外刊双语：微软收购动视暴雪构成垄断吗？

原文标题：
The gaming market
CoD and chips
Why trustbusters should let Microsoft buy Activision Blizzard
游戏市场
游戏与芯片
反托拉斯检察官允许微软收购动视暴雪的原因
 
Blocking the deal is as likely to harm consumers as it is to protect them
阻止这项交易对消费者来说，既可能是伤害，也可能是保护[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.
过去二十年里，电子游戏从一个乏味的业余爱好变成了轰动一时的产业，且收益达到了电影票房的五倍多。
 
Today it is home to one of the largest tech mergers in history.
如今，该行业将有历史上最大的科技并购案之一。
 
In January Microsoft agreed to pay $69bn to buy Activision Blizzard, a game studio.
今年1月，微软同意斥资690亿美元收购游戏工作室动视暴雪。
 
Yet the mega deal may not go ahead.

但这笔交易可能无法达成。

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.

美国联邦贸易委员会是世界上16个相关监管机构之一，它近期可能很快就会提起诉讼以阻止该交易。

[Paragraph 2]
Trustbusters have two main worries.
反托拉斯检察官主要有两大担忧。
 
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.
首先是动视暴雪投资组合中的法宝:《使命召唤》，这是一款以军事为主题的第一人称射击游戏，其最新版本在短短10天内销售量价值超过10亿美元。
 
It is available on both Microsoft’s Xbox games consoles and Sony’s competing PlayStation.
微软的Xbox游戏机和竞争对手索尼的PlayStation游戏机上都有这款游戏。
 
Regulators fear Microsoft could make “Call of Duty” exclusive to the Xbox, undermining competition between the ecosystems.
监管机构担心微软可能会将《使命召唤》变成Xbox的专属游戏，破坏市场的有序竞争。
 
[Paragraph 3]
Microsoft says that it does not want to freeze out PlayStation.
微软表示，它并不是想排挤PlayStation。
 
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.
它的目标是在其每月订阅服务Game Pass中添加游戏，该服务实际上是捆绑出租游戏，而不是单独销售。
 
Herein lies regulators’ second concern.
监管机构的第二个担忧也随之而来。
 
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的一项服务，但随着游戏从云计算服务流媒体传输到人们的电视、网页浏览器和手机上，未来它的影响范围可能更广。
 
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.
微软的云计算业务Azure可能给它带来技术优势。而Game pass，这个扩展到包括动视暴雪的投资组合，则提供了最好的内容。
 
Trustbusters worry that Microsoft could gain an insurmountable lead in a nascent market.
反托拉斯检察官担心，微软可能会在新兴市场上获得不可逾越的领先地位。
 
[Paragraph 4]
Neither worry is a reason to block the merger.
这两种担忧都不应该成为阻止合并的理由。
 
Take “Call of Duty”.
以《使命召含》为例。

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.
微软从游戏机市场的第三名起步，亏本销售Xbox；而动视暴雪则通过向更多的PlayStation用户销售《使命召唤》，每年赚取数亿美元。
 
Recent history suggests Microsoft should hesitate to give up those revenues.
近期的历史表明，微软应该在放弃这些收入方面犹豫不决。
 
In 2018 AT&T, a telecoms company, bought Time Warner, a media giant.
2018年，电信公司AT&T收购了媒体巨头时代华纳。
 
It then pulled stellar exclusive content, such as the sitcom “Friends”, from rival broadcasters’ streaming platforms in an effort to promote its own service.
为了推广自己的服务，它从竞争对手的流媒体平台上撤下了诸如情景喜剧《老友记》等一流的独家内容。
 
That helped cause a collapse in profits and the unwinding of the merger.
这在一定程度上导致了利润的暴跌和合并的解体。
 
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.
尽管微软有充分的理由不让《使命召唤》成为独家游戏，监管机构可能会坚持要求微软履行承诺，继续以合理的条件向PlayStation用户出售游戏。
 
[Paragraph 5]
Television also offers a lesson about game streaming.
电视也为游戏流媒体提供了教训。
 
In 2016 Hollywood was rife with fears that Netflix would become a monopoly.
2016年，好莱坞非常担忧Netflix会成为垄断企业。
 
Some argued it wielded so much power that fed-up creative types were scared to criticise it.
一些人认为它影响力太大，以至于厌倦创新的人不敢批评它。
 
Its advantage did not last.
但它的优势并没有持续下去。
 
Today its growth is stalling as it faces competition from Amazon and Disney.
如今，面临亚马逊和迪士尼的竞争，它的增长陷入停滞。
 
Games are harder to make and stream than sitcoms.
游戏比情景喜剧更难制作和播放。
 
But plenty of firms are capable of challenging Microsoft, including gaming rivals like Nintendo and technology giants like Nvidia and Apple.
但很多公司都有实力与微软一较高下，包括游戏竞争对手任天堂，科技巨头英伟达和苹果。

Microsoft would not own blockbuster games from “Fortnite” to “FIFA”, made by the studios Epic Games and Electronic Arts, respectively.
微软将不再拥有史诗游戏制作的《堡垒之夜》和和艺电制作的《FIFA》等热门游戏。
 
By one estimate, a merged Microsoft-Activision Blizzard would account for only 14% of global gaming revenues among the biggest listed gaming companies.
据估计，微软和动视暴雪合并后只占全球最大的上市游戏公司游戏收入的14%。 
[Paragraph 6]
Stay frosty
保持冷静
 
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.
反托拉斯检察官对科技公司的合并感到不安。他们未能阻止Facebook在2010年代初收购Instagram和WhatsApp，这导致社交媒体之间的竞争下降。
 
But Microsoft is experimenting with an unproven business model, not picking off a competitor.
但微软正在尝试一种新的商业模式，而不是去击败竞争对手。
 
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仅占微软Xbox游戏营收的15%左右，而流媒体游戏在当前游戏支出中所占比例远低于1%。
 
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.
市场才刚刚起步，这一事实是监管机构保持谨慎的理由，而不是让他们进行干预的理由。
 
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.
阻止微软收购动视暴雪可能会阻止新产品的形成，从而损害消费者的利益，但也会保护他们免受拥有过度市场力量的大公司的伤害。
 
（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量667左右）
原文出自：2022年12月3日《The Economist》Leaders版块。
精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Maree本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）
微软计划以687亿美元收购游戏公司动视暴雪，687亿美元是一个怎样的概念？以100美元纸钞计算，按张叠放，高度可以超过7.5公里；按重量计算，超过7.2吨。如果微软能够成功将动视暴雪纳入囊中，将会达成全球游戏行业、也是微软历史上最大的一次收购，微软也将超过任天堂，成为全球第三大游戏公司，仅次于索尼和腾讯。

 
 “Call of Duty”《使命召唤》是由动视公司（现为动视暴雪，2007年12月2日宣布合并）于2003年最初制作发行的FPS游戏系列。
 
AT&T斥资854亿美元收购时代华纳，在创造2016年全球范围内迄今为止金额最大一笔并购案的同时，AT&T的负债也攀升至2000亿美元。
 
【重点句子】（3 个）
Regulators fear Microsoft could make “Call of Duty” exclusive to the Xbox, undermining competition between the ecosystems.
监管机构担心微软可能会将《使命召唤》变成Xbox的专属游戏，破坏市场的有序竞争。
 
Trustbusters worry that Microsoft could gain an insurmountable lead in a nascent market.
反托拉斯检察官担心，微软可能会在新兴市场上获得无法超越的领先地位。
 
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.
市场才刚刚起步，这一事实是监管机构保持谨慎的理由，而不是让他们进行干预的理由。