原文標題：
The gaming market
CoD?and?chips
Why trustbusters should let Microsoft buy Activision Blizzard
游戲市場
游戲與芯片
反托拉斯檢察官允許微軟收購動視暴雪的原因
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Blocking the deal is as likely to harm consumers as it is to protect them
阻止這項交易對消費者來說，既可能是傷害，也可能是保護[Paragraph 1]
IN THE PAST two decades video gaming has gone from a nerdy?hobby to a blockbuster?industry, with revenues over five times bigger than the cinema box office.
過去二十年里，電子游戲從一個乏味的業(yè)余愛好變成了轟動一時的產(chǎn)業(yè)，且收益達到了電影票房的五倍多。
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Today it is home to one of the largest tech mergers in history.
如今，該行業(yè)將有歷史上最大的科技并購案之一。
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In January Microsoft agreed to pay $69bn to buy Activision Blizzard, a game studio.
今年1月，微軟同意斥資690億美元收購游戲工作室動視暴雪。
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Yet the mega deal may not?go ahead.

但這筆交易可能無法達成。

America’s Federal Trade Commission—one of 16 regulators around the world to have taken an interest—will probably say soon that it will sue to block it.

美國聯(lián)邦貿易委員會是世界上16個相關監(jiān)管機構之一，它近期可能很快就會提起訴訟以阻止該交易。

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[Paragraph 2]
Trustbusters have two main worries.
反托拉斯檢察官主要有兩大擔憂。
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The first is the jewel in Activision Blizzard’s portfolio: “Call of Duty”, a military-themed first-person shooter game, the latest version of which sold over $1bn-worth of copies in just ten days.
首先是動視暴雪投資組合中的法寶:《使命召喚》，這是一款以軍事為主題的第一人稱射擊游戲，其最新版本在短短10天內銷售量價值超過10億美元。
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It is available on both Microsoft’s Xbox games consoles and Sony’s competing PlayStation.
微軟的Xbox游戲機和競爭對手索尼的PlayStation游戲機上都有這款游戲。
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Regulators fear Microsoft could make “Call of Duty” exclusive?to the Xbox, undermining?competition between the ecosystems.
監(jiān)管機構擔心微軟可能會將《使命召喚》變成Xbox的專屬游戲，破壞市場的有序競爭。
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[Paragraph 3]
Microsoft says that it does not want to freeze out PlayStation.
微軟表示，它并不是想排擠PlayStation。
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Its aim is to add titles to Game Pass, its monthly subscription service which, in effect, rents out a bundle of games rather than selling them individually.
它的目標是在其每月訂閱服務Game Pass中添加游戲，該服務實際上是捆綁出租游戲，而不是單獨銷售。
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Herein lies regulators’ second concern.
監(jiān)管機構的第二個擔憂也隨之而來。
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At the moment Game Pass is chiefly an Xbox service, but it could one day have much broader reach as games are streamed from cloud-computing services onto people’s televisions, web browsers and phones.
目前Game Pass主要是Xbox的一項服務，但隨著游戲從云計算服務流媒體傳輸?shù)饺藗兊碾娨?、網(wǎng)頁瀏覽器和手機上，未來它的影響范圍可能更廣。
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Microsoft’s cloud-computing business, Azure, might give it a technological edge while Game Pass—expanded to include Activision Blizzard’s portfolio—provides the best content.
微軟的云計算業(yè)務Azure可能給它帶來技術優(yōu)勢。而Game pass，這個擴展到包括動視暴雪的投資組合，則提供了最好的內容。
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Trustbusters worry that Microsoft could gain an insurmountable?lead in a nascent?market.
反托拉斯檢察官擔心，微軟可能會在新興市場上獲得不可逾越的領先地位。
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[Paragraph 4]
Neither worry is a reason to block the merger.
這兩種擔憂都不應該成為阻止合并的理由。
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Take “Call of Duty”.
以《使命召含》為例。

