With less than a month into 2022, the gaming world erupted over the news that Microsoft is planning to buy Activision Blizzard. Microsoft is the parent company of Microsoft Gaming, who are the makers of the Xbox consoles. Over recent years, Microsoft Gaming has pivoted their business strategy around subscription services and cloud gaming. The Game Pass subscription service, which launched in 2017, has grown both in subscribers and in number of games offered. This acquisition, if formally approved, will help out Microsoft in their push to make their subscription service stay ahead of the competition.
How I Feel About the Deal
When I first heard this news, I was genuinely excited. I do consider myself more of an Xbox person these days but I do own a PS5 as well. Selfishly, the main reason I was excited is because I would eventually have access to all Call of Duty games, which happens to be my favorite franchise. After some updates, there still is a chance the deal could fall through so my expectations have tempered a bit.
However, I believe this acquisition would lead to a renaissance in Activision Blizzard games. As of late my beloved Call of Duty has become stale and seems to be the only game the higher ups at Activision really care about. Under new management, all the game studios within Activision could now be freed up to work on other, unique games. Working in tandem with the studios under Xbox, I could see a bounty of original games being released within the next three to four years.
The Bad Side of the $70 Billion Coin
With such a big deal to date, many people have voiced their concerns on whether this is good for the industry. One of the main arguments against this acquisition is one of corporate consolidation. Activision is a large company, housing studios that make Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and more. This could become a worrying trend where larger corporations (i.e. Sony, Google, or Amazon) buy out other game studios.
This leads into a secondary argument regarding exclusivity. For years, gaming platforms have relied on game exclusives to their ecosystem (i.e. Spider-Man for PlayStation and Halo for Xbox) to lock in players over multiple console generations. It was no secret that Xbox was mostly playing catch-up to Sony. That is until the Game Pass service was launched. Not long after, Microsoft bought out Bethesda’s parent company ZeniMax and announced exclusives games for the Xbox ecosystem.
After making a purchase this large, Microsoft is more likely to lock out players on different platforms. Albeit, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has said otherwise, working to keep the gaming community as open as possible. Yet, it’s not hard to imagine the gaming industry turning into the next streaming wars, where each platform has just enough content to keep people from changing to a different service. People who can afford it may end up subscribing to multiple services but gaming is not a cheap hobby to begin with.
A New Hope… for Change
This acquisition comes after it was announced that Activision Blizzard’s current CEO has come under intense scrutiny over the toxic work-place culture he oversaw, and in some instances, engaged in. The stories to come from this reporting are horrific and Microsoft has now tied themselves to it. The current CEO of Activision will remain in place until the deal is finalized, a move that has left advocates for change unsatisfied. Additionally, the current Activision CEO will likely get a big payout when he is unseated from his position.
On the flip side, Phil Spencer will assume the role of CEO, which may be good enough to offset the bad. Many hope a change in leadership will help employees by creating a better work environment. Microsoft Gaming leadership has become more diversified in recent years, a sign that they are committed to building strength through diversification and inclusivity.
Conclusion
I understand where critics of this deal are coming from, yet I believe this acquisition will bring about positive changes. Before this announcement, Microsoft/Xbox held fourth place among top gaming companies. Should the deal close, they’ll jump over Nintendo to claim third, right behind Sony but miles away from Tencent. Additionally, all these companies have their own unique strengths and, for the most part, are sticking to them. While Sony does plan to launch a similar game streaming service to Game Pass (and have made a recent acquisition of their own), Sony’s gaming studios alone should be more than enough to keep things competitive. As a gamer, I look forward to what the next few years will bring.