Microsoft and Activision Blizzard: the latest news on the acquisition – The Verge

Ubisoft renamed its subscription service and added a new one focused on classics

2024-01-16T11:43:25-05:00

Ubisoft has renamed its monthly subscription service Ubisoft Plus and is combining the old pricing tiers (Multi-Access and PC Access) into one package dubbed Ubisoft Plus Premium. The new plan will allow players to play games on Xbox, PC, and Amazon Luna and is priced at $17.99.

Premium members will get day one (and occasionally early) access to new releases, as well as their pick of premium editions, DLC, and monthly awards. If you already subscribe to PC Access, you'll keep your plan as is, and you can continue to pay the old monthly fee of $14.99.

It's also adding another package, Ubisoft Plus Classics, that focuses on back catalog ga …

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Microsoft now says the CMA was ‘tough and fair’ over Activision Blizzard deal

2024-01-02T07:55:48-05:00

Microsoft president Brad Smith wasn't happy with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last year after the regulator blocked Microsoft's giant Activision Blizzard deal. Now that Microsoft has restructured its deal and won approval in the UK, Smith has kinder words for the CMA, describing the regulator as "tough and fair" in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today program.

Smith originally criticized the CMA and said confidence in the UK had been "severely shaken" after the regulator moved to block Microsoft's $68.7 billion deal in April last year. He called it the "darkest day" for Microsoft in its four decades of working in Britai …

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Microsoft announces more Xbox leadership changes as Activision’s Bobby Kotick departs

2023-12-20T12:30:17-05:00

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is stepping down officially December 29th. Microsoft has not appointed a direct replacement and instead has rolled the suite of Activision Blizzard executives - including Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, Activision publishing president Rob Kostich, and Activision Blizzard vice chair Thomas Tippl - under Microsoft's game content and studios president Matt Booty.

Kotick's departure comes just two months after some big Xbox leadership changes that saw Sarah Bond promoted to Xbox president, leading all Xbox platform and hardware work, and Matt Booty promoted to president of game content and studios, including …

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California settles Activision Blizzard gender discrimination lawsuit for $54 million

2023-12-15T19:43:49-05:00

A California regulator has settled its blockbuster lawsuit that alleged a culture of sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard. Now under the ownership of Microsoft, the gaming company will pay about $54 million as part of the settlement, according to a press release from California's Civil Rights Department (CRD).

The CRD (formerly known as the Department of Fair Employment and Housing or DFEH) filed this lawsuit in July 2021, alleging that Activision Blizzard had a "frat boy" culture where women were subject to sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination. Following the suit, employees walked out, executives including then-Blizzard pr …

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Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard’s deal for cloud gaming rights, explained

2023-10-13T12:58:38-04:00

Microsoft's giant Activision Blizzard deal is complete, and it means Ubisoft has now obtained cloud streaming rights for Call of Duty, all other current Activision Blizzard games, and any coming over the next 15 years. It was a key concession from Microsoft that helped get the deal over the line with UK regulators. But what does it all mean?

Ubisoft will now control where Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard games show up on cloud gaming services, with the exception of EU countries and the various cloud gaming deals Microsoft signed previously. If you live in a country that's part of the European Economic Area (EEA) - which includes …

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Bobby Kotick will stay at Activision Blizzard until the end of this year

2023-10-13T09:51:34-04:00

Now that the Microsoft acquisition is complete, Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, is set to leave the company after the end of this year.

In an email sent to employees and published on Activision Blizzard King's website, Kotick wrote that he's excited about the future of the company under the bright green Xbox umbrella. He also wrote that in order to facilitate a smooth transition, he intends to stay on temporarily as CEO of ABK, reporting to the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer.

"Phil has asked me to stay on as CEO of Activision Blizzard King, reporting to him, and we have agreed that I will do that through the end of 202 …

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Read Xbox chief Phil Spencer’s memo welcoming Activision Blizzard employees to Microsoft

2023-10-13T09:41:00-04:00

Microsoft just finalized its giant $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard earlier today. Xbox chief Phil Spencer has now welcomed Activision Blizzard King employees to Xbox in an internal memo to all of Microsoft's full-time employees today.

"We couldn't be more excited that Activision Blizzard employees are our colleagues, co-workers, and teammates," says Spencer. "Bobby Kotick has agreed to remain in his role through the end of 2023, reporting directly to me, to ensure a smooth and seamless integration. We look forward to working together as a unified team and we will share more updates on our new organizational structure in th …

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Microsoft completes Activision Blizzard acquisition, Call of Duty now part of Xbox

2023-10-13T08:46:13-04:00

Microsoft has finalized its $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, the publisher of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Diablo. The Verge exclusively reported last week that Microsoft was planning to close today, and now it's official. The acquisition required 20 months of battles with regulators in the UK and US, but Microsoft has closed its Activision Blizzard deal after defeating the Federal Trade Commission in a US federal court and restructuring the deal to appease the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK.

"We love gaming. We play games, create games, and know first-hand how much gaming means to all of us as i …

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Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal approved by UK regulators

2023-10-13T02:02:46-04:00

Microsoft's $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard has been approved by UK regulators. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has concluded that the deal can proceed after Microsoft recently restructured the deal to transfer cloud gaming rights for current and new Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft. The decision clears the way for the deal to close now that the UK regulator has given the green light.

"The CMA has decided to give Microsoft Corporation (Microsoft) consent to acquire Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Activision) (the Parties) excluding Activision's cloud streaming rights outside of the European Economic Area (E …

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Microsoft eyes closing its giant Activision Blizzard deal next week

2023-10-06T06:00:05-04:00

Microsoft is planning to finalize its $68.7 billion proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard next week. A source familiar with Microsoft's plans tells The Verge that the company is eyeing up Friday October 13th as the closing date where it announces to the world that the 20-month process to buy Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard is over.

That date will still depend on the UK's Competition and Markets Authority though, a regulator that blocked Microsoft's deal earlier this year. Microsoft recently restructured the deal to transfer cloud gaming rights for current and new Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft, and the Xbox maker secured …

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