Why isn't Xbox putting ABK games on Game Pass?

[Heisenberg007]

It has been 105 days or nearly 4 months since Microsoft closed the ABK acquisition. They have still not put a single Activision-Blizzard-King game on Game Pass.

Phil Spencer's explanation, regarding why they have not put ABK games on Game Pass, is this:

This is in stark contrast to how they dealt with Zenimax Bethesda games on Game Pass after the acquisition. Here is how that timeline looked:

• Microsoft officially closed the Zenimax acquisition on March 9, 2021.
• By March 12, 2021, only 3 days later, 20 Zenimax Bethesda games had joined Game Pass.
• Phil Spencer also tweeted about it, celebrating the Game Pass drop.

Why isn't Xbox putting ABK games on Game Pass?

• Is there really a big technical hurdle? (I can't think of any)
• Are they strapped for cash and trying to squeeze as much money as possible before fulfilling their promise?
• Are they really waiting for XBOX x ABK integration, as they claimed? (I think that's bullshit)

I don't think Phil's explanation was the truth.

He says they couldn't start the work before October 13, 2023. But they were able to fire 1,000+ ABK employees and cancel their games? Did they start the downsizing plan even before the acquisition?

If that's the truth, did they prioritize the downsizing plan over working on putting ABK games on Game Pass? That doesn't seem likely either.

It seems like they are deliberately holding back ABK games.

When do you think ABK games will come to Game Pass? More importantly, what do you think is the reason they haven't added them already?

 

[Sircaw]

One good thing about all of this is that it will put the fear of god in future mergers that Microsoft will try to administer.

 

[Infinity]

It has been 105 days or nearly 4 months since Microsoft closed the ABK acquisition. They have still not put a single Activision-Blizzard-King game on Game Pass.

Phil Spencer's explanation, regarding why they have not put ABK games on Game Pass, is this:

This is in stark contrast to how they dealt with Zenimax Bethesda games on Game Pass after the acquisition. Here is how that timeline looked:

• Microsoft officially closed the Zenimax acquisition on March 9, 2021.
• By March 12, 2021, only 3 days later, 20 Zenimax Bethesda games had joined Game Pass.
• Phil Spencer also tweeted about it, celebrating the Game Pass drop.

Why isn't Xbox putting ABK games on Game Pass?

• Is there really a big technical hurdle? (I can't think of any)
• Are they strapped for cash and trying to squeeze as much money as possible before fulfilling their promise?
• Are they really waiting for XBOX x ABK integration, as they claimed? (I think that's bullshit)

I don't think Phil's explanation was the truth.

He says they couldn't start the work before October 13, 2023. But they were able to fire 1,000+ ABK employees and cancel their games? Did they start the downsizing plan even before the acquisition?

If that's the truth, did they prioritize the downsizing plan over working on putting ABK games on Game Pass? That doesn't seem likely either.

It seems like they are deliberately holding back ABK games.

When do you think ABK games will come to Game Pass? More importantly, what do you think is the reason they haven't added them already?

Theres no rush to put those games on gamepass... I expect abk games on gamepass no later then the summer.

 

[laynelane]

I think a lot of things didn't work out quite as Phil and other execs envisioned with the Zenimax and ABK acquisitions. Look no further than what was expected:

Starfield Rockets Past 10 Million Players

Bethesda's sci-fi RPG continues to soar.

www.gamespot.com

Starfield is exclusive on console to Xbox, and that means millions in potential lost sales. Xbox finance boss Tim Stuart testified during the FTC trial that Starfield was expected to sell 10 million copies on PlayStation. He said Starfield could help drive Game Pass subscribers and console sales to help offset the losses.

Even while Phil was lying about not wanting to take games away from anyone, most of us knew the reality behind why formerly multi-platform titles were made exclusive - simply put, to force gamers to use Game Pass or buy a Xbox console to play these games. However, what actually happened was quite different from MS' lofty predictions. Game Pass has stagnated and Xbox console sales are pretty bad.

Given all that, it wouldn't surprise me if they are delaying or even changing their strategy regarding ABK releases on Game Pass. Basically, releasing AAA titles on Game Pass is a surefire way to lose money at this point. And given the third-party statements of Stuart and Nadella, it seems that the people above Phil are no longer okay with losing money.

In summary, a lot of MS' plans seem to be changing or have changed. It's difficult to predict when or if ABK titles will make it onto Game Pass due to this.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Reviving this from the merge upon request as although in the context it does talk about layoffs maybe affecting it is on its own right a seperate issue "No ABK games on Gamepass"

 

[Gamernyc78]

I think ABK games are not wanting to put day one because they are fighting with themselves on whether they should cannabalize their future sales or not. I mean COD in gamepass would be disastrous imo.

