Xbox Boss Explains Two Things That 'Drove Our Interest' About Activision Blizzard

He forgot to say call of duty.....

If the deal goes through hopefully they can improve overwatch 2 and bring back its glory days before blizzard abandoned it and released the bare bones overwatch 2 beta. This game should be huge and will be xbox's way to get into the e-sports scene.

Yep he went straight to the mobile phones… everybody focusing on Activision and not as much on what they’re getting out of Blizzard. Diablo alone is going to earn them billions on the mobile space.

Activision Blizz do nothing I’m really interested in, Phil just waffling on about mobile gaming makes this acquisition even less interesting to me. No denying the money this will bring MS though.

Pretty logical. Phil has said that their goal is to reach the 3 billion gamers. Since they don't have a strong presence in the mobile and pc market, ABK i a good deal. Blizzard always has been mainly a pc developer and King with Candy Crush is hugely successful on mobile. Besides those 2 markets they want to get a bigger share in, they also get Call of Duty, and whether people like it or not is one of the best selling game series out there.

It was a smart decision. The Gamepass app is pretty rough around the edges and will need to be improved as Xbox looks for a larger presence in the pc market. I'm hoping they take not only Activision's games over but they utilize the experience of the Battle.net team to make the Xbox app better.

Phil the mouth piece at it again.
Go manage the studios you have and produce a top end AAA game for my series x. One real AAA in two years FH5. Zero for 2022.
You are a joke mate and a corporate mouth piece that’s all.

Read this Phil.

“ Halo Infinite isn't in the Top 10 of most-played Steam games. In fact, at a little more than six months old - and its fan-favourite multiplayer component entirely free-to-play and available on Steam - Halo Infinite doesn't even breach the top 50 games that boast the highest concurrent player numbers. Or the top 100.”

Studio and so called AAA game management a joke. That gang of Phil’s couldn’t manage a bunk up in a brothel.

Yeah, I'm sure the biggest shooter on the market has NOTHING to do with it. Mobile games obviously.

Buying talent doesn't make you talented. Phil and co need to sort their crap out in-house before any more aquisitions...

@Dezzy70 vote with your feet then mate?

Phil says this but a big selling point for Windows Phone 7 back in the day was Xbox integration and having achievements in mobile ports of titles like Hexic (which was REALLY GOOD)

Howabout bringing that back for a start? I still play Halo Spartan Strike on my iPhone; why not redo those titles as a start?

@Bruvas
I have all three consoles.
And yes I do pay £70 for a game but the ones only I really like HFW, R and clank, GOWR.
I would pay £70 for a series console game like halo Infinite had the open world quality been of HFW standard or ACV standard but of course in a multi biome Zeta Halo world.

@Bruvas Phil has been in his position for a long time now and this year alone Xbox hasn’t had one AAA exclusive. There’s no excuse for that. He’s always out and about on Twitter saying he’s looking forward to God of War or talking about acquisitions to the press which is all well and good but imo he needs to start focusing on Xbox and what his studios are doing more. Some of them like 343 have been horribly mismanaged and things need to improve.

@Kaloudz
"Buying talent doesn't make you talented."

Way too many people using this nonsense sentence. What is that even supposed to mean? Does it mean Phil needs to get talented (whatever that means) in order for Xbox to get more/better games? Or does it mean Xbox has to invest into their already owned studios, to create talent?

The first version makes no sense whatsoever, the second means they would buy talent ... There is no difference between spending money to build up people or spending money to get already built-up people. Of course companies buy talent. Every single company does that, when given the chance. That's how they innovate.

@lokozar If you're happy with the way the majority of Xbox Studios are currently operating, and have been doing for years, then good for you. I, like many others, however, feel like they should be held to a higher standard.

It's called an opinion. Not a statement of fact. Now, yes, you're absolutely correct. Many companies out there do buy talent. Most of them, on the other hand, tend to already manage the companies they have quite well.

Further to that, let's not pretend that starting a company from scratch and buying a company that has countless well established IPs is the same thing. It isn't. The point in all of this...Xbox can buy as much as they like, but the last few years, including last gen, has shown that they need better in-house management first and foremost.

