Microsoft buy Activision Blizzard for $70B. Officially confirmed. Bobby Kotick leaving MS on 29th Dec.

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Monkey Man
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PostMicrosoft buy Activision Blizzard for $70B. Officially confirmed. Bobby Kotick leaving MS on 29th Dec.
by Monkey Man » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:27 pm



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Welcoming the Legendary Teams at Activision Blizzard King to Team Xbox

We love gaming. We play games, create games, and know first-hand how much gaming means to all of us as individuals and collectively, as a community. And today, we officially welcome Activision Blizzard and their teams to Xbox. They are the publishers of some of the most played and most beloved franchises in gaming history across console, PC and mobile. From Pitfall to Call of Duty, World of Warcraft to Overwatch, Candy Crush Saga to Farm Heroes Super Saga, their studios have pushed the boundaries of gaming for players around the world.

I’ve long admired the work of Activision, Blizzard, and King, and the impact they’ve had on gaming, entertainment, and pop culture. Whether it was late nights spent playing the Diablo IV campaign with friends from start to finish, gathering the entire family in the rec room for our weekly Guitar Hero night, or going on an epic streak in Candy Crush, some of my most memorable gaming moments came from experiences their studios have created. It is incredible to welcome such legendary teams to Xbox.

As one team, we’ll learn, innovate, and continue to deliver on our promise to bring the joy and community of gaming to more people. We’ll do this in a culture that strives to empower everyone to do their best work, where all people are welcome, and is centered on our ongoing commitment of Gaming for Everyone. We are intentional about inclusion in everything we do at Xbox – from our team to the products we make and the stories we tell, to the way our players interact and engage as a wider gaming community.

Together, we’ll create new worlds and stories, bring your favorite games to more places so more players can join in, and we’ll engage with and delight players in new, innovative ways in the places they love to play including mobile, cloud streaming and more.

Players have always been at the center of everything we do. And as we grow, we’ll continue to keep players at the heart of it all. We’ll continue to listen to your feedback, build a community where you can be yourself, where developers can do their best work, and continue to make really fun games. As promised, we will also continue to make more games available in more places – and that begins now by enabling cloud streaming providers and players to stream Activision Blizzard games in the European Economic Area, a commitment made to the European Commission. Today we start the work to bring beloved Activision, Blizzard, and King franchises to Game Pass and other platforms. We’ll share more about when you can expect to play in the coming months. We know you’re excited – and we are too.

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. 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. Because when everyone plays, we all win. We believe our news today will unlock a world of possibilities for more ways to play. Thank you for the ongoing support. We have so much more to come in the months ahead – I’m excited for the future and cannot wait to share it with you.

Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2023/10/13/ ... -blizzard/

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Welcoming the Incredible Teams and Legendary Franchises of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft Gaming

Creators of Call of Duty, Warcraft, Candy Crush, Tony Hawk, Diablo, Overwatch, Spyro, Hearthstone, Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, StarCraft and more join Team Xbox
As a team, we are on a mission to extend the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet. We all know that gaming is the most vibrant and dynamic form of entertainment worldwide and we’ve experienced the power of social connection and friendship that gaming makes possible.

As we pursue that mission, 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. We are incredibly excited to have the chance to work with the amazing, talented, dedicated people across Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, Beenox, Demonware, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Major League Gaming, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Toys for Bob, Treyarch and every team across Activision Blizzard.

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.

Upon close, we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog. We also announced today that Game Pass now has more than 25 million subscribers. As always, we look forward to continuing to add more value and more great games to Game Pass.

The fantastic franchises across Activision Blizzard will also accelerate our plans for Cloud Gaming, allowing more people in more places around the world to participate in the Xbox community using phones, tablets, laptops and other devices you already own. Activision Blizzard games are enjoyed on a variety of platforms and we plan to continue to support those communities moving forward.

