Luke HendersonXbox, XSX, PC, Activision

Xbox is buying Activision-Blizzard, in a deal worth $70 Billion USD

Luke HendersonXbox, XSX, PC, Activision
Xbox is buying Activision-Blizzard, in a deal worth $70 Billion USD

Talk about a big deal, Microsoft is buying Activision for $70 Billion USD… that is roughly 10 times what they bought Bethesda for and only just falls under what Disney paid for 20th Century Fox a few years ago at $72 Billion USD.

Now there are some requirements that must be met, before the deal can be completed, exactly like what happened with the Bethesda buy, so while they have agreed right now, some government groups can put a stop to it, but if all goes well, it will be closed off in 2023.

Phil Spencer, the Head of Xbox, or as his new title is listed, CEO of Microsoft Gaming had this to say on the Xbox Wire

As a company, Microsoft is committed to our journey for inclusion in every aspect of gaming, among both employees and players. We deeply value individual studio cultures. We also believe that creative success and autonomy go hand-in-hand with treating every person with dignity and respect. We hold all teams, and all leaders, to this commitment. We’re looking forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams across Activision Blizzard.

That is a good thing and clearly in relation to the situation regarding the safety and wellbeing of many of the companies employees. You can read the full statement here.

The obvious question right now though, is what does this mean for the games on other platforms, Xbox are of course going to want people to play on their platforms, but given Activision put titles on PlayStation and Switch, they have somethings to sort out.

One option is that games like Call of Duty would remain multiplatform and that is an option, Xbox have supported Bethesda with their on-going releasing, with Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls Online both keeping the content going for PlayStation.

The second option is more likely, some items will remain multiplatform, but the big name titles will eventually only be available on Xbox or PC, meaning if you want them, you have to buy in. Starfield and Redfall are examples from Bethesda, but The Outer Worlds 2 is another one, the first hitting all platforms, but the sequel is Xbox and PC only.

In addition to all the business issues that need to be address, we can’t of course forget the games themselves, yes folks know of Call of Duty or Starcraft, but Activision-Blizzard own a lot of IPs, here is a list of them:

  • Blur

  • Caesar

  • Call of Duty

  • Candy Crush

  • Crash Bandicoot

  • Diablo

  • DJ Hero

  • Empire Earth

  • Gabriel Knight

  • Geometry Wars

  • Guitar Hero

  • Gun

  • Hearthstone

  • Heroes of the Storm

  • Hexen

  • Interstate ’76

  • King’s Quest

  • Laura Bow Mysteries

  • The Lost Vikings

  • Overwatch

  • Phantasmagoria

  • Pitfall

  • Police Quest

  • Prototype

  • Quest for Glory

  • Singularity

  • Skylanders

  • Solider of Fortune

  • Space Quest

  • Spyro the Dragon

  • StarCraft

  • Tenchu (legacy games)

  • TimeShift

  • Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater

  • True Crime

  • World of Warcraft

  • Zork

Does this mean we are going to get a new Zork game, unlikely, but given Xbox have brought back other classic titles before, looking at you Battletoads, we might see something from this list like Pitfall make a return.

When you combine that list, with the current Xbox umbrella of brands, Halo, Forza, Gears of War, Age of Empires, Perfect Dark, Hellblade and then add in the Bethesda brands, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, DOOM and more, it makes for a company loaded with gaming potential.