2022年经济学人 微软以690亿美元现金收购动视暴雪（上）

Business

商业

Video gaming -- High score

电子游戏——高分

Microsoft places a $69bn bet on the future of entertainments

微软押注690亿美元于娱乐业的未来

Even for Microsoft, which boasts a market value of $2.3trn, $69bn is a lot of money.

即便是对市值高达2.3万亿美元的微软来说，690亿美元也是一笔不小的数目。

On January 18th the firm said it would pay that sum—in cash—for Activision Blizzard¹, a video-game developer.

1月18日，该公司表示将以现金形式向视频游戏开发公司动视暴雪支付这笔款项。

It is by far the biggest acquisition in the video-game industry’s history, and the largest ever by Microsoft, more than twice the size of its purchase in 2016 of LinkedIn, a social network.

这是迄今为止视频游戏行业历史上最大的一笔收购，也是微软有史以来最大的一笔收购，规模是其2016年收购社交网络领英的两倍多。

The move, which caught industry-watchers by surprise and propelled Activision Blizzard’s share price up by 25%, represents a huge bet on the future of fun.

此举出乎行业观察人士的意料，并推动动视暴雪股价上涨了25%，它代表着对娱乐未来的巨大押注。

But not, perhaps, a crazy one.

但这并不疯狂，或许吧。

Gaming was a big, fast-growing business even before the pandemic.

即使在疫情之前，游戏也是一项快速增长的大型业务。

Lockdowns bolstered² its appeal—to hardened gamers with more time on their hands and bored neophytes alike.

封锁增强了它的吸引力——对有更多时间玩游戏的老手和无聊的新手来说都是如此。

Newzoo, an analysis firm, reckons revenues grew by 23% in 2020, to nearly $180bn.

分析公司Newzoo估计，该行业2020年的收入增长了23%，达到近1800亿美元。

That growth has attracted the attention of other tech titans, including Apple, Netflix and Amazon, all of whom have dipped their toes into the market in recent years.

这种增长吸引了其他科技巨头的注意，包括苹果、网飞和亚马逊，这些公司近年来都曾涉足该市场。

Microsoft has been in the business for two decades.

微软涉足这项业务已经有20年了。

It earns $15bn a year from games, mostly thanks to its Xbox console.

该公司每年能从游戏中赚取150亿美元，这主要归功于其Xbox游戏机。

It has made a string of gaming acquisitions since 2014, when Satya Nadella, its chief executive, took the reins³.

自2014年其首席执行官萨蒂亚·纳德拉掌权以来，微软已经进行了一系列游戏收购。

Assuming it is not blocked by regulators, who are watching big tech with a beady eye, this deal would cement its position.

如果它没有被监管机构阻止的话——监管机构正密切关注着大型科技公司——这笔交易将巩固其地位。

Once completed in 2023, it will make Microsoft the third-largest video-gaming firm by revenue, behind only Tencent, a Chinese giant, and Sony, Microsoft’s perennial⁴ rival in consoles.

一旦2023年交易完成，微软将成为按收入计算的第三大视频游戏公司，仅次于中国巨头腾讯和微软在游戏机领域的长期竞争对手索尼。

Big acquisitions are always risky⁵.

大型收购总是有风险的。

By most companies, Microsoft has a spotty record.

和大多数公司一样，微软的履历也不尽人意。

Activision Blizzard’s share price slid by around 40% between a peak last February and the deal’s announcement, as it was embroiled⁶ in a sexual-harassment scandal.

由于卷入性骚扰丑闻，动视暴雪的股价在去年2月的峰值和交易宣布之间下跌了40%左右。

Player numbers have slipped from 530m a month in 2015 to 390m, and some recent games have had mixed reviews.

玩家数量已从2015年的每月5.3亿下滑至每月3.9亿，近期推出的一些游戏的评价褒贬不一。

Pessimists⁷ could argue that the company is overvalued.

悲观主义者可能会认为，该公司被高估了。

Optimists⁸, who see annual revenues of $8bn and net profit margins⁹ of around 30%, might counter that it is cheap.

乐观者在看到高达80亿美元年营收和约30%的净利润率后，可能会反驳道，这也太便宜了。

Most important, Activision Blizzard has lots of content—and in video games, as in all of media, content is king, says Piers¹⁰ Harding-Rolls of Ampere¹¹ Analysis, another research firm.

最重要的是，动视暴雪拥有大量的内容——在视频游戏中，和在所有的媒体中一样，内容为王，另一家研究公司安培分析的皮尔斯·哈丁-罗尔斯说道。

Like the movie business, where “Star Wars” films, even bad ones, are reliable money-spinners, video games rely increasingly on “franchises”—popular settings or brands that can be squeezed for regular instalments.

就像电影行业，《星球大战》这种电影——即使有的是烂片——都是可靠的摇钱树，电子游戏也越来越依赖于“专营权”——受欢迎的场景或品牌，这些都可以通过按时分期付款获得。

Activision Blizzard offers, among others, “Call of Duty”, a best-selling series of military-themed shoot-’em-ups, “Candy Crush”, a popular pattern-matching mobile game, and “Warcraft”, a light-hearted fantasy setting.

动视暴雪提供了一众游戏，其中包括畅销的军事题材射击游戏《使命召唤》系列，广受欢迎的模式匹配手机游戏《糖果传奇》，以及轻松的充满奇幻设定的《魔兽争霸》。

1 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

2 bolstered   

v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；给予必要的支持；援助

参考例句：

• He bolstered his plea with new evidence. 他举出新的证据来支持他的抗辩。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The data must be bolstered by inferences and indirect estimates of varying degrees of reliability. 这些资料必须借助于推理及可靠程度不同的间接估计。 来自辞典例句

3 reins   

感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带

参考例句：

• She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
• The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。

4 perennial   

adj.终年的；长久的

参考例句：

• I wonder at her perennial youthfulness.我对她青春常驻感到惊讶。
• There's a perennial shortage of teachers with science qualifications.有理科教学资格的老师一直都很短缺。

5 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

6 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 pessimists   

n.悲观主义者( pessimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pessimists tell us that the family as we know it is doomed. 悲观主义者告诉我们说，我们现在的这种家庭注定要崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Experts on the future are divided into pessimists and optimists. 对未来发展进行预测的专家可分为悲观主义者和乐观主义者两类。 来自互联网

8 optimists   

n.乐观主义者( optimist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even optimists admit the outlook to be poor. 甚至乐观的人都认为前景不好。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Optimists reckon house prices will move up with inflation this year. 乐观人士认为今年的房价将会随通货膨胀而上涨。 来自辞典例句

9 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

10 piers   

n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩

参考例句：

• Most road bridges have piers rising out of the vally. 很多公路桥的桥墩是从河谷里建造起来的。 来自辞典例句
• At these piers coasters and landing-craft would be able to discharge at all states of tide. 沿岸航行的海船和登陆艇，不论潮汐如何涨落，都能在这种码头上卸载。 来自辞典例句

11 ampere   

n.(电)安培

参考例句：

• This piece of equipment needs a thirty-ampere fuse.这设备需要30安培的熔丝。
• The units in which we show voltage and current are volt and ampere respectively.我们用以表示电压和电流的单位分别为伏特和安培。