As a company, Microsoft is committed to our journey for inclusion in every aspect of gaming, among both employees and players. We deeply value individual studio cultures. We also believe that creative success and autonomy go hand-in-hand with treating every person with dignity and respect. We hold all teams, and all leaders, to this commitment. We’re looking forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams across Activision Blizzard.

Around the world, there is no more exciting venue for fun and connection than video games. And there has never been a better time to play than right now. As we extend the joy and community of gaming to everyone, we look forward to welcoming all of our friends at Activision Blizzard to Microsoft Gaming.

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/wp-content/ ... LT_118.jpg

twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1483428774591053836



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Among major intellectual properties produced by Activision Blizzard are Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk's, Spyro / Skylanders, World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, Hearthstone, Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch, and Candy Crush Saga .


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Last edited by Monkey Man on Wed Dec 20, 2023 6:01 pm, edited 47 times in total.
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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by Victor Mildew » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:27 pm

World of Gamepass

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.
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Dual
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by Dual » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:27 pm

Holy gooseberry fool.

Edit: Can confirm.

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Cuttooth
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by Cuttooth » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:30 pm

Dual wrote:Edit: Can confirm.

Yes lines up with my main source on this.

My source is xbox.com

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2022/01/18/ ... ft-gaming/

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Bertie
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by Bertie » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:30 pm

What? How much? That is strawberry floating insane.

Are there any competition laws that prevent this? Sony must be worried by this.

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rinks
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by rinks » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:30 pm

Bloody hell. I guess that would be an end to PlayStation getting year-long exclusive CoD content.

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Garth
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by Garth » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:31 pm

Well that's one way to get rid of Bobby Kotick.

Dual wrote:Holy gooseberry fool.

Edit: Can confirm.

Yikes!

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rinks
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by rinks » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:31 pm

Wait, gooseberry fool, does that mean CoD in Game Pass?!

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OrangeRKN
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by OrangeRKN » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:32 pm

Sexual harassment day 1 on game pass :toot:

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orkn.uk - Top 5 Games of 2023 - SW-6533-2461-3235
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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by Victor Mildew » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:32 pm

rinks wrote:Wait, gooseberry fool, does that mean CoD in Game Pass?!


Can confirm

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.
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jiggles
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by jiggles » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:33 pm

Never thought the Bethesda news would be topped

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Cuttooth
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by Cuttooth » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:33 pm

OrangeRKN wrote:Sexual harassment day 1 on game pass :toot:

Sounds like they’ll be getting rid of Kotick.

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Winckle
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by Winckle » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:34 pm

lmao surely this can't be allowed due to anti trust.

We should migrate GRcade to Flarum. :toot:
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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by Victor Mildew » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:34 pm

Oh yeah, gimme generic modern dudebro shooty shooty bang bang killstreak 5 remastered

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.
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Photek
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by Photek » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:36 pm

WHAT THE ACTUAL strawberry float

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rinks
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PostRe: Microsoft buy Activision Blizzard for $70B.
by rinks » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:39 pm

OK, I'll hold off buying the Diablo remaster for now.

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speedboatchase
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PostRe: Microsoft buy Activision Blizzard for $70B.
by speedboatchase » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:39 pm

To misquote someone on Reset Era, the third biggest-selling console developer buying a publisher reponsible for about 20% of all yearly game sales is horrible for the industry.

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Christopher
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PostRe: Microsoft buy Activision Blizzard for $70B.
by Christopher » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:39 pm

Goodbye PlayStation, it’s been a blast :(

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rinks
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PostRe: Microsoft buy Activision Blizzard for $70B.
by rinks » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:39 pm

Kind of paves the way for Xbox WoW, doesn't it?

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jiggles
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PostRe: Microsoft is nearing a deal to buy Activision Blizzard for $70B
by jiggles » Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:39 pm

Winckle wrote:lmao surely this can't be allowed due to anti trust.


They’re last in the market, though, I can’t see it being an issue.


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