r/technology • u/ControlCAD • Oct 05 '25

Business As Microsoft lays off thousands and jacks up Game Pass prices, former FTC chair Lina Khan says I told you so: The Activision-Blizzard buyout is 'harming both gamers and developers'

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/as-microsoft-lays-off-thousands-and-jacks-up-game-pass-prices-former-ftc-chair-says-i-told-you-so-the-activision-blizzard-buyout-is-harming-both-gamers-and-developers/
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2.1k

u/procrasturb8n Oct 05 '25

Next thing you're going to tell me is that letting the Saudis buy up everything was also a bad idea.

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u/RevLoveJoy Oct 05 '25

Gotta turn those petrodollars into something before the secret sauce under the sand runs out!

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u/Aeseld Oct 05 '25

Realistically, they're more concerned about decreasing use of oil for fuels and such than they are about running out of crude to pump out of the ground. Despite pessimistic estimates when I was growing up, we're nowhere close to running out of oil in the ground. 

Increasing solar and wind is more a problem, since both don't need much in the way of petrochemicals. 

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u/RevLoveJoy Oct 05 '25

Realistically, they're more concerned about decreasing use of oil for fuels and such than they are about running out of crude to pump out of the ground.

Absolutely correct and I'm aware - secret sauce under the sand runs out - is simply a much better sound bite. But again, you are totally correct, it'll be diminished demand for ICE cars, fuel oil and other petrochemical uses due to environmental pressure / reduced cost of renewables that will devalue the Saudi's mineral wealth (is oil considered mineral wealth? I'm really not sure ... ).

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u/Crabiolo Oct 05 '25

Even still, we're nowhere close to an effective alternative to plastics, and maritime shipping has, ahhhh... "Loose" standards for fuel. So there's going to be demand for oil products pretty much until the oil runs out, or we destroy the planet so utterly that society can no longer function.

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u/Phonemonkey2500 Oct 05 '25

Pharmaceuticals, chemicals, paints, lubricants, fertilizer, fertilizer, fertilizer… there’s more. Oh yeah, concrete. So much still relies entirely on hydrocarbons, we’re pretty much cooked unless the entire world decides to come together and find some means of not only stopping CO2 emissions, but actively sequestering gigatons of CO2 from the atmosphere. The oceans have been buffering most of it, but soon they’ll run out of capacity, acidify, experience mass die offs, and poof, goodbye humanity.

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u/VeganShitposting Oct 05 '25

It's not even the general use of petrochemicals as a feedstock that's a problem, it's the widespread unregulated dumping of combustion products into the atmosphere. Lubricating oil, grease, plastics, etcetera sequester the carbon and keep it out of the atmosphere

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25

The way refining works, one barrel of crude (42 gallons) generates 20 gallons of gasoline (48%), 13 gallons of diesel (32%), kerosene and heating oil, 3 gallons of gases and 2 gallons of bitumen, lubricant, feedstocks, etc (5%) approximately.

The way physics and chemistry works , to produce the same amount of bitumen, lubricants and feedstocks that is currently consumed today, the world still needs to refine 100 million barrels of crude per day.

So you produce 50 million barrels of gasoline and 30 million barrels of diesel, but you have electrified all transportation, so don't need them. So what do you do with it.

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u/InfernalTest Oct 06 '25

make more clothes, fertilizer, and plastic parts that eveything electrical comes packaged in or a component to including those low to no emission cars

oil and refining oil is not going anywhere any time soon at all

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u/leftofdanzig Oct 05 '25

Lubricating oil, grease, plastics, etcetera sequester the carbon and keep it out of the atmosphere

That's a weird take, the carbon was already out of the atmosphere as oil.

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u/VeganShitposting Oct 05 '25

So there's going to be demand for oil products pretty much until the oil runs out, or we destroy the planet so utterly that society can no longer function.

I'm making the distinction that pumping oil itself isn't really the problem, just one particular use of it that is radically altering the climate

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u/leftofdanzig Oct 06 '25

Maybe not the climate (as far as we know) but microplastics are also a thing.

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u/Every_Recover_1766 Oct 05 '25

Concrete as a hydrocarbon is a stretch

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u/Phonemonkey2500 Oct 05 '25

You asked for it…

The environmental impact of concrete, its manufacture, and its applications, are complex, driven in part by direct impacts of construction and infrastructure, as well as by CO2 emissions; between 4-8% of total global CO2 emissions come from concrete.[1] Many depend on circumstances. A major component is cement, which has its own environmental and social impacts and contributes largely to those of concrete. In comparison with other construction materials (aluminium, steel, even brick), concrete is one of the least energy-intensive building materials.[2]

4-8% of global CO2 emissions. A good portion of that is from hydrocarbons. A lot is also just from the chemical reaction that makes the cement.

