Do you remember a few months ago when Microsoft bought Blizzard and hit a snag in the UK?
Microsoft is somewhat unconvinced that “because of a flaw in the cloud gaming field (Microsoft’s market share is too large), Microsoft’s acquisition was banned in the UK.”
As a result, I never expected that the matter of appealing in the UK has not yet been written off (there will be an appeal hearing in July), and the antitrust agency FTC (Federal Trade Commission of the United States) and Microsoft in the United States have also begun to go to court. up.
This time, Microsoft and FTC not only quarreled from console games to cloud games and mobile games, but also involved a few bloody dramas.
First of all, I have to introduce to you why the FTC believes that Microsoft’s acquisition of Blizzard is a monopoly, which is very important.
Generally speaking, in order to get players to buy their own products, the current game console companies often make a selling point: I have what no one else has.
That is game exclusive.
Because, an excellent exclusive game can often make the game company make a lot of money.
For example, the release of The Legend of Zelda 2 caused Switch sales to soar by 68% in June, earning at least $100 million more.
And this time, Microsoft has a similar idea:Seeing that Blizzard has various big IPs in its hands, once it is included in the Xbox’s game library, the Xbox will not be a hit.
I have to say that the idea is really good, but problems arise in practice.
You know, Blizzard’s games were originally released on all platforms, that is, computers, PS5, Xbox, etc. can basically be played.
But once Microsoft intends to monopolize Blizzard games, players will not be able to play Blizzard’s COD and other masterpieces on PS5.
In this way, Microsoft and Sony competed normally, and as a result, we gamers lost a lot.
Of course, this was originally just a suspicion of the FTC, but recently, this suspicion has been “founded”.
Because Microsoft “completed the whole job” and directly sent the “criminal evidence” to the FTC.
Didn’t Microsoft acquire the famous game company B Club before?
result,Recently, when Agency B released the masterpiece “Starry Sky”, it announced that it had landed on Xbox and PC, but it was not released simultaneously on PS5.
You know, a few months ago, Microsoft promised the EU many times that it would not prevent games from landing on competitors (PS5) platforms.
This hit the FTC muzzle.
The FTC feels that the bad guy Microsoft, even if it will be released on PS5, will use various seemingly legitimate reasons to affect the experience of Sony consumers.(such as delaying the release time of PS5)
So there was the latest antitrust hearing.
However, although the FTC is aggressive, it actually somewhat means that “the homework is not done well”.
Isn’t it?It didn’t take long for Microsoft to throw out a big melon to refute the FTC’s allegations: Sony has suffered for a long time.
Microsoft’s general meaning is this:
Didn’t your FTC say that we, Blizzard, acquired Agency B for monopoly? You can be too wronged.
In fact, the truth is this, we got news before: Sony paid Agency B a sum of money and asked Agency B not to publish these games on Xbox.
Therefore, Microsoft tearfully acquired ZeniMax (the parent company of Company B) to ensure that Xbox players will not miss the starry sky, such high-quality works.
In this context, we are looking at the acquisition of Blizzard. You FTC accused me of engaging in third-party game exclusivity. In fact, this is a trick played by Sony. I just use magic to beat magic.
I bought Blizzard not to engage in a monopoly, but to save the game industry from Sony’s monopoly.
I, Microsoft, am the antitrust fighter.
Although Microsoft’s words sounded quite secondary, to be honest, Sony really can’t wash away this matter.
As we all know, Sony has really done a lot to stop players from playing games on other platforms.(Sony’s exclusive games are nearly 5 times that of Microsoft’s)
Even it is no secret in the game circle that Sony went to a third-party game company to buy exclusive distribution rights. Games such as Bethesda’s “Death Loop” and “Ghost Line: Tokyo” were released separately on PS in the first year.
Of course, after the “ruthless words”, Microsoft did not forget the traditional performance of the previous hearing in the UK-selling badly.
This time, Microsoft has sold more thoroughly, and the core is a little more prominent. If it weren’t for being beaten so badly by Sony, I don’t want to resist.
For example, Microsoft took out Switch and Xbox, compared PS5 on the spot, and said: Look, considering the existence of Nintendo, you all say that I am the second child in the game console industry, but I am actually the third child, and I count my market share. The rate is only 20%.
Moreover, Microsoft’s market share in the entire game market is only 0.3%.
It seems to say that I, Microsoft, am a small player in the game industry, and I am only the third child in the subdivided game console market. What kind of threat can I pose? The main target is harmless to humans and animals.
Even on the last day of the hearing, it was revealed that “Sony intends to reduce the share of Microsoft’s games, causing Microsoft’s Xbox to add 2 million users to make up for the loss”.
Added to the tragic color of Microsoft.
Under such rendering, Microsoft gave birth to such a bombardment speech full of tears:
First, I am a “veteran” at Microsoft.
