Microsoft just bought Activision Blizzard, stunning many due to the latter giant’s fall from grace. Will it improve anything or just make it worse?
Editor’s Note: A lawsuit has been filed against Activision Blizzard by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which alleges the company has engaged in abuse, discrimination, and retaliation against its female employees. Activision Blizzard has denied the allegations. The full details of the Activision Blizzard lawsuit (content warning: rape, suicide, abuse, harassment) are being updated as new information becomes available.
In a move that seemingly no one expected today, Microsoft has just acquired Activision Blizzard for an alleged $70 billion; a bold move considering that the lawsuits against and investigations of Activision Blizzard are still ongoing. While the acquisition puts Microsoft in a tricky place since it now owns a huge chunk of the industry, it will also put the industry giant under the direction of Xbox CEO Phil Spencer, which could possibly result in a quality-of-life improvement for some developers.
In July 2021, The state of California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for its environment of harassment and discrimination against women. This was immediately met with near universal backlash which led to the exit of a number of high-profile figures from the company. The allegations are harrowing, and subsequent reporting around topics such as Activision Blizzard pressuring employees not to unionize haven’t done the company any favors.
This surprise announcement with Microsoft’s buyout conjures up some mixed feelings to say the least – but this may ultimately be a good thing. When the buyout is complete, Activision Blizzard will be reporting to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. Spencer has a generally good reputation among gamers and those in the industry, especially in regard to fostering a positive work environment, which at this point might be exactly what Activision Blizzard needs.
First and foremost is the environment and treatment of employees, which is likely to improve under the new leadership. The prime example to support this idea is the case of Double Fine Productions. Double Fine is behind industry classics like Headlander and Psychonauts. Phil Spencer and Xbox knew that it was never too late for the Psychonauts sequel to see the light of day.
The development of Psychonauts 2 was years in the making, filled with grand ideas that kept being cut back due to budget and time limitations, in addition to complications from COVID-19. The end result was a stagnated development and the disappointment of fans who had been waiting years to see where the game was going to go next. Spencer, then Head of Xbox Game Studios, approached Double Fine as a publisher with the promise that it could take as long as needed to create the game originally envisioned. Though it was a risky move, it would culminate with Psychonauts 2 being one of 2021’s best games.
One of the industry’s biggest problems is “crunch,” in which developers are pressured to spend upwards of 12 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week, for up to a month or more to get a game ready for release. It’s been a known issues for decades, and has at times been treated as an expectation or even as a running joke. Although crunch culture is not applicable to every studio, like Supergiant Games and Double Fine Studios, it has been a huge part of controversies surrounding Cyberpunk 2077 and the Activision Blizzard accusations.
Studios under Microsoft aren’t totally exempt from this either, such as 343 being accused of crunch during Halo Infinite development. That said, the accuser clarified that it may have been an isolated incident and not studio wide and definitely not due to pressure by Microsoft or Xbox Game Studios. This is the environment that Activision Blizzard employees need, not just for the success of the games, but for their quality of their life.
Finally, and what will likely be the biggest open question, is whether Microsoft will fire the higher-ups that created and encouraged the actions that led up to this moment. The most important of these figures is Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who has refused to step down through the ongoing controversies and appears to be staying in his role until the merger is complete, which is expected to be in 2023. This is likely to happen due to Phil Spencer’s reaction to Kotick’s emails and responses, though it’s unclear if that would have any real effect on Kotick, who doesn’t seem to be facing any real consequences.
Some are rightfully worried about this decision, however, from both the gamer’s perspective and a legal one. This tweet by Jason Schreier highlights one of the big reasons this may not go over as well as Microsoft might hope. The acquisition of Activision Blizzard comes off the heels of Microsoft’s previous acquisition of Bethesda, carving out a significant chunk of development studios for itself.
Sony is often criticized for its exclusivity deals with studios like Guerrilla Games, Sucker Punch, Insomnia, and Naughty Dog, among others, and Sony is seeing class-actions lawsuits because of it. However, the difference between Sony and Microsoft in this case lies in the distinction between a development studio and a publisher. The bulk of Sony’s exclusivity is with individual studios and developers that primarily work on one or two games at any given time, i.e. Sony Santa Monica with God of War (which the company owns outright) and Naughty Dog with Uncharted and The Last of Us.
With Microsoft’s approach, it now owns publishers that have multiple studios under them. With Bethesda, this means Microsoft has exclusivity with Bethesda, id Software, and Arkane games. Now, that roster expands even further to franchises like Call of Duty and Overwatch, but also to Tony Hawk titles, Spyro, and more. However, to what extent Microsoft plans on making things PC and Xbox exclusive, such as Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield, is currently unknown. It can make all of it exclusive, if that’s the direction that’s decided upon, but doing so may create more of a public perception headache than it’s worth, to say nothing of the potential antitrust implications.
Overall, it’s a mixed bag. On one hand, it has the potential to keep pushing the gaming industry into the hands of a few, much in the same way that Disney continues to do with film and television. On the other hand, the acquisition offers Activision Blizzard employees a big potential quality-of-life improvement and a greater chance for studios to regain some autonomy to make what they want, how they want. Ultimately, the most important thing here is the potential for people to be able to do what they love without fearing harassment, mixed messages from Activision Blizzard leaders like Kotick and Frances Townsend, or retaliation from their employers, but hopefully Microsoft will pick and choose exclusivity and not lock down a large chunk of the industry all at once.
Source: Jason Schreier/Twitter
Jacob is a writer, actor, and musician based in Baltimore, Maryland. He has had an original play, The Voyager, produced at Towson University, contributed articles to HaloScope Magazine, and is currently producing the “Bus Ride Talks” podcast for Greatest City Collective. His hobbies include: gaming, making great coffee, and listening to prog-metal.
