Microsoft View on Activision Blizzard Acquisition

[Dejiko]

Game Pass for Blizzard titles really doesn`t seem worth it.

Overwatch 2 will be free to play.
WoW seems to not be included in GP
Diablo is questionable at best.
If D4 will cost 60 dollars for it`s cheapest version, that amount is roughly equal to 5-6 months worth of GP.
It`s probably unlikely that they will ship the game`s first expansion half a year after it`s release. so you may end up paying more
for GP than you probably would by just purchasing the game by itself.

I didn`t see hearthstone mentioned, it could be interesting if GP included a few card packs each month, but it too seems unlikely.

Seems to mostly be of interest to anyone who wants to venture beyond Blizzard titles.

[Goat7]

Not a single mention of Warcraft or World of Warcraft. That is because this

"Bringing more games to mobile platforms, however, requires new capabilities. The expertise that the teams at Activision Blizzard bring in developing games for mobile platforms will help us understand how to create games that engage players around the world. In addition, we hope that players will be eager to play traditional console games from Activision Blizzard on other platforms via our cloud game streaming technology. This promises to open up mobile gaming, creating new distribution opportunities for game developers outside of mobile app stores while delivering compelling and immersive experiences for players by using the power of the cloud. And we can extend the joy of playing to devices that people already own, including Smart TVs and laptops."

Thanks a lot Gen Z

[kronides]

Curiously omitting World of Warcraft, interesting.
Maybe it turns out Dragonflight is our last stop, our own little afterlife after we succumbed to the Shadowlands.

Dream on, I don't think that's what that means. As of this year, the WoW team is larger than it ever has been, they're not going anywhere for a long, long time.

[Sorrowseer]

Game Pass for Blizzard titles really doesn`t seem worth it.

Overwatch 2 will be free to play.
WoW seems to not be included in GP
Diablo is questionable at best.
If D4 will cost 60 dollars for it`s cheapest version, that amount is roughly equal to 5-6 months worth of GP.
It`s probably unlikely that they will ship the game`s first expansion half a year after it`s release. so you may end up paying more
for GP than you probably would by just purchasing the game by itself.

I didn`t see hearthstone mentioned, it could be interesting if GP included a few card packs each month, but it too seems unlikely.

Seems to mostly be of interest to anyone who wants to venture beyond Blizzard titles.

I used to have GP but when it was shown the library rotates I ended my sub, I may want to plat a game a few months down the line and now I cnanot as it rotated, justs ticking to buying games on sale.

[Linkedblade]

Not a single mention of Warcraft or World of Warcraft. That is because this

"Bringing more games to mobile platforms, however, requires new capabilities. The expertise that the teams at Activision Blizzard bring in developing games for mobile platforms will help us understand how to create games that engage players around the world. In addition, we hope that players will be eager to play traditional console games from Activision Blizzard on other platforms via our cloud game streaming technology. This promises to open up mobile gaming, creating new distribution opportunities for game developers outside of mobile app stores while delivering compelling and immersive experiences for players by using the power of the cloud. And we can extend the joy of playing to devices that people already own, including Smart TVs and laptops."

Thanks a lot Gen Z

What? You dont have a phone?

[Kathranis]

Well, how much outside of CoD does Activision do these days? They did Spyro Trilogy, Crash Trilogy + 4, Tony Hawk and after that, i already blank. And King does mobile crap and the people that follow these news likely don't care about games like that.

Sekiro was big for them, 2019 GotY, but so far that's not a franchise.

King's got a bunch of games but Candy Crush is their bread and butter.

Blizzard has big, culturally relevant IP. Starcraft is the grandaddy of esports, Warcraft was a juggernaut at its peak and is still pretty massive, and Overwatch was a legit phenomenon.

Their reputation may be tarnished by Blizzard's general malfeasance and mismanagement, but the names still mean something. And I'm sure Microsoft would love nothing more than to subsume those IP and leave the skeletonized carcass of Activision Blizzard behind.

[Relapses]

Game Pass for Blizzard titles really doesn`t seem worth it.

Overwatch 2 will be free to play.
WoW seems to not be included in GP
Diablo is questionable at best.
If D4 will cost 60 dollars for it`s cheapest version, that amount is roughly equal to 5-6 months worth of GP.
It`s probably unlikely that they will ship the game`s first expansion half a year after it`s release. so you may end up paying more
for GP than you probably would by just purchasing the game by itself.

I didn`t see hearthstone mentioned, it could be interesting if GP included a few card packs each month, but it too seems unlikely.

Seems to mostly be of interest to anyone who wants to venture beyond Blizzard titles.

