Microsoft-Activision Deal: Ripple Effects on Metaverse and Cryptocurrency Future
Summary:
The Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard in January 2022 stirred considerable discussions around the metaverse's potential in business communication and gaming. However, evidence from public statements and leaked documents suggest the Activision deal might have a more significant impact on cryptocurrency's future. Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, emphasized the metaverse's integral role in gaming and business applications, while Microsoft Gaming CEO, Phil Spencer, expressed a more lukewarm response. Contrarily, Activision's CEO, Bobby Kotick, showed a more positive view of the metaverse's evolution. Additionally, Spencer hinted at a possible interest in cryptocurrency, as leaked documents suggest Microsoft's plan to integrate crypto wallets into Xbox.
The Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard, announced in January 2022, generated considerable discussion surrounding the metaverse, with a primary focus on its potential for business communications rather than gaming. However, if public statements and leaked documents are any indication, the Activision deal could hold more implications for the future of cryptocurrency than the metaverse. The role of the metaverse was emphasised in Microsoft's announcement of the Activision acquisition, with the company stating: "This purchase will propel Microsoft's growth within the gaming sector [...] and will offer foundational elements for the metaverse". Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, echoed this sentiment, clarifying that gaming possesses a crucial role in shaping metaverse platform development.
In an interview in the month following the acquisition announcement, Nadella further discussed his vision for metaverse development. During his conversation with the Financial Times, he mentioned: “We're actively working on creating metaverse applications, which can also be described as business application experiences, productivity tools, meetings and gaming — all unified on a single platform.” Significantly, Nadella showed his emphasis on work, referring to gatherings and games as one entity out of three, rather than four. Microsoft's metaverse platform, Mesh, in its early stages this month, is seen as an augmentation to Microsoft’s business communication platform, Teams. It also holds a gaming element, offering an interactive and immersive gaming experience for team bonding.
However, despite the initial enthusiasm around the metaverse, it was noticeably absent from Microsoft Gaming's public statements during the Activision deal finalisation. Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming CEO, indicated a lukewarm reception of it later in 2022. Spencer scrutinised the very definition of the metaverse in one interview, stating, "Gamers have been experiencing the Metaverse for the past 30 years." His understanding and enthusiasm for the Web3 metaverse were muted, expressing a conservative outlook on the play-to-earn concept. He described the metaverse as "a poorly constructed videogame" and dismissed the idea of a workplace-like metaverse because it wouldn't be a desirable place for someone to spend most of their time in.
Meanwhile, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick demonstrated a more positive viewpoint on the metaverse, mentioning in 2021, "We'll reach a point where the original vision in Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash or the concept in Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One begins to take shape as something concrete." During a shared appearance on CNBC on the day the Activision deal was announced, Kotick voiced his optimism about the coming metaverse, emphasising the importance of diverse resources and talent. Interestingly, during the same interview, Spencer omitted mention of the metaverse altogether. Even with Kotick's departure from Activision at the end of the year, Spencer might be more optimistic about cryptocurrency. A leaked internal document suggested that Microsoft plans to incorporate crypto wallets into Xbox; whilst this was downplayed by Spencer, he didn't deny the information. Considering this, plans to integrate crypto could potentially expand to new Microsoft games.
Published At
10/13/2023 7:49:40 PM
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