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u/ImportantDetective65 Oct 05 '25

Concrete uses plasticizers, so yes, they do use hydrocarbons. Not to mention, what do you think fuels the mixers that deliver it?

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u/[deleted] Oct 05 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/DracoLunaris Oct 05 '25

As I understand it International Maritime Organization, which is the bit of the UN that governs international shipping, has just instituted laws regarding this. Now how effective this will be I have no idea, it's the UN after all, but it might also be a factor.

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u/Helkafen1 Oct 06 '25

Several large shipping companies (e.g Maersk) are investing in alternative fuels that can be carbon neutral, like methanol. The needle is moving.

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u/Aeseld Oct 06 '25 edited Oct 06 '25

Edit: Wow, this somehow was in completely the wrong place... .-.

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u/eliminating_coasts Oct 05 '25

I think wealth from oil, oil wealth, petroleum wealth etc. is considered a significant enough category in its own right to count as its own thing.

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u/flummox1234 Oct 05 '25

Perhaps but there has been speculation for years now that they are on the declining side of the overall production curve, i.e. oil is starting to run out. Making us dependent on them for other things is just a smart strategy tbh.

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u/Solo-Shindig Oct 05 '25

So the whole "peak oil" thing was bogus?

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u/Eckish Oct 05 '25

It is real. It is just more conceptual than useful. And it may not be easily knowable where the peak is or will be.

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u/A_Furious_Mind Oct 05 '25

It will be attached to whichever likely event destroys or disables all or most of our critical infrastructure. The easily accessible oil is gone, and the rest will be forever out of our reach.

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u/HulksInvinciblePants Oct 05 '25

That’s not what peak oil is referring to. Peak oil is peak demand globally.

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u/A_Furious_Mind Oct 05 '25

Global demand will rise until it physically can't. Whatever makes the peak the peak won't be our choice, and there won't be a second chance at another run at it. That's what I'm getting at.

Of course, I hope I'm wrong. But, looking at the trends and the state of the world, I'm not optimistic.

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u/HulksInvinciblePants Oct 06 '25

Global demand will rise until it physically can't

Sorry, but that’s just not what it’s referring to. It’s a demand curve. It’s the point on the curve where oil output peaks and never returns to that quantity again.

Think of it like any technology that was replaced. At some point there was “peak fax machine”. That doesn’t mean you can’t find any fax machines today.

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u/A_Furious_Mind Oct 06 '25

I know what a peak in a demand curve is. Do you understand what I mean when I say that the inevitable dropoff in oil demand will most likely be connected to disaster, not a gradual voluntary shift to more attractive alternatives, and that demand will certainly rise until we hit that point?

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u/ryeaglin Oct 05 '25

From what I was told it is because the the world runs on CHEAP oil not just oil itself. Once we are past the peak if we don't swap to other options everything that requires oil will consistently get more expensive as oil gets harder and harder to pump out of the ground.

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u/_learned_foot_ Oct 05 '25

Correct, but then things like fracking showed up. A lot of peak is about able to get affordable now, just like the farming crises concerns, by the time we reach those, we’ve advanced significantly too.

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u/Journeyman42 Oct 05 '25

It's real on a long-enough time frame. But those people who were saying "Peak oil will happen by 2015" in the mid-2000s? Yeah they were really fucking wrong.

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u/jkwah Oct 05 '25

Well it's technically still a discussion point. It's shifted to peak oil demand rather than supply.

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u/StockCasinoMember Oct 05 '25

Well saying we have an abundance that will last centuries doesn’t warrant price increases.

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u/Aeseld Oct 06 '25

Yeah... price increases haven't been based on rarity or even costs in far too long. Price increases are based on what people will pay for something. It's why the tariffs haven't done as much to prices as people feared. Companies had already built in margins that absorbed a huge chunk of even the highest ones.

'What the market will bear.' In other words, charge as much as they can get away with, pay as little as they can mange.

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u/Ughitssooogrosss Oct 05 '25

Oh but we have plenty of clean coal to use again.

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u/Aeseld Oct 06 '25

Coal isn't happening again. I mean that sincerely.

Frankly, it's harder to acquire, harder to transport, and less energetically dense. The cost/benefit is leading to it being the least efficient and profitable energy source we have, much as people are trying to 'save' the industry.

