After the revelation of the potential acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft and Xbox, Sony has now also commented on the matter. In the official statement, it talked about the games that are distributed by Activision on the PlayStation.
What kind of deal is this? In an announcement that shook the gaming industry, Microsoft announced that they want to buy the publisher Activision Blizzard for a staggering 68.7 billion, which is by far the largest purchase in the history of gaming.
This is far ahead of the previous record holder Take Two, which bought the developer Zynga for 14 billion and also ahead of Microsoft’s last major acquisition. The company bought Bethesda / Zenimax for 7.5 billion dollars in September 2020.
The prospect of the deal also caused strong reactions among fans, many of whom are now concerned about the state of Activision Blizzard games that have previously been available on or are still expected to be released for the PS5. This includes titles such as Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4, as well as Call of Duty.
Now, Sony has commented on the issue and is trying to smooth things over.
Sony believes that ongoing contracts will remain valid
What Sony says in the statement: According to the statement published in the US magazine Bloomberg, Sony does not expect any significant changes in the immediate future.
According to the statement:
We expect Microsoft to adhere to the contractual agreements and continue to ensure that Activision games are cross-platform.
Sony representative via bloomberg.com
No further details have been mentioned.
What does this mean? Sony is most likely to have set up contracts with Activision that concern games like Call of Duty or Overwatch.
The statement can be interpreted to mean that all established deals and releases involving Activision will continue as planned.
Additionally, the acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of the fiscal year 2023. Until that happens, the publisher will continue to operate autonomously.
Until then, one or two more Call of Duty titles are likely to be released, and Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 might also be released by then. Many fear that games like Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV will not be released for the PS5.
At Sony, they do not expect anything to change by that time. However, what happens afterward is unclear.
We have analyzed the acquisition in the podcast:
What does Microsoft say about this? In the announcement of the deal, it was stated: “The games from Activision Blizzard are played on a variety of platforms, and we plan to continue supporting these communities in the future.”
Currently, it’s hard to say how this issue will develop in the coming months.
Many believe that Microsoft will proceed as it did with the acquisition of Bethesda, the developer of Skyrim and Fallout. Existing deals, like with Deathloop, were honored, but all future releases for major franchises will be exclusive to Xbox and PC and will appear in Game Pass.
Are you comforted by Sony’s statement? What do you think the impact of the deal will be? And what do you generally think about it? Take part in our survey:
Microsoft plans to acquire Activision Blizzard – Is that good or bad?
