Call of Duty, Diablo and Overwatch are among the major titles expected to be made available on Xbox Game Pass

• Microsoft has announced the acquisition of Activision Blizzard in a $69 billion deal.
• The company will get the rights to titles like Call of Duty, Diablo, Overwatch and more.
• Some of the games are expected to be made available on the Xbox Game Pass once the deal is closed.

In one of the biggest deals in the gaming industry, Microsoft on Tuesday announced that it is acquiring Activision Blizzard, the powerhouse behind games like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and popular puzzle game Candy Crush.

Microsoft will now become the third-largest gaming company by revenue, just behind Tencent and Sony. The acquisition will help accelerate growth in the company’s gaming business across PC, console and mobile.

Microsoft now owns the rights to Activision’s popular titles like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Tony Hawk, Hearthstone and Candy Crush. Let’s take a look at what this means for the company and Xbox Game Pass users.

“We will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog,” Phil Spencer, chief executive officer, Microsoft Gaming said in blog post.

Xbox Game Pass, which is priced at ₹489 per month for either PC or console and ₹699 per month for both PC and console already offers access to over 100 titles, including the likes of Halo, Rainbow Six Siege, Forza Horizon, Gears 5 and more.

While it is too early to say which games will be made available for Game Pass users, here are some of the major titles that may be offered –

Call of Duty

Call of Duty, which has been one of the biggest first-person shooters since its launch in 2003 is expected to be made available to Game Pass users soon after the deal is completed. The game’s latest iteration, Call of Duty Vanguard and Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War will be the biggest highlights of the series.

Diablo

Diablo, the popular action role-playing game is expected to be among the initial titles that will be made available for Game Pass users.

Overwatch 2

Overwatch 2, which is expected to be launched next year is expected to be added to the game pass when the deal closes in 2023. It will be a first-person shooter and will build on its predecessor that was launched in 2016. The game is set in near-future earth and player’s fight in a 6 vs 6 battle.

World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft, the popular role-playing game that has its own subscription model is expected to be kept out of the Game Pass.

There’s not much known about the other titles at present. We should know more about them over the coming months.

Xbox Cloud Gaming

In addition to Game Pass, Microsoft’s cloud gaming platform will also benefit from the latest acquisition.

“And when we look ahead and consider new possibilities, like offering Overwatch or Diablo, via streaming to anyone with a phone as part of Game Pass, you start to understand how exciting this acquisition will be,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer, Microsoft.
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