In January 2022, Microsoft announced that it was set to acquire Activision Blizzard. Since then, there have been constant discussions about various big-time Activision Blizzard franchises still releasing on other platforms, most notably, Call of Duty. Fans of Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Starcraft, and other franchises rightly have raised their own questions about the status of their favorite games. This being said, will new Activision Blizzard games be exclusive to Xbox going forward?
Will new Activision Blizzard games be exclusive?
In short, whether or not future Activision Blizzard games are exclusive to Xbox depends on the situation surrounding that game. For example, games with a massive community on other platforms, like Call of Duty, will remain on PlayStation, and the plan is to expand it to Nintendo platforms going forward. That being said, smaller games that are not world-renowned on other consoles might find themselves with Xbox exclusivity when the deal goes through. Games like a potential console version of World of Warcraft (which has not been announced) could exclusively be available on Xbox in addition to its usual PC form.
Will new Activision Blizzard games be on Game Pass?
Yes, after the Activision Blizzard deal goes through, their games will be added to Game Pass. This has been a goal for Xbox since the beginning, and you could compare it to the Bethesda situation where new releases launch day and date on the subscription service. It was only a few short days after the acquisition announcement that Xbox boss Phil Spencer said the team “will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.” That statement applies to both current and future releases. This has been the case for all of Xbox’s acquisitions, including Double Fine, Obsidian Entertainment, and more.
