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Activision and Bungie: The Tale of Two Titles - Garrett Fuller - MMORPG.com

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
edited January 2019 in News & Features Discussion

imageActivision and Bungie: The Tale of Two Titles - Garrett Fuller - MMORPG.com

Are we starting to see a trend in the end of big publishers? Yesterday’s split between Bungie and Activision serves as a major move within the games industry. I was writing a column on the power of the EPIC Store and then well, this happened. Are the two related? Maybe, but more on that later. For now, let’s explore the split between Bungie, Destiny, and Activision. What does it mean and who benefits?

Read the full story here



¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


Comments

  • RobbgobbRobbgobb Member UncommonPosts: 674
    I don't want the fans of the games involved with the three companies to suffer but I don't have much faith in any of the companies involved here. I will be sad for the potential if any fail though I do not expect to see the potential to ever be achieved.
    Thunder073
  • cheyanecheyane Member LegendaryPosts: 9,100
    Your speculation if Bioware would do the same was wishful. I support that wish.
    Chamber of Chains
  • gervaise1gervaise1 Member EpicPosts: 6,919
    I suspect that AB initiated the split - I doubt Bungee would have wanted to compensate AB for loss of future earnings. Assuming it was AB though as I said in an earlier post this would be akin to them closing a studio.

    Obviously they worked something out.
    [Deleted User]
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    I see a bigger and in reality a SIMPLE picture.
    I see all these lazy ass people as hanging out making a ton of money and now that the numbers are no longer massive,Activision has to try and clean up the mess.
    When success is amazing,everyone can high five each other,go to cocktails,parties conventions,high five some more but soon they are made accountable they don't like it,they like it EASY STREET.

    So these splits are just more scummy people moving around to create more havoc in another business somewhere else.
    None the less the marketing will continue,get websites and marketing firms to boast your games have huge numbers,everyone sees it and jumps on the bandwagon because for some unknown reason ,people are extremely naive/gullible and feel the need to play only the popular games.

    Overall,i feel Activision is showing me an intelligent operation/business,they are cutting off the heads of the hydra before Jason and the Argonauts are defeated.Haha my Harryhausen pun.Now there is some stuff you can watch and see the PASSION in the work,i look at so many games supposedly costing 100/200/300 million and look like some Indie studio made them.




    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • XiaokiXiaoki Member EpicPosts: 3,847

    gervaise1 said:

    I suspect that AB initiated the split - I doubt Bungee would have wanted to compensate AB for loss of future earnings. Assuming it was AB though as I said in an earlier post this would be akin to them closing a studio.



    Obviously they worked something out.



    Oh, this is definitely Activision Blizzard kicking Bungie to the curb.

    I wonder how many people that are now cheering "Bungie is finally free of Activision's evil clutches" will actually admit that a couple months ago they were cheering the Forsaken expansion underperforming and that Destiny 2 was tanking.
  • SamhaelSamhael Member RarePosts: 1,498
    BioWare is just a label now. Anyone who made it once great has long since sold out, left the company, or burned out. There is nothing left to branch out on its own. It's just an EA department with some smaller sub-departments (or satellite offices at best).
  • VaselVasel Member UncommonPosts: 226
    Its a good move to distance themselves from Activision. Not sure if it changes anything in the present .
    ScotinfomatzPonku
  • ForgrimmForgrimm Member EpicPosts: 3,059
    The split is now being investigated as possible securities fraud https://massivelyop.com/2019/01/12/activision-investors-are-now-investigating-whether-the-bungie-split-involves-securities-fraud/
  • SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
    edited January 2019
    Torval said:
    Forgrimm said:
    Interesting. Nvidia is facing a class action lawsuit because they reassured investors they were immune to a crypto crash. It's a slightly different situation, but both are being accused of misleading investors because they said one thing and did another. We used to call that lying back before morality went out of fashion in 2016.
    As I said in the other thread about ATVI breaking with Bungie and about this potential (emphasis on POTENTIAL) suit:

    WAAAAAAAAY too vague at the moment.

    I agree with your last statement @parrotpholk. Anyone can contact an attorney for any reason, but it's going to be tough to prove malfeasance on the part of execs. I mean...it wouldn't have taken much gray matter to know that breaking with Bungie was going to cause the stock to tank somewhat. 

    I think ATVI has made a lot of blunders lately, but knowing how "under the microscope they've been recently, any exec who perpetrated some type of fraud surrounding the break with Bungie would have to be a moron. I don't buy it.

    While I know it's popular to hate corporations in general and Blizzard in particular, I'll wait and see how it shakes out before I get too excited about some attorney investigating the issue.

    As an investor myself, I'm not ready to jump on this yet. I'll wait and see. Right now, it feels like ambulance chasing.

    [Deleted User]infomatz


    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


  • SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
    Even saying that (above), I can see the suspicion with the large amount of turnover on the upper end of management. I'll definitely be watching no matter what. 
    Phry


    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


  • SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
    https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shareholder-alert-pomerantz-law-firm-investigates-claims-on-behalf-of-investors-of-activision-blizzard-inc---atvi-300777066.html

    http://pomerantzlawfirm.com/

    Just FYI :)
    [Deleted User]infomatz


    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 


  • klash2defklash2def Member EpicPosts: 1,949
    I am praying for Bioware to get away from EA. I hate what has happened to them. In a -perfect-world, Bioware leaves EA and gets the old team back together. 
    SBFord
    "Beliefs don't change facts. Facts, if you're reasonable, should change your beliefs."


    "The Society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools."



     
    Currently: Games Audio Engineer, you didn't hear what I heard, you heard what I wanted you to hear. 