 

[Nhomnhom]

Many of those games were on PS+ but not all of them. There is nothing special about their game catalog.

They probably just don't want to do it as of right now and will try to make a big deal out of it in the future, possibly timing it with the release of new hardware.

 

[Systemshock2023]

I'd love a CTR re release with 60/120 FPS and cross play across all platforms. But they will keep pumping the COD cash cow, wouldn't blame them

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Diablo 4 is still selling and they don't want to kill the sales. They have the data now about sales cannibalization and they regret the Day 1 promise.

It's weird how many of these games were on PS+ years ago and Activision never made a deal with GP. Not even the old Crash trilogy that was on PS+ collection for years.

Theres no rush to put those games on gamepass... I expect abk games on gamepass no later then the summer.

Why would you think that when Bethesda was the next day and we were told the acquisition was all about getting content for Game Pass? Some fanatics even thought COD was going to be there Day 1.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Well, we know that COD definitely isn't going to Game Pass Day 1, probably not for a while after launch, either. I think internally, Microsoft are moving on from the "growth phase" for subscription gaming and are looking to maximize revenue and profits. They know Game Pass is value-destructive and cannibalizes game sales; these are their own words behind closed doors, after all. They don't want to condition gamers to get ABK games for "practically free" and don't want to lure over too many PlayStation, Nintendo and PC gamers to Game Pass because that'd mean needing to make more Xboxes and selling them at big losses, something I also feel Microsoft are just tired of doing.

Game Pass was weaponized by MS and their supporters in an attempt to boost Xbox past PlayStation. But if the top-level at MS are no longer interested in the "console war", why would they be interested in subsidizing Game Pass for a platform they don't want to support as a console anymore? I'm starting to feel that's what is really happening here; they know Game Pass is too joined to the hip to Xbox consoles and any massive incentives pushed to the service means they inadvertently have to stay in a fight they no longer want to fight.

They want to start making money off of these games, and the industry didn't fall for the subscription hoodwink. They know, everyone knows, that B2P sales are here to stay and will remain the dominant way of accessing games, and the biggest source for money aside MTX content. Which in itself is still mostly B2P; people don't necessarily subscribe to access MTX add-ons (but I think if there's one thing MS could do for Game Pass, it's add sub perks for free loot, cosmetics, bonus weapons/items etc. of ABK games for subscribers).

 

[Ezekiel]

They are disingenuous.

 

[laynelane]

Diablo 4 is still selling and they don't want to kill the sales. They have the data now about sales cannibalization and they regret the Day 1 promise.

It's weird how many of these games were on PS+ years ago and Activision never made a deal with GP. Not even the old Crash trilogy that was on PS+ collection for years.


Why would you think that when Bethesda was the next day and we were told the acquisition was all about getting content for Game Pass? Some fanatics even thought COD was going to be there Day 1.

I think this may be the reason why those games never made it to Game Pass:

“I have a general aversion to the idea of multi-game subscription services,” says Kotick, before saying putting games in a subscription service “would degrade the economics.” That sounds a lot like the “value destructive” comment PlayStation chief Jim Ryan claimed was a common opinion held by publishers.

Source.

Perhaps games were put on PS+ because of its role as a supplementary service (ie. it's not value-destructive like Game Pass) to buying games and the large PS install base.

 

[anonpuffs]

I don't think they can until they negotiate terms with Ubisoft, since Ubisoft owns the streaming rights to all ABK games until like 2038 or something

 

[ethomaz]

Because subs didn’t increase and putting in Gamepass should harm more the franchise than help Gamepass.

MS is probably 3rd-party because Gamepass on Xbox & PC didn’t work like they wanted.

They realized Gamepass needs bigger userbase and without PlayStation and Nintendo it won’t work… after all PlayStation and Nintendo hold 90% of all console user base.

 

[Zzero]

Does Ubi own these rights too or is it just literal streaming? Sorry, never used GP, Don know if it includes actual game downloads or not.

 

[ksdixon]

I think I remember something about they couldn't put ABK games on GamePass for a year? Or it'd take them a year to do so, because reasons? But that was way before they did that deal where ABK games go into Ubisoft's shop window instead.

 

[Entropi]

Because they need to make money.

 

[Zzero]

Ubisoft can sell streaming rights to their own stuff back to them, potentially not as an exclusive though (would have to read the fine print of what they said to the CMA and I don't think that was ever made public.)