1,900 Microsoft video game employees get the axe

Microsoft video game employees laid off

Activision Blizzard and Xbox and ZeniMax brands have slashed their worker numbers. About 1,900 video game employees at Microsoft are being laid off, particularly in Activision Blizzard and Xbox, but also in ZeniMax. Mike Ybarra, Blizzard president, has also chosen to exit the company. As Blizzard’s survival game has been canceled, Ybarra is leaving, and massive layoffs are occurring. The layoffs are impacting around 9 percent of the video game employees in the Microsoft Gaming division, which currently employs about 22,000 people. “We have made the painful decision to reduce…

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Call of Duty agreement reached between Sony and Microsoft

Call of Duty Agreement - PlayStation controller

It took about 18 months to negotiate, but the companies will keep the popular game on PlayStation. Sony and Microsoft have finally come to a deal regarding Call of Duty after their discussion regarding the game’s future began about a year and a half ago. They have decided that they will keep the game on PlayStation. The companies came to the decision to keep the app on PlayStation after Activision Blizzard is acquired. “We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call…

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$69B Microsoft merger with Activision video game company blocked by UK regulators

Video game - Major Merger Stopped

A number of other countries have also moved to block the merger in recent months. Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard has been blocked by regulators in the UK. This move has halted what would have been the largest tech deal in history. The UK regulators, the Competition and Markets Authority, agreed with those from several other countries worldwide that were concerned that a merger between Microsoft and the Activision Blizzard video game company would shrink competition in the rapidly growing cloud gaming market. In the…

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This year an estimated 2.4 billion people will play mobile games

Mobile Games - Candy Crush Games

A new report reveals that mobile gamers are a “lucrative, untapped audience for brands.” Newzoo has collaborated with Activision Blizzard and released a new mobile games report called “Betting on Billions: Unlocking the Power of Mobile Gamers.” The report outlines how mobile gamers are important to brands as they represent a lucrative and untapped audience and predicts that approximately 2.4 billion people will play mobile games this year. Mobile gaming is the third most popular mobile app. According to market intelligence firm Newzoo, mobile gaming apps rank as the second-most-popular…

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Mobile gaming to gain momentum in 2016

Latest in Technology mobile gaming

Mobile gaming saw strong growth in 2015 and companies want to maintain this momentum in 2016 Mobile gaming has become a very powerful part of the overall game industry and this sector is expected to see significant growth in the coming years. Last year, mobile games managed to find major success, with consumers throughout the world turning to these games for convenient entertainment. This year, developers and publishers will have to find ways to maintain the success that they saw in 2015, which may lead to innovative developments in the…

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