Here's what I think about Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard

[@spocklikegenre1524]

Finally, almost formed my own opinion there.

[@lordbandi9804]

Hahah. You wouldn’t want to do any of that dangerous thinking for yourself stuff.

[@boguinator]

golden comment

[@pyramidschemer4083]

We don't do that here

[@Andi91]

Man I‘ve been waiting all last week for this Video 😂

[@TheMaskedGames]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 laughed way too much at this

[@Sam-ve4tx]

In regards to this being a good or bad move for Microsoft, one thing I'd keep in mind is that Microsoft isn't a gaming company. It's a tech company. It has a massive $2.299 Trillion market cap. That's twice the size of Amazon's net worth. I repeat, **Microsoft is worth twice as much as the largest e-commerce company in the world.** Literally the only company in the world worth more atm is Apple. Microsoft just isn't playing the same ball game as the rest of the gaming industry. They can afford to take risks. They can afford to take relatively minor losses now to establish a foothold in the future. Brand-loyalty to ActiBlizz IP is already proven, despite long term mismanagement. Between Bethesda's IP, Blizzard's IP, and Halo, Microsoft will own some of the most successful, longstanding, and core franchises in gaming. With inflation and devaluation of the USD, market share is more important now than ever. Direct dollars don't translate to MAUs or success with a company as large as Microsoft. Even now, I'd bet the majority of WoW's recently-deceased playerbase would come flocking back if WoW actually became a good game again. Even a decade from now. While no one can predict the future, the risk to Microsoft with this move is low. But the long term potential payout is high. It'll be really hard to mismanage these new subsidiaries harder than they were already mismanaged. So the way I see it, they can only go up. Microsoft is the definition of a company that's too big to fail.

[@deluxsound123]

Apple is NOT worth more

[@JewTube001]

@@deluxsound123 you measuring by equity or something?

[@gamerforlife3946]

@@deluxsound123 Dude Apple sells more and is better in OS. Did you even see their new hardware? It actually makes intel look very bad lol

[@kloeft]

I think the most important thing to note is, that they might be more interested in some of the technology that Activision is in control over, more than the IP's. We know many game corps are building smart matchmaking systems to fuel the microtransactions, and maybe some of those are more valuable than we understand. They may even have far broader use than videogames.

[@darkpaladin9051]

Microsoft did this aquistion with cash on hand. Immediate ROI is not a priority with a company this size. They are more concerned about growing gamepass and getting a foothold in the mobile gaming market.

[@scottnisbet6455]

What an incredible job Austin. To be able to get all these videos out in the same week and edited to such a high standard is amazing. Great job!

[@MajorasLullaby]

Thanks man appreciate it!

[@XPSGames]

@@MajorasLullaby How do we know you're Austin and not Donkey Kong the video game phenomenom?

[@SloRush]

@@XPSGames just a troll I guess.

[@JaydevRaol]

True

[@maxmustermann-zx9yq]

exept "star craft 2 is dead", like did he even check player count? it's about 250k dayly players for MP and the same for Coop, finding a match is still quick, the E-Sports scene is still big and still had a lot young newcomers in the last years that mixed up the meta and dominated the only "dead" part is that blizzards announced that they dont plan on producing more balance patches, although SC2 might be the most balanced asymmitrical game (due to getting years of balancing with learning from bad patches and listening to the pro scene), new maps with new features are still being released

[@obyone878]

Microsoft went out of their way to bring back Age of Empires. I think Starcraft is definitely a priority for them. RTS games do bring in a lot of streaming views, and competitions.

[@Electru522]

Not to mention that Warhammer 3 is generating quite a bit of buzz right now. RTS games are niche, but probably not as niche as Ralph thinks. For example, a revival of Starcraft will make alot of people extremely happy.

[@slothschewgum]

@@Electru522 Starcraft and RTS’s are what got a lot of people i know who don’t usually play video games into video games in general I can see a lot of them coming back and grabbing a console if they could play a nice competitive rts on it

[@vjbd2757]

Warcraft 4 and Starcraft 3. Bring back my late 1990's early 2000's gaming session bad.

[@Deadsea_1993]

Dota 2 by Valve is massively popular on streams worldwide. This is a good market for Microsoft to sustain.

[@ThanhLe-ti8nx]

They put Starcraft on the front page, so I'm interested in what plan they have in the future. Starcraft 2 is still one of the best if not the best RTS on the market right now with a high variety of quality game mode. P/S: Warcraft is not mentioned at all

[@Fernando-ek8jp]

The Netflix analogy is kinda apt, but I think it misses a few key details. First, there are already other services which came first, have decent value, but didn't set the world on fire: Google Play Pass Apple Arcade EA Play Second, one of the main reasons as to why Netflix has been losing ground and things have been fragmented is that they didn't really own any IP. Microsoft's gamepass includes ea play, a ton of other games and now they have their own massive properties that they can put on the service. Kinda like how Disney+ has been able to gain a lot of market share just from first party stuff

[@cyphus5]

Well, Netflix is a really bad example in the industry. First, their stock price (and that means their available capital, as well) is highly inflated. They are the TESLA of the entertainment industry. They are not worth what they are traded at and practically never have been. They've almost always over-produced their content and budgets, and don't meet expectations once the sharks on the water (competition). Plus, games can always be made or secured for much cheaper than film rights by small dev teams. You can make Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and King's Quest with minimal voice acting / no voice acting and Unity if you absolutely needed.

[@AklyonX]

Google Play and Apple Arcade are poor examples, because you don't have a reason to play lots of different mobile games. The market is chock full of shitty clones, you find the ones that are good (after deciding whether gacha is acceptable or not), perhaps play them on break on on a bus, and then don't bother with the app store unless a friend recommends something because both are a hassle to find anything worth downloading in.

[@sliphere011]

If they put all the old CoDs on game pass... Im gonna get game pass. The fact that the ancient games were still $30 bucks was ridiculous. I just wanted to play the old campaigns.

[@Mayorofsexytown1303]

Im not huge on CoD but have always enjoyed playing through the campaigns. There are so many i have missed because i don't want to spend $30 on a 7 year old campaign. Excited to run through all the ones i missed.

[@NerdRageRyan]

I didn’t even think about that, nice! Would love to play WaW and MW2 again

[@massivive]

not sure if DLC is ever included in gamepass games but if people could pick up waw or bo1 and play the zombies mode via gamepass it would be pretty sweet, I know for sure I could convince a bunch of friends to return to it.

[@HenzoStar-]

Game pass is already best deal in gaming without cod, it'll get better and better

[@sillyredsheep2421]

I think Black Ops 3 is still $60. That game came out a little over 6 years ago. It's insane that they never dropped prices and at most would only drop to $20-30.

[@slimjunkin4635]

Even though CoD Vamgard did not sell as good as the last 2 games, it still is one of the top selling games this last year. Call of Duty is kind of like sports games in the sense that there are tons of people who just buy it without thinking even if there aren't too many changes from last year's release

[@mota2028]

But that mindless consuming is the center of the issue is it not?

[@MrGamelover23]

@@mota2028 I mean it's got different maps and different campaigns, it's not like a sports game where it's literally the same sport on the same field every year. So they actually are different every year.

[@MrGamelover23]

So a different campaign with different maps isn't that much different?

[@miragebarrage9748]

@@MrGamelover23 shhhh stop making valid arguments! Activision bad!!! 😡😡

[@MrGamelover23]

@@miragebarrage9748 I mean they're morally bankrupt so yeah, they're bad. But "cod is the same game every year" why do you think they're buying it? For new maps and campaign with similar gameplay.

[@AJrainAway]

The only thing I thought to myself when this acquisition happened was: better that Microsoft have Activision than tencent.

[@o00nemesis00o]

That's true but the CCP have started succumbing to China Reclusion Syndrome. They're clamping down on their own citizens gaming.

[@_Lumiere_]

@VaderxG wumao moment

[@Mmlujan]

@VaderxG wtf are you talking about. Xenophobia is the least amount of the issue with Tencent. It has everything to do with the fact that they are part of the CCP and are controlled by them. And yes Tencent has straight ganked ideas from other companies. They also add spyware and other things. I don’t want them to own anything else

[@ShatteredGlass916]

@VaderxG i don't support the xenophobe, but honestly, can you blame the "China hate"? China have been a leading on almost everything, technology, manufacturing, etc. China is also politically powerful enough to influence countries around them, mainly SEA, to the point of allowing them to have some "Red Carpet"-treatment of sorts. Basically, China is really REALLY powerful Now imagine looking at such a goliath, and adding that China's super controlling communist image. Ofc, people would terrified. And ofc, this will bleed to every other aspects of China, from the people to their company.

[@dazdealz4648]

Yeah cause we really need another Massive company Monopolizing more smaller companies. What could go wrong

[@Matt-og6cm]

This channel really sets the bar for quality when it comes to gaming news and reviews. Thank you for all the hard work!

[@Galero15]

How? He's had several brain dead takes in this video alone

[@omarsabir1210]

@@Galero15 like what?

