If you started to sweat when you heard about the Activision acquisition, wondering whether or not Call Of Duty would still be a multiplatform game once the ink has dried on those documents, then Xbox boss Phil Spencer has some words to say on that topic.
"Over many decades, the studios and teams that make up Activision Blizzard have earned vast wellsprings of joy and respect from billions of people all over the world," said Spencer in the announcement. Of course, the acquisition isn't complete at the moment, yet Microsoft was willing to splash the cash to secure the "incredible catalog" of titles under Activision's umbrella. Moreover, this move integrates subsidiaries like Infinity Ward, Toys for Bob, Treyarch and more into Xbox Game Studios. So, yes, Crash and Spyro are now mascots for Xbox like Master Chief. That's a sentence I never thought I would type.
Our Xbox Game of the Year was none other than Forza Horizon 5 - soak in the beauty of Mexico with this gameplay snippet below!
In such an earth-shattering change of course for both Activision and Microsoft, it's tough to tell right now what the impact will be on the ecosystem of the industry. Activision has heavy hitters like Call Of Duty, World of Warcraft and Overwatch and it isn't unreasonable to think that these games might become exclusive to the Xbox and PC in the same way Starfield will be. That would be a turn up for the books, though, when we remember how close Call Of Duty and PlayStation have been in the past.
"Had good calls this week with leaders at Sony," said Spencer in a post to Twitter. "I confirmed our intent to honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony is an important part of our industry, and we value our relationship."
The acquisition has had a serious effect on Sony, even though this process is yet to commence officially. Sony stock prices plummeted by 13% in the wake of the announcement, therefore scrubbing $20 billion from the company's market value. What did it have to say in response? “We expect that Microsoft will abide by contractual agreements and continue to ensure Activision games are multiplatform,” read the statement from a representative provided to the Wall Street Journal. Oof. Well. It's a wait and see situation if ever I saw one.
Featured Image Credit: Billy Freeman via Unsplash, ActivisionTopics: Microsoft, Sony, Call Of Duty, Activision Blizzard