At a recent event in Bogota, Colombia, Aaron Greenberg, general manager of Xbox game marketing, answered fans’ questions about the Xbox brand. One of them involves Activision Blizzard, which was acquired by Microsoft and will become part of the Xbox Game Studios. While Greenberg said he couldn’t reveal too much “due to confidentiality issues,” he promised Game Pass would have some “very exciting things going on“. He said
“Due to confidentiality issues, I can’t say much about it. But I can tell you that there are some exciting things coming to Xbox and Xbox Game Pass”.
Judging from the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s Game Pass is likely to include “Call of Duty” and “Diablo”. Furthermore, it may also allow Xbox to test “Overwatch 2” in advance. Greenberg also confirms that Gears of War studio The Coalition is working on “several unannounced projects“.
Earlier, Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft’s Xbox business, said of the Activision deal…”We will do everything we can to add as many Activision Blizzard to Xbox Game Pass and PC Game as possible. The Pass includes new games and classics from Activision Blizzard.”
Gizchina News of the week
Netflix evaluates Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard
Earlier this week, on the fourth quarter 2021 earnings call, Netflix COO and chief product officer Greg Peters commented on the news that shocked the game industry – Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion. Peters sees this as a nod to the subscription model Netflix has long championed in entertainment.
“I think in a way that’s a nod to our core thesis around subscriptions, it’s a great model for connecting consumers around the world with games and gaming experiences”.
In fact, the main driver behind Microsoft’s acquisition is clearly Game Pass. Spencer, Xbox gaming chief, has said that once the deal closes, Microsoft will offer Game Pass subscribers “as many Activision Blizzard games as possible.”
Microsoft CEO Nadella has previously made it clear that Game Pass is the Netflix for games, which is launched in imitation of Netflix. Netflix’s evaluation is undoubtedly an endorsement of itself. Still, Microsoft has a long way to go before it can say Game Pass is the “Netflix of gaming”. Microsoft’s game subscription service has just over 25 million subscribers, but Netflix has more than 222 million subscribers worldwide. Obviously, Microsoft has a very long way to go because it can be at that level. Nevertheless, we are certain that Game Pass users will have access to more games after the deal.
