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410°

Activision’s $69 Billion Sale to Microsoft Draws Challenge

A Swedish state-run pension fund sued Activision Blizzard Inc. and Microsoft Corp., claiming their planned $69 billion merger was rigged to exploit the beleaguered gaming giant’s sexual harassment crisis and protect its CEO.

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https://news.bloomberglaw.com/esg/activisions-69-billion-sale-to-microsoft-draws-court-challenge Also change to the original title "Activision’s $69 Billion Sale to Microsoft Draws Challenge"
Abriael543d ago WhoDisagree(0)Agree(1)
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Community543d ago
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Thundercat77543d ago
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Thundercat77543d ago
Thundercat77543d ago

"Microsoft deliberately used the harassment scandal and its commercial advantage over Activision to offer Kotick a way to save his own skin. The corporation colluded with Kotick and the board to help them avoid the personal and professional consequences of this scandal."

This is getting very very ugly for Phil and Kotick. This "deal" has many wrong things and now we are talking about "criminal implications"

I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft drops the deal amidst all these scandals and corruption. It could even cost Phil his career.

Sonyslave3543d ago (Edited 543d ago )

Lol this sheet ain’t stopping nothing lol Microsoft trying to save Bobby’s skin 😭😭 man get out of here. Microsoft already hire a third party to investigate and handle any scandals from them and soon Activison Blizzard.

People already tried this so many times in USA and failed

SullysCigar543d ago

Something fishy - and potentially 'fraudy' - about all this. I expect Phil's Sphincter's a little twitchy about now.

Hofstaderman543d ago

Phil says “It wasn’t me”

MrVux000543d ago

I wonder what will happen in next episode of "Phil Spencer Says" ... the plot of this show is so good it almost puts ''Jim Lying'' show to shame.

just_looken543d ago

A busniess buyout is not all on board and compaines can be corrupt? i am so shock i tell you /s

All this Microsoft activision talk yet ea own's the majority of racing/sports game ip's.

babadivad543d ago

I honestly wonder how many people here would be against this deal if Sony were attempting to purchase Activision.

just_looken543d ago

@neutral

In your list you forgot Embracer has been like pacman last few years that list was 3x larger but Embracer purchsed koch media then slowly ate there way across asia/europe/austrailia and is on north America right now.

They can buy any one of those studios also either the full company or a chunk at a time.

neutralgamer1992543d ago (Edited 543d ago )

Sonyslave3

Your opinion is well known. You want this deal to go through but fact of the matter is now this deal has a very high probability of not going through

Thundercat77

It's common sense because Activision were getting so much bad PR and suddenly this olive branch was offered. What's totally absurd is Phil said he is against less gamers getting to play yet since they Ms have acquired so many studios and Bethesda and now are trying to act like a 2 trillion dollar little engine that could against the big bad PlayStation

I am a Xbox fan and hate this deal if it goes through. This won't help me but if this deal goes through Sony will retaliate by acquiring some of their Japanese publishers so as a gamer I want more options not less

Square enix
Ubi
Take two
EA
Embracer
Sega
Namo
Capcom
CD project red

Should all be off limit and should remain 3rd party

And please stop comparing timed exclusive content to permanently exclusive games

neutralgamer1992542d ago

just_looken

Let me be very clear I have no horse in this race but I am against all console makers staying away from acquiring publishers

Difference is they buy and keep games on all platforms. Also if you look at the last few years they have remade some really awesome PS2 era games and they support a healthy AA market. Back during zps2, GameCube and Xbox we had very healthy mid size publishers but now it seems either it's a AAA game or indies

What use to be cheat codes or unlockables via playing is being sold to us as micro transactions, we had publishers like midway and midway willing to take chances on smaller but very good projects like Darksiders and red faction etc

Back than games had to be something special to get 10/10 and now if a big game doesn't get 10/10 fans harass the reviewer

Times have changed

dcbronco543d ago

The Swedish government was willing to chase Julian Assange across the planet for nothing but can't arrest a Microsoft employee? Nonsense.

Fake news.

Godmars290543d ago

At the same time, didn't Phil literally admit that Activision's scandal's were his excuse for buying it? That he saw blood in the water.

Andrew336542d ago

In what universe would Spencer say this? Delusionalville where half you people commenting on here must be from to think Phil or anyone is gonna lose their job over this acquisition attempt?

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 542d ago
XiNatsuDragnel543d ago

Man this deal could potentially be canned so at this rate.

DarkZane543d ago

At this point, it's very likely to be canned.

343_Guilty_Spark542d ago

It will go through. It already has in a few countries.

isarai543d ago (Edited 543d ago )

What's more concerning is Phil willing to shelter Bobby from any consequences of sexual harassment. Likely using it as leverage in the deal. These people are f#@ked in the head if that's the case, which seems like it is, based on the fact that Bobby is still there.

Sonyslave3543d ago

🤔 Ms don’t owned ABK yet so they can’t fire or change anything of the company

isarai543d ago

You would think either Activision would've gotten rid of him, or Phil would have him gone as a prerequisite for the deal. Either way the only logical reason he's still there is that this deal somehow has that outcome in the balance, when it really shouldn't.

Thundercat77543d ago

Very concerning. That's why I believe this deal can cost Phis his career at Xbox. By the way things are getting hotter and escalating every week, is seems obvious there are major concerns here that needs to be investigated.

thesoftware730543d ago (Edited 543d ago )

Phil Spencer will not lose his job over a attempted merger not going through. He is leading MS out of a dump that they have been in with the Xbox one...no way they fire him.

