Microsoft could finally officially acquire Activision Blizzard, but that doesn’t mean you’ll see its games on Game Pass soon
The business world is a murky and complicated terrain. If navigating negotiations, conflicts, and plans is already challenging, it becomes even more difficult when one has to consider all the regulations and state bodies that impose, at times, seemingly arbitrary conditions. Just ask Microsoft, which, with its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, has gone through a true ordeal that, it seems, is going to end this very week.
Almost two years after the acquisition was announced, it appears that this Friday the 13th, the purchase of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft will be finalized. This will mark the end of a saga that has been valued at $68.7 billion and has been dragging on since January 2022, involving several legal battles.
Many fans are hopeful that this means Activision Blizzard games will come to Xbox Game Pass. Just like all Microsoft games debut on the service on day one, it would be logical for games from this new company within the conglomerate to do the same, even retroactively. However, both companies have clarified that, for that to happen, we will have to wait beyond the purchase date.
On one hand, Microsoft has stated that they want to ‘offer as many Activision Blizzard games as possible on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new games and titles from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog.’ This was something Activision Blizzard clarified in a statement last Monday. ‘While we have no plans to put Modern Warfare III or Diablo IV on Game Pass this year, once the deal is closed, we look forward to working with Xbox to bring our titles to more players around the world.’
It’s worth noting that Modern Warfare III is set to be released on November 10, so unless something unexpected happens, it could be available on Game Pass on day one if they wanted. Therefore, it’s expected that these kinds of moves, if they happen, may not start occurring until at least 2024. This will be a real disappointment for many fans who were eagerly anticipating this moment precisely for this reason.
Overwatch 2 Season 6 is finally here, including the first co-op missions and a new heroine filling a requested role gap.
Overwatch 2 may have shelved the promised campaign, but that doesn’t mean it’s given up on delivering new content. Pushing forward with its seasons, it continues to inject fresh elements regularly, much to the delight of its dedicated fan base who still engage with this once-acclaimed shooter that propelled hero shooters into unprecedented popularity. And now, the spotlight falls on the sixth season, aptly named Invasion.
Overwatch 2: Invasion will include the first three cooperative story missions, which were initially planned as part of this year’s single-player mode that was subsequently canceled. Additionally, it will feature a PvE event in King’s Row, a capture mode named Flashpoint paired with two maps, and mastery missions designed to hone our hero skills. This practice will come in handy because the most special inclusion of all is a new playable character that seems to fill an intriguing gap between the existing roles.
Named Illari, this new heroine is a support character of Peruvian origin equipped with a unique healing ability and a healing drone that can attach to walls, along with some DPS capabilities. While her exact abilities have not been officially unveiled, the trailer introducing this new season has given us a rough idea of what to expect from this promising new addition to the game’s roster.
The release of Overwatch 2: Invasion is set for August 10th at 9:00 PM in Spain. The price for the release will be €15, which will include, along with Invasion, 1000 Overwatch coins, a new legendary skin for Sojourn, and Sojourn herself. A great deal for Overwatch 2 fans who have already thoroughly enjoyed this title.
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Microsoft is in the news for buying Activision, but those of us who are in luck are the players for an unexpected move by Steam
Anyone following the video game news is getting a bit tired of the legal drama surrounding Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Although it feels like it’s coming to a close with a happy ending for Microsoft, the truth is we still have to wait to see how everything unfolds. Nevertheless, it seems like the merger is already considered a done deal, and at the very least, there are some changes that already reflect Microsoft’s influence. For example, all Blizzard games are now set to arrive on Steam.
Until now, all Blizzard games were exclusively available on their own platform, Battle.net. However, that is about to change as Blizzard is starting to publish its games on Steam as well. The first game to make its way to Valve’s platform will be Overwatch 2, which is set to release on August 10.
While the most plausible explanation for this change could be Microsoft’s influence over the company, given the apparent certainty of the merger, there has been no official confirmation regarding this matter. All that Blizzard has shared so far is through their president, Mike Ybarra, who stated their intention is to reach a wider audience with their games. Listening to player feedback and recognizing their desire to play games through Steam, Blizzard has decided to collaborate with Valve to make this possible in the near future.
