Microsoft now officially owns ‘Call Of Duty’ and ‘World Of Warcraft’ after acquisition wraps up
Microsoft has officially completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard today (October 13), following more than a year of negotiations with regulators across the world.
The agreement is the most expensive acquisition in the history of the video games industry, with Microsoft paying £59.4billion ($68.7billion) in cash for Activision Blizzard and the divisions it possesses.
These divisions are Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, King, Major League Gaming and Activision Blizzard Studios.
Through them, Microsoft now has the rights to Call Of Duty,
Candy Crush, Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, Farm Heroes, Guitar Hero, DJ Hero and Band Hero, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Spyro The Dragon and Skylanders, Starcraft, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and World Of Warcraft.
It is worth mentioning that the aforementioned are Activision Blizzard’s active properties, and that there are a fair few series and franchises that the publisher has left alone for a while that are now Microsoft’s assets.
“I’ve long admired the work of Activision, Blizzard, and King, and the impact they’ve had on gaming, entertainment, and pop culture,” said Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, in a post to Xbox Wire.
“Some of my most memorable gaming moments came from experiences their studios have created. It is incredible to welcome such legendary teams to Xbox.”
Efforts to add Activision Blizzard’s games to Game Pass and “other platforms” will begin now, continued the CEO, though it will be some months before further information will be shared.
“Whether you play on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, PC or mobile, you are welcome here – and will remain welcome, even if Xbox isn’t where you play your favourite franchise. Because when everyone plays, we all win,” concluded Spencer.
The news was expected to be imminent after the UK’s Competition And Markets Authority (CMA) announced its approval of the acquisition.
It was only willing to investigate the acquisition again after a dismissal in August once Microsoft and Activision Blizzard altered their terms to include the transfer of the streaming rights of the latter’s games to Ubisoft for Ubisoft+.
In other gaming news, the developer of Lords Of The Fallen seemingly suggested that the Xbox version of the game might not be up to par, and is in need of technical support.
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Imogen Donovan
NME
