Xbox’s proposed purchase of Activision Blizzard has yet to get final approval, and there are a lot of strong opinions about it throughout the video game industry. In a new interview with Yahoo, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick spoke in favor of the deal. Zelnick told the outlet that he believes that the acquisition won’t have a negative impact on Take-Two, or on competition throughout the video game industry. The crux of Zelnick’s argument is that good games will continue to draw in audiences regardless of what Microsoft does.
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“Ultimately the consumer votes, and if we create great hits, which isour business, then consumers will show up, and no one can take that awayfrom us,” Zelnick told Yahoo. “The entertainment business is the antithesis of afungible commoditized business. Every title stands alone. So it sort ofdoesn’t compete with anything else and yet, it’s highly competitive in away. In other words, we compete with everything and we compete withnothing. You can’t replace one of our titles with another title.”
Zelnick’s comments come shortly after Brazil’s CADE signaled its approval for Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard. Of course, not everyone is in support of the purchase; PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan has been critical of the deal. Last month, Ryan told GamesIndustry.biz that Microsoft’s proposal only guarantees that new Call of Duty games will appear on PlayStation platforms for the next three years. Ryan called the deal “inadequate,” signaling that he wants greater assurances that additional entries will also appear on PlayStation.
Time will tell whether or not Microsoft’s proposed purchase of Activision Blizzard gets final approval from regulators. The deal could have a very big impact on the industry as a whole, regardless of whether or not it has an actual impact on competition. For now, fans of Activision and franchises like Call of Duty will just have to wait and see how things play out.
Do you think that Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard will hurt competition? Or do you agree with Zelnick? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
