Microsoft a potential buyer for Activision – Video Games Update
Vivendi announced last month that it was looking to sell its 61 percent majority share of Activision/Blizzard. Today Reuters states that sources confirm that Vivendi views Microsoft as a potential buyer.
Activision Blizzard is the largest video games publisher and Vivendi’s 61 percent share in the company is estimated to be worth $10 billion. Sources claim that the two potential buyers for Activision/Blizzard are Microsoft in partnership with Time Warner
and China’s largest Internet Service Operator, Tencent.
Tencent would be interested in purchasing the giant publisher because of the recent jump in the gaming scene in China and Blizzard games, Starcraft, World of Warcraft and Diablo 3, are really popular in the country.
The advantage for Microsoft, if they acquire the publisher from Vivendi in partnership with Time Warner, is having control over the Call of Duty brand. The Xbox 360 has always been considered the first choice in consoles when it comes to first person shooters.
Microsoft already owns the mega block buster franchise Halo; adding Call of Duty to the Xbox exclusive roster would establish the Xbox 360 as the king of console shooters.
Blizzard intellectual properties, which are normally PC exclusive, would also make a great addition to the Xbox roster. World of Warcraft is arguable the most successful Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) to date and were it to land on Xbox live, the console
sales would increase tenfold.
It is no secret that Microsoft is developing a next generation Xbox and what better way to launch the product than to have console versions of Blizzard IPs present as launch titles followed by an Xbox timed exclusive Call of Duty game. "They probably don't
want to distract themselves too much, but they are the ones who, if they want to stay in games, would think about owning some of these big franchises, not just providing the consoles," stated a Reuters’ source.
Call of Duty is normally a multiplatform release, chances are that even if Microsoft acquires the IP, it won’t make the game exclusive but there is a possibility that downloadable content (DLC) will only be available for the Xbox version of the game.
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