Good morning message: Independents is very important know that you have to realize that you can something special with yourself and how you approach them keep your head up and don't rush things do it at your own pace.

After more than a year that they could not come to a new agreement and let games being removed from Chinese market (except Diablo Immortal), Blizzard Entertainment will return to China via Xbox consoles. Back in November 2022, when Activision Blizzard were still independent, could not reach a new business agreement beyond the availability of Diablo Immortal (a whole different agreement) and let January 2023 as the official month of most of Blizzard Entertainment games to be retired. This week's announcement is basically a Microsoft Gaming led gaming success in China gaming market, that includes to explore bringing new NetEase games to Xbox consoles and other platforms. NetEase hasn't been in the bench despite losing a powerful partner like Blizzard (which rumors saying that in part, is was due disturbed communication with unpleasant misunderstandings for then CEO Bobby Kotick), as buying and investing in Westerns gaming studios. For immediate effect, Chinese gamers will expect the recovery of access of previous available titles like World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and other titles in the Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo and StarCraft franchises. Of course, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer considers this agreement a new Xbox victory for bringing more games to more players around the world. #Gaming #GameNews #youtubegaming 🕹 🎮

In a new signal that FTC is not giving up on reversing #ActivisionBlizzard acquisition in the future, the regulator wrote to the 9th Circuit of Appeal Court that Microsoft contradicted on its promise that both Microsoft & ABK will operate independently post-merger. All this as a result of the recent layoff at Microsoft Gaming that also included redundant jobs and the eSport department of Activision Blizzard. After failing to win a Preliminary Injunction in Summer 2023, FTC has said that it will continue its inner process that if successful (an uphill road at best as per observers), could force Microsoft to divest ABK, but either way the process could take years. There is a chance that if by 2024 US Elections, there is a change in FTC administration and a republican one takes over, the FTC could abandon the efforts. The FTC under Biden Administration, has grown intolerant on mergers that means big companies just becoming bigger but, the low success rate has been questioned by Congress with tax money being used just to fail and FTC requesting more funding regardless. Meanwhile, Microsoft has denied FTC's accusation on the #ABK independence promise post-merger, indicating that Activision was already on plans for running layoffs before the deal's closure is incorrect to fully attribute to Microsoft Gaming's process. #Gaming #GameNews #youtubegaming 🕹🎮

Latest noise within #Bungie is that the now Playstation subsidiary is on high alert as Sony can enact a clause on their agreement that the studio's board of directors can be dismissed and Sony take over at all. The possibilities of Bungie being folded within Playstation Studios is now more real than ever and pretty much the underperformance of Destiny 2's sales can pretty much justify Sony to enact the mentioned clause. Currently, Bungie is operating as an independent subsidiary after surprisingly, Sony announced acquiring it under that condition. Since last year, Sony tasked Bungie on assess all GaaS project including the long awaited The Last Of Us multiplayer game and actually, most of them failed the assessment and explains why Sony decided to have Naughty Dog to scale back the game. Recently, Bungie has come under fire after running a surprising layoff process as revenue of sales by Destiny 2 are under target and reportedly management has not been empathic with the people that got fired and doubled-down on improving things regardless the environment. Now it has been rumored that a new layoff run is possible if the next expansion, The Final Shape, needs to be a success, while Bungie has not acknowledged publicly, but Marathon has been internally delayed by 2025. #Gaming #GamingNews

In a proof of the state of eSport in general, Bethesda confirmed that it will not renew for a 2024 season of #Quake Pro League, saying that will explore future opportunities to support hosting by independent competitions by the community and orgs. #Gaming #GamingNews

Unfortunately #Bungie will be running a layoff run and while the exact reach could be revealed later this week the effect is already seen on Destiny 2 and Marathon with respectively The Final Shape expansion and the remake were delayed further 2024 & 2025. The now Playstation subsidiary is the latest of noise in the industry that there are troubles at Playstation Studios were many of the 1st party developers are resisting the Game-as-a-Service strategy implemented by Jim Ryan since last year. Reportedly, thing has escalated to the point that non-attached Playstation Studios has threaten to go independent again while Playstation pressed back on folding studios who continues to object the plans. Some are speculating that this crisis is probably a one of the hidden reasons of Jim Ryan leaving Sony Interactive Entertainment next year besides an almost 30 years career within Sony and traveling between USA and Japan being a European resident. To avoid objections from regulators, Sony bought surprisingly Bungie (formerly an independents studios in the 80's and the 90's and by the New Millennium a first party studio for Xbox to Microsoft own the Halo franchise & going independent again a decade ago) as subsidiary. In return to maintain complete independence on gaming plans, Sony tasked Bungie on assess all current in-development games that could be Playstation exclusives GaaS games & MOST didn't passed the evaluation and that is why the planned The Last Of Us Multiplayer was scaled back. #Gaming #GamingNews

Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the acquisition of Audeze, a Leader in Audio Technology & Developer of Award-winning Headphones for Gaming. Audeze will continue to operate independently and it will not make #Playstation branded products exclusively. #Gaming #GamingNews

Microsoft confirmed that Xbox will ran a new ID@Xbox presentation or a showcase from the independent gaming Studios community and heading to Xbox console and PC.

There has been an increase of Call Of Duty independent games/servers community receiving Ceast & Desist letter from Activision. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean anything or property updates on legacies Call Of Duty games's server. Just a corpo being corpo.

Indeed this is not productive of the Sony's narrative of "Microsoft making it more difficult to compete" if independent gaming studios don't feel threatened, which IMO had "more to lose" in the acquisition.