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Good Morning. In January of 2022, Microsoft announced its intention to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Since then, the acquisition has faced multiple legal challenges coming from government agencies around the world.

One of these legal challenges saw Microsoft in court with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. While Microsoft ultimately prevailed, it feels like right now WE are the winners as details from court documents are giving us a sneak peek into Microsoft’s previously unreleased plans.

Read today’s Main Quest to learn more.

— Derek Neville, Jason Liu

MAIN QUEST: Microsoft Inside Scoop

Inside the mind of Microsoft. A slew of details from documents in the FTC v. Microsoft court case came out yesterday, giving an inside look at some of the company’s future plans in terms of games, consoles, and services. Here are the highlights:

• The next generation of Xbox is currently planned for 2028. The conversation also touched upon the next generation’s hardware, and if it would move towards being more flexible, similar to a PC.

• An email chain regarding the now defunct Google Stadia revealed that Microsoft was working on streaming PC games over its Xbox Cloud Gaming as of 2021. While this has not come to fruition, signs show Microsoft is still working on it.

• Following rumors that Nintendo was demonstrating the Nintendo Switch 2 to developers at Gamescom, emails released as part of the case show Activision was briefed on the Nintendo Switch 2 last year, and that its performance would be close to a PS4 and Xbox One.

• The Elder Scrolls VI won’t be released until at least 2026. When it is released it won’t be available on PlayStation, staying exclusive to Xbox and PC like the last couple of Bethesda releases.

Step back: Ultimately, the disclosures mostly confirm what we were all thinking already. Following the success of Starfield, it doesn’t look like Microsoft will have any reason to change course in keeping Bethesda’s new releases as Xbox exclusives. The Xbox Series X|S was released 7 years after the Xbox One, so a 2028 release for the next generation would keep in line with that, and flexible hardware would be a huge step forward if that’s the route the 10th generation console war takes.

HUD

• 🤥 Just days before its full release, Lies of P added Denuvo DRM with no warning. The anti-piracy software has been known to cause performance issues in AAA titles.

• 📓 Samsung has launched its European Gamer Training Initiative, featuring a website and YouTube channel with gaming tips from players and content creators.

• 🏥 As Unity looks to recover from the Runtime Fee PR nightmare, more bad press continues to emerge as a developer was reportedly told that their partners Planned Parenthood and C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital were not “valid charities” and were instead “political groups.”

MAJOR W

• 💵 With less than 2 weeks before support ends for Marvel’s Avengers, the game is currently available for only $4.

• 🤡 Unity devs have fun with customizing splash screen at Unity’s expense.

• 🔓 In a confusing move, Life of P released a day earlier than expected on Game Pass and Steam (Sorry PlayStation users!)

THIS DAY IN GAMING HISTORY

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 was released in 2000 to critical acclaim, going on to be nominated for several Game of the Year awards, and is currently ranked #9 on Metacritic’s list of all-time games, with a score of 97. The game also has one of the best soundtracks of all time. A remastered version of Pro Skater 1 + 2 was released in 2020.

CAREER CORNER

• Analyst, Diablo Immortal - Blizzard Entertainment (Irvine, CA)

• QA Manager - Epic Games (Cary, NC)

• Destiny Producer - Bungie (Bellevue, WA)

HIVE MIND

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