Sony Group expects that after Microsoft completes its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the latter’s games can still appear on the PlayStation platform. A Sony spokesman told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, “We expect Microsoft to abide by contractual agreements to continue to ensure the multi-platform nature of Activision games,“. However, this is only an optimistic statement and not a certain statement. Phil Spencer, CEO, of Microsoft Gaming said
“Until this transaction closes, Activision Blizzard and Microsoft Gaming will continue to operate independently. Once the deal is complete, the Activision Blizzard business will report to me as CEO, Microsoft Gaming“. This statement suggests that whatever “contractual agreements” that Activision Blizzard had before its sale will be liquidated for a new “Microsoft agreement”.
Microsoft CEO said that Microsoft plans to bring as many Activision games as possible to Xbox Game Pass. There are also reports Microsoft may launch an Xbox console-exclusive Activision game. The company has done this after its previous acquisition of game developers.
In all, it appears that whether or not Activision Blizzard games will remain on PlayStation is a decision for Microsoft. Activision Blizzard is responsible for many popular titles like Call of Duty, Warcraft, CandyCrush, Tony Hawk, Diablo, Overwatch, and more.
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It is worth mentioning that Spencer, also said earlier…”I just want to say to players who are playing Activision Blizzard games on the Sony PS platform, we have no intention of taking the community away from the platform, and we remain committed to at this point.”. According to Microsoft’s previously released statement, the planned acquisition includes Activision Blizzard and King Studio’s iconic franchises such as Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Call of Duty, and Candy Crush Saga.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Blizzard is good for players but bad for developers
Microsoft will soon complete the deal to acquire Activision Blizzard for nearly $69 billion. The deal will give Microsoft ownership of globally renowned franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy-Crush-Saga.
Some analysts pointed out that Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard may be a good thing for gamers. You must know that Activision Blizzard is one of the most successful game companies, with a revenue of $8.1 billion in 2020. This is mainly due to “Call of Duty” and World of Warcraft. Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard will likely bring more convenience to gamers. However, Microsoft’s acquisition of a studio that makes games for multiple platforms could spell trouble for gamers who aren’t interested in Microsoft’s Xbox platform.
A game like Skyrim is successful because it has multiple releases on various platforms. This includes PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Since then, the decade-old game has been featured on every major gaming platform, including the Nintendo Switch. An acquisition by a company like Microsoft could mean that the game’s sequel will only be available to Xbox users. So what happens to Sony PlayStation and Nintendo consoles?.