Microsoft finally managed to close its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard last Friday, following a saga that started in mid-January 2022 and went through film-worthy twists and turns.
When the merger was first announced, Phil Spencer promised that upon closure, Microsoft would offer Activision Blizzard's games on the Game Pass subscription service, mimicking what users experienced with the prior acquisition of Bethesda. However, that won't happen any time soon, as Spencer himself said it would take months to do so.
Speaking on the official Xbox Podcast, the Microsoft Gaming CEO explained that the delay is due to the uncertainty that surrounded the Activision Blizzard deal until the last moment. As such, the work is only just beginning, whereas that wasn't an issue with the Bethesda acquisition since there were no major regulatory hurdles.
When we finished the Bethesda acquisition, there was this great moment. We were able to put a bunch of the back catalog games [on Game Pass] and celebrate their history. The truth of the matter is that, with Activision Blizzard King, the regulatory process took so long.
And frankly, there was a lot of uncertainty in that process up until really a week before we closed,
or the week of, when the CMA finally came down to their decision, that we weren't able to get on that back catalog work. So now that the deal is closed, we're starting that work.
But there is work. And I think the Activision Twitter handle did put out a statement that talked about 2024. I think that's accurate. I would love it if there was some kind of secret celebration drop coming in the next couple of weeks. There's not.
Definitely, when we think about the new games that are there, I would be straight with people. If we were going to put them in the subscription this year, I would tell people. And I know there'll be some disappointment about that.
This acquisition is definitely long-term for Microsoft, so the fact that we're not hitting day one with a bunch of games dropping in to Game Pass is a little bit of a downer, but I'm very excited about the future. And I just want to be straight with people that that's where we are.
During the Xbox Podcast, the CEO of Microsoft Gaming also revealed he would be traveling to Stockholm today to meet the King team. He's got appointments with Activision and Blizzard next week, too, now that he can finally meet the various companies as their new leader.
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