As a matter of fact he is set to receive an award next month.

badz149543d ago

@thesoftware730

"He is leading MS out of a dump that they have been in with the Xbox one"

err...you do know that was still Phil's doing, right? Don Mattrick left I think even before the xbone's launch.

sinspirit543d ago (Edited 543d ago )

@thesoftware730

He lead them into the "dump" with the XBox One. He was in charge of the european studios, Rare and Lionhead for example, and made one shut down and the other all the og members left the same time that he eventually got promoted to being in charge of all their gaming studios and pushed everyone to focus on Kinect, especially his European studios he was already in charge of. The last half of 360s lifespan when no games were coming, it was his fault. Ever since then, everyone keeps wishing for the same level of gaming, innovation, and effort since XBox original and 360 days. That award nomination seems satirical at this point.

thesoftware730543d ago

Yes, yes that was then, look at the shift...why would they get rid of him now when he is in fact leading Xbox in an upward direction?

No matter the talk about major exclusives and all the other jazz, the Series systems is once again serious competition, and selling very well, and obviously cannot be ignored, if you agree with their actions or strategy, makes no difference opposed to the facts.

SullysCigar543d ago

^ How exactly is Phil "leading them out of this"?

He created the problem. He's not fixing it.

The parent company is throwing money at the problem. Money he couldn't possibly have generated through xbox, thanks to his past failings.

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porkChop543d ago

Activision's top investors and board would be the only ones that could motion to remove Bobby Kotick before the sale goes through. They weren't trying to do that before they knew about the sale, aside from one investor. So they clearly don't have any interest in doing that. Microsoft themselves cannot legally enact any changes to ABK until they actually own them. That includes firing Bobby Kotick. The closest thing they could do is include a stipulation that he resigns or is fired as soon as the sale goes through. So we'll have to see when/if the sale goes through.

Hofstaderman543d ago

With a payout like that should the sale go through I would gladly be fired or resign while flipping everyone off. There’s no denying Microsoft used this situation to leverage the proposed acquisition. No wonder everyone was releasing statements left right and centre, this looks bad for Microsoft’s corporate image.

thesoftware730543d ago

Haha, how is Phil or MS sheltering Bobby? They don't own Activision/Blizzard..they have not one say in any of their leadership roles lol.

Man, do you people think about what you type before typing or is it just agenda based comments.

SierraGuy543d ago

FTC was going to force the breakup of Activision blizzard regardless because of their scummy practices...that's why Activision blizzard is trying to rush the deal and Microsoft is going along with it.

Scummy scummy Microsoft. They support abusers and sexual harassment and are using it in their favor.

Profchaos542d ago

That's why all the buzzwords relating to equal workplaces and sexual harassment these companies spew are nothing more than pr speak they don't walk the walk at the exec level. There doesn't seem to be a single company that actually stands up to the ideals they lay out to the general public yet they continue to pretend they care.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 542d ago
badboyz09543d ago (Edited 543d ago )

Can we stop talking about this!😐😐

porkChop543d ago

Good luck with that lmao. It's easy pickings for news stories. Doesn't matter what is said or who says it, if it can even remotely be tied to the merger journos will run wild with it. It's like reporting on Trump, Biden, or Trudeau, anything and everything will be turned into news.

gold_drake543d ago

oh dear this is getting very ugly.

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120°

Naughty Dog Boss Neil Druckmann Says AI Will 'Revolutionize' Development

Druckmann claims the tech could 'push the boundaries of storytelling in games.'

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Community1h ago
Jin_Sakai9h ago

I’m more interested in what else he said.

“Neil Druckmann says new Naughty Dog title could ‘redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming’

Zezdh8h ago

Yay, more trans lgbtq characters and awful story lines

H94h ago

It will be something like "we erased gameplay all together it's just a movie now"

purple1014h ago

every time naughty dog make a game, you play it and get the feeling "this is not possible'

from the boulder running towards you in crash, on ps1,
to the massive open world of jak and daxter, on ps2,
to the QuickTime events sequences of uncharted on ps3/4

and now we will see what they do with ps5,

H92h ago

Press X for doubt at "PS5"

-Foxtrot53m ago(Edited 51m ago)

Arrogant asshole who sniffs his own farts bigs up next game…sounds like typical PR to me

You know what I find interesting? Almost every site reporting this as the main title where the REAL interesting bit of the interview is Neil praising AI and saying it will be used to help push story, characters, dialogue and more.

It’s super shitty to big up AI especially when it comes to story telling and other creative elements.

senorfartcushion23m ago

Just because someone says this type of stuff, it doesn't mean that it's guaranteed to be good news.

You can say this about microtransactions. MXTs revolutionised the gaming industry.

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Levii_921h ago

Geez how full of themselves are these guys.

Einhander197249m ago

He also said it has "ethical issues we need to address" but of course that doesn't get the clicks.

CrimsonWing6947m ago

I’m all for it. Cuts the time to make a game. Look, Hellblade 2 took 5 years to make, if AI can do that in half the time, as a consumer, I support it.

70°

Embracer Group Has Over 70 Projects in the Works

Embracer Group has released its latest financial statements, and while sales are up, some of the group's games haven't performed so well.

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Community7h ago
OtterX7h ago

And they'll cancel 50 of them, then lay off their staff within the next couple of years. I think Embracer's new logo should be a Boa Constrictor.

Stonilein6h ago

i hope we get the next Tomb Raider soon

70°

The Witcher 3 REDkit Q&A - CDPR & Yigsoft Confirm Steam Workshop Support; Further Changes Planned

CD Projekt RED and Yigsoft have launched The Witcher 3 REDkit on PC. We interviewed both studios to discuss the release of these mod tools.

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