00:00 Look, I think, thank you for having me first.
00:02 I think the words that have come out of all of these negotiations, I think we'll never
00:07 know on the day of the signing of the agreement.
00:10 I think it's a sign that the security and the security groups that have been involved
00:14 in the negotiations, they know that there will be an agreement between Microsoft and
00:19 Activision.
00:20 And once there is an agreement, there will be no escape from the signing of the agreement.
00:26 That's why maybe...
00:30 Yeah, look, I think game developers will benefit here.
00:47 Because what's going to happen is Microsoft and Activision will not be able to hold on
00:54 to the security groups.
00:56 And I think for game developers, small developers, and big developers, the field has cleared
01:03 a little bit.
01:04 And now you have a field of competitors that are more competitive.
01:07 So, for the game developer market, I think more innovation is going to come out of these
01:11 things.
01:12 And I think for Activision, this is where I came from.
01:18 And this is where I think the market is right now.
01:20 I think that the market is not going to improve at this point.
01:25 And the reality is, I think, personally, Microsoft thought out of lemon, but a car that the engine
01:33 will need to be replaced or the transmission will need to be replaced six months from now
01:37 or a year from now, is that this is Microsoft's largest acquisition ever in its history.
01:44 But they bought something that doesn't have a lot of big games on the horizon, doesn't
01:48 have a lot of IPs, doesn't have a lot of IPs.
01:51 There's nothing really that will drive the transformation of the acquisition revenue
01:57 for Activision Blizzard and Microsoft in the next 10 years.
02:03 Does this mean that the deal is worth $69 billion?
02:10 Expensively?
02:11 Yeah, I think they paid a lot, frankly.
02:17 And at face value, it seems strategic, which it is.
02:21 It is a very strategic acquisition, I think, from a strategy standpoint.
02:25 This is good for Microsoft.
02:26 Also, I think bringing Phil Spencer from Microsoft to go lead Activision Blizzard would be a great thing.
02:32 I think Bobby Kodak sort of outlived his tenure there.
02:36 So I think newly the shift of Activision Blizzard would be positive.
02:39 But in terms of the price paid, today it may seem reasonable.
02:44 But compared to what Microsoft paid for, for example, Minecraft, $2.5 billion for Minecraft,
02:49 I think went down as maybe one of Microsoft's best acquisitions ever.
02:53 Is Activision Blizzard really worth 25 or 30 Minecrafts?
02:58 I think probably not.
03:00 And given where I think the future of Activision Blizzard's game is going, we're seeing
03:05 a lot of reaction around Diablo, we're seeing a lot of reaction around New Calder, we're
03:10 seeing a lot of informed reactions around the future of Activision Blizzard's game.
03:15 And Microsoft is going to really have to pull out a miracle, I think, to realize the value
03:19 transaction, and that miracle may be game pass.
03:22 That may be it.
03:23 It may be game pass.
03:25 I don't know if it's going to have any.
03:27 And here's why.
03:28 Because one of the concessions they had to make was, you know, all of the duty had to
03:31 also come out of Sony.
03:33 So, you know, I don't know if it's going to have any.
03:36 And here's why.
03:38 Because one of the concessions they had to make was, you know, all of the duty had to
03:41 also come out of Sony.
03:43 So, you know, I don't know if it's going to have any.
03:46 And here's why.
03:48 Because one of the concessions they had to make was, you know, all of the duty had
03:51 to also come out of Sony.
03:53 So, today, I don't think it will have much of an impact.
03:57 Tomorrow, 10 years from now, maybe, it depends if Xbox does or not game pass.
04:03 If game pass can get to 100 million subscribers, different ballgame, I think all of the senses
04:10 is the greatest acquisition now.
04:12 Now the question is, what will get them to 100 million subscribers?
04:15 Because at some point Sony is supposed to be game pass, I think they're going to struggle
04:20 with that.
04:21 I don't think Sony is just going to go away and drop out of the market.
04:24 So, I really think this is not going to drive as much subscriptions.
04:29 It's inherent to this.
04:31 We have to come to terms with it.
04:33 Thank you.
04:34 Thank you for having me.
04:35 Thank you.
