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☆ Smartphone makers are dreaming of a 'supercycle' driven by AI. Analysts disagree
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Samsung has gone big on generative AI with its Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphone. When was the last smartphone supercycle? Smartphone makers have been dreaming of a "supercycle" in their industry, driven by AI, after a bruising few years that saw device sales slow aggressively. 'AI phone era'Major smartphone players are betting that a supercycle is about to happen thanks to AI. "We're right now at the dawning of an entirely new era, an AI phone era," Kitto said.

Persons: Kim Hong, they're, Francisco Jeronimo, Jeronimo, Ben Wood, Wood, James Kitto, Kitto, Brian Rakowski, Rakowski, We've Organizations: Samsung Electronics, Reuters, Reuters BARCELONA –, Samsung, Google, Galaxy, Apple, Financial Times, Mobile, Congress, Huawei, Qualcomm, IDC, Twitter, CNBC, 3G, CCS, Samsung's, Google's, Android Locations: Seoul, South Korea, Reuters BARCELONA, Chertsey , England

☆ Here's why Microsoft is going to let you play Xbox games on rival consoles
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Big news for (some) video game players: Microsoft is going to stop making you use Microsoft devices to play (some) Microsoft games. AdvertisementVery short summary of the console video game business: It's common for video game hardware makers to also own or license games that are exclusively for their devices. The idea is that a single game (or several games) will be enough reason for a gamer to buy a specific device. Maybe, as Warren reports, Microsoft will also announce new hardware plans at the same time it makes the new software change. But it's hard to see how the games move alone is going to be anything more than Microsoft accepting reality.

Persons: Tom Warren, Mario Kart, I've, It's, Warren Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Business, PlayStation, Mario, Xbox, Activision, Netflix, Apple, Samsung

☆ The video game industry is in trouble. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewEven if you don't play video games, you probably know that video games are a really big business. And if you pay attention to the media business, you may also know that by some measures, the video game industry dwarfs Hollywood in terms of revenue . Which leads to layoffs: The games industry shed 8,500 jobs in 2022 and a record 10,500 in 2023, Ball reports. And that also affects the mobile games business, since game-makers use mobile ads to distribute their apps, and to advertise to players once they've downloaded the apps. Now, mobile game ads are more expensive and less precise, which makes it harder to find new customers and harder to make money from the customers they do have.

Persons: —, Matthew Ball, It's, We're, Ball Organizations: Service, Business, Apple, PlayStation

☆ Microsoft lays off 1,900 workers, nearly 9% of gaming division, after Activision Blizzard acquisition
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra said Thursday on social media platform X he would be leaving Microsoft and Blizzard. Activision Blizzard is the publisher and developer of several massive gaming franchises, including Call of Duty and Diablo. Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard was the company's largest ever acquisition, more than double the size of its 2016 purchase of LinkedIn. Unlike the Microsoft layoffs, eBay and SAP saw a significant bump in their share prices following their announcements. Read the full memo below:It's been a little over three months since the Activision, Blizzard, and King teams joined Microsoft.

Persons: Phil Spencer, Mike Ybarra, Spencer, Activision Blizzard, Candy, It's, we'll, I'm, Phil CNBC's Steve Kovach Organizations: Microsoft, CNBC, Activision Blizzard, Former, Blizzard, Activision, LinkedIn, Tech, Games, eBay, SAP, King, Microsoft Gaming, Leadership Team, Xbox

☆ So that's why Google wants you to use Chrome on your iPhone so badly
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google pays Apple 36% of search revenue it gets when people use the Safari browser. That's on top of the $18 billion a year it's paying Apple just to be Apple's default search engine. AdvertisementThe federal antitrust case against Google had an astonishing reveal Monday: Google pays Apple 36% of the search revenue it gets when people use the Safari browser. And that's on top of the $18 billion Google paid Apple in 2021 just to be the default search engine on Apple devices. You can certainly imagine why Google would really love iPhone users to download the Chrome app and set that as their default search engines.

