MAB might be a solid acronym for the long-winded Microsoft-Activision-Blizzard. ;)

Absolutely true.

More and more power concentrated into less and less hands as times goes by. What a wonderful period we are living in.

I hope one day Microsoft buys Ubi so Might&Magic will finally get kind of treatment it always deserved. For example, InXile would make remake as they did with bards tale..?

After the agressive monetization of Minecraft, I wouldn't hold my breath they will not do the same with these behemoth aquisitions.

I seem to recall reading somewhere, sometime that Microsoft was the biggest raw data miner, even above Google. Remember the issues Microsoft had when because Office and Internet Explorer?

These are other times and most od these issues can be countered somehow, look at Android...

Since you got Microsoft buying UbiSoft & Microsoft owns Arkane, maybe we can finally get Might & Magic: Dark Messiah 2?

Oh, I don't care about Activision/Blizzard, never have. I just don't want a huge corporation like Microsoft to get even bigger.
I honestly hope they shoot themselves in the foot with that acquisition, they won't, but I still have hope. :P

Unfortunately this won't increase the chances for the Age of Empires and other Microsoft games to be available on GOG.

What's with this gleeful anticipations of possible sequels? Do we have an actual example of any game made by studios bought by Microsoft after acquisition that was good (not to mention DRM-free)?

I know, right? All this means to me is one destructive company I don't like gobbling up another destructive company I freaking hate, creating an even more all powerful Wizard of OZ.

On a semi-similar topic:

Considering that MS holds the rights for *some* older Mechwarrior titles, are the chances of winning the lottery greater than getting them on GOG?

I think a majority of "mainstream" gamers dabble with lots of popular stuff and rarely finish games, as achievements show us. These subscriptions will succeed because they appeal a lot to those people. No more paying $60 to play the new hot thing for 4 hours before moving to the next hot thing. These are the people screaming in every comment section about the "amazing value."

As someone who mostly plays RPGs and plays them for a long time until they are finished (and who also replays a lot of older games), subscriptions taking over will surely cost me way more money and be way more inconvenient. Having to subscribe to play Fallout 5 for example, a real possibility by the time that game comes out, would cost me way more than $60 over time and also annoy the hell out of me for DRM/ownership reasons.

Looking forward to World of Warcraft being added into PC Game Pass.

How would that work? Pay for game pass and wow subscriptions?
MS probably cares more about you being locked in endless payment. Look at how many people pay for Gym memberships, but never go to the gym. Gyms make lots of money off people never going, but have a membership.

These are important points. I think the people running these services would be pretty happy at the fact people don't savor and finish games, and also at the fact the people who do will be sucked into paying for the service, or foregoing the games entirely. This is basically what I refer to when I say these companies give us the "choice" of "take it or leave it." I encourage people to pick "leave it." Not sure if you're aware of this project: http://projectvanburen.com . But for myself loving New Vegas while thinking 4 (and to a somewhat lesser degree, 3) is a big disappointment, I would much rather wait for this project to come out than for Fallout 5 to come out...even if by some miracle Fallout 5 was to receive a DRM-free release here on GOG (that said, if Fallout 4 and a future Fallout 5 did come here fully DRM-free, no Creation Club, I would want to buy them regardless of preferring earlier games).