(I am in no position to begrudge anyone looking forward to a classic cartoon-style series of a classic cartoon-style video game. Though Netflix hasn't had a great run of luck recently, as far as I can tell, but I could just be giving undue weight to Cowboy Bebop's catastrophic collapse.)
I was curious what the actual, well, Penny Arcade comic might have to say about this massive corporate move tomorrow, but then again I checked what I had missed from Monday and it was about blood, feces and urine in pokeballs, so maybe I shouldn't wait with baited breath.
You are way off base with Netflix, yeah. Squid Game and (more germane to this) Arcane were both in 2021. Of course they have lousy shows, they're a prolific producer of a TON of shows.
Man microsoft even paid a premium per share at $95 per share. The stock was worth considerably less yesterday.
Maybe the Bliz/Act board wasn't confident in being able to pull out of the slump any time soon and Microsoft took advantage.
It's not even really a premium. ATVI was higher than $95 just a few months ago. There wasn't really any fundamental reason for the drop in share price besides labor problems at Activision (which would be a non-issue if Microsoft cleans house and does mass layoffs of redundant positions afterwards). The IPs are still untouched, the code is still there, the publishing deals are still signed.
This was Microsoft waiting until there was blood in the streets before buying at a discount.
Yeah, I barely understand out large-scale acquisitions work, and even I know that it amounts to a massive bribe of the shareholders (though in "return", it appears Microsoft will also obtain all of the company's cash reserves, as was the case with Mojang). The notion "What, they're paying more than the stock price? If anything it should be less because everyone hates the company!" betrays a misunderstanding of how a bilateral acquisition works, I think.
(I am in no position to begrudge anyone looking forward to a classic cartoon-style series of a classic cartoon-style video game. Though Netflix hasn't had a great run of luck recently, as far as I can tell, but I could just be giving undue weight to Cowboy Bebop's catastrophic collapse.)
I was curious what the actual, well, Penny Arcade comic might have to say about this massive corporate move tomorrow, but then again I checked what I had missed from Monday and it was about blood, feces and urine in pokeballs, so maybe I shouldn't wait with baited breath.
You are way off base with Netflix, yeah. Squid Game and (more germane to this) Arcane were both in 2021. Of course they have lousy shows, they're a prolific producer of a TON of shows.
I have issues with Netflix but they crank out productions at an alarming rate, especially now that other streaming services are pulling legacy shows and movies back to their home base
Positive - MS could potentially actually get the major issues at activision/blizzard dealt with. Also maybe get Blizzard away from the “every game has to be a blockbuster” mindset that’s been there for awhile because of Activision.
Negative - conflicting reports that Kotick will remain in place after the acquisition. Some indicate he will report to Spencer, others that he will only be there til the merger takes place.
Positive - reports are that major activision titles may remain on other platforms.
Overall I’m not thrilled by it, and question that it will make it through regulation.
Best guess is MS is taking advantage of Acti’s current problems to be able to have the good will message of “We will fix this” to combat the obvious consolidation and anti-competitive nature of an acquisition this huge. If they actually keep stuff going Multiplatform unlike with Bethesda then that will help a lot, but I’m skeptical of that.
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augustwhere you come from is goneRegistered Userregular
Blizzard-shmizzard, you don't pay out $90 billion just for those bunch of has-bins. Call of Duty is an absolute tentpole of Playstation and you can bet Microsoft is going to cut that off eventually. (Though Battlefield may just pick up the slack.) So much of that value is tied up in Mobile IPs too that you wonder whether they have some larger plan for that side as well.
MS marketing aren't usually trolls, but just imagine the ad ideas bubbling up involving Crash Bandicoot. It probably just my age but someone at Xbox PR has to be looking up how much it'd cost to make a life-sized Bandicoot suit. (or maybe asking someone at AB if they've got one laying around.)
(I am in no position to begrudge anyone looking forward to a classic cartoon-style series of a classic cartoon-style video game. Though Netflix hasn't had a great run of luck recently, as far as I can tell, but I could just be giving undue weight to Cowboy Bebop's catastrophic collapse.)
I was curious what the actual, well, Penny Arcade comic might have to say about this massive corporate move tomorrow, but then again I checked what I had missed from Monday and it was about blood, feces and urine in pokeballs, so maybe I shouldn't wait with baited breath.
You are way off base with Netflix, yeah. Squid Game and (more germane to this) Arcane were both in 2021. Of course they have lousy shows, they're a prolific producer of a TON of shows.
