Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer is getting a lot of questions this week. The planned buyout of Activision Blizzard announced today has springboarded the idea that all of their games may be subject to changed availability. A ton of gamers are worried that games like Overwatch 2 and Diablo sequels might become exclusive to PC and Xbox.
As far as we can tell, Microsoft won’t be planning to push too much exclusivity for some of their future and current lineup. It just wouldn’t make good business sense to restrict the number of copies you can sell of big AAA games. But one thing that could become a reality is some level of timed exclusive, or even digital-download exclusivity. And with the popularity of Game Pass, there’s a great mechanism for Microsoft to push more users to the digital service.
While Spencer did not specify which titles would be joining the service, he did say that Game Pass expansion with new titles is a core reason behind this deal. In a blog post explaining the move, he said that the company will work to bring “both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog” to the service.
Game Pass has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. With more than 25 million active accounts, it acts as a great install base that the Redmond-based company can tap into the push new Xbox and PC releases. And it’s a pretty good bet that some games are locked down to the service, technical restrictions aside.
While it’s all but impossible for games like World of Warcraft to make the jump to Game Pass, some of the newly-owned Microsoft IPs would be well at home on the Xbox. Diablo and other major fantasy properties would be great additions. We likely won’t see ports of older games like Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot games or other older IPs anytime soon. It may be a plan to release remaster collections at some point, with Microsoft hoping to capture some nostalgia-fueled purchases. Licensing issues might also stand in the way of porting older games to Xbox Game Pass.