[@michaellee4463]

@@omarsabir1210 Bro still hasn't answered 🤣

[@johnkelle5391]

I think this is just a hedge against inflation. You'll see many companies move away from cash surpluses to hard-assets. Microsoft doesn't need to make all this money back, they just need to make more per year than that money was making sitting in their coffers. (That cash would become devalued in an inflation event)

[@PsychadelicoDuck]

Technically, they didn't lose a cent on the deal. There's a concept in accounting called "goodwill", which in theory represents all the intangible assets that a company has, such as customer loyalty, but in practice tends to be used as rug to sweep overpricing under. Because of it, it is literally impossible for a company to lose on-the-books value in acquiring another company, until such a time as the goodwill amortizes (decays), which by convention takes ten years.

[@JewTube001]

after all, cash is trash

[@zenithmentrada2231]

@@PsychadelicoDuck it's disgusting that monetary concept is named after a moral one.

[@PsychadelicoDuck]

@@zenithmentrada2231 As near as I can tell, the original concept was named that because it was _supposed_ to represent the moral concept in an economic space. It's just that, like everything unfettered capitalism touches, unbridled greed and optimization for "line goes up" mutated it into a monstrous tool for self-delusion and deception.

[@sgtspoon2313]

Imagine more details coming out an hour after this video comes out That is quality

[@MrGamelover23]

Please don't tell me that actually happened.

[@ninakore]

That would be comedy gold

[@giampaolomannucci8281]

what details!?

[@yellow90flash59]

in live: sony has bought square enix. Edit: /s

[@Venomx-nb1jr]

@@yellow90flash59 ehh they’ve been sleeping together for like 20 years is that even news?

[@tylarizard]

The US economy is teetering on the edge of hyperinflation combined with all the signals of an upcoming crash--any businesses shouldn't be sitting on cash if they don't see their core revenue's being hindered in any drastic way. Spending all that money for all those studios and IP is probably one of the best deals in gaming, with Bethesda being the second.

[@magellan124]

Because then you get an asset that produces something. Cash doesn’t. With the CPI being at almost zero for a decade or so and the fed funds rate also at 0 money has been free. That is no longer the case. I expect more companies to offload cash from their balance sheets as it loses value.

[@persepolis4836]

Cash gains value when the interest rate goes up and equities lose value. You’ve got it absolutely backwards.

[@magellan124]

@@persepolis4836 sorry maybe I phrased that funny. Cash only gains value in a deflationary environment, period, completely interest rate agnostic. Interest rates at zero make money effectively free. ie. you borrow from your future self at no cost.

[@pyramidschemer4083]

This is the right answer, having 130 billion dollars as cash in hand Microsoft wanted to get those assets up

[@hotdognl70]

Just wondering: If companies are paying a 45% premium for a take over, will that do the inflation any good at all? Got a feeling it is kind of boosting inflation and only good for short term growth instead of long term when looking at economy in general. Tl;dr: This deal = good for MS short term, bad for economy in general and consumers.

[@CHEFPKR]

Game Pass is the absolute Long Game play from Microsoft/Xbox. I can see a world where everything from them is Game Pass first, hard/digital copies second.

[@stefanhatcher6486]

Microsoft are scum and trying to get people to not own their games.

[@Alex-vf8ww]

@cablecow15 sony literally clsoed down 3 psn stores this summer

[@CHEFPKR]

I own the majority of my games on steam and that could be shut down at whatever point. Unfortunately, "owning" games is going to be a thing of the past in the next few generations.

[@graye2799]

@@CHEFPKR people like you are the prime example of "own nothing and be happy" only youll be miserable when all those games are cut off from you. There are still stores like GOG that sell their games drm free.

[@im_lost9355]

i hope hard copies dont die,its way more satisfying to go to a store and buy the box and disk of the game,adding it to your shelf,and showing off to your friends your big collection is.I like that better than just buying digital stuff

[@SwayNoir]

14:25 - While you can look at WoW's subscriber numbers as an indication of how popular the game is, it's not really an indication of the amount of money it generates these days. The amount of money brought in by the in-game cash shop is staggering, so much so that Blizzard has at times had record quarterly profits from WoW despite losing over a million subscribers.

[@patrickschnur9625]

Have you got any links to back this up?

[@Diegoshadow85]

@@patrickschnur9625 Do you have a source on that? Source? A source. I need a source. Sorry, I mean I need a source that explicitly states your argument. This is just tangential to the discussion. No, you can't make inferences and observations from the sources you've gathered. Any additional comments from you MUST be a subset of the information from the sources you've gathered. You can't make normative statements from empirical evidence. Do you have a degree in that field? A college degree? In that field? Then your arguments are invalid. No, it doesn't matter how close those data points are correlated. Correlation does not equal causation. Correlation does not equal causation. CORRELATION. DOES. NOT. EQUAL. CAUSATION. You still haven't provided me a valid source yet. Nope, still haven't. I just looked through all 308 pages of your user history, figures I'm debating a glormpf supporter. A moron.

[@Overphased]

@@Diegoshadow85 I fucking love this copy pasta

[@andreatassio]

@@patrickschnur9625 Their quarterly earnings reports are up on their site. You can check it really easily. In fact, by their own admission, they say WoW is their biggest franchise. (Q3 2021) In a year blizz brings in 1.8 billion dollars. If Wow is their biggest franchise, it is not far fertched to think that it brings around 900 million - 1 billion every year. And to be honest. what else brings profit to bliz specifically? Hearthstone is big. But they don't really have a healthy roster of IPs anymore, this is not 2016. IMHO the only way they can make that much money is with WoW and hearthstone carrying most of the weight. And when I say most, I mean something like, 80% combined.

[@MrJagermeister]

Really well thought out here and explains a lot of what I’ve been arguing on the internet the past few days (as a multiplatform console owner that has owned every generation of XBOX and Playstation and Nintendo). This deal won’t mean I lose out on any games, but I’m not in favor of it for so many of the reasons you mentioned. So many people are celebrating on the XBOX subreddit like this deal creates new games they didn’t have access to already. Imagine if MS spent $70+ billion on new studios, new IP, promoting new talent, expanding output to 2-3 games instead of 1 per studio, and bringing more third party games to GamePass on day one? A net positive output of new games for the industry that grows it instead of restricting where you can play them. This feels like the equivalent of XBOX taking the ball home so no one else can play with it after severely mismanaging their own exclusive game market for an entire generation and launching their new generation of console without a SINGLE AAA game despite knowing for 7+ years after the launch of the XBOX One that they’d eventually make another console. I’m a fan of GamePass and am paid up for 3 years on it, and that’s great… but it’s a function of Sony kicking their ass for a generation. Same with backwards compatibility, support for Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, VRR, AutoHDR, Quick Resume, Smart Delivery, etc. They didn’t have the exclusive games to compete so they were forced to innovate with what they had. We’re where we are because of generations of consoles from companies that lived or died getting us here, and it’s their competition that bred innovation. Having more studios under one roof creates less innovation in a lot of ways. It promotes bringing a shitty moneymaking tactic from one game to all your other IP, like the Ubisoft-ing of your catalogue. If Sony had hypothetically bought Bethesda or Activision/Blizzard, I’d have said the exact same thing. And for all the Sony fans wanting them to go out and buy a ton of studios, I hope they don’t. Strong third party studios are important. Competition is important. Aside from that, I’ll not lose out on any games because I don’t limit where I can play games due to some weird loyalty to a plastic box or a corporation that doesn’t know who I am. I WILL miss the opportunity for all of those IP from the acquired studios that will never make a game for the PSVR2, and am increasingly frustrated that XBOX has no apparent interest in bringing their own headset or supporting a Quest2 via PC link to their console. Maybe the MetaVerse talk is promising in that regard. I’m happy for the employees that win in this deal and sad for those that don’t. And F*** Bobby Kotick. He needs to go long before 2023. Maybe we’ll find more secrets he’s been trying to keep hidden before the deal is done and he can be terminated for cause.

[@abdullahahmad4239]

This has always been a moronic comment. MS can do both. It can buy and support/make new studios/games/IPs. And Microsoft is doing exactly that. Studios like Compulsion game,InXile, Undead labs all moved to new larger,studios and hired more people to their teams. Undead opened a new studio just for UE5. Ninja theory has a new R&D studio to research on mental health.Obsidian(a studio that historically couldn't even get one game out properly ) now has multiple games at the same time. From making sequels to new games in their old series to literally being allowed to make a passion project. Obsidian is thriving.

