As more consolidation occurs in the gaming industry, it looks like another third party company could be off the market for Switch.
Microsoft has announced that they are in the process of buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. Phil Spencer, the Head of Xbox, had this to say:
“It is incredibly exciting to announce that Microsoft has agreed to acquire Activision Blizzard. Over many decades, the studios and teams that make up Activision Blizzard have earned vast wellsprings of joy and respect from billions of people all over the world…Until this transaction closes, Activision Blizzard and Microsoft Gaming will continue to operate independently. Once the deal is complete, the Activision Blizzard business will report to me as CEO, Microsoft Gaming.”
Spencer goes to say that the purchase will help offer as many Activision Blizzard games as possible within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, along with Microsoft’s plans for Cloud Gaming all over the world. Interestingly, Activision Blizzard will be part of a new division, Microsoft Gaming, as opposed to Xbox Game Studios.
It should be noted that Activision Blizzard was under fire in 2021 due to sexual misconduct and even death threats from high ranking executives. The company was sued by several state and federal agencies, including the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Once the deal closes, the current CEO, Bobby Kotick will leave and the “Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming”, according to a Microsoft spokesperson via Wall Street Journal.
Microsoft isn’t new to purchasing large third-party game companies since they purchased Zenimax/Bethesda in late 2020. It is currently unknown how this purchase will affect any Activision Blizzard games for Switch.
Dave’s first Nintendo platform was the GameCube when he was age 7; however, he was introduced to Nintendo through Duck Hunt on NES.