Persons: —, Sundar Pichai, Apple, Candy, it's Organizations: Google, Apple, Service

☆ Netflix aims to 'crawl, walk, run' when it comes to video games. It's still crawling
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Drew Richardson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Former Electronic Arts mobile gaming executive Mike Verdu joined Netflix as vice president of game development in 2021. Getting existing subscribers to download and play mobile games is a challenge, though, Benes noted. As of September 2023, Netflix's games have been downloaded 70.5 million times, globally, according to data obtained from Apptopia. The beta rollout to limited users Canada and the U.K. included Oxenfree from Night School Studio, a Netflix game studio, and Molehew's Mining Adventure, a gem-mining arcade game. But Netflix is not looking to be a console replacement, Netflix gaming executive Verdu previously told Tech Crunch.

Persons: It's, we've, Greg Peters, Ross Benes, Mike Verdu, Joseph Staten, Benes, Netflix's, Playrix, Candy Crush, King, Peters, Sunny Dhillon, Kyber Knight, Dhillon, Verdu Organizations: Netflix, Intelligence, Electronic Arts, AAA, Night School, Street, Tech, CNBC Locations: Canada

☆ After blockbuster Microsoft deal, gaming giants are still sitting on $45 billion cash hoard
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Public gaming companies currently hold cash and cash equivalents of $45.1 billion, according to a report from venture capital firm Konvoy. Publicly listed gaming companies had a fairly rosy year in 2023, on the whole. The VanEck Video Gaming and eSports ETF , which seeks to track MVIS Global Video Gaming & eSports Index, has climbed 20% in the year to date, according to Konvoy. Total venture funding into the video games industry in the third quarter of 2023 fell 9% quarter-over-quarter, to $454 million. That was when pandemic lockdowns were in full swing, and people had more time to spend playing video games indoors.

Persons: China's NetEase, hasn't, China's Tencent, Josh Chapman, Redmond, Chapman, Candy Crush, Konvoy's Chapman Organizations: Chesno Publicly, CNBC, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Bandai Namco, Public, Gaming, Esports, Big Tech, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Meta, Netflix, Sony, Activision, U.S, U.K, Markets Authority, Duty, Bandai Namco Entertainment Locations: Konvoy, Washington

Plus, it will be “productive for the gaming industry as a whole and healthy for competition in the gaming market,” he said. In the meantime, the U.K. regulator was the last major obstacle to the transaction going through. British regulators had initially blocked the transaction over concerns Microsoft could withhold Activision titles from the cloud gaming market. One factor was the EU’s approval, granted after Microsoft promised to automatically license Activision titles royalty-free to cloud gaming platforms. But the CMA's flip-flopping makes the U.K. regulator look “weak and indecisive,” he said.

Persons: Activision Blizzard, Candy, Overwatch —, Brad Smith, Bobby Kotick, Joshua Chapman, ”, Sarah Cardell, Max von Thun, ” von Thun, Matt O’Brien Organizations: —, Activision, Markets, Microsoft, Xbox, Union, Sony, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Ubisoft Entertainment, U.K, PlayStation, European Commission, Open Markets, CMA, AP Locations: Konvoy, U.K, Europe, Providence , Rhode Island

☆ Dating apps can embrace gamification of hookups
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-06 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The dating app Tinder is shown on a mobile phone in this picture illustration taken September 1, 2020. The dating app owned by Match (MTCH.O) said last week it’s rolling out a subscription tier called “Tinder Select” that will cost $500 a month. The $12 billion company could make even more money if it approached hookups the way computer games hook users. By contrast, if a hefty 1% of Tinder’s current subscribers sign up for Tinder Select, they will pay an extra $600 million. Follow @thereallsl on XCONTEXT NEWSMatch’s dating app Tinder is launching a premium service named “Tinder Select” for $499 a month.

