What happens to Call of Duty now that Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard?

What happens to Call of Duty now that Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard?

Earlier this week, Microsoft stunned the gaming world with its announcement of the most important acquisition within the historical past of gaming. The Xbox creators introduced their plans to amass Activision Blizzard, the creators of ridiculously fashionable franchises like World of Warcraft and Name of Obligation, for a staggering $68.7 billion.

 

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As you’d think about, this announcement caught lots of people unexpectedly. Activision Blizzard has had a tumultuous 12 months of poisonous office allegations, however no one actually noticed an acquisition like this coming.

One of many greatest questions which have been raised after the announcement is what’s going to occur to the Name of Obligation franchise? Name of Obligation has been a staple FPS sport throughout each Xbox and PlayStation for many years at this level.

However Microsoft hasn’t been shy about changing franchises to Xbox exclusives after acquisitions. Is that what’s going to occur with Name of Obligation? Right here’s what we all know to date.

Will Name of Obligation grow to be an Xbox unique?

One necessary factor to notice is that that is simply the announcement of the acquisition. Microsoft has projected that the acquisition is probably going going to shut someday in 2023. Till then, Activision Blizzard will function like regular, and we shouldn’t count on any main shifts in Name of Obligation’s plans.

As at all times, the franchise is predicted to launch a brand new sport within the fall of 2022. Present hypothesis says that this 12 months’s sport shall be a follow-up to 2019’s Trendy Warfare that may function a serious Warzone replace.

However what occurs when the deal lastly goes by means of? Sadly, all we are able to do proper now’s speculate. However, this isn’t the primary time that Microsoft has acquired a serious gaming firm, so we are able to have a look at a few of the issues the corporate has finished previously.

First, let’s have a look at the Bethesda acquisition that Microsoft accomplished on the finish of 2020. It initially seemed like Microsoft was going to keep away from the exclusivity route with Bethesda’s video games, however a later interview with Xbox head Phil Spencer revealed that no less than a few of the firm’s franchises, like The Elder Scrolls and the brand new IP Starfield, would more than likely be launched as exclusives.

However, Microsoft has additionally gone the exact opposite route with different acquisitions. The corporate acquired Mojang, creators of Minecraft, approach again in 2014. In the case of that sport, the corporate has stored it obtainable on as many platforms as potential, doubtless serving to it to grow to be probably the most fashionable video games on the planet.

We will’t think about the COD franchise turning into an Xbox unique

From what we’ve seen previously, it seems to be like Microsoft seems to be at exclusivity on a case-by-case foundation. The corporate has opted to go for exclusives in some franchises however it has stored others on different platforms for years.

For my part, the Name of Obligation franchise is way nearer to Minecraft than any of Microsoft’s different franchises by way of recognition and notoriety. For that motive, I’d be extremely stunned if we noticed the corporate convert Name of Obligation to an Xbox unique franchise.

Microsoft would merely lose out on too many potential gamers for the franchise that has been obtainable throughout consoles for generations. However, the corporate has stunned us previously and it may undoubtedly shock us once more. We’ll simply have to attend and see what occurs when the acquisition is definitely finalized subsequent 12 months.