The fact that Xbox even made a trailer celebrating the closure of its Activision Blizzard acquisition, like it's the last big hitter of an E3 showcase, is bizarre enough, if unsurprising. But the sheer, goggle-eyed, 'Let's hear it for capitalism' chest-beating of the thing is, well, I wish I could say otherworldly, but absolutely strange to say the least.
Just to drive home the Alice in Capitalism vibes, the two-minute trailer – 114 honest-to-god seconds – is set to verses from 'Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' from the 1943 musical Oklahoma. "There's a bright golden haze on the meadow," the trailer begins, but instead of Curly McLain eyeing Laurey Williams across a field, it's Xbox welcoming distraught, hapless, down-on-their-luck, capital-G Gamers into the ostensibly glorious tomorrow where Microsoft owns the entire world.
I'll give Microsoft one thing: The absurd juxtaposition of IP here does illustrate the enormity of this deal, though its impact can't hope to match the psychic damage dealt by the World of Warcraft clips in this trailer. First of all, yes, World of Warcraft is in an Xbox sizzle reel. Welcome to the golden meadow. Second of all, I don't think this is the context Blizzard's writers had in mind when they had that orc lad ask, "So this is home now?"
"Home. Family," replies Orc Number 2 – yes, I know it's Varok and Thrall, I just like to mess with World of Warcraft players – presumably seconds away from donning his newly provided Xbox blazer.
It's not just Activision games, either. Xbox is very proud of all the IP it's acquired through buyouts, so Activision games, from distant relatives like Sekiro to mainstays like Call of Duty, are rubbing elbows with Bethesda properties like Fallout and Starfield. To
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