Activision Blizzard: Difference between revisions

}}[[wikipedia:Activision_Blizzard|'''Activision Blizzard, Inc.''']], often referred to as '''ABK (Activision-Blizzard-King)''', or '''Act-Blizz''', is an American video-game holding company.

'''[[Microsoft]]''' acquired Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion on October 13th, 2023. Activision Blizzard is a subsidiary of Microsoft Gaming along with Xbox Game Studios and ZeniMax Media.

*''Call of Duty (Activision)''

*''Crash Bandicoot (Activision)''

*''Guitar Hero (Activision)''

*''Skylanders (Activision)''

*''Spyro the Dragon (Activision)''

*''Tony Hawk's'' (series) ''(Activision)''

*''Hearthstone (Blizzard)''

*''Heroes of the Storm (Blizzard)''

*''Overwatch (Blizzard)''

*''StarCraft (Blizzard)''

*''Warcraft (Blizzard)''

*''Candy Crush Saga (King)''

===Account lock and Forced arbitration (2024)===

Mainland China lost access to Blizzard's main titles for over a year as a result of licensing agreements going unmet.

Following this Overwatch was review-bombed on Steam and, eventually, acquired by Microsoft Gaming.

In late 2024, Activision introduced multiple pieces of content to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 that were AI-generated.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yin-Poole |first=Wesley |date=Dec 9, 2024 |title=Call of Duty Fans Give Black Ops 6's Zombie Santa Loading Screen the Finger Amid 'AI Slop' Backlash |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/call-of-duty-fans-give-black-ops-6s-zombie-santa-loading-screen-the-finger-amid-ai-slop-backlash |access-date=Mar 14, 2025 |work=IGN}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=u/Shaun_LaDee |date=Dec 7, 2024 |title=Amid the 6 fingered Santa Controversy, I looked into some loading screens included in PAID bundles… |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/CODZombies/comments/1h90fn2/amid_the_6_fingered_santa_controversy_i_looked/?embed_host_url=https://www.ign.com/articles/call-of-duty-fans-give-black-ops-6s-zombie-santa-loading-screen-the-finger-amid-ai-slop-backlash |url-status=live |access-date=Mar 14, 2025 |work=Reddit}}</ref> This content was additionally paywalled, which further upset fans online.<ref name=":0" /> It was not originally disclosed to consumers that this content was in-fact AI-generated, and it was not until Valve changed Steam's disclosure policies that it was confirmed publicly that this content was generated using AI software.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Cole |date=Feb 24, 2025 |title=Activision is forced to confirm the use of AI in Call of Duty due to Steam's disclosure policy |url=https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/activision-is-forced-to-confirm-the-use-of-ai-in-call-of-duty-due-to-steams-disclosure-policy |url-status=live |access-date=Mar 14, 2025 |work=Windows Central}}</ref>

<blockquote>Further Reading: [[Microtransaction overload]], [[Downloadable content#DLC overload|DLC Overload]]</blockquote>Activision is well-known for its excessive usage of microtransactions, with $1.34B in Q1 2021,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Strickland |first=Derek |date=May 5, 2021 |title=Activision Q1 microtransctions hit $1.343 billion, best Q1 in 6 years |url=https://www.tweaktown.com/news/79133/activision-q1-microtransctions-hit-1-343-billion-best-in-6-years/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=Mar 14, 2025 |work=TweakTown}}</ref> and further peaks, such as $5.1B in 2022,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Kareem |date=Feb 7, 2022 |title=Activision’s $5.1 billion in microtransaction revenue could play a huge roll in Microsoft Gaming’s future |url=https://onmsft.com/news/activisions-5-1-billion-microtransactions-revenue-quarter/ |url-status=live |access-date=Mar 14, 2025 |work=ONMSFT.com}}</ref>  it is clear that Activision is highly incentivized to generate as much revenue via microtransactions, going so far as to contribute to the detriment of the games according to fans.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Reeves |first=Brianna |date=Apr 27, 2023 |title=MW2 players say increased microtransaction sales are why COD won’t improve |url=https://www.dexerto.com/call-of-duty/mw2-increased-microtransaction-sales-vanguard-cod-improve-2127808/ |url-status=live |access-date=Mar 14, 2025 |work=Dexerto}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Lewis |first=Catherine |date=Apr 28, 2023 |title=Microtransactions are killing Call Of Duty, players say |url=https://www.gamingbible.com/news/microtransactions-are-killing-call-of-duty-players-say-344299-20230428 |url-status=live |access-date=Mar 14, 2025 |work=Gaming Bible}}</ref> The cosmetics seen inside Black Ops 6 are reported to be the most distracting in the franchise to-date.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Morris |first=Daniel |date=Dec 20, 2024 |title=Black Ops 6 cosmetics: has Call of Duty jumped the shark? |url=https://www.destructoid.com/black-ops-6-cosmetics-has-call-of-duty-jumped-the-shark/ |access-date=Mar 14, 2025 |work=Destructoid}}</ref>

Blizzard is additionally not innocent of pumping their content with MTX, with one of the most egregious examples being Overwatch 2.<ref>https://macrotransactions.org/overwatch-2</ref> The microtransactions among this game has sparked controversy among the community as well.<ref>https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/overwatch/t/overwatch%E2%80%99s-aggressive-microtransactions/948993</ref> Other Blizzard IPs are also not safe from this either, such as Warcraft,<ref>https://macrotransactions.org/world-of-warcraft</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Parker |first=Jason |date=Nov 23, 2021 |title=World of Warcraft’s New Microtransactions Are Greedier Than Ever |url=https://www.esportstalk.com/news/world-of-warcraft-new-microtransactions-greedier-than-ever/ |access-date=Mar 14, 2025 |work=eSports Talk}}</ref> Diablo,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yin-Poole |first=Wesley |date=Jun 7, 2023 |title=Now Diablo 4 Is Out in the Wild, the True Horror of Its Costly Microtransactions Has Revealed Itself |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/now-diablo-4-is-out-in-the-wild-the-true-horror-of-its-costly-microtransactions-has-revealed-itself |access-date=Mar 14, 2025 |work=IGN}}</ref><ref>https://macrotransactions.org/diablo-immortal

https://macrotransactions.org/diablo-4</ref> and Starcraft.<ref>https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/sc2/t/mtx-microtransaction-is-beyond-suckage/22690</ref>