I don't mind competition at all, which made the PS3/Xbox 360 such a great generation for gamers.Playstation is such a juggernaut in the console space though, that they need all the competition they can get. You dont want either company dominating the market. In that sense, the acquisition might be a positive thing for the industry as a whole.
I loved playing Gears of War on the Xbox & Uncharted on the PlayStation because both platforms offered unique gaming experiences.
Xbox today is not the same competitive juggernaut it once was because they didn't try hard enough to keep up with PlayStation First-Party Titles (PS4 had the best exclusives ever).
I had no issue with the Bethesda Acquisition because Xbox needed that competitive edge, as you mentioned.
However, the Activition Blizzard Acquisition was a line that they crossed, fully knowing the implications on the industry, for better or worse.
That's where I started to perceive Microsoft & the supporters for the Activition Blizzard Acquisition as antagonistic in the gaming industry.
That acquisition & everything that came out of it, from the emails to the FTC trial/CMA debacle, painted a rather ugly picture for Microsoft & those who fully supported such a blatant "HOSTILE Takeover".
Not in a million years did anyone anticipate Activision Blizzard, a company that's been historically Third-Party/Non-Partisan in the gaming industry, would be bought by a competitive platform like Microsoft.
This is why I became a full-time Sony Pony Warrior