For the best part of two years, we've been hearing how the Pure Xbox community is fed up of the Activision Blizzard acquisition and just wants it to either happen or not happen - and we may be getting our wish in just a few days' time.
According to a source over at The Verge, Microsoft appears to be targeting Friday, October 13th as the day to announce that the ActiBlizz takeover has finally gone through. Of course, keep in mind that plans could always change.
(Can you believe it was January 2022 when we first started hearing about all this?!)
There is one big caveat to those plans, which is that the CMA still hasn't decided whether to approve the acquisition just yet. The UK regulator granted "preliminary approval" back in late September, but it seems we won't hear about a final decision until potentially later today, but more likely next week.
The Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. is trying to challenge the deal as well, but Microsoft is still able to proceed and close the acquisition in the meantime - this is due to the FTC being denied a preliminary injunction back in July.
Do you think we'll get a verdict next Friday? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below.
How Important Is The Activision Blizzard Acquisition To You? (597 votes)
- It's massively important! I can't wait for it!
- It's good for sure, definitely nice to have
- I'm still waiting to see how it pans out
- It's not a big deal for me personally, but I'm fine with it
- I don't like the idea of Xbox owning ActiBlizz to be honest!
[source theverge.com]
Comments 68
13th October is a Friday. 👀
@BeerIsAwesome ask and ye shall receive
What specific ABK games are people excited for on Game Pass first?
My interest dropped as soon as Spencer said that games like Call of Duty won’t be on Gamepass right after the acquisition is approved.
@themightyant I think gamepass might save Crash Team Rumble. It is heavily discounted at the moment and I can’t imagine it has done too well so far. Hopefully Gamepass can boost the numbers.
@EvenStephen7 Yeap mine too. I’ve actually sold my Series X now as I cannot stand the new dash with endless ads, and once I knew COD wouldn’t be on GP that was the final straw for me, going to the enemy come Christmas.
I thought it was by the 18th October - although 'could' close sooner IF the CMA agreed with the new proposals - although I still think that the CMA/FTC arguments were 'ridiculous'.
MS has no control over Sony, Nintendo, EA, Ten Cent, Embracer and all the other major Game Publishers. They can't just put Battlefield, Zelda, Mario, Destiny, God of War, GTA, Assassins Creed or MANY of the other BIG IPs on their Cloud service 'exclusively' - and many IP's won't be on Game Pass at all. It doesn't stop Sony from Competing with their own IP's, services etc.
It was always expected that CoD wouldn't be day/date on GP anyway because of Sony's existing arrangements - much like MS couldn't bring Deathloop or Ghostwire to Game Pass/Xbox consoles for at least a year.
But that doesn't mean 'OLD' ABK - inc older CoDs - could certainly be added to GP after closing...
@EvenStephen7 @S1ayeR74 COD will be on gamepass from 2025 it was revealed in the CAT court case with the CMA, unless circumstances or contracts have changed since then, which is always possible
Weirdly for $69bn spent there isn't much i'm looking forward to personally that will be added soon. I already own most of the games I want to play (THPS 1+2, Sekiro, Crash trilogy + 4, Spiro Trilogy)
There are perhaps a few older games I wouldn't mind playing again but I don't know if they would come either due to age, or licensing. Transformers Cybertron series, Spider-man series, Prototype, Singularity, 007 Bloodstone, etc..
There are a few COD titles I wouldn't mind doing the campaign on but that's not coming for a few years I believe.
@K1LLEGAL Ah that's a good, and interesting, pivot. Games that might be "saved" due to Game Pass. Good shout.
Finally. Got tired of all this stuff. Would be awesome if all the big studios out there concentrated on making games and not visiting the court every damn day.
@themightyant
Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare
I expect a nice boost to the player count and it was my first multiplayer game I really got addicted to in 2007.
@Netret0120 I think that isn't coming immediately though, but i'd love to be wrong. Most of all i'd love for them to announce Call of Duty Modern Warfare Remastered 3. It's maddening that they released the first 2 but left us hanging with the third in the trilogy.
From the beginning, never a doubt. I'll be glad to see MS take on Apple/android on the mobile front as well.
