What is the future of Activision Blizzard under Xbox?

Galactic

You've probably all heard about the big-scale Activision Blizzard acquisition by Microsoft, which ran them a pretty penny at $68.7 billion. (For reference, the Zenimax purchase ran them $7.5 billion.) With 30 studios under their belt, Xbox is a powerhouse gaming company with only Tencent and Sony/Playstation outsizing them.

So, the question at hand is: what does Xbox's newest acquisition mean for the future of Activision Blizzard?

For one, it's good to know that the deal isn't immediate. It's going to take some time to hammer out the fine details, which will end up taking until about the 2023 fiscal year. (So we should start seeing some action next July).

For what the future holds for Activision Blizzard, it's no secret Blizzard has had its recent share of fires to put out. (That's putting it lightly.) With lawsuits for gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment, and worker strikes for unionization lighting up the game dev field in general, there's a lot for Microsoft to take on with the new acquisition. Some things seem clear: Public speculation suggests Bobby Kotick (CEO of Activision Blizzard) is out the door when the deal clears, and Activision Blizzard will be getting some restructuring done in the meanwhile.

On the development front, Phil Spencer (CEO of Microsoft Gaming) has expressed interest in revamping some dust-covered IPs from Activision Blizzard coffers. I've seen some hype around HeXen specifically, which was originally developed by Raven Software. For reference, Raven was acquired by Activision in 1997, so people are hoping that Xbox gives its smaller studios like Raven more power to develop their older, well-loved titles. This would be a refreshing change from the typical course of action that sees smaller studios under major publishers run support for AAA "cash-cow" projects. An example of this is the Toys for Bob Studio which went from launching Crash Bandicoot titles to supporting CoD development. I'm hopeful, just as many others are, that Spencer's shiny-eyed talk of expanding older IPs becomes a reality.

Speaking of CoD... I should note that while some cheer the acquisition, others wonder what the future of PlayStation-classics will be now that they are in Microsoft's wheelhouse, with major IPs like Spyro and Crash Bandicoot being squarely in Camp Xbox now. Based on public comments from Xbox and Playstation, it seems like there is no worry about titles like CoD being yanked from Playstation now that Xbox technically owns their studios; what this will do for console exclusives and their slow rise, we have yet to see. I have seen some scrutiny online regarding other major IPs, like Overwatch and Hearthstone, becoming Xbox exclusives down the line since they were conveniently left out of the CoD conversation.

All the above should catch anyone up on the basics of the situation. This is still unfolding and will continue to unfold over the next few years, so we will see what the gaming giant does next!

What are your thoughts on the acquisition deal? Share your hot takes in the comments below!

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Replies • 110

action_jesus

Intergalactic Planetary

Hasn't happened yet, and there's certainly a chance it won't. TONS of regulatory red-tape to get past and with both sides of the political aisle putting their crosshairs on tech companies, this could be a bit of an uphill battle.

Either way, it seems like a great move by MSFT and shows they're hellbent on fortifying their position in the wide world of gaming (PC, console, and mobile).

Incordiado

Interstellar

I hope this does not lead to a lower supply of games by having fewer game companies .

atfixteam

Gold Master

I hope the Activision Blizzard games will come to Steam with time. That would be great!

BTW, Activision Blizzard was acquired by Microsoft and not by Xbox. Xbox isn't a company.

dudubosse

Galactic

Nice review!

I hope all Spyro, Crash Bandicoot and CTR games come to Xbox Game Pass!!

JNox99

Solar

Thinking from an MMO point of view, WOW and ESO also now belongs to MS. PS might do wel to look at Square Enix for FF and their other IP's. I'm glad that MS is finally gearing up for game development, but one big gaming development monopoly sounds a bit scary to me. Will see how this plays out.

ieve97

Galactic

atfixteam said:
I hope the Activision Blizzard games will come to Steam with time. That would be great!

BTW, Activision Blizzard was acquired by Microsoft and not by Xbox. Xbox isn't a company.

Very true! Microsoft Gaming did acquire it, though it’s often easier to use Xbox/Xbox Game Studios as shorthand, like people referring to Sony’s gaming space under PlayStation. Good clarification though!

NDBruin59

The Green Surfer

I think game developers need to be indepenent from Software companies to allow for more original (i.e Indie) games and smaller quicker games instead of 500 hour games

55jacek55

Planetary

ooook

bcdusk2

Lonely hoarder

Actually is been decades since Microsoft haa wanted to own all the games, they have wanted to own Sega since Windows 3.1 was a thing at the very least. Hence all those early Sega PC port disasters, I am looking at you Sonic 3 for PC.

jediknight16

Become a Star Citizen @RobertsSpaceInd and get 5,000 free Credits https://robertsspaceindustries.com/enlist?referral=STAR-F2YL-RSJJ

This is a major change in the video game industry history, and not for the best.

Microsoft already acquired quite a lot of studios during the last years, including Bethesda, Obsidian, the forza and halo game devs and licences, Ninja Theory, and some others that I don't really know.

But by adding activision / blizzard / king to their collection, microsoft is also ranking up to the most powerful video game studio in the world, and two times or maybe three times bigger in terms of resources and income than all of the opponents on the market.

And this will put them in a position where nobody else could reach them, until one of the top 5 make the same thing and buy the others remaining before microsoft does.

So, the future of gaming industry doesn't look bright and shiny at all. I hope the authorities will find a way to prevent this from happening, but I doubt it.

What is the future of Activision Blizzard under Xbox?

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