Gaming Giant Microsoft Acquires Activision Blizzard for Whopping $68.7 Billion.
Breaking news in the gaming community as Microsoft reported the acquisition of publisher Activision Blizzard this week. Meaning that Xbox would own popular game franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Diablo.
The deal was made for just under 70 billion dollars, but hasn’t actually been finalized. Xbox representatives hope to close the deal sometime in 2023, what this means for the gaming community is we may see popular titles such as Call of Duty move over to being an Xbox and PC exclusive.
When Candy Crush and CoD become your actual job. Microsoft x Activision Blizzard. 🎮❤️📱https://t.co/nw4cLoaoTB pic.twitter.com/QPGt9DC2jF
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) January 18, 2022
This acquisition also holds massive effect for the realm of esports as well. As the popular multiplayer FSP game Overwatch would now be added to Xbox’s ranks as well. This is massive news as Microsoft makes moves to be one of the top gaming companies against longtime rival Sony.
This wouldn’t be the first time Microsoft has made big moves in the gaming industry either with the acquisition of Mojang and iconic title Minecraft back in 2014. Also, when Microsoft added ZeniMax the parent company of well-known studios like Bethesda. Xbox continues to release heavy hitting titles all promoting the Xbox Game Pass
The game pass was created back in 2017 and grants access to a rotating catalog of both well known and indie games. The company looks to grow their platform even more in the near future, despite reporting over 25 million active subscriptions this week. Once this deal is all settled, we may see those numbers dramatically increase.
However, the real question on everybody’s mind is how Microsoft will deal with the ever-growing controversy inside of Activision after multiple cases of sexual misconduct have come to light. Leading to widespread company walkouts last year. Microsoft of course hasn’t made any official moves yet as they wait for the deal to be approved, but they plan on having long time Xbox head Phil Spencer lead the project and company into the future of gaming. Xbox did make this tweet suggesting a culture change.
Xbox is committed to our journey for inclusion in every aspect of gaming. We hold all teams to this commitment. We’re looking forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams across Activision Blizzard.
— Xbox (@Xbox) January 18, 2022
This has come to very mixed reviews with some wondering if the parent company will be able to effectively change the toxic and unsafe work cultures that have been exposed throughout the last year. But some gamers’ have welcomed the change and want to give Xbox a chance so the gaming community can grow and become stronger.
Overall, we’ll be waiting for more information about Microsoft’s eventual plans for Activision Blizzard as the spring and summer come. Though the most concerning thing that some are discussing is the question of; Are gaming companies like Sony, Microsoft and others becoming too large? Join in on the discussion as we wait to hear more from Microsoft about their plans for the future.