Exactly, this move to publish games on Steam doesn’t imply that Blizzard is abandoning Battle.net. They haven’t announced which games will follow Overwatch 2 to Steam or when this will happen. Additionally, their games will continue to release on Battle.net unless otherwise specified. Most importantly, to play Blizzard games on Steam, players will still need to have a Battle.net account for access. Therefore, while players can form teams using their Steam friend list and earn achievements on the platform, they will still be bound by the constraints of Blizzard’s proprietary platform.
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Call of Duty is one of the most played franchises in the world, but what we never expected is that it wasn’t exactly on PC.
Call of Duty is one of the most played games in the world. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. There are people who don’t play video games, they play Call of Duty, and that’s why it’s no wonder that their numbers are absolutely staggering when we think about the number of people playing the franchise’s titles and the number of games they sell. However, what might catch us off guard is the platform where most of these players are. Because it’s not the one that most of us would expect.
Thanks to the testimony of Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, in the FTC trial against Microsoft regarding the purchase of their company, he has provided data, among many other things, about the platforms where Call of Duty is predominantly played. Surprisingly, it is neither PlayStation nor PC. It is mobile devices.
According to the information provided, mobile platforms have the highest number of daily active users for Call of Duty games. With an average of 35.7 million players, the franchise has more users on mobile platforms than all other platforms combined, with 17.5 million on PC, 11.2 million on PlayStation, and 5.6 million on Xbox. This trend is consistent when looking at the monthly active user figures as well. With nearly fifty million monthly active users on mobile devices, reaching 49.98 million, PC falls behind with 24.5 million, PlayStation with 15.68 million, and Xbox with 7.84 million. This explains why Microsoft offered favorable conditions to Sony to acquire Call of Duty: because their largest player base is on mobile devices.
Indeed, this information should be taken with caution. While it is true that it comes from Bobby Kotick and was given under oath in a trial, we do not know to what extent these figures are real or accurate. What we do know is that it gives us a much clearer and more precise picture of what is happening behind the scenes with Call of Duty. While we may have thought that it was primarily a game played on PC, it seems that its main platform all this time has been tablets and mobile phones.
Some of the links added in the article are part of affiliate campaigns and may represent benefits for Softonic.
After a bit of a bumpy ride, Diablo IV has finally been accidentally released, being an absolute success with critics and audiences.
Diablo IV has officially been released. After server issues, with queues of up to 30 minutes and lag even once connected to the game, Diablo IV is now available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows.
Continuing the events of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, Diablo IV was announced on November 1, 2019, at BlizzCon 2019. With glaring issues in the betas, problems due to the COVID crisis, and the scandals that Activision Blizzard has faced, Diablo IV has encountered numerous challenges that it has finally managed to overcome, given the impressive critical and public reception the game is receiving.
Diablo IV is one of the clear contenders for Game of the Year. And after its official release at 1 AM, it is now available for everyone.
Blizzard has officially launched Diablo IV, now available on all current and previous generation platforms.
Diablo IV is already practically among us and we give you all the keys you need to be able to get into it without having to think about it.
Diablo IV is just around the corner and chances are you already have it pre-ordered. In fact, there are many incentives to do so. Between the pre-load, the possibility of playing it a little earlier than the rest of the mortals and the very fact of being assured that you will be able to enjoy it from the very minute it is available, Blizzards has given us plenty of reasons to want to make our reservation of one of the most anticipated games of the year.
Now, all of this can get confusing. That’s why we’re here today. To guide you through the jumble of dates, facts, and to-dos that is Diablo IV’s release. Here we’ve compiled all the information you need to enjoy Diablo IV from minute one without having to worry about anything more than pre-ordering it.
If you want to make sure that you will not have any problem to play Diablo IV at its release, the best thing you can do is to pre-download the game. The possibility to pre-download the game will start on May 30 at 13:00, Spanish time. How to do this will differ subtly between PC and consoles. On PC you will only need to enter Battle.net, go to the games section, search for Diablo IV, select the final version and click Download. On PlayStation and Xbox you will have to enter their respective stores, search for Diablo IV and start the download there.
When can I start playing?