Second, Sony is making money from me and messing with me with my money. It’s too hard for me.
In fact, Microsoft did not lie. Sony’s PS5’s market share not only beats Xbox, but also Microsoft releases games on PS5, and Sony has to take 30% of the sales.
According to Microsoft, Sony also uses the sales revenue to buy exclusive rights to third-party games, preventing them from publishing on the Xbox.
In this way, Microsoft, which is stacked with the buffs of vulnerable groups and anti-monopoly fighters, directly staged the righteous bridge of “the weak punching the strong”.
Even the direction of public opinion has changed, and the FTC, which is on the side with Sony, has been scolded.
Some netizens have caught the FTC’s pigtails.
You FTC kept saying that you want to protect the interests of gamers, but on the first day of your hearing, you mentioned 72 Sonys and 11 consumers.
People who don’t know, how would they know that you are a public servant of the people? It’s clearly Sony’s.
The effect of the show is really explosive.
Although it is said that the reversal of public opinion, in fact, there are also suspicions that Microsoft has a lot of money and bought the media.
But the FTC is too weak to stand up, and the judges at the hearing can’t stand it. On the last day, the judge frantically hinted that “it’s too obvious that you FTC and Sony are wearing a pair of pants”.
For example, the judge clearly pointed out: You FTC has been saying that Microsoft’s acquisition of Blizzard, thereby harming competitors such as Sony. But shouldn’t antitrust focus on harm to the market and consumers?
This was so sharp that the FTC people were stunned and started talking nonsense.
According to the media The Verge’s description, it is the FTC’s lawyers who are trying to respond to a long list here. So that the judge said bluntly, “Are you answering the wrong question?”
I have to say that this disadvantage is a bit big.
However, what is really exciting about Microsoft’s hearing this time is that Microsoft has successfully regained its disadvantage in the field of cloud games.
Prior to this, the suspected monopoly of cloud games was actually Microsoft’s weakness.
For example, the United Kingdom believes that Microsoft has the potential to disrupt the entire gaming industry in the cloud gaming market.
To put it simply, if Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard, it will expand their dominance in the cloud gaming market, making it impossible for newcomers to succeed.
To be honest, this reason is relatively “impeccable”.
Because looking at the data, Microsoft’s cloud gaming business accounts for the highest proportion, more than half of the entire cloud gaming market.
Although, the cloud industry is actually not a mature industry, and companies such as Google and Amazon have stopped playing.
Microsoft’s current share is actually the tallest among the dwarfs.
But it’s not clear what the future holds.
Therefore, the United Kingdom directly labeled “emerging markets are very uncertain, and Microsoft has the risk of monopoly”. There is really no way to refute it.
But this time, the judges in the United States put forward a very informative argument.
Since everyone doesn’t understand it, let someone who understands it and is in a competitive relationship with Microsoft—Nvidia.
Speaking of which, this situation is a bit funny.
Because Microsoft and Nvidia have already reached an agreement that “within 10 years, Microsoft and Nvidia will not eat alone in the field of cloud games, and will be mutually beneficial”.
Nvidia directly said good things about Microsoft, what reduced the cost of Nvidia cloud games…
The judge said directly: You see, Microsoft has also promoted fair competition among the cloud gaming industry.
It directly blocked the mouth of the FTC industry.
However, the entire hearing came down, except that Microsoft was strong enough. The judge was somewhat helpful.
So much so that some gossip about “the judge was bought by Microsoft” appeared, which gave me a lot of fun.
All in all, in this hearing, Microsoft may indeed have the upper hand.
However, the bad reviewers also feel that it is really hard to say whether Microsoft can finally acquire it.
Because the court still needs to consult the opinions of some small and medium-sized game manufacturers and consumers before giving a final conclusion.
And more importantly, at this point of view, whether Microsoft’s acquisition of Blizzard is a good enough choice is really hard to say.
Two years ago, when Microsoft proposed to acquire Riot, Metaverse was still the hot topic. Therefore, the acquisition of Blizzard, whether it is from the perspective of “giving investors confidence and increasing stock prices” or because of the strategic layout of the game industry, is a wonderful move.
However, with the Blizzard of Microsoft’s father, it is more or less free.
First, use the “sky-high price clause” to get rid of NetEase, leaving the arrogance of players in China.
Later, in the game “Overwatch 2”, Blizzard charged one of the modes for the first time.
The slogan of “testing the bottom line of players and draining the value of the company” was almost written on the face.
Therefore, in the context of declining word of mouth, whether Blizzard is worth more than 60 billion US dollars today, anyway, I don’t know.
So, not only is this acquisition not over yet, the plot may be even more exciting in the future.
Let’s wait and see.
Responsible editor: Wenq above