Xbox fans, World of Warcraft might soon be ported to your console.
Microsoft on Tuesday announced it will buy troubled video game giant Activision Blizzard in a US$68.7 billion all-cash deal, making it Microsoft’s largest acquisition to date and bringing games like World of Warcraft and Overwatch under its fold.
Microsoft said it will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as they can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, and said Activision Blizzard’s franchises will allow the company to accelerate their plans for Cloud Gaming – in which people around the world can tune into Xbox using their phones, laptops and other devices.
It’s unknown when gamers can expect these titles to join the Xbox family but the deal is expected to be closed by 2023.
Activision Blizzard has been mired controversy for the last several months, after reports of sexual misconduct and harassment among its company’s executives.
Microsoft’s head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, earlier told employees he was “evaluating all aspects” of Xbox’s relationship with Activision Blizzard, in the wake of the scandal
The acquisition gives the Xbox a significant boost against the PlayStation as it chips away at Sony’s share of the gaming market. Microsoft had earlier bought Bethesda (creator of games like Elder Scrolls and Fallout) for US$7.5 billion back in 2020.
All might not be lost for PlayStation fans though – Bloomberg, citing sources, said Microsoft will still continue to make some Activision Blizzard games for PlayStation but will make “some content” exclusive to Xbox.
*Featured image from Xbox
By Samantha Chan \ 17:30pm, 20 January 2022