When you will be able to start playing will depend entirely on which edition of the game you have purchased. If you bought the Deluxe or Ultimate Edition, you will have early access that will allow you to play four days before the game’s official release, on Friday, June 2. If you bought the normal edition, you will have to wait until the official launch day, Tuesday, June 6. In both cases, the launch time in Spain is not considered midnight, as usual in these cases, but one hour later, at 1:00.
In short, you will be able to play Diablo IV as of these dates depending on the version of the game you have purchased:
If you have the Deluxe or Ultimate Edition: Friday, June 2 at 01:00 a.m.
If you have the normal edition: Tuesday, June 6 at 01:00 a.m.
NVIDIA, to ensure that the launch of Diablo IV goes as smoothly as possible, released on May 30 drivers specifically designed to improve the performance of its cards with Diablo IV. Although in principle the GeForce Experience application should update automatically or at least alert you that you have a new update available, if this is not the case, the drivers you need to download are the GeForce Game Ready 535.98 WHQL. With that, you will have your computer ready to play Diablo IV with the experience that NVIDIA has been refining for its users.
What’s up with PvP?
A lot of people are going to dive headfirst into PvP in Diablo IV and it’s normal. It has been part of the experience of playing Diablo for many years and it is normal that it is an intrinsic part of the experience. Now, Blizzards have already warned that this will not be honorable combat, but real carnage where we can expect the worst to happen and where people should go in knowing that people are not going to fight fairly.
That said, if you want to fight in player vs. player battles you will have to head to specific areas of Sanctuary called Fields of Hate, where players will be able to battle against each other to proclaim themselves the strongest. In any case, a word of warning. In Diablo IV’s highest difficulty mode, death is permanent, and that doesn’t change in the Fields of Hate. Therefore, if you want to avoid getting an upset, do not go into these places unless you are very clear about the consequences of your actions. And that nobody there thinks to play fair.
Do I have to checkout once I have purchased the game?
Diablo IV is intended as a game as a service and weight means that, to have all the content that will be released, we will need to go through box. With periodic battle passes, the first one in early June, and with content that advances the campaign every three months, the game will have a progression of 27 free and 63 premium categories. Thus, there will be three battle pass modes, divided between free, premium (which gives us access to premium rewards) and accelerated (which gives us access to premium rewards with 20 levels already completed and a gift gesture).
In summary, the price of each of the battle pass modalities is as follows:
Battle Pass: Free; only access to 27 rewards from the reward tree.
Premium Battle Pass: 1000 platinum, equivalent to 9.99€ ; gives access to the 90 rewards of the reward tree.
Accelerated Battle Pass: 2800 platinum, equivalent to 24.99€; gives access to all 90 rewards in the reward tree, with 20 rewards already unlocked and a gift gesture.
Conclusion
With this you already know everything you need to know to enter Sanctuary without fear. All that’s left is to get ready and enjoy Diablo IV.
Bobby Kotick sees a future in AIs to do what he believes humans can’t do, but the public, industry, and lawmakers see it differently.
The video game is full of memorable villains. Bowser, Ganondorf, Sephirot, Doctor Eggmann or Albert Wesker are names that quickly come to mind to anyone who wants to think of the worst of the worst. Of people who have made our lives miserable, brightening countless afternoons in the process. Unfortunately, in the video game industry there are also villains, much more real, who seem dedicated only to being a caricature of a human being. Among them, our favorite is probably Bobby Kotick.
Born in 1963 in the United States -we cannot give more biographical data because, in fact, he has never wanted to disclose them-, he is the CEO of Activision Blizzard since 2008, and will remain so at least until the purchase of the company by Microsoft is completed. Among many other things, Bobby Kotick is a person who has been accused and investigated for sexual harassment, since under his leadership the working environment of the company has become so toxic that a woman was harassed until she was driven to suicide, and his public statements are so controversial that, not infrequently, his words have significantly lowered the value of the company in the stock market. Bobby Kotick generates fewer problems the less he talks and the more he delegates, but to the frustration of people in his company, he has decided to talk about one of the most fashionable topics today: the use of AI.
