Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: ID:paperji, author: Erqi

So far, Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard has entered the final stage, and the final trial will be announced in October.

The result will probably be a complete victory for Microsoft, which will create a game giant with no shortage of money, IP and platform. Its many measures in the future will not only directly affect the development of global video games, but also related to the experience of every player.

However, there is no certainty, and there is still a slight possibility that Microsoft will fail.

In this regard, putting aside the antagonism of the mainframe camp, let's raise our perspective and focus on the whole group of players--

Is this result good for our players?

Regarding Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it is actually quite simple to understand:

It is said that in the United States on the other side of the sea, there is a senior official, surnamed Ximen, with a single name, a soft word, is a super-rich in the town, is thinking of expanding the industry.

There is also a beautiful lady, named Pan Dongxue (Activision Blizzard), the only daughter in the family, who controls the silkworm breeding industry in Shiliba Township.

Both sides have the intention of being a concubine. Ximen officials are greedy for each other's industry and want to expand their silk business. When there is a sudden change in Pan Mei's home, her income is declining year after year, and she is in need of strong foreign aid. The marriage of the two families can be described as complementary, mutually beneficial and win-win.

But as soon as the marriage was talked about, some people in the government were unable to sit still-- you are engaging in a monopoly, which is too bad for the development of our local silk industry!

Of course, his Lordship could not object directly, so he called in Suo Jiro (Sony), the largest satin merchant in town.

Most of the mulberry silk in the Suojia workshop was bought from the Pan family. If Ximen soft took Pan Dongxue, I am afraid it would not be possible to get to the bottom of the business, and the two sides would pinch it up in the official lobby, shooting openly and secretly, with all kinds of hats.

Of course, there is a discrepancy between the story and reality, but that's roughly what happened.

The government mentioned above is actually the antitrust investigation agencies of the European Union, Britain and the United States, and Sony is the witness, or goon, they found when they sued Microsoft. As the saying goes, peers are enemies, so no one has a better say in this case than Sony.

As for Activision Blizzard and Sony's business ties, although not to the point of flesh and blood, but also related to millions of players, the loss is like cutting meat.

(leaked Sony documents: 1 million PlayStation players only play "call of Duty") after a year of running, going through all sorts of attacks and defenses, and finally ending with a change in attitude of the three antitrust agencies, Microsoft basically declared victory, and Sony became a clown.

What does this have to do with the player experience? Of course there is.

Because behind this monopoly case, there is actually a dark line-the conflict between the old and the new monopoly modes.

Monopolization means that the game is logged in only on one platform, not on all platforms. Just like eating pork kebabs can only go to barbecue restaurant A, mutton kebabs can only go to barbecue restaurant B.

As for why you can't eat pork kebabs and mutton kebabs at the same time. The reason is simple: the hardware is not enough.

After all, games are not kebabs, experience needs carriers, and when video games first appeared, digital devices were not popular.

Powerful manufacturers such as Sega, Sony, Nintendo and Atari have taken into account the hardware business, involving arcade machines, handsets and mainframes, collectively referred to as game consoles.

They will make exclusive boutique games in order to promote the machine, and upgrade the console to improve the competitiveness of the game.

The two complement each other, and each family has created its own exclusive ecology and formed a moat.

Sony and Nintendo are the ultimate winners of the track, and their success today is closely related to the launch of a series of exclusive games.

It is hard to imagine whether the two giants would be as brilliant as they are today without a series of IP, such as Zelda and Ares.

Microsoft wanted to repeat this path. They take the high-performance host XBOX as the position, take "halo", "war machine" and a series of exclusive games as the core, forcibly open up their own share.

However, this is the thing of the old generation. In the next-generation mainframe battlefield, Microsoft finally lost because of the lack of monopoly and the performance gap, and became the one with the lowest market share of the three. Be reasonable, it would be damned if Microsoft could win before. As a latecomer, he chose to compete in other people's advantageous areas, and it was an accident to win.

Of course, that was a bit of an afterthought.

Probably learned from the failure, Microsoft finally recognized the reality, ready to change the track and start all over again, this is XGP.

XGP itself is a subscription service launched by XBOX, which allows users to visit many 3A masterpieces with a small sum of money.

Its lineup is quite luxurious, and many 3A masterpieces will join XGP as soon as they are launched, which can be summed up in a word-too conscientious!

The most competitive thing is that XGP is not only applicable to the game console, but also can be used on the PC side, which can be said to be paid once and enjoyed twice.

