Every last one of you who cheered that acquisition and mocked anyone who said it was a bad idea. Do this right now. Stand in front of a mirror. Repeat this line, ten times: I am not a clown. I am the entire circus.
I'll say it again. Microsoft didn't buy them to win a console war for you. Maybe Xbox thought that's what it was. But not their masters. Activision was bought so Microsoft could keep a strong position in gaming after it kills Xbox.
You actually cheered for them to buy the gun they were going to use to off your favorite brand. Now thousands have lost their jobs, five studios were closed, consolidated, or left as shells before becoming independent, and more are on the way.
In no small part because of the biggest consolidation move in gaming history. Despite those of you who refused to see it that way, even with history telling us, in more ways than one, this was coming. The same group who mocked anyone telling you that Gamepass was a bad idea. That it couldn't be sustained without something being broken.
No. You couldn't have changed this, even if you wanted to. But, consider it a lesson you probably still won't learn. You weren't smarter than the ones you disregarded. As they say, time makes a fool of us all. That being said, everyone else needs to remember you as a lesson, too.
Everyone needs to remember this going forward. Consolidation is not for you. It's for the owners. If something is too good to be true, it probably is. When someone shows you who they are, stop letting them tell you otherwise.
Okay. Gonna hop down off my cringe as fuck soap box moment. Just gonna say I love ya'll. Enjoy your games. Don't be dicks.