In the latest court hearing in the famous US FTC case against Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the Redmond house made it clear that the company will continue to operate independently Even after the acquisition.
To tell the truth, this is not the first time that Microsoft has expressed this intention, which has repeatedly reported that it does not intend to force major changes to the organization and classic way of working of Activision Blizzard after the acquisition, let alone make Call of Duty exclusive to Xbox.
This, TwekTown points out, could also have something to do with the business model and distribution: Activision Blizzard relies heavily on record video game sales, especially for annual series like Call of Duty. Although it’s still likely that most of Activision Blizzard’s games will arrive on Day One on Game Pass, as will Microsoft’s first-party titles.
As stated in documents related to the recent hearing in the case against the FTC, “Microsoft intends to operate Activision in a similar manner to other other acquisitions, such as the Mojang Minecraft team. In other words, Creative Operations will remain separate and will continue to operate as it did prior to the acquisition.”
However, it’s good to remember that Bethesda is also “independent” and that didn’t stop Starfield from being exclusives, or that The Elder Scrolls 6 could be, too.
However, we have seen that the takeover was blocked by a temporary restraining order, pending developments in the appeal against the CMA ruling and the FTC litigation.
“Friendly zombie fanatic. Analyst. Coffee buff. Professional music specialist. Communicator.”
