It's Finally Over! Activision Blizzard Is Now Officially Part Of Xbox

Yay 🥳 It’s party time.

Love anytime a game company wants to use songs from Oklahoma

Welcome, Crash and the others! Now, bring Banjo back! 💚

Well done. About time. Jim Ryan will be pleased lol

Yes but where does Pogba come in all of this

Welcome ABK 😊 to team Xbox.

Quite a well put together video too...

Give it an hour for 1st GP drop lol

And Jim Ryan is MIA. Fitting.

@swagbag7 Activision published it, FS developed it.

That is a good video.

I have a feeling this whole saga will be the cornerstone of many business law classes for decades.

Yippiekayee!!!!

There's a shot of Alex Mercer from Prototype in that video 😊

Hell yea! Now we play the waiting game to see what's added to GP

Here is a crazy visual representation of xbox 1st party studios. Exciting times ahead.

https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1712815395919311232?t=u-0pcB49C4iLWT15ppXX_A&s=19

And just like that, history's been made and gaming's been saved!

@BAMozzy Indeed, it is a nice video. And it shows an impressive bunch of IPs now owned by MS/Xbox.

Hopefully this now clears MS up to buy studios who make games I actually want to play.

Finally over!
Well done to all involved in the deal.

The new scenario will make it much more difficult for Sony to remove third-party games from competing platforms. It just happened with their best friend Square Enix that have announced that they will start publishing games for Xbox again.

So hopefully we see the games on gamepass in November then or December no its sorted more importantly let's hope we see a load of new games going forward

Congratulations Microsoft!

I am looking forward to seeing that Game Pass selection increase further!

Also, I want to see some long-dormant IPs get some love:

Space Quest VII by Double Fine - with help from the original creators.

Starcraft Ghost by The Coalition and Blizzard

Warcraft Adventure Lord of the Clans: Resurrected!

Pitfall! reboot

Licensed games from OG Xbox, X360, X1 on Game Pass (bring back the BC program for games that have yet to be release)

I would like to see all the COD games get a free 4k /60FPS framerate boost given time and if technically possible.

@species8472 I don't play call of duty games I thought they were 60 fps?

Fabulous news and all on my 45th Birthday as well!!

Best part about the deal closing is now we can focus solely on games and events again.

@Dan1283 Maybe some are?
Not sure myself maybe the old ones aren't?
A 4k resolution boost would be excellent as I have a Samsung QLED but I understand not everybody plays at 4k resolution or cares LOL.

Nice! Another publisher guaranteed to release all their games on XB platforms.

Now we need patience as we know ABK is in a bit of a mess. That chart posted by Tom Warren (linked by @BacklogBrad ) shows how many Studios are part of Activision, Blizzard and King but as we know, ABK are not overly productive on 'new' games with so many Studios working on 1 or 2 IP's.

Therefore I expect it to take 'years' for us consumers to really start to see the benefits. Of course it the short term future, MS has a back catalog of titles they can now offer and promote but like we saw with Zenimax, we had to wait a while before Xbox customers specifically saw any benefits as Deathloop and Ghostwire released on PS first. We had to wait until Hi-Fi Rush released to get a Day 1 release in Game Pass.

We are 'still' waiting to see Games from others that 'joined' Xbox. Compulsion and inXile haven't released games exclusively for Xbox since they joined in 2018 - although now we know what they are both working on.

At least now, MS can go in and discuss their plans, what they 'expect' from their Studios etc and transition them into 'Microsoft', maybe re-organise and/or have learned from acquiring Zenimax - but with that many employees, Studios etc, I expect it to take some time.

Even if they can't get ABK studios working on some of their IP's, they own them now so could get other Studios making games. They could have a 'kart racer' or party brawler with ABK, Zenimax and Xbox icons - Master Chief, Marcus Fenix, Joanna Dark, Soap MacTavish, Crash, Spyro, Minecraft, Doom Guy, BJ Blazkowicz etc for example.

If the Coalition wanted to make a 'Hexen' or maybe 343 want to make Starcraft (instead of Halo Wars 3), they can now so even if ABK takes time to be transitioned, organised and 'productive' on new games, owning the IP's can still open up avenues for their other Studios too...

Hopefully this means the older PC COD games will get a meaningful sale on steam

@species8472 oh right ye hopefully all the games end up 4k enabled

@BAMozzy hopefully we see a new hexen and a new tony hawks and a new prototype

How long before Activision/Blizzard games become Xbox's sole focus?

@Kaloudz I know, right? Is sooo cool indeed

Awesome!

Now get to work on Star Craft: Ghost.

It's sad that the UK government intervened and forced the CMA to approve the acquisition. At least the CMA and FTC were able to reveal the truth about Xbox, something that would not have happened if the CMA caved in and approved the acquisition back in April.

@BaldBelper78 happy Birthday

@Dan1283 I'd be happy with a new Hexen or Prototype but I was never much of a fan of Tony Hawks myself. I don't know if MS can or would want to use 'Tony Hawks' name - I assume he may have some say on that. I don't know how 'relevant' he is either - he could still be 'big' for all I know.

I would expect that 'Game Pass' could be used as a tool for MS, see which IP's are popular, are engaging gamers etc to help shape their future. If enough show interest in 'dead' IP's, that will encourage MS/Devs to bring them back.

With CoD, Doom, Wolfenstein, Halo, Quake, Perfect Dark etc in their IP collection, Hexen may not be a priority but with Prototype, they could have a 'Superhero' type Game to compete with Spider-Man/Wolverine, may prioritise Crash/Spyro etc to bring more Family content - so we will just have to wait and see.

