As Microsoft lays off thousands and jacks up Game Pass prices, former FTC chair says I told you so: The Activision-Blizzard buyout is 'harming both gamers and developers'

Comments

• Technus@lemmy.zip ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I’ve been incensed about this since I first heard about the merger over two years ago. The fact that both the US and EU rubber-stamped the deal is easily one of the biggest regulatory failings of the tech sector in the past ten years.

  I still can’t believe that the only stipulation was that CoD had to remain available on Playstation.

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• Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I don’t think you can blame it all the merger when MS is 3rd behind Sony and Tencent.

  In game consoles Sony outsells MS 2 to 1. MS isn’t a monopoly in gaming.

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• reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I don’t know many of the details of the price hike, but my first thought was that ms might be trying to put pressure on tariffs via consumer outrage. If people don’t see prices going up they won’t get upset, and absorbing the costs obviously hurts the bottom line.

  If my theory is true it’s pretty cowardly to try to force it via consumer sentiment rather than using their considerable weight to fight the bully themselves though.

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  • justOnePersistentKbinPlease@fedia.io ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    I think its an internal disagreement.

    There have been rumours for a few years now that the price of gamepass was causing issues as it was seen as denying profits from other teams inside microsoft.

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• Lucky_777@lemmy.world ⁨15⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Long are the days of Xbots I believe. Most have grown out of gaming and turned into business MAGA bois.

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