What does this mean for players

By Adrian Mullroth | Jul 17, 2023 at 6:28 pm

A US court has approved Microsoft’s acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard. What will be the consequences of the US$69 billion deal for the players?

US court rejects the takeover suit

In June, the US competition watchdog, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), was forced to stop the acquisition by an injunction. The authority wanted to prevent Microsoft from completing 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 won’t begin until August 2023.

In the injunction trial, the FTC failed to prove that the acquisition would adversely affect competition. The authorities have until Friday to appeal the verdict.

Meanwhile, the British watchdog CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) is ready to speak in the context of the current ruling. CMA and Microsoft agreed to stop litigationto negotiate. The company is now considering what changes can be made to allay the agency’s concerns.

Read more: US court rejects summary judgment against Activision’s merger with Microsoft

Call of Duty will be owned by Microsoft

By the end of July, Microsoft wants to complete the purchase of Activision Blizzard, as if from a file The internal mail appears. After that, the company will own all intellectual property rights of the publisher, including Call of Duty. Serial with 400 million copies sold The third largest video game franchise in the world, after Nintendo’s Mario and Tetris. However, the majority of Call-of-Duty players use Sony PlayStation – the biggest competitor to Microsoft’s Xbox console. Many gamers are now wondering if they will still have access to new Call of Duty titles in the future.

It’s a similar situation to what happened after the acquisition of publisher Bethesda in 2021. At the time, Xbox head Phil Spencer bluntly announced in a blog post that some Bethesda titles would be Microsoft exclusives in the future:

“Gamers should know that Xbox, PC and Game Pass will be the best places to try out new Bethesda games, including some new titles that will be exclusive to Xbox and PC players in the future.”

Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox

Microsoft is expanding its Game Pass offerings

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 platform. All titles included in Game Pass can be played on PC, Xbox, Android, iOS, and even in a web browser.

Acquiring Activision Blizzard could allow Microsoft to offer the publisher’s full suite of games as part of Game Pass – including ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘Warcraft’

Activision games must remain cross-platform

Microsoft has already signed ten-year agreements with Nintendo and Nvidia to use the “Call of Duty” franchise on their gaming platforms. However, it is subject to approval of the Activision acquisition. In addition, the company licenses this game to other online video game providers.

Sony initially refused similar offers. However, on July 17th, Xbox President Phil Spencer announced that Microsoft had reached an agreement with Sony. This ensures that “Call of Duty” will still be available for other consoles in the future.

Thus, Call of Duty players who have a PlayStation can rest easy for the time being. Because Microsoft has no plans to take the franchise off the platform. In a press release, the company pledged to continue to make games available across platforms. At least that’s what the words of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella suggest:

Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard to bring gaming fun and community to everyone, across any device.

And

Games are the most dynamic and exciting category of entertainment across all platforms today […]. “

Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft

According to Bloomberg, Xbox boss Spencer addressed the PlayStation issue more explicitly in an interview:

“I’m just saying to players who play Activision Blizzard games on the Sony platform: It is not our intention to drive communities off this platform and we support that.”

Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox

However, Bloomberg also wrote that some Activision content will be released exclusively for Xbox. At least that’s what someone familiar with the insides of Microsoft said.

sources

With materials from Reuters