Microsoft Acquires Activision Blizzard

[Glen-i]

1 hour ago, darksnowman said:

Too. Hip. 

Only in skateboarding, and not real skateboarding. Video game skateboarding.

Only the hippest for me!

[Choze]

On 23/01/2022 at 1:25 PM, Dcubed said:

They are not the biggest; Embracer have almost 3x as many studios (111 to be exact!), while Tencent are very much comparable too.

They are certainly the one with the biggest pockets though! And should really be subject to anti-trust; but given the state of the US? I very much doubt that anything will be done to stop this.

Agreed. Sorry was thinking more value wise as a content maker/seller in an entertainment industry. It's ultimately about games and they have the highest value portfolio by far. EA, Sony etc. dont come close.

 

Edited January 27 by Choze
Rambling

[Dcubed]

A stay of execution until 2024 then.

[darksnowman]

He says Warzone... I say NO MERCY!

On 26/01/2022 at 8:12 AM, Dcubed said:

A stay of execution until 2024 then.

With the deal expecting to be closed in FY 23, did people really believe all projects for non-Microsoft platforms had been cancelled with immediate effect?   

[Cube]

I think, legally, Activision needs to remain acting independently until the deal is finished (so can't do anything to purposefully favour Microsoft), so they can potentially make new deals with Sony up until the sale.

[Dcubed]

1 hour ago, Cube said:

I think, legally, Activision needs to remain acting independently until the deal is finished (so can't do anything to purposefully favour Microsoft), so they can potentially make new deals with Sony up until the sale.

I wouldn't have thought that they could make any further behind-the-scenes deals with Sony at this point; but rather they have to honour the existing behind-the-scenes deals that they already have in place.

Much like how Bethesda had to honour their existing Sony exclusivity deals with Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo.

[Dcubed]

https://www.theverge.com/22941636/microsoft-activision-blizzard-acquisition-sec-filing-came-together

Some additional information regarding the ABK purchase from the new SEC filings...

Quote

 

Microsoft's initial proposal to buy ABK came just a mere 3 days after the initial WSJ article that detailed the big sexual harassment scandal, more or less right when Phil Spencer put out that statement that said he was "troubled" regarding the allegations and that they were "re-evaluating their relationship" with Activision-Blizzard (he wasn't kidding!)

There were a total of 5 companies (sadly un-named) that were in the running to buy ABK.  One outright could not afford the purchase, while the others were stamped out by Microsoft before they even got a chance to make a formal bid.

If the merger is blocked by the FTC, Microsoft must pay ABK a termination fee of between $2-3 Billion.  If Activision Blizzard’s shareholders do not vote to approve the merger for whatever reason though, it must pay Microsoft a termination fee of $2.27 billion.

Bobby Kotick "stands to gain $410,142,075 based on the $95 per share that Microsoft plans to pay — and he has an additional “golden parachute” worth $14,592,302 if he decides to stay and Microsoft then pushes him out anyway. That doesn’t count his 2.2 million stock options, either, which could be worth hundreds of millions of additional dollars depending on how much they cost to exercise".

The SEC filings also confirm that COD Vanguard missed sales expectations.

 

That's crazy just how fast MS pounced on that scandal! They smelt blood in the water like a shark!

[Dcubed]

Oh snap! That's massive.

Huge, huge blow for Activision and the traditional AAA console gaming sector as a whole.

Edited February 23 by Dcubed

[Happenstance]

 

[drahkon]

Man, I wish I made a lucky $100 mil bet.

Edited March 9 by drahkon

[Happenstance]

 

[Julius]

Activision and Bobby Kotick don't look to be in the clear just yet (thank the gaming gods): 

Awesome. Was worried this would let up with the sale. 

Edited May 4 by Julius