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Microsoft (All But) Acquires Activision-Blizzard
The FTC has lost its injunction case against the Microsoft and Activision-Blizzard merger. Minutes later, the remaining regulatory holdout in the UK appears to be in back-room discussions with Microsoft. Although the FTC can still technically appeal the decision, in all likelihood things will be buttoned up by the time this post goes live.
I have not been following the court case itself too closely. The armchair legal experts on Reddit though suggest that the FTC’s arguments were weak, but don’t really go into convincing detail as what alternative arguments would have been stronger. On the face of it, everything seemed to hinge on Sony – who currently owns 45% of the entire console market – being negatively impacted by the merger. Considering Xbox is just 27.3%, one might surmise that the merger would actually increase competition in the console space. At least the UK’s argument was about cloud gaming… something that basically doesn’t exist, with even Google and Amazon unable to get it to work.
I am sympathetic to the argument that buying publishers and game companies is detrimental generally. There are no doubt millions of PS5 owners who probably wanted to play Starfield on their console of choice. Sort of like how I would have liked to play Ghosts of Tsushima on PC, which isn’t even considered a console by Sony/courts, but nevermind.
Perhaps it’s a bit myopic, but I’m obviously in Team Game Pass. I don’t care about Call of Duty and I doubt WoW will change, but potentially seeing Diablo 4 show up without having to spend $70 on it is a welcome surprise. No doubt the good times will come to an end at some point, especially considering the recent subscription price hikes, but it’s still worlds better (and cheaper) than the alternatives.
Will everyone come to regret this outcome 10 years from now? I kinda hope so. Because that means things are normal enough in 2033 that we can still give a shit about video games and not play Fallout 5 by walking outside our front doors.
Wait, When Did THIS Happen?
European Courts have ruled that it is legal to resale digital software licenses:
Buying and reselling any form of digital software is perfectly legal, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled. Software authors – or in the gaming world, publishers – can not stop customers from reselling their games, even if the publisher attaches an End User License Agreement prohibiting resale.
“The exclusive right of distribution of a copy of a computer program covered by such a license is exhausted on its first sale,” the court has found.
This ruling covers customers in European Union member states, and games bought through services such as Steam or Origin. […]
Okay, so I do know when it happened: July 3rd, 2012. But… who… when… huh? That is damn near a year ago. Has anything gone forward since then?
I mean, the absolute latest news was April 2nd, when a US District Court stated that reselling iTunes songs violated copyright laws. Conversely, buying textbooks from Thailand and selling them in the US for profit is legal, according to the US Supreme Court. As is streaming TV service Aereo, for that matter.
Looking at that European ruling again, I would actually say there wouldn’t be any contradiction in reselling a license. You aren’t copying any files, you are merely removing your own rights to a digital good and granting them to another… and they’re the ones downloading it. Hell, in an always-online-esque DRM scheme, such a transfer would arguably be the safest for the publisher considering the seller literally cannot access the game anymore (as opposed to the honor system when it comes to reselling music CDs).
Obviously every publisher everywhere would fight tooth and nail against this breaking of their digital monopoly, just as companies like Microsoft (and Sony for a while) contemplate ways to smother the used game market. But the question of licenses has yet to be settled, and I am inclined to show uncharacteristic optimism in this regard. Most people would not look at playing Halo at a friend’s house as piracy or consider yard sales as theft, and yet that is what these companies would want you to believe.
Personally, I think it is only a matter of time until logic and common sense forever strip the asinine “you don’t own a videogame!” argument from corporate apologists everywhere. Physical game or license, you nevertheless (should) have the right to sell it. Nothing less makes sense.
In An Age 
Epic Whims
Nov 13
Posted by Azuriel
Epic is in court again, this time facing off with Google. And during the testimony, it was admitted that the Epic Game Store is still not profitable. Not sure of the current figures, but they had lost $330 million back in 2021. That is not always a bad thing for tech companies, who typically operate under a “if you build it, they will come” fantasy funded entirely by rich gamblers who hope to get cheap shares of the next Facebook. Still, even Epic thought their storefront would be profitable by 2023.
Interestingly though, Epic is not being funded by venture capitalists per se. They are being funded by their ridiculous, beyond-all-comprehension wildly successful Fortnite money:
I knew Fortnite was successful, but part of me still imagined that the Unreal engine was most of what sustained the company. That does not appear to be the case.
My question is: how long can this go on? I mean, on the one hand the Fortnite money machine is still printing. And, hey, Uber has been around for 9 years and only became profitable a few months ago. But we’ve also seen Epic lay off 16% of their staff this year and divest themselves of Bandcamp and other properties. Clearly, sustainability is a concern.
With that backdrop in mind, will they continue dropping free games every Thursday through 2024?
Beyond the freebies, this is relevant to my interests because of all the (timed) exclusives too. Dead Island 2 is still not available on Steam, and likely won’t be until next April. While the Epic Games Store has improved over the years – they have had wishlists and shopping carts for at least two whole years now! – exclusivity equals higher prices for longer. Who knew? Some of that is changing a little, as it seems Fanatical and Humble are selling an EGS key for Dead Island 2, but that’s just 1 of 2 listed key sellers to the dozens of Steam alternatives.
Not that I’m hurting for games, of course. But I do want to play Dead Island 2.
Posted in Commentary
2 Comments
Tags: Court, Dead Island 2, Epic Store, Layoffs, Loss Leader, Timed-Exclusive