Bobby Sharma Quoted on Flurry of Early Deal Activity in Gaming and Esports Industry

Foley & Lardner LLP Special Advisor Bobby Sharma was quoted in a LawInSport article, “How The Microsoft-Activision Deal Could Impact Gaming & Esports,” which discusses the impact of the Microsoft/Activision Blizzard and Sony/Bungie deals on the gaming and esports sector.

“The deals are an acceleration of a strategic and cultural shift in the wider gaming industry — from games as goods, to games as a service. From the “cartridge” economy, to the free-to-play (in-game transaction) economy,” Sharma said. “Companies like Microsoft and Sony built large parts of their businesses on the back of hard software sales, and to a large extent, perpetuated that in video gaming to support their consoles. With ATVI, Microsoft has bought not only a suite of beloved gaming IP with a devoted fanbase, but a huge userbase it can (and likely will) feed into its Game Pass subscription platform, which has taken on heightened relevance.”