Activision/Blizzard hires a guy who not only manages their taxes but is also a member of a powerful lobbying group in the Netherlands. Guy uses his influence to get laws passed, which Activision/Blizzard can now exploit to pay tax rates as low as or lower than individuals. Politicians who helped them get awarded with an "Investment Award" (payoff). With all of this money saved on taxes, plus the companies overall operation costs going down year after year, you have to wonder if they pass these savings on to consumers or pay employees better, or they use them to build better games. The answer to all three is not really. The price of games remains the same, Activision/Blizzard is constantly closing down studios, and they enjoy nickle-and-diming their customers with microtransactions that account for more than half of their revenue.
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(Old Spike)
noticed when i bought a game on steam that the transaction went to luxembourg.
also it's not just game companies, they've all been doing it for decades. the tax collected from american companies is now less than half what it was in the 50's, even though those same companies are making hundreds of times more profit.