During a conference last week Kotick has stated that he thinks AI can play a big role in video game development. Stating that AI “started with the idea of beating games, whether it was Warcraft, or Dota, or Starcraft, or Go, or chess,” he said that it has now evolved into something beyond that, into language learning models, but that it has always been a technology closely associated with video games. Thus, he believes that the use of AI “will allow us to do things that we have not been able to do in a long time”. And what’s his example? Resurrecting the Guitar Hero franchise.
Exactly how he would do that is something he hasn’t explained in terms intelligible to anyone other than Bobby Kotick. Claiming that “I’ve always had an idea of what a new Guitar Hero product could be” thanks to AIs, everything he’s said about it is a concatenation of sentences that barely make any sense on their own, much less when they try to conjure up some kind of idea. If we have to guess what he might have in mind, we can assume he means that the AI could create inputs from any song players input, without the need for programmers to create the patterns for each particular track, but since he hasn’t clarified anything at all, we don’t know what exactly he’s referring to.
What we do know is that Blizzard has patented a technology that would serve for an AI to create visual content by feeding in designs created by the company’s artists. Something that some former employees of the company have harshly criticized and that Blizzard’s own president has defended, arguing that it will be used to allow artists to focus exclusively on the valuable tasks of their production. But the problem is the same as always. If technology allows them to replace their employees, what prevents them from doing so?
If China serves as an example, its own customers. Gamers. Because recently, some of the world’s largest video game companies such as Tencent, NetEase and miHoYo decided to try to streamline their production process by using AI-generated art in their video games. This has led to fierce criticism from Chinese gamers, criticizing these publishers for creating “digital carcasses”, even leading the Chinese government to consider creating a new law requiring companies to specify whether any kind of AI has been created to create their content. Something that could deal a severe blow to anyone wanting to use AI-generated content, given the stiff opposition it generates among the public.
That’s why Bobby Kotick can play innocent and hide behind Mike Ybarra, but the reality is that it’s hard not to see that behind his passionate, if rather incoherent, defense of AIs is business as usual: a way to generate more money at the expense of his employees and consumers. That’s why we can only define him as a villain. Even as our favorite villain. Because no other villain is so transparently diabolical in the video game industry. Nor does anyone seem to have it so easy to get away with it as Bobby Kotick.
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The problem is not Xbox or Activision Blizzard, who are wanting it, but that each country has to approve the acquisition individually.
We are only two months away from the release of Diablo IV and the hype is growing among gamers… Especially because it is increasingly likely to be released on Xbox One Game Pass and Xbox S and X Series. But before you gloat and start picking your class and preparing your strategy against Lilith, keep in mind that it’s not entirely clear. And the problem is not Xbox’s or Activision Blizzard’s, who are looking forward to it, but that each country has to approve the acquisition individually.
Nihon ga saisho ni yatta!
On October 7, 2022, Brazil was the first relevant country in the industry to approve the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which would make Microsoft the third largest video game company in the world. However, it was a somewhat pyrrhic victory: it was already known that it was not going to be a slam dunk. In fact, Sony president Jim Ryan traveled to several countries to explain that the move would be unfair to PlayStation gamers.
However, it hasn’t quite worked out for him, because now it is Japan that, after Serbia, Chile and Saudi Arabia, has given the go-ahead to spend $69 billion to acquire Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and the Diablo saga, among many others. The Japanese Fair Trade Federation has concluded that strengthening the deal would not noticeably restrict competition in the industry.
It is also true that Xbox accounts for a ridiculous percentage of the market there, so if anything it would encourage a little more competition there. However, the most important body remains that of the United States, whose laws are different from Japan’s but surprisingly similar to Japan’s in this area. The Commerce Commission has already sued Microsoft trying to stop the agreement with Activision Blizzard, but everything seems to indicate that it will come to nothing, giving even more power to the “Yes”.
In fact, analysts believe that by mid-2023 they could have a free hand. And then a new video game giant will be born. How will Sony react? Will Nintendo care at all? We will find out in the next few years, which promise to be exciting. With or without Call of Duty on Xbox.
68,700 Billions is a lot of money, but what are the reasons behind?
Yesterday, we released the first article in our three-part series concerning Microsoft and its plans to acquire gaming giant Activision Blizzard. We covered the changes that could be coming to Activision’s gaming titles and what the acquisition would mean for gamers.
