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The Microsoft Blizzard Activision Acquisition: It’s Done!
Credit: Leonardo/MyTechPiece
Microsoft has fought tooth and nails for years to broker down one of the biggest deals in the gaming industry, and the UK lawmaker finally bowed down to let the American giant acquire one of the biggest editors in the world.
Is it good news? What does it imply? Let’s take a look at the potential changes, we could experience due to this buy out.
Somehow They Made It
Microsoft has been trying to acquire the Blizzard Activision King group for several years now. This type of acquisition is fairly common in the gaming industry, and in any industry for that matter. So why did it take so long?
The deal was held up by various regulators due to concerns of this merger creating an unfair competition for the industry and consumers. One by one, each regulator accepted the terms and the deal was renegotiated several times over the course of a year and half. The last one, the UK regulator, kept the deal from happening for a while. Recently, it was announced that Microsoft acquired Blizzard Activision for $69 billion, making it the biggest deal in gaming history.
Credit: Comedy Central
A Big Deal For The eSports Community
The acquisition of Activision, Blizzard, King and all their subsidiaries by Microsoft is a huge deal. The group has over 17,000 employees. It also owns the biggest licenses in the industry, from Call of Duty, to Overwatch. Outside of Riot’s League of Legends, Blizzard is behind the production of the most played esports titles, which is a big part of the industry.
It means that Microsoft will be able to make profit from a sector they struggled to access with their games. It represents a substantial amount of money the company dreamed of tapping into with several attempts that never really appealed to gamers.
We don’t know how yet, but it’s certain that this acquisition will impact the eSports industry. Xbox’s products, and sponsorships will start to flood the market, and they will be able to attract the biggest teams. This will attract casual players to these products naturally, and probably also affect the streaming scene.
Credit: Leonardo/MyTechPiece
The Real Money Comes From Mobile Properties
Despite the juicy licenses available on home consoles and pc that Microsoft is now getting a hold of, the biggest profits will not come from these games. The group has been making most of its profits with microtransactions stemming from mobile games. Titles such as Hearthstone, Candy Crush, Call of Duty Mobile, and many more.
Mobile gaming grosses $91.8 billion yearly, which represents about 50% of the entire gaming industry. So far, Microsoft didn’t really have a place in this segment of the market, now they do.
Credit: Leonardo/MyTechPiece
Game Pass Concerns
If the UK regulator blocked the deal for so long, it was due to the Xbox Game Pass. The service offers exclusive games and early release of proprietary titles for $19.99 per month, and it represents thousands of games. Now, Microsoft can add all these games to their catalog and chose to not give access to players using other gaming services.
Apparently, the final deal prevents Microsoft from creating this unfair situation. However, it’s undeniable that it gives them an edge over Sony, Steam and all the other actors of the industry who have a small slice of the pie, while Microsoft now owns almost all of it.
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