Following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, has revealed that the company is “looking forward to really doubling down both as a game producer and a publisher”.
Microsoft now owns Activision Blizzard King
15.10.2023 - 12:59 / thesixthaxis.com / Phil Spencer
Microsoft has completed their vast $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, less than half a day after the UK Competition Markets Authority (CMA) gave their approval to a revised package of concessions.
There will inevitably be a huge ripple effect to how Activision Blizzard’s games are released and viewed by gamers following this, not least because of the impact that it could have on Activision Blizzard games being released on PlayStation consoles. There are long-term commitments to keep COD on PlayStation, and there will be continued support for games like Overwatch 2, Diablo IV and others, but what about the next generation of Blizzard games? Will things slowly slide toward becoming Xbox exclusive on console?
One of the sticking points for this acquisition has been cloud gaming. Game streaming rights for the next 15 years of Activision Blizzard games are to be held by Ubisoft, as a key concession to get the CMA to agree to the sale. However, before that final, dramatic step, Microsoft had also signed deal after deal with potential cloud gaming rivals – these were enough to get the EU to agree.
So, now that the deal is finally complete, Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming said, “Players have always been at the center of everything we do. And as we grow, we’ll continue to keep players at the heart of it all. We’ll continue to listen to your feedback, build a community where you can be yourself, where developers can do their best work, and continue to make really fun games. As promised, we will also continue to make more games available in more places – and that begins now by enabling cloud streaming providers and players to stream Activision Blizzard games in the European Economic Area, a commitment made to the European Commission. Today we start the work to bring beloved Activision, Blizzard, and King franchises to Game Pass and other platforms. We’ll share more about when you can expect to play in the coming months. We know you’re excited – and we are too.”
And what about Xbox Game Pass? When will Activision Blizzard games flood onto Game Pass? Well, Activision recently stated that we should expect them to start filtering onto the subscription service in 2024.
There is, however, still the spectre of the FTC, who have vowed to continue fighting against this deal. The FTC lost an attempt to block the acquisition back in July, so Microsoft has been able to complete without their approval, but are preparing a fresh case that could force Microsoft to make more concessions, divest parts of ABK, or more… should they win.
Source: Xbox
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Update: Well, there we go. Microsoft has wasted no time, and has officially concluded the transaction to acquire Activision Blizzard King. The announcement comes via Xbox Wire, where Phil Spencer writes about this historic merger. Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard King, will remain in place for at least the rest of 2023.
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