On Jan. 18, 2022, Microsoft made a massive announcement via their website that they will push forward with their deal to acquire gaming giant Activision Blizzard. Given how vital this acquisition might be to the entire gaming industry, fans of the games are naturally curious to know if the services will be available to the Xbox Game Pass when the deal is finally finished in 2023.
According to the article regarding the acquisition on the Microsoft website, the tech giant has every intention of making Activision and Blizzard games available on Xbox Game Pass. Although this information is currently unconfirmed, we still have speculation of what changes might be made to the list.
Related: Best Call of Duty games that could come to the Xbox Game Pass
Possibilities for Xbox Game Pass
As one of the most popular game industry companies in the world, Activision Blizzard has multiple games with millions of players across the globe. Given Microsoft's trend of making the most popular games available on Xbox Game Pass, we can probably expect the same with Activision Blizzard's most popular games. This list includes:
- Overwatch
- Diablo
- Call of Duty
- World of Warcraft
- Hearthstone
Many of these games are already free-to-play, with options for in-game purchases for cosmetics and game currency. However, given that this content is essentially free to produce, the Xbox Game Pass could very well provide exclusive content regarding cosmetics and currency that would otherwise cost the player money outside of the initial game purchase.
As of now, the only one of Blizzard's most popular games that requires a monthly subscription is World of Warcraft. It would make sense for that paid subscription to continue, but either as a part of the Game Pass or for a significantly lower monthly rate when purchased with the Game Pass.
For the rest of the games on the list, it wouldn't be logical to exclude free live-service games from a subscription service that boasts the size of its portfolio. Requiring access through an alternative route would significantly lower each game's popularity—or, at the very least, prevent it from growing in popularity.
Were you looking for more detailed answers about one of your favorite games? Check out our answers to whether World of Warcraft will be on the Game Pass or whether Overwatch will be on the Game Pass!
Published: Jan 18, 2022 01:31 pm