With Xbox recently announcing Game Pass has surpassed the 25 million subscriber mark, that number could be set to skyrocket.
A post on Xbox Wire today confirmed the long-standing rumour that Activision Blizzard was joining the Xbox Games Studios family. Microsoft already signalled its intent in the gaming space with the purchase of Zenimax and Bethesda, but now that they will be purchasing Activision Blizzard, they will be in possession of a lot of the biggest franchises in gaming.
Game Pass
In the short term, it’s the huge number of games that Xbox can instantly add to Game Pass that has the most significance. Not only should we see all of the Activision Blizzard games hit Game Pass on day one, but Xbox has also smartly just bought itself a huge back catalogue of titles, spanning multiple generations. Importantly, this includes some hugely popular PC franchises like Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft. With Microsoft looking to improve its standing in the PC gaming space, having these titles included in their PC Game Pass library could bring a lot of gamers into the fold.
Let us also not forget the behemoth that is Call of Duty. Sales may have been down for gaming’s flagship FPS (CoD Vanguard sales were down 36% in the UK), but if it’s coming to Game Pass, those numbers will be bolstered in a big way. It could be that ownership under the Xbox umbrella could give Call of Duty the guidance to get back on track following a luke-warm response to the latest iterations.
Aside from Call of Duty, Activision Blizzard is home to dozens of beloved franchises that Xbox could continue with or bring back, such as Diablo, Crash Bandicoot, Overwatch, Spyro, Tony Hawks Pro Skater and many more.
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.
Upon close, we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog. We also announced today that Game Pass now has more than 25 million subscribers. As always, we look forward to continuing to add more value and more great games to Game Pass.
The fantastic franchises across Activision Blizzard will also accelerate our plans for Cloud Gaming, allowing more people in more places around the world to participate in the Xbox community using phones, tablets, laptops and other devices you already own. Activision Blizzard games are enjoyed on a variety of platforms and we plan to continue to support those communities moving forward.<span class="su-quote-cite"><a href="https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2022/01/18/welcoming-activision-blizzard-to-microsoft-gaming/" target="_blank">Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming</a></span>
What about PlayStation?
The big question millions of PlayStation owners will have is, “What does this mean for PS4 and PS5 in terms of exclusivity?” The short answer is, no one really knows (aside from Phil, most likely). If we take the Zenimax purchase as the precedent, then any existing deals will remain in place, but after that, it’s all fair game. Let’s be honest, you don’t throw billions of dollars around without wanting to secure content for your own platform, and as harsh of a blow as that may be for Sony, it seems to be the way things are going now.
As to whether Microsoft has made this deal with the sole intention of taking these games away from Sony, I believe the answer is no. Exclusivity may be a byproduct of the deal, but I think Microsoft’s primary aim is to acquire content for Game Pass. How Sony responds to this will be crucial. They could snap up some more studios themselves, but without the trillion-dollar pockets that Microsoft can dig into it carries a lot more risk.
Sony is, of course, creating its own tiered Game Pass alternative, but I’m not convinced they’ll be so keen to put their first-party titles on it from day one. Perhaps they’ll do something similar to how Disney releases movies – give day-one access to outright purchases, then bring them into the service after a few months. The question remains whether this will be enough, though. With Xbox having so many studios, which are already starting to show the fruits of their labour, anything less than a like for like service will feel like a rough deal for Sony fans, who are already facing increased costs for games and paid upgrades.
If Sony doesn’t buy more studios and loses some of the biggest multi-platform franchises, it could be the perfect opportunity for it to do what it does best, and create its own IP. It’s indisputable that Sony is a master of 3rd-person action-adventure, but how about if they turn that talent towards a new FPS? With neglected IPs like SOCOM, Killzone and Resistance to fall back on, there’s already a framework in place, or they could just make something new.
Whatever the outcome, it’s us, the gamers who will benefit most. Xbox fans get even more exclusives (something lacking in the Xbox One era) and Sony will no doubt fight back hard to keep its mantle.