Persons: Akhtar Soomro, Bernard Kim, Tinder, Peter Thal Larsen, Sharon Lam, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Match, Apps, Tinder, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Thomson Locations: Plenty

☆ Morning Bid: Rate jitters wear down wary markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Asian markets were under pressure as the day progressed, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) sliding to its lowest in 10 months. Futures indicate the sombre mood is likely to continue as Europe wakes, with markets there due to open lower. Congress has shut down the government 14 times since 1981, though most of those funding gaps lasted only a day or two. Meanwhile, tech stocks are likely to be in the spotlight after a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.com (AMZN.O) from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission was filed on Tuesday. It also said the popular game has reached $20 billion in revenue since its 2012 launch.

Persons: Treasuries, Candy Crush, King, Ankur Banerjee, Edmund Klamann Organizations: Ankur, Treasury, Nikkei, Republicans, Congress, China Evergrande, HK, Bloomberg, Amazon.com, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Big Tech, Microsoft, Wall Street, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, Asia, Pacific, Japan, Europe, Swiss

REUTERS/Kevork Djansezian Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) gaming master plan is slowly coming together. But Microsoft’s gaming revenue was still around 8% of group sales, or $15 billion, for the year ended June 2022. Given these risks, it makes sense for Nadella to grow his exposure to those parts of the gaming market which are less likely to be upended by cloud gaming. It remains possible that cloud gaming is a dog that doesn’t bark – or at least not for some time. As a result of the Activision deal, Nadella has a hedge of sorts against cloud gaming happening too fast.

Persons: Kevork, Satya Nadella’s, Ampere, ”, GamesIndustry.biz, Nadella, George Hay, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: Activision, REUTERS, Reuters, Bethesda, Microsoft, Satya Nadella’s Activision, Ampere, Sony, Nintendo, Reuters Graphics, Netflix, Gamers, Xbox, PlayStation, Big Tech, Apple, HK, reckons, Competition, Markets Authority, CMA, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Ubisoft Entertainment, Ubisoft, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles , California, United States, U.S

☆ Candy Crush Saga hits $20 billion revenue milestone, maker King says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Mascots dressed as characters from the mobile video game "Candy Crush Saga" pose outside the New York Stock Exchange ahead of the IPO of Mobile game maker King Digital Entertainment Plc March 26, 2014. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Candy Crush Saga, the matching game played by millions on their commute, has reached $20 billion in revenue since its 2012 launch, maker King said, adding that it would soon release levels up to 15,000 for the most dedicated players. King President Tjodolf Sommestad said Candy Crush Saga and its other titles like Farm Heroes Saga showed that mobile games could have enduring appeal. Todd Green, Candy Crush general manager, said the game was constantly updated to make it more satisfying, from optimising the tiny bounce when candies land in the grid to adding new levels, including the 15,000 milestone. "Candy Crush took us a few months to build but we added 10 years of development after that."

Persons: Brendan McDermid, King, Tjodolf Sommestad, Candy, Sommestad, Todd Green, Candy Crush, Crush, Paul Sandle, Bill Berkrot Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, Mobile, King Digital Entertainment, REUTERS, Facebook, Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, Thomson Locations: U.S

Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard's games characters in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. "While the CMA has identified limited residual concerns with the new deal, Microsoft has put forward remedies which the CMA has provisionally concluded should address these issues," the regulator said. The European Union waved the deal through in May after accepting Microsoft's commitments to license Activision's games to other platforms, the same remedies that Britain had rejected. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission also opposes the deal, but it has failed in its attempts to stop it. The CMA said there were "residual concerns" around the Ubisoft deal, but Microsoft has offered remedies to ensure the terms of the sale were enforceable by the regulator.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Brad Smith, Sarah Cardell, Sophie Lund, Yates, Hargreaves Lansdown, Yadarisa, Paul Sandle, Varun H, Jason Neely, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Microsoft, Activision, REUTERS, Ubisoft UK's CMA, CMA, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft Entertainment, Competition, Markets Authority, Ubisoft, Union, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Thomson Locations: U.S, Britain, Bengaluru, London

☆ Microsoft projects two new areas of growth for gaming, leaked document says: Mobile and ads
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The document does not mention the $68.7 billion Activision deal, which had been announced months earlier. It shows gaming revenue doubling to $36 billion in the 2030 fiscal year, compared with a forecast of $18 billion for the 2022 fiscal year. Actual fiscal 2022 gaming revenue totaled $16.23 billion, according to an annual report. And it indicated that management saw revenue from mobile transactions reaching $2.6 billion, compared with none in fiscal 2022. The total of the two categories is $4 billion, or 11% of total gaming revenue.

