Vampire Survivors is one of the biggest surprise hits of the last few years and while its developer could have easily kicked back and taken things easy, Poncle has been beavering away on a bunch of updates. The next one is a fresh game mode that'll give players even more to do.

The new Adventures are "self-contained miniature story modes" that will take the Vampire Survivors characters on some "wacky sidequests," according to Poncle. Each mission has its own progression path that's separate from the main game. You'll have a limited set of characters, weapons and power ups at your disposal as you take on custom challenges such as staying alive for a specific length of time or killing a certain number of enemies. Adventures will also have some "lore text" to tie the story together.

The first few missions will soon arrive on all platforms where the game is available (PC, Xbox, Switch and mobile). They should each take an hour or two to finish the first time around, though you'll be able to tweak some modifiers for subsequent runs. In addition, all of the missions are playable in co-op.

You won't need to fork over more cash for these Adventures, though some will be added to existing paid expansions. At the outset, Poncle will bring two missions to the base game and a third to the Legacy of the Moonspell DLC. Adventures will only unlock once you've reached certain parts of the base game and the expansions.

It seems like Poncle is experimenting a bit with these missions. One that it's adding to the base game will "explore how we’re reworking classic content, with a slightly serious storyline and a chance to earn unlocks earlier than normal." Not to worry if you prefer Vampire Survivors' usual absurdity, though. The other two missions will have the game's usual offbeat tone.

Nearly two years after its prototype debut and eight months after its public beta, Sony's GT Sophy racing AI for Gran Turismo 7 is back, and going by Gran Turismo Sophy 2.0 now. It will be available to all PlayStation 5 users as part of the GT7 Spec II Update (Patch Update 1.40) being released on Wednesday, November 2 at 2 a.m. ET. 

We got our first look at the Sophy system back in February 2022. At that point it was already handily beating professional Gran Turismo players. “Gran Turismo Sophy is a significant development in AI whose purpose is not simply to be better than human players, but to offer players a stimulating opponent that can accelerate and elevate the players’ techniques and creativity to the next level,” Sony AI CEO, Hiroaki Kitano, said at the time. “In addition to making contributions to the gaming community, we believe this breakthrough presents new opportunities in areas such as autonomous racing, autonomous driving, high-speed robotics and control.”

The system's public beta this past February saw the AI competing against a small subset of the game's user base in the “Gran Turismo Sophy Race Together” event. Players who had already progressed sufficiently through the game were granted access to the special race, where they faced off against four AI-controlled opponents in a limited number of tracks. 

“The difference [between racers] is that, it's essentially the power you have versus the other cars on the track,” Sony AI's COO, Michael Spranger, told Engadget in February. “You have different levels of performance. In the beginning level, you have a much more powerful vehicle — still within the same class, but you're much faster [than your competition].” That advantage shrank as players advanced through the race rounds and Sophy gained access to increasingly capable vehicles. In September, Sophy learned to drift.

“We have evolved GT Sophy from a research project tackling the grand challenge of creating an AI agent that could outperform top drivers in a top simulation racing game, to a functional game feature that provides all game players a formidable, human-like opponent that enhances the overall racing experience," Spranger said in a press statement released Wednesday.

With Wednesday's announcement, the number of vehicles Sophy can pilot rises from the meager four models available during the beta event, to 340 (yes, three hundred and forty) vehicles across nine unique tracks. Per Sony, that means Sophy can drive 95 percent of the playable in-game models and will select its car for the race based on what the player has available in their garage (that way they're not randomly facing down a 918 in a Nissan Versa or are otherwise disadvantaged).

Players can match against Sophy in Quick Race mode (formerly "Arcade") regardless of their advancement through the game or current skill level. As long as you have a PS5, a network connection and the latest update patch installed, you too can get Toretto'ed by a stack of algorithmic processes. Good luck.

Skating video games are always a good time, especially when paired with high-octane action and violence. Rollerdrome is no exception, allowing players to complete death-defying roller-skating tricks and death-inducing headshots all at the same time. The game’s been an absolute hit since originally releasing for PS4, PS5 and Steam back in August of last year. Now, it’s coming to Xbox as a day one Game Pass title.

Rollerdrome releases for Xbox Series X/S via Game Pass on November 28. It’s also launching as a standalone Windows PC title, which will be available for purchase on the Microsoft Store for $30. As previously mentioned, it’s already playable on PC via Steam, but additional purchase options are never a bad thing.