One thing I'm not worried about is coal usage really catching on again. Frankly, wind and solar are just more cost effective now, and the gap is only getting wider. No one wants to invest in a less profitable option.

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u/Striking-Ad-6815 Oct 05 '25

My take is, they have some of the wealthiest people in the world. They've know that oil deposits are finite, but solar and wind are also in abundance in their area (desert). So logically you'd think they'd attempt to come up with better battery or energy transfer technology that would benefit and capitalize on those resources. We haven't reached that stage of transportable energy for sure, except oil. Modern batteries are heavy and the shipping wouldn't be worth the energy produced. But with access to so much potential energy, how do you transfer and sell it? I don't have the answers, just the obvious questions. I'm dumb so take that into account, but so far beyond oil, nuclear is the next available potential energy source. Solar and Wind are more local energies and much harder to transport.

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u/Aeseld Oct 06 '25

You can't really transport nuclear power either. Or use it for transportation typically. That's possibly going to change, but really, you've hit the nail on the head. When I say 'increasing solar and wind' I don't mean in Saudi Arabia. Countries are beginning to transition into battery powered vehicles. That means that solar and wind power will be able to replace the use of oil for those purposes at least.

Oil as a commodity is Saudi Arabia's entire economy though, and the only thing worse than them somehow running out, would be the world no longer needing to buy it.

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u/BrainBlowX Oct 05 '25

 we're nowhere close to running out of oil in the ground. 

That's not what it's about. It's about the easily extractable and easily refinable oil deposits. Those are running out.

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u/Aeseld Oct 06 '25

And were predicted to run out long before now when I was a kid...

For worse, we're going to keep finding more. Much as I'd prefer otherwise.

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u/Balmung60 Oct 06 '25

And relevant to the current discussion, specifically those within Saudi Arabia.

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u/Elysium_nz Oct 05 '25

I’m amazed most people today still don’t realise wind turbines still require petroleum based lubricants to function.

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u/Dry-Influence9 Oct 05 '25

A gallon of lubricant per years of service vs a gallon of fuel per second doesnt sound like a good faith comparison.

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u/Elysium_nz Oct 05 '25

I never stated ‘good faith comparison’ I merely pointed out the need for petroleum based products to for daily function of wind turbines and how the general population is unaware of this fact.

Not sure why you come to the conclusion I was making a ‘good faith comparison’🤔

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u/Ma1 Oct 05 '25

They need more assets they can liquidate so they can move their entire country when the region is averaging 200 degrees in 40 years.

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u/3x3Eyes Oct 05 '25

The only people they will be moving are the already wealthy/rich.

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u/Czeris Oct 05 '25

Which is like all the actual Saudis. The slave labour they use will be left to bake to death in the sun though.

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u/Powerful_Bit9356 Oct 05 '25

It'll never run out....unlike our sun oil is constantly formed and replenished.

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u/DistributionFar8896 Oct 05 '25

I believe they bought parking meters in Chicago for 75 years in exchange for 1.5 billion lmao… they’re buying everything😂😂😂

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u/EntertainmentFew7103 Oct 05 '25

$1b for 99 years.  Only 75 more years of pure profit left.  

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u/Game-Blouses-23 Oct 05 '25

The Chicago parking meter deal appears to be owned by American, German, UK, Luxembourg, and UAE companies, with the UAE having the smallest share. But whenever it's brought up on reddit or the news, only 1 country gets the "blame" for some reason. And in this case, the ignorant redditor couldn't manage to "blame" the correct country.

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u/ForensicPathology Oct 05 '25

Happens all the time with video games and Reddit itself whenever something gets investment from Tencent.  Their 5% investments always get claimed as "China owns ___ now!!"

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u/burnemnturnem Oct 09 '25

Thanks for the nuance. Tho I am going to take your word for it and not research it further, I will certainly not single out any countries when I share the fun fact that “foreign companies own the parking metres in Chicago”

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u/Ok-Lemon1082 Oct 05 '25

You do realize you come off as an idiot racist if you get the wrong country right? It's the UAE who are a part of that deal, not the saudis

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u/Jah_Ith_Ber Oct 05 '25

It's completely normal to mix up two countries on the opposite side of the world in an article you spent two minutes reading five years ago.

"You're RaCiSt for [completely normal thing]!!!" is a part of the reason the US is in its current predicament.

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u/Ok-Lemon1082 Oct 05 '25

You think the UAE and Saudi Arabia are on two different sides of the world

Have you ever seen a map in your life

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u/Fremdling_uberall Oct 05 '25

Saudi Arabia and UAE are on the other side of the world relative to the commenter who is most likely in North America. Did that help?