Persons: Jacqueline Scott Corley, Corley, Phil Spencer, Candy, Spencer, Amy Hood Organizations: Microsoft, Federal Trade Commission, Activision Blizzard, U.S, Northern, Northern District of, Activision, Twitter, Yahoo, Xbox, King Digital Entertainment, United Kingdom's, Markets Authority, Ubisoft Locations: Northern District, Northern District of California

☆ Microsoft says it will sell Activision streaming rights to Ubisoft to unblock its takeover bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft has restructured its deal to hand Activision cloud gaming rights to rival Ubisoft. Microsoft really wants to get its takeover of Activision Blizzard over the line. The tech giant has substantially restructured its deal to try and appease the UK regulator's concerns that a takeover would hurt competition in cloud gaming. The new deal involves selling Activision cloud-gaming rights for countries outside the European Economic Area to video-game publisher Ubisoft. Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in January 2022, but the deal has been entangled in competition concerns ever since.

Persons: Sarah Cardell, Brad Smith Organizations: Microsoft, Activision, Ubisoft, Morning, Activision Blizzard, Economic Area, Cloud Gaming, European Commission, Markets Authority, CMA Locations: British

☆ Microsoft gives ground on streaming in bid to remove UK block on Activision deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Microsoft has made a major concession to UK authorities in a bid to remove the last remaining regulatory obstacle to its huge takeover of Activision Blizzard. The restructured deal, announced by the UK Competition and Markets Authority Tuesday, follows a decision by the CMA to block the acquisition on its original terms. A US federal court also said in July that it would not block the deal from closing. The transaction was valued at $69 billion at the time, making it one of the tech industry’s largest deals. Activision Blizzard is one of the world’s biggest video game developers, producing games such as “Candy Crush,” “Call of Duty,” “World of Warcraft” and “Overwatch.”

Persons: Sarah Cardell, ” Cardell, Candy, ” Organizations: London CNN, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, European Union, Ubisoft Entertainment, UK Competition, Markets, CMA, Ubisoft —, Economic, Ubisoft, Activision Locations: United Kingdom, Paris

☆ Why this viral photo of the world’s largest cruise ship is polarizing opinion
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Jacopo Prisco | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —The world’s largest cruise ship hasn’t welcomed a single passenger aboard yet, but it’s already set the internet on fire. But when an image of its stern section went viral in July, it polarized opinions, eliciting passionate reactions on all sides. The ship will be home to the world's largest water park at sea. “I think the Royal Caribbean enthusiasts are going to look at this and go ‘Wow, something new! “Royal Caribbean is notable for exceeding 100% capacity on their ships.

Persons: hasn’t, —, Hieronymus Bosch, Tom Davis, ” Davis, ”, Adam Cox, Jonathan Abramowitz, Ross Klein, “, Stewart Chiron “, Stewart Chiron Organizations: CNN, Walmart, University of Alabama, Royal Caribbean, University of North, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Royal Locations: Dutch, “, University of North Carolina, Chapel, Royal Caribbean, Miami, “ Royal Caribbean

☆ Microsoft-Activision deal back in hands of UK regulator after court pauses appeal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal is back in the hands of Britain's antitrust regulator after an appeals court granted an adjournment, and the grounds for why the UK should reconsider its block on the U.S. software giant's takeover were published. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) set out on Friday Microsoft's arguments for the reconsideration, as the U.S. battles to win UK approval to buy "Call of Duty" maker Activision. Explaining why the deal should now be given the green light, Microsoft argued that the binding commitments accepted by the European Union shortly after Britain had blocked the deal changed matters, court documents published showed. The CMA said it understood that Microsoft considered the recent licensing deal it agreed with Sony constituted a further material change of circumstance or special reason. Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal provisionally approved the adjournment on Monday subject to further submissions from the parties.

