Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard and all of its studios and franchises, including Call of Duty. If the deal gets done, Activision president Rob Kostich believes the Call of Duty franchise stands to benefit by virtue of being able to leverage Microsoft’s vast resources.
“Being able to tap into Microsoft’s technology and suite of tools would benefit our teams to create even greater, more immersive experiences for our players,” Kostich told Games Beat. “Ultimately, it’s about bringing our development team’s creative visions to life in this hyper competitive environment.”
Kostich went on to say that being acquired by Microsoft is an “extraordinary opportunity” for Activision Blizzard. He wouldn’t discuss the buyout much further, however, saying, “We still need to allow the regulatory process to run its course.”
“As we’ve said previously, this deal is good for the industry and will bring more games to more players,” Kostich explained.
If Microsoft succeeds in clearing the final regulatory hurdles and closing the deal, no one should expect Call of Duty to come to Game Pass right away. In fact, that might not happen until 2025, if it ever does. If Microsoft’s deal closes, the Call of Duty series will continue to be released on PlayStation consoles for at least 10 more years.
Activision has Call of Duty’s future planned out at least through 2027, and the company has more than 3,000 people working on the franchise.
Microsoft has until October 18 to close its deal to acquire Activision Blizzard. Some believe an official announcement could come down as soon as next week. The UK’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) recently gave preliminary approval for the deal to move forward, saying Microsoft’s sale of cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft “substantially addresses previous concerns and opens the door to the deal being cleared.”
Microsoft is set to pay $95 per share to acquire Activision Blizzard for a purchase price of $68.7 billion. This would be Microsoft’s biggest acquisition ever and the largest of all time by purchase price in the video game sector. Microsoft originally announced its intentions to buy Activision Blizzard in January 2022, so this has been brewing for more than 20 months.
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