With the recent deal that sealed a long-term partnership between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, gamers around the globe are indirectly witnessing a change in leadership within an enterprise that has been making video games for over three decades. The $69 Billion deal has been in the works for almost two years.
This deal has the potential to bring changes to quite a few questions – Will Game Pass witness the light of new franchises? Are there new plans for Xbox? Along with speculation about developers at Activision Blizzard weaving a canvas for continuing projects under a new relationship. All in all, the tides of war are changing, but we’ll have to be careful about what kind of changes it brings.
Microsoft Activision Blizzard – What Does the Acquisition Entail?
The epic deal had its share of hurdles and blocks throughout the process. In the midst of everything, the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) raised an eyebrow over certain policies regarding the future of Xbox. Much of these queries were around the future of game development, and how this deal would eventually affect the games industry as it slowly transitions over to cloud gaming and multiple platforms for people to experience their favorite titles.
While the restructured deal is materially different to the previous transaction and substantially addresses most concerns, the CMA has limited residual concerns that certain provisions in the sale of Activision’s cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft could be circumvented, terminated, or not enforced.
In response, Microsoft reworked the acquisition along with agreeing to sell streaming rights to Ubisoft. All of this led to a newer merger inquiry. You can read about the merger details here.
Microsoft has established its gaming niche in the market between different areas like Xbox exclusives, PC experiences, and collaborating with franchises from several other platforms. However, making Activision Blizzard a part of its kingdom gives way to games like Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and more a new home and creative leadership to work under.
Originally, Activision was founded in 1979, when Atari helped the company carry much of its vision. In 1991, Bobby Kotic became CEO since it showed potential for the video game industry’s future, and Activision had built quite the name for itself, thanks to titles like Pitfall! For almost two decades, the company produced some iconic games and eventually, in 2008, shook hands with Blizzard – a company well known for games like Overwatch and Warcraft.
Game Pass Will Enjoy the Fruits of This Deal, but Not Anytime Soon
Microsoft Xbox’s Game Pass subscription is a virtual candy store for gamers who want to play different and interesting new titles at a low monthly cost (starting at around $10.99). Game Pass gives subscribers day-one access to big titles like Starfield, and has an existing collection of popular Indie and triple-A titles like Hollow Knight and Grand Theft Auto V.
The Activision Blizzard acquisition essentially marks a beacon of hope for Game Pass subscribers, wondering if games like Diablo IV and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will come to Game Pass anytime soon. Unfortunately, it’s we won’t see these games coming to Game Pass in the near future.
On their official Twitter account, Activision Blizzard has remarked on the same:
While we do not have plans to put Modern Warfare® III or Diablo IV into Game Pass this year, once the deal closes, we expect to start working with Xbox to bring our titles to more players around the world. And we anticipate that we would begin adding games into Game Pass sometime in the course of next year.
However, this only shifts the light at the end of the tunnel a tad bit longer than we’d expected. Next year, Game Pass subscribers will see the silver lining as games like World of Warcraft will possibly make their way to the subscription service, among other titles.
It’s awesome to see anticipation building for Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® III. As we continue to work toward regulatory approval of the Microsoft deal, we’ve been getting some questions whether our upcoming and recently launched games will be available via Game Pass.
— Activision Blizzard (@ATVI_AB) October 9, 2023
While we…
From their official Game Pass Twitter account:
Today, we can now begin the work of bringing Activision Blizzard King’s iconic and groundbreaking games to Xbox Game Pass. We can’t wait to share more details in the coming months.
This is a time when PlayStation players can breathe a sigh of relief, as fan-favorite games like Call of Duty are still available on PlayStation 5, at least for the next few years. After that, there’s a chance that Call of Duty games (new and old) will become a part of online subscription services like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus.
Until we have an official word from Microsoft and Activision Blizzard about upcoming titles, Xbox Game Pass users can take a look at the entire collection of available games here.
Acquiring Talent Isn’t the Same as Producing It
There’s no denying that Microsoft branded Xbox over massively popular titles like Halo and Forza, but maintaining the legacy is often tougher than pioneering greatness in a field that is saturated by triple-A games and Indie studios trying to make a name for themselves. A key thing to note is how we acknowledge Microsoft’s presence in the gaming market.
Until now, Microsoft has remained the industry’s largest company, boasting a $2.5 Trillion market value. However, Xbox is still the weakest console when compared to Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. While all of these consoles are successful in their own right, being the ‘weakest of the bunch’ isn’t a great sign for a competitive market like gaming.
Furthermore, Bobby Kotick’s departure from Activision Blizzard is being taken in a positive light considering the controversies and accusations surrounding the company in the last few years. A change in leadership may just be what the doctor ordered for Activision Blizzard, but correcting past mistakes and re-iterating some important games (like Overwatch 2) will take a lot of time and work. Given the transition and ‘newness’ of it all, who knows how long we have to wait until Xbox truly shines a light on otherwise questionable and profitable franchises from Activision Blizzard.
On the bright side, the creative front for developers like Bethesda has been well-used to garner the courage and innovation needed to design and produce games like Starfield. The game’s massive success couldn’t have been noticed in the modern era of expensive games if not for the accessibility services like Game Pass provide.
More than acquiring well-versed studios like Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, Microsoft will need to maintain a consistency of great games, possibly exclusives, that bring Xbox to the top of the ‘console debate’.
Fighting Exclusives With Exclusives, Not Software and Services
Ask yourself – what makes Nintendo so great? Is it the eShop (yes, that’s worth chuckling at), or masterpieces like The Legend of Zelda, Mario, Pokemon, and so on? Say what you must about Nintendo’s otherwise controversial practices, their games just hit the mark. In fact, games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild set a benchmark for open-world games that pushed game devs and designers to experiment with their creativity and build on traditional design practices.
On Sony’s side of things, we have games like Marvel’s Spider-Man, The Last of Us, and Bloodborne (among many more) that defined generations’ worth of gaming experiences to be had simply for being a PlayStation user. So far, PlayStation 5 has been a promising console that makes use of the modern gen’s technological prowess to create extraordinary gameplay experiences.
However, this is exactly where Microsoft is fighting a different battle altogether. The company has built an exceptional subscription and cloud service model but is still finding its voice in the exclusivity conversation. The new acquisition feels like a promising one, with games like Call of Duty, Overwatch 2, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush(?) bringing Xbox to the center of attention. But, this attention will only last once in a productive way when new IPs or fruitful remasters/remakes mark Xbox as an entity of its own, not a Microsoft party trick.
If not, the $69 Billion deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard deal may as well be a one-hit-wonder that catered to the accessibility of its player base and not an Xbox game-changer the industry wants it to be.
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