atari2600land's Blog

They tried to do that 20 years ago. It's unlikely to happen again for a long time. 

Well I dislike Activision and Blizzard. Anything beyond Activision's early formative days reeked of "big studio". And I don't like that.

I don't keep track, but several people have said that ActiBlizz was in a downward spiral and regardless what you feel about Microsoft, it might have been what it takes to not have the company go under.

 

Nintendo, although generally valued around the same as Activision, probably is in a completely different situation with the new OLED Switch, launching games on mobile phones and otherwise strong IP. It was said that often a company is bought for 1.3X the valuation but that would depend on the fact that the owners are willing to sell. I doubt Nintendo is for sale, and in particular not to a direct competitor. I don't know which other Japanese companies are bigger than Nintendo and may be interested, but I'm having issues seeing any overseas company, whether it is Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook etc buying it even within a year.

 

Whether Disney wants to expand their premises within video games is another matter. They're already managing their own IP and release it on partners' platforms. Swallowing the entire Microsoft probably is too much even for Disney, perhaps divesting the Xbox part. I would rather expect Disney to go after Electronic Arts and perhaps some smaller actors. Many people already suggested that EA is next to be gobbled up, the question is by whom.

 

By the way, what is the state of Sega these days? Are they just marginally more relevant than say Atari is, or a company worth buying?