Industry News

Activision Blizzard is officially part of Microsoft | GamesIndustry.biz

Microsoft announced on the 13th October of this year that the Activision Blizzard deal has finally been confirmed and completed.

The final obstacle we mentioned last week, the UK Competition and Markets Authority, has finally given the green light and the acquisition can continue.

Now the big questions we've long awaited answers to:

Will Microsoft's promises of a less toxic culture be realised? Phil Spencer says as much in his statement on the Xbox Wire site confirming the transition: "We'll do this in a culture that strives to empower everyone to do their best work, where all people are welcome, and is centered on our ongoing commitment of Gaming for Everyone."

Will Bobby Kotick stay on board after the sale? In a letter to employees, he said Phil asked him to stay on until the end of 2023, reporting directly to him. I'm sure many can't wait until his gone, though.

And the big question: what about my Call Of Duty?! Cloud streaming rights for Ubisoft confirm the availability of it and other titles for the next 15 years at least.

As always, for  all the details I haven't mentioned, check out the link to the article in the shownotes.

Ubisoft exec says physical sales may continue to fall, but they’re not going away | VGC (videogameschronicle.com)

Ubisoft executive Chris Early has mused in a Ubisoft website blog that physical discs for games will not be going away any time soon.

The subject arises again with rumours of an all-digital Xbox Series X and a new PlayStation 5 iteration including the same. Ubisoft has also bought cloud gaming rights from Microsoft Activision Blizzard for their titles over the next 15 years.

Early is quoted in the blog: "Some people will always want to own the physical disc. I just don’t think it’s going away. Do I think physical sales might get lower over time? Sure, but will it ever completely go away? I don’t think so."

The soon to release Alan Wake 2 will be sold as a digital-only game to save on development costs. Do you think we'll go disc-less in the near future?

Diablo 4 takes down a Season 2 teaser after players point out it was full of mistakes | Eurogamer.net

Blizzard release a new teaser trailer for Season 2 of Diablo 4, only to have fans find mistakes in what is mentioned as "quality of life updates".

The mistakes are too numerous to detail here but include inverted map footage, horse speed comparisons that are actually the same, and a new XP calculation formula with incorrect working.

See the show notes for Eurogamer's article and a link to their hilarious source material from YouTuber Raxxanterax.

This also comes before Diablo 4 arrives on Steam with a "Steamdeck Verified" category on Tuesday 17th October.

Peter Molyneux's new game is set "in the land of Albion" | Eurogamer.net

Peter Molyneux has lit the Internet on fire again by announcing a game dev project in the works, code-name MOAT, that will be set in the same location as the Fable games.

Molyneux announced the title in development alongside a blog of his "crazy" development practice. Many are quizzical about how two separate IP set in Albion, the originally announced Fable...