Xbox Launches Website to Explain Benefits of Activision-Blizzard Acquisition

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Image: Microsoft

Xbox has launched a new website that aims to educate people on why Microsoft’s planned acquisition of Activision-Blizzard is a good thing. The site lists a number of benefits for players, gaming creators, and the gaming industry, including more games on more devices, more choice, and greater competition. Visitors will also find links to relevant material, including the most recent acquisition update.

Benefits for players

  • More games on more devices including Xbox, PlayStation, phones and online
  • Choice in how and where people buy games with subscription and one-off purchase options
  • For the 95% of gamers who play on phones, alternatives to gaming offerings from the dominant mobile platforms

Benefits for game creators

  • More ways to get games in front of more players through support, investment and better access to gamers
  • Better revenue and fair marketplace rules through our app store principles
  • Greater flexibility in payment systems and the experience they provide their fans

Benefits for the gaming industry

  • More competition in mobile, where a couple of big players dominate
  • Greater competition in traditional gaming, where Sony and Nintendo will remain the biggest
  • Emphasis on positive workplace culture and increased local investment from Microsoft in studios and creative ecosystems around the world

“Giving players choice in how they play their games makes gaming more accessible and leads to larger, more vibrant communities of players,” said Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. “Choice is equally important to developers. Developers benefit from having a diversity of distribution and business models for their games. Choice unlocks opportunities for innovation and enables the industry to grow.”

“Too much friction exists today between creators and gamers; app store policies and practices on mobile devices restrict what and how creators can offer games and what and how gamers can play them,” said Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith. “Our large investment to acquire Activision-Blizzard further strengthens our resolve to remove this friction on behalf of creators and gamers alike. We want to enable world-class content to reach every gamer more easily across every platform.”

From Microsoft:

Players and developers are at the center of Xbox. We want to enable people to play games anywhere, anytime and on any device. And developers deserve more options to build, distribute and monetize their groundbreaking games. When we do this, we all win. That’s why we’re sharing more on the industry and how our acquisition of Activision-Blizzard fits into our gaming strategy.

Spencer shared a post on September 1 that confirmed Microsoft was committed to making Call of Duty available on PlayStation on the same day the game launches elsewhere. He also mentioned that Microsoft respected and welcomed the hard questions that are being asked.

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Tsing Mui
News poster at The FPS Review.

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