microsoft: $69 Billion Deal: Microsoft takes over Call of Duty producer, Activision Blizzard

UK regulators have approved Microsoft’s revised bid for the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, after initially blocking the deal. The revised agreement will see Microsoft cede distribution rights for Activision’s games to Ubisoft, while still retaining control over popular titles like ‘Call of Duty’. After two-year-long effort to secure the gaming industry’s most substantial takeover, the … Read more

Amazon Is Building a Publisher-Focused Adtech Tool to Compete With Google

Amazon is hiring for a new publisher-focused advertising team called “PubTech.” It is building a tech platform that could compete with Google, Magnite, and Pubmatic. The tech will help publishers sell ads on Amazon, according to job postings. Amazon is staffing up to build new ad products for publishers. The retail giant has 11 job … Read more

Here Are the 20 Unicorns That Have Plunged the Most in Value in 2023

One way to see how private companies are faring is to look at secondary exchanges. The fallen giants are led by former fintech darling Plaid, which has plunged almost 80% in 2023. Buyers who had been sitting on the sidelines are eager to snap up bargains in battered startups. While investors can measure the value … Read more

Apple and Meta’s Metaverses Are Both Sad and Lonely

The metaverse has a loneliness problem. Mark Zuckerberg says Apple’s new headset will make everyone lonelier. But even Meta’s headset is, in the end, someone sitting alone on a couch too.   Mark Zuckerberg’s verdict on Apple’s new mixed-reality headset is in: It’s lonesome. “Every demo that they showed was a person sitting on a couch … Read more