By Adrian Mühlroth | Jul 17, 2023 at 6:28 p.m
A US court has approved Microsoft’s acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard. What would the consequences of the approximately 69 billion US dollar deal be for gamers?
Acquiring Activision Blizzard would make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company in the world – behind Tencent and Sony. Activision Blizzard’s portfolio includes famous titles such as “StarCraft”, “Guitar Hero”, “World of Warcraft”, “Overwatch” and also “Call of Duty”. Games of the Call of Duty series have been released for all platforms so far. TECHBOOK explains what the takeover of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft means for Sony PlayStation gamers.
US court dismisses takeover lawsuit
In June, the US competition authority FTC (Federal Trade Commission) had to stop the takeover with an injunction. The authority wanted to prevent Microsoft from being able to complete the purchase before the first hearing in the main proceedings. The FTC had already filed a lawsuit at the end of 2022, but the process will not begin until August 2023.
In the injunction trial, the FTC failed to demonstrate adequately that the acquisition would adversely affect competition. The authorities have until Friday to appeal the verdict.
Meanwhile, the British supervisory authority CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) is ready to talk in the course of the current judgment. CMA and Microsoft have agreed their to pause litigationto negotiate. The company is now examining what changes could be made to allay the agency’s concerns.
Read more: US court dismisses summary judgment against Activision’s merger with Microsoft
Call of Duty will be owned by Microsoft
By the end of July, Microsoft wants to have completed the purchase of Activision Blizzard, as if from a internal mail emerges. After that, the company would own all of the publisher’s intellectual property, including Call of Duty. With 400 million copies sold, the series is the third largest video game franchise in the world, behind only Nintendo’s Mario and Tetris. However, a majority of Call-of-Duty players use Sony’s PlayStation – the biggest competitor to Microsoft’s Xbox console. Now many gamers are rightly wondering whether they will continue to have access to new Call of Duty titles in the future.
It’s a similar situation to what happened after publisher Bethesda was acquired in 2021. Back then, Xbox head Phil Spencer announced quite bluntly in a blog post that some Bethesda titles would be Microsoft exclusives in the future:
“Gamers should know that Xbox consoles, PC and Game Pass will be the best places to experience new Bethesda games, including some new titles that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players in the future.”
Phil Spencer, Xbox-Leiter
Microsoft is expanding its Game Pass offering
Game Pass is a subscription service that gives Xbox and PC gamers access to a monthly changing selection of games. With the highest subscription level “Ultimate” gamers can play Xbox and PC titles via cloud streaming regardless of the platform. All titles included in Game Pass can be played on PC, Xbox, Android, iOS and even in the web browser.
Acquisition of Activision Blizzard could allow Microsoft to offer the publisher’s entire range of games as part of Game Pass – including “Call of Duty” and “Warcraft”
Activision games should remain cross-platform
Microsoft has already signed ten-year agreements with Nintendo and Nvidia for the use of the “Call of Duty” franchise on their gaming platforms. However, they are subject to approval for the Activision takeover. In addition, the company licenses this game to other online video game providers.
Sony had initially rejected similar offers. However, on July 17, Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced that Microsoft had reached an agreement with Sony. This ensures that “Call of Duty” will continue to be available for other consoles in the future.
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Call of Duty players with a PlayStation can therefore rest easy for the time being. Because Microsoft has no plans to pull the franchise off the platform. In a press release, the company pledged to continue making games available across platforms. At least that’s what the words of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella suggest:
“Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone, across any device”
and
“Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting entertainment category across all of today’s platforms […].“
Satya Nadella, Microsoft-CEO
According to “Bloomberg”, Xbox manager Spencer addresses the issue of PlayStation even more clearly in an interview:
“I’m just saying to the gamers out there who are playing Activision Blizzard games on Sony’s platform: It is not our intention to pull communities off of this platform and we stand by that.”
Phil Spencer, Xbox-Leiter
However, Bloomberg also writes that some Activision content will be released exclusively for the Xbox. At least that’s what a person familiar with Microsoft internals said.
Sources
With material from Reuters