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As Microsoft lays off thousands and jacks up Game Pass prices, former FTC chair says I told you so: The Activision-Blizzard buyout is 'harming both gamers and developers'
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I miss her 🥺
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to be fair, the layoffs (could) have been done under Activision.
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The cost of ultimate over the course of a year can get you multiple games that’s you’ll actually finish as opposed to a library of titles you’ll just graze.And a few years back you could get the same deal for half the price and in a few years it's going to cost even more. You're getting slow boiled because you're thinking "I'm still getting a good deal". You're getting a good deal until you're no longer getting a good deal and then what? Best case scenario you simply won't have any of the game you paid to play, worst case (if Game pass becomes successful enough) gaming is fucked because it'll become streaming services 2.0 where you have to have 4 different subscriptions active just to play the games you want to play, and good luck trying to buy games when they've been priced into high heavens just to make the subscriptions seem reasonably priced (MS already tested that with Outer Worlds 2). Doesn't matter how good Game pass was or is, it's a poisoned chalice and it will irreversibly fuck up gaming if people continue using it.
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I miss her 🥺
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And a few years back you could get the same deal for half the price and in a few years it's going to cost even more. You're getting slow boiled because you're thinking "I'm still getting a good deal". You're getting a good deal until you're no longer getting a good deal and then what? Best case scenario you simply won't have any of the game you paid to play, worst case (if Game pass becomes successful enough) gaming is fucked because it'll become streaming services 2.0 where you have to have 4 different subscriptions active just to play the games you want to play, and good luck trying to buy games when they've been priced into high heavens just to make the subscriptions seem reasonably priced (MS already tested that with Outer Worlds 2). Doesn't matter how good Game pass was or is, it's a poisoned chalice and it will irreversibly fuck up gaming if people continue using it.For me, I still have many many many many games from the past I didnt play, many of which can be acquired through the high seas completely guilt free. Not culpability free, mind you, because the law is a bitch, but its not like im going to be picking up a brand new copy of Diddy Kong Racing(N64) anywhere ever.
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You miss her hilarious incompetence? Don't Americans get enough of that with their President already?
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I remember how much games media was hyped on the activision acquisition. It's probably because Kotick and Blizzard execs are a bunch of bastards but that doesn't make MS execs great. Just less shitty. Also had the feeling like games media at the time saw it as strengthening western games studio employment stability. Things have not gone as hoped for in the last few years
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Wdym? The regulators under Biden were pretty aggressive with antitrust investigations, which pissed off the right and oligarchs and decided to throw their support to have Trump return to deregulate.
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Aggressive != being actually good at your job. She lost the MS case so badly it was straight up embarrassing for the FTC
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Microsoft sold the acquisition as good for consumers. Now they're doubling the price of GamePass. Cue Jack's lack of surprise, or however the Fight Club meme goes.
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I haven't paid much attention to FTC prosecution under Biden, but I can see what you mean. Prosecutors tend to build up their cases however slow. Maybe she hadn't done her due diligence on this regard.In my opinion microsoft was always going to win, but I'm not a lawyer.
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Maybe for others but not for me. I forgot I had it for three months. Using it pretty much only for micraft and expedition 33. Right now I'm playing alien isolation and mtga. I don't play enough gamesAlso using it for minecraft, will just have to move over to an offline account. Oh well.
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lmao on anyone that was dumb enough to think this was going to be a positive outcome at least it was two shit AAA game companies and not another great indie dev getting absorbedWell, they still drag around the name Blizzard despite buying it and beating it into a pulp. That still makes me salty everytime I see an article with Activision-Blizzard. Anyone who thinks they can buy reputation is a sociopath.
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Not really. Sub numbers have been falling for a while, game pass value has always been borderline for devs and value hasn't been increasing that well for gamers. Game pass doesn't give dlc access, it doesn't give big enough incentives to buy on the Xbox store. If they started doing exclusives I'd be a little concerned, but I'm sure they know that would just hurt their already bad numbers. Right now Visa, Mastercard and Steam are the bigger problems right now. And Steam just because their bubble is popping, their lack of guards has started to be exploited, which is going to mean they're going to be implementing changes that are bad for everyone, but necessary.They do exclusive day one releases I believe. Or is it just that they are free on gamepass buy cost money on other platforms? Im thinking of starfield possibly?
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lmao on anyone that was dumb enough to think this was going to be a positive outcome at least it was two shit AAA game companies and not another great indie dev getting absorbed
