Microsoft gets closer to buying Activision Blizzard

It looks like Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is trucking along, following a court rejection of the FTC’s injunction attempt. This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with Jordan Minor, a Senior Analyst at PCMag covering games, about this massive deal and what it means for the gaming industry. Will further consolidation end up being harmful for consumers (as we’ve been saying for a while), or will Microsoft actually help the beleaguered Activision? Also, we dive into our experiences with the latest Apple betas: iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma and watchOS 10. Microsoft is (mostly) cleared to buy Activision Blizzard for $69 billion – 00:56 Our previews of the iOS 17, iPad OS 17, macOS Sonoma, and WatchOS 10 betas – 21:55 Meta’s Threads hits 100m users, Elon is not happy about it – 47:58 Microsoft confirms Chinese hackers used 365 email exploit to access US government accounts – 51:32 Google’s Bard can now speak 40 languages – 52:29 Around Engadget: Sam Rutherford’s ROG Ally review and Katie Malone on why passkeys are suddenly everywhere – 1:01:46 Working on – 1:05:47 Pop culture picks – 1:07:06