February 18th 2024.
One reader can't help but question why Microsoft decided to acquire Activision Blizzard. They suggest that perhaps the initial idea behind the purchase has become muddled and unclear. It seems like Microsoft doesn't have a solid plan for what to do with the company they paid $69 billion for, which is the largest third party publisher in the West. So far, no plans have been announced, and the first game to be added to their Game Pass won't be until March.
Initially, it seemed like Game Pass was a major reason for wanting to buy Activision Blizzard. However, as time has passed, it's become apparent that subscription services, in general, are not the ultimate solution that Xbox had hoped for. In fact, it could potentially harm their profits from selling games in the traditional manner. The acquisition also made it impossible for Call of Duty to be available on multiple platforms, which may have been the original intention. But now, it doesn't seem like a viable option, or at least not in line with their current plans. So, the question remains, what was the purpose of spending such an exorbitant amount of money on this acquisition?
Some may argue that the most obvious benefit of this purchase is gaining a profitable business. However, unless Microsoft has new and innovative ideas for utilizing this new asset, it's just an investment. It's almost as if they could have invested the same amount of money in real estate, and it wouldn't have made much of a difference for the Xbox business.
On the bright side, Microsoft now owns a talented group of developers. But, there has been no indication of using them for anything other than their usual projects. Before the acquisition, Xbox hinted at potentially not having a Call of Duty game every year and allowing their developers to work on other franchises, maybe even reviving some old ones. But, now that the acquisition is complete, it seems like those plans have been tossed aside, and the next four years of Call of Duty games have already been leaked. Ultimately, nothing has changed except for Activision Blizzard having a new owner, and there's no indication that anything will change in the future.
Just to put things into perspective, Microsoft spent $69 billion on this acquisition. That's more than the GDP of over half the countries in the world, including Costa Rica, Serbia, Jordan, and Iceland. It's almost like buying something without properly considering if it's necessary or not, except on a massive scale. The more I delved into researching this topic, the more I searched for a proper explanation from Microsoft as to why they made this purchase, even before things started to go sideways. But, there doesn't seem to be a clear and proper explanation. They've mentioned something about bringing Call of Duty to a larger audience, but that seems like a flimsy excuse to justify their actions. It's almost as if they never truly had a reason for wanting to acquire Activision Blizzard.
In the end, it seems like the simple answer is that they did it because they could, and it boosted the egos of their executives to throw around such a large sum of money. Unfortunately, this acquisition won't help their Xbox business in any significant way. However, it may eventually help them transition away from hardware and solely focus on software publishing. This was not their initial intention when they made the purchase, but after the consistent failure of their previous console generations, perhaps they will finally see the value in buying Activision Blizzard. It's now the largest publisher in the West, and it's a reminder that every screen is essentially an Xbox.
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