Sooo.... Microsoft just bought Activision Blizzard.... for $70 Billion. Yes. With a "B". ALL CASH, y'all.
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2022/01/18/welcoming-activision-blizzard-to-microsoft-gaming/
Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Guitar Hero, shit, Crash Bandicoot, every single game by Activision Blizzard is owned by Microsoft.
If you don't understand, this is like Disney buying Marvel. Now there are TV shows dedicated to Disney Hotstar, Movies releasing in theater will also release in Disney Hotstar after a few months, etc.
Activision Blizzard is now not the top of the food chain. Microsoft will be above them. This means that everything that comes out, they will have to report to Microsoft before launching. To add to that, there might be some XBOX exclusive content, but of course not leaving PlayStation out of it. Leaving PS is just stupid since it's the biggest sales field for CoD and other games.
And you know what made me laughed out loud? This is the tweet from Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft rn :
https://twitter.com/satyanadella/status/1483431765616119809?s=20
"We will usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive, and accessible to all."
>>> "puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive, and accessible to all." <<<
Microsoft literally knows that Activision Blizzard SUCKS at these things. AB's been releasing updates and games like crazy for money and even though it is a guaranteed revenue every time, it is undeniable that the players are NOT happy. The yearly releases cycle exhausts the devs, and this is where we're at right now. Freaking beta version games on sale, very little changes every game, and the Warzone integration every single game.
Now, with Microsoft on the driver seat, things will change a lot. I'm hoping they broke AB's yearly recycle releases to about 2-3 years, that's for sure. Also, I hope they freaking treat their staff better.
Microsoft has bought AB, but the acquisition will not go through until June 2023.
That's still a long, long time. This means that CoD2022 will still launch this year, big changes to Warzone will still go, but after that? Now this is the shit. In 2023, we don't know what CoD they'll release. Maybe a BO5? Well, now that Microsoft owns them, they can be like, "Hey, you know what? No CoD this year, peeps. Keep working on that, we'll release it next year." or "Hey, peeps, no CoD this year, or forever." LOL IDK.
We'll see how Microsoft will do. I love Activision Blizzard games. I love Call of Duty and Overwatch most of all. I'm sincerely hopeful of this changes.