Tag: Activision Blizzard - Page 2
News Toys For Bob Is Becoming An Indie Studio, Leaving Xbox And Activision
It's already exploring a "possible partnership" with Microsoft
Just weeks after the news that Crash Bandicoot and Spyro developer Toys for Bob wouldn't actually be shutting up shop, the studio heads Paul Yan & Avery Lodato have now dropped some surprising news - revealing the team is going independent. This "opportunity" will apparently allow...
Guide Xbox And Microsoft Reveal Full GDC 2024 Schedule
"Microsoft and Xbox are here to help power your games "
The 2024 Game Developer Conference will take place next month in March and as part of this, both Microsoft and the Xbox team will be there to "engage and empower" developers, publishers as well as technology partners across the globe. "Our message is simple: Microsoft and Xbox are here to...
News Activision Blizzard's First Game Pass Release Has Been Confirmed By Xbox
Arriving next month!!
Update [Fri 16th Feb, 2024 04:30 GMT]: The Verge's senior editor has reached out to Microsoft and confirmed Diablo 4 "won't" be available to Xbox Game Pass Core subscribers. "Diablo IV is coming to Xbox Game Pass on March 28th, with the exception of the Xbox Game Pass Core catalog,” says Kari Perez, head of communications...
News The FTC Is Concerned About Xbox's Recent Batch Of Employee Layoffs
Accuses Microsoft of being contradictory
Update: Microsoft has since responded to this, stating that "Activision was already planning on eliminating a significant number of jobs while still operating as an independent company." Here's an excerpt from the latest court filing: "Consistent with broader trends in the gaming industry, Activision was...
News Toys For Bob Office Closing, But There's Apparently No Need To Worry
The Crash & Spyro dev is not actually "closing down"
There have been a lot of rumours doing the rounds this week about Xbox's future, and earlier today, there were claims Activision developer Toys for Bob was potentially "closing down" following Microsoft's announcement of mass layoffs. While the future of the studio is still somewhat unclear,...
News Xbox Predicts 'Hardware Decline' Despite Huge Revenue Boost From ActiBlizz
Services are on the up
Microsoft's latest earnings report has been an eye-opening one, with its gaming division posting huge revenue boosts - propelling the sector to Microsoft's third largest business within the company. While much of that is attributed to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, one area that doesn't seem to be growing so fast is...
News Gaming Becomes Microsoft's 'Third Largest Business' In Latest Quarter
It has surpassed Windows with the help of ActiBlizz
It's been a bit of a wild start to the year for Xbox with a Developer Direct, mass layoffs, some record-breaking milestones, and now the
News Xbox's Gaming Revenue Receives Huge 49% Boost YoY From Activision Blizzard Acquisition
The second quarter fiscal year 2024 results are in
Microsoft has just released its earning results for FY24 Q2 and Xbox's gaming revenue has experienced huge growth in the latest quarter, up by 49% year-over-year. This growth is credited mostly to Microsoft securing Activision Blizzard, which closed last year on October 13, 2023. This latest figure...
News Unreleased Call Of Duty Gameplay Leaks Online From Project 'NX1'
Footage from an Xbox 360 era COD has appeared
Call of Duty is a juggernaut franchise and has been for decades at this point, and it was the Xbox 360 era of the franchise that got the ball well and truly rolling. Annual releases became the norm that generation, but as it turns out, there were some projects — quite far along in development might we...
News Microsoft Will Apparently Announce Blizzard's New President 'Next Week'
Mike Ybarra is departing
Xbox this week revealed it was laying off 1,900 employees and in the process, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, who was an ex-Microsoft executive before this, also announced his departure. There's still obviously a lot to take in, but if you are wondering who will replace Ybarra, apparently that update will be happening as...
News Xbox Is Employing 'A More Focused Strategy' After Merging With Activision Blizzard
"Together we will continue to create amazing games"
Following the Microsoft and Blizzard layoff news posted earlier today, Xbox's Matt Booty has also made a lengthy statement on the company's reasoning behind such a huge round of job losses. Coming by wa
News Blizzard President Quits Microsoft, In-Development Survival Game Also Cancelled
"It’s an incredibly hard day"
After today's megaton news of almost 2,000 job losses over at Team Xbox, we have even more disruption amongst the ranks. Long-time Blizzard president and ex-Microsoft executive Mike Ybarra has announced his departure from the studio - and with it the cancellation of Blizzard's in-development survival game. Ybarra has...
