Microsoft has made a bold move recently as the company announced it would acquire Activision Blizzard, the developer of awesome games like Call of Duty, Warcraft, Candy Crush, Tony Hawk, Diablo, Overwatch, Spyro, Hearthstone, Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, StarCraft, and more. If everything goes according to plan, this studio will join Team Xbox and all titles falling under it will make appearances on Game Pass.
From what we have gathered thus far, Microsoft aims to pay nearly a whopping $69 billion to make the deal happen. We should point out that if regulators approve this deal, then Microsoft would become the third-largest video game company in the world behind, the likes of China’s Tencent and Japan’s Sony.
Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard
With the announcement of the acquisition, Activision Blizzard shares rose by 37 percent, while Microsoft shares fell by a meager 2 percent.
“Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms,” according to Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, in a statement. “We’re investing deeply in world-class content, community and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all.”
What happens now?
Well, according to Xbox head Phil Spencer in a blog post, things will continue as normal where both companies act independently of each other. However, should the deal be approved, then changes will be made and Spencer will become the head of all decision-making.
As for current Activision Blizzard CEO, Bobby Kotick, he will keep his position for now, but after the closure of the deal, it is very possible he might be demoted due to the current scandal that sits over his head lie a halo.
In terms of how long it would take for titles to find their way to Game Pass, Microsoft did not say. However, the company did add that it plans to add all games, old and new, to the Game Pass service as it now surpasses 25 million subscribers.
Will Activision Blizzard games still appear on PlayStation platforms?
This we cannot answer. But if we go by the actions of Microsoft after recent acquisitions, Bethesda, it is safe to say the software giant will not share the likes of Call of Duty, Overwatch, Diablo, and others on Sony PlayStation platforms.
Microsoft seeks to use Game Pass to create the Netflix of games, and only quality exclusive titles can allow that to happen.
