Microsoft finally closed on a deal that they set out to acquire quite some time ago. When Microsoft made the public bid to acquire Activision Blizzard, it set headlines worldwide. Not only was this deal bringing billions of dollars to merge the company, but it also saw a battle between various regulators. Their biggest regulator to get through was the CMA, and they were able to give the approval to proceed with the purchase. Recently, Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, was present during an interview with CNBC.
The topic was around the recent acquisition and Bobby’s thoughts on the purchase. Of course, Bobby has been all for the deal and expressed that there wasn’t too much concern that the deal wouldn’t go through. However, now that the deal has closed, it looks like one area that we could see Microsoft take advantage of from this merger is upcoming remakes. During the conversation, Bobby Kotick noted that he believes one benefit of this merger is that Microsoft can look back at a library of titles that’s been growing for thirty years. From there, they could start remake games or entire franchises.
Activision might be best known for Call of Duty, but they certainly have a lengthy portfolio of franchises in their possession. Ultimately, it’s up to Microsoft what they do with these IPs as soon as Bobby Kotick leaves after the transition period is finalized with Microsoft. But we could see remakes not only for Call of Duty games but franchises like True Crime, which hasn’t seen a new release since 2005 with True Crime: New York City.
At the moment, we’re waiting to see when some of the Activision Blizzard games will land on the Xbox Game Pass subscription service. For instance, we know some of the big new releases, such as Diablo IV and the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, won’t be available on Xbox Game Pass this year. However, a reliable industry insider suggests we could see the announcement of past Call of Duty games land on the Xbox subscription service as early as tomorrow. Of course, all of this is a waiting game, and the fact that we just saw the deal go through this past week, it might be a good little while before we see what franchises return from the grave or potential remakes.