If you’re unfamiliar with the game, here's a quick primer. Rollerdrome was developed by Roll7, the same team behind the uber-popular skateboarding sim OlliOlli World. The game has all of the tricks and speedy movement you’d expect from a roller-skating simulation, but with a heavy emphasis on action. We called the game “endlessly replayable" and gave it a spot on our list of the best video games of 2022, emphasizing the challenge mode and online leaderboards. We also liked the dystopian vibes, making gameplay resemble the 1970s cult classic dystopian film Rollerball. This was likely intentional on the part of the developers. 

The graphics on this third-person skater/shooter are also on-point, with bright, comic-book style visuals. There are plenty of environments to skate through, like an abandoned mall and a desert canyon. Each play area is littered with ramps, gaps and breakable windows, all of which can be leveraged for tricks. There’s also plenty of baddies to murder with weapons ranging from shotguns to grenade launchers. 

This is a busy November for Game Pass. In addition to Rollerdrome, the subscription service gets the Yakuza-adjacent Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name on November 9, along with the creature-hunting sim Wild Hearts. The Stardew-alike life sim Spirittea releases on November 13 with another farming sim, Coral Island, coming on November 14.

Time comes for us all. There's no escape from getting older and the inevitability of our bodies and minds slowing down. For many of us, that might mean having to re-examine how we tackle games, especially those that demand quick reactions.

That thought has been at the forefront as I've been playing Ghostrunner 2. Like the original, it's a high-octane, first-person slasher with a big focus on traversal. It feels like a blend of Doom Eternal and a cyberpunk take on Mirror's Edge.

Ghostrunner 2 is an intense, often-tough game that's absolutely kicking my tail. This is a fragile world in which both you and most enemies die in one hit. You will perish often. In the third level, I died (without exaggeration) 164 times.

I don't tend to stick with overly challenging games. I'm sure I could beat the likes of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Cuphead eventually, but there are too many games to play and not enough time for me to master the skills and knowledge needed to conquer some of the tougher titles out there.

That said, there are a few reasons I've kept with Ghostrunner 2, which arrives during an astonishingly busy spell for big game releases. Developer One More Level has generously dotted checkpoints around each stage, which makes the frequent deaths at the hands of enemies and environmental hazards easier to stomach. You can respawn instantly after dying or at any other time with the press of a button.

Most importantly, it's a blast to play. It's immensely satisfying to finally beat a section after dozens of failed attempts and to squeeze protagonist Jack's new motorbike through several narrow gaps. The propulsive, pounding soundtrack keeps driving me forward, even when I'm on the verge of tossing my controller on the couch and giving up for the night. One More Level has crafted a satisfying gameplay loop that's hard to walk away from.

One More Level/505 Games

I see Ghostrunner 2 mostly as a puzzle game. Sure, there are doors to unlock and objects to move around before you can access certain areas. But every enemy confrontation is a conundrum to overcome.

Whenever you respawn, enemies and obstacles reappear in the same place, so you can adjust your approach to tackling them as necessary. Rather than bolting headfirst into the middle of a combat area, using the mini map and Jack's strafing, wallrunning, air dashing and sliding abilities to get the lay of the land and enemy positions is a smart way to go. But even once I've figured out my plan of attack, it still typically takes me several attempts before I can wipe out all of my opponents and move onto the next area.

You'll need to be on your toes no matter what. Melee-focused enemies can quickly surround you and you'll need to be alert for incoming fire. You can't simply hold down the block button either, as that drains what's effectively a stamina meter. It's important to get used to the parry timing quickly, especially if you use an ability that redirects all deflected shots toward an attacker.

I was able to try Ghostrunner 2 on both PC and PS5. While I prefer the precision of a mouse for first-person games, this absolutely sings on a PS5 (especially compared with my three-year-old mid-range gaming laptop). The high framerate mode lets you play at 120 frames per second on PS5 if you have a compatible display. I felt like I needed every one of those frames to overcome some sections, and I was glad to have that advantage.

One More Level/505 Games

Trying to take things slow goes against the spirit of the game, but I'm finding it a more satisfying way to play Ghostrunner 2 for the most part. Taking a breather to explore the environment is also a good idea for all players, since it's worth searching for upgrades that can unlock powerful abilities.

