Head of Xbox Phil Spencer is "confident" that Microsoft will find solutions to make the company's attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard go through. Microsoft shook the gaming world to its core when it announced its intention to acquire gaming giant Activision Blizzard King, with plans to bring the company's extensive library of best-selling games to the Xbox Game Pass subscription service.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, its attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard has hit some serious roadblocks. The biggest came when the CMA blocked the Activision Blizzard acquisition completely in the UK, citing concerns that Microsoft could have a monopoly on the cloud gaming space were the acquisition to be approved. The majority of other countries and regulatory bodies have approved the acquisition, however, and it seems Microsoft has not given up hope that it will eventually succeed in acquiring the Call of Duty publisher.
Game ZXC attended a special panel after the Xbox Games Showcase where Phil Spencer discussed the future of the Xbox brand. At the panel, Spencer said that he's confident that they will find solutions to make the Activision acquisition go through. Specific solutions were not mentioned, but it's likely that more information on that front will come to light in the months ahead.
Even though the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard is currently on pause, the Call of Duty publisher still had a presence at the Xbox Games Showcase. Namely, Activision Blizzard-published game Overwatch 2 debuted a new trailer at the event that teased the Season 6 Support hero, the new Flashpoint game mode, and the long-awaited addition of story missions. Not only that, but a special Xbox Game Pass Ultimate perk was confirmed for Overwatch 2 as well.
Beginning with the August 10 update, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can claim the New Heroes Starter Pack, giving them instant access to all the new heroes that were added as part of Overwatch 2's early access launch. This includes Damage hero Sojourn, Support heroes Kiriko and Lifeweaver, and Tank heroes Junker Queen and Ramattra. Without Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Overwatch 2 players have to complete certain objectives to unlock the heroes, purchase the Battle Pass, or reach a certain tier on the free track of the Battle Pass.
If Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard is ever approved, it's highly likely that there will be even more perks like this for Activision Blizzard-published games. Of course, it would also mean big games like Call of Duty launching day one on Xbox Game Pass, which would be absolutely massive for the subscription service. There are reports that game subscription subscriber counts are slowing down, so it's easy to see why Microsoft doesn't want to give up on its attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard.