Of course, Phil only got 3 stones(Mojang, Bethesda, Activision), there are 3 more to go!
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The threat of Tencent was almost certainly a major consideration. With interest rates and inflation increasing, now was the time if there ever was one, for Tencent to consider a massive acquisition on this level. The unique thing about Tencent is I suspect the Chinese government may bail them out if anything went awry. I imagine that they’re in a situation fairly similar to MS in that they may be more willing to take large risks, at this moment, than most of their competitors.
Edit: I almost forgot Amazon. Can’t take them for granted either.
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Rumors are that talks began in October, which isn’t a long time considering the sheer scope of this deal.
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Do you have a source on that? It sounds so incredibly short for the magnitude of the deal.
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It’s perhaps the reason for the cleanup to process faster with firings and more underway.
No, just remember reading someone else say that. Not sure I fully believe it, but it does coincide with when the shit started hitting the fan for them.
Nah I think MS saw the last stone as PC gaming.
When every Japanese game is skipping Xbox again.
If this leads to more console sales as one would think then it becomes less likely Japanese games skip too.
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LOL.
Good point, I don’t expect anything really big in the meantime when they have the eyes of regulatory boards all over them.
Activision-Blizzard:
| Revenue | Increase US$8.09 billion[2] (2020) |
|---|---|
| Operating income | Increase US$2.73 billion[2] (2020) |
| Net income | Increase US$2.2 billion[2] (2020) |
| Total assets | Increase US$23.11 billion[2] (2020) |
| Total equity | Increase US$15.04 billion[2] (2020) |
| Number of employees | 9,500[2] (2020) |
I think MS knows what they are getting. It most definitely had to be a defence against other big players grabbing a foothold with the biggest publisher in the Americas.
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Do you believe me if I tell you the next one is Take Two ? 
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I want more lol.
I do believe you that T2 will be acquired. I just don’t think it will be Microsoft due to antitrust.
I mean you can buy all the big publishers in the industry there will always be thousands of Studios and games it’s literally impossible to have a monopoly in this industry.
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Playful may make some sense with their IP Now. No need to convince Rare either. Just hand them Spyro.
Remember there is nothing illegal about being big and dominate. It’s when you start using that power to force bad business deals onto other companies.
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I disagree. They are threading the needle on this one. It is not number of studios but marketshare. The big publishers represent a large portion of the marketshare.