  • gervaise1gervaise1 Member EpicPosts: 6,919
    SBFord said:
    Investors who bought when the price was going up but are now looking at a lower stock price? Maybe they should have read posts on this forum. "We" might be wrong but many of us have posted that Q4's results might be "not good". Now maybe we were wrong but its starting to look like it might be worse. (If only we could get what analysts are paid for such insights!)

    As for the legal "case" presumably it will be along the lines of investors were "misled"? That they expected D3 and D4 in the future maybe - to which the answer will probably be future success is not guaranteed but we have taken the decision that we can make more money developing in-house. Doesn't need to be "true" just plausible of course.

    And they will be able to point to warning that they included with the Q3 results: 

    Key revenues contributors (edit: for Activision) included Call of Duty in‐game performance and Destiny 2: Forsaken, though the latter  underperformed expectation.

    Nor was Destiny featured as prominently as in previous quarterly results.
  • NitemareMMONitemareMMO Member UncommonPosts: 239
    edited January 2019

    klash2def said:

    I am praying for Bioware to get away from EA. I hate what has happened to them. In a -perfect-world, Bioware leaves EA and gets the old team back together. 



    There is no Bioware left to get away. What brains once were already left long ago. Bioware today is just a name on life support so that they can still collect "royalties" tied to that name (Bioware fans thinking they are buying great games).

    Corporate greed killed off what once were great development teams able to push out amazing games. Wonder where they have all scattered now.
    Post edited by NitemareMMO on
  • PhryPhry Member LegendaryPosts: 11,004
    Torval said:
    SBFord said:
    It appears they're still investigating, but apparently believe something is amiss. There aren't a lot of details like you pointed out. The law firm is old and established so that may mean something. If nothing else I'm sure this is an added headache to their list of recent woes.
    It also adds more spin on why Mike left too, takes a lot of money to motivate law firms, just saying. :/
    [Deleted User]
  • d_20d_20 Member RarePosts: 1,878
    edited January 2019
    Torval said:
    Phry said:
    Torval said:
    SBFord said:
    It appears they're still investigating, but apparently believe something is amiss. There aren't a lot of details like you pointed out. The law firm is old and established so that may mean something. If nothing else I'm sure this is an added headache to their list of recent woes.
    It also adds more spin on why Mike left too, takes a lot of money to motivate law firms, just saying. :/
    I agree with Suzie's point in the other thread, it's very vague. I was looking for some specifics but none were offered. But like you and @d_20 point out, and it was my thought too, there has to be smoke or blood to trigger some action.

    One thought is that accusations could be complicated. I would think the offense would need to be summarized so that us non-legal types can understand the basic premise if not the nuances. Every "thing" has an intro paragraph to the Executive Summary. I haven't seen one for this case yet.
    From what I've seen, there's no "case" yet, just an investigation to determine whether to proceed. Probably, the investor(s) who've retained Pomerantz [pure speculation on my part here] might feel that management misrepresented something to them, which caused them damages (loss of share value), thus the investigation involving fiduciary duty (not necessarily something like fraud or intentional misrepresentation) and whether there can be a recovery for the complainant based on any breach of such duty. 

    For example, Activision tells shareholders that in spite of Destiny 2 not performing to expectations but not to worry because they will seek to monetize the game further via mtx to increase growth. Then management turns around and gives up the rights to the Destiny IP = Investors are miffed.

    Quite often, there will be no filing (court action) if the parties opt to settle. Or complainant may decide not to proceed depending on what they find in the investigation.

    But at this point it's "vague" because it's just an investigation and there is no complaint filed.


    Post edited by d_20 on
    [Deleted User]


  • PhryPhry Member LegendaryPosts: 11,004
    d_20 said:
    Torval said:
    Phry said:
    Torval said:
    SBFord said:
    It appears they're still investigating, but apparently believe something is amiss. There aren't a lot of details like you pointed out. The law firm is old and established so that may mean something. If nothing else I'm sure this is an added headache to their list of recent woes.
    It also adds more spin on why Mike left too, takes a lot of money to motivate law firms, just saying. :/
    I agree with Suzie's point in the other thread, it's very vague. I was looking for some specifics but none were offered. But like you and @d_20 point out, and it was my thought too, there has to be smoke or blood to trigger some action.

    One thought is that accusations could be complicated. I would think the offense would need to be summarized so that us non-legal types can understand the basic premise if not the nuances. Every "thing" has an intro paragraph to the Executive Summary. I haven't seen one for this case yet.
    From what I've seen, there's no "case" yet, just an investigation to determine whether to proceed. Probably, the investor(s) who've retained Pomerantz [pure speculation on my part here] might feel that management misrepresented something to them, which caused them damages (loss of share value), thus the investigation involving fiduciary duty (not necessarily something like fraud or intentional misrepresentation) and whether there can be a recovery for the complainant based on any breach of such duty. 

    For example, Activision tells shareholders that in spite of Destiny 2 not performing to expectations but not to worry because they will seek to monetize the game further via mtx to increase growth. Then management turns around and gives up the rights to the Destiny IP = Investors are miffed.

    Quite often, there will be no filing (court action) if the parties opt to settle. Or complainant may decide not to proceed depending on what they find in the investigation.

    But at this point it's "vague" because it's just an investigation and there is no complaint filed.


    Complaint is not likely to be the measure used, the law firm in question has a certain reputation, how long the investigation has been going on for is a really good question, because of how much light that throws on previous Acti/Blizz actions, normally these kinds of things take time to 'percolate' but with what has been going on recently, i can't help but think that we won't have much of a wait before we hear much much more about this. :/
    d_20
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