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0 pointsTameAntelope4y ago0 comments

A real monopoly in video gaming isn't nearly as valuable as it first seems.

Firstly, "video gaming" is really competing against things like reading a book, walking your dog, board games, etc., so it's not like Microsoft can just start jacking up prices and people will have nowhere to go with their time.

Secondly, creating and releasing new games has never been easier. So many small indie game companies are creating great games to compete with blockbusters like CoD and LoL, the ecosystem for game development is plenty healthy, with or without Activision belonging to Microsoft.

Thirdly, they haven't done what you're saying with the games they have released; you can play Minecraft on the Switch [0]. Maybe wait for Microsoft to actually do the thing you're worried about before criticizing them for it! They have had opportunities to be exclusive and they haven't taken them, so it's not so simple as to just assume they will no matter what.

I'm not worried about the industry, but I am cautiously optimistic about what Microsoft will be able to do with some IP that I've loved for most of my life.

[0] - https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/minecraft-switch/

0 comments

DimmieMan4y ago

"So many small indie game companies are creating great games to compete with blockbusters like CoD and LoL"

Apart from maybe a couple unicorns they aren't, they're a seperate market.

The overlap of people playing Call of Duty and those playing The Binding of Isaac will be family minimal, same goes for sport games which you're hard pressed to find people in the previous camps playing despite massive sales.

I agree with the sentiment though, there's no shortage of quality games made by smaller teams both independently funded or with investment from big players.

DaiPlusPlus4y ago

> Firstly, "video gaming" is really competing against things like reading a book, walking your dog, board games, etc

You're not wrong, but I can't agree with this.

TameAntelopeOP4y ago

I avoided saying the words in my parent comment to try and minimize controversy, but if you're interested in learning more, what I describe is referred to as the "attention economy"[0].

The "information overload" problem has been known about for at least 40 years!

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_economy

klabb34y ago

Disagree, I think it's spot on! But you may need to substitute for more modern attention hogs like Netflix, podcasts, mobile and web based games, indie games etc.

I'm sure that a pervasive predatory corporate development department backed by a cash-heavy company could reel in virtually all AAA PC games, but the long tail not so much. And the funny thing is, AAA has been a huge disappointment for gamers and I imagine investors as well over the last years, compared to its golden days.

Compare to say "owning your social graph" like Facebook, that's something that's much more robust. A good messaging platform doesn't take over the world in a few weeks like an indie game (almost) can, so Facebook has plenty time to acquire it or copy/steal their features.

DaiPlusPlus4y ago

> I think it's spot on!

My argument is that (most) video-games are still fundamentally passive consumption activities: recreation, that doesn't require someone to expend any "spoons"[1] to get some entertainment value. Whereas, I imagine for most people, reading literature, waling the dog, or even organizing a board-game session requires far more effort to initiate (not necessarily mental-effort, but effort in a general, abstract sense) whereas the whole point of video-games is to be a very-low-effort distraction from our existential anxiety.

So please substitute "reading a book, walking your dog, board games" with "watching YouTube-algorithm-recommended videos, Joe Rogan podcasts, and after-work boozing with your shiftmates".

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_theory

avrionov4y ago

Reading books lost the competition long time ago.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 pointsTameAntelope4y ago0 comments

A real monopoly in video gaming isn't nearly as valuable as it first seems.

I'm not worried about the industry, but I am cautiously optimistic about what Microsoft will be able to do with some IP that I've loved for most of my life.

[0] - https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/minecraft-switch/

0 comments

DimmieMan4y ago

"So many small indie game companies are creating great games to compete with blockbusters like CoD and LoL"

Apart from maybe a couple unicorns they aren't, they're a seperate market.

I agree with the sentiment though, there's no shortage of quality games made by smaller teams both independently funded or with investment from big players.

DaiPlusPlus4y ago

> Firstly, "video gaming" is really competing against things like reading a book, walking your dog, board games, etc

You're not wrong, but I can't agree with this.

TameAntelopeOP4y ago

I avoided saying the words in my parent comment to try and minimize controversy, but if you're interested in learning more, what I describe is referred to as the "attention economy"[0].

The "information overload" problem has been known about for at least 40 years!

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_economy

klabb34y ago

Disagree, I think it's spot on! But you may need to substitute for more modern attention hogs like Netflix, podcasts, mobile and web based games, indie games etc.

DaiPlusPlus4y ago

> I think it's spot on!

So please substitute "reading a book, walking your dog, board games" with "watching YouTube-algorithm-recommended videos, Joe Rogan podcasts, and after-work boozing with your shiftmates".

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_theory

avrionov4y ago

Reading books lost the competition long time ago.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse