Xbox is Acquiring Activision Blizzard, Will Own Call of Duty, Warcraft, and More
In a shock announcement, Microsoft has announced that it is officially acquiring Activision Blizzard, with the deal reported to be for a staggering $68.7 billion. This industry-shaking acquisition will give Microsoft, and therefore the Xbox brand, ownership over some of the industry's biggest money-making titles, including the Call of Duty franchise. Needless to say, this will be an absolutely massive acquisition if it's approved, eclipsing Microsoft's Bethesda acquisition from last year and standing as the largest gaming acquisition in history to date.
Microsoft's goal with its Activision Blizzard acquisition is to "accelerate the growth" of its gaming business across all platforms, as well as "provide building blocks for the metaverse." Microsoft has pointed out specific franchises it will now own once the acquisition goes through, with notable titles besides the aforementioned Call of Duty including Candy Crush, Diablo, Overwatch, and Warcraft (including the ever-popular MMORPG World of Warcraft), and more. Classic Activision franchises will now fall under the Xbox umbrella as well, like Crash Bandicoot, Guitar Hero, and Spyro the Dragon.
RELATED: Activision Blizzard Fires 37 Employees for Misconduct and Disciplines 44 More
When Xbox acquired Bethesda, one of the main reasons for it was to bolster Xbox Game Pass, and the same holds true for the Activision Blizzard acquisition. Microsoft has said that it plans on launching Activision Blizzard games as day one Xbox Game Pass titles, which means that future Call of Duty games and titles like Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2 will be available on Game Pass on day one, assuming the deal goes through before they're out.
Microsoft also plans on adding previously-released Call of Duty
Read more on gamerant.com
