In a shock announcement, Microsoft has announced that it is officially acquiringActivision Blizzard, with the deal reported to be for a staggering $68.7 billion. This industry-shaking acquisition will give Microsoft, and therefore the Xbox brand, ownership over some of the industry’s biggest money-making titles, including theCall of Dutyfranchise. Needless to say, this will be an absolutely massive acquisition if it’s approved, eclipsingMicrosoft’s Bethesda acquisitionfrom last year and standing as the largest gaming acquisition in history to date.
Microsoft’s goal with itsActivision Blizzardacquisition is to “accelerate the growth” of its gaming business across all platforms, as well as “provide building blocks for the metaverse.” Microsoft has pointed out specific franchises it will now own once the acquisition goes through, with notable titles besides the aforementionedCall of DutyincludingCandy Crush,Diablo,Overwatch, andWarcraft(including the ever-popular MMORPGWorld of Warcraft), and more. Classic Activision franchises will now fall under the Xbox umbrella as well, likeCrash Bandicoot,Guitar Hero, andSpyro the Dragon.
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When Xbox acquired Bethesda, one of the main reasons for it was to bolster Xbox Game Pass, and the same holds true for the Activision Blizzard acquisition. Microsoft has said that it plans on launching Activision Blizzard games asday one Xbox Game Pass titles, which means that futureCall of Dutygames and titles likeDiablo 4andOverwatch 2will be available on Game Pass on day one, assuming the deal goes through before they’re out.
The question remains what this may mean for brands likeCall of Dutyon other platforms. It would be massive if Xbox makes futureCall of Dutygames Xbox console exclusives, though that would also be leaving a ton of money on the table.Bethesda games will be Xbox exclusivemoving forward, though, and so it’s entirely possible that will hold true for Activision-published titles as well, though specific details on how that will work have not been shared at the time of this writing.
As for what this means for Activision Blizzard’s troubled culture and workplace problems, it seems thatCEO Bobby Kotickwill remain in charge until the deal goes through, after which Activision Blizzard will report to Head of Xbox Phil Spencer.
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