@themightyant I would love it if MS renewed the Transformer games licenses (including Devastation) and put them all on Game Pass. Same with 007. Own a physical copy but would also love to see Deadpool relisted.
If wo go that far-reaching, would be amazing if they managed to get the rights to at least re-list the older Spider-Man games, even if no new games are allowed. Same with Ultimate Alliance and X-Men Legends. Hell... Activision used to make so many licensed games... would be awesome if we could see them all at least re-listed, ideally remastered.
Realistically, though, I'm looking forward to Diablo II, maybe 4 and the CoD back catalog. Would be kind of cool (IMO) to play though the whole series campaign modes on Xbox. According to the wiki, although it seems the very first one (2003) is not on BC.
Just give me another StarCraft and try to make it respectable on a console if you can. No more Starcraft64 kinda stuff lol
It's a big deal for xbox. The pressure of having a mega profitable game from their other studios goes way down. They will have the war zone and Cod revenue, warcraft and candy crush as well.
Unless your a gamepass subscriber or using one of the platforms that didn't have these games before the deal then not much will change from a consumer standpoint. I believe it will be business as usual for ABK, xbox will likely have a hands off approach similar to bethesda.
All it means at the moment is that Xbox will become the home of the worst most disgusting managers in gaming history - although looking at ubi news this week, they may have some competition.
I really hope that once the deal goes ahead, xbox makes sweeping changes and ensures that it staff are treated with respect and fairly. Bobby becoming an Xbox employee gives me the creeps.
Other than that there may be some old cr@p none really cares about releasing on GP, but I'm not expecting anything worthwhile for a year or two. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised!
Microsoft will take over Activision and Playstation will still have all the exclusive stuff for COD for years to come. Way to go guys. That's why I still play COD on my PS5. Playing the beta today as a matter of fact.
After all the drama and it being in the news constantly they are going to have to do a cool roundtable presentation like they did with Zenimax to get the hype up around this. It's just ABK fatigue at this point.
Get Diablo in gamepass and make a new rock n roll racing and I'll be happy....oh and a Santa outfit for CoD as a GPU perk naturally.
@Tharsman yes! crossing fingers for all those older licensed Activision games. But perhaps that’s unrealistic.
I’m just surprised, now that I look at a list of possible games, how little that interests me personally might come to Game Pass soon. There was far more in the Zenimax deal for me. But there will be more in the future.
@Romans12 This years COD is the last game in the contract, and it ends next year. I'm curious where you're getting "for years to come" as that is simply untrue.
@Krzzystuff Love it!
@Titntin Bungie is the one in the news these days.
@themightyant there are also the recent Spyro and Crash games, but I own those so I didn’t list them. There is the Tony Hawk remake but I dont care for that. Sekiro might or might not make it, since Activision has the publishing right and they might be able to decide how and where to distribute it.
On the older side there are the Prototype games, King Quest and Geometry wars. I’m not personally interested in the last two and already own Prototype, but GamePass exposure could give the game some life and… dare I dream, chance for a sequel. There is also Skylanders but not sure how playable that is without buying toys off ebay.
On the PC front, there are the war craft and StarCraft RTS games.
Overall, there is not a huge volume of content available out of the gate for players that are not fond of first person shooters or Diablo games.
@BeerIsAwesome
I live to serve 🫡
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Being the Halloween season, I'd be curious to know when Double Fine is gonna make a Costume Quest 3. I LOVE those games.
The only reason I'm interested in this whole thing is to see if Microsoft will have them prioritize other titles like Crash, Spyro, and Tony Hawk... and maybe bring back original-style Guitar Hero???
Oh, and also see what games they decide to bring to gamepass. If MW3 hits gamepass... Microsoft is going to have a huge step on Sony. Plus, I'm interested in playing the remade maps in MW3 but I refuse to pay anymore than $30ish for a new CoD.
@J_Mo_Money "Bungie is the one in the news these days."
Oh well, in that case all these guys become saints then! 🤣
But definitely a +1 for another costume quest, such great games!
Kinda want it to go through just for all the drama to finally be over. Lol.
@Titntin Bobby Kotick wont be an employee for long. He will take his multi million payout and be gone within a few weeks to a couple of months, if that.
@J_Mo_Money
Bungie is the one in the news these days
...Yes but Bungie are owned by Sony, don't you know😅.