[@MrJagermeister]

@@abdullahahmad4239 With respect, I was there for the XBOX One generation. They not only didn’t have anywhere near the amount or quality of exclusive titles that they did in the 360 era, but they failed to have ANY games launch alongside the XB1X (which I’ll forgive as it’s a mid-generation refresh)… but having 7 years to plan for the release of their next-gen XSX/XSS consoles and then failing to have games to release with it outside of Halo (which was then delayed for a year) is just gross mismanagement of their studios. At least in buying fully functioning studios and taking a hands off approach, they’ll have exclusives that would have been multi-platform games that are now exclusives by virtue of having bought the company, but I wish they hadn’t. They didn’t invest $70 billion in their existing studios and creation of new studios - they spent $70 billion to rectify their problem of squandering an entire generation and not having created anywhere near the new IP in that time they should have. I’ll leave the math to you of how much they’ve spent on each of the things you listed but I’ll skip to the answer for you - it’s far short of $70 billion (and Ninja Theory was already working in the mental health space and Project Insight isn’t a game-making studio, though I’m happy to see them work on it as a big fan of Hellblade when it first released on the Playstation). Compulsion, InXile, Undead all good moves re: games. And as I said, they could have done both there too, by growing their own and then securing day one GamePass exclusives from other companies without consolidating so many third party developers under one roof. I’ll say again I didn’t support this purchase, I don’t support the MS fans calling for more and more studios to be gobbled up, just as I don’t support Sony buying any in return (at least their purchases tend to be studios they already had a nearly exclusive working relationship with, and with Bungie their first move is to announce that future games they’re working on won’t be made exclusive to Playstation, though I’d prefer they not have acquired Bungie). MS didn’t grow a net positive of $70 billion worth of studios and games/IP, they *bought existing ones* and (outside of Call of Duty) will just remove any future output from those studios from Nintendo and Sony platforms as a cheap way of creating exclusives (just as they’re already doing with Bethesda’s games). It might feel good as an XBOX/PC only gamer who has been starved for exclusives, but as someone that buys all platforms, I don’t see it as being good for games or gamers overall. It’s a content grab to grow GamePass and their dreams of becoming the Netflix of gaming, and then jack the price of that up. And it will likely result in games not making anywhere near the money they did for those studios due to their not being available on other platforms and XBOX/PC gamers already purchasing or intending to purchase less titles due to GamePass. Where people once spent $60 a month or much more, they now just pay their GamePass fee and that brings less money into the industry as well. They’ll all have to fight for a piece of the GamePass pie, where we’ll eventually get filler games and will see the results of this, where games might be shorter, or ship without a single player campaign when they normally would have, or a co-op or Forge mode (like Halo did - MS’s flagship game after a year of delays). What no one wans to talk about, is that developers will likely end up forced to look for other ways to monetize their games due to the lack of purchases, and as a result we’ll see more microtransactions, battle passes, season passes, XP boosters, map/collectible reveals, cosmetic outfits/backgrounds/colors, loot boxes, NFT’s, and whatever other shitty money making technique that works in one game getting passed on from studio to studio and IP to IP until every game has it like the Ubisoft’ing of GamePass. And if you don’t think GamePass will have any kind of effect on the gaming industry like that, I’d love to meet back here in ten years and review. It would be foolish to assume that it won’t change the industry in HUGE ways with at least some of them not being positive changes. It’s a fantastic service for us, right now, for this price. Like a drug dealer getting you hooked. But I worry about it’s long term effects on the industry and how developers will be compensated for their work (will every game be paid by the same rate to make it fair? Will it be by downloads? Playtime? Or will the big names suck up most of the operating budget, leaving a lot of smaller “filler” titles battling out for scraps?) And yes, I’m excited for Fable, and to see what the studios that MS invested in will do now that they have more cash to do so. *I wish we’d have seen the industry grow by $70 billion, not chopped up and made exclusive from previously multiplatform releases*. Again, it won’t affect me - I’m paid up on GamePass for 3 years. But as I mentioned, I’ll damn sure miss the possibility of these studios making a VR game anytime soon, or supporting a DualSense-like controller. $70 billion spent and MS could have spent a fraction of that to make a better version of the DualSense with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers to improve the quality of the gaming experience in that way too for the player base on XBOX/PC. It’s made every game that I’ve played with it better; I sure would love to play Forza Horizon, Gears, Halo, Fable, etc. with a similar controller and VR support that they could have set up for a tiny sliver of a $70 billion purchase. Long story short, I wish they had spent the vast majority of $70 billion growing the industry and they could have secured tons of day one GamePass timed exclusives for a few paltry billion for an entire console generation without gobbling up massive third party publishers and developers as a way to cover up their gross mismanagement of an entire console generation that resulted in a drought of exclusives and the launch of the XSX/XSS without a single exclusive AAA game. It feels like the kind of thing you can do when you’re flush with money to cover up your last-gen mistakes, which is disappointing because they could have spent a fraction of that money last gen too, to prevent them from getting in this position in the first place. As an XBOX gamer, I’m hoping for the best with this, but as a gamer of every console generation dating back to the Atari and ColecoVision, I don’t love this.

[@TheRafark]

Ok ps fan boy

[@MrJagermeister]

@@TheRafark I’ve owned every generation of XBOX, Playstation, Nintendo, and SEGA. I’m a fan of games, not plastic boxes or corporations - I don’t limit myself to where I can play games by skipping out on entire platforms. I was lucky to find both an XSX and PS5. And as I said, I wouldn’t be in favor of Sony buying up any huge third party publishers either.

[@jestersheepy511]

One thing to keep in mind, Microsoft is more concerned about player reach than it is money, they won't be thinking 'how do we make our money back' but more like 'how do we develop our ecosystem to maintain and keep 300million people invested in our services'. The money will come later.

[@sina_sadeghi]

That's not how business works, corporates need Investors and investors will eventually ask for their money and their profit. Also, Microsoft is planning on using ABK to jump on the NFT wagon. In business gaming and gamers don't worth 69 billion dollars.

[@jestersheepy511]

@@sina_sadeghi investors don't ask for money... Investors have shares based of company worth. Microsoft having cash to hand for acquisitions is actually very appealing to investors, and they still have another 70bil cash on hand. Money is the least of Microsoft's issues, it's all about growth and the future business model.

[@prodj.mixapeofficial6431]

@@sina_sadeghi "eventually ask for the money" kid, it's not like asking money from ur mom. Holders will be given timeline, and they follow that. Thus, the plan is future proof if they approve including Satya for this acquisition. It means, they were seeing the future.

[@whothou9154]

@@sina_sadeghi you clearly have an outdated or small company mindset of how a business operates. Trillion dollar companies depending on what they do function on a separate set of principles.

[@mspoints4fre123]

Exactly. That's why they essentially gave away the new Halo for free with their $1 game pass trial.

[@RyuDaBurninator]

Skill Up If you haven't already, I recommend checking out the game Singularity from 2010. It was made by Raven Software. I absolutely loved that game. It had a unique time manipulation hook that the FPS genre wouldn't see again until 2016's Titanfall 2. Its truly a shame considering these days Raven Software has been reduced to a CoD dispenser. Activision, like EA buys developers and bleeds them dry of any sort of innovation. I hope with this Microsoft acquisition they save some of these studios and empower them to create again.

[@joeygang4136]

I miss games like this. Singularity, TimeShift, Dark Sector, Hellgate London, Prototype, The Darkness, Resistance. Those were great Games.

[@HueyTheDoctor]

I feel like everyone played Singularity? I played the hell out of it. Civvie11 did a vid on it. It's awesome.

[@francisoffilth7953]

Lol what studio has Microsoft ever empowered and made better? All i see is the same as EA or activision. They buy studios and destroy them essentially

[@RyuDaBurninator]

@@francisoffilth7953 I did say "I hope". Lol

[@francisoffilth7953]

@@RyuDaBurninator honestly so do I. I have just lost so much faith in this industry

[@WeddingFilmCoach]

LOVE how this video is not sponsored. It wouldn’t have bothered me if it was, and I hope it’s monetized for Skill Ups benefit (one of the best in the industry). But it shows how in tune he is with not only the industry, but more importantly, us, the players. Appreciate your class Skill Up.

[@wolfhrt21]

True, I appreciate that this comes from and informed fan's viewpoint as opposed to say IGN or such.

[@adman4t]

Reuploads video : This video is sponsored by Shillshare

[@MyNameIsSalo]

why the hell does it matter if its sponsored..? Its a game news talk show, an extension of his weekly upload, every news show in the world has income one way or another (sponsor, ads etc).

[@WeddingFilmCoach]

@@MyNameIsSalo just something I noticed. And assumed it was an intentional decision. I wouldn’t have thought any less of the content if it was sponsored.

[@wolfhrt21]

@@MyNameIsSalo Sponsored content is usually skewed and forced. It's like when streamers get sponsored by Ubisoft to stream themselves playing an AC game with a forced "This is best game ever!" attitude. Not being directly sponsored just means they can talk more openly about the content, at least to me.

[@vodkavecz]

The Age of Empires franchise did really well recently. I wonder if that'd spark Microsoft to properly revitalize Starcraft and Warcraft.

[@cyphus5]

I would definitely jump back into Warcraft or Starcraft!

[@gencoserpen1260]

AoE4 did well but it was severely dumbed down to appeal to a broader market (the skill ceiling for micro is very low, archers never miss, etc). The Starcraft community is more hardcore than the AoE community, if they dumbed down SC3 to that extent everybody would be out with their pitchforks and the game would be dead on arrival.

[@vodkavecz]

@@gencoserpen1260 It still must be pretty good if Grubby enjoys it (former Warcraft 3 and Starcraft 2 pro). He moved to streaming AoE4 primarily.

[@Wulfbaine1]

Maybe they could actually fix Reforged, and bring back all the same support for Bnet custom maps. That would make every single Warcraft fan happy I think. Should have been done that way in the first place

[@AklyonX]

@@Wulfbaine1 Better to just dump Reforged and make a new remaster if they wanted to sell one for warcraft, it would distance them from the blizzard mistake and still make people happy.

