Cliff Bleszinski, the creator behind the Gears of War series, has suggested the games get a God of War-style reboot. Oh, and that Xbox just needs to give him a call.
24.10.2023 - 14:05 / techradar.com / Phil Spencer
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”.
In an interview with Axel Springer (via Insider), Nadella was asked about the importance of the deal being approved, and he spoke about the company being able to make a “real contribution” to consumer markets.
“When I think about Microsoft, I think of perhaps developer tools, proprietary software, and gaming. Those are three things that we've done from the very beginning,” Nadella explained. “And so, to us, gaming is the one place where we think we have a real contribution to make in consumer markets.
“If I look at it, the amount of time people allocate to gaming is going up and Gen Z is going to do more of that. The way games are made, the way the games are delivered, is changing radically. Whether it's mobile, or consoles, or PCs, or even the cloud,” he continued. “So, we're looking forward to really doubling down both as a game producer and a publisher. Now we'll be one of the largest game publishers and also as a company that's building platforms for it.”
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision was officially closed earlier this month, following the UK regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, giving its approval to an amended version of the deal. It blocked the original deal over concerns that it could harm competition in cloud gaming in the UK, but Microsoft addressed this by stating that it will sell the cloud streaming rights for current and new Activision games (releasing across the next 15 years) to Ubisoft.
In a statement released when the deal was closed, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said: «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.»
If you’re on the lookout for some brilliant new game recommendations, be sure to take a look at our list of the best Xbox Series X games . You can also keep up with what’s around the corner with our roundup of upcoming games .
Cliff Bleszinski, the creator behind the Gears of War series, has suggested the games get a God of War-style reboot. Oh, and that Xbox just needs to give him a call.
Microsoft has announced an upcoming Xbox Partner Preview broadcast event set for October 25 at 10am Pacific / 1pm Eastern / 6pm UK.
Whether you think Microsoft's recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard is a move toward a dry gaming monopoly or a financial windfall for Activision and Blizzard games both, it's definitely happened. The UK's CMA has given the thumbs up, Kotick's on his way out—the deal's closed, and now we get to see the impact ripples spread.
Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard games won't appear on Xbox Game Pass until next year. On the Official Xbox Podcast, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer claimed that players wouldn't be seeing a big drop of those titles immediately, due to the lengthy regulatory challenges the company faced in its buyout attempt. Since it was uncertain whether the acquisition would be approved by Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) until recently, Xbox wasn't able to do the groundwork for adding the catalogue to their gaming subscription service. Ahead of the deal's closure, Activision Blizzard confirmed on Twitter that the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and newly-launched Diablo IV won't be coming to Game Pass soon, but Spencer's statement covers older titles as well.
US tech giant Microsoft has completed its acquisition of games giant Activision Blizzard.
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.
After two years co-piloting the biggest acquisition in video game history past an onslaught of challenges, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer now moves on to his next quest: making Microsoft's takeover of Activision Blizzard worth the hassle. Microsoft, which owns the Xbox gaming system, closed its $69 billion deal to buy game-maker Activision Blizzard on Friday after fending off global opposition from antitrust regulators and rivals.
Xbox maker Microsoft closed its $69 billion (nearly Rs. 5,75,620 crore) deal for Activision Blizzard on Friday, swelling its heft in the video-gaming market with best-selling titles including Call of Duty to better compete with industry leader Sony.
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.
It’s been a long time coming, but after the FTC’s failed attempt to stop the acquisition it was just a matter of time, and after Microsoft agreed to license out it’s cloud divion, the British CMA have finally given the green light, mere hours later, Xbox closed the deal and Activision, Blizzard and King are now part of the Xbox family.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is finally complete, with the $68.7 billion deal gaining approval from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). In a new email to employees, CEO Bobby Kotick has confirmed that he will stay on until the end of 2023 to help with the transition.
Microsoft has beencleared to acquire Activision Blizzard by UK regulators, removing the last hurdle standing in the way of closing the deal.