Today, we’re going to focus primarily on the business side of the coin. This article will explore the impact that this acquisition will mean on the gaming industry, as well as Microsoft’s slew of gaming behemoth acquisitions in recent years, and how they’ve affected the company and its competitors. We’ll also delve briefly into whether this veritable pantheon of game creators that Microsoft is building qualifies as a monopoly and what that means for the industry’s future.
Note: The third article will cover the details of the EU regulators’ investigations at length, so we won’t be spending too much time on that today. Now that we’ve addressed the basics, let’s get into the details, shall we?
Is Microsoft building a monopoly over the gaming industry?
In business, monopoly is a very dangerous term, one that signifies one entity having near-full control over a particular industry. A clear-cut monopoly would be for every major video gaming franchise to hail from one company. So, to achieve a true monopoly, Microsoft would need to own a great deal more than just Activision Blizzard.
The current situation within the gaming industry is not one where a monopoly is likely. Yes, Microsoft has acquired quite an enviable suite of game creators, but they are far from the biggest in the industry. That title still belongs to Sony and their PlayStation division, for now.
What gaming companies does Microsoft own?
A little further down, we’ll discuss the companies listed below in more detail. For now, however, we’re merely listing the companies that Microsoft has acquired or established within recent years in order to bolster it’s foothold in the gaming market. Activision Blizzard is not going to appear on this list, as the acquisition is still pending.
ZeniMax Media
In September 2021, Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media for an extraordinary $7.5 billion. ZeniMax Media is a publisher with a host of game development houses within its stables. The acquisition became official on the 9th of March this year, and greatly increased the selection of games that Xbox Game Pass subscribers have access to.
ZeniMax Media encompasses prolific studios such as Bethesda Game Studios, Roundhouse Studios, and Tango Gameworks, among others. In total, Microsoft gained the IP of 8 game studios. The most popular titles that Microsoft now has near unbridled access to under this acquisition are titles such as the Fallout franchise, Quake, DOOM, and The Elder Scrolls franchise.
In addition to the above-mentioned publisher, Microsoft has also acquired a number of developers not housed by publishing firms. The rest of this list will cover those formerly independent developers.
343 Industries
Microsoft didn’t acquire 343 Industries but instead, created it in 2007, shortly after Bungie shipped Halo 3 to stores. In the same year, Bungie announced its intention to split from Microsoft, but the rights to the then-in-circulation Halo games remained with Microsoft. Bungie went on to develop Halo titles until 2010. 343 Industries was named after the Halo character 343 Guilty Spark. Microsoft created 343 Industries as the new steward for the Halo franchise, in response to losing Bungie.
Rare
Microsoft acquired Rare on the 24th of September, 2002. This is one of the company’s first developer acquisitions and led to Rare becoming one of Xbox’s first first-party developers. Microsoft bought Rare for a measly by comparison $375 million. Because Rare is such an old developer, it has a well-stocked roster of games such as Sea of Thieves, GoldenEye 007, Banjo Kazooie, Battletoads, and Perfect Dark. The developer also has an upcoming game called Everwild.
The Coalition
The Coalition is another Microsoft-created developer. The developer was initially known as Black Tusk but took the name The Coalition in 2012. The Coalition is most famous for the Gears of War franchise, but the developer has numerous other games such as the Relic Rescue Facebook game, Microsoft Flight, which was exclusive to Microsoft Windows, and The Matrix Awakens, which was developed in 2021.
Mojang
Mojang is one of Microsoft’s most famous acquisitions. Microsoft bought Mojang in November 2014 for $2.5 billion. Mojang is most famous for Minecraft and Minecraft Dungeons. However, the studio has released numerous other games under the stewardship of Markus Persson, such as Caller’s Bane and Crown and Council. Minecraft is one of the most successful games in the industry’s history, if not the most successful, and its popularity now boosts that of Microsoft and its Xbox Game Pass service.
Playground Games
Microsoft acquired Playground Games in 2018 for an undisclosed amount. Playground Games is the powerhouse developer behind the Forza franchise, including Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport. Forza Horizon 5 is currently the highest-rated Xbox exclusive game on the market. The developer is also working on another game at present called Fable.
