By Tom Warren, a senior editor covering Microsoft, PC gaming, console, and tech. He founded WinRumors, a site dedicated to Microsoft news, before joining The Verge in 2012.
Read Phil Spencer’s Memo To The Recently Acquired Activision Blizzard Employees
13.10.2023 - 15:37 / gameranx.com / Phil Spencer / Bobby Kotick
It was a long battle for Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard. The video game industry had been watching this deal closely ever since Microsoft made the bid to merge the company under the Microsoft brand for an astonishing $68 billion. This deal brought massive numbers, but it wasn’t a smooth process. The regulators in various markets had to cover this deal closely, with the CMA being the last to give their approval. We knew that approval was coming in a matter of days as we entered this month. The approval was given today, and now we’re seeing the reactions.
For instance, one of the key members of the Xbox team is Phil Spencer. Thanks to The Verge, we have the internal memo that was apparently released to employees across Activision Blizzard. The memo is essentially a welcome to the Microsoft team while noting Activision Blizzard’s incredible accomplishments in the video game industry. We’ve seen several franchises really thrive in the marketplace, and we’re sure that this trend will continue now under the umbrella of Microsoft. Meanwhile, we know that the CEO of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick, will be sticking around until the end of this year.
Phil Spencer notes that Bobby will continue to work in order to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible. From there, we’ll see Phil Spencer, among other team members from Xbox, visit the various offices of Activision Blizzard. Of course, for players, this means that we’ll eventually see titles land on the Xbox Game Pass subscription service. It should also give the games an even more extensive reach, with new players getting a chance to try some of their past titles or new upcoming releases due to the games landing on the popular Xbox subscription service.
With all that said, it will take some time before we start seeing games land on Xbox Game Pass. This deal just went through today, so we’ll likely see more news emerge about Game Pass additions or new game announcements from the development teams as we head into the upcoming year. In the meantime, you can view the memo published under The Verge below from Xbox’s Phil Spencer.
Today is a good day to play. We have completed the acquisition of Activision Blizzard and are welcoming Activision Blizzard and its businesses to Microsoft Gaming.
Activision, Blizzard, and King publish some of the most played and most beloved franchises in gaming history, from Pitfall to Call of Duty, Warcraft to Overwatch, Candy Crush Saga to Farm Heroes Super Saga. By combining Xbox with Activision Blizzard’s skill, knowledge, and amazing legacy of games, we will bring the joy and community of gaming to even more players around the world.
We are eager to learn from their creativity, exchange insights and best
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19.10.2023 / 19:53
Phil Spencer says Call of Duty exclusivity deals are done
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18.10.2023 / 21:45
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18.10.2023 / 16:13
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18.10.2023 / 14:01
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gameranx.com
18.10.2023 / 14:01
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18.10.2023 / 11:51
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18.10.2023 / 11:39
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18.10.2023 / 10:33
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18.10.2023 / 10:27
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18.10.2023 / 09:43
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17.10.2023 / 23:13
Phil Spencer Explains Why There Won't be any Activision Games on Game Pass in 2023
So, Xbox owns Activision-Blizzard now, right? So why are Call of Duty and Diablo not on Game Pass yet? That's been a question on many people's minds lately now that Xbox's massive acquisition has finally closed. And today, Xbox head Phil Spencer showed up on the Official Xbox Podcast to try and answer it.