@Kaloudz
I didn't mention anything about my happiness regarding this topic. I just wrote, that I don't understand what this statement is supposed to mean. It's only now that you are starting to make a little bit sense. The problem however is, that the word "talent" is used in an ambivalent way by you. First you fire at talent as in 'creativity', next you swing around and aim at management when you are asked to elaborate. Two completely different things ...

Yes, they have yet to deliver. One can agree on this. Buying talent however isn't really criticism-deserving. You surely see the difference there.

Apart from this, what do you want MS to do, really? Do you want them to pressure their studios into delivering early? We all know how that usually goes, right? There are more than enough people, nowadays, demanding that A) developers take more time, to deliver a good product and B) that Microsoft (given their track record in the past, as "the bad guys") keep their gnarly fingers out of everything. Now, however, people like you come around the corner and criticise MS and their studios for doing exactly what was wished for ... It's frustrating to say the least.

It takes time, but you can already see what is in the pipeline. Thing is, you would have to wait for it in any other scenario as well. So, what gives?

@lokozar I think I made perfect sense in my first post, when looking at the post title and body, mixed with the state of affairs. It's all common knowledge.

It's not about what I want from MS. It's about what MS should be doing to make sure that their content delivery is steady and plentiful.

As it stands, that is not the case, nor has it been for a great deal of time now. Whilst it seems like you're happy with how things are at the moment, many others, myself included, are not.

Pressure has nothing to do with it. It's called meeting a target. Reaching a quota. Most places I frequent for Xbox news is full of people who agree that MS need to better manage their studios.

This is not a new concern. Look at Crackdown 3, look at Halo Infinite, look at the numerous reports and leaks regarding projects such as SoD 3, or Everwild. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

That to the side, you're entitled to your opinion and I can respect that, and in this instance, I can't see this going anywhere but back and forth banter lol.

@Kaloudz
I think, people who proactively reason with the term 'opinion' are weird. I really don't care about whether you hold up opinions or not. Matter of fact is, that I think you're wrong - freedom of opinion or not - and that I wouldn't keep quiet even if you said I wasn't entitled to my opinion. So, again, hollow words.

Developing games takes time. 'Fast' is the enemy of quality, as proven time and again. There is no amount of managment that could change this fact. Currently MS is doing the right thing. The Game Pass offers enough games to bridge the gap. If you're not satisfied, over there is Nintendo and Sony, or use a PC to do whatever. You won't be any happier, because some people simply will always find things to complain about, no matter what companies do. It's like a hobby.

@lokozar Like I said, back and forth. Only now, you're telling me how I should behave, and assuming my feelings - which comes off a little contradictive when you take your first paragraph of that last post into account.

You speak like a barrister but make little sense. Games take time to develop? Yes, they do. Did I say anywhere that MS should be making games "fast", no, I did not. I agree with you, fast is the enemy of quality. I'm really not sure why you're pulling that point out of thin air?

I'm not at all suggesting that MS should just churn out any old crap, but let's not fool ourselves into believing that their release rhythm and quality is on-point these days.

Also, I'm not a Nintendo, PC, or Sony fan. I'll stick with Xbox thank you, as I have since the OG. I'm entitled to speak my mind without you suggesting that I'm "some people" that likes to complain for the sake of it. The "everything is fine" attitude is part of the problem, not the solution. Trying to silence people's grievances by tying them to some sort of demographic is just weak, narrow-minded behaviour.

I love Xbox. I won't game anywhere else. That doesn't mean I have to pretend everything is fine and dandy. Quite the contrary. Look, I could go on and on, but you strike me as the sort of fellow that you just can't reason with. So, take some time to come up with another response that inadvertently tells me what I should feel or do, and enjoy the rest of your day. Take care, and congratulations on making my ignore list.

@Kaloudz
Thought you wanted to bow out of this conversation. But I see you deleted that statement afterwards …

You don’t have to pretend anything. Fact of the matter is still, that you would have to wait for the games in the pipeline even if they were not owned by MS. You still fail to make a coherent point. On the one hand, you criticize MS for not popping out games left and right, on the other hand you claim to agree with me that these things take time. Instead of needlessly insisting on your right to voice your opinion, like every conspiracy theorist would, you could try and answer my question.

So, let me ask you again. What exactly is it you want from MS? Overruling and influencing creativity or hands off like so many want? With the former you would find new points to criticize, because you say fast is the enemy of quality - with the latter you would have to wait and bridge the gaps like an adult person. What will it be?