Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard entered the second phase today, which means facing supervision by regulatory authorities from the EU and the UK, along with the US Federal Trade Commission. While this is all expected, Microsoft also released a statement on Thursday detailed its intentions for Activision Blizzard’s biggest series, including including some of them on Game Pass.
In the statement, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said, “We plan to make Activision Blizzard’s library of much-loved games — including Overwatch, Diablo, and Call of Duty — available on Game Pass. and to grow that gaming community.”
The Company also uses this statement to reaffirm something it has said many times in the past: That Call of Duty will continue to be released on the PlayStation platform. Microsoft says that it is committed to “delivering the same version of Call of Duty on PlayStation on the same day the game launches elsewhere.”
To support this statement, Microsoft refers to the acquisition of developer Mojang in 2014 and the fact that Minecraft is still available on multiple platforms and devices.
While those giant franchises come to Game Pass seems to be one of the main motivators for Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard in the first place, this is the first time that Microsoft has been completely clear about its plans. Of course, before that can happen, the deal will have to be approved by regulators around the world.
While it is expected to conduct phase two scrutiny for a deal of this size, UK regulators have expressed concern that the inclusion of these franchises in Game Pass could limit curb the competition, even if the game is still available on other platforms.
