Xbox (Video Game System)

Microsoft Starts Charm Offensive to Push Through Activision Deal

Microsoft on Wednesday kicked off a charm offensive in Washington to gain government approval for its $70 billion deal to buy the video game company Activision Blizzard, saying it would not give preferential treatment to its own games in its app stores. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, and Brad Smith, its president, said at a […]

Why Microsoft Wants Activision

Even as it looks to distance itself from Sony, Microsoft’s acquisition could also strengthen its position relative to other tech giants with deep pockets — like Amazon, Tencent and Google — that have signaled their intentions to invest more in the lucrative gaming business. Joost van Dreunen, a gaming investor, adviser and New York University […]

Microsoft to Buy Activision Blizzard for Nearly $70 Billion

SEATTLE — Microsoft plans to buy the powerhouse but troubled video game company Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion, its biggest deal ever and one that places a major bet that people will be spending more and more time in the digital world. The blockbuster acquisition, announced on Tuesday, would catapult the company into a […]

Gamers Greet Microsoft’s Activision Deal With Guarded Optimism

Activision’s track record with some of its games also became spottier. In November, it delayed new versions of Diablo and Overwatch. That same month, the newly released Call of Duty: Vanguard was widely panned as being boring and full of glitches. Parris Lilly, a video game streamer and co-host at Gamertag Radio, said Microsoft’s deal […]

Cryptocurrency Enthusiasts Meet Their Match: Angry Gamers

So far, 10,000 digital wallets — tools that allow people to store their crypto assets — have been connected to the Quartz platform, even though Ubisoft minted just 3,000 NFTs in its first batch, Mr. Pouard said. That suggested an appetite for more NFTs in the future, he said. A Guide to Cryptocurrency Card 1 […]

PlayStations and Xboxes Are Hard to Find. Meet the People Trying to Help.

A few seconds before noon on Monday, Jake Randall began encouraging people watching his livestream on YouTube to start refreshing Walmart’s website on their computers. At his bidding, thousands of people around the country began furiously pounding keys, jostling to get to the front of the retailer’s virtual line for this holiday season’s hottest gift: […]

The Tech Gifts That Are Hard to Buy This Holiday Season

It’s that time of the year when our inboxes are flooded with discounts galore for Black Friday, Cyber Week and all the sales promotions that follow. But this year, we’re in a unique situation. We’re living in an era of scarcity driven by a global chip shortage, widespread unemployment and the effects of government-imposed lockdowns […]