It’s official. Microsoft finally, officially, triumphantly acquired Activision Blizzard.
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The CMA officially gave this blessing for the acquisition earlier today, removing the final hurdle for the deal. Now, the news is official, and Xbox has already let loose on social media announcing the finalization of the deal, welcoming Activision Blizzard to the Xbox family.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer communicated the acquisition internally as well. In an internal memo to employees that has been acquired by The Verge, Spencer welcomed Activision Blizzard to the company and spoke about what to expect immediately after the acquisition. The contents of the email bring out some interesting information, including the fact that Activision Blizzard games won’t come to the company’s Game Pass service right away.
Spencer says that the team will be working to make “Activision, Blizzard, and King’s much-loved library of games available in Game Pass and other platforms” but that it will take some time to do so. The Xbox executive says that they’ll have more to share about that plan “in the coming months.”
In addition, Spencer confirmed that the current CEO of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick, will not remain head of the company. However, Spencer says that Kotick will stay on as CEO through the rest of 2023 to help with the transition to handing the reigns over to Spencer and the rest of the Microsoft Gaming leadership team.
It’s a huge deal. Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and OverWatch are all now owned by Microsoft. As a longtime Xbox fan, I’m personally excited to see which games come to Game Pass and where these games are available to play over time whether it be mobile or cloud gaming.
You can read Spencer’s full letter to employees below:
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