The fight over the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard merger is a battle over the future of games

As is now tradition, an enormous piece of gaming news landed right after last week's Pushing Buttons went out to readers: Microsoft's huge $70bn purchase of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush owner Activision Blizzard, a deal that has been in the works since January last year, was unexpectedly blocked by a UK regulator. This might not seem interesting to anyone except those involved with the business of video games, or people with an inexplicable interest in the actions of regulatory authorities in Britain, but wait! It is quite interesting, because the response from these two giant companies has been entertainingly petty. All corporations are entitled brats. For decades, US- and UK-driven neoliberalism has empowered them to consider themselves legally equivalent to actual people, and deserving of privilege, ostensibly because they create wealth and jobs.