Accessibility settings are important for many folks too, including those who are getting older. My reaction times aren't the same in my 30s as they were when I was a teenager, but I can hold my own for the most part. I'd like to keep playing games for as long as I can, though, and there will be a point in my life where I will need certain accessibility functions to navigate whatever challenges that developers throw at me.

One More Level added some useful accessibility features to the original game several months after its debut in late 2020. Those included the ability to slow down time, as well as being able to take an extra hit before perishing. I played much of Ghostrunner before those options arrived. I got stuck at a rotating tower that fires lasers in nearly every direction, with those beams killing me hundreds of times. It was only when One More Level introduced the Assist Mode that I was able to conquer it.

Unfortunately, One More Level hasn’t brought those Assist Mode options to Ghostrunner 2 yet. The only real gameplay modifier as things stand is an aim assist. But despite my many, many deaths as Jack, I haven't hit a true roadblock. So far, I've been able to slowly work my way through the levels. I may eventually need more help to navigate tougher sections, so here's hoping Assist Mode shows up in the sequel soon (and not just for my sake). One thing's for sure, at least: I won't be winning any prizes in the game's $10,000 speedrunning contest.

Ghostrunner 2 will hit PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 26.

Netflix is making moves to expand its mobile gaming offerings. Soon, subscribers will see more shows made by Netflix made into mobile games, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal, like Squid Game and Wednesday.

While mobile gaming is not entirely new to Netflix, it's still trying to find its place in the company’s business model. Right now, the Netflix app prompts users to download and play games like Exploding Kittens: The Game or Ghost Detective on the app store where you can play on the platform. But eventually, Netflix subscribers will be able to play games directly on their smart TVs and computers. This push into gaming by the streaming giant is preceded by the company’s recent release of a dedicated controller app for iOS devices that lets a player use their phone as a gamepad with a paired TV.

From the start, Netflix has never charged for its games or posed additional fees within its gaming domain. To play on your phone, you only need a subscription. And while we don't know if that is going to ever change in the near future, Netflix's focus on making games based on hit shows could help maintain interest in them, especially in between seasons. The bet on superconsumers’ could also lead the company to a path of buying its way into gaming.

As of now, Netflix offers more than 70 games on its platform and it plans to expand that more into the end of 2023. Netflix will continue to license non-show related games like Classic Solitaire, according to the WSJ.

It has been less than two years since the company began dabbling in mobile gaming and yet, Netflix has already become a player in indie publishing. And we’ve seen the company deliver on its promise of developing games based on hit shows. Netflix Stories: Love is Blind, an interactive story title based on the reality television series just came out last month. Now it appears ready to lean even harder into gaming.

For my money, web-swinging around New York City in Marvel’s Spider-Man is perhaps the singular best game mechanic I’ve come across in the last decade or so. It feels so incredibly right, and almost everything else in that game is built off it. I never really wanted to use fast-travel features, because swinging around was much more fun, and finding hidden missions and helping citizens in trouble as you traverse NYC is almost as rewarding as following the game’s main story. Of course, a great mechanic isn’t enough to make a great game, but Spider-Man is one of the most successful open-world style games I can think of, because it felt packed without being overwhelming.

My first impressions of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was that developer Insomniac Games turned everything up to 11, packing in more. The map is about twice as big as the original, adding in a chunk of the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens to go along with Manhattan, and the web wings offer a new way of traversing the huge map. There are more playable characters, as you spend nearly equal time jumping between OG Spider-Man Peter Parker and his protégé Miles Morales. Peter and Miles have more special moves than ever before to turn the tides in combat, and there are more skills for them to learn. Conversely, enemies have a lot more ways to mess you up, if you’re not careful.

As such, my main concern for Spider-Man 2 was that Insomniac tried to pack in too much — take what happened to the Assassin’s Creed series with AC: Valhalla as a cautionary tale. However, now that I’ve finished the game, and completed about 75 percent of all the activities and quests available, I can confidently say that Insomniac has built a tight, compelling game with a storyline that ends up with serious momentum, making it all but impossible to put down through the second half. It’s just as satisfying as ever to play as the two Spider-Men, whether you’re flying around NYC or taking on hordes of bad guys. And while the story sucked me in, there are hosts of other things for a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to do for the city’s citizens, including substantial side quests and smaller activities that enhance the story and your capabilities.

