Daily Briefing: Tuesday 22nd March

The FTC Continues Probe Into Microsoft’s ATVI Deal, While Shareholders Vote

Wccftech reports that the FTC are asking for information and material from Activision-Blizzard and Microsoft as part of their review of the transaction. This is apparently not an indicator of any suspected issues, but par for the course. If there’s an issue, we’ll hear soon. Meanwhile, ATVI shareholders will be voting their approval of the deal on April 28th - the deal will only go through if the majority vote to approve, but based on the share price Microsoft are willing to buy at amid the recent sharp drop, it is certainly in their best short and mid-term financial interest.

• This deal will almost certainly go through uncontested... but it’s still a bit like watching a thriller you’ve seen before. You know how it ends, but the tension’s still there. There are certainly concerns over consolidation in the industry, but those are usually held by analysts with a 10+ year view rather than the likes of the FTC.

Ubisoft Are Announcing A Ton Of New Games, Apparently

According to insider Tom Henderson, Ubisoft are planning a pre-E3 digital showcase soon, showing off up to 20 games. These include Skull & Bones, Avatar, The Division Heartland, a sequel to Immortals, Assassin’s Creed Rift, Beyond Good & Evil 2, a new Prince of Persia, a new Mario + Rabbids game, the Splinter Cell remake and more.

• Ubisoft haven’t had a genuine win in a long time, so them planning an all-out assault of videogames is overdue - and assuming they’ve ironed out dev issues and can avoid another Ghost Recon Breakpoint, it’ll be exciting!

Nintendo’s Dragalia Lost Raises A Huge Question Of Preservation

Nintendo’s successful mobile gacha game Dragalia Lost is finishing its story content with one final update in July, after which it will terminate service - and be left unavailable to play. This leaves everyone with financial or time investment in the game with little to show for it, and with Dragalia being regarded as a genuinely good game, the world with less good videogames to play. Gacha service games are a ticking time bomb, and one that the industry writ large hasn’t had to face yet.

• The question of digital investment and value will certainly be raised once a major game pulls the plug for good, and it’s almost fitting for the tone-deaf Nintendo to be one of the first to do this to a successful one. Games dying is nothing new, but a live service just saying “right we’re done, everyone out” is... genuinely terrifying, especially for those with serious investment in them.