Dang.
For the people in the back who don’t read about the history of video games, and who don’t understand why Bobby Kotick is still there, here’s a hint (and more here):
“How could the business press not love him? He turned a $440,000 investment into a $4.5 billion company in 25 years.”
And just sold it for $70 billion. Activision filed for bankruptcy in 1991 with Bobby at the top. Of COURSE business people love that man. He’s been excellent at his job.
Now yes, I know. But when we’re talking about money and that amount, you already know that characters and toxic culture don’t matter then. Look at Apple.
Anyway, on the Microsoft side, wow. They’re not joking around and it makes sense: the only way for game subscriptions to work is to have so many lucrative IPs that whatever happens, —a game being a complete financial bust— nothing can really go down. It’s simply too big.
I think by buying Blizzard they just achieved that. That Game Pass thing just became ultra attractive to many.
But even bigger is the fact that they own eyeballs, metaverse-ready kids: from Minecraft to Spyro to Call of Duty to Doom and Halo, with a plethora of indie games on the side and Candy Crush with mom? All for one subscription? For any device?
No one will leave that MS Metaverse. It’s too good of a deal.