Well, Blizzard is a big publisher by itself. They are bigger than Capcom and slightly smaller than Square Enix. They are more tightly coupled than other publishers, but still Blizzard is a publisher.
ABK is an acquisition of three publishers at once - Activision, Blizzard and King. If we take ABK 70b and split it by revenue to approx. estimate the market cap - ABK deal is the acquisition of Activision(30b), Blizzard (16b), King (23b). Some parts are probably bigger or less. For example King might be around 15b instead and Blizzard is at 10b, while Activision is 40-50b. But I just split it by revenue.
So basically Microsoft have bought 4 publishers - Bethesda, Activision, Blizzard and King - at this point.
Let’s just say there’s many reasons why I’d prefer individual studios next. The months of bickering and overreacting each bit of news (and non-news) was exhausting. And now we’ve experienced that twice.
Also, many people got triggered by the word “some”. Gotta love (hate) it!
Bethesda acquisition changed nothing on a big stage. Games like the next Doom, Elder Scrolls etc. are years away and even with Starfield it would not move the needle much for Xbox as Sony would have enough time to sell the consoles before those big IPs arrive.
Bethesda does not have huge multiplayer games that would generate a lot of revenue on Playstation.
Bethesda’s marketshare was also small.
And just 7.5b which is a lot, but not really mindblowing for big tech giants and other corporations.
Buying Bethesda is like buying Sega - cool for optics, nice mascot - but it does not change Microsoft’s position in Japan for example.
ABK is an enterily diffferent beast. The biggest game publisher (not a tech giant), the biggest gaming acquisition, 70b. The scale of it is enormous. And optics are impressive.
Microsoft showed other companies how much money they are willing to spend in gaming. This did not go unnoticed.
Owning ABK - while it won’t make Microsoft a kingmaker - allows Microsoft to join the table of big gaming companies (and not just as a platform holder). Before ABK, Microsoft was on Nintendo level of influence via Xbox. With ABK - they are reaching Sony’s level.
ABK makes Xbox’s position as solid as hell on the west. No medium or large company will ignore Microsoft anymore. It also makes Sony’s negotiation position much tougher with the western publishers.
ABK allows them to enter mobile gaming as one of the top players at once. That’s huge and something that they haven’t achieved with Windows Phone. Candy Crush, Diablo Immortal, COD Mobile, Warzone Mobile…Those are huge huge mobile games. Mobile store with Game Pass perks + all those games and more will give Microsoft a solid ground.
ABK deal completely destroys the foundation that Sony has built with COD over the past years. Basically all the investment in COD goes down the drain.
Microsoft gets access to Battle Net marketplace and MAU. They get access to huge big PC IPs in Game Pass
They are entering cybersports with a solid ground immediately and get big influence in regions like Korea or China
And that’s without all those studios, marketing experience, CGI teams etc. And maybe I even forgot some other things.
That is the longest “yes” I have ever read. Now seriously, I agree. Bethesda can make some big-sellers like Elder Scrolls or Starfield (I hope so), but the possibilities the ABK acquisition offers to Microsoft to grow as a gaming company in general are unmatched, as you mention. I mean, that price difference sure has to mean something
Bethesda was a acquisition to appease the core gamer
activision was an acquisition for the rest of the gaming audience which is far FAR bigger then the “core” gamer.
The person who cares about starfield and the guy who plays candy crush on his phone everyday for 15 minutes before their shift at work starts are not the same. the same applies for the guy or gal who only buy cod or sports games every year
Now seriously, I agree. Bethesda can make some big-sellers like Elder Scrolls or Starfield (I hope so), but the possibilities the ABK acquisition offers to Microsoft to grow as a gaming company in general are unmatched, as you mention. I mean, that price difference sure has to mean something 