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XAnalysis: Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard is a Mixed Bag For Gamers

Last year, I joked that the problem Microsoft presents for video game analysts is that it could, at any time, suddenly disrupt the entire industry by deciding to buy the moon.
Microsoft’s pending $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard, announced Tuesday morning, doesn’t have that kind of impact, but it’s not that far off.
By buying Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has once again grabbed some of the highest-profile franchises in video game history, including "Call of Duty," "Candy Crush," "Warcraft," "Diablo," and "Starcraft." There’s little if any precedent for this kind of thing in video games’ short history.
Gobbling up talent
The biggest name on Activision Blizzard’s list is indisputably "Call of Duty," a series of military-themed first-person shooters. By alternating production between several studios, Activision has been able to release a new "Call of Duty" every year since 2005, and since 2007, each new version of "Call of Duty" has become a reliable success.
Xbox’s various game developers it now owns: Activision, Blizzard and King.
Despite middling reviews, "Call of Duty: Vanguard,"the 18th installment in the series, was the No. 1 best-selling game last year, with the previous installment, 2020’s "Black Ops – Cold War," coming in at No. 2.
"Call of Duty"’s popularity has traditionally come from its best-in-class multiplayer modes, including the famous “Zombies” cooperative campaigns. Its solo content, on the other hand, is often treated as an afterthought.
In order to maintain that annual release schedule for "Call of Duty," Activision has gradually assembled an internal network of development studios that includes some of the best talent in modern action gaming. This includes Infinity Ward, which began the "Call of Duty" series in 2003; Raven Software ("Heretic," "Singularity"); and Sledgehammer Games.
When added to the lineup that Microsoft acquired by purchasing Bethesda in 2020, that puts most of the best brand names and developers in modern first-person shooters under the Xbox roof. A single company now owns "Halo," "Doom," "Overwatch," and "Call of Duty," with the possibility for a shared, cross-pollinated pool of talent.
Impact on the ground
For customers, this initially looks like it could be a good deal. Microsoft has already announced that it plans to add multiple Activision Blizzard releases to its Game Pass subscription service, which recently surpassed 25 million subscribers. Activision alone has a 40-year backlog of hits that it could throw onto Game Pass, even before it cracked into "Call of Duty." (Bring back "Singularity," you cowards.)
As with Microsoft’s last major video game acquisition, however, this raises some troubling issues over consolidation. By buying Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has grabbed up one of the biggest independent developers in the world, again, and made it a first-party Xbox studio.
While it’s fun to think of the possibilities this offers, such as an Xbox answer to "Super Smash Brothers" where the Master Chief could fight the heroes from "Overwatch" (yes, I am still going on about this), it’s also Microsoft bringing another massive chunk of the modern games industry under its direct control. This isn’t a monopoly quite yet, but it’s worth asking the question: is it really the best thing for video games and the people who play them when a single company controls this much of the space at once?
Blizzard’s fall from grace
Microsoft’s largest acquisitions of all time.Geekwire
Activision Blizzard is a holding company that was established in 2008 as a merger between the independent developer Activision, operating out of Santa Monica, Calif., and Vivendi Games, the parent company of Blizzard Entertainment, based in Irvine, Calif.
The two halves of Activision Blizzard, as far as the typical consumer is concerned, operate independently. Activision has been publishing video games for every platform it can reach since 1980, including a stint as Bungie’s publishing partner for "Destiny," while Blizzard built its name by making some of the most notoriously addictive games in the world.
Compared to Activision, however, Blizzard has seen much better days. While its tentpole franchises, including "Overwatch," "Warcraft" and "Starcraft," are still relevant in 2022, Blizzard has suffered a notorious “brain drain” in the last few years. Most of its founders and key developers have left the company, many of whom appeared to be leaving one step ahead of potentially career-ending scandals.
The internal culture at Blizzard had reportedly become so toxic that the state of California filed a suit against it in mid-2021, alleging that it fostered a “a pervasive ‘frat boy’ workplace culture” where female employees were subjected to “constant sexual harassment.”
