The announcement of Microsoft’s unfinalized acquisition of Activision Blizzard brought with it a good bit of uncertainty; should everything go as expected, Activision Blizzard-owned IPs such as Call of Duty and Overwatch—along with established studios like Treyarch and Toys For Bob—will be under the control of Microsoft and Xbox head Phil Spencer. However, projected to be finalized in 2023, there are many aspects of this deal that remain uncertain, chief among them in the mind of From Software fans being the fate of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
While From Software, the development studio responsible for the legendary Dark Souls RPG franchise, has a history of partnering with Bandai Namco, the studio opted to work with other publishers when it came to less traditional installments in the loosely-defined Soulsborne series. For 2015’s Bloodborne, From Software partnered with Sony, and the game debuted as a PlayStation exclusive. In the case of 2019’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, however, it chose to work with Activision, a publisher not typically known for games of that sort.
Yet, while Activision’s logo may appear during the game’s introduction, it technically isn’t an Activision game, and neither the existing game nor the IP are likely to fall under Microsoft’s jurisdiction once ink meets paper on the Activision deal. This is because From Software owns the trademarks for Sekiro and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Were Microsoft to do anything with the Sekiro property, it would have to agree to a separate partnership with From Software. Though collaborations between Microsoft and From Software have been debated, there's little evidence to suggest that the two would work to make this happen.
This could be both good and bad news for fans of From Software’s most current game. Microsoft will not have the right to develop new games under the Sekiro name and thus cannot develop a game without the involvement of From Software. However, it also means that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice probably won’t ever appear on Xbox Game Pass and, given series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki’s apparent disapproval of sequels, it more than likely snuffs out any possibility of a Sekrio: Shadows Die Twice 2.
There are, at the very least, clear opportunities for a sequel from a narrative perspective. One of the game’s four endings sees the protagonist and the Divine Child of Rejuvenation embark on a quest to return the Divine Dragon to its homeland. Given how convoluted From Software’s narrative structures tend to be, this is perhaps the most stable ground for a series as ever there was. Yet, with Elden Ring set to launch in February following a month-long delay, most From Software fans won’t have their sights set on Sekrio for some time.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
Source: Justia Trademarks, Kotaku