On a more serious note, Microsoft really have to clean up house at ABK if the takeover gets approved.
I still think it's a colossal amount of money for not really that much(?)🙃....now Sega and Ubisoft do make games I greatly enjoy 😉.
@Jaxx420 I so hope you are correct, Id hate it if he hangs around!
Hopefully they close next week, then MS throws us a bunch of AKB games on GamePass for Christmas!
@Titntin I wasn't saying that these guys would be saints, I just think it's a widespread problem in the game industry. So much stuff coming out from a lot of companies it seems within the last few years.
Unfortunate for the employees of these companies for sure.
@NeoRatt Thats my hope! i'd like to try the Tony Hawk Remasters, Spyro, and some Diablos.
I hope this will bring some life back to dormant Activision IP's now that it's no longer a publisher that needs to obsess over COD to please shareholders. As they're a part of Microsoft now it's all just another part of the Xbox family, the shareholders to please will no longer be focused on an individual franchise of theirs like that.
What I really want to see is a proper new Spyro that gets the Crash 4 treatment, one that ignores everything that happened after the original trilogy and just picks up from there staying true to it's roots.
Microsoft probably knows what they're doing, surely more than me
However the deal does make me a bit concerned for Microsoft/Xbox. $70 billion seems they overpaid like crazy, for essentially Call of Duty, which doesn't seem as big a deal as it once was. And what's more, they had to agree to various concessions to even allow the deal to happen - ie keeping it multiplatform for 10 years. That's a long time.
If they were allowed to make it XBox exclusive immediately, perhaps it would go some way to bridging the gap to Sony and the PS5, which is outselling the Xboxes 2:1.
But now? I'm not sure how keeping it multiplatform is really going to do much to claw back the marketshare they had in the 360 era, or come close to making back that $70 billion.
"Can you believe it was January 2022 when we first started hearing about all this?!"
No, it feels like it's being going on much longer!
@Titntin
"All it means at the moment is that Xbox will become the home of the worst most disgusting managers in gaming history..."
It allegedly might mean that...and that would be awful, but it definitely means so much more than that.
Strange take.
@themightyant old school cod, crash, spyro. I haven't played the remaster yet. I wouldn't mind getting diablo 1 for gamepass as well
@Sol4ris but is it more profitable than call of duty? In the end money is what matters
@Romans12 if cod comes out on gamepass I think that beats you out lol
About time this stuff ended. Felt like forever. I just resubscribed to gamepass ultimate for starfield.....and the closer of this activation deal. Can't wait to see what games will pop app once it's finished:) fingers crossed for crash 4, and Spiro remaster, I did not played them yet
@y2jarmyofficial I think you're right. Lol.
I am nervous with this deal now, I’ve only just learnt that my gaming site of 20 years actually got shut down back in 2021, would this deal bring the site back, profiles are still there and can still log in but Flash let the site down, now gaming sites are using Flash Emulator such as Ruffle.
Does Royal Games the main portal to King.com have any chance with this deal?
@JayJ I do too.
I played on Royal Games which is the main portal to King.com, they removed the games in 2021 because Flash ended, surely a really good gaming site with a really good community can’t go just like that can it?
@GeeForce Thats a fair take given I didnt express myself fully. ,Though I would point out my first post was longer than your quote.
As a business, the aquition of ABK is undoubtably is huge deal, and another step towards their goals.
As a consumer who doesnt play cod, Im not seeing a huge benifit to myself, maybe the odd title on gp, but I cant think of much else.
But I care very deeply about abuse of devs, so Im concerned about some of the worst offenders joining xbox, a team I care about.
Im not sure that expressing my biggest concern is a weird take?
Unless they add more Activision games via backwards compatibility I don't really care either way. Already own the games I care about and being able to play the yearly CoD via Game Pass means nothing to me.
@Raffles you think best way for Microsoft to make money invested back is to make COD exclusive an stop 70% of COD players buying the game??? Unless Xbox become huge an overtake Playstation, (not gonna happen), they will never make COD exclusive. Each COD sell bout 25 million copy on Playstation, far, far less on Xbox. Why you think Minecraft not exclusive???