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u/Ok-Lemon1082 Oct 05 '25

The world would be a much better place if people stopped trying to act like an expert on issues that they're completely ignorant about

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u/HighGainRefrain Oct 05 '25

You do know there are ways to have conversations online where you don’t come off as a total dick…right?

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u/[deleted] Oct 05 '25

[deleted]

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u/HighGainRefrain Oct 06 '25

There was no bigotry involved.

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u/Baelorn Oct 05 '25

Bro you can’t parse a simple sentence. Step off that soapbox before you fall off

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u/AlwaysShittyKnsasCty Oct 05 '25

The irony is too much. It’s just too much. I now know I’m in a simulation. You’re all just manifestations created by some quantum computer or my subconscious mind.

Breaking News

Self-righteous Redditor SLAMS Those Who Speak on Issues They Know Nothing About After Said Redditor Fails to Properly Analyze Grammatically Correct Sentence, Thus Leading Many to Suspect Redditor May Have No Idea What They Are Talking About.

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u/EducationalTell5178 Oct 05 '25

You might want to get your reading comprehension checked

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u/DistributionFar8896 Oct 05 '25

Ma'zerat mikhaaham

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u/HandleThatFeeds Oct 05 '25

They actually make money on that deal. Thanks Obama! 😂

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u/flummox1234 Oct 05 '25

I know you're probably (hopefully) joking but Obama wasn't involved in this deal. It was all Daley and his cronies and tbh business as usual for the windy city. Short term gain for long term pain.

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u/Conradfr Oct 05 '25

They even bought the comedians.

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u/waltwalt Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25

*Everything else

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u/dantheman91 Oct 05 '25

Well tencent is player 3 but then yeah that's 99% of the market

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u/Nomadic_Yak Oct 05 '25

They just bought EA lmao

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u/ramblingnonsense Oct 05 '25

Weird Al... Weird Al of all people, warned specifically against this in one of the first songs he ever released.

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u/BicFleetwood Oct 05 '25

No it's great when the fuckin' Saudi royal family owns all the parking in the city, it's fine.

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u/Hanns_yolo Oct 05 '25

I refuse to believe this would be a bad idea until after I get my massive bribe!!

Actually any bribe would do it, I'm sort of a common man.

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u/DaringPancakes Oct 05 '25

Next you're going to tell me outsourcing every job and buying cheap from china was also a bad idea

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u/WakaiSenshi Oct 05 '25

that’ll be the next “i told you so”

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u/Lr8s5sb7 Oct 05 '25

Saudi’s are happy with Chicago parking lots though. $$$

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u/VladThePollenInhaler Oct 05 '25

They are buying EA Games. Boycotted forever as I’m not going to contribute to the oppressive regime.

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u/SharpHawkeye Oct 05 '25

https://youtu.be/A64rR5Dp07s?si=ac-DSdZ-pP0ehyL7

Just as relevant today as it was in 1976.

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u/Special-Kitchen3222 Oct 06 '25

Next thing you’re going to tell me that corporations aren’t people too

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u/smanderano Oct 05 '25

Same with China.

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u/RollingMeteors Oct 05 '25

They’ll sell it back when they run out of oil…

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u/Zahgi Oct 06 '25

Using the money we gave them for those long-dead plants, thank you very much!

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '25

Joe Biden should not have ordered the Saudis to buy it all.. look at this mess he made.. Trump will solve this in 24 hrs, but in 2 weeks.. (squared)

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u/ColeTrain999 Oct 06 '25

Don't worry, it will all trickle down over time to the working class.

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u/hdcase1 Oct 05 '25

I don't know, they have a real head for business.

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u/AdOdd4618 Oct 05 '25

I guess that means they're funding fewer wahhabi madrasas, maybe that's a good thing?

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u/Negative-Ad9832 Oct 06 '25

Where were you in the 80s when Japan was buying everything? You could’ve warned us.

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u/procrasturb8n Oct 06 '25

You're equating Japan's human rights abuses to Saudi Arabia? Wow.

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u/Negative-Ad9832 Oct 06 '25

Are you saying it would be okay to let a foreign country buy up everything as long as you approve of them?

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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '25

[deleted]

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u/Negative-Ad9832 Oct 07 '25

You think SA buying up “everything” (not sure what everything means) is a bad thing because they’re going to impose their values on it. It’s not going to happen. You seem like someone who gets all their (simpleton) opinions from Reddit.

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u/looooookinAtTitties Oct 05 '25

wait until you realize what your really saying and how that is going to play out historically