Persons: Candy, Sarah Young, Paul Sandle, Sam Tobin, Alistair Smout, Louise Heavens Organizations: Microsoft's Activision, Markets Authority, Activision, CMA, Microsoft, European Union, NVIDIA, Boosteroid, Sony, Thomson Locations: U.S, European, Britain

☆ Buffett cut Activision stake before judge approved Microsoft merger
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In a regulatory filing on Monday, Berkshire said it owned about 14.7 million Activision shares, or 1.9%, worth $1.24 billion on June 30, down from 49.4 million shares, or 6.3%, on March 31. The filing did not discuss the prices of any sales, or whether Berkshire bought or sold Activision stock in July. One of Berkshire's portfolio managers invested in Activision in late 2021, with Buffett boosting the stake to nearly 10% in 2022. Berkshire's remaining Activision stake - 14,658,121 shares - is exactly the size it was before Buffett started buying, suggesting that he has exited the arbitrage bet. Activision shares rose 10% to $90.99 on July 11 after U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco rejected U.S. Federal Trade Commission arguments that the merger would hurt competition in cloud gaming, consoles and subscription services.

Persons: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett, Jacqueline Scott Corley, Jonathan Stempel, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, Activision, Berkshire, Buffett, U.S, Federal, Commission, Markets Authority, BNSF, Apple, Bank of America, Thomson Locations: Berkshire, San Francisco, Omaha , Nebraska, New York

☆ Royal Caribbean Bets on a Giant Candy-Colored Cruise Ship
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Jesus Jiménez | More About Jesus Jiménez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When the Icon of the Seas sets sail early next year, it will take some time to disappear from the horizon. At 1,198 feet long and a gross tonnage of 250,800, it is hard to miss. The Royal Caribbean cruise ship will have 20 decks packed with more than 20 bars and restaurants, seven pools, nine whirlpools, and six water slides, as well as mini golf, rock climbing and an arcade. Since Royal Caribbean announced this newest ship last year, it has helped to boost the company’s sales with high demand for advanced bookings. Some can’t wait to climb aboard, with rooms already selling out for the ship’s first voyage.

Organizations: Royal, Royal Caribbean, Apple Locations: Royal Caribbean

☆ Sony to boost gaming unit with $2.17 bln R&D war chest for 2024 - Nikkei
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 13 (Reuters) - Sony Group (6758.T) will infuse 300 billion yen ($2.17 billion) to expedite research and development efforts for its gaming segment for 2024, to catch up with its competitor Microsoft (MSFT.O), the Nikkei reported on Thursday. Sony will now aim to focus on live service games that let customers purchase add-ons for titles streamed online, moving away from its sole reliance on sales of its PlayStation game console, Nikkei said. The technology and entertainment conglomerate is expected to spend about 760 billion yen for company-wide R&D for fiscal 2024, the report said. Sony plans to have 12 live service game titles in its portfolio by fiscal 2026, up from just one in fiscal 2021, the Nikkei added. "We will continue to make strategic investments going forward, prioritizing intellectual property," Nikkei quoted Sony Group president Hiroki Totoki.

Persons: Hiroki Totoki, Roushni Nair, Shailesh Organizations: Sony Group, Microsoft, Nikkei, Sony, PlayStation, Gaming, Activision Blizzard, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge ruled on Tuesday that Microsoft may go forward with its planned acquisition of videogame maker Activision Blizzard, turning aside antitrust enforcers' request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily stop the $69 billion deal. The FTC had originally asked the judge to stop the proposed deal, arguing it would give Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), maker of the Xbox gaming console, exclusive access to Activision (ATVI.O) games including the best-selling "Call of Duty." The deal would be the largest for Microsoft and the biggest in the history of the videogame business. The FTC's complaint had cited concerns about loss of competition in console gaming, as well as subscriptions and cloud gaming. And while much of the testimony in the recent trial focused on "Call of Duty," Activision produces other bestsellers like "World of Warcraft," "Diablo" and the mobile game "Candy Crush Saga."