[@ChrisLee-sycly]

I think you're overly concerned about MS 'getting their money back' on this acquisition. MS is sitting on so much cash that's devaluing every day. They literally threw cash at an opportunity to purchase some of the most beloved IP's in the gaming industry, and some of the best talent there is in terms of not just game development but in multiplayer infrastructure which MS will seamlessly absorb in their push to build out their own metaverse. They are betting that gaming is going to be even bigger than it is currently, much bigger. They are the best positioned of companies right now to benefit handsomely if they are proven right.

[@mravg79]

I believe that with Phil getting his new position what was is CEO Microsoft Gaming (or something) MS showed they want to add gaming to be a part of their core business.

[@fernandofaria2872]

Yeah, lol, Microsoft is a trillion dollar company, they´ll be fine xD

[@mravg79]

@@fernandofaria2872 there is nothing like too big to fail. But this does not change the fact I believe MS will be just fine. Some people analyzing this situation in the comments tend to forget that with such purchases it is not about the shortest ROI, this is a long term investment. Example Embracer Group (previously THQ Nordic) is buying a lot this is to increase their value they will not see the return in short term. Other companies are simply buying smaller companies which are competitors, some other tech companies are just buying others for the patents so these will not end up in competitors hands. Here the amount is huge and this is the only difference between deals we were witnessing over the years (example EA and their graveyard of studios they bought, they sit on ton of IPs they do nothing about). How this will impact the market? Only time will tell.

[@Xyler94]

@@mravg79 I'm not worried about MS at all. "Too big to fall" in Microsoft's case would mean the Cloud platform they built is crashing down. Microsoft's money maker, what makes investors happy, is not gaming. Gaming is simply an add-on to Microsoft. If Xbox were to fail completely tomorrow, they'd be 100% fine, I doubt their stock would even budge...

[@mravg79]

@@Xyler94 I believe that with this investment and Phil getting new title MS wants to make gaming part of their core business. Everyone wants to have w piece of pie called gaming, but MS is ahead of other companies who never had a gaming division. The story of Xbox documentary shows that there were people who convinced back then Bill Gates that this market is worth investing in and they were right if you look how gaming industry grew in past 20 years. I believe MS will be fine for foreseeable future. But this does not change my previous statement there were number of companies people said to big to fail and they did. A combo of a few big bad decisions might cause trouble.

[@TheOldest]

The first thing I thought with this acquisition was, "if they can bring WoW and StarCraft to console this will be incredible." Second was "Finally Raven Software can return to making something that's not CoD again," maybe even get Wolverine Origins put on backcompat along with other Activision titles that haven't been moved yet.

[@qu1253]

Heretic / Hexen reboot?

[@adamdevo7179]

@@qu1253 yes!

[@MrGamelover23]

I think they officially canceled the back compat program. It's over.

[@newtonslore]

Wow to console... Zzzzzzz

[@StillWeRide]

Starcraft is just not a console game. It really belongs on PC

[@TimeManInJail]

It's not about the games themselves, Microsoft want more ground in the gaming space. Like you said it's more important that everything you do is part of the ecosystem. Hopefully the residual effect are that studio get more fund and freedom. It's more about expanding otherwise even Microsoft will stagnant which is death for any conglomerate

[@jasonsmith6658]

Exactly Microsoft makes so much money in other avenues that this isn't really going to affect them people seem to forget xbox is not what built Microsoft and made it the trillion dollar company it is

[@YamatoCannon985]

Yeah, it's about acquiring all of ActiBlizz's users, 100%. I'm shocked he was saying he wasn't sure about the value of this deal after commenting on the foothold in China, and the massive mobile market that Microsoft was buying into.

[@samzilla567]

Knowing how much love Blizzard gets in Asia and how Sony has burned brides with Japan, Microsoft is gonna win big by finally getting a market that has ignored them for 20 years now.

[@jasonsmith6658]

Skillup just needs to pay attention to what he says and educate himself about Microsoft as a whole not just xbox lol

[@darinherrick9224]

@@jasonsmith6658 A good place to start would be Microsoft Games Studios in the 90's and the Windows 95 game platform. MS has been after that in a console space ever since but they just don't have enough market share, esp in Asia. They need worldwide killer apps.

[@donovannewton9507]

You definitely highlighted a bunch of stuff in this that I hadnt considered. I do think it will be a better transaction in the next few years though. 1 thing I’m looking forward to though is the older franchise games like Modern Warfare 2-3 becoming available on the Game Pass or better backwards compatibility. Maybe things like Ubisofts Division might become cross platform as well. MS might be able to deep-dive into CoDs cross platform to see how well it’s worked.

[@haramotozero7316]

Agents like us can dream, for the Ubi dev to execute it is another ordeal...

[@faceman3585]

Great video! I've been telling people the same shit since this happened. Competition will become so scarce by design. Developers want every game to be like Madden. Huge sales with little work and development. Massive bonuses! When you only have one choice, the game sells itself. Madden is successful bc it has ZERO competition.

[@artistryartistry7239]

The quality of narration and writing on these topics is just astounding.

[@Gamefailer]

Microsofts current plan to just keep adding tons of great games to gamepass for a fair price is very, very nice. But one thing keeps worrying me, it's only nice as long as Microsoft keeps playing fair with their customers. If they ever were to stop doing that, say after a change of leadership, we could have some of the worlds greatest IP's stuck in their pockets.

[@CheepsAhoy69]

Game pass is gonna be cheap and amazing value until Microsoft wins the gaming war. So we’ve got many years left, the competition is great for consumers

[@ginorvdw]

Lol, Xbox cares way too much about it's image/reputation. Remember when they made gamepass and xbox live more expensive? The community erupted in outrage. It took microsoft less than 24 hours to make an official apology, and they IMMEDIATELY reverted their prices. Microsoft has been the single most player-friendly company in the last 2 years. The only people "hating" on this, are people who really haven't been paying attention to xbox.

[@Blackronin357]

You can say the same thing about any of the larger Publishers. I mean where's Sony's Multi-player shooters from yore? Why is Nintendo still selling last gen games for $60? But I understand your pessimism because of those companies decisions.

[@neoshenlong]

I absolutely agree. That's the issue with these mega corporations that own tons of things. Yeah, its cool when they play it nice, but we are always one corporate move away from entertainment apocalypse.

[@imjustagrill]

Yeah man that's the plan. My dad is the ceo of Microsoft he says the plan is corner the market, get everyone hooked, make monopoly, then drive up the price. Profits to da moon he says!

[@lanceareadbhar]

I can easily see this deal look like a bargain in 20 years and I can see this look like a disaster in 20 years. Microsoft believes the odds of it being successful given the purchase price are in their favor. Only time will tell who was right in their prediction.

[@Psyopcyclops]

Oh really? It will either fail or succeed? What a nuanced and highly intriguing opinion.

[@ghostlegit]

How would it fail. Microsoft would win either way and it can't get worse than Bobby kotick

[@Deadsea_1993]

Bobby is being replaced. That is already a good thing

[@ihateusernamesgrrr]

It doesn't matter if it fails, 70 billion is a drop in the ocean for Microsoft. They could cough 70 billion then the next day not even realize it's gone, that's how massive this company is. This is just another software acquisition for Microsoft that has no negative side effect for them. We're talking about the company that wrote the playbook on software monopoly that every other multinational company now plays by. Microsoft's somewhat positive appearance right now is only a cosmetic covering nasty business tactics that's been there since the early '90s.

[@geejaybee]

$70billion sitting on the bank at a time of 7% inflation is losing money. The revenue from the IPs they've taken over is a far better investment

[@taddeusthompson6710]

You guys aren’t only great gaming KZbinrs, you’re amazing journalists and supporters of the gaming industry. I salute you guys!

[@lukeburns3761]

IMAGINE Raven Soft being able to develop a new Hexen, to the quality of the recent Doom games on the their latest I.D Tech engine. C'mon just make a good thing happen!

[@TarkasBane]

Hexen. Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time, and one I didn't expect to hear. A new Hexen would be badass.

[@ProtocolAbyss]

Maybe, now bare with me here I know this will be a lot to handle, but maybe we could actually not get yearly releases for COD.

[@jackd6148]

Imagine cool spells like putting your hand on an enemies head and flames come out of their eyes and mouth.

[@doorknobhandlebar]

If for some reason, in the future a movie was to be made about the grimy underlayers of the gaming industry then I think Jonah Hill should play Bobby Kotick. I think that could work.

[@prajeleSSS]

Jonah Hill, Brad Pitt, Leo DiCaprio are his friends. I really doubt that.

[@GameingFist]

That'd be pretty funny considering one of Jonahs first movies had Bobby kotick in it🤣

[@burningphoenix6679]

Nah. Should be Kevin Spacey who plays Bobby.

[@JewTube001]

@@burningphoenix6679 or bill cosby

[@DimensiaTime]

Harvey Weinstein should produce it

[@manakakisaragi9121]

Good to see that more people are seeing the potential issues with this, beyond the: "OMG they payed a lot of money, now they own everything and Sony and Nintendo are dead" level of deep analysis.

[@samedge1774]

I do not see consolidation as a bad thing as long as competition is maintained, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen own the luxury European car market, yet competition between them is cutthroat. Equally the MAMMA big tech companies have started encroaching on each others patch in the last few years, to support their infinite profit promise, with innovation being a welcome by-product

[@cirescythe]

Yeah. A monopoly under Microsoft with their "you will own nothing and you will be happy" pass could lead to issues. If they decide that playtime is over and they want to fleece or influence their customers there is nothing you can do about it if they got most of gaming under their umbrella.

