With the planned purchase of Activision Blizzard, major franchises like Warcraft, Call of Duty and Diablo would soon belong to Microsoft. The deal surprised many gamers. It came out of nowhere and operates on dimensions that are even huge outside of gaming.
What happened?
- Microsoft confirmed on the afternoon of January 18, 2022, that the company intends to purchase the gaming giant Activision Blizzard.
- The purchase price is reportedly $68.7 billion. It appears that the deal still needs to be approved by the antitrust authority.
- The acquisition of Activision Blizzard overshadows even the purchase of Bethesda for $7 billion in 2020. It had already caused a stir, but the outcry now is significantly larger.
How big is the topic? In the general gaming reddit, there is currently no bigger topic. Fans are discussing the deal worldwide in two threads. Together, the two topics have over 12,000 upvotes and over 7,000 comments (as of 6:30 PM).
Thus, the topic is by far the biggest discussion among gamers on reddit. However, interest goes beyond that. The hashtags Microsoft, Activision, Xbox, and Sony are trending globally on Twitter (via trends24). Even in Germany, “Activision Blizzard” found itself among the top trends for a short time.
What exactly the deal means and what the heads of MeinMMO and guest Micha Graf from GameStar think about it, you can listen to in the special podcast:
“The craziest moment in gaming”
This is what gamers say about the topic: Many comments simply express disbelief. Players can partly still not fully grasp what has just happened, especially since it all came out of nowhere. NoNefariousness2144 puts it succinctly: “This is the craziest moment in the gaming sphere since… Microsoft bought Bethesda.”
Reddit user kuroinferuno goes even further: “Un-fucking-believable. This could be the biggest acquisition of all time, right? Even outside the gaming sphere?” In fact, the scale of around $70 billion at least places it among the top 15-30 biggest deals of all time (via Investopedia, as of May 2021).
Opinions on the significance of the deal vary widely. Here on MeinMMO, readers discuss:
- “I think Microsoft is mainly interested in the mobile market. With [Diablo] Immortal, Blizzard has already prepared something substantial.” – L4ch3s1s
- “Speechless… 70 billion…” – Walez
- “Wow. This has the potential to become the ‘News of the Year’. Microsoft will become the new super giant in gaming.” – Leyaa
- “And I was still thinking that the only salvation would be if someone bought Blizzard. And then they just buy Activision with it. Wow.” – Natürlich
What is the mood? Many gamers are now wondering how things could proceed. Especially for Blizzard, gamers are now hoping for the best. MeinMMO reader Tw3nty7 writes: “I think it’s good, maybe Blizzard can finally move away from Activision more independently.”
There are also thoughts about whether games like Overwatch or Call of Duty will come to the popular Game Pass. During the Bethesda purchase, hits like Fallout, DOOM, and Wolfenstein came into the Pass. The previous acquisition brought almost only advantages, at least according to MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus:
Fans are now speculating about the new deal, wondering if maybe even the new Overwatch 2 will come directly to the Pass upon release when it is eventually released.
However, there are also concerns about the purchase. Especially Call of Duty players fear that Microsoft might want to secure exclusive rights with the deal. This would mean that upcoming CoD titles would no longer be playable on PlayStation.
Gamers between joy and concern
The mood is currently mixed. The topic is so big that everyone has something to say about it and expresses their opinion – even if it is only disbelief over the immense sum. Activision Blizzard and Microsoft apparently have a certain significance for almost every gamer.
Games such as Call of Duty, Halo, or especially the Warcraft series have managed to accumulate millions of fans worldwide over the years. Now seeing how the journey continues clearly moves the entire internet. However, the concern of PlayStation fans for their favorite games is particularly strong.
When Bethesda was purchased, Microsoft partially excluded the Sony console. Although it is stated in the official statement that they want to “continue to support these communities in the future”, the question remains whether Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 will appear for the PS5.
Particularly noteworthy is that this deal comes directly after a crisis year for Blizzard. In 2021, the game studio was involved in an enormous sexism scandal, during which even former Blizzard head J. Allen Brack resigned.
The scandal even extends into the new year. Just before the report of the acquisition by Microsoft, there were news about the status and the involvement of Activision CEO Bobby Kotick:
After sexism scandal, Activision Blizzard fires 37 employees
