July 14, 2023 7:34 PM
Xbox is buying Activision Blizzard.
Image Credit: Xbox
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Earlier in the week, it appeared that the FTC’s case against Microsoft had been summarily dismissed by Judge Corley, at least insofar as she wouldn’t grant an injunction against the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The FTC wasn’t going down without a fight, as they filed an appeal and also requested a stay on the acquisition until after the appeal was ruled on. As of … well, only a few moments before writing this, the stay was denied. So it appears that, while the deal is going to go through, the FTC has not given up on its case.
In addition to Microsoft’s entanglement with the American regulators, it’s also sitting down for fresh talks with the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority. The CMA said it was open to this following Judge Corley’s ruling, but it also announced that it was extending the deadline for its discussion into August. Still, going into the weekend it appears we’re going to see Activision Blizzard go under the Microsoft umbrella.
In other news, a survey by the Video Game History Foundation and the Software Preservation Network concluded that 87% of all games made before 2010 are critically endangered — meaning they’re no longer easily accessible on modern consoles. I find that number dissatisfying because the games industry has seemingly resorted to remakes in order to keep older games on new consoles, but there isn’t enough money in the world to remake every game individually. While I expect that some games will be lost to time, as happens with every kind of art, almost 90% of being inaccessible to the average gamer isn’t acceptable.
In personal news, I think I’ll try out this Exoprimal game that Microsoft has shown off. I still don’t quite know what to make of it, but given that it’s on Game Pass I feel it would be remiss of me not to at least give it a try. Oh, and I’ll be trying out Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, because it’s from the creators of Danganronpa and they’re always good for some mystery fun.
What to play this week
What’s new:
Exoprimal
Oxenfree II: Lost Signals
Jagged Alliance 3
Gravity Circuit
Testament: The Order of High Human
Arena Breakout
Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg
New on subscription services:
Common’hood (Xbox Game Pass)
Insurgency: Sandstorm (Xbox Game Pass)
When the Past was Around (Xbox Games with Gold)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Prime Gaming)
Nairi: Tower of Shirin (Prime Gaming)
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen (GeForce Now)
Ridiculous Fishing EX (Apple Arcade)
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