Stop and listen to yourself a moment. Why would Microsoft waste all that time, money, and effort? Microsoft will have to pay Activision a $3 billion break up fee if they can’t get the deal closed for any reason.

The truth is that Microsoft is very obviously waging a lobbying battle behind closed doors while also waging a public relations battle. And look at how many good little fans come out of the woodwork to lap up their bullshit just because they hope Activision—one of the largest publishers in the world—will have their games “for free” on Gamepass.

Microsoft is trying to appease watchdogs by making very public gestures to support competitors for at least 10 years. But that doesn’t mean much because Microsoft is becoming a gaming as a service company. Sony can’t compete there yet and seem so very dedicated to platform lock-in since they are too dysfunctional to compete. Nintendo occupies its niche and not much else, let alone offer a real competitive service to anything MS is trying to do. I mean—have you tried Nintendo’s online services? Whole division should be turned inside out for the gross incompetence.

Microsoft is going for lock-in. That is why they have slyly allowed Xbox live gold conversions to get 3 years of Gamepass for basically nothing. It is why you can get a console with Gamepass and pay a single monthly fee in a lease to own scheme. They are abusing their position and locking people in. Azure alone makes more profit than Xbox entirely generates as revenue.

And people think the gravy train will never end 🙄