Achievement Unlocked – Microsoft closes their acquisition of Activision Blizzard King

Activision Blizzard King is now part of the Xbox family

Following the confirmation of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) approval, Microsoft has officially completed their acquisition of Activision Blizzard King. Now, the publisher is part of the Xbox family, making Microsoft the owners of major franchises like Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft and many more.

Microsoft’s acquisition will cost the company $69 billion. This makes today’s acquisition the largest in gaming history. For context, Microsoft’s acquisition of Zenimax/Bethesda cost the company $7.5 billion, and that acquisition was considered huge at the time.

Now that their acquisition is complete, Microsoft can work to integrate Activision Blizzard King into their long-term gaming roadmap. This will include bringing beloved Activision Blizzard titles to Game Pass, and bringing popular franchises to more platforms. Microsoft has already promised to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo hardware, but what else does Xbox have planned? World of Warcraft on consoles?

Below is part of what Xbox’s Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, had to say about their has for Activision Blizzard.

Players have always been at the center of everything we do. And as we grow, we’ll continue to keep players at the heart of it all. We’ll continue to listen to your feedback, build a community where you can be yourself, where developers can do their best work, and continue to make really fun games. As promised, we will also continue to make more games available in more places – and that begins now by enabling cloud streaming providers and players to stream Activision Blizzard games in the European Economic Area, a commitment made to the European Commission. Today we start the work to bring beloved Activision, Blizzard, and King franchises to Game Pass and other platforms. We’ll share more about when you can expect to play in the coming months. We know you’re excited – and we are too.

Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition isn’t just about Call of Duty

In the trailer above, Microsoft showcased a huge number of titles from Activision Blizzard’s catalogue, including World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Diablo, Overwatch, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Sekiro, Candy Crush, Starcraft, and Prototype. Yes, Prototype was included in the trailer, suggesting that a remake or remaster could be in the works.

Today is a big day for Xbox, and one that will undoubtedly change the future of the company. Soon, Game Pass will have a wealth of new titles, and that may include future Call of Duty titles. We hope that Microsoft makes good use of Activision Blizzard King’s assets.

You can join the discussion on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard King on the OC3D Forums.