Ninja Theory
Ninja Theory joined Rare under the Xbox Game Studios banner in June, 2018. The amount that Microsoft paid for Ninja Theory is largely unknown, but the acquisition gave Microsoft access to an incredible roster of games. Among these are Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Heavenly Sword, Devil May Cry, and Disney Infinity. The studio is currently working on Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga.
Compulsion Games
Compulsion Games is another studio that was acquired by Microsoft in 2028 for an undisclosed amount. As far as its most famous games go, Compulsion Games has but two; Contrast and We Happy Few.
Undead Labs
Microsoft was incredibly busy acquiring game studios in 2018, as you’ve seen above. Undead Labs is yet another studio that formed part of the mass 2018 acquisition. Undead Labs is known mainly for developing State of Decay, and the studio is currently working on State of Decay 3.
Obsidian Entertainment
You can probably guess by now what year Obsidian Entertainment became part of the Microsoft family; yes, 2018. This developer is well-known for numerous games and titles such as Fallout: New Vegas, The Outer Worlds, Pillars of Eternity, and Grounded.
Double Fine
Here’s a change, Microsoft bought Double Fine in June of 2019. We don’t know how much Microsoft paid for Double Fine, but we do know the studio for games such as Broken Age, Psychonauts, and Grim Fandango Remastered.
Why is Microsoft paying so much for Activision Blizzard?
In order for Activision Blizzard to make it onto the list above, Microsoft has to pay an astronomical $69 Billion. For reference, $69 Billion is higher than the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of Costa Rica, Luxembourg, Panama,Bahrain, or Iceland. It’s a lot of money. Microsoft is ready and willing to shell this exorbitant number out on Activision Blizzard, but why?
Microsoft is willing to pay so much for a game publisher because of how it could affect the gaming industry in the future. It’s no secret that Microsoft isn’t the biggest player in the gaming industry. In fact, Microsoft accounts for only 20% of the console gaming market. That leaves a lot to be desired when you’re trying to build what will essentially be the Netflix of gaming.
The only way for Microsoft to realistically drive up its console user base is to provide incentive for players to buy an Xbox over anything else. This is where console exclusives come in. A console exclusive is essentially a deal between a developer and a console manufacturer, such as Polyphony Digital and Sony.
This deal ensures that in order to play Polyphony Digital’s games, such as the Gran Turismo franchise, players would need to buy a Sony PlayStation, as this is the only platform where these games are available. You cannot play any of the Gran Turismo games on a PC or Xbox console. Therefore, Sony and its PlayStation platform have exclusive rights to the Gran Turismo game and exclusive access to its players.
However, for other games, it isn’t entirely as cut and dried. Many people believe that Call of Duty, developed by Infinity Ward, is a PlayStation exclusive. But it hasn’t been for a long time. Right now, you can play Call of Duty: Ghost, Vanguard and Modern Warfare II on Xbox as well as PlayStation. Yet, there are certain in-game perks that are only available on PlayStation. Numerous other titles work this way too; even though they aren’t fully exclusive to one console or another, they provide perks for players on certain platforms and not for those on others.
This dynamic that game developers and publishers have with console manufacturers is bound to change after the acquisition goes through and Microsoft officially owns Activision Blizzard. We’re bound to see a lot more games turn into Xbox and PC exclusives, and more games will likely be available on Xbox Game Pass than ever before. This means that more people than before will be buying PCs and Xbox consoles in order to enjoy the latest releases by developers housed within Activision Blizzard’s stables.
This is what Microsoft is paying $69 Billion for; not the company or its games, but the influence that those incredible titles have over consumers and the choices that they make when it comes to buying consoles and gaming systems.
How will this acquisition affect Sony?
I want to interject here for a minute. We’ll cover what this means for Xbox in a bit, but I wanted to give Sony some love. Sony’s world is likely going to be very different after the acquisition goes through. Depending on the concessions that Microsoft is forced to make, Sony is likely going to lose a lot of its associated games and developers.
