Activision Blizzard chief communications officer Lulu Cheng Meservey says the success of The Final of Us (opens in new tab) on HBO is proof optimistic that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard needs to be allowed to proceed.
HBO’s The Final of Us adaptation is a large hit (opens in new tab), and never simply by the comparatively low game-to-film requirements we have grown used to. A number of websites described the sequence as “the perfect videogame adaptation ever” when it premiered earlier this month, and it holds an enviable 97% essential score on Rotten Tomatoes. And it is not only for sport followers: Esquire (opens in new tab) referred to as the newest episode “a TV second we’ll always remember,” and it is sparked critical discuss Emmy and Golden Globe rivalry for supporting actor Nick Offerman.
That success prompted Meservey to talk up, and particularly to ask the FTC if it had caught the newest episode and notice that it’s “a real blockbuster, watched by tens of thousands and thousands.”
“In case you haven’t already, it is best to test it out,” Meservey tweeted (opens in new tab). “You might be significantly thinking about the truth that The Final of Us is produced by Sony Photos Tv and PlayStation Productions. It’s primarily based on a best-selling online game developed by a Sony-owned studio and printed by Sony as a PlayStation unique.”
Hello @FTC — did you catch final night time’s episode of The Final of Us? It was unimaginable.No marvel the present is breaking data. It’s a real blockbuster, watched by tens of thousands and thousands.In case you haven’t already, it is best to test it out. You might be significantly thinking about the truth that pic.twitter.com/MhcT0DmOsMJanuary 30, 2023
After asking rhetorically why all of that issues, she went on to clarify that the FTC is opposing Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard (opens in new tab) due to issues that it’d “suppress competitors” by making the studio’s video games—significantly the Name of Obligation sequence—Xbox exclusives. However the success of The Final of Us present demonstrates that there is nothing to fret about, as a result of “Sony has an unrivalled warchest of IP, not simply in gaming however TV, films, and music—which could be developed into video games, or can market present video games.”
“Sony’s expertise and IP throughout gaming, TV, films, and music are formidable and really spectacular,” Meservey tweeted. “It’s no marvel in addition they proceed to dominate because the market chief for consoles. In gaming, Sony is ‘the primary of us’—and they are going to be simply tremendous with out the FTC’s safety.”
The implication that Sony is the true dominator isn’t precisely refined, however what I discover particularly fascinating is the best way Meservey’s message deviates from the official Microsoft line: Not that it will not make Name of Obligation a console unique (opens in new tab), however that it would not be an enormous deal if it did as a result of Sony is awash with its personal highly effective (and, allow us to not overlook, unique) properties.
It is an fascinating place for Activision Blizzard’s official comms boss to take, and it prompted principally unfavourable reactions on Twitter. Some respondents are supportive, however a majority appear to take challenge with the comparability: A number of query the relevance of the assertion, noting that Microsoft’s Halo sequence on Paramount Plus was additionally successful (though not practically nearly as good); not less than one identified that even in a direct game-to-game comparability, The Final of Us—of which there are two—is totally totally different from the annualized Name of Obligation sequence. I do not know if these arguments are particularly well-formed both, however clearly there are lots of avid gamers who do not wish to see Microsoft personal Activision Blizzard.
This is not the primary time Meservey has run into bother on Twitter: She additionally got here underneath fireplace in October 2022 over her opposition to unionization (opens in new tab) at Activision Blizzard.