Against that backdrop, it’s hard not to see Blizzard as the weaker link here. It’s still got potential if Microsoft cares enough to develop it, but it’s in dire need of a top-to-bottom realignment before anything else can get done.
That, however, may actually be a possibility. The current CEO of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick, is widely perceived as a significant driver of Blizzard’s many and varied workplace issues, which he allegedly ignored or expedited in order to maximize the company’s profits. Kotick has recently been the subject of multiple reports in The Wall Street Journal, one coming as recently as Monday morning, that accuse him of covering up allegations of workplace abuse.
Under the terms of Microsoft’s acquisition, Xbox head Phil Spencer is now the CEO of the newly founded Microsoft Gaming division. Spencer sent an email to Xbox staff on Tuesday morning that said, among other things, “We also believe that creative success and autonomy go hand-in-hand with treating every person with dignity and respect. We hold all teams, and all leaders, to this commitment. We’re looking forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams across Activision Blizzard.”
If the acquisition goes through as planned, Spencer would effectively be the head of Activision Blizzard. While it’s not entirely clear at time of writing whether that means Kotick is out, it is suggestive that he wouldn’t have quite as firm a grip on Activision Blizzard’s steering wheel.
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LA Tech ‘Moves’: LeaseLock, Visgenx, PlayVS and Pressed Juicery Gains New CEOs
Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
“Moves,” our roundup of job changes in L.A. tech, is presented by Interchange.LA, dot.LA's recruiting and career platform connecting Southern California's most exciting companies with top tech talent. Create a free Interchange.LA profile here—and if you're looking for ways to supercharge your recruiting efforts, find out more about Interchange.LA's white-glove recruiting service by emailing Sharmineh O’Farrill Lewis (sharmineh@dot.la). Please send job changes and personnel moves to moves@dot.la.
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LeaseLock, a lease insurance and financial technology provider for the rental housing industry named Janine Steiner Jovanovic as chief executive officer. Prior to this role, Steiner Jovanovic served as the former EVP of Asset Optimization at RealPage.
Esports platform PlayVS hired EverFi co-founder and seasoned business leader Jon Chapman as the company’s chief executive officer.
Biotechnology company Visgenx appointed William Pedranti, J.D. as chief executive officer. Before joining, Mr. Pedranti was a partner with PENG Life Science Ventures.
Pressed Juicery, the leading cold-pressed juice and functional wellness brand welcomed Justin Nedelman as chief executive officer. His prior roles include chief real estate officer of FAT Brands Inc. and co-founder of Eureka! Restaurant Group.
Michael G. Vicari joined liquid biopsy company Nucleix as chief commercial officer. Vicari served as senior vice president of Sales at GRAIL, Inc.
Full-service performance marketing agency Allied Global Marketing promoted Erin Corbett to executive vice president of global partnership and marketing. Prior to joining Allied, Corbett's experience included senior marketing roles at Disney, Warner Bros. Studios, Harrah's Entertainment and Imagi Animation Studios.
Nuvve, a vehicle-to-grid technology company tapped student transportation and automotive sales and marketing executive David Bercik to lead the K-12 student transportation division.
Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
This Week in ‘Raises’: Curri Scoops Up $42M, Mosaic Scores $26M
Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
A local logistics platform raised fresh funding to put toward product development, infrastructure and sales and marketing initiatives, while a San Diego-based fintech company closed its Series C funding round to expand its investment in AI which will empower high-growth SMB and mid-market finance leaders.
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Venture Capital
Curri, a Ventura-based logistics platform, raised a $42 million Series B funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
San Diego-based financial platform Mosaic raised a $26 million Series C funding round led by OMERS Ventures.
AHARA, a Los Angeles-based startup focused on providing personalized nutrition suggestions, raised a $10.25 million seed funding round led by Greycroft.
