Planning on adding to its metaverse, Microsoft buys out Activision and Blizzard into its brand. With a deal reported to be around 70 billion dollars, Microsoft makes waves across the gaming industry.
Activision was created in 1979 to create games for the Atari, but only really gained notoriety around the early 2000s, due to some of the most popular video games being under its belt, such as Call Of Duty, Candy Crush, Crash Bandicoot, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, the Tony Hawk series and Guitar Hero.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated, “Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms”. Microsoft’s metaverse is planned to be a virtual world where avatars can communicate akin to an online messaging board, so it seems that the movie was made in order to entice gaming fans to check out the metaverse when it releases.
With the purchase of the gaming companies, the media giant has been handed a new problem — the looming allegations and lawsuits involving Activision Blizzard’s numerous sexual harassment cases that have sprung up over 2021. Microsoft has chosen to avoid talking about the situation directly but has stated that Activision’s previous promise to change is what will decide if the acquisition will have been worth it.
Some gamers have wondered where Sony, Microsoft’s chief competitor, fits into the whole deal and if games made by Activision Blizzard will become exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox console. However, both Sony and Microsoft have said that because of the contractual agreements that Activision has, games like Call Of Duty will still be available on Playstation systems.
Whether the plan truly boosts the gaming industry as a whole or is just another name to try to sell Microsoft’s metaverse remains to be seen. It will be interesting to see how these games and even companies evolve as a result.