[@xenn4985]

@@cirescythe "there is nothing you can do" this just isn't true, if they ever decide to fleece their customers they run the risk of getting fleeced by their customers.

[@jamesb7205]

I haven't seen anything except the stupid "hur dur this is a monopoly" What are some actual problems

[@Deodank]

I really hope Microsoft becomes a monopoly by buying Sony and nintendo so all i have to do is buy an Xbox and be done with it. I hate the game of "Pick your console and see how fucked you are in the future" so to be able to play everything on one console is a godsend.

[@quentin5825]

You're easily my favorite gaming journalist so I was happy to wait for this video. Thank you!

[@knightmaremedia7795]

We need to be very vigilant as gamers to see to it that subscription gaming doesn't kill digital distribution.. if gaming becomes subscription only...thats going to suck.....big time.

[@JayTheRed8]

The quality of your videos is simply outstanding. The detail, the humour, the editing, the opinions and the delivery... absolutely incredible work.

[@RGabrielR]

I think most of people are overlooking one crucial detail: Microsoft is a cloud company and have been pushing game streaming for years now, buying out A/B that was already focusing in the mobile market and have huge mobile market shares and huge IPs and talented Studios do not make sense for Xbox as a console, or even that much for Game Pass, but as soon as you think in Mobile Game Pass things start to shift around around King, Wow, Diablo on Mobile, who knows how much research on Mobile games and streaming A/B had in the past? Who knows if we will really get that next console from Xbox if not just "stream all your games". Totally agree with ShillUp points made, but I think the Streaming+Mobile is so big in a lot of countries that does not have culture of buying consoles but have a culture of shitty mobile games is the market slice that will pay off big time from this acquisition.

[@gavinscarborough4207]

I hope shillup is a typo…

[@lucaslemieux1]

@@gavinscarborough4207 its a joke Skill Up himself uses....

[@nosleepzzzz6550]

True, good thinking. I think Game Pass is the gateway drug to everything you're talking about. Mobile/Streaming/Cloud gaming for everything under Microsoft's umbrella.

[@gavinscarborough4207]

@@lucaslemieux1 oh haha. I’ve never heard him use it. My bad.

[@ragnarokaftershock]

That's a tinfoil hat theory I never mention unless directly asked about it, but I sincerely think Microsoft plans on not actually making consoles anymore. If somehow, magically, MS manages to get Sony to support Game Pass, it'd be less tinfoil and more confirmed, but even without that it really just feels like they don't want to be in that fight anymore.

[@MrGamelover23]

Interesting theory regarding game exclusivity regarding their ecosystem. Microsoft is really interested in software as a service. Windows as a service was the tagline for Windows 10. The latest version of Office can now only be bought as a service. Game Pass is games as a service. So making money off that service from PlayStation owners makes a lot of snese. Whether or not they put game pass on Playstation depends on how much they stand to gain from that. Maybe make some game Pass exclusive so you can only play them on Playstation if you subscribe. Oh God I hate that idea, that's a step closer to gamepass exclusives on Xbox. I pray we never get to that point.

[@dbkwk9]

snese

[@maudelhoyo4019]

There is no way Playstation puts Game Pass in their consoles. Literally zero chance

[@OG_Daz]

@@maudelhoyo4019 it’s unlikely but not impossible. I actually think it would be a great move for both sides. Win win all around

[@MrGamelover23]

@@maudelhoyo4019 agreed, but it would make them a crap load of money.

[@FurkanUtkuEMRE]

I believe on a financial level you are looking at this with a very classic look. I really don’t think Microsoft gives a shit about making that money back. In an era where it is very obvious that selling games the classic way doesn’t work as well, this purchase just made Microsoft the subscription based service king. They have some of the best selling and most well regarded IP’s on their catalogue. I can’t see, at this point at least, Sony’s Spartacus even competing with Game Pass. They have not bought Activision Blizzard to make more money, they bought it to kill the competition.

[@quinndombroskie4528]

I definitely think that this purchase was more about ensuring that ActBliz wasn’t bought by Netflix/Amazon/Google rather than trying to make money. XBox has learned from Netflix’s failings and is trying to tie up all the content before it can be looped into a different service. Much like “the office”, COD and WOW serve as comfort entertainment for many people. XBox didn’t want these IP to be added to Twitch+, and so any price would serve as a good price

[@thanasisthanos2152]

@@quinndombroskie4528 And I hope they will fail massively. A monopoly of this kind will ruin gaming massively. Imagine if Netflix owned most big studios, the price is already being increased every 6 months, just imagine what would have happened if they had no competition.

[@ls200076]

@@thanasisthanos2152 ikr, I hope they succeed

[@Alcatraz760]

@@thanasisthanos2152 You'd really rather Activision be controlled by Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos?

[@TheRagnus]

@@Alcatraz760 Speaking of Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft wasn't even the first company Activision approached. They actually approached Facebook/Meta first, though they were thankfully turned down. Imagine Call of Duty exclusive to Facebook Gaming...

[@DemiochMD]

Phil Spencer did us a solid by not announcing it in time for your weekly news show. This is what we needed. Amazing content as always.

[@Quietwulf1978]

Watching Activison strip mine Blizzard was absolutely heart breaking as someone who grew up with them. I’m looking forward to a new era.

[@arshenchromewave]

Finally, been waiting for this. Always appreciate the quality and thought you put to your content

[@insomniaddictesp]

Phil, to me, wants esports. He's probably convinced that Microsoft can enable those teams better than ABK leadership did, and I think that's a likely good bet.

[@S1ngh86]

This is waaayyyyy bigger than e sports

[@sillyredsheep2421]

Shit, it doesn't seem like he has to do too much to succeed if that's his goal. HotS Esports, WoW Esports, and OWL are/were all kind of shit shows.

[@vanillaicecream3530]

This could brink them a good steam of revenue. Overwatch league, starcraft league, Cod esport… not only they can secure this IPs for gamepass but if they manage the esport seen better than AB did, they are going to make bank.

[@Ketsuegg]

this doens't seem likely to me, given how they absolutely fucked both Halo and Gears of War E-Sports over the years.

[@Naugur]

From how Blizz managed OWL, there's nowhere to go but up.

[@inanimatesum4945]

SkillUp acting like he’s the dumb one but this has been the only person I’ve seen voice their opinion actually THINK about the state of affairs with Blizzard and the purchase itself. Prime example with Blizzard are the devs and creative managers actively mocking the fans instead of understanding that there are problems that need to be addressed with their games that can’t be magically resolved.

[@Visceralreality]

1 critique. Its not a merger. This is a buy out, straight through. TBH ActiBlizz couldnt have a better company to come in and settle all this HR stuff down.

[@thedudeabides3138]

Ralphie and Austin….what can I say…I’m SO glad you missed the window to report this last week. A scrambled attempt to report on the latest hotness would have meant a bit of a rush job to remain zeitgeist. The fact that you both took a week to report on, as you put it Ralph, “probably the biggest industry news this year”, meant that you put out the best video I’ve seen you guys do so far…and that’s saying something. Your narrative composition and rationale is easily some of the best commentary I’ve yet seen on YT, regardless of subject matter, and Austin’s editing to compliment the narration was sublime. Congratulations to both of you, THIS is a job well done…I’m calling it now, but you may well have done your best work for 2022, and we’re only 3 weeks into the new year! This is the best channel, bar none, for all things gaming on the internet.

[@Zetryte]

heya Ralph, I think there's some underestimation of how much an IP is worth. I can totally see your perspective of how it's not worth much NOW however I think Microsoft sees what the IPs can do in the future. The power of the name World of Warcraft, although faded, is still imprinted in the collective unconscious of the public and the power behind the brands and IP is immense with so much already fleshed out. Not to mention the acquisition of all the native, original technology that ABC must have developed over time whether it be back end tech or game engine stuff. I think the 70 Bil is an investment in the future of what MS can make from these IPs and I very much see it go in the direction that riot is taking its league IP, expanding it to become a universe with Arcane, Runeterra, an MMO, a 2D fighter, a sidescroller, etc etc. Imagine a universe of products built on the foundation that World of Warcraft created. To be honest, I very much see it as a Tesla stock situation where Tesla has no business being valued as much as it is but it's a bet on the future and how electric cars will dominate later, not now. Thanks for reading.

[@chlly]

Hard agree. They overpaid because they can leverage these IPs in whatever future space the 'metaverse' becomes. It's nutty to me how much people are downplaying the acquisition of the Blizzard-specific properties since they're 'only' on PC, as they are the most well defined, in my opinion. Everything else is a balance offset for acquiring studio talent to continue broadening content on Game Pass.

[@ChrisLee-sycly]

Spot on, the Riot analogy is great. MS have the resources to fully maximize the potential of the beloved IPs they've managed to get their hands on. Personally speaking some of the most beloved gaming IPs come from Blizzard. THey have a treasure trove of IP to work with just there. If MS could buy Nintendo with silly money they would too, they just can't.

[@TheCybercoco]

Hell, Blizzard only scratches the surface of the amount of IPs that Activision owns (and that MS is about to acquire).

