Following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, many well-known IPs become part of Microsoft

The afternoon of Tuesday 18 January 2022 will be remembered as one of the most important days in the history of video games. Microsoft has bought Activision Blizzard for close to 70 billion dollars in what is the largest deal in the medium’s history, not only in terms of economic impact but also in terms of social and industry impact.

This merger also leaves us with a new panorama at Xbox, which will add to its 23 development teams those that until now produced for Activision Blizzard. Alongside them, a multitude of franchises will now pass to Microsoft’s control, some as important in the industry as Call of Duty, the world’s leading shooter saga, World of Warcraft, one of the biggest names in online video games, or even Crash Bandicoot, which began as a brand associated with PlayStation and Sony.

In addition, Major League Gaming will also join Microsoft. Below, we list the teams and the most essential IPs that will join the Xbox family once the deal is completed, taking into account what Activision, Blizzard and King have been publishing so far.

New Xbox development teams

• Blizzard Entertainment
• Beenox
• Demonware
• Digital Legends
• High Moon Studios
• Infinity Ward
• King
• Radical Entertainment
• Raven Software
• Sledgehammer Games
• Toys for Bob
• Treyarch

Así queda #Xbox Game Studios tras la compra de #Activision

31 estudios. TREINTA Y UNO. Un músculo de producción sin precedentes en la Historia de los videojuegos. pic.twitter.com/5sDjlSNHzz

— Carlos Villasante (@cvillasante) January 18, 2022

Major sagas joining Xbox

• Bubble Witch Saga
• Call of Duty
• Candy Crush
• Crash Bandicoot
• Diablo
• Diamond Diaries Saga
• Farm Heroes Saga
• Guitar Hero
• Hearthstone
• Overwatch
• Pet Rescue
• Skylanders
• Spyro
• StarCraft
• Tony Hawk
• World of Warcraft

Obviously, the list does not include all the franchises that until now belonged to Activision Blizzard, as many of them have either been abandoned or are not very recognisable in 2022. To cover them, we will have to wait to see what Microsoft plans to do with all the brands that come under its control once the merger is completed. Even Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice has been published and distributed by Activision, so we could see a new game now tied to Xbox if FromSoftware so chooses.

Another unknown is what will happen to Bobby Kotick, the former president of Activision Blizzard, who has been in the eye of the storm over the company’s harassment and abuse controversy. For the moment, it seems that he will continue until the deal is closed, but his future is uncertain. Another news also emerged today about Activision Blizzard but was nearly left unnoticed. The company confirmed 37 people were fired or pushed out in the wake of a lawsuit.

Source: as