Few business news piques the interests of gamers. Gaming studios get bought and sold every day and there is little fuss about that when it comes to the consumer. But, with Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard most gamers, console, PC, and mobile, turned their head.
With this purchase, Microsoft has acquired the following list of titles:
- Call of Duty series
- Crash Bandicoot series
- Guitar Hero series
- Skylanders series
- Spyro the Dragon series
- Tony Hawk’s series
- Diablo series
- Hearthstone
- Heroes of the Storm
- Overwatch
- StarCraft series
- Warcraft series
- Candy Crush Saga
The staggering $68.7 billion purchase has made Microsoft the biggest IP owner across all platforms, with the dates starting way back in 1979. And while Microsoft ensures players that all existing contracts Activision Blizzard had in the past will be honored, there is always the future.
Additionally, this allows Microsoft an entry into the Chinese gaming market, which was largely out of reach despite the company’s 30-year history in the country.
For players, there is also the availability and licensing issue that always comes with such mergers. Thankfully, if you can find a great price for VPN this won’t be an issue for you.
Probable Exclusives
The biggest name from all of the games, and there are plenty, is probably World of Warcraft. The game that will enter the adult age of 18 in November of 2022 still has roughly 4.8 million active players, placing the number of denizens of Azeroth in the same rank as New Zealand.
While this was a PC exclusive so far, there is a high probability that Xbox owners will be able to play in the near future.
But, the increase in access isn’t as frightening to gamers as the probable exclusivity for future titles. Games like CoD have been massively popular with Sony PlayStation players, who are now wondering if they will have access to future titles.
Ideally, we would like to see Microsoft’s financial backing towards the production of better products when it comes to titles like Diablo, because we still haven’t all bought smartphones.
Additionally, many games from the franchise might benefit from Activision Blizzard’s expertise and development, as some of the best game developers work for the company.
Regretfully, there is also an option that the merger will cut off any of the low-performing titles from future investments and focus on what will bring the fastest return, as well as tactics to ensure that return through offering exclusives on Xbox.
Microsoft’s Answer to Sony’s PC Compatibility
There is a good chance that the reason Microsoft was willing to go to the financial lengths that it has is because of the relatively new ability of Sony players to share their gaming account with their PC, making it possible to play Sony exclusives on this platform.
For many, this was the selling point of obtaining the console as they would be able to gain access to a myriad of games for a relatively low price.
While this might sound like an option that also plays in the hands of Microsoft, the owner of the most common PC operating system, it also opens Sony to a much larger market of PC gamers, who make 1.75 billion out of the 3 billion playing all games in total.
By acquiring Activision Blizzard, Microsoft might subdue the rise in PC gamers buying Sony licenses and push them towards Microsoft-only options.
Journey to the West
The exit to China should not be disregarded as something Microsoft would be interested in. With the increased access to the Chinese player base, the company might recover the all-cash expense of this purchase several times, especially if they focus on the SAS aspect of games.
Looking westward from Redmond, Washington, the eyes of the US tech giant are most likely fixated on the Asian market, which is not only growing in customers but also with the ability of those customers to pay for their vast number of digital products.
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