Microsoft had made some massive news when they unveiled their bid to acquire Activision Blizzard. But it was a struggle getting this purchase to go through. Not only did it make headlines for the billions of dollars it took to purchase the company, but there were several regulators to deal with. With Sony looking to stop this deal from going through, it took until later last year before everything was finalized. Of course, now that Activision Blizzard is under Microsoft’s control, it seems that this opens up a real possibility to publish on multiple platforms.
We don’t know exactly the plans Microsoft has placed for the future of Xbox. It’s been said countless times before from the folks over at the Xbox team that they want to deliver games to as many players as possible. One of the ways of going about this was through Xbox Game Pass. Cloud gaming opened up the ability to enjoy these games no matter your setup. If you had a solid internet connection, you could enjoy the line of Xbox Game Pass titles from your Xbox consoles, lower-end PCs, and even a smartphone.
However, thanks to a report from IGN, it seems that Microsoft is further opening up the option to publish games across once rival platforms. IGN noted that a recent interview from Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella on Bloomberg reveals this new push. Satya noted that now, with Activision, Microsoft has a good chance of being a publisher across Sony, Nintendo, PC, and Xbox. That has some fans wondering just what the future of Xbox exclusives could look like. Again, there’s a lot to speculate; we’ll just have to wait for what happens. So far, rival platforms have not allowed the Game Pass service to be featured.
With that said, we know that future Call of Duty games, an IP that Microsoft now owns, will continue to be released on rival platforms. But there are also rumors of past IP exclusives coming to rival platforms. One of which has been stated to be Sea of Thieves. However, there hasn’t been anything official to confirm its release is coming to the likes of Sony or Nintendo.
Microsoft will be holding an Xbox Developer Direct later today. That could open up some new information regarding releases on the Xbox’s rival console platforms. We know that specific IPs will be showcased at this event, but it’s been said already that Microsoft won’t be showcasing anything from Activision Blizzard at this stream. Instead, news on what the teams over at Activision Blizzard have cooked up will be unveiled later on in the year.