I disagree. If the leaked monetization options for Diablo 4 are accurate, I think it'd be the first game to test the viability of GP for a major Blizzard release. I think WoW will remain off of the GP for the short term but years down the road I could see MS introducing a tiered subscription service which includes WoW in it for another $5-10/mo. (A subscription service for your subscription service... peak late stage capitalism.)

[Unholyground]

Game Pass for Blizzard titles really doesn`t seem worth it.

Overwatch 2 will be free to play.
WoW seems to not be included in GP
Diablo is questionable at best.
If D4 will cost 60 dollars for it`s cheapest version, that amount is roughly equal to 5-6 months worth of GP.
It`s probably unlikely that they will ship the game`s first expansion half a year after it`s release. so you may end up paying more
for GP than you probably would by just purchasing the game by itself.

I didn`t see hearthstone mentioned, it could be interesting if GP included a few card packs each month, but it too seems unlikely.

Seems to mostly be of interest to anyone who wants to venture beyond Blizzard titles.

I get a free month of gamepass every 2 months so it is fairly inexpensive.

[Gravity2015]

*edit* quoted wrong posted

yup, i would sub if that were the case tbh (adding 5$ to gamepass for wow sub)

[Eldar45]

What i find interesting is that Blizz games take up 2/3 of the image real estate. Activision and King only get one each, Blizzard gets 4.

That's because, despite the hate this forum likes to give them, Blizzard still makes damn good games. The competition is only just recently starting to catch up.

[Azerox]

Cant wait for MS to take over and maybe get a real customer service experience.
These days you can apply a ticket whatever you want but they can't and/or don't want to help you.

[javierdsv]

Lolz, they see Activision just as a mobile gaming enabler to them.
They mention they will still let popular franchises like Call of Duty to be available everywhere... but their focus will just overpower that and kill it, along with WoW. Which based on this, is almost guaranteed to have a mobile version released at some point.

They are just eager to put their hands on that juicy loot boxes money from p2w games.


What a shame.

[Vandren]

Disappointed, but not surprised.

[DragonsBeard]

I used to have GP but when it was shown the library rotates I ended my sub, I may want to plat a game a few months down the line and now I cnanot as it rotated, justs ticking to buying games on sale.

They only rotate out games they have licensed to be on Gamepass, None of the games they own have ever been rotated out because there is not reason to. Also, it's not some kind of scam to trick people into buying games on discount....

[Nutri]

So basically they are happy they acquired King.

[ClassicPeon]

Except for russkies, I hope.

And xboss exclusives also ofc.

Their motto is more like: PC games - available on all platforms because you guys have phones right?

[DragonsBeard]

Lolz, they see Activision just as a mobile gaming enabler to them.
They mention they will still let popular franchises like Call of Duty to be available everywhere... but their focus will just overpower that and kill it, along WoW. Which based on this is almost guaranteed to have a mobile version released at some point.

They are just eager to put their hands on that juicy loot boxes money from p2w games.


What a shame.

You seem to have a fairly big misunderstanding of what they said. Their goal of bringing games to Mobile is through their Cloud streaming systems. Not porting games onto phones. Completely different. The whole point of what they are doing is to grow GamePass even more so people can play any game on any device they want.. Cloud Gaming isn't ready yet in my opinion, But it's functional.. This isn't about making a bunch of ports of games onto phones.

[exochaft]

That's because, despite the hate this forum likes to give them, Blizzard still makes damn good games. The competition is only just recently starting to catch up.

I wouldn't say 'damn good games', but I wouldn't call them bottom of the barrel either. Relatively speaking, the best you can say is that specific aspects of their games are good, but the whole package quality has declined. Much of it is already established and polished pieces that get recycled into the newer content, with very little front-end innovation or progression.

For example, the combat system in WoW is still pretty good put against its competition, but that's a system that hasn't really been changed for a long time... which is why recent expansions, in spite of the still-solid combat system, have been pretty terrible when viewing the whole picture. D3's combat system is also pretty smooth considering the genre's competition, but it's end game content (which hasn't really changed in years aside from minor seasonal stuff) is still leagues behind the competition. Much of this is a product of the company Blizz once was, with all the newer stuff bogging down what could be 'damn good games' in today's market.

While the Blizz name, although tarnished, may still have value... well, if you don't polish things up and continue a downward trend, the name will become a passing fancy of the past instead of relevant to the current day gaming market.

[MiiiMiii]

Microsoft is a great company these days and it's just the best possible company to buy them.

However I don't think they will be too "hands on" replacing bad leadership unless they are asked to.

[Loveliest]

This was incredibly disappointing to read.