Microsoft grows Xbox family with acquisition of Activision Blizzard

The Xbox family grew bigger today. Microsoft dropped a bombshell today, announcing an acquisition of massive gaming publisher Activision Blizzard for a whopping $68.7 billion.

With this acquisition, Call of Duty, Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, Starcraft and the rest of Activision Blizzard’s iconic franchises will now live under Xbox’s umbrella of games. You probably don’t need me to tell you this, but these are some of the most popular video game franchises in the industry, so obviously this is a massive get for Microsoft.

Call of Duty consistently leads the industry in sales year-in and year-out and is the most popular first-person shooter franchise. As of April 2021, the Call of Duty franchise had combined to sell over 400 million copies worldwide in its lifetime, generating about $27 billion in sales. Although there are concerns that the Call of Duty franchise has gotten stale over the year, it still continues to top the sales charts. Vanguard may have been a bit of a disappointment sales wise for Activision, but the possible announcement of a new Modern Warfare could easily get fans back on the hype train.

As for the rest of Activision Blizzard’s portfolio, Diablo and Starcraft are two of the most popular games in their respective genres. Diablo is the grandfather of action-RPGs and we’re all eagerly awaiting the release of Diablo 4. StarCraft is one of the best real-time strategy franchises, but it’s been relatively quiet since the release StarCraft II.  Warcraft remains a high-profile franchise, although World of Warcraft‘s subscriber numbers have been dwindling over the past couple of years. Regardless of latest sales numbers, these are all very big names that will surely attract gamers to Xbox.

And then we have Overwatch. Blizzard’s team-based multiplayer shooter arrived back in 2016 and took the industry by storm. We’re all eagerly awaiting the sequel to it, which still doesn’t have a release date.

Obviously, the biggest question with this acquisition is what does it mean for Xbox and PlayStation. Will all of Activision Blizzard’s existing games become free on Xbox Game Pass? Will future Activision Blizzard games be exclusive to Xbox (and PC)? That would be a massive blow to PlayStation, although I have to wonder if Microsoft is willing to sacrifice sales potential for console exclusivity.

Microsoft has spent the past couple of years bolstering Xbox Studios, acquiring multiple studios and publishers, and paying big bucks to do so. Last year, Microsoft closed the deal on acquiring Bethesda Games, paying $7.5 billion the publisher/developer. Bethesda is best known for its Fallout and The Elder Scrolls franchises, but this year they are launching a brand new IP in Starfield. Similar exclusivity concerns were expressed when Microsoft acquired Bethesda and sure enough, Starfield was confirmed to be an Xbox and PC exclusive.

Exclusivity is rarely viewed as a win for the general consumer, but it’s an unfortunate reality in the gaming industry. How do you feel about Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard?