Those Microsoft executives should be scared over their blatant monopolistic practices. Microsoft is in full panic mode over their Activision acquisition as they’ve not only had their executives grovel at the feet of government panels, but they also just agreed to host their exclusive games on NVIDIA.
So, it seems like Microsoft is in a stage where they will either bully, buy off, or just flat out grovel to anyone they can to ensure that their Activision deal comes through.
After going to the SEC back in January of this year to complain about this deal, NVIDIA has now done a full 180 and is completely backing Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision. “Why would they do this?” you’re probably wondering. Well, it’s because Microsoft paid them off with a fat check in the form of a lucrative, exclusive partnership.
Yes, as you’ve probably already heard or just seen in my article, Microsoft and NVIDIA have come to a 10-year agreement where all XBOX PC games will be streamed on NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW cloud-gaming streaming platform, effectively ensuing that the two companies’ fates are intertwined for the next decade. Or, in other words, whatever Microsoft says or does, you’ll see NVIDIA crawling behind them in full support.
Okay, maybe I’m being a little too harsh on NVIDA, but this deal to allow Microsoft games, which would include all Activision products if the Microsoft-Activision deal gets approved, to be streamed on NVIDIA GeForce NOW is still a form of monopolization, albeit with more companies involved.
Essentially, instead of us having to be forced to go on Microsoft’s store page to but the game we want, it’s now also available to be streamed on NVIDIA too. But just these two companies if Microsoft and NVIDIA could have their way.
All PlayStation, Steam, etc. users, which make up a huge portion of the gaming market, are still screwed over by this move as it not only ensures that both Microsoft and NVIDIA are the two monopolistic companies in the gaming world, but also threatens the feasibility of new games being developed for competing distribution/cloud-gaming platforms (ex: Steam, PlayStation).
Practically, Microsoft and NVIDIA have effectively made themselves the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad companies (the two companies that built the US’ transcontinental railroad in the 1800’s) of the gaming market with this agreement.
Now, I realize that most of the games owned by Microsoft are still on Steam and PlayStation, and NVIDIA supports distributions services, such Steam and the Epic Games store, but how long is that going to last with this deal? The Microsoft store serves the exact same purpose that Steam does, while NVIDIA allows gamers to stream their games on different platforms (phones, tablets, TVs, etc.) and in various locations (work, home, school, vacation resorts, etc.).
The need to cater to Steam, Epic Games store, the PlayStation Store, Ubisoft store, etc. in the eyes of Microsoft and NVIDIA will grow less and less by the day now and might come to an abrupt end if the Activision deal is allowed by the appropriate governing bodies.
I mean, why would Microsoft allow their game studios to develop ports to these competing platforms if it only serves to unnecessarily hurt their net profits? For those that don’t know, distributors like Steam take a percentage of the profits a game makes in exchange for the game being listed on a distrbutor’s vast library.
Perhaps I’m overplaying this, but it wasn’t too long ago that people thought Microsoft acquiring Activision, Bethesda, ZeniMax Studios, Mojang Studios, Obsidian Entertainment, Playground Games, and the 20 or so other studios they’ve gobbled up over the last two decades was preposterous too. This sort of monopolizing happens slowly at first, but then it explodes into the behemoth problem we see today right when you least expect it.
I hope I’m 100% wrong and Microsoft isn’t the bitter company over losing the PC race of the 1990’s and early 2000’s to Apple and other competitors I think they are, but I don’t believe I will be.
Massive, soulless companies like this one are always looking to monopolize and control extremely popular, entertaining, and lucrative markets, and the gaming industry is no exception. I just hope the appropriate governing bodies recognize this as well and will stop this merger dead in its tracks.
Images Source: Featured Image: (NVIDIA) (Introducing GeForce NOW | The Power to Play in the Cloud – YouTube)