@Pimpernel Fair point actually, it's a lot of extra sales. I was more thinking of the "system seller" angle and making up market share Vs Playstation.
All th butt-hurt PS5 fans are comment bombing the Verges article. Lol
@AlexAtwell Your obsession with Royal Games is kinda unhealthy.
I would get used to reality. It aint coming back.
@JayJ I too would love to see a new Spyro but cant help but think dormant IPs will be an afterthought.
This buyout is all about the moneymakers ie mobile and CoD.
Look at Rare and how many dormant IPs they have that have barely been touched since they were acquired.
@Jaxx420 I don’t think you understand on the concept of Royal Games and it has got nothing to do with being unhealthy, you obviously haven’t played on a gaming site that’s been there for 20 years, you clearly don’t understand and you don’t know of what Microsoft will do, no one asked for your silly opinion and it’s clearly something I’m not going to acknowledge, worry what the deal could do to your gaming instead
@AlexAtwell I do understand and know the concept. But I cant see MS going back and reviving a dead site. You seem heavily invested in it judging by previous comments. I have played on Royal Games before. Its unfortunate it shut down but it isnt coming back.
While I dont know what MS will and wont do, no one here outside of MS does. Can hazard a guess it will be what makes them money quickly and reviving Royal Games will not do that.
Hopefully we get some vintage Blizzard titles from this. StarCraft and WarCraft 2 on Xbox… please…. I’m not necessarily a fan of this acquisition, but I’d love to be shown that Xbox will do the right things for game preservation and availability.
@Jaxx420 Eh I guess, but I still feel like they got a better chance than they did with Activision's old management. Heck they had a hit with THPS 1+2 and cancelled 3+4 just to stick the devs on COD duty. It was about as mismanaged as a property holder could become, all they cared about anymore was COD.
@JayJ that'd what Activision dose, they let you make a name for yourself, then as a reward lock you up in cod map making dungeons.
@Sakai That maybe, but still don’t know if it will be day and date, I mean no one has seen the in depth details of the 10 year agreement Microsoft has drawn up with the other parties, and it doesn’t address the awful un-removable ads on the Xbox Desktop! Anyway I’ve sold mine now so it doesn’t matter to me. I dislike the direction Xbox are going, it will be a digital only ‘service’ funded by endless ads and subscriptions, I wonder if they will even let you buy any games next gen.
I also don’t like the idea of buying a console next gen that relies on the internet and cloud for games to work at their maximum performance. Because the internet does go down.
I can still play the games I want by streaming anyway as my GPU is valid for 3 years.
@Pimpernel They cannot do that for the next 10 years at least, it is in the contracts they have agreed to with everyone, if they do that then the regulators and Sony, Nintendo, Nvidia etc etc can sue them I imagine.
The CMA was right too on the cloud, OFCOM has requested Amazon and Microsoft cloud services to be investigated for monopolistic practices as they own about 80% of the UK market between them.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/05/amazon-and-microsofts-uk-cloud-computing-dominance-faces-investigation
And before anyone brushes it off claiming it’s a small market who cares, it’s worth 7.5 Billion sterling annually.
@S1ayeR74 they said day 1 gamepass at the trial mate
I for one will be glad to get this done then we can all move on and play games baby lets have it 💚
Wow some off the comments do show us why we need this deal done lets be nice to each other.
@S1ayeR74
And before anyone brushes it off claiming it’s a small market who cares, it’s worth 7.5 Billion sterling annually
You seem to conflate cloud services with cloud gaming to backup your dissatisfaction with the takeover. If you already sold your Xbox because of the direction Microsoft are taking than it shouldn't matter to you what, when and if all ABK games release day one on Gamepass. Right?
@Sol4ris Nope doesn’t matter to me. I can still give my opinion though. And I appreciate cloud services are different, however Xbox still uses the Azure infrastructure, they just have Xbox servers in different locals, as I said I’ll be playing games on the cloud service as I still have access to it.
@abe_hikura Yup, but luckily that should all change now that the old management is out, getting replaced by Xbox management. It's why I have always been a fan of this deal, as someone who is a fan of their other IP's.
@S1ayeR74 i talk about after the 10 years. Microsoft will simply do another deal with Sony. If COD become Xbox exclusive it loose 70% sales. Not gonna happen.
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