I'm not sure MS would want to bring back GH or Skylanders for example - not in this Sustainable, environmentally Carbon Neutral business model. All those peripherals costing fossil fuels to manufacture/ship, all those Plastics ending up in Landfill etc either but who knows?

It's just 'day 1', the first day that MS can actually go in and start talking to their Studios, start revealing their plans, ambitions, ideas to their 'new' staff and get feedback, find out what they 'want' too. Its like they have just received a big box of jumbled Lego and will take time for those pieces to organise and set plans into motion to turn those pieces into a 'unified' whole, integrate with not only its new management structure, but also with the other teams, studios etc. Even if the Original Studio can't make a new 'Prototype' (certainly not under Kotick's management), MS can find a Studio willing/able to, support creative ideas - suppressed under ABK as they were too concerned about CoD missing its release window and therefore not making money and those 'new' ideas not making as much money as CoD does to offset that.

Time will tell - but right now, MS really needs to 'talk' with its new Staff, new Studios etc first. They need to know and have the chance to feedback - they shouldn't find out after its gone public...

You know, if MS stopped here, it wouldn't upset me...

@GamingFan4Lyf Starcraft Ghost? There's a title I haven't thought about in ages. It would almost be Xbox's Metroid Dread moment if they really released that game.

I'm going to have "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" stuck in my head this weekend. Thanks Xbox...

It's a new day in Xbox world!

@BaldBelper78 happy birthday ,gd to see older gamers like myself still gaming away

Nice, I do hope we get some older Black Ops titles on Gamepass soon. BO2 is one of my personal favorites.

Hell yeah!
Phil just can't stop winning.

Hallelujah! Soooooo tired hearing about it every damn day for almost two years

Do you ever wake up and wonder... "Are we the baddies?"

Run your company like a bull in a china shop. Treat your customers with condescension and contempt. Put out inferior games and services. Acquire studios and run them into the ground. Throw tens of billions at another corrupt company to compensate. Skirt the spirit of anti-trust because regulators can be bought. Watch the fans, whom you openly care nothing for, fawn over you while the economy becomes increasingly bifurcated. Sure, a win for everyone.

@themightyant Tell the truth. I don’t understand the shortsightedness people are gleefully embracing. Well, I understand it, but it still frustrates me.

And all this whining about this taking so long. Nobody strong-armed you into reading the articles. Since when does a behemoth of a company deserve to do what it wants without scrutiny? The process is in place to protect consumers, not the MS shareholders. At least, that’s what should be happening. A fairy story, I guess.

@Nancyboy Who needs a hug?

Ok, so phase 1 (getting the deal through) is done and dusted. Now onto phase 2: waiting on the Push Square lot to get through the five stages of grief.

That’ll do Phil, that’ll do. 👍🏻

@taternuggets I could use two.

@swagbag7 my understanding is that From Software owns the Sekiro IP but ABK owns the publishing rights at least to that entry. There is also possibility there is something in the contract that gives ABK first-dibs at publishing any sequels, but that's just conjecture.

I guess it's on a similar realm to Sunset Overdrive, the game was published by MS and still listed but the IP is (now) owned by Sony. Sony cant just request a port for PS, and the logistics of a sequel are not worth it given they have other IP (spider-man) to work with anyways. Similarly, I doubt From Software will be rushing to come back to Sekiro anytime soon when they can revisit Dark Souls again, or Elden Ring, or Armored Core, or any number of games.

Real question is if ABK rights are strong enough to allow them to just add Sekiro to Game Pass.

@GamingFan4Lyf

(bring back the BC program for games that have yet to be release)

ABK was extremely friendly with Xbox back comp program, they were one of the few that didnt just put everything they could on the program but also sold 360 games on green XBO boxes at retail to leverage their games being on the program.

I guess my point is if an ABK game is not in the program its due to licensing or technical limitations.

Being able to buy Activision is absolutely huge for Xbox considering the amazing IP’s they have and what that can do for Xbox over the future. Let’s hope they make some better decisions than what Activision have done before also.

@Jenkinss
Give me a couple of dream studios you'd want Microsoft to buy?

The next Killer Instinct roster is going to be interesting.

A new era has begun

That's awesome 😁 🎇

@Kaloudz I’m nervous than ever now, not sure if Royal Games will ever get revived or just close next year

World of Warcraft mmo on xbox on x/s please

PlayStation owners.... Get buying in game stuff on COD. C'mon.... Support Xbox, you know you're gonna 😂

@ZuneTattooGuy Depends on what you mean - do you mean instead of ABK, with the 70 billion? Because they could have bought Sega, Square, CDPR, and Paradox and still just have gotten started - they'd still have roughly half of that 70 billion to spend.

If you mean what is my wishlist now, in this post ABK acquisition world, the prospects are pretty grim, I don't anticipate they will be spending a whole lot now, and the recent IRS news doesn't help. I could see something like poaching Saber from Embracer, that would be an amazing get.

Microsoft now owns Sierra IP.

NEW KING'S QUEST, LET'S GOOOOO!!!!

Also, a new 3D Gabriel Knight in the vein of something like Alan Wake, or the upcoming Alone in the Dark would be sweet! We need a return of the Schattenjaeger!!

@Kaloudz The site was already shut down in 2021 but still able to log in and see the Free Rolls still Live, two hosts are still hosting the site. It’s just nerve racking on not knowing on what is going to happen

@Kaloudz Thank you 🙂