Microsoft gives market share against PlayStation

[Machiavellian]

I see statements about MS could be using that money to build up their current studios. My question is why do you believe MS is not doing this. A number of MS studios have been hiring developers. I believe there is this perception that their is this huge pool of talented seasoned developers just sitting out their waiting to get hired but the reality is that its hard to staff up companies with quality experienced talent. It take years to accomplish that task and the two situations do not equal the same thing. Meaning that MS can still be hiring for certain studios and also seek acquisitions to build up their AAA content.

So when people say that MS can use that 70b to build up their current studios it really does not work out that way. MS as a company has pools of money for multiple different purpose. The acquisition of ABK/Blizz is not just considered a Xbox game deal but instead a company wide deal. What this deal does is give MS a huge money maker in COD, it gives them seasoned experienced developers who know how to create successful AAA games and it gives them a host of popular IPs they can dip into for continued growth.

I am not going to question if ABK/Blizz is worth 70b, as I really do not care, its not my money. I will say, that the deal does give MS a lot of very successful IP and seasoned developers and studios which is hard to achieve without a lot of time. I do not believe this deal actually makes any real difference in the current period and will not change MS position against Sony but then again, I already feel MS has lost that battle a long time ago. MS is looking at the future and have given up the console war, so why play to the strength of your competitor instead of leveraging what you do best.