Microsoft is starting from third place in the console market—in which it sells the Xbox at a loss—and Activision Blizzard earns hundreds of millions of dollars a year from selling “Call of Duty” to more numerous PlayStation users.
微軟從游戲機市場的第三名起步，虧本銷售Xbox；而動視暴雪則通過向更多的PlayStation用戶銷售《使命召喚》，每年賺取數(shù)億美元。
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Recent history suggests Microsoft should hesitate to give up those revenues.
近期的歷史表明，微軟應該在放棄這些收入方面猶豫不決。
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In 2018 AT&T, a telecoms company, bought Time Warner, a media giant.
2018年，電信公司AT&T收購了媒體巨頭時代華納。
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It then pulled stellar exclusive content, such as the sitcom?“Friends”, from rival broadcasters’ streaming platforms in an effort to promote its own service.
為了推廣自己的服務，它從競爭對手的流媒體平臺上撤下了諸如情景喜劇《老友記》等一流的獨家內容。
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That helped cause a collapse?in profits and the unwinding?of the merger.
這在一定程度上導致了利潤的暴跌和合并的解體。
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Although Microsoft would have good reason not to make “Call of Duty” exclusive, regulators could in any case insist it honours a promise to keep selling the game to PlayStation users on reasonable terms.
盡管微軟有充分的理由不讓《使命召喚》成為獨家游戲，監(jiān)管機構可能會堅持要求微軟履行承諾，繼續(xù)以合理的條件向PlayStation用戶出售游戲。
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[Paragraph 5]
Television also offers a lesson about game streaming.
電視也為游戲流媒體提供了教訓。
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In 2016 Hollywood was rife with fears that Netflix would become a monopoly.
2016年，好萊塢非常擔憂Netflix會成為壟斷企業(yè)。
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Some argued it wielded so much power that fed-up creative types were scared to criticise it.
一些人認為它影響力太大，以至于厭倦創(chuàng)新的人不敢批評它。
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Its advantage did not last.
但它的優(yōu)勢并沒有持續(xù)下去。
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Today its growth is stalling as it faces competition from Amazon and Disney.
如今，面臨亞馬遜和迪士尼的競爭，它的增長陷入停滯。
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Games are harder to make and stream than sitcoms.
游戲比情景喜劇更難制作和播放。
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But plenty of firms are capable of challenging Microsoft, including gaming rivals like Nintendo and technology giants like Nvidia and Apple.
但很多公司都有實力與微軟一較高下，包括游戲競爭對手任天堂，科技巨頭英偉達和蘋果。

Microsoft would not own blockbuster games from “Fortnite” to “FIFA”, made by the studios Epic Games and Electronic Arts, respectively.
微軟將不再擁有史詩游戲制作的《堡壘之夜》和和藝電制作的《FIFA》等熱門游戲。
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By one estimate, a merged Microsoft-Activision Blizzard would account for only 14% of global gaming revenues among the biggest listed gaming companies.
據(jù)估計，微軟和動視暴雪合并后只占全球最大的上市游戲公司游戲收入的14%。?
[Paragraph 6]
Stay frosty
保持冷靜
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Trustbusters are twitchy?about technology mergers, having failed to stop Facebook buying Instagram and WhatsApp in the early 2010s, which led to a time when social media was less competitive than it should have been.
反托拉斯檢察官對科技公司的合并感到不安。他們未能阻止Facebook在2010年代初收購Instagram和WhatsApp，這導致社交媒體之間的競爭下降。
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But Microsoft is experimenting with an unproven business model, not picking off a competitor.
但微軟正在嘗試一種新的商業(yè)模式，而不是去擊敗競爭對手。
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Game Pass is only about 15% of Microsoft’s revenues from Xbox games and streaming accounts for well under 1% of game spending today.
Game Pass僅占微軟Xbox游戲營收的15%左右，而流媒體游戲在當前游戲支出中所占比例遠低于1%。
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The fact that a market is only just getting off the ground is a reason for regulators to be cautious, not for them to intervene.
市場才剛剛起步，這一事實是監(jiān)管機構保持謹慎的理由，而不是讓他們進行干預的理由。
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Preventing Microsoft from buying Activision Blizzard is as likely to harm consumers by stopping a new product from taking shape as it is to protect them from a big company with excessive?market power.
阻止微軟收購動視暴雪可能會阻止新產(chǎn)品的形成，從而損害消費者的利益，但也會保護他們免受擁有過度市場力量的大公司的傷害。
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（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量667左右）
原文出自：2022年12月3日《The Economist》Leaders版塊。
精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路

本文翻譯整理: Maree本文編輯校對: Irene
僅供個人英語學習交流使用。

【補充資料】（來自于網(wǎng)絡）
微軟計劃以687億美元收購游戲公司動視暴雪，687億美元是一個怎樣的概念？以100美元紙鈔計算，按張疊放，高度可以超過7.5公里；按重量計算，超過7.2噸。如果微軟能夠成功將動視暴雪納入囊中，將會達成全球游戲行業(yè)、也是微軟歷史上最大的一次收購，微軟也將超過任天堂，成為全球第三大游戲公司，僅次于索尼和騰訊。

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?“Call of Duty”《使命召喚》是由動視公司（現(xiàn)為動視暴雪，2007年12月2日宣布合并）于2003年最初制作發(fā)行的FPS游戲系列。
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AT&T斥資854億美元收購時代華納，在創(chuàng)造2016年全球范圍內迄今為止金額最大一筆并購案的同時，AT&T的負債也攀升至2000億美元。
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【重點句子】（3?個）
Regulators fear Microsoft could make “Call of Duty” exclusive to the Xbox, undermining competition between the ecosystems.
監(jiān)管機構擔心微軟可能會將《使命召喚》變成Xbox的專屬游戲，破壞市場的有序競爭。
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Trustbusters worry that Microsoft could gain an insurmountable lead in a nascent market.
反托拉斯檢察官擔心，微軟可能會在新興市場上獲得無法超越的領先地位。
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The fact that a market is only just getting off the ground is a reason for regulators to be cautious, not for them to intervene.
市場才剛剛起步，這一事實是監(jiān)管機構保持謹慎的理由，而不是讓他們進行干預的理由。