Microsoft Gets Blocked
E122: The CMA ruled to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard King.
Good morning gamers! The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ruled to block Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard King over cloud gaming concerns. They stated that “the deal would alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market, leading to reduced innovation and less choice for UK gamers over the years to come”. Some of the main decision altering points include,
Despite Microsoft’s recent 10-year cloud commitments, CMA regulators found the deals too narrow, too Windows-specific and too revenue oriented.
Microsoft accounts for an estimated 60-70% of global cloud gaming services, with important strengths by owning Xbox, Windows, Azure and Xbox Cloud Gaming. In other words, they’re already too dominant in the emerging cloud-gaming space.
The CMA believes that Microsoft would have incentives to increase the price of Game Pass to reflect the addition of Activision Blizzard games.
Microsoft President Brad Smith and Activision Blizzard King CEO Bobby Kotick have both publicly expressed their disappointment with the outcome and have confirmed they will aggressively appeal the decision (which could push the final closing date to 2024). Xbox Head Phil Spencer acknowledged the news in a company all-hands by saying that the Activision deal is an accelerant for their gaming strategy, but not the entirety of it.
Project V
Project V is a new Battle Royale game in collaboration with CourageJD, Nickmercs, Ninja, SypherPK, TimtheTatman and SuperJoy Studios. The game will be created within the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN), which was released in March 2023.
According to the overview, these creators have been in discussions and brainstorming sessions since UEFN was released. They will now unite their communities and pool their resources together to make a great Battle Royale. Not many details were shared, but the underlying message was that Project V puts “community feedback and features front and center”.
SuperJoy Studios is a new game studio founded by Ali “SypherPK” Hassan. The studio develops games for creators within the UEFN, while also marketing them to the community. The studio’s goal is to create unforgettable experiences in the Fortnite universe.
Dr Disrespect's reaction to the Project V announcement can be found here.
Esports Corner
🥇Congratulations to FaZe Clan, Quadrant, Luminosity Gaming and Divine Mind for winning their regional Halo Championship Series 4k events.
For the first time ever, the Overwatch League’s Midseason Madness tournament will take place in South Korea. The event features teams from both the East and West regions fighting for their portion of the $900,000 grand prize. Four teams will represent the West Region (top two seeds from the Spring Stage Qualifier + the top two teams from the Spring Stage Knockouts) while the East will be represented by only two teams from the Spring Stage Knockouts (which can be an OWL or Contenders team).
The Valorant Champions Tour 2023 Summer Roadmap is here and there’s a lot to get excited about. Both the League and Challengers Playoffs begin on May 19, followed by Masters Tokyo in June. The Challengers Ascension event starts on June 26 where one winner from each of the three regions will get promoted to the International League next season. For the main league, The CN Qualifiers and the Last Chance Qualifiers take place in July, followed by the Valorant Champions Tour Grand Finals in August in Los Angeles. Four teams from the Americas, EMEA and Pacific regions will qualify (3 from the League and 1 from the regional LCQ), in addition to 3 China teams via a CN specific qualifier and a Masters Slot.
ESL FACEIT Group has officially added Call of Duty: Mobile to the Snapdragon Pro Series. This is a two-year deal with Activision that offers Call of Duty: Mobile across all Pro Series events, and will award a total prize allocation of $1.5m this year. COD: Mobile will later be added to Snapdragon’s Master Tier, which is the organizers highest level of competition where only Brawl Stars previously held that honour.
Gaming Roundup
Twisted Metal is a new half-hour live-action TV series based on the classic PlayStation games starring Anthony Mackie releasing on July 27th.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is still on schedule to be released in 2023 as mentioned in Sony’s 2022 fiscal year consolidated earnings report.
High on Life, the comedic first-person shooter game created by Justin Roiland and developer Squanch Games surpassed 7.5 million players.
Remedy Entertainment says Alan Wake 2 is in the final stage of full production. The Max Payne 1 & 2 remakes are in the proof-of-concept phase.
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon will officially release on August 25th for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has reportedly been in development since April 2022, two months after the launch of Elden Ring.
Guerrilla Games Studio Director and Executive Producer Angie Smets is joining PlayStation Studios as Head of Development Strategy.
Game Review - Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a step-up from its Fallen Order predecessor just like how Cal Kestis has grown from a young Padawan to a full-fledged Jedi Knight. The games lightsaber wielding combat and movement mechanics have evolved significantly, offering players a more polished and mature experience. The storyline is not to be missed, with some of the best Star Wars writing the franchise has seen. The cast of characters, stunning environments, and boundless opportunities for exploration make Star Wars Jedi: Survivor an exhilarating journey through the Star Wars universe
In terms of performance, we experienced a handful of technical issues throughout our Star Wars Jedi: Survivor adventure like frame rate drops, loading delays, stuttering and other glitches/bugs. Although this did influence our experience with the game, the graphics and world design are still mesmerizing and extraordinary.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is as much an amazing sequel as it is a Star Wars adventure. It’s an incredible game and a must-play whether you’re a Star Wars fan or not. We give Star Wars Jedi: Survivor a score of B+.
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