[@cattywampuswiddershins]

Investors: But does it make money? Phil: No, but it sure is fun

[@invanorm]

While megacorps are never a good thing, I’d much rather it be Microsoft instead of Meta, Amazon, Tencent etc. as Microsoft’s stated vision for the metaverse (while admittedly still very dystopian) is considerably more ethical than the competition could hope to be.

[@wolfhrt21]

@@ramonandrajo6348 the problem here is Bobby already "fixed" it though when he announced the creation of an oversight committee led by him. Chances are too, he was probably going to just fire anyone who spoke against it and hire new blood. That's the typical cycle.

[@nhuljpm]

Great job Mr Up and also that editing Austin - what a pair!

[@Steadymobbin711]

Your editing is shockingly good.

[@Fuzzy_Barbarian]

Just you wait, an hour from now, we're gonna learn the first Microsoft-Blizzard project is a metaverse project with its own crypto currency. And you'll be a week late again, old man!

[@pneumonoultramicroscopicsi4065]

I don't see why it's bad, I mean they use crypto or dollar, whatever, you afraid of companies have their own monitary system? What about the dollar itself? Even the FED is privately owned, and I wouldn't demonize private companies so much, at least they're efficient, unlike the government.

[@brycebitetti1402]

@@pneumonoultramicroscopicsi4065 I'd recommend Folding Idea's video on NFTs. The issue is so complex and sprawling that a simple KZbin comment can't really explain it in detail, and he does a good job of both explaining what they are and what's so horrifying about their continued existence.

[@pneumonoultramicroscopicsi4065]

@@brycebitetti1402 alright, I'll check it out

[@Butane9000]

I dont think I heard you mention it but something Asmongold said when he reacted to this news was that a WoW subscription could be added to gamepass. That could lead to a "revival" of the MMO but whether that's a fresh rebirth or resuscitated corpse is up for debate.

[@RowanTheTree]

As Liam Neeson said in his best role in the incredible masterpiece of 1999 and still stands today as a truly Kino level film, that still hasn’t been topped… “There’s always a bigger fish”

[@johnnytheglove47]

This is probably the best presented video I have seen on this acquisition topic. Really enjoyed your insight here. Great work!

[@drodrigp]

Honestly your videos never disappoint! I could listen to you talk about anything because I know you would have done your research and it's presented in an amazing way. Keep it up ShillUp

[@sirkthegod6627]

I honestly think that this was the best option for Activision, with the leadership of Bobby Kotick screwing everything up, maybe Phil Spencer can step in and clean the publisher

[@NoahDaArk]

Well so far, if rumors are to be believed, change is already in the talks of happening within Activision. So far we only know two things: first, Call Of Duty will be dropping the yearly releases and will be given longer development cycles once again (Modern Warfare 2 is going to be the final annual title apparently). And second, Microsoft plans on *downplaying* COD and instead focus on the other franchises Activision has been sleeping on

[@milkweedreflections]

@@NoahDaArk Thats because COD has a longterm deal with Sony and COD will be on PlayStation forever despite the buy out.

[@MrDavezd]

what do u mean they making shit ton of money image isnt important because people are dogs and follow trends and streamers

[@Xyler94]

@@akumakurosawa I'm always amazed at how cynical people can be. They're a megacorporation, not an evil empire. They aren't your enemies either... I'll let you know that Microsoft could buy Activision, Ubisoft and EA, and still not be anywhere CLOSE to a monopoly in the gaming space. They'd still be behind Tencent. Activision was looking to be bought out, they first asked Facebook, who declined. This wasn't MS throwing money, this was Activision looking for a buyer. Don't blame Microsoft for saying yes. And people have faith in Phil, since other studios have openly said how great it's been since their acquisition. If you're calling out people for "trysting in a megacorp", I'm gonna call out people who believe "Megacorps are automatically evil people". There's a middle ground, where corps actually reside in. They aren't your friend, or your enemy. They're a business looking to make money. That's it, that's all.

[@runningcommentary2125]

Phil Spencer could be funding a zombie creation programme and I'd still consider him a better person than Bobby Kotick.

[@alexeijuarez304]

Skill up, you're like the GOAT in gaming content. Greetings from Mexico

[@Tulkeleth]

The biggest thing imo is that Crash bandicoot and Spyro are now Microsoft's property, those have always been Sony's thing in my mind from way back in the PS1 days.

[@ryanm4074]

hopefully this will force sony to think about allowing cross-play between these consoles

[@milkweedreflections]

Those games havent been relevant in 20 years.

[@smokeemifyagotem8851]

@@milkweedreflections ya because of activision. Ratchet and clank has been the same for 20 years

[@milkweedreflections]

@@smokeemifyagotem8851 No, it's because those games are outdated and childish. No one is gonna jump at Crash, Spyro, Guitar Hero, Tony Hawks Pro Skater, etc. Literally all these franchises are dead. Old and corny. They stopped making them because they are outdated franchises in todays market.

[@brilobox2]

@@milkweedreflections Ratchet. And. Clank. God fanboys are so dense. Its like talking to a fucking wall.

[@chrissinclair7197]

I agree with 100%. I'm still very unsure about this acquisition and I'm worried for gamers overall. I'm not a fan of gamers missing out and I don't like it when games that are created multiplatform are then taken away from one console and only available on the other. Games that have always been a console exclusive I get but not games that launched on both. Sony or MS shouldn't do that.

[@bleddingmaster]

i agree with you about everything but forget games for a second if this fixes how pepole are treated in this company going fowerd it had to be done sadely

[@Britta_Nong]

A timed exclusive maybe, I really doubt it's gonna be a completely xbox exclusive game

[@chrissinclair7197]

@@bleddingmaster Oh without a doubt. The way the staff were treated, yes this needed to be done for sure. No one should be treated how they were treated ever!

[@Deadsea_1993]

@@chrissinclair7197 . Sony literally can't do that. They have bought a bunch of teams and yet their biggest acquisition was Insomniac at $100 million. They are nowhere near as rich as Microsoft.

[@chrissinclair7197]

@@Deadsea_1993 I know Sony can't afford that but I was saying in general that I don't believe MS or Sony should do that. Obviously MS has already done that with the likes of Outerworlds ect and we don't know about COD yet or Tony Hawks in the future ect but I think its wrong that they have done that. Games that launch Multiplatform should always stay Multiplatform.

[@FlyEaglesFly52]

Really great summary of the deal. And be quite honest, the narration is the best part. I don´t agree with everything you said but that´s fine. But great listen. Glad that I found your channel a couple years back!

[@vsevolodnedora7779]

I think that this acquisition has more to do with the current state of economics and the need to "spend the money before inflation reduces them to trash" bluntly speaking, than with games or IP's.

[@bryanpione6251]

Totally agreed. Also think it’s very similar to Facebook buying Instagram. They’re essentially buying users that they can convert to the game pass platform

[@alejandrogonzalezcastillo2008]

There is no way a 5% inflation rate, even if it keeps like this for a decade, can reduce the value of the dollar to trash, and can in no way precipitate this purchase. To claim otherwise is to not understand economics.

[@manakakisaragi9121]

Also I would like more people, including you dive more into the details of the Game Pass business model, and how it's a subsidy model with a dumping internal logic. Which on top of seeking to distort the market through breaking competition, creates uncertainty about the actual reach and worth of franchises and studios on the day 1 release side of the service. Yes it may have 25 million subscribers, but that doesn't mean it makes money for Microsoft after they payed each studio's subsidy, of what they would've made selling copies at full price. The whole approach of MS Gaming is to corner market, not make money, while the endless stream of money by other MS divisions cover for it. The question then becomes what happens if they succeed and corner and own most of the industry and market. What happens to the prices when they need to start making money, what happens to the studios and franchises that actually don't sell because people were playing them for free, but weren't willing to pay for.

[@DV-ou1yu]

This, freaking this. You put into words what I couldn't. As someone who has played and beat games off gamepass, I wholeheartedly agree that games loses that sentimental value in this respect because you play it the way you consume bs food at a buffet. I tend to rush these games since I'm trying to get my value, just like a buffet and move on. But I like gamepass as a substitute to play multiplats I would never buy or try at top dollar like The Medium

[@IAmNeomic]

I think, as you mentioned, MS will be looking at King to really get the money-train going. However, I do believe that this will make GamePass SO much more of an attractive purchase for people. A lot of people purchase COD each year not really knowing if they will enjoy it, and many users quickly fall off the bandwagon and either purchase another game (often from another publisher), or revert back to a previous entry, as we saw with a lot of people sticking with MW2019 when Cold War released. Now? They can buy a year of GamePass and not only have access to each COD, but also other properties that Microsoft owns, keeping the cash-flow within their ecosystem. If they don't enjoy that year's COD, and they jump to Gears of War 14 or Halo Infinite? That's still a win for MS.

[@Road_to_Dawn]

I’ve been waiting for this video. Excellent insight and I appreciate hearing your counter opinions. Lots of things to think about with this crazy purchase

[@KupaMan]

There's some info in this video that is misleading or inaccurate that I think are worth clearing up: - Microsoft has not bought AB yet. Both parties have agreed to the deal, but it hasn't actually happened. - Not that I like the guy, but Kotick bought Activision for chump change and turned it into a megalith. He definitely has done more than annualize COD. That's probably why the board agreed to give him such a grotesque sum. - Raven has not formed a union (yet). They've only expressed intention to form one. Games press just don't understand how unionization works and have misreported it. - The name is Stephen Totilo. Not Tolito. - Activision is misleading you about their 390 million MAU claim. That counts the monthly actives of all their games combined. If you play WoW, Diablo 3, Diablo 2 Remastered, Overwatch, and Warzone in January, you are now five users.

