Why Microsoft Buying Activision is Bad for Everyone
Channel: Video Game Story Time
Date: 2022-01-21

Well this video is definitely a mistake.

Microsoft is attempting to purchase Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion USD, which is a lot of money, but such a specific figure that it's clear there was some haggling involved.

Activision Blizzard CEO and generally unpopular guy Bobby Kotick has said that the reason for this is that the company is too small to compete against larger tech companies. More and more companies are being gobbled up, forming increasingly large conglomerates, and driving smaller companies to either sell up or shut up shop.

This is bad news for consumers, as it puts too much power into the hands of too few companies, and reduces consumer choice. It's not unlike the classic Hollywood studio system of the early 20th century, in which five movie studios controlled every single aspect of movie production, distribution, and presentation. This meant that consumers had to put up with high ticket prices, and that cast and crew members had very little negotiating room in their contracts, leading to difficult and unfair working conditions.

Sound familiar?

This isn't an attack on Xbox - if you're genuinely happy that you won't have to pay extra for Call of Duty moving forward, we completely understand your viewpoint. We're not bitter fanbabies for any particular games company, this isn't personal.

If anything, we want all options within the games industry to continue to be strong and healthy, as greater consumer choice means more fun for everyone.

Anyways, we look forward to being evicerated in the comments.

Lots of love,

BretonStripes (http://twitter.com/bretonstriped) and Kotor (http://twitter.com/kotorcomics)

Sources:
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-day-the-supreme-court-killed-hollywoods-studio-system
https://www.process.st/why-are-monopolies-bad/
https://www.gamesradar.com/government-approval-of-xbox-activision-deal-likely-to-be-long-and-not-guaranteed-analyst-says/
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-01-19-the-deal-that-will-change-the-industry-forever-analysts-on-microsofts-activision-acquisition
https://venturebeat.com/2022/01/18/bobby-kotick-interview-why-activision-blizzard-did-the-deal-with-microsoft/