Microsoft completed this Friday (13) the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Now, major titles such as Call of Duty, Diablo, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush are part of Big Tech’s portfolio of games. With the end of the acquisition, which cost $68.7 billion, Microsoft is preparing to launch new games on Xbox Game Pass.
The closing of the purchase had been speculated for this date since last week, when the website The Verge reported that Microsoft was waiting for the approval of the deal at the CMA, a UK body similar to our CADE, after changes in the purchase agreement.
With Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard completed, the big tech begins preparations to bring the subsidiary’s titles to Game Pass, its game subscription service. However, don’t expect the titles to enter Game Pass tomorrow.
Activision Blizzard itself declared last Monday that its games should enter Game Pass only from 2024. The company said it would begin work on bringing the games to the service as soon as the acquisition was finalized.
This process requires direct contact with Xbox Game Studios — Microsoft’s gaming division of which Activision Blizzard is now one of its subsidiaries. In the statement, the big tech confirms that it has already started the steps to bring the titles to Game Pass.
As leaker Klobrille showed on X/Twitter, Activision, Blizzard and King (developer of mobile titles) will be, as well as Bethesda, independent studios within Xbox Game Studios.
With the completion of the acquisition of Activision Blizzard + King, Microsoft becomes, in terms of revenue, the third largest gaming company in the world. In the lead is China’s Tencent, followed by Sony.