[@KeithEngel]

As far as Starcraft goes, I do think that with Blizzzard IPs, you may see different game types develop from those IPS. Starcraft Ghost comes to mind that became vaporware. The Starcraft universe would be one that could benefit from a FPS game. Imgaine playing as a Ghost, a Marine, or a Protoss against the Zerg.

[@giampaolomannucci8281]

I want a planetside-like game in the starcraft universe

[@Sherudons]

That's just the thing that always gets me going, 155 million, no person needs more than 5 million a year no matter their lifestyle, 150 million spent on the workers would pay for upwards of 3000 people a year. A single year at this worms salary would see a 150 normal families close to being able to retire in a single year.

[@denzilrogers3897]

But they work at a copy and paste game studio. They don't create anything new. If you take a job at this studio you will never have a chance to make something new. Which lowers your value. People are payed based on value. I don't like these type of studios but i can admit the great business model. Make games that are easy to copy and paste together that don't require too much in house development. That way you can replace anybody and never be held hostage by a game creator. You can't expect to get payed like an artist if all you do is make copies of other people work.

[@algebraizt]

From a more finance point of view the deal makes a bit more sense. These huge trillion dollar companies usually have a stupid amount of cash just sitting around and are under pressure to find something to do it with. MSFT has had about $130 billion cash on hand for a few years now. Thats why you see these big companies doing these huge mergers. Does it make sense? Eh thats another conversation

[@uneazypolarb7691]

Were Activision blizzard worth 69 billion tho?

[@janodefenua4603]

@@uneazypolarb7691 I doubt that, no new games, Wow content still not coming etc, Stocks would probabbly plumet another 50% in this year.

[@hoshi314]

no wonder Microsoft bought ActiBlizz in 1 giant purchase outright like "you wanna buy our company? how much you have?" while chuckling like an idiot and then microsoft just dropped 5 giant sacks filled with cash and microsoft be like " this, and a graceful exit for you who is currently in hot water. Your move" is it worth 69 billion? probably not but if you can attain them instantly it's like a chip off their shoulder

[@brilobox2]

@@uneazypolarb7691 yes. 69 billion for 8 billion/year year on year revenue and a warehouse full of IP? Bargain. This will probably be the only point in history a deal like this could have been made.

[@GardeDuCoeur]

What they have purchased above all are the licenses known and loved by all gamers, and this is invaluable.

[@xX20cXx]

By far the best take I’ve seen on this so far

[@nujeeville]

I waited and avoided all news of this merger until SkillUp posted his thoughts. As always- balanced and looking at the issue from various angles and motivations. Bravo guys! One of the few channels that consistently creates thought provoking content that forces us to sit up and take notice of an industry we love, but sometimes take for granted.

[@MystifyR]

Couldn't agree more with this video, also thanks for touching on what no one seems to be talking about being basically all these big companies (Sony, Microsoft) buying all these studios to basically become (possibly) exclusive to there own console. One of the big talking points of next gen for example was cross play, play with your friends on Xbox or pc etc. etc., soon that could be irrelevant when everything becomes exclusive and splitting communities straight down the middle. Now I'm glad Microsoft will soon own AB simply for the sake of the company and all the employees that deserve better, but fearful for the future if it becomes everything is exclusive to something, then the real losers are the players.

[@Big_Dai]

Uh? You make it sound like a company like Nintendo hasn't existed for YEARS

[@biggybigman]

Great video, really insightful. Imo, this is to advance the cloud gaming platform. Having these massive studios under their belt is a huge when you're trying to convince your consumer base to switch from hardware to software. Plus having Activision, Blizzard, EA and Bestheda all on gamepass for this platform too. HOWEVER, they tried it before and it will happen, gamepass WILL go up in price to account for this.

[@VanquishSpeed]

There are a few questions that hasn't been answered for me: 1) Since Microsoft will own Activision & also Blizzard, does that mean their games will be coming to Steam? Most notably, Blizzard games? 2) The controversy between Valve and Blizzard that happened during the time when DotA IP, how does that affect the relationship between the new Microsoft now owned Blizzard & Valve? If they want to release the games on Steam?

[@JewTube001]

totally depends on what MS wants to do. far as i know the it was the competitors who decided to keep their games off steam, it's not like LoL and overwatch got banned there or anything.

[@nicolinrucker5181]

Here's the thing. I genuinely trust Microsoft, to, if not have the perfect fix, to be able and willing to find the people in the community who can make it work. They did it with Age of Empires after all.

[@ryankeith2712]

For some reason your hunt showdown video showed up in my feed, which led to me watching more of your videos which inevitably led to me hearing you gush about Outer Wilds. After buying it and experiencing one of the best gaming experiences in my life I can safely say you’ve earned my subscribe. I can’t wait to see more and more from your channel

[@TheLovescream]

I dont think that the RTS genre is that niche given that Mobas are also RTS and LoL is still the most successful multiplayer game. Theres definetely huge potential there I think.

[@silverhost9782]

Most consider MOBAs to be separate from RTS games nowadays

[@spacemonkeyentertainment6413]

Doesn't matter either way. MOBAs are also declining (they are a bit fresher on mobile, so there is a market there imo), but going into it competing with LoL and DotA has been suicide for years. I wouldn't expect anything aimed at coregamers, if anything at all.

[@MrCalaveradark]

Every time that someone says that Microsoft needs to put their games on other platforms because they need to recover their investment. It remains me how many underestimate them as a company. Last year there revenue was 140 billion dollars.

[@undrtddrmzmedia3331]

You dont become a trillion dollar company by leaving money on the table there is always more money to make

[@benco804]

I thought the same thing when this happened as skill up. It feels like microsoft is actually losing the most out of all parties in this deal. COD and all the blizzard games are in trouble. We won't see a new game from blizzard that has actually been affected by the acquisition for upwards of 6 years.

[@bryanpione6251]

The thing is Microsoft has so much cash it literally has no idea how to even begin to start using so buying up a bunch of IPs regardless of product fit will at least keep attention on them and people subscribing to game pass

[@enzog1078]

It’s Better for Microsoft to buy failing ips, resuscitate them, and increase revenue and goodwill that way. They also get a better deal on the Initial purchase.

[@bryanpione6251]

@@enzog1078 I don’t disagree there’s prolly a bunch of acquisitions they could’ve made that would have an objectively better ROI. I do think Activision is the one that immediately gives them the most users (ie future potential gp subscribers and clout) and does it all in one easy lump sum. Plus keep in mind that acquisitions typically command a significant premium to market value so they still got them at a rather nice discount.

[@enzog1078]

@@bryanpione6251 well i was referring to activisiom blizzard as as the failing ip acquired at discount haha. I’m saying I think it’s a good move.

[@bryanpione6251]

@@enzog1078 lol totally misread. Yee we on the same page

[@Minigrub]

Even tho I’ve seen this news everywhere already I’ve been waiting for a fellow Aussie to really talk about this in depth

[@UntriedGenius]

Just gonna say that it's not anyone but Jen O'Neal job to make sure she gets the money she wants. Mike Yabarra Had been VP for YEARS before he became co-head of Blizzard with her meaning his resume was WAY WAY better than hers just by looking at the two so he clearly had more negotiating power. We should not be paying ANYONE the same wage just because they are in the same role.

[@hotox23-56]

Wow this was amazing. Im usually not one of the millions of people constantly kissing a creators ass in the comments every video but this video brings up some amazing points. I didnt really think about how so many activision games are on a downwards spiral until you described it so well. Keep up the great content skill up

[@RasenRendanX]

Hold up im confused so if someone praises a youtuber for a video they liked a lot it's kissing their ass?

[@hotox23-56]

@@RasenRendanX it depends. When its always the same type of praise over and over again getting top comments then yes its kissing ass. Its just praise with no actual substance, kind of like people praising celebrities and the celebrities always end up getting tired of it cause it feels disingenious. If you compliment specific parts of the video then it lets them know theyre doing "this part right" in your eyes. Not just say something like "my day brightens up when skill up posts" or "skillup has the best reviews out of anyone" cause theyve heard it a thousand times already

[@thealphapack1854]

@@hotox23-56 it doesnt matter how many times they heard it, if that is truly how that individual feels when they see a new video then thats nothing close to kissing ass. That whole statement is ridiculous. you dont need to comment on a "specific part of a video" to be exempt from kissing ass either. This is all just random and arbitrary. Lots of people state their comment without looking at others.

