Microsoft shocked the world this week when it announced that it would buy the famous gaming company Activision Blizzard for nearly $ 70 billion, publishers of popular series such as Call of Duty , Diablo or World of Warcraft . But the business, which is by far the largest for Microsoft and one of the largest in modern business history, raises a number of questions. affect players? What does the whole gaming segment mean for the competition and in general? And why is it happening right now, at a time when Activision Blizzard doesn’t have the happiest reputation? In the following paragraphs, we will show you some of the perspectives that we believe are most important. And let’s start with the main one – the game portfolio.
Game Pass on steroids
If the deal comes to a successful end, Microsoft will get a large number of games from the Activision Blizzard stable. From established brands such as Call of Duty , Diablo , World of Warcraft or Overwatch via puns Crash Bandicoot , Guitar Hero and Candy Crush to Skylanders , Spyro or skateboarder Tony Hawk .
The acquisition will also include “smaller” games from not so well known game studios. Beenox, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, King, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games and Toys for Bob are worth mentioning.
The key is the intention it has with Microsoft titles. They will become part of the Game Pass subscription service for Xbox and PC, so the offer of games for a monthly fee for players will grow greatly. And that’s only good for Microsoft – the more games it has to offer, the more new players it can attract. All the more so when such gems land there.
) Screenshot Call of Duty: Vanguard
Photo: Activision Blizzard
Microsoft says the Xbox Game Pass (or PC Game Pass) has just surpassed 25 million subscribers, which is seven million more people year-on-year. This is a key part of Microsoft’s gaming ecosystem, and anyone who doesn’t know the service can think of Game Pass as Netflix for games – for a monthly fee, you can play any game you want.
However, it is a question of how exclusive it will be, Microsoft has not yet confirmed whether, for example, parts of the shooting event Call of Duty will be exclusively available only n and its platforms, or will continue to be available to consoles from competitors. A clearer position is not likely to be made until next year, when the $ 68.7 billion deal should be completed. Sony also has a similar service for its PlayStation, and exclusive titles are what companies attract the most.
Appetites for mobile gaming
The new purchase of Microsoft is mainly associated with the gain of big “A” titles. However, games that have a big impact in the so-called mobile gaming segment, where phones and tablets are used instead of classic consoles, should definitely not be forgotten either. The game studio King, the creator of the phenomenon Candy Crush , will also go to the Microsoft portfolio
Microsoft is well aware of the size of the market for mobile games . And he also knows very well the name of the Swedish company King. Her games, which besides Candy Crush also include Farm Heroes , Pet Rescue or Bubble Witch , plays every month over 240 million people, making it one of the most influential companies in the field. submerged. In a way, it has entered them in the past, through its cloud gaming service, but King may prove to be a much more important aspect of potential success in the mobile gaming market.
Microsoft has already he managed to express whether he will introduce some of the titles from the Activision Blizzard portfolio on phones and tablets. And although not specific, he is counting on the introduction of games from this stable on mobile platforms. He also mentioned that he did not intend to present all the games to himself, indicating that exclusivity would not seep through all the titles he had newly won.
Bounce from Sony
Gaming is the main competition for Microsoft Japanese Sony. Both companies have been developing successful gaming consoles for a long time, and the gaming community constantly leads them to decide whether it is better to buy an Xbox or a PlayStation. However, as soon as Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard becomes final, Sony’s Xbox maker bounces sharply. Not in hardware, but of course in the range of games. Even the exclusive ones
Microsoft’s acquisition tactics are somewhat aggressive in this regard. While Sony tends to buy smaller studios with which it has a closer and longer-term relationship (last year, for example, it bought Housemarque and Bluepoint, which creates exclusive games for PlayStation 5), Microsoft is absorbing the biggest companies. As a result, it “locks” popular gaming franchises as potential exclusivities.
The potential of a large industrial oligopoly.
Although Microsoft has publicly stated that it will continue to support the so-called cross-platform format and will not split the community of players, it has this ace up its sleeve. If Sony wants to keep up, it will be forced to play like Microsoft – for example, it will buy publishers like EA or Ubisoft.
It is potentially heading for a large industrial oligopoly, where two companies own virtually all major studios. And they could do whatever they wanted – maybe break that multiplatformity. Therefore, it will be extremely interesting in the coming months to see how Sony approaches this. But it should primarily drive the production of new PlayStations 5, which are still in short supply.
Ingenious timing
The importance of the whole business ultimately underlines its timing. It’s no secret that Activision Blizzard has been embroiled in controversy over the “toxic culture” in the workplace over the past few months, which has also led to cases of sexual harassment. The company has been sued by the state of California, and Activision Blizzard has not acted as the best example of a well-run company for the past year or so.
, or Phil Spencer’s head of the new Microsoft Gaming division, recently saw a more diplomatic statement in which Microsoft chief Satya Nadella praised Kotick for his more than 30 years of leadership and the drive for real change. So the ax was probably buried.
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
Photo: Microsoft
Many believe that Activision Blizzard will “clean up” under the auspices of Microsoft. Theoretically, changes in the top floors of the company could also help – it is speculated that Bobby Kotick, the current head of Activision Blizzard, will leave after completing the deal. And he will take hundreds of millions of dollars in his share as severance pay. However, this is not confirmed information yet.
However, the question remains whether Activision Blizzard will be able to increase its portfolio of new games under Microsoft. A typical example is Call of Duty: Vanguard , which does not sell as expected and the information is leaking to the surface that another episode is about to be prepared, which should come much earlier than originally planned. There is also a decline in interest in the iconic World of Warcraft .
One thing is for sure – the gaming industry will change greatly with this purchase. It will therefore be interesting to see how competitors react to the new situation. We must not forget the Nintendo, which is still digging on its sand and does not embark on other major events, but as they say, the quiet water grinds the shores.
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