5 reasons Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard is good for gamers

five reasons Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard is skillful for gamers

an image showing Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard

(Image credit: Microsoft)

In a move that rocked the gaming world, Microsoft appear it volition buy major publisher Activision Blizzard for a huge $68.seven billion; that's the largest acquisition in the gaming industry ever.

This follows in the footsteps of 2020'due south motion past Microsoft to purchase Bethesda and all of its developers. So understandably, there have been murmurs that this could exist bad for the gaming world, seeing PS5 and PS4 players left out on the cold as Microsoft bolsters the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series Due south with exclusive games.

While I'm no business guru, I don't think being bought by Microsoft is a bad thing for Activision Blizzard or a sign of an insipid monopoly building up inside the gaming industry. Rather, I feel at that place are some positive things here, and the deal could benefit gamers hugely. Allow me tell you why.

Xbox Game Pass becomes an even ameliorate deal

An image of an Xbox controller and Xbox Game Pass — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

Information technology'due south not original to say Xbox Game Pass is the best deal in gaming; for a flat fee you lot can get access to a seemingly always-growing range of games. These stretch from generic shooters to intriguing indie games, too as all of Xbox Game Studio'south first-party titles like Halo Space and Forza Horizon 5.

With the Bethesda purchase, Microsoft added a suite of the programmer's games to Game Pass. And it plans to do the same with Activision Blizzard's portfolio, meaning a range of Call of Duty games, Overwatch, Diablo and more are set to arrive on Game Pass, likely in 2023.

When you add those upwardly with games from Bethesda and a range of EA games, not least of all Mass Consequence Legendary Edition, Game Pass becomes a killer service for pretty much whatsoever device that'll support it.

Affordable admission to more than games

Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on colorful background — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

Non everyone can beget the $l to $70 prices many games now command, let alone a $499 Xbox Series X. And that's especially truthful of nations not blessed with the wealth of the U.S. or Europe; affording one game a month could be quite the ask for some.

But for roughly $10 a calendar month, Xbox Game Pass provides access to a compensation of games, old and new, pregnant you don't even have to be a long-time Xbox gamer to play some of the all-time Xbox games over the infinite of twenty years. Blizzard has already announced evolution of a new survival game, i that's likely to be an Xbox and PC exclusive. That democratizes gaming and that's expert for gamers from all walks of life.

Sure, Microsoft could ramp up the toll of Game Laissez passer, equally we've seen Netflix do by hiking prices. Just I feel information technology'll even so be a bargain for what it's offer: access to a load of games beyond multiple platforms, generations and publishers.

Play console-quality games anywhere

photo of a Samsung phone connected to an Xbox Wireless controller sitting on top of Xbox games — (Image credit: Time to come)

Edifice upon the accessibility point, expanding Xbox Game Pass besides seems set to have the knock-on effect of making the likes of Overwatch, World of Warcraft and more than available for anyone to play on pretty much any platform providing they have a decent internet connection, be it wired or 5G.

That's because with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate you don't actually demand an Xbox panel to play a range of games, with cloud-powered game streaming piping the like of Gears 5 to the all-time phones and best Chromebooks.

With Xbox Serial Ten restocks still catchy to pivot down, being able to stream the latest and best Xbox Serial Ten games to an Xbox One or some other uniform device is brilliant. It means those who can't get the latest panel or afford to purchase it, tin can withal relish a fresh generation of gaming. This would likewise benefit PlayStation fans, as even if they don't want to get an Xbox panel they could still access Game Pass on a myriad of devices.

Heck, fifty-fifty if y'all have all of the consoles, being able to stream modern games to a smartphone when you're out and about is very slick; Microsoft has even worked on retrofitted touchscreen controls for some games.

A purge of toxicity

Halo Infinite Master Chief — (Image credit: 343i)

Activision Blizzard is currently embroiled in a U.Southward. lawsuit effectually the way it's treated its workers. And the visitor has come up under a lot of scrutiny from allegedly creating a toxic work environment, especially onwards women.

While the publisher isn't struggling too much financially, it's no surprise that information technology's non put out a stellar game for a while; unhappy workers rarely practise good work. Prior to the acquisition announcement, Phil Spencer, Xbox dominate and newly minted CEO of Microsoft Gaming, has been vocal confronting the behavior of Activision Blizzard as a company and its executive board.

Due to the way acquisitions and publicly traded companies work, Microsoft can't come out and say exactly what will happen to Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard and a man heavily involved in the publisher'southward controversy. Just the construction of the Microsoft Gaming division seems to make it clear that there's no room for two CEOs — meaning it's likely to be game over for Kotick.

As a result, I'yard optimistic that Microsoft will purge the toxic elements of Activision Blizzard and bring in a meliorate working civilisation. After some initial skid ups with its early acquisitions of studios, like the now-defunct Lionhead, Microsoft seems to be a lot more savvy when it comes to letting studios ascertain their own path nonetheless supporting them financially. So a lot of Activision Blizzard's studios and teams could find themselves with greater freedoms and a less challenging environment to work under.

That could all brand for better and more creative games rather than just another rote Call of Duty game. Spencer has said he'd like to see more than of Activision Blizzard's older games brand a comeback in some form or another. So we could see a outburst of inventiveness from the publisher's developers; that'due south good for gaming. Evidence of this could exist traced dorsum to the likes of Obsidian existence given the scope to piece of work on Avowed or Double Fine existence able to create Psychonauts 2, a game that may not take had the approval of a traditional publisher.

Access to earth-spanning tech

Xbox Series X vs. Xbox One — (Image credit: Xbox)

Microsoft might exist securely involved in gaming, only information technology'south a tech company first. And that means all the developers information technology has acquired could tap into the mass of technology Redmond has. Microsoft has the second-largest deject platform that supports everything from streaming services to development tools and machine learning.

Equally such, a programmer who may accept been on a cash-strapped budget and needing to purchase Azure cloud tools, would now accept access to them. I can imagine games getting better AI thanks to Microsoft's work on machine learning. Or having more than stable servers thanks to the back up of the Microsoft Cloud.

Again, for gamers this is good as it could mean more innovative games that besides look ameliorate and run better. These games could even be bundled into the new version of Windows; it might audio light-headed, but imagine if the next Windows 11 update came with Skyrim, every bit that game seems to exist installed only about everywhere.

I will caveat all the in a higher place, by saying I could be very naïve and be putting as well much faith in a corporation I think has been a good entity over the by few years. And I'm sure some diehard PlayStation fans volition cramp at the bargain.

But of all the companies that could take bought Activision Blizzard, I recall Microsoft is the right ane.

Roland Moore-Colyer is U.1000. Editor at Tom's Guide with a focus on news, features and stance articles. He often writes about gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he's also got an interest in cars. When non at his desk-bound Roland tin can be institute wandering around London, oftentimes with a look of curiosity on his face.