Per an SEC filing, San Diego-based developer of peptide therapeutics designed to assist in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and disorders selectIon raised $5 million in funding.
Miscellaneous
Los Angeles-based Sensydia, a company working on non-invasive cardiac diagnostics, said this morning that it has received $3 million in a NIH grant.
Raises is dot.LA’s weekly feature highlighting venture capital funding news across Southern California’s tech and startup ecosystem. Please send fundraising news to Decerry Donato (decerrydonato@dot.la).
Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.
Why a Downturn in Esports Investments Isn’t Something To Fear
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.
Last year, global venture capital investment in esports dropped by more than 40%. Investors have been rapidly selling off teams and franchises, and the industry has witnessed a consistent decline in ad spend. This has prompted many critics to coin the term “esports winter,” referring to a fall-off in the industry, an indication that VCs believe their investments didn’t achieve success as expected.
A recent article in The New York Times highlighted two major esports leagues that recently divested from their teams: Madison Square Garden sold its team CounterLogic Gaming to NRG in April, while Team SoloMid sold its League of Legends Championship Series team in late May.
Arguing that the industry still has potential for growth, several gaming executives at a LA Tech Week panel said that instead of an “esports winter,” the industry was experiencing a period of “normalization.” The panel at SoHo House in West Hollywood featured Brian Anderson, CEO of Culver City-based esports outfit FlyQuest Sport, Gene Chorba, head of developer relations at Roku and Felix LaHaye, founder of United Esports.
“I'm actually very skeptical of the claim of an esports winter,” Anderson said. “I think that what I'm seeing in the market right now, ultimately, is just a lot of venture capital firms that deployed capital into the eSports space that are not generating the returns that they were looking for, and have now done the press junket and are labeling it an esports winter.”
“In reality,” Anderson said, “esports, in my view, is alive and well.”
Anderson said there were a lot of “unrealistic expectations” around esports since it became popular in 2016, and the current decline was a sign that the market was correcting itself. “This is a necessary pain point that any nascent industry is going to go through as it matures and develops, and I think that in, let's say, 24 months, 36 months, esports will be in a much better financially sustainable place,” he said.
“I think we're having a little bit of a normalization,” Chorba said. “We saw the entire economy was being shot to the moon, with nothing behind it… we were seeing valuations of companies, public and private, that just didn't make sense for what they were building.”
Other tech industries have experienced a similar “normalization” in recent years. Cryptocurrencies, NFTs and big tech have all seen a downturn in recent months after being flooded with VC interest for many years.
According to the panelists, the existing viewer base for esports was a clear sign that the industry still had potential for growth. “There's still a ton of attention on professional video games. There's still so much grassroots fan support,” Anderson said. “As long as organizations and developers are able to figure out how to actually monetize that fan base, I think esports is still alive and well and here to stay for a long time.”
According to Insider Intelligence in 2022, there were 532 million esports viewers globally, with nearly 30 million viewers in the U.S.; this is expected to increase to 34.8 million by 2026.
Chorba explained that the reduction in ad spend and brand deals in esports shouldn’t worry investors because these crucial revenue streams have slowed down for other industries as well. “Ad-supported is hemorrhaging money and really just trying to wait out what's really a bad economy right now,” he said. As more people stop paying for cable, Chorba said, eyeballs will move onto streaming sites like YouTube or Twitch to watch gaming content.
LaHaye and Chorba said that one of the reasons for the decline in esports investments could be that executives and VCs are running esports companies like tech or SaaS companies. “As a matter of fact, they are not tech companies. They are ad-supported entertainment products,” LaHaye said.
By taking their companies to IPOs too early, certain esports companies ruined their chances in the market, LaHaye added. “There's also a downswing that's done by a rush to [go] public,” he said. “There are some fairly poor business models in esports that are going through a rougher time.”
“[Game publishing] is a hit-making business,” LaHaye said. “I think there tends to be confusion between what is a fundamental issue for the esports industry itself and some business models within the esports industry being bad business.”
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Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.