Persons: Jacqueline Scott Corley, Douglas Farrar, we'll, Brad Smith, Bobby Kotick, Satya Nadella, Diane Bartz, Caitlin Webber Organizations: Microsoft, Activision, Britain's, Markets Authority, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Microsoft Corp, Sony PlayStation, Nintendo, Sony Group, Activision Blizzard, PlayStation, Thomson Locations: U.S, San Francisco

Activision shares surged 10% on the day, as the U.S. and Britain have been the two countries opposed to what would be Microsoft's biggest deal ever and the largest transaction in the videogame industry's history. Microsoft shares rose 64 cents to $332.47. Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard's games characters in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. "It does seem like the Microsoft and the CMA could work out a deal within the next couple of weeks," said D.A. The FTC's complaint had cited concerns about loss of competition in console gaming, as well as subscriptions and cloud gaming.

Persons: Jacqueline Scott Corley, ”, Joost Van Dreunen, University's, Corley, Douglas Farrar, we'll, Dado Ruvic, Biden, Brad Smith, Franco Granda, Satya Nadella, Diane Bartz, David Shepardson, Jaspreet Singh, Aditya Soni, Chris Sanders, Caitlin Webber, Matthew Lewis David Gregorio, Muralikumar Organizations: Activision, Microsoft, Biden, U.S, Markets Authority, University's Stern School of Business, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Nintendo, Sony Group, FTC, Sony PlayStation, REUTERS, FOCUS Gaming, CMA, Davidson &, PlayStation, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, U.S, British, Britain, San Francisco, New, Washington, Bengaluru

☆ Microsoft CFO Amy Hood warned employees not to 'build a gold toilet'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

From left, Tim Stuart, chief financial officer of Xbox at Microsoft; Phil Spencer, Microsoft's CEO of gaming; and Microsoft finance chief Amy Hood arrive to court in San Francisco on June 29, 2023. Microsoft's finance chief advised employees not to "build a gold toilet" during a 2018 meeting, according to emails that came up during federal court hearings last month over the software maker's planned Activision Blizzard acquisition. The quip might invoke a 2016 social-media claim (proven false by Snopes) that former President Donald Trump owned a solid gold toilet. "I've made that mistake on too many products, and I'm sure everyone else has too, when we've built features before we answered the core questions," Gluckstein wrote. Read the emails from Spencer and Gluckstein regarding Hood's "gold toilet" comments below.

Persons: Tim Stuart, Phil Spencer, Amy Hood, Donald Trump, MC Hammer, Catherine Gluckstein, Gluckstein, Xbox's, I've, we've, Spencer, xCloud, it's Organizations: Xbox, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Bluetooth, TAM, Cloud, Google, Federal Trade Commission Locations: San Francisco

☆ 'Call of Duty' maker to invest in Barcelona after EU approves Microsoft deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) said its studio that developed "Call of Duty" would set up shop in Barcelona, putting into action its pledge to invest in Europe after Brussels approved Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of the company in May. In contrast, it said it would "meaningfully expand" its investment and workforce in the European Union after the deal received the green light there. Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are battling antitrust regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to clinch the deal, the biggest ever in video gaming. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick and his Microsoft counterpart Satya Nadella are due to testify in a court in San Francisco on Wednesday to urge a judge to allow the merger. Microsoft is appealing the British veto with the "aggressive" support of Activision.

Persons: Bobby Kotick, Satya Nadella, Kate Holton, Alexander Smith Organizations: Activision, Digital Legends, Microsoft, European Union, Activision Blizzard, Atlantic, Federal Trade Commission, Thomson Locations: Barcelona, Europe, Brussels, U.S, Spanish, Guildford, Warrington, England, European, San Francisco, Britain

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