Readers’ Opinion: Is Microsoft Buying Activision Blizzard Bad News For Sony?

Readers’ Opinion is a place to share your thoughts in the comments section below. We’ll feature our favorite replies in the next installment.

Microsoft is set to acquire Activision Blizzard for a staggering $68.7 billion, gaining ownership of huge franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Diablo, along with access to global esports activities through Major League Gaming. It’s a massive purchase reminiscent of the company’s acquisition of Bethesda, with Microsoft now bolstering its line-up of first-party studios with one of the biggest players in the game. But is this a blow to Sony and its PS5?

Activision Blizzard is a company in an uncertain state. A myriad of harassment and discrimination allegations leveled at the company over the past year have painted a terrible picture of its corporate infrastructure, while key games such as Call of Duty: Vanguard have been critical and commercial disappointments. Yet despite this, it remains one of the most well-known game companies out there, holding the license to several of the most iconic franchises in the entire industry.

While the acquisition of Bethesda was still a shock, it was clearer to envisage the company working underneath the Microsoft umbrella. However, the idea of Call of Duty becoming an Xbox console exclusive is an almost alien concept, even if the series has seen better days. Likewise, all of Activision Blizzard’s games being available via Game Pass makes an already staggering service even more of a must-buy.

But Sony has always been more interested in building up its own first-party studios rather than acquiring new ones. In recent years, Activision Blizzard’s output hasn’t exactly rivaled the games that have come out of Naughty Dog or Santa Monica Studio. However, there is no denying that Activision Blizzard holds the keys to games that have an undeniable mass appeal, larger than any of PS5’s exclusives. God of War: Ragnarok may be on many of our most-anticipated lists, but many still make Call of Duty their one regular game purchase per year. As such, it’s difficult to not count Sony now potentially losing this series as a huge loss.

Let us know what you think of Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard and our favorite responses will be featured in the next Readers’ Opinion.

You said…

In the last Readers’ Opinion, we asked if you’d want to see Days Gone 2. Your opinions were very divided on this one, ranging from a frothing desire to jump back into the zombie apocalypse, to disapproval of both the game and its creator.

Timewarp said:

Honestly I didn’t like Days Gone even when it was first announced it didn’t look like much but the same could be said of the first Assassin’s Creed game. It was it’s sequel that fully cemented it as a major franchise and the same could happen with Days Gone 2.

All that being said I don’t think it can happen with Jeff Ross at the helm. The man can’t even acknowledge that Days Gone needs improving upon so how he could he even begin to make a superior sequel?

I don’t believe this is about Sony not believing in a Days Gone 2 and more about Ross’ rude and frankly unprofessional behavior. We don’t know the full story but we’ve seen how defensive and dismissive he can get.

ArchAngel said:

I can’t say it was groundbreaking in many ways. But it was interesting and engaging. I didn’t care for the method in which they delivered the story, but I enjoyed digging into the science of what happened. I would love to see a sequel, because with the ending, I feel like #2 could be done as a completely different type of game. And if not Days Gone 2, then perhaps simply another game in this universe. I appreciated their unique take on the zombie apocalypse.

Responses to our tweet were much more positive for a sequel, with many championing the idea of a Days Gone 2: