Microsoft seems to have got its way (pic: Activision Blizzard)
A reader is frustrated that Microsoft will is buying Activision Blizzard but is particularly angry at how poorly the FTC made its arguments.
As I write this it’s been announced that the FTC has lost their chance to appeal their already lost court case against Microsoft, and there doesn’t seem to be any real chance that the Activision Blizzard acquisition won’t go ahead. I’m sure we’re all shocked to find out that one of the biggest and richest companies in the world was allowed to do whatever it wanted, despite the obvious damage it will cause to the industry, but there it is.
In a sense I don’t blame them though. They’re just a rich, greedy company doing the only thing they know: if you can’t beat ‘em, outspend them. There was even an email that was highlighted as part of the court case, from execs at Microsoft, that literally said this. Microsoft are rich bullies and it’s genuinely disturbing how angry they get when people start trying to say no to them.
The ones I blame more for all this is the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) who didn’t really seem to have put together their arguments very well and were frequently caught out making baseless assumptions and inventing stats to try and prove their point. As with a lot of people involved in the case it wasn’t clear how much they really knew about the games industry and that definitely helped Microsoft.
For me, the argument against the acquisition is simple: Microsoft will gain the ability to make Game Pass a bargain impossible to ignore for ordinary gamers and Sony does not have the money to compete with it. If that’s not creating a monopoly I don’t know what is. I mean, it’s going to cost them $69 billion, if that alone doesn’t set off alarm bells then you’re not paying attention.
The FTC kind of made that argument when it came to cloud gaming but because that’s not really a thing yet it all got very vague and theoretical, so it’s no wonder if didn’t get any traction with the judge.
There were so many other missed opportunities too. All this nonsense about Microsoft not liking exclusives and yet they’re on record as saying that’s the reason they bought Bethesda, which is obvious because every single one of their games now are exclusive. Why did no one point this out and compare it to all the nonsense rhetoric about opening up Activision Blizzard games to more people?
Why did no one point and laugh at the 150 million extra players for Call Of Duty business? There should’ve been an expert witness on the stand explaining the (ludicrous) way Microsoft got that number and how it’s complete nonsense to suggest that 120 million Switch owners are suddenly going to rush out and buy Call Of Dut on Switch, when Modern Warfare 3 on the Wii sold virtually nothing.
This idea that Microsoft bought Bethesda and decided instantly to keep all the games off rival consoles but somehow turned into some kind of benevolent charity, who only wants to bring Call Of Duty to people cruelly deprived of it, is so absurd it should’ve been laughed out of court.
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Microsoft now controls a significant chunk of the Western video games market simply by owning so many developers and that is not healthy. But that’s not even the only way it’s bad. We’ve already seen how bad Microsoft is at managing these studios, from 343 Industries to Arkane, and I can only imagine the mess they’re going to make of Activision Blizzard, which is already in crisis before they even buy it.
According to Wikipedia, Activision has 17,000 employees. If I were them, I’d be very worried about what’s going to happen next because it is not going to be pretty. And nor are all Microsoft’s excuses and attempts to cover it up.
And yes, I realise that Sony are no better and would do exactly the same thing given the chance. But they don’t have the chance, that’s the point. That’s why it’s unfair and why it has a real chance of creating a monopoly that will harm the whole industry and gamers all around the world, whether they play Activision Blizzard games or not.
By reader Lamstrom
All it took was $69 billion (Picture: Microsoft)
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A reader is frustrated that Microsoft will is buying Activision Blizzard but is particularly angry at how poorly the FTC made its arguments.
