Are You Worried About the Structural Implications of the Acquisition of Phil Spencer?

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I think in every enthusiast space, the structural conversation almost never happens. I was listening to your show about the iphone with brine merchant basically talking about the cults of personality that exist in tech. And i think something similar happens in games. Like the major games trade shows have always been increasingly like the major keynotes and minnie apple keynotes. Getting someone like that out of the picture is almost certainly a good four games as a creative form. But it's easy to imagine down the road, when either spencer is gone or microsop's priorities change, some of these things that were celebrating to day could sort of come back on us.

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.