Well, yes and no.
Initially:
For Blizzard employees, probably yes it is a good thing. I say probably because we don’t really know how much influence Microsoft will push. Going off of history, it is likely their situation will improve, at least some. Microsoft’s history does show it treating employees better than Activision. But they might completely leave it alone for the near future, so it might not really change anything. Only time will really tell.
For players, also probably a good thing. What is currently working at Blizzard (such as most recent WoW expac) in the company will likely stay. A lot of the more contentious choices, such as OW current design and monetization are probably going to get some improvement. How much is a HUGE open question. But likely some improvement. So, net positive.
But, that is all short term. Long term is another question. And I am really worried about the whole industry. Big behemoths taking over an industry and forming monopolies or near monopolies has not historically been a benefit to either employees or customers. Amazon is a perfect example. The way Amazon treats its employees is a well known example of the bad. Less well known, but no less true, is the fact that consumers pay more for products due to Amazon. It involves the contracts they force on people selling on their platform, the wholesale destruction of any possible competition, etc, etc. But, if you look into it, as consumers we pay more for less because they control the market so much. And the same thing happens in every industry as more and more of the market gets gobbled up by one or only a few massive corps. You can already see hints of what is to come happening in the gaming environment.
Long term, Microsoft gaining more and more of the market is a very bad thing.
From the accounting side, business and such, that happens almost right away.
Practically speaking, it takes a lot of time. Management has to review everything, decide what to keep, what to scrap, etc. Then build and implement the new structures and such. How long that happens will depend on how aggressive Microsoft is. Additionally, most of the content coming out is made well in advance, so all that has to come out before we start seeing significant changes.
I think a realistic estimate of when we start seeing the impact is probably 1-2 years down the road.
