2022 turned out to be a pivotal year for the gaming industry thanks to a blockbuster acquisition, unionization efforts, and more.
With the video game industry in constant growth mode, it’s rare we ever get through a year without some massive bombshell announcement with huge implications for the future. In 2021, for instance, we saw Epic waging war against Apple’s business practices, Valve disrupting hardware with its Steam Deck announcement, and a harrowing Activision Blizzard scandal that acted as a tipping point for the industry and its often difficult working conditions.
The news didn’t slow down in 2022 — if anything, it escalated. The Activision Blizzard revelation in particular had something of a snowball effect this year, rolling its way into several major threads. Between high-profile acquisitions and a push for unionization, this year very much felt like a direct continuation of 2021. Nothing was a one-off story, but rather part of a historical moment that could make the 2020s the most pivotal decade in gaming history when all is said and done.
These are the four stories that made 2022 a key year for gaming’s future.
Coming out of a tumultuous 2021, all eyes were on Activision Blizzard. The company was the subject of damning reports about its toxic workplace culture and the industry was calling for change. That wasn’t lost on Microsoft, which made a drastic move in January by announcing its intention to acquire the Call of Duty publisher for $68.7 billion. To put that number into perspective, it’s the largest game studio acquisition of all time by over $50 billion.
The move was met with mixed reactions. Some felt that it was a necessary step to clean up an Activision Blizzard that was spiraling out of control at the expense of its workers. Others felt that the move could lead to a monopoly, as Microsoft would gain publishing rights to some of the industry’s most profitable titles. The move led to a high profile dispute between Microsoft and Sony, the latter of which painted it as an egregious anti-consumer move, even as Microsoft committed to releasing Call of Duty on platforms like PlayStation.
