Source: Some Activision Blizzard Games to Become Xbox Exclusives, While Others Remain on PlayStation - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 18 January 2022 / 3,191 Views
Microsoft today announced it is acquiring Activision Blizzard in a deal worth $68.7 billion. IPs that will be owned by Microsoft once the deal closes include Call of Duty, Warcraft, Candy Crush, Tony Hawk, Diablo, Overwatch, Spyro, Hearthstone, Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, StarCraft, and more.
A person familiar with Microsoft's thinking has revealed to Bloomberg the plan is to keep releasing some of Activision Blizzard's games on PlayStation consoles, but will make some Xbox console exclusives.
Once the deal is complete Activision Blizzard will report to head of Xbox Phil Spencer and will bring as many Activision Blizzard titles to Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass as possible.
Microsoft plans to continue to distribute Activision Blizzard games for Sony's PlayStation but will also plan some Xbox exclusives, a source tells ushttps://t.co/LCC3Y6xFqW https://t.co/LZCoN3lcaX
— Dina Bass (@dinabass) January 18, 2022
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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The writing is on the wall people.
Why would you pay $70 billion dollars to keep things the way they currently are?
No, that's not going to happen. All of these games are going to be exclusive on Microsoft's platforms moving forward. These developers will still make games for Sony/Nintendo until the acquisition is complete and perhaps even a year or so after but after that it will be full on X box exclusivity.
Anyone telling gamers anything different is giving them a pipe dream.
One has to wonder if Microsoft is on the verge of a monopoly at this point. If they are not they are getting dangerously close. Sony and Nintendo are really going to have to up their game (no pun intended.) if they are going to go toe to toe with the likes of some of the companies Microsoft now will have under its belt.
-"X" CLUSIVE TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL NINJA APPROVED-
I don't think Nintendo has to worry. They've been living on their own IPs since N64. Playstation on the other hand... yeah. If only we could be a fly on the the wall within their Japanese headquarters right now.
I can see Microsoft releasing games on PS for 2 more years and then it's Xbox +PC + GamePass only. Why, because at least 2 COD games are already in development for PS. This years COD is definitely coming to PlayStation (by the time the deal will close it will be released) and then next years COD will also be there (as it would be halfway complete by the time this deal closes). After that, I do not think that they'll support PS. Also, in these two years we can expect Xbox exclusive DLCs for COD.
Judging by what they did with Bethesda, they will maintain ‘legacy’ content on other systems and honour existing announcements/deals - so past titles would be supported on PlayStation and any games already announced for PS when the deal closes will still launch there - so CoD would be exclusive from 2023 assuming that year’s title hasn’t been announced at that point.
My prediction;
Warzone stays on PlayStation
The yearly cod releases get pulled
Deja vu
My guess is that CoD will continue on both systems while they run through their multi-year marketing deal with PlayStation. After that....I guess XB exclusive for the annual CoD releases.
This feels kind of obvious but I feel like a lot of people aren't going to grasp this until 2023/2024 because they're still in a 2013 console wars mindset. Note how not a single industry insider has emphasised exclusives, merely that activision games (most) will be coming to gamepass
For MS, effectively leveraging and growing the value of 70billion asset(s) is a bit more complex then just making everything exclusive, cutting out revenue streams and just hoping that everyone just converts to Xbox/gamepass overnight.... its not realistic or financially sound. Not only is it evident in what has already happened with the Minecraft IP but its also what you see when you look at any other industry. Disney still sells Marvel films on Prime Video and Apple TV, but streaming as part of a subscription is exclusive to Disney+. There's also streaming exclusive TV series' and films, and timed exclusives.
This is what we're going to see from MS and this acquisition. They're going to bring exclusives to the Xbox echosystem for sure, highten the value of gamepass, but also leverages the popularity of massive established IPs on wider platform, both as an important revenue stream but also as a way to maintain the popularity and value they've already achieved.
I think it's possible they keep Call of Duty on Playstation because of how huge sales and the userbase are. Of course XBOX would get all the DLC and what not but it's still a cash cow I don't think they'll pass up. The other games will all go XBOX excusive however.
Makes sense. They gotta make those billions back somehow.
In the short term, I think the Call of Duty library is exactly the content Game Pass needs.
But a lot of the Activision/Blizzard content in general will be great additions to Gamepass.
Sony is in big trouble next Microsoft should buy EA with its FIFA license.
LOL :) This again... Come on people, just get over it already.
The majority of AAA games will be exclusives, simple as that unless there is already a deal going on or if the game is released before or shortly after the deal closes.
No worries though, Candy Crush will stay multiplatform!
Then Jeff 'Scrub' can come up with his 'predictions' about that, and have the world surprised when the games effectively become exclusives to the "surprise" of everyone who speculated against in 2023 :)
yeah, there is no point in buying a company by $70 million (!) and does not take advantage of it. (In this case, no releasing games on your competitor.)
Curious to see what Blizzard PC games Microsoft makes them port over. Would World of Warcraft come to console? I can’t see hardware being an issue for a game that age (control scheme might be though) and the subscription would essentially just be buying Gold or Gamepass so that’s not much of a barrier.
Will likely also see BattleNet get folded into Xbox.com as there’s no need for that anymore and Activision games should finally go back onto Steam as Microsoft doesn’t seem to both with the EGS.
WoW being worked on behind the scenes? It wouldn't work, and if they did do it, it will play horrible.
Why wouldn’t WoW work on console, it not like console hardware is going to struggle with a 20 year old game. If you mean the get the controls to work on a controller I’ll give you that.
Its not the graphics, its the way its played. Its a game that relies on heavy 3rd party mods and more buttons than what a controller can ever have. Its a pure M/K game.
The skill bar. When I playe WoW like a decade ago I had dozens of skills I had to click on or hotkey depending on the situation. How are you going to do that with a controller? Sounds miserable. Maybe if this version only allowed like 6 skills it would work, but then it wouldn't be WoW.
You wont get far in WoW playing without using mods and hotkeys. Your reaction times with a controller would be painfully slow and broken using a controller. In WoW you constantly have 10+ abilities you need at your very finger tips. If you have to scroll through abilities or manually clicking on icons, you are as good as dead. WoW was designed purely on PC with a M/K.
I had over 72 abilities on my bars, not all were moves however i can say that when it comes to the meat of the game like PvP and high end PvE, you wont get far or invited into groups. I played a Warrior and only quit mid last year and i can say, it would be so painful trying to play with a controller.
I just cannot see the reaction times being that great. WoW as you know, since you played it, you have to keep moving and you cannot stop to find your abilities. Every second counts, and cross play with PC would be completely out of the question. You also don't want to divide the audience from PC to Consoles either.
Imagine trying to access all the menus, or doing things outside of combat like planting a fire or doing professions? Imagine how tedious it would be. Everything would take 10x longer and WoW is already a time waster as it currently.
They might as well make a WoW 2 and bring it to everything. Keep the game the way it is. Otherwise they will ruin the balance.
What about those that don't want to play with Voice chat? How long it would take players to call out because they have to type long sentences with a controller over a Keyboard.
I get what you are saying, i played Vanilla WoW with no Macros and Addons but as the game progressed, it became essential. Maybe not for all classes but they were required for many high level guilds.
I could give tons of examples as to why playing WoW with a controller would just not work well. Have to remember the balancing of MMOs is extremely important. For example, You wouldn't be able to PvP well compared to a PC players. I can already see a side of PC elitist vs Console players trying to win BG.
WoW is in a decline, i doubt the last thing they need is to divide the userbase by platforms. Its already hard finding a Tank as is lol
