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It’s finally over.
Activision-Blizzard is one of the biggest and most successful video game publishers on earth.
Apple blocks Xbox Game Pass on iPad, but you can run it via Xbox.com/play on the web.
The scale of the opportunity is truly massive IF Microsoft can pull it off.
Time to address the fans
I hope Microsoft realizes exactly what it’s inheriting here.
Last week,Activision CEO Bobby Kotick called an internal all-hands(hosted by James Corden?
Apple blocks Xbox Game Pass on iPad, but you can run it via Xbox.com/play on the web.
), where he described the scale of Activision’s gaming communities.
Activision claims its games serve 400 million players.
Microsoft has roughly 120 million monthly active users by comparison.
Microsoft is, of course, no stranger to managing huge communities.
Microsoft is also no stranger to disappointment, though.
Building service games is extremely tough and extremely expensive.
Service games are Activision’s bread and butter, though.
However, many of these properties also have some long-term problems that some players are hoping Microsoft will solve.
A similar number of fans are also nervous that Microsoft could make matters worse for some of these games.
Apple blocks Xbox Game Pass on iPad, but you can run it via Xbox.com/play on the web.
Microsoft’s support services for Xbox, Surface, and Windows are trash by comparison owing to minimal investment.
We need to know that our games will not be disrupted but enhanced.
We need to know what Microsoft intends to do with Battle.net considering it has its own Xbox PC launcher.
Activision characters, by@Klobrilleon Twitter (X).
Will Microsoft maintain Blizzcon, despite the fact it is hardly profitable?
There are mountains of unanswered questions that deserve answers.
Microsoft has an extremely privileged position and has inherited a legacy spanning decades.
Fans have invested so much time, energy, and love into these virtual worlds.
Staff have invested their entirelivesinto some of these games.
This is more important than money.
We all need to hold Microsoft to account.
The mobile opportunity
This is the real reason Microsoft wanted to buy Activision.
Apple and Google enjoy a nasty duopoly over mobile computing platforms.
Apple, however, is far more draconian with its approach.
We all know about Epic Games' problems with Apple too.
Video game industry analysis often revolves entirely around Xbox, Nintendo, and PlayStation in traditional game journalism.
But Microsoft sees the iPad as one of Xbox’s biggest competitors.
It worked with Microsoft Office.
It worked with Xbox Game Pass.
And it’ll work with Microsoft’s mobile gaming store, too.
For Xbox, the work is just beginning
The benefits for Xbox gamers are obvious.
Microsoft has also expressed interest in dormant franchises like StarCraft and Guitar Hero.
Beyond Activision, Microsoft has also been working hard to make Xbox more competitive.
Many of us supported the deal despite warnings from detractors about how things could go wrong.
Microsoft needs to ensure they don’t get proven right.
The real work is just beginning all eyes are on you, Microsoft.
Oh and,kindly revive Heroes of the Storm.
