3 ms·

Wow. No wonder Microsoft wasn't willing to shame Activision like Sony and others, they were in talks to buy it. Ridiculous.

rad_gruchalski 5y ago
What about this is ridiculous, exactly?
martini333 5y ago
Not shaming is not the same as condoning. Imagine actually expecting a company to comment on every story.
pdpi 5y ago
If they were already in talks to buy, how much of it is a case of "wasn't willing", and how much is it "wasn't allowed"? For all the flak ActiBlizzard deserves for this situation, I'd be happier if it were illegal for Microsoft to publicly give them shit about while already in talks to buy. There's just way too many ways to abuse that for leverage.
- user-the-name 5y ago
  Nobody was forcing them to buy them. They were allowed, they chose not to.
raxxorrax 5y ago
I guess the price had already been settled but they probably wanted to distance themselves from the accusations against the company.
danso 5y ago
I think it’d be problematic for a buyer to take public actions in devaluing its target amid takeover talks. Not just for Activision — but it’d be impossible to see Microsoft’s denunciations as principled rather than profit-motivated
belltaco 5y ago
Huh? They did. https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/18/22789881/microsoft-xbox-boss-phil-spencer-deeply-troubled-by-activision-blizzard-bobby-kotick https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/18/22789881/microsoft-xbox-... https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/01/11/phil-spencer-discusses-xboxs-relationship-with-activision-blizzard-and-dealing-with https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/01/11/phil-spencer-discuss...
croon 5y ago
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-18/xbox-chief-says-he-s-evaluating-relationship-with-activision https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-18/xbox-chie...
Rebelgecko 5y ago
Lose-lose situation. If Microsoft talked shit about ATVI in the months leading up to the acquisition, people would accuse them of doing it in bad faith to hurt the share price and make the acquisition cheaper.
vkou 5y ago
They weren't shaming them publicly, they were shaming them privately to drive the purchase price down. It's self-serving, but more effective, as it actually got Blizzard to do another round of cleaning house.

rad_gruchalski 5y ago

What about this is ridiculous, exactly?

martini333 5y ago

Not shaming is not the same as condoning. Imagine actually expecting a company to comment on every story.

pdpi 5y ago

If they were already in talks to buy, how much of it is a case of "wasn't willing", and how much is it "wasn't allowed"? For all the flak ActiBlizzard deserves for this situation, I'd be happier if it were illegal for Microsoft to publicly give them shit about while already in talks to buy. There's just way too many ways to abuse that for leverage.

user-the-name 5y ago
Nobody was forcing them to buy them. They were allowed, they chose not to.

raxxorrax 5y ago

I guess the price had already been settled but they probably wanted to distance themselves from the accusations against the company.

danso 5y ago

I think it’d be problematic for a buyer to take public actions in devaluing its target amid takeover talks. Not just for Activision — but it’d be impossible to see Microsoft’s denunciations as principled rather than profit-motivated

belltaco 5y ago

Huh? They did. https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/18/22789881/microsoft-xbox-boss-phil-spencer-deeply-troubled-by-activision-blizzard-bobby-kotick https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/18/22789881/microsoft-xbox-... https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/01/11/phil-spencer-discusses-xboxs-relationship-with-activision-blizzard-and-dealing-with https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/01/11/phil-spencer-discuss...

croon 5y ago

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-18/xbox-chief-says-he-s-evaluating-relationship-with-activision https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-18/xbox-chie...

Rebelgecko 5y ago

Lose-lose situation. If Microsoft talked shit about ATVI in the months leading up to the acquisition, people would accuse them of doing it in bad faith to hurt the share price and make the acquisition cheaper.

vkou 5y ago

They weren't shaming them publicly, they were shaming them privately to drive the purchase price down. It's self-serving, but more effective, as it actually got Blizzard to do another round of cleaning house.