News Microsoft Cuts 1,900 Jobs Across Xbox, Bethesda And Activision Blizzard Teams
"We have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce"
The move to bring Activision Blizzard into the Xbox ecosystem has largely been seen as a positive one, but unfortunately we have some bad news to share today. As part of a company restructure post-ActiBlizz deal, Microsoft has laid off almost 2,000 people. Shared by IGN...
News Diablo 4's New Seasonal Update Is Out Now, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
The Season of the Construct has arrived
Diablo 4 admittedly had some struggles in its first season, but Blizzard was able to improve the overall experience relatively quickly. This now brings us to the game's third season - 'Season of the Construct'. In brief, this latest (and free) seasonal update focuses on a legend of ancient treasure deep in...
News Microsoft CEO Says ActiBlizz Deal Helps Xbox Become 'A Good Publisher' On All Platforms
"On Sony, Nintendo, PCs and Xbox"
Microsoft's Activision Blizzard deal finally came to its long-awaited conclusion back in October 2023, with the two companies successfully merging late last year. While the deal makes the Xbox platform a much-more inviting one for gamers, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been keen to point out that this benefits...
News Microsoft President Brad Smith Softens Stance On UK CMA After ActiBlizz Agreement
The UK is no longer "bad for business", apparently
During Microsoft's face-off with the UK CMA earlier this year, Microsoft president Brad Smith made some upfront comments about the UK's Competition and Markets Authority - the CMA. At the time, Smith said the CMA's block was "the darkest day in our four decades in Britain", but his tune has...
Feature Five Activision Games We Want To Become Xbox Backwards Compatible In 2024
Microsoft, let's get this show on the road
It's officially 2024, which means we should —we repeat, should — be getting a huge batch of Activision Blizzard games on Xbox Game Pass this year. While the prospect of modern ActiBlizz releases from the Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro series' hitting Game Pass is an exciting one
News Xbox Makes Leadership Changes As Bobby Kotick Leaves Activision & Microsoft
Another big shuffle for Team Xbox
Update: Another change that's been announced during the day is that Jill Braff is becoming the new head of ZeniMax and Bethesda's studios. Jill has been the General Manager of Integrations & Casual Games at Xbox Game Studios since 2020, and has previously held roles at the likes of SEGA,
News The FTC Is Continuing To Fight Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal
There's an uphill battle ahead!
If you thought we were done with these Activision Blizzard acquisition articles, think again! The deal might have gone through on Microsoft and Xbox's end now, but that isn't stopping the US FTC from continuing to put up a fight. As reported by Reuters and CNN, the FTC appeared in front of a three-judge court panel...
News Xbox & Activision Blizzard Are Merging At A 'Really Impressive Speed', Says Xbox CFO
"The speed at which we've worked together is really impressive"
Xbox and Activision Blizzard have only been one entity for a little over a month, at least officially, but the two companies seem to be coming together at speedy pace so far. Speaking at a recent summit, Xbox CFO Tim Stuart talked about the team integrating with ActiBlizz, and how the...
Poll Which Call Of Duty Title Will You Be Most Excited To Play On Xbox Game Pass?
Microsoft is working on bringing them over
Eventually, lots of Call of Duty games will head to the Xbox Game Pass library thanks to Microsoft's mammoth Activision Blizzard deal. The team is still working behind the scenes to get CoD on Game Pass, but it'll happen eventually once everything is worked out by Xbox, Activision and al
Report Modern Warfare 3's Campaign Had 'Shortest' Dev Time For A New Call Of Duty In Years
It was assembled in "roughly 16 months"
Alongside the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 today, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has published a story about the game's rushed development. One bit of information, in particular, is the mention of the campaign's development cycle. Prior to the "harsh reviews", developers were "forced" to finish...
News Xbox Wants 'All Of The Games' In Its Portfolio To Matter, Not Just Huge IP
Matt Booty: From Halo to Psychonauts "and everything in between"
Following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft and Team Xbox now have more studios (and games) than ever. If there was any concern about how all this is going to be managed or if certain franchises will be overshadowed by others, there's apparently no need to worry...
News Diablo 4's First Expansion Vessel Of Hatred Announced, Coming 'Late 2024'
Featuring a class "never-before-seen" in Diablo
Diablo IV got off to a strong start when it was originally released earlier this year - quickly becoming Blizzard's "fastest-selling game of all time" and biggest launch ever - bringing in more than 10 million players in the first month. Since then, there have been some teething issues with the game's...
News EA CEO: 'Microsoft & Activision Is A Great Thing For Our Industry'
"One of the world's largest companies is going to continue to invest"
Xbox's huge Activision Blizzard deal has now gone through, and its successful completion has led to questions of other potential acquisitions in the gaming industry. Of course, EA is one of the big names left on the table (either in terms of EA picking up other teams, or a...
