Xbox Closes Activision Acquisition

After nearly two years, Xbox has finally officially acquired Activision Blizzard. At the start of 2022, Microsoft dropped a massive bombshell by announcing it would be spending just shy of $70 billion to acquire Call of Duty publisher Activision. The acquisition is now the biggest deal in the history of the gaming industry and will see Microsoft take over huge franchises like World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Call of Duty, and more. Naturally, with that kind of power, a lot of people were skeptical of the nature of the deal. Regulators, politicians, and even gamers all scrutinized the deal as they feared it would give Microsoft too much of an advantage and they could make games like Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox. Microsoft battled hard over the last year and a half, even going as far as to make deals with PlayStation, Valve, and Nintendo that confirmed Call of Duty would be available on non-Xbox platforms for years to come.

With all of that said, after all kinds of hurdles to overcome, Microsoft prevailed. The last remaining regulator, the UK's CMA, approved the deal this week. Once that happened, Microsoft was given the greenlight to close the deal and welcome Activision under its umbrella. The deal has officially been made and now, Microsoft can largely do as it wishes with Activision.

A statement from Xbox and Activision was shared this week following the closing of the deal.

"For the millions of fans who love Activision, Blizzard, and King games, we want you to know that today is a good day to play. You are the heart and soul of these franchises, and we are honored to have you as part of our community," Xbox boss Phil Spencer said. "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 favorite franchise."

When Will Call of Duty Come to Xbox Game Pass?

As you may expect, Activision games can now be pushed to Xbox Game Pass. This is a bit of a process, however. Activision has confirmed it will begin making its games available on Game Pass over the course of the next year, but has also stated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 will not be available on the service this year. This is a unique situation as all games made by Xbox-owned companies are available on Xbox Game Pass on day one. However, there are existing deals with Sony that need to be honored for Call of Duty and this would also be a massive last minute change to the release plans for what will likely be 2023's biggest release.

What Other Activision Games Will Come to Xbox Game Pass?

Activision has also said fans shouldn't expect Diablo 4 either, so don't hold your breath on that at the moment. Activision has an extensive library of licensed games as well ranging from 007 games, Spider-Man games, Tony Hawk, and much more. Given how old some of these games are and the messy nature of licensing, you probably shouldn't expect to see games like Spider-Man: Web of Shadows on Xbox Game Pass anytime soon. It could happen, but it may cost Microsoft a pretty penny as Sony has a good thing going with the Spider-Man games right now. You should probably only count on original IP from Activision such as Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and maybe a few others to come to the service.