As for why manufacturers are willing to join, because Microsoft gives money! Who wouldn't like it if you can get a lot of money if the game is not online?

Given the popularity of PC today, this is actually a reduced-dimensional blow, the question is, how to attract players to choose XGP?

Microsoft's answer is "We are cheap enough". In recent years, Microsoft has continuously acquired a number of game manufacturers, including B Society, Obsidian. The trial also leaked a list of companies Microsoft is considering acquiring, including Sega, Bang Chicken, SE and other companies.

This means that XGP may have a series of new IP works such as radiation, German headquarters, Ancient Scrolls, final Fantasy, Destiny, Goddess and Dragon in the future, as well as their brand-new works.

Spending $68.7 billion to buy Activision Blizzard is still an attitude, which means that Microsoft can win almost all game makers.

Because in terms of market capitalization alone, no manufacturer can resist Microsoft's banknote ability.

Nintendo: $546.6 billion

EA:387. 100 million Dao

Capcom: $4.64 billion

Ubisoft: $6.31 billion

If one day, with the exception of Nintendo, all the major manufacturers are impressed by the ability to pay and join the XPG camp.

Friends, do we have a choice?

This is not a good thing for competitors like Sony, steam and EPIC. For example, the acquisition of B Society made "Star" leave PS5 and become a member of XGP. If Activision Blizzard is won, call of Duty will not leave because of the contract, but 100% will join XGP, resulting in the loss of Sony users.

With regard to steam and Epic, although Microsoft ensures that the game will be online on these PC platforms, it can still make an article from the price.

In other words, the acquisition of studios is an important part of Microsoft's efforts to strengthen XGP, by which they can limit the PS platform and make XGP more competitive on the PC side.

This is a naked masculine scheme, which stems from the ability of money.

Do you think he monopolized it?

Such as alone.

In Sony's testimony, they called it a "monopoly".

Nintendo is indifferent to this, after all, their game highlights an idea, Microsoft can not imitate, does not constitute a competition. There is no need to worry about mainframe sales at all, because since NS, Lao Ren has not played the same routine as everyone else.

Interestingly, in order to bet on Sony's mouth, Microsoft also signed a contract with Lao Ren to guarantee that the "COD" series would be sold on NS.

Sony is anxious because its main IP is not as irreplaceable as Zelda and Mario, and mainframe sales will inevitably be affected.

This is also the core debate of this acquisition-will Microsoft's large mergers and acquisitions lead to unfair competition in the gaming industry?

To be more direct, will Sony lose its competitiveness?

Considering that there is a high probability of logging into the 3A of XGP, it's hard for me to say no.

However, from the player's point of view, the result can be said to be greatly good.

In order to maintain its game market share, Sony will have to make a choice: one is to try its best to launch more high-quality exclusive games to strengthen the ecology; the other is to give up monopoly and embrace the whole platform, turning the PS console into a "cost-effective game computer." But combined with the moves over the past year, Sony has chosen to integrate the two, that is, a time-limited monopoly on the PS platform.

How can I put it? It's more like a stopgap measure that won't last long. As for the future, who knows?

Sony may abandon its mainframe career altogether and concentrate on game development.

It is also possible to move completely closer to monopoly and follow a path similar to that of Nintendo.

Microsoft's success indicates that XGP will usher in a bright future. It is likely to upgrade from an affiliated subscription service of XBOX to a platform side by side with EPIC and STEAM, and we will be able to play all kinds of 3A at a more conscientious price.

There is no need to worry about quality for the time being. Microsoft is notoriously friendly to its studios and is a top-notch patron. With it as a support, a number of studios must be able to do a big job.

The question is, what about the future? I am not unfounded, but history tells us that every pore of capital is dripping with dirty blood.

(Das Kapital is never out of date) Microsoft's massive continuous investment must focus on future earnings. But I don't know what it is, and I don't bother to think about it.

Maybe in 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, Microsoft will monopolize the video game industry, and then shoddy, trample on IP, sell at high prices, and so on. But so what? can't I open PS5 and Steam and play some old games?

As for now, I have joined XGP and so on next month's starry sky (dog head).

[tail]

During the trial, Spencer, CEO of Microsoft's xbox business, solemnly swore to the judge:

"I swear with both hands that we will continue to release future versions of call of Duty on the PS5 platform at all costs."

"what about Diablo? can you guarantee that it will be released on all future PlayStation consoles?" The opposing party asked.

"I promise, I will."

"can you control Microsoft? can what you say now really restrain the company?"

Spencer was silent.

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.