The positions of many companies and figures in the gaming industry on the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard became known this week. Sony strongly opposed the merger, Google also believes that the deal will reduce competition. Microsoft and Activision are confident that the deal will bring only advantages for the players, noting that they are ready to defend their position in court.
Mark Darra, a well-known specialist in the gaming industry, a former producer of Bioware and Dragon Age, spoke about a possible merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. He agrees with companies that believe the deal will have negative long-term effects:
This acquisition, I believe, will have negative consequences in the long run. Of course, in the short term, there is hope that the merger between Activision Blizzard and Microsoft will be a positive thing for the industry. And I’m saying this because right now it seems that Activision needs someone to clean up the culture around Activision. But such operations are usually bad, because once you get control of the company, you also want to control costs, and this tends to be reflected in investments in creative and risky projects.
Let’s remind, earlier Microsoft published the document where has told the opinion concerning merge. According to her, even with the completion of the transaction, she will not become an industry leader, while now the company is investing heavily in the development of the gaming industry, which are far from payback.
