Vivendi selling off its shares in ActiVision for $8.1 billion

[MusicallyInspired]

Saw this this morning and thought it was very interesting. I like this quote: "Let's think about this for a moment: The world's biggest publisher, with the world's most valuable game property, is a liability."

http://www.digitallydownloaded.net/2012/07/activision-blizzard-is-up-for-sale.html?m=1

Also this is what I've been expecting for a long time now. And I hope it happens. Leave the industry to indie developers....and Valve.

http://www.digitallydownloaded.net/2012/06/e3-proved-games-industry-is-headed.html

[Fierce Deity]

A part of me thinks that this is a rude awakening for the industry. A lot of publishers have dug their grave, now they should lie in it. The publishers that show promise (i.e. Ubisoft, 2K Games, or THQ in my opinion) can survive, while Activision and EA can get what's been coming to them. I think a crash would renovate the industry to a degree that would benefit not just the gamers, but even the developers that want to remain first-party or AAA developers can still be successful, they'd just have to commit to their games and not pull off shortcuts to make a quick buck.

[GrahamRocks!]

So... You're saying we should have another "great video game crash" like in 1983, to weed out the companies who are floundering?

[Fierce Deity]

So... You're saying we should have another "great video game crash" like in 1983, to weed out the companies who are floundering?

Well, I wasn't alive in 1983, but sure. All I'm saying is this generation is filled with acceptable standards that should be nixed for the gamers' sake. If enough people want to buy a game for $60, and then turn around and pay for $100 worth of DLC, that becomes the norm of the industry, and every publisher relies on that kind of business strategy. Sell as much useless crap as possible. But truthfully, it's not my money that is being lost with these investments, but it provides the expectation that I should want 30 generic map packs. Not to mention the whole debacle with Mass Effect 3's ending. Since when was it ever okay to "white-out" a bad script after releasing the game? Bioware should have just accepted that they screwed up, rather than suggesting that they can release indubious DLC packs that will "fix everything". This generation has gone down in a bad way, and I think the developers and publishers need to shake in their boots every now and then. It keeps things interesting.