While the takeover of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft must be approved by June 2023 at the latest, questions still remain regarding the publisher’s flagship licenses, such as Diablo, Overwatch or Call of Duty. And precisely, the boss of Xbox Phil Spencer has just provided details on the famous saga of shooting games.
With the record acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft for a colossal amount of 60 billion euros, the question of the future of the American publisher’s flagship licenses such as Call of Duty or Diablo inevitably arose. For the moment, some games have already landed on the Xbox Game Pass, such as certain titles from the Wolfenstein, Quake or Fallout series.
For the moment, the buy-back transaction is always carefully scrutinized by many competition authorities. We know, for example, that the British authorities have announced that they want to broaden their investigation into the subject. In the eyes of English institutions, certain Activision licenses such as Call of Duty in particular are “important and capable of making a material difference in the success of rival gaming platforms”.
In other words, the CMA fears that Xbox uses franchise ownership”to harm the competitiveness of its rivals”, Obviously Playstation in the lead (historic partner of the saga), by offering future COD titles in Day One on the Xbox Game Pass.
Also read: Xbox Game Pass – a new offer will allow you to share your account with friends and family
Call of Duty, Diablo and Overwatch will end well on Game Pass
And precisely, the boss of Xbox Phil Spencer has just done A declaration about the become Call of Duty games, but also Overwatch and Diablo. “We intend to make Activision Blizzard’s much-loved library of games – including Overwatch, Diablo, and Call of Duty – available in Game Pass and grow those gaming communities. By delivering even more value to gamers, we hope to continue to grow Game Pass, extending its appeal to mobile phones and any connected device.” writes the Xbox leader.
At the same time, Phil Spencer recalls that Xbox is committed to “launch the same version of Call of Duty available on Playstation” on the scheduled release date on all platforms. In other words, COD games will not be released on Game Pass in advance, or in any case before their arrival on Playstation consoles. “We will continue to allow people to play with each other on all platforms and all devices”, he assures. Not sure that these statements reassure the CMA and the other competition control authorities.
