Is the Game Space as Competitive as Ever?

5min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Rob Zackney: When i was most excited about games, and where it was like the greatest sense of discovery, and like evolution year to year, it's probably the 19 nineties. With greater consolidation, you will see even fewer offerings in that space, because why compete with one another? Why build products that compete with yourself? Rob zackney: I'm not saying that game streaming is inherently bad. Lot of these innovations are really cool ideas. It is the fact that every advancement immediately gets monopolized by the same three or four players that makes all of it kind of turn to ash.

Paris Marx is joined by Rob Zacny to discuss the potential consequences of Xbox’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and what subscriptions and consolidation might mean for the future of games and the industry.

Rob Zacny is a senior editor at Waypoint and co-host of Waypoint Radio. Follow Rob on Twitter at @RobZacny.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

Find out more about Harbinger Media Network at harbingermedianetwork.com.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Rob discussed the consequences of the proposed acquisition with his colleague Patrick Klepek.
Microsoft plans to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion.
In November, Phil Spencer said he was troubled by the harassment and abuse at Activision Blizzard.
QA workers at Activision’s Raven Software are seeking to unionize. The company said it won’t recognize the union, and is reorganizing the division.
A new Game Developers Conference found 55% think the industry should unionize.
On January 18, the US Federal Trade Commission began a process to rewrite its merger guidelines.
Google shut down its Stadia game studios at least in part due to Microsoft’s acquisition of Zenimax.
At GDC in 2005, a developer rant session featuring Warren Spector, Jason Della Rocca, Greg Costikyan, Brenda Laurel, and Chris Hecke presented a grim picture of where the industry was going.