In news that will once again rock the industry, Microsoft has bought Activision Blizzard, the publisher of franchises like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. The deal is reportedly valued at $70 billion, which is several times the sum that the giant already stumped up for Bethesda.

It will presumably mean that franchises like Call of Duty – and, ironically, Crash Bandicoot – would wind up as Xbox exclusives in the near-future. For the past several years, PlayStation has been a major partner on Call of Duty, so it goes without saying that this will prove a huge blow to PlayStation’s business.

As was the case with Bethesda, it’s not yet clear whether all of Activision Blizzard’s games and franchises – which also include Spyro the Dragon, Overwatch, and Diablo – will go exclusive, although it’s likely they’ll follow a similar path to Bethesda’s titles. Microsoft mentions that it will be bringing both new and old releases to its Xbox Game Pass service.

[source news.xbox.com]