The acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft has marked a milestone in the video game industry. With the operation completed, it is time to speculate on the future of these two industry giants and the surprises they could bring. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has suggested that this union could lead to exciting remakes and other innovations.
Now that the agreement is a reality, expectations are sky-high. Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, and Kotick himself have hinted that some classic titles could rise from the ashes.
How does it count Meteramong the most notable promises is the inclusion of Activision Blizzard games in Xbox Game Pass, which will increase their availability on both consoles and cloud streaming services and, surprisingly, on the Nintendo Switch.
Additionally, the idea of reviving old franchises, such as Hexen and Guitar Hero, has been floated. Kotick has also stated that, under the Microsoft umbrella, Activision could explore its last three decades of hits and potentially remake some of its classics. However, he has not provided concrete examples of which games could be the subject of these adaptations.
Kotick’s words
“I think one of the benefits of this combination is that we can take games that have been in the library for the last 30 years and remake them” Kotick told CNBC once the acquisition was closed. Although this statement might seem like Activision would need Microsoft to carry out remakes, it does not match reality, since the company has had notable successes in that regard.
The remakes of the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro trilogies, released in 2017 and 2018, respectively, as well as other projects such as Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled (2019) and the remake of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (2020), demonstrate that Activision is able to undertake these enterprises alone.
Kotick’s statement is somewhat enigmatic and is reminiscent of when Microsoft hinted that only they could bring Call Of Duty to the Nintendo Switch, even though Activision has been releasing titles from the franchise on Nintendo consoles for decades.
It’s also uncertain which games Kotick is referring to, given that most of both companies’ top titles have already had recent remakes. Maybe you’re waiting for the right time to greenlight a new version of a classic, like Prototype.