Microsoft plans to buy Activision Blizzard – is that good or bad?

On Jan. 18, Microsoft announced that they intend to buy publishing giant Activision Blizzard. It is the largest purchase in gaming history. What do you think of it and what are your hopes and fears?

This deal is about: In an announcement that shook the gaming industry, Microsoft said it plans to buy publisher Activision Blizzard. A whopping 68.7 billion should be shelled out for this, which is by far the largest purchase in the history of gaming.

It’s well ahead of previous record-holder Take Two, which bought developer Zynga for $14 billion, and Microsoft’s most recent major purchase. The company bought Bethesda/Zenimax for $7.5 billion in September 2020.

According to Activision Blizzard, the purchase is expected to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2023. Until then, the publisher will continue to act autonomously.

While many gaming fans were initially simply speechless at the size of the deal, voices of both concern and hope have been raised since the announcement:

• The hopes are, for example, that Microsoft will “clean up properly” at Activision Blizzard. In the past few months, the publisher and its CEO Bobby Kotick have been under constant fire from the Seximsus scandals and cheating problems at CoD Warzone. A part of the community hopes that this will change after the takeover by Microsoft.
• The fears relate primarily to the size of Microsoft. The purchase of two large publishers in a relatively short period of time raises concerns that the market could become too homogeneous as a result. After all, Activision is the largest third-party publisher in gaming. Other concerns are that there will be even more exclusivity in gaming or that there will be no changes in work culture at Acitvision.

We therefore want to know how MeinMMO readers see the situation. Tell us.

How to vote: This time we have a double poll for you, which you can see below in the tools. For each of them you can tick up to 4 answers that apply to your hopes or fears. However, the choice cannot be undone.

So shoot away: What do you expect from the planned deal? Do you think the purchase is good or bad? Are your expectations more positive or more negative? Or do you want to wait and have tea first? After all, the final processing still takes a bit.

Let us know in the comments and have fun voting.

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