After taking over Activision Blizzard, I was still optimistic, but Xbox torpedoed its own portfolio

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With the takeover of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft had put itself in a position to become the world’s largest games provider with Xbox. However, after the latest measures, MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz doubts that Phil Spencer’s team can actually master this task.

Since the introduction of the first Xbox in November 2001, Microsoft has been trying to build up a sufficiently large number of first-party studios that reliably publish games that are compatible with consoles and – if you take the past few years into account – subscriptions for the “Xbox Game Have the pass sold.

Since rebuilding such studios takes many years, Microsoft’s strategy was different: take over already established teams with a lot of money and let them develop first-party productions.

  • Rare was the first notable acquisition in 2002.
  • The Minecraft developers from Mojang followed in 2014.
  • Since 2018, Compulsion Games, inXile Entertainment, Ninja Theory, Obsidian Entertainment, Undead Labs and Playground Games have been part of Xbox Studios.
  • In 2019 they bought Double Fine Productions.
  • In March 2021, the takeover of Bethesda and Zenimax went through.
  • On October 13, 2023, those responsible reported the completion of the takeover of Activision Blizzard.

    • On paper, Team Xbox consisted of 35 first-party studios, if you ignore the actual number of development teams at Blizzard, King and Co. Microsoft’s major brands now include Call of Duty, Warcraft, Diablo, Candy Crush, Halo, Forza, Minecraft, Age of Empires and many more.

    Call of Duty is one of the most valuable brands in the games industry, and it has been owned by Microsoft since 2023.

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    Reality meets hope critically

    Shortly after the takeover, I was still optimistic about the future of Team Xbox. The reasons:

  • Team Xbox was known for giving the studios quite a free hand in projects. At the same time, Microsoft has the financial resources, trademark rights and the teams to be able to implement any project.
  • Thanks to Xbox Game Pass, in my opinion there is a good chance that teams will be able to work on passion projects that would not have been possible under the old Activision, for example – see Obsidian’s pentiment.
  • After years, Blizzard now once again has the chance to develop games without the pressure from Activision.
  • Executives like Phil Spencer (head of Microsoft’s gaming division) and Mike Ybarra (Blizzard president at the time) said the right things after the takeover (for example, that Blizzard would be allowed and willing to develop games without a service model again in the future).

    • However, my view of Team Xbox has changed a lot in the past few months. There are reasons for this too:

  • Although I had expected layoffs after the Activision Blizzard takeover (especially in the areas of PR, sales and support), the wave of layoffs in January exceeded my expectations. Even more surprising was that Blizzard President Mike Ybarra and co-founder Allen Adham had to leave and that the survival game was canceled by Blizzard.
  • A short time ago there was the cancellation of BlizzCon 2024, just a year after the comeback of the physical in-house exhibition.
  • The recent closures of Tango Gameworks, Alpha Dog, Arkane Austin and Roundhouse were imminent. There were also layoffs in other areas of Bethesda, such as PR.

    • What I find worst is the sometimes wild statements made by Xbox managers to explain the recent layoffs. Matt Booty, for example, said that in the future they would like to develop smaller games that bag prizes and have a positive impact on Team Xbox’s reputation (via The Verge).

    Hi-Fi Rush is one of the best games in a strong gaming year in 2023.

    Exactly a game like Hi-Fi Rush, which was successfully published in 2023 by the newly closed Tango Gameworks. Through this studio closure alone, Microsoft is unnecessarily losing talent and managers, some of whom have taken over 14 years to develop.

    What will also disappoint many Xbox fans: With the exception of Diablo 4, no well-known game from Activision Blizzard has found its way into the Xbox Game Pass. For comparison: When Bethesda was taken over in 2021, 20 of the publisher’s games suddenly ended up in the subscription offer shortly after the deal was finalized.

    Dark future for Xbox fans?

    With Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, Team Xbox’s next blockbuster will be released on PC and Xbox on March 21st. Instead of advertising the game accordingly and generating a certain amount of hype, low-key PR has been the order of the day. Can conclusions be drawn about the quality of the game from this?

    The first-party showcase announced for June is definitely too late to promote Hellblade II. The focus could be on other releases for the current year. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Avowed, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and Ara: History Untold are on the list.

    Of course there is also Gold Road for The Elder Scrolls Online, The War Within for WoW, Vessel of Hatred for Diablo 4 and a new Call of Duty. Team Xbox has definitely had worse years.

    But is that enough to get disillusioned players like me back on board? To me it currently seems as if Microsoft is repeating old mistakes (keyword: Lionhead) and thus sustainably damaging its own portfolio of studios and brands. How do you rate the current status of Team Xbox? By the way, the WoW boss is happy: Blizzard can simply be Blizzard under Microsoft, but with advantages

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