove, and the court to decide.

Besides, it's not like I'm the first to think of this particular issue. There are several articles out there that talk about the issue. While I'm not a lawyer, and I doubt any of the authors of those articles are lawyers, it could definitely be an issue.

[Chotch]

I'm hoping that Microsoft can bring back the "Blizzard polish" that used to be a thing in the early 2000's

[Key-J]

I find this to be super interesting, and I wonder how this is going to change the landscape of both Blizzard Titles, Call of Duty and PC Game Pass.

I haven't used Game Pass yet myself, although I have a number of friends that swear by it. Could I ask the community for their experience and recommendations?

If the Blizz Launcher is going to somehow be incorporated into the PC Game Pass it might be interesting for me to get it. Also, how does the cross-platform play work? I have a friend who is a sole Xbox player, and It would be fun to game with them again.

Thanks for any tips!

[Bagleman]

I can dream that they bought them to bring the blizzard IP's back to life. Hopefully blizzard will be somewhat separated from Activision moving forward and we can see gamepass and steam releases of their games.

I know deep down that this aquision was probably done with COD in mind.

BUT I CAN DREAM!

[KevinVan]

I think this is mainly so Microsoft can get more assets as things move toward the Metaverse. Between HoloLens and the Activision/Blizzard, it is in a good position. As far as the games are concerned, it can only get better. Blizzard was done once they were acquired by Activision, maybe they can start to be what they were before that merger now.

[digglesworth]

As a PC Gamer and an owner of an Xbox Series X, I'm excited to see how this acquisition goes.  I've been wanting to get back into WoW, but I didn't want to give Blizzard any money over the issues they were having with their staff.  I'm willing to do it now in the hope that Microsoft will make sure things are cleaned up appropriately.  I may even get back into play CoD....maybe.

[N0M4D]

Negative Nomad here, this could be the worst and best thing to have happened.  Clear house of the abusive misogynistic employees and culture  it could also mean they get bogged down in releasing titles.  Time will tell.  

[Loveslesson]

I'm not really a fan of Microsoft. My game consoles are Nintendo and PlayStation. As far as computer based software there are better choices than the offerings of Microsoft. However, with that said this is only my personal preference. It is based from a time that very few of you will remember and that is when the whole pc idea and the internet as well, were brand new. And seeing them screw up past acquisitions, games I don't even play anymore because of the corporations idea that their way is the best way.

Minecraft comes to mind.  I whole heartily embrace the ideas and actions of both seasoned and up and coming developers being able to build apps and add-ons for games because of the open source nature of the code they are written in. We always lose a lot of cool stuff when When Daddy Windows comes into the room. These guys have never been about tweaking their stuff or sharing kudos with those that can.

I can only hope (being a WoW player for the last 12 years) that Microsoft studios treats their remaining customers through the Activision-Blizzard acquisition with respect and gives them their monies worth. This is very sad news to me!

[THUNDERBIRDISBACK]

I honestly think this is a bad buy for Microsoft.  They have struggled with any new IP and their old IP doesn't exactly translate well to todays gamers.

Who knows 

[dancoe77]

I think it is probably good that Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard because it will give much needed stabilization to the company but I worry about Phil Spencer making drastic changes to the way the games are made ie cutting out Sony Playstation.  Also with this acquisition government regulators might be concerned that Microsoft is trying to get a monopoly on the MMORPG market since they will own two very big titles: ESO and WoW.  If it wasn't for FFXIV they would have a virtual monopoly.  Deep down I prefer Sony Playstation to and Xbox.  I obviously play more PC games for which I run Windows.

[Ezlin]

They need to remove Kotick. Until then it's just same stuff, different day and I'll continue to have no interest in the products regardless of which company logo is printed on them.

[blazek]

I grew up on Blizzard games, Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, etc. it's going to be really interesting to see how Microsoft games manages those universes. I'm expecting WoW 2, StarCraft 3 and Diablo MMO - hopefully!