Whilst the freshly announced Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard is yet to go through, the latter’s franchises are confirmed to be coming to Xbox Game Pass.
Microsoft’s chairman and CEO Satya Nadella spoke on a call following the announcement of the acquisition, and he made it clear that Activision Blizzard games both past and present would be coming to Game Pass on all platforms.
“We will bring as many Activision Blizzard games as we can to our Game Pass subscription service across the PC, console, and mobile,” said Nadella. “Including both new games, as well as games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog offering even better value and more choice for our gamers.”
“Together with Activision Blizzard, we have an incredible opportunity to invest and innovate and create the best content, community, and cloud for gamers to build substantial new value for our shareholders.
Nadella also mentions the possibilities of bringing Activision Blizzard under Microsoft heighten the choices on mobile and via the cloud: “When we look ahead and consider new possibilities like offering Overwatch or Diablo via streaming to anyone with a phone as part of Xbox Game Pass, you start to understand how exciting this acquisition will be.”
The newest milestone of 25million plus Game Pass subscribers was also snuck into the announcement, with that number expected to grow following the acquisition.
There were no dates given for when Activision Blizzard games will be coming to Game Pass, but with the deal not expected to finalise until the 2023 fiscal year, we may be waiting a while for any major announcements.
Activision Blizzard is currently still undergoing lawsuits regarding harassment and misconduct, which you can learn about here.
In related news, Xbox Gaming head Phil Spencer talked about how Microsoft wants to ensure that Activision Blizzard staff “feel safe” following news of the acquisition.
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