Lots of revelations about Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard: this week’s business news

news business Lots of revelations about Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard: this week’s business news

New consoles, new Game Pass, allegations… new details in the case of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard

The soap opera is definitely not stopping anymore. If you’ve been following the news a bit, you know that alongside the UK CMA, too Another organization has just stood in the way of Microsoft’s takeover of Activision-Blizzard: neither more nor less than the American FTCwho feared that the American giant would complete the takeover once the UK gave the green light.

blocking of withdrawal, The Federal Trade Commission began hearings with Microsoft yesterday, which reveals a lot of information. Here is a selection:

• That said Sarah Bond, Vice President of Xbox“Activision-Blizzard (and more specifically its CEO Bobby Kotick) had asked Microsoft for preferential treatmentdemanded a bigger revenue share, then threatened to remove Call of Duty from Xbox platforms if they disagreed.

• In this way, A split agreement was reached at 80%/20%, while the norm was 70/30.
  “We felt it was important to acquire their content,” said Sarah Bond.

• A new formula for Xbox Game Pass is currently under review that will only provide access to cloud gaming. However, this would result in “higher operating costs”.

• A rather unfortunate email for Sony was revealed in court Also read: PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan writes that he wasn’t worried about the publisher’s takeover at first. Two days after the acquisition was announced, he said, “It’s not going to be an Xbox exclusive at all” and that “Microsoft is thinking bigger.”

• As IGN found in reviewing court documents, The launch of the next generation of consoles is expected in 2028eight after the launch of the PS5 and Xbox series.

• About the new consoles, Jim Ryan also reportedly said he wouldn’t reveal his PS6 plans to Activision-Blizzard if the company were acquiredand therefore monitored by Microsoft, says Axios.

• Axios also shares the information that the The FTC would blame Microsoft’s deals with Nintendo or Nvidia (to bring Call of Duty and other Activision games to relevant platforms over the next decade) be filled with “loopholes and speculative commitments”.

• Microsoft’s defendants in court put Xbox in a weak position with particularly strong words: “Xbox lost the console wars and its competitors are well positioned to continue to dominate, including leveraging exclusive content. Xbox consistently ranks third among consoles behind PlayStation and Nintendo.”

• IGN revealed that Indiana Jones, a video game published by ZenixMax (Bethesda), was originally a cross-platform game before Microsoft bought the publisher and released it exclusively for Xbox. The same is true for Starfield, according to the FTC.

• The FTC also said the actions were “strong evidence” that Microsoft’s promises of cross-platform releases of Call of Duty games were unreliable. “Actions speak louder than words,” the Federal Trade Commission said, citing Microsoft’s acquisition of ZeniMax and the exclusive development of the publisher’s projects.

• Axios also states that Xbox Games Studios boss Matt Booty called in to discuss Microsoft’s exclusivity strategy. The FTC then cited emails in which the person concerned wrote that there was “no way” Microsoft would transfer its licenses to competing consoles. These emails were allegedly written between 2019 and 2021. In his defense, Booty says he was angry at the time about Nvidia’s decision to have Microsoft games on GeForce Now, but the strategy has since changed.

A study of independent video game consumption habits

For Humble Games, a group of analysts conducted a study to better analyze independent video games: researchers surveyed around 5,000 gamers aged 18 to 45 in six different countries.

According to analysts, three player profiles have been identified:

• Regular indie game buyers (who buy more than 5 indie games per year)
• Light indie game buyers (between one and five indie games per year)
• Traditional game buyers (not purchased indie games)

Of the 5,000 people, about 2,000 were regular and light shoppers. Traditional gamers would then play the video game an average of 12 hours per week, while light and regular gamers would play 18 hours per week. The surprise, however, is that regular indie gamers would buy and play more AAA games than gamers in the other two categories.

By the way, how do you qualify a game as “independent”? The question has been asked and the three categories of players agree that the first criterion is price, ideally between $15 and $25. Starting at $25, players really expect more content.

As far as the very characterization of an “indie game” goes, players expect a unique, experimental, innovative, unforgettable and passionate experience.

21% of light buyers and 29% of regular buyers buy indie video games right after release, and 30% of all buyers prefer to wait a few months after release to warm up the credit card. 10% of buyers would pre-order their indie games. The majority, however, prefer to wait for ascent phases.

Another interesting detail: the three player categories favor paid independent video games over free independent video games.

Another point of the study to keep in mind is that 31% of independent gamers would discover the titles through YouTube, 15% through Steam, and 13% through their friends or family. When they want to learn more, gameplay videos come first (54%), followed by simple gameplay images (28%) and trailers (27%).

Finally, the gameplay videos would be the first incentive factor to purchase (for 30% of respondents).

Also note that gamers tend to prefer single-player indie games where the emphasis is on story and narrative, gameplay and thrills, or the amount of content. For the more AA or AAA video game, on the other hand, multiplayer and graphics would be more important.

Finally, independent video game players appreciate new franchises, unique gameplay and original artistic directions that allow them to express personal feelings. They would also prefer single player to multiplayer, and if multiplayer existed, co-op would take precedence over competitive. Finally, the third-person camera would also be preferable.

Interesting !

Briefly in the business news of the week

• Ina Gelbert, Head of Xbox France, has just announced her resignation, making way for Cédric Mimouni, Gaming Category Lead Western Europe.
• A brand new studio, Red Over Interactive, has just been founded by several veterans (DayZ, Conan Exiles, Crysis 2, Ryse). It is directed by Fred Richardson (of Funcom) and aims to revitalize the survival video game.
• Lumikai plans to distribute $50 million to video game developers in India, with a focus on new franchises, tools and technologies, mixed reality and AI.
• The Twitch platform recorded 1.76 billion viewing hours in May. Zelda Tears of the Kingdom has 37 million.
• Capcom has announced that it has sold nearly 500 million video games since its debut 40 years ago.
• Microsoft has announced that it will wait until there is enough audience for virtual and augmented reality before actually dealing with this medium.
• Ghostwire Tokyo has registered five million players.

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