Take-Two Boss Supportive of Microsoft-Activision Deal: 'What's Good for Them Is Good for the Industry'

ign.com:

As Microsoft continues in its efforts to acquire Activision Blizzard and multiple regulators make their decisions on the deal, several publishers have now publicly voiced their thoughts on the situation. Among them, Take-Two Interactive, whose CEO voiced support for the acquisition today in conversation with IGN.

When asked for his thoughts on the deal, CEO Strauss Zelnick expressed that Take-Two had supported the deal for some time, saying that it would be a positive for the company's partner, Microsoft: "What's good for them is also good for the industry."

When the CMA's recent ruling against the deal on the basis that it could cause a potential Microsoft takeover of the cloud gaming market, Zelnick reiterated past comments he had made about the technology, saying that cloud gaming is a distribution method, not a separate business. was brought up. And while new distribution methods such as cloud gaming might expand the gaming market, it's all still fundamentally a part of the larger gaming market.

"I think it's important never to confuse a distribution technology with a business model," Zelnick said. "I would love to believe that streaming our titles would massively expand the marketplace. I'm not sure there's any reason to believe that."

Previously, EA CEO Andrew Wilson said that the deal's completion or termination was "not really material" to his company. Other companies such as Nvidia have already expressed support thanks to Microsoft's ten-year deals with them for Call of Duty access, though Sony remains vehemently opposed.

Also as a part of today's earnings, we got a glimpse of the publisher's release slate for the coming year, learned that it's cancelled multiple unannounced games, and saw some enormous future