Shutting down Overwatch servers was the bad decision. I'm one of the people that truly believe Overwatch 2's release was mainly motivated not by player-focused improvements, but incentives only...
We couldn't. And we also knew that we couldn't go back to pulling people away from the live game in service of that original vision again.
Shutting down Overwatch servers was the bad decision. I'm one of the people that truly believe Overwatch 2's release was mainly motivated not by player-focused improvements, but incentives only benefiting the company's future. Sure, they'll try to do something, they'll put out marketing campaigns trying to mitigate the damage... but... I honestly hope Microsoft's acquisition is beneficial... and that the extinguish phase comes not soon after.
Isn't the Microsoft acquisition pretty much dead given the CMA's rejection of it? I'm very sad about what Blizzard has become, but I don't think consolidating the major industry players is the...
Isn't the Microsoft acquisition pretty much dead given the CMA's rejection of it?
I'm very sad about what Blizzard has become, but I don't think consolidating the major industry players is the right path forward, so I'm glad it's not going to happen.
The deal is not dead. I understand the concern with market consolidation, but Microsoft has a history of treating its IPs well. As an example, look at how they're treating Age of Empires in...
The deal is not dead.
I understand the concern with market consolidation, but Microsoft has a history of treating its IPs well. As an example, look at how they're treating Age of Empires in comparison to what Blizzard did to Warcraft.
I guess? To me, whether or not a handful of gaming IPs reclaim success is way less important than two of the biggest players in gaming merging. Even if Microsoft is losing the console war pretty...
I guess? To me, whether or not a handful of gaming IPs reclaim success is way less important than two of the biggest players in gaming merging. Even if Microsoft is losing the console war pretty handily, even if Activision has terrible management, it's a bad for the future.
I'm not really qualified to comment, but why would it be? Is the UK really a big enough market to unilaterally block the deal? So far the EU and China have approved the deal and I don't see the US...
I'm not really qualified to comment, but why would it be? Is the UK really a big enough market to unilaterally block the deal? So far the EU and China have approved the deal and I don't see the US as likely to block it either.
My understanding is that if the CMA does not approve, Microsoft will not be able to continue to do business in the UK, and that the deal would not be worth that, because it would affect their...
My understanding is that if the CMA does not approve, Microsoft will not be able to continue to do business in the UK, and that the deal would not be worth that, because it would affect their entire business, not just the gaming portion.
So yes, in this case, they have the power to do so.
A lot of people on reddit are cheering for this to happen, saying that it would be a disaster for Microsoft to pull out of the UK, but a) this is shortsighted, even if the UK's govt sucks we shouldn't cheer a corporation being able to unilaterally influence policy like that and b) imagine the ripple effect it would have on other countries considering whether to invest in using Microsoft for products given Microsoft might pull out if law changes adversely affect them.
Unless the CMA reverses course (which is apparently very historically rare), to me it sounds like the deal is dead, but I'd be interested in reading more.
Unless I'm misreading, that means less countries using Microsoft. A net win for us all.
imagine the ripple effect it would have on other countries considering whether to invest in using Microsoft for products given Microsoft might pull out if law changes adversely affect them.
Unless I'm misreading, that means less countries using Microsoft. A net win for us all.
I intentionally haven't been following the news around that - I only knew there were talks and only recently found out about the whole CMA and lawsuits and etc., and etc. I want to believe it will...
I intentionally haven't been following the news around that - I only knew there were talks and only recently found out about the whole CMA and lawsuits and etc., and etc. I want to believe it will happen, but I guess it's almost impossible?
And I agree that consolidation is definitely not positive
"Overwatch 2" is not all that different from any other update to the game replacing the old version. Do you miss 6v6 and lootboxes that much specifically?
"Overwatch 2" is not all that different from any other update to the game replacing the old version. Do you miss 6v6 and lootboxes that much specifically?
Shutting down Overwatch servers was the bad decision. I'm one of the people that truly believe Overwatch 2's release was mainly motivated not by player-focused improvements, but incentives only benefiting the company's future. Sure, they'll try to do something, they'll put out marketing campaigns trying to mitigate the damage... but... I honestly hope Microsoft's acquisition is beneficial... and that the extinguish phase comes not soon after.
Isn't the Microsoft acquisition pretty much dead given the CMA's rejection of it?
I'm very sad about what Blizzard has become, but I don't think consolidating the major industry players is the right path forward, so I'm glad it's not going to happen.
The deal is not dead.
I understand the concern with market consolidation, but Microsoft has a history of treating its IPs well. As an example, look at how they're treating Age of Empires in comparison to what Blizzard did to Warcraft.
I guess? To me, whether or not a handful of gaming IPs reclaim success is way less important than two of the biggest players in gaming merging. Even if Microsoft is losing the console war pretty handily, even if Activision has terrible management, it's a bad for the future.
I'm not making a hierarchy of concerns, just pointing a reason why some people think Microsoft could be beneficial to Overwatch 🤷🏿♂️
I'm not really qualified to comment, but why would it be? Is the UK really a big enough market to unilaterally block the deal? So far the EU and China have approved the deal and I don't see the US as likely to block it either.
My understanding is that if the CMA does not approve, Microsoft will not be able to continue to do business in the UK, and that the deal would not be worth that, because it would affect their entire business, not just the gaming portion.
https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/4/27/23699227/microsoft-activision-blizzard-antitrust-nope
So yes, in this case, they have the power to do so.
A lot of people on reddit are cheering for this to happen, saying that it would be a disaster for Microsoft to pull out of the UK, but a) this is shortsighted, even if the UK's govt sucks we shouldn't cheer a corporation being able to unilaterally influence policy like that and b) imagine the ripple effect it would have on other countries considering whether to invest in using Microsoft for products given Microsoft might pull out if law changes adversely affect them.
Unless the CMA reverses course (which is apparently very historically rare), to me it sounds like the deal is dead, but I'd be interested in reading more.
Unless I'm misreading, that means less countries using Microsoft. A net win for us all.
If I understand correctly it means less countries being allowed to use Microsoft, which, while this is MS, is still a net negative.
I intentionally haven't been following the news around that - I only knew there were talks and only recently found out about the whole CMA and lawsuits and etc., and etc. I want to believe it will happen, but I guess it's almost impossible?
And I agree that consolidation is definitely not positive
"Overwatch 2" is not all that different from any other update to the game replacing the old version. Do you miss 6v6 and lootboxes that much specifically?
Oh, I stopped playing OW way before 2 was announced. I'm just salty with blizz in general.