Gaming News - Page 122

If Microsoft successfully takes Activision off the market in its $68.7 billion merger deal, then other big tech firms could be spurred to snap up studios and maybe even big publishers like Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive.

The outcome of the FTC v Microsoft case caused a stir in the interactive entertainment market, with both EA and Take-Two hitting 52-week highs shortly after the FTC's loss was announced. While the FTC is appealing the federal order in an attempt to stall the Microsoft-Activision merger, the deal could still close as early as this weekend. If it does, then major tech companies could make acquisitions in an attempt to secure a slice of the $200 billion market.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Jefferies managing director Andrew Uerkwitz shares his thoughts on how the merger's completion could spark more consolidation as the pool of available talent continues to shrink.

Former FTC chair and current law professor William Kovacic comments on how Microsoft successfully won over a federal judge and defeated the Federal Trade Commission in the Activision merger case.

Two days ago, federal judge Jacqueline Scott Corley denied the FTC a preliminary injunction order that the Commission sought to stall the $68.7 billion Microsoft-Activision deal. The FTC has appealed Judge Corley's order, and pending the appeal, Microsoft and Activision may combine as early as this weekend.

How was Microsoft able to win over Judge Corley? In a recent interview with Bloomberg Technology, former FTC chair William Kovacic gave key insight into how Microsoft's willingness to make concessions could have persuaded the judge. Microsoft had signed multiple 10-year licensing agreements with major competitors across cloud and console markets in an effort to alleviate anti-competitive concerns. This, combined with ineffective evidence from the FTC, helped secure Microsoft's win.

Following the FTC's big loss in federal court, Microsoft and UK antitrust regulators have paused their ongoing legal battle in appeals court in an effort to find solutions regarding the $68.7 billion Activision merger.

Two days ago, the FTC lost its federal court case against the Microsoft-Activision merger. While the FTC has appealed the decision, Microsoft and Activision may be able to close the deal as early as this weekend. Since UK regulators at the CMA identified similar anti-competitive concerns as the FTC, the CMA is now under intense pressure by opposing the case.

As it looks like Microsoft could close and integrate with Activision in the coming days, UK regulators have agreed to Microsoft's proposal to issue a stay of litigation, or a pause, for their ongoing appeals court battle. The CMA chose to block the Microsoft-Activision merger in April and the tech firms have chosen to appeal the decision in the Competition Appeals Tribunal. Now that appeal has been put on hold.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, which is soon to arrive on PC, has had its hardware requirements aired, and we've also discovered that it'll support DirectStorage on PC.

DirectStorage offers speedier load times on SSDs - and better performance in-game with loading assets on-the-fly - so it's unsurprising that there's been a lot of disappointment around how game devs aren't being so quick to adopt it on the PC platform (or even announce the tech for future titles, for that matter).

So far only Forspoken sports DirectStorage, but both Diablo IV and Hunt: Showdown will get it at some point in the future. Now at least we have another game to add to that very brief list.

Microsoft's key management and leadership give official comments on the recent win in federal courts, and also remark on the FTC's recent appeal to the preliminary injunction decision.

Two days ago, Microsoft won a big victory in federal courts. A district judge denied the Federal Trade Commission's request for a specific court order that would have prohibited Microsoft and Activision from merging for many months. The decision effectively saw the FTC losing, and Microsoft winning its bid to acquire Activision for $68.7 billion. The FTC isn't ready to give up yet, though, and has filed an appeal to contest the decision in appeals courts. For the FTC, the race is on--the temporary restraining order that's currently blocking Xbox and Activision from joining together expires on Friday. If the appeals courts do not grant the FTC's emergency order request, then the two tech companies will combine over the weekend.

Over the course of the last two days, we've seen multiple high-profile Microsoft figures speak out on Judge Corley's decision.

Elden Ring just got a clever new mod on PC which forces the casting of dynamic shadows as an upgrade to the visuals.

As you can see from the two grabs above, which show the same in-game scene, but with the mod enabled (directly above) and without, the differences are pretty clear. Although if you're struggling to see them, check out the shadow cast by the player's legs - that's the most obvious change.

The mod, created by Chainfailure and uploaded by Vswarte, can be grabbed from Nexus Mods, but there are some caveats you should be aware of.

A Diablo IV Barbarian player has recorded a 35 undecillion damage Critical Hit, a number with 36 zeroes, taking the idea of insane damage to a whole new level. The exact damage recorded was 35,248,198,783,801,730,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, and overpowered doesn't even begin to cut it, as most high-end damage numbers in the game sit at around a few hundred-thousand points of damage compared to this silliness.

If you're rocking a Barbarian in Diablo IV, you're undoubtedly sitting there waiting for a full list of the gear and skills used so you can give it a shot before this specific Barbarian build gets nerfed by Blizzard. It all comes down to the interaction between key Legendary Aspects - the Aspect of Berserk Ripping, Skullbreaker's Aspect, and the Aspect of Anemia.

And it's all about Bleed damage, with Rob2628 recording the insane damage number, the first player in the world to hit Level 100. He outlines the build and what it's doing in the following video.

Valve's Team Fortress 2 is still going strong, with the free-to-play multiplayer shooter being a Steam staple since it first launched in 2007. The team-based shooter where players take on various roles is iconic and one of the main inspiration points for games like Overwatch from Blizzard.

And Team Fortress 2 just got one of its most significant updates in years, with the Summer 2023 update bringing 14 new community maps to the game, 25 new community-contributed cosmetic items, and a bunch of general fixes.

Valve noted that Team Fortress 2 was set to receive a major update in February, though a lot of the credit here definitely goes to the community that helped create all the new content. And if you're wondering just how popular a multiplayer game from 2007 can be, right now (as of writing), 192,249 people are playing Team Fortress 2 - with the all-time peak concurrent player count of 207,533 recorded in the past 24 hours, too, per SteamDB.

UPDATE: Shortly after publication, FTC lawyer James Weingarten has filed a notice to appeal Judge Corley's decision in the Microsoft-Activision merger case.

Original article below:

The race is on as the FTC weighs decision on whether or not to file an appeal that could thwart the Microsoft-Activision merger from closing, sources tell Bloomberg.

An FTC spokesperson gives a statement on a recent federal decision that effectively greenlit the Microsoft-Activision merger in the U.S.

Yesterday, a federal judge denied the FTC's preliminary injunction request on the $68.7 billion Microsoft-Activision merger. Citing anti-competitive effects in multiple markets, the FTC sought the injunction to prohibit the two gaming firms from combining until after its Phase III administrative proceedings had concluded. If the FTC got its way, both Microsoft legal counsel and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick indicated that the order would have effectively killed the merger--the FTC's administrative case could last multiple years, and it was likely that Microsoft and Activision would walk away from the deal.

Judge Corley denied the FTC's preliminary injunction request on the grounds that the Commission was unable to properly or substantially prove that the anti-competitive effects of the merger would outweigh its benefits to consumers. Absent the merger, Activision would not have immediately brought its games to Xbox Game Pass or the cloud; with the merger, games like Call of Duty will be brought to the service.