Microsoft made a move that no one saw coming when it decided to purchase Activision Blizzard for an eye-watering $68.7 billion. The move is set to have a major impact on the industry at large and will certainly put a smile on the face of many Xbox owners as this means that Xbox Game Pass is set to receive a plethora of new games.
Microsoft is slowly but surely acquiring some of the industry's largest companies, with the Activision acquisition coming after the company purchased Bethesda last year. According to Phil Spencer, many of Activision Blizzard's titles will make their way to Xbox Game Pass in the near future. This means that the already extensive subscription service may include titles such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Diablo. Surprisingly IPs like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon may become Xbox exclusives, which is exceptionally strange considering that both game series were formerly PlayStation exclusives.
In his statement, Spencer also made note of the fact that the Xbox Game Pass service has more than 25 million subscribers. The Activision Blizzard games coming to Xbox Game Pass are only expected to start making their way to the service once Microsoft's acquisition of the company becomes official. The acquisition is set to become official in the 2023 fiscal year, which starts on April 1 this year. Microsoft has, however, not set an exact date as to when the games will arrive, although it's possible that many will join the service within the year.
Spencer also recently offered some advice to PlayStation regarding subscription services. The Xbox Head stated that he sees subscription-based gaming as an inevitability in the industry and that it would be wise for Sony to follow Xbox's lead. When one considers the massive amount of success that Xbox Game Pass is experiencing, there is little wonder as to why PlayStation is set to follow suit in the future.
It will also be interesting to see how Microsoft goes about dealing with the internal issues Activision Blizzard has been experiencing. Just yesterday Activision Blizzard fired 37 employees and disciplined 44 more owing to the harassment lawsuit the company is facing.
Microsoft has once again made a bold move that will likely greatly increase the support of Xbox Game Pass and the company as a whole. The purchase will likely also put a lot of pressure on Sony to make a move of its own in order to stay in the race.