"Drop into two painstakingly-recreated Battle Royale maps"
For quite a while now we've known that one of Xbox's biggest goals with its Activision Blizzard acquisition is to grow in the mobile gaming space, and a new Call of Duty blog post shows us a little bit about why that goal is already coming into view. As part of the Call of Duty franchise's...
News Activision Blizzard Documents Its 44-Year History With New Infographic Featuring Xbox
"We begin an exciting new chapter"
It's been an exciting period for Microsoft and Xbox with the finalisation of the Activision Blizzard (and King) acquisition. Now, as part of this, Activision Blizzard has released a huge infographic documenting the entire history of both companies, the eventual merger, and joining team Xbox. Throughout it, there...
News Here's A Look At Microsoft And Xbox's New Gaming Leadership Structure
See for yourself
It's been another big week for team Xbox with the latest announcement of a Microsoft reshuffle which sees some familiar faces promoted. Perhaps the biggest changes apart from Activision Blizzard, are the promotions of two execs. As noted in the initial announcement, Matt Booty is now 'president of game content and studios'...
News Microsoft Reshuffle Makes Huge Changes To Team Xbox, Matt Booty & Sarah Bond Promoted
We have a new structure in place at Xbox
Xbox is in the midst of making massive changes to its leadership structure, as a result of recent acquisitions like that of Bethesda Softworks and Activision Blizzard. As detailed by The Verge, multiple Xbox execs will hold new roles after the company reshuffle, including familiar faces like Sarah Bond and
News Xbox Boss Praises Activision Blizzard's 'Amazing Teams' After A Week Of Studio Tours
Phil thinks they're "really inspiring"
Since finalising its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Xbox's leadership team have kept themselves busy with a bunch of studio tours. Most recently, Phil Spencer and co visited Blizzard's headquarters in Irvine, California, and now in a follow-up to this, the Xbox boss has shared a brief message on social...
Xbox technically owns the franchise now
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 may be missing out on a day one Xbox Game Pass launch this year, but it isn't stopping Microsoft from including the title as a highlight in its
News Xbox's Leadership Team Visits Blizzard Post-Acquisition
Microsoft strives to be a "source of trust" for the studio
Following Microsoft's recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Phil Spencer and team Xbox have been busy doing studio tours all around the world. The latest visit was Blizzard's headquarters in Irvine, California and while Xbox's leadership team hasn't formally shared what exactly went on...
News Microsoft 'Doubling Down As A Game Producer' After ActiBlizz Deal, Says CEO
"Now we'll be one of the largest game publishers"
After Microsoft closed its Activision Blizzard deal earlier this month, Xbox Game Studios has grown exponentially. As you can see here, the amount of studios now under Microsoft's wing is kind of mind-blowing, and the company's CEO is relishing the opportunity to start producing more games. Speaking...
News Phil Spencer & Co. Given 'Sweet Welcome' As They Visit Candy Crush Developer King
One of the new ActiBlizz teams welcomes Xbox
Phil Spencer and the Xbox leadership team have wasted no time in the wake of Microsoft's huge Activision Blizzard deal. Shortly after the Xbox owner acquired the mega-publisher, Phil & co. have been to visit King Games - the team behind the mobile hit Candy Crush. As posted to Twitter, King has...
Reaction Seriously, Microsoft Doesn't Care About Using Call Of Duty To Sell Xboxes
"We have no goal of trying to use Call of Duty to get you to buy an Xbox console"
We've seen Microsoft move away from the goal of sheer console sales for years now - the team has almost given up the ghost with PlayStation and has accepted that Sony is likely to sell more systems for the time being. Having said that, the acquisition of Activision...
News This Diablo 4 Custom Console Is So Epic It Doesn't Even Look Like An Xbox
It doesn't work like one either, weirdly
Just as Microsoft finally acquires Diablo 4 developer Blizzard, the team announces another custom Xbox Series X console, and not only does this thing look hellish in its design - it also functions like its been plunged into the depths of hell too. Yep, weirdly, this latest Xbox Series X custom console...
News Phil Spencer Is 'Incredibly Excited' About The Future Of Xbox
He says the latest acquisition is "just the beginning"
In the same appearance on the Official Xbox Podcast, the head of Xbox Phil Spencer mentioned how he's "incredibly excited" about the future of Xbox now that Microsoft has successfully acquired Activision Blizzard as well as the mobile giant King. Reflecting on his own history as the head of...
