Yesterday Microsoft announced the purchase Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, which will be the most expensive deal in the history of the gaming industry. If the deal is approved by regulators, Microsoft will get the rights to hits like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Crash Bandicoot and Candy Crush, just to name a few. Experts suggest that the acquisition will completely change the video game market.
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The deal is expected to take Activision Blizzard to the next level. Microsoft will be able to restore the reputation of the publisher of games, which over the past few months has become a defendant in high-profile court cases. The state of California has sued the company for unacceptable treatment of employees. Obviously, Microsoft will have to deal with the current situation. There are suggestions that Microsoft will take a number of actions, including laying off employees who contributed to the establishment of a toxic corporate culture at Activision Blizzard.
The big question is what this means for CEO Bobby Kotick. According to people familiar with the matter, he knew regarding the problems in the company and hid them from investors. Of course, Microsoft won’t fire him during the acquisition phase. Company statedthat Kitty will retain his position. However, by the time the takeover is complete, Microsoft’s position may have changed.
Image Source: Digital Trends
Another major consequence of the deal will be the addition of Activision Blizzard games to Xbox Game Pass. The subscription will include games from the Call of Duty series, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and many others, which will undoubtedly increase the popularity of the service, whose audience has already grown from 18 to 25 million subscribers for the last year. The subscription expansion is likely the main benefit of the deal for Microsoft.
The question is how the expansion of the library of games will affect the cost of a Game Pass subscription. Since its inception, the service has offered very favorable prices in order to attract as many users as possible. But once Game Pass becomes necessary to access Activision Blizzard games, Microsoft will have new leverage over players when it comes to subscription costs. The Redmond giant is spending nearly $69 billion on the deal, and it wouldn’t be surprising if it wants to recoup those costs quickly.
Image Source: Activision Blizzard
Do not forget that Activision Blizzard is the publisher of the mobile hit Candy Crash, which, along with other projects, will become the property of Microsoft. Redmond Company strengthen its position in the mobile games marketwhere at the moment it has no tangible impact. Microsoft also noted that it plans to bring full-scale Activision Blizzard games to mobile platforms in the future, possibly with the help of xCloud.
Finally, the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard might hit Sony hard. At the moment, Activision Blizzard’s most important games are being released on all platforms, but will this change following the merger with Microsoft? In fact, the takeover might result in limited access to Activision Blizzard games on the PlayStation. This will hurt competition and might lead to Sony buying up major studios to ensure popular games are available to users in its ecosystem. All this might end up with two companies owning virtually every major game developer and publisher.
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