Is Microsoft trying to build a gaming conglomerate?

I am sure you read about the recent announcement of the Activision Blizzard acquisition — it is big news. With this acquisition, Microsoft will become the third-largest gaming company in revenue. The leaderboard would now be Sony, Tencent, followed by Microsoft. For those of you who don't know Activision: they are the same company that built the prevalent and one of the best gaming sequels of all time — Call of Duty. Even if you are not into gaming or are a brown parent, you have probably heard of how good it is. I am not even kidding — it is the only reason I even have friends. My friends and I used to bond over Call of Duty when we were younger! It was that good.

From the headlines of the acquisition — it looks great. Now that Microsoft owns Activision, they might make Call of Duty better on PCs and their line of consoles, the Xbox. No issues. Microsoft will use everything in its control to make the gaming experience even better. Well, that may also not be the case. Now that Microsoft owns Activision, it could raise red flags for regulators. Microsoft has evaded most of the recent antitrust hearings in the States but this deal might cause that to change. This deal, which is planned to close by the end of the fiscal year 2023, may bring a range of legal complications for Microsoft — the merger would require a green light from the US Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission. Both of the agencies are yet to comment on this new and powerful market power.

That was the most intriguing part of the issue this week. Nevertheless, I still have a couple of more updates to share. Google is working on an AR headset! This makes it the third tech giant to join the metaverse race with Meta and Apple. Again, this is just a rumour. From the leaks of it, the project is called Iris and is planned to ship in 2024. The name Iris makes the rumours even stronger because Iris is a part of the eye and that is exactly what the Metaverse is about; a virtual world that can be accessed with an AR headset and your eyes. This AR headset is planned to ship with Project Starline. Project Starline — Feel like you're there, together: is another project by Google that features an ultra-high-resolution photo video chatting booth. Starline uses complex eye tracking and 3D imaging technologies. Check out the article linked above to learn more :)

There are some updates from Google this week. YouTube will stop making most of its original shows. Again, when you subscribe to YouTube, you get access to a range of shows — scripted series, educational videos, and music and celebrity programming. Moving forward, YouTube will only fund programs that are part of YouTube Kids Funds and Black Voices! Black voices was a fund program that was created by Google in 2020 which committed $100 million to amplify black creators on the platform.

Well, that's it from Google. A small yet eventful update from Instagram- Instagram is testing paid subscriptions with a small group of creators. This means that creators will be able to monetize their pages and members who pay will have access to exclusive content and members' only live videos and stories. This test has been recently rolled out to ten creators and seems like an interesting addition. Instagram also promises creators to not take a cut of their subscriptions till the end of 2023! Pretty cool right?

Well, that's it for this week. I am honestly out of ideas for a hilarious conclusion. I guess this week’s issue was good enough, so I don't need humour for you to approve of this issue ;) I am going to sign off abruptly by saying, that’s all that I have in store for you today! Until then, make sure you update your devices and I will catch you next week.

Overthinking on whether I should have added a hilarious conclusion,
Tejas Tagra
5984 days old