News Xbox Boss Would Love To 'Revisit' Older Franchises More, Uses Quake 2 As An Example
"I'd love to see more things like that"
Xbox's Phil Spencer appeared today as part of the Official Xbox Podcast, where he was asked about potential plans to go and revisit older franchises now that Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard and its extensive back catalogue. In response, Spencer explained that he's eager to see what the development teams...
News Phil Spencer Explains Why ActiBlizz Titles Aren't Expected On Xbox Game Pass Just Yet
"The regulatory process took so long..."
When the Activision Blizzard acquisition finally went through last week, we were all hoping Team Xbox might have a big drop of Xbox Game Pass titles from the back catalogue to throw our way in October. Sadly that didn't end up proving the case, and now Xbox boss Phil Spencer has explained why. In a
Talking Point Which Activision Blizzard Series Do You Want To Play Most On Xbox Game Pass?
Come tell us what you're excited to play
Okay, so, the big Activision Blizzard deal is officially happening - and we're already starting to get giddy about the future of Xbox Game Pass with them on board. Sure, we know that some of the team's newer titles like Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Diablo 4
News 'Karma Is A B*tch'! Original Xbox Creator Talks Activision Takeover
His comments have racked up over 1M views!
This past Friday marked an important milestone in the history of Xbox as Microsoft closed the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and original Xbox co-creator Seamus Blackley had some words to share following the announcement. Blackley took to Twitter to point out the "karma" involved in Activision CEO...
News Activision Says Xbox Can 'Take Games In The Library And Remake Them' Post-Acquisition
Which Activision Blizzard game do you want remade?
Now that the Activision Blizzard deal has officially gone through, we can all look forward to the future - a future where Xbox has total control over ActiBlizz IP. The Call of Duty owner is sitting on a treasure trove of other gaming franchises, and we could even see some of them return in 'remake'...
Talking Point What Do You Want To See From Xbox & Activision Blizzard?
The return of classic IP? A CoD overhaul? Tell us!
Alright, so the news is finally starting to settle that Microsoft now owns Activision Blizzard King, and we're expecting a little bit of a lull before the company comes out and reveals more of what to expect from this unprecedented takeover. It's been nearly two years since the intent to purchase...
News Activision CEO Bobby Kotick Set To Leave The Company In Early 2024
"I will do that through the end of 2023"
Although Activision Blizzard is officially a part of Xbox now (we still can't believe it either), questions remain about the future of the company under Microsoft and if there'll be any structural changes in the near future. Well, thanks to statements from both Phil Spencer and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, we...
News Here's A Look At Every Xbox Studio Following The ActiBlizz Acquisition
It's a ridiculous list!
Activision Blizzard King is now officially part of the Xbox family, and that means the list of Microsoft-owned first-party studios has just grown in a massive way. If you thought it was impressive before, it's on a whole other level now! Xbox fan and creative genius Klobrille has put together a fantastic look at the new...
Guide These 50+ Activision Blizzard Games Could Be Heading To Xbox Game Pass
The takeover is complete, so it's almost time!
Update (Fri 13th Oct, 2023): It's been nearly two years since we first published this list, and a lot has happened in the meantime! The acquisition of Activision Blizzard is finally now complete, and therefore we should be getting a large batch of ActiBlizz games on Xbox Game Pass in the relatively near...
News Phil Spencer Comments On What It Means To Merge Activision Blizzard With Xbox First Party
"It is incredible to welcome such legendary teams to Xbox"
Well, the megaton news we've all been waiting for has finally landed. Activision Blizzard is officially a part of team Xbox as Microsoft eventually pushes its huge merger through after almost two years of work. Now that we've waded through all of the legislation and whatnot though, it's...
News Xbox Says The 'Work Has Begun' To Bring Activision Blizzard Titles To Game Pass
"We know you’re excited – and we are too."
We've all been looking forward to a large slate of Activision Blizzard titles coming to Xbox Game Pass for almost two years now, and even though the deal has officially gone through, it sounds like we might need to wait a little bit longer. Following today's announcement, the official Xbox Game Pass...
News It's Finally Over! Activision Blizzard Is Now Officially Part Of Xbox
"Welcoming the legendary teams and franchises"
It's time! Microsoft has announced today that Activision Blizzard King is now officially part of the company, bringing the likes of Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Diablo and many more "legendary franchises" under the Xbox banner. This news
News CMA Criticises 'Tactics Employed By Microsoft' Despite Agreeing To ActiBlizz Deal
Related to the initial investigation
Although the UK Competition and Markets Authority has today agreed to Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the regulator has had some harsh words to share about Microsoft's "tactics" along the way. In an official press release, CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell criticised Microsoft's handling of the...