See, publishers see what happens when you join the Microsoft family, especially now with Xbox Game Pass. This pass basically means that more people will be able to play your game for far cheaper than the full price they’d have to pay on PlayStation. Xbox Game Pass lets you pay a small fee each month and choose from a revolving roster of the most popular games. Around $10 a month to play any game you want, for as long as you want, as many times as you want, on PC or Xbox? That’s the benchmark for developers right now. More players mean a wider audience, which is bound to drive up game sales in the future.
Sony doesn’t work the same way. Yes, it has a subscription service as well, but it’s complicated and far less enticing. Essentially, you now have three tiers, whereas you used just to have PlayStation Plus. Each tier comes with its own perks, unique titles, and features that you can choose. Sony claims that this lets users create the perfect package with only the features that they want. But Xbox Game Pass is so much easier. One pass, countless games. Even Electronic Arts’ EA Play is more straightforward and intuitive.
Short of joining the needlessly complicated PlayStation subscription service, your only option is to pay full price for each game. Games are expensive. If PlayStation doesn’t create a more user-friendly and less intricate subscription system, it’s going to lose gamers to Microsoft and Xbox. The acquisition becoming finalized will mean far less PlayStation exclusive content, likely less PlayStation console sales, and might even lead to the decline of Sony’s 64.5% majority share in the console gaming market.
How will this acquisition affect Xbox?
We’ve already touched on this a few times by now, but the acquisition will likely lead to a massive windfall for Xbox. To be clear, the acquisition being made official doesn’t mean that all of Activision Blizzard’s IP will become Xbox exclusives. In fact, Xbox has already confirmed that Call of Duty, in particular, will remain on PlayStation.
Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, recently stated in an interview that ‘As long as there’s a PlayStation out there to ship to, our intent is that we continue to ship Call of Duty on PlayStation, similar to what we’ve done with Minecraft. Since we’ve owned that, we’ve expanded the places people can play Minecraft. We haven’t reduced the places, and it’s been good for the Minecraft community, in my opinion, and I want to do the same as we think about where Call of Duty can go over the years.’
This statement actually changes the entire reality of the acquisition. Microsoft does not intend to take games away from platforms, but rather make them available on more platforms. This kind of business approach may seem counterintuitive. But you need to remember that while there may be a rivalry between Xbox and PlayStation, neither company is trying to decimate the other. However, the fact still remains that people aren’t likely to own more than one console at a time, and consumers are likely to opt for the console with the greatest choice and best service.
At the moment, the best service award goes to Xbox for its Xbox Game Pass, but PlayStation still has more games by AAA developers. The acquisition, while it may not take games from PlayStation, will certainly bring more games to Xbox and Xbox Game Pass. This is bound to make Xbox the more attractive option among the two consoles and drive up Xbox sales and Microsoft’s market share in the console gaming industry.
To summarise
Microsoft could have done a heck of a lot with $96 Billion. But theorizing about how many islands, mansions, or yachts Microsoft execs could have bought for that money would be ignorant. That kind of line of commentary would be appropriate if the situation was that Microsoft found it had $69 Billion just lying around and wanted to blow it.
Then, we could theorize about all the other things that the company could have bought. However, the situation is that Microsoft doesn’t want anything else. Microsoft wants more relevance in the wider gaming industry. That is what Microsoft is paying for.
On the 18th of January 2022, Microsoft announced that it intends to purchase Acitvision Blizzard Inc. The move concerns certain establishments, such as European Union regulators. However, should the deal go through, what will thefuture of gaminglook like for the people it affects most; gamers?
While other articles will focus on the implications of the buyout on the gaming industry, on the whole, this piece will pay exclusive attention to how you, the gamers, are likely to be affected. Will this move, as Microsoft declares, make gaming more accessible and safer? Or is it likely to have other effects that neither company has mentioned thus far?
Why Microsoft wants to buy Activision Blizzard
Before we jump into what I usually term the ‘meat’ of the article, I’d like to dedicate a small section to the reasons behind the proposed purchase. Both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard – the force behind World of Warcraft – are willing participants; there doesn’t seem to be any publicly acknowledged contention between either party. The only point of contention, it seems, is that of the EU regulators, where words like ‘monopoly’ have been thrown around. But otherwise, the deal seems to be without contention.
