Microsoft Wants to Dominate the Games Industry

Paris Marx is joined by Rob Zacny to discuss the potential consequences of Xbox’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and what subscriptions and consolidation might mean for the future of games and the industry.

Rob Zacny is a senior editor at Waypoint and co-host of Waypoint Radio. Follow Rob on Twitter at @RobZacny.

• Rob discussed the consequences of the proposed acquisition with his colleague Patrick Klepek.
• Microsoft plans to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion.
• In November, Phil Spencer said he was troubled by the harassment and abuse at Activision Blizzard.
• QA workers at Activision’s Raven Software are seeking to unionize. The company said it won’t recognize the union, and is reorganizing the division.
• A new Game Developers Conference found 55% think the industry should unionize.
• On January 18, the US Federal Trade Commission began a process to rewrite its merger guidelines.
• Google shut down its Stadia game studios at least in part due to Microsoft’s acquisition of Zenimax.
• At GDC in 2005, a developer rant session featuring Warren Spector, Jason Della Rocca, Greg Costikyan, Brenda Laurel, and Chris Hecke presented a grim picture of where the industry was going.

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