Microsoft to Buy Bungie? When is a Denial Not Really a Denial? (VL314)

Is Bungie in talks to sell out to Microsoft? Have such talks *ever* happened? Imran Khan of Kinda Funny, Jeff Grubb of GamesBeat, and Tom Phillips of Eurogamer sure think so. But why then did the CEO of Bungie, Pete Parsons, deliver a flat denial on Twitter stating in no uncertain terms that “This is False”?

Well like most things in corporate messaging, there’s more here than initially meets the eye.

When is a denial not a denial? When it categorically denies a multi-conditional paraphrase of a rumor speculated on in a casual podcast by two separate people.

CEOs don’t wear halos, but their destiny *is* to parse language…in Virtual Legality.

Virtual Legality #47 – Gizmodo Group Sold! What is “Private Equity” Anyway?

With the sale of the Gizmodo Group, some of the Internet’s favorite “blog-style” journalistic hot spots are now in the hands of a little known private equity firm. But if the firm itself is little known, what the sale actually means (or could mean) is even less understood.

What is “private equity”? How does it work? How are funds formed? And how does corporate law and tax regulation inform their creation?

What does this mean for Kotaku, Gizmodo, Jezebel, Deadspin, The Onion, and the rest of the acquisition group?

And why might it not be the doom that some fear, when other private equity targets (such as Toys R Us) fell to bankruptcy shortly after their acquisition?

---

Virtual Legality #44 – Kotaku Adds Another Note to Bioware’s Discordant Anthem

Kotaku’s Jason Schreier once again brings us into the world of how the video game sausage gets made, as he dives deep into the tumultuous development history of Bioware’s Anthem.

Why was Anthem’s traversal, gameplay, and even name changed at the last minute?

What forces, both internal and external, led to the release of the lowest rated game in Bioware’s history?

What did Bioware have to say about Kotaku’s article?

And why does Bioware’s messaging on this do more to evidence its communications issues than it does to refute them?

We’ve got a lot to say about this one folks.

---