There are numerous reasons for the acquisition, as highlighted by the New York Times a day after the acquisition announcement. As the article states, the future of the gaming industry looks more like a Hollywood production studio building up a compelling roster of well-known gaming franchises and titles. The current trend, therefore, is to try and acquire companies that know how to make compelling games, companies like Activision Blizzard.
Within recent years, Microsoft has expanded its focus within the gaming industry to more than just its Xbox console. In particular, Microsoft is shifting its focus to cloud gaming, an emerging technology that will see high-powered devices matter less and less. In this new world, people will be able to play AAA titles on anything from an old Android phone to a core-i3 laptop with nothing to show but an internet connection.
Acquiring a massive player in gaming development like Activision Blizzard will help Microsoft reach a far wider gaming audience than if it were to carry on on its own. This way, Microsoft gains the means to spread its influence in the gaming market even further, while also gaining access to some of the most compelling titles in the industry’s history.
The other big reason behind the acquisition might lie in the popularity of mobile gaming. Mobile gaming is one of the most popular types of gaming at the moment. In the announcement, Microsoft stated that ‘nearly 95% of all players globally’ enjoy gaming on mobile devices.
Microsoft doesn’t have a massive foothold in the mobile gaming market. However, Activision Blizzard does, in the form of King, the game maker behind Candy Crush and Diablo Immortal. If it acquires Activision Blizzard, Microsoft will have the vast mobile reach of developers like King under its ever-broadening umbrella.
What the Activision Blizzard acquisition means for gamers
There has been a lot of speculation lately as to whether the acquisition will result in better games or the ability to play certain titles on more platforms. Here is a short run-down of changes that we could see coming to the gaming industry should the deal go through.
More Microsoft mobile games
As previously established, Microsoft is not a major player in the dominant mobile gaming sector. However, we could see Microsoft stepping into the mobile gaming market with a massive advantage in the coming months or years. We could even see a mobile variant of the Xbox Game Pass, which would make it even easier and more affordable to enjoy AAA mobile gaming titles.
Increased Xbox Game Pass availability
It would be an oversight to mention how Xbox Game Passes could change mobile gaming without touching on how they’ve already revolutionized PC gaming. Essentially, a Game Pass lets you pay a small fee each month to play a vast catalog of PC games. This is opposed to other platforms or services, where you have to pay for each game individually.
Companies like Electronic Arts have since also started offering such a service with EA Play. Here, you pay a small fee each month and that entitles you to essentially the entire EA catalog. You can play anything without buying it outright. Subscription-based entertainment services are the future, as we’ve seen with streaming services like Netflix.
With the acquisition, the Xbox Game Pass will likely grow to be even more valuable than it already is. Gamers will likely be able to play games that, outside of the acquisition, are currently only playable on select platforms and services. The inclusion of these titles under the Xbox Game Pass banner will likely lead to the service gaining even more relevance in the gaming market.
More diverse platforms
We touched on cloud gaming and its importance to the future of gaming. Microsoft already plans on increasing its investments in cloud gaming services that essentially render platforms irrelevant. Basically, with cloud gaming, you’d be able to play a host of games supported by the vendor’s infrastructure, not that which you buy yourself.
You’ll be relying on Microsoft’s servers for game stability, instead of your own hardware. This is why we say that you’d theoretically be able to play games on anything from an old phone to an otherwise useless-for-gaming laptop. Imagine having all the titles, past and present, created by Activision Blizzard on this new ‘platform?’ How incredible would that be?
The future of gaming looks bright
Gaming is the largest form of entertainment at the moment. All in all, the industry is worth around $200 billion, if not more. During 2021 alone, video game releases went up by 64% compared to previous years. This industry is growing faster under the entertainment umbrella, and with all the new innovations in development, it shows no sign of slowing down.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard should make gaming more convenient, varied, affordable, and accessible for the growing numbers of people getting into gaming. While regulators are skeptical that this move will bring Microsoft one step closer to a monopoly over the gaming industry, gamers should be rooting for the move.
Not only should we see more previously PlayStation exclusives like God of War: Ragnarok coming to Xbox Game Pass and PC, but we’ll also likely see more mobile games functioning on an Xbox Game Pass system. However, it may also mean that current non-exclusive titles, like Call of Duty, might be taken away from consoles. We’ll touch on this in a future article.
