Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard could add more backward-compatible Xbox 360 titles once licensing issues are resolved.
The unavailable backward compatible games Xbox may not be set in stone as previously thought. This list of unavailable games could get even shorter on current Xbox hardware thanks to possible acquisitions of Activision and Blizzard.
Microsoft’s potential deal with Activision and Blizzard could mean great things for gamers call of Duty and World of Warcraft could come to Game Pass with their future installments. With the in-game takeover, upcoming releases aren’t the only thing players can look forward to, as great things from the past may also be coming back. According to Xbox insider Shpeshal_Nick, certain games from previous generations could finally be due out on current-gen Xbox hardware thanks to the acquisition, which could remove licensing barriers.
According to Shpehsal_Nick on the latest episode of the XboxEra podcast, licensing barriers for certain games would no longer be an issue under Microsoft. What those games are hasn’t been announced yet, although the source says gamers shouldn’t hope for Marvel games such as: Spiderman and X-Men, because they involve more complicated licensing with Disney. If the deal between Activision and Blizzard goes through, the insider states that the potential games set to become available via backwards compatibility on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S will fall to two or three Xbox 360 titles under those studios’ umbrella should amount. Although Xbox backwards compatibility updates are coming to an end, this deal would bring those welcome surprises to the Xbox collection of backwards compatible titles.
The nearly $70 billion acquisition is almost complete while Microsoft awaits the Federal Trade Commission, but Activision Blizzard shareholders have approved the Microsoft deal regardless. Even so, there are still hurdles for Microsoft to overcome, as Saudi Arabia remains the only competition authority to have given the seal of approval even to US senators with eyes raised over security concerns and the possibility of insider trading.
There’s still a list of Xbox 360 games that aren’t backwards compatible, but Microsoft is still setting the precedent for how preservation of previous-gen games should be handled, and this acquisition could further cement that as an opportunity to increase the number of backward compatible titles that are available. Time will tell what they are Xbox Games could be after the Microsoft Activision Blizzard deal is closed.
Source: DualShockers