[@hotox23-56]

@@thealphapack1854 it is kissing ass cause most of these people repeat the same phrases over and over again just to gain likes. If you truly intend to compliment or even help a creator you can give them some positive or even negative criticism. As it stands repeating the same thing over and over again is repetitive and its going to be something anybody would be annoyed with. Skill ups comments arent too bad but with somebody like mr nightmare for example (who narrates short stories) the entire comment section is littered with compliments with zero substance. When you have a wide audience these generic complements get old real quick

[@hotox23-56]

@@thealphapack1854 notice the comments that skill up has liked in this video are ones that actually say something beyond "a day doesnt start until skill up posts", they comment on his work ethic or consistency. Those are actual compliments a person enjoys

[@AwwwBeanz]

Can we please just refer to him as Bobby Nodick for the foreseeable future? I think the skepticism it warranted. But taking 10+ studios making 3 games essentially and letting them go back to making 10 games will be good. With Game Pass being the driving force on the core gaming side I think this can pay off eventually. But King is the money maker, that’s what makes this worth it.

[@Deadsea_1993]

Plus Treyarch were always the most talented anyway. We don't need a yearly COD. I'm not a fan of GTA Online, but it is commendable that Rockstar showed that you can have one game and keep adding onto it for years. Like make a COD game and keep adding onto it rather than a yearly one.

[@asmodeusml]

Great video! Have to agree that this acquisition will lead to a better life for a lot of Activision staff (simply because you cannot go worse than current Activision under the rule of Kotick) but I just don't see why they will start making better games. Microsoft will definitely want to get all those billions of dollars back, which means CoD stays, all the mobile trash stays, monetization stays as well. Games that vocal gamers want to see like new Warcraft, Crash Bandicoot or Spyro will definitely not make shareholders as enthusiastic however. And I definitely think that "Sony is doomed" mentality is just plain stupid. If anything Microsoft would love to launch Game Pass on Switch or PlayStation more than anything else.

[@armyofninjas9055]

Personally, I don't like anything Activision Blizzard makes except Spyro. And they already did the remakes. HZD > COD

[@asmodeusml]

@@armyofninjas9055 Same here actually. The two Activision franschises I care about are Spyro and Crash.

[@HalfpennyTerwilliger]

@V.V Isaac There can't be any updates before the buy-out is effective. MS can't meddle in what is another company right now. I for one think he'll go. First because it's in MS interests and second because everything in this story looks (to me) like Bobby's arranging this buy-out to grab as much cash as possible instead of risking being ousted because of bad PR.

[@HalfpennyTerwilliger]

Gamepass is the reason why they might try new IPs or bring back old ones. Streaming services need a steady stream of new releases hitting different niches. Time will tell how they manage AB's vaulted IPs.

[@thesoapboxlord]

I appreciate the deep dive on Kotick's scummy behavior as well as the extended, thoughtful take. Great work!

[@MrMadniman]

This is the best take ive seen on the internet regarding this whole acquisition. great job

[@Pulmonox]

I'm absolutely with you Austin. Mass consolidation is only going to hurt us- the consumer. This is true for the hardware aspect of the industry just as much as the software. Microsoft knows they own the PC market. Over 90% of all gamers on PC are using Windows machines. They would be stupid not to use that to their advantage. The PC WILL become Microsoft's console and they will start to squeeze Steam out of their massive market share for PC customers using things like Gamepass. They're going to pull an EA or Epic Games move and establish their storefront as the place to be. THAT'S where the exclusives are going to start showing up, only they won't have to bribe the consumer base to move there like EGS did. Steam (and GOG) for all their faults (and there are many) are some of the most pro-consumer platforms out there right now. GoG's absolute stance against any and all DRM is why I will ALWAYS go there first and foremost when purchasing new games. Steam's dedication to Linux helps to pave the way for people to finally get off Microsoft's leash and offers consumers more versatility in how they want to set up their hardware. Microsoft wants to kill ALL of this. They don't want you to own games, they want you to subscribe to their services for games. They don't want you on Linux, they want you slaved to Windows where you're forced to log in and they will be able to literally control how you use your hardware (not to mention following everything you do and selling the data for market research). It doesn't matter where you bought that fancy videocard, if you're using Windows, Microsoft has the power to one-day say 'you are not allowed to use your videocard for this product at this time' or even 'We are limiting the power drain of your hardware because it's too hard on the environment'. They can even decide that your windows will no longer run this new indie game that is getting popular because 'we don't own it yet'. Just because they HAVEN'T done this yet doesn't mean they won't in the future. Call me paranoid, but 'Cyberpunk' is a genre for a reason, and it's never considered a good thing. Companies deserve to die sometimes. Franchises, IPs... they need to start dying, not get slaved together under a single new master that will stick them on life-support to leech as much money as possible before eventually fading into obscurity. But who am I kidding? I blame consumers. We've gotten lazy and complacent. As long as it's presented to us in a colorful, joyful manner, we'll buy what we're sold and give away our privacy and freedom in the process as we have been for the last thirty years.

[@moddrew546]

An *highly* underrated comment, especially about Steam's dedication Linux I didn't consider why they've been doing that until you bringing this up

[@cemarz]

Microsoft tried to control an ecosystem and marketplace eight years ago with Xone. Backlash stopped it from happening. Now they've figured out they can just buy studios and make their own with Gamepass as the medium. In that sense it's a very bad thing. They aren't going to be selling games, they're going to be selling additive content. And you can bet you're but that it's going to be to the detriment of major games.

[@kamurotetsu4860]

Sony already do this by taking up huge chunks of the market share such as JRPGs like Final Fantasy and fighting games with Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat mainly on PS. Nintendo do something similar with Mario and platformers. By stamping out the competition of each genre with a "big" exclusive, they can ensure that more of that genre are then developed on their console. It's always been like this. Now that MS are playing ball, it's suddenly a bad thing.

[@jerm5466]

If Microsoft stop here I would maybe be okay with it. But there’s almost certainly no way that’s the case, and the direction the industry is going in is bleak.

[@afatasimatai]

New studios are created all the time leaders and devs from big companies break off to form new studios with new ideas this is cyclical, Embracer, Tencent, Netease hell Sony have been doing this for years. Nothing new to see here.

[@Alcatraz760]

Then pray no other third party publisher needs to sell. That's what happened with these 2, and MS might not want to let anymore slip into the hands of other megacorps.

[@jonathanlaxton5791]

The music playing at around the 16 minute mark reminds me of another long dormant blizzard ip Blackthorne, which would be an amazing world to return to if given the opportunity.

[@samgirard8660]

Just saw that it has been 5 months since the last Laymen Gaming video and now I'm feeling sad and nostalgic of those good old times. I love Skillup's videos, I just miss Ralph and Sam chemistry

[@Giggles_iJest]

2013: "Xbox has no games lol" 2022: "Xbox is becoming a monopoly"

[@thetarnished5564]

Still has no games

[@afaxmachine5045]

@@thetarnished5564 schrodinger's games line-up.

[@silverhost9782]

That's what can happen when you spend big

[@Giggles_iJest]

@@thetarnished5564 yeah and PS5's current new games being 15-20 hour experiences 😉

[@thetarnished5564]

@@Giggles_iJest negative

[@MrLaafish]

I don't want a monopoly on games

[@sagacity1071]

I dont want Bobby running wow. It's a tough one.

[@MrLaafish]

@@sagacity1071 as Skillup explained, even with him gone he is still getting a big sum

[@sagacity1071]

@@MrLaafish True. I dont care if he gets payed... I care if he has a position where he can get away with sexual misconduct

[@MrLaafish]

@@sagacity1071 i would be surprised if the lawsuit issued by the state of California is not able to remove him from that position

[@BradyPartain]

What if I told you... Monopoly IS a game. Mind blown

[@michaelbuffaloe5694]

Skillup - I have to disagree. Their primary goal is Gamepass subscriptions, not sales. Every subscriber pays the same low cost, regardless of what they play. MS doesn't care if certain games happen to be niche. They want people through the door. So with this massive library of nostalgic IPs to play with, they have lots of opportunities to bring new subscribers onboard. If Starcraft 3 were $60 I could see your argument, but $10 and you get that plus 100s of other games? lots of Starcraft fans would come for Starcraft & then get hooked on Gamepass. thats what MS is banking on

[@sainuudotcom]

Gamepass subscription plus microtransactions

[@PatDaBaker851]

I think this video perfectly articulates every angle of this acquisition. We've all greatly benefited from you having barely missed the big news. Lol. Nicely done.

[@fweewain]

These videos are always so well put together with fantastic editing. Great work.

[@Masilya111]

They don't have to revive Starcraft/Warcraft as new RTSs though. That's a narrow perspective. They have access to some of the most popular and legendary IPs in PC Gaming. Microsoft could technically make single player games based on these IPs (I personally wish that Diablo souls-like was not cancelled and hopefully it is revived in some way). These new studios could collaborate with other developers owned by Microsoft, share their tech. etc. The possibilities are vast. And I'm not even mentioning all other Actiblizz IPs, and hopefully they also create new, daring IPs.

[@Belkak021]

Yep, you can easily make a singleplayer Warcraft RPG for example. I always loved that bonus campaing in Warcraft 3

[@DetectiveDragon12]

I don’t think people appreciate how good Skill Up is at writing these videos

[@xNemesis_]

Like the boat analogy lol, but yeah he is good

[@Link0402]

Yup, I'm totally with you there in questioning if that was a good purchase from a Microsoft perspective. But well, they'll have done the math and with whatever end goal they've got in mind, it'll probably work out for them as a long term investment.

[@RizoftheDead]

Well, you pretty much summed up my exact thoughts in a far more concise way than I was able to.

[@bowsewr7074]

I see skillup and I watch instantly. Never disappointed