I haven't seen Arcane but I know it was well received. That makes sense. The comparison to Squid Game is a lot more tenuous by comparison, but at least Netflix isn't hurting.
Sony should just gobble up the Japanese companies, make this as east vs west as possible.
If the inevitable Hololive fighter by Arc Systemworks is a PS5 exclusive, I have to buy a PS5.
Listen, any game where I can select Gura while an overly enthusiastic announcer shouts "YOU AIN'T FROM MICHIGAN IF YOU AIN'T DONE THIS BEFORE" is an instant pre-order on all systems, even ones I don't own.
1. This a monopolistic nightmare. Ignoring the health of the industry for a moment, just from a purely genre standpoint, this puts nearly all of the major triple A shooters into Microsoft's wheelhouse. Also a sizable amount of western RPG's.
2. Activision-Blizzard is a nightmare company, so I wouldn't mind Spencer clearing house. (Kotick has to be gone though, otherwise I'm going to "reevaluate" my relationship with Xbox)
3. That's a fucking stupid, stupid amount of money and a lot of it is going to go the very shareholders who "stood" with Kotick through the allegations.
I want Activision-Blizzard brought to heel a lot, but this isn't the way. Hopefully even the US's weak regulatory body is able to smack this one down.
Microsoft has enough cash on hand to outright buy Nintendo at a 25% premium, even after today's Activision announcement. The reasons why it wouldn't happen are because of US monopoly laws (buying ATVI is one thing, but buying a direct console competitor when there's only three major companies total is a no-no) and because the Japanese government would never allow a major Japanese company to be bought out by a foreign corporation (see all the shenanigans with Nissan and Toshiba).
Microsoft has enough cash on hand to outright buy Nintendo at a 25% premium, even after today's Activision announcement. The reasons why it wouldn't happen are because of US monopoly laws (buying ATVI is one thing, but buying a direct console competitor when there's only three major companies total is a no-no) and because the Japanese government would never allow a major Japanese company to be bought out by a foreign corporation (see all the shenanigans with Nissan and Toshiba).
Could be right, but the if $ amount is high enough, "principles" and "laws" seem to get thrown out the window
A) This is a consequence of the US judiciary killing presumptive prohibitions against mergers. If it’s the burden of the government to prove the case to the standards the US judiciary expects (not going into the details here) then mergers like this will keep happening. No way around it.
Absolutely did not see this coming, but now that I see it there couldn’t be a more perfect time for Microsoft to do it. Go back and tell my younger self that Microsoft will buy Activision Blizzard and not a single tear will shed for the unique culture of those companies.
C) This rewrites everything I assumed about possible acquisitions by Microsoft.
Well, looks like being long ATVI since 2016 has paid off! I'd been eating shit these last few months, but generally ATVI bounces back eventually. Now MS is taking them off my hands for near ATVI's all time high.
I guess whenever this goes through, my brokerage will just liquidate my shares for those sweet, sweet Microsoft dollars?
I'm kind of relieved. I'm cynical enough to hold a stock for a company doing fucky things if I believe they can still make money. But Activision was really pushing my limits.
Microsoft has enough cash on hand to outright buy Nintendo at a 25% premium, even after today's Activision announcement. The reasons why it wouldn't happen are because of US monopoly laws (buying ATVI is one thing, but buying a direct console competitor when there's only three major companies total is a no-no) and because the Japanese government would never allow a major Japanese company to be bought out by a foreign corporation (see all the shenanigans with Nissan and Toshiba).
Could be right, but the if $ amount is high enough, "principles" and "laws" seem to get thrown out the window
Even if MSFT cleared US regulatory concerns, they'd never get past the Japanese government. Japan still has national champions, like South Korea/Taiwan/France, even if they're not as proportionally large like Foxconn or Samsung. They will never let a prominent name like Nintendo get bought out by a multinational.
You can chalk it up to xenophobic tendencies in their government if you want, because it's not really about principles or laws. Japan pretty clearly did everything they could to expel Renault control of Nissan, and there was blatant illegal government pressure on minority shareholders of Toshiba to block any moves to privatize or spin off divisions.
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You are way off base with Netflix, yeah. Squid Game and (more germane to this) Arcane were both in 2021. Of course they have lousy shows, they're a prolific producer of a TON of shows.
Actually yeah I guess I was wrong on this, looking at the average premium. 30% seems to be dead centre, so not too much higher than usual.
I have issues with Netflix but they crank out productions at an alarming rate, especially now that other streaming services are pulling legacy shows and movies back to their home base
man, you gotta think bigger! or smaller i guess... a mobile version of WoW via cloud gaming!
Negative - conflicting reports that Kotick will remain in place after the acquisition. Some indicate he will report to Spencer, others that he will only be there til the merger takes place.
Positive - reports are that major activision titles may remain on other platforms.
Overall I’m not thrilled by it, and question that it will make it through regulation.
Best guess is MS is taking advantage of Acti’s current problems to be able to have the good will message of “We will fix this” to combat the obvious consolidation and anti-competitive nature of an acquisition this huge. If they actually keep stuff going Multiplatform unlike with Bethesda then that will help a lot, but I’m skeptical of that.
Steam ID: Good Life
MS marketing aren't usually trolls, but just imagine the ad ideas bubbling up involving Crash Bandicoot. It probably just my age but someone at Xbox PR has to be looking up how much it'd cost to make a life-sized Bandicoot suit. (or maybe asking someone at AB if they've got one laying around.)
I haven't seen Arcane but I know it was well received. That makes sense. The comparison to Squid Game is a lot more tenuous by comparison, but at least Netflix isn't hurting.
When memes travel faster than fact, print the memes.
You go to the soda aisle in a grocery store and there is Pepsi and there is Coca Cola.
And Nintendo is RC cola.
It's more like the beer aisle - it looks like everything is from different companies, but it's 80+% AB InBev.
...I thought it would be Tencent.
It's more like a car
If the inevitable Hololive fighter by Arc Systemworks is a PS5 exclusive, I have to buy a PS5.
Whoever wins, we lose.
Listen, any game where I can select Gura while an overly enthusiastic announcer shouts "YOU AIN'T FROM MICHIGAN IF YOU AIN'T DONE THIS BEFORE" is an instant pre-order on all systems, even ones I don't own.
Hard to believe as big as Activision is, they're real close to being a one trick pony.
1. This a monopolistic nightmare. Ignoring the health of the industry for a moment, just from a purely genre standpoint, this puts nearly all of the major triple A shooters into Microsoft's wheelhouse. Also a sizable amount of western RPG's.
2. Activision-Blizzard is a nightmare company, so I wouldn't mind Spencer clearing house. (Kotick has to be gone though, otherwise I'm going to "reevaluate" my relationship with Xbox)
3. That's a fucking stupid, stupid amount of money and a lot of it is going to go the very shareholders who "stood" with Kotick through the allegations.
I want Activision-Blizzard brought to heel a lot, but this isn't the way. Hopefully even the US's weak regulatory body is able to smack this one down.
They already tried, got laughed at. They even admitted as much.
On one hand, conflicted by monopoly. On the other, fucking Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamepasssssssssssssss!
70 billion with b. That’s so many milk jugs.
Microsoft has enough cash on hand to outright buy Nintendo at a 25% premium, even after today's Activision announcement. The reasons why it wouldn't happen are because of US monopoly laws (buying ATVI is one thing, but buying a direct console competitor when there's only three major companies total is a no-no) and because the Japanese government would never allow a major Japanese company to be bought out by a foreign corporation (see all the shenanigans with Nissan and Toshiba).
Hence the thread title.
Could be right, but the if $ amount is high enough, "principles" and "laws" seem to get thrown out the window
A) This is a consequence of the US judiciary killing presumptive prohibitions against mergers. If it’s the burden of the government to prove the case to the standards the US judiciary expects (not going into the details here) then mergers like this will keep happening. No way around it.
C) This rewrites everything I assumed about possible acquisitions by Microsoft.
“Welcome to Summer Fest’s Microsoft-Bethesda-Activision-Blizzard presentation.”
Suddenly a one-man flute show and associated venue change seems a lot more viable.
I totally forgot King was a part of this.
I guess whenever this goes through, my brokerage will just liquidate my shares for those sweet, sweet Microsoft dollars?
I'm kind of relieved. I'm cynical enough to hold a stock for a company doing fucky things if I believe they can still make money. But Activision was really pushing my limits.
Yup, literally nothing there to float my boat, even at over $11billion apiece.
Steam | XBL
Even if MSFT cleared US regulatory concerns, they'd never get past the Japanese government. Japan still has national champions, like South Korea/Taiwan/France, even if they're not as proportionally large like Foxconn or Samsung. They will never let a prominent name like Nintendo get bought out by a multinational.
You can chalk it up to xenophobic tendencies in their government if you want, because it's not really about principles or laws. Japan pretty clearly did everything they could to expel Renault control of Nissan, and there was blatant illegal government pressure on minority shareholders of Toshiba to block any moves to privatize or spin off divisions.