Sony / Insomniac Games

Just like the first game, Spider-Man 2 wastes no time hitting you with a bombastic action sequence that kicks off the game’s main plot. This time, Pete and Miles take on classic villain Sandman, who escapes transport to the city’s prison for super-villains and rampages throughout the streets, getting larger and more difficult to manage. As with the intro of most games, this is meant to teach you the capabilities of the two playable characters, and it does so without feeling too heavy-handed or disconnected from the main meat of the game.

It’s not long before we learn of a new threat to the city: Kraven and his band of hunters are tracking down super-villains for sport and causing plenty of distress while they do so. Perhaps most significantly, they’re trying to return Dr. Curt Connors to his menacing alter-ego, The Lizard, a move that has serious implications for Peter, Miles, Pete’s girlfriend MJ Parker and their friend Harry Osborne. Harry was mentioned but not seen in the first game, as he was ill and in recovery through some very experimental treatment that has returned him to his friends in this episode.

Sony / Insomniac Games

In the first third of the game, the traditional action sequences are augmented by a few flashbacks as well as sections of the game that are more about atmosphere and character-building – like one where teenaged Pete and Harry sneak through their high school, or a sequence where Pete, MJ and Harry enjoy a night at a lovingly-rendered version of the Coney Island boardwalk before things inevitably go awry. Those sequences were a little hit or miss, as they did steal away a bit of momentum – but they also provided a break from the pattern of “travel across the city, investigate, beat up bad guys.”

I won’t spoil how it happens, but the unofficial first act ends with Peter coming into possession of the fabled black symbiote suit, which greatly enhances his powers in combat in a way that’s both fun and also a little distressing. If you know anything about Spider-Man lore, you probably know where the story is going. But without going too deep, I can say that Insomniac created a familiar take on the tale of Spider-Man and Venom that nonetheless has a number of unexpected twists. Like I said earlier, I was positively glued to the game, particularly in the second half. The combination of the compelling story and outstanding gameplay elements simply made it hard to stop playing.

Let’s get into that gameplay. Sony and Insomniac have made a big deal about the fact that you can quickly swap between Peter and Miles to have different Spidey-experiences, and it’s as simple as holding a button down when you’re in the open-world part of the game. But the structure of the story dictates that you’re usually either Peter or Miles as the “lead” character for the main quests. The same goes for some of the side quests and activities you’ll find around NYC; there are plenty that you can achieve as either Pete or Miles, but some require you to switch to a specific character.

Sony / Insomniac Games

There are a number of major set-pieces throughout the game, including the Sandman intro, that blend action between the two Spider-Men. You’ll shift seamlessly between the two characters depending on what the action calls for, but you can’t just switch on the fly. It’s all pretty scripted, which makes sense but is still a little bit of a bummer. And while Miles and his crew of friends that were introduced in 2020’s mini-sequel Spider-Man: Miles Morales get plenty of screen time, the story and action lean slightly more towards Peter. If I had to guess, I’d say you control him for 60 percent of the main story. Miles fans shouldn’t be too disappointed, though, because you get to control him through a few of the game’s most intense and thrilling moments.

Insomniac did a great job of both streamlining and expanding combat. Peter and Miles each have four special attacks you can slot that regenerate through combat, giving you some options for discovering and picking your favorite moves. A lot of the gadgets from the first game return, but they’re easier than ever to access. Previously, if you wanted to use a gadget you’d have to hold R1 and switch from your web-shooters to another option. Now, web-shooters are always triggered by mashing R1, but you can hold R1 and hit one of the four face buttons to activate your slotted gadgets. It’s a great quality of life improvement that makes it a lot easier to deploy everything in your arsenal when you’re in a big battle.

The special attacks are likewise triggered by holding L1 and pressing a face button, and these are the main ways to differentiate between Peter and Miles. Otherwise, their combat skills and abilities are pretty similar, and there are lots of upgrades you can make to increase your health bar or the amount of damage you deal that apply to both characters. There’s a shared Peter and Miles skill tree as well as individual ones for each character that focus on their particular special moves. I was worried managing all this was going to get old and overly complicated, but I never felt overburdened by the variety of choices I could make, thanks partially to the fact that the game is generous about dolling out skill points to redeem.

Sony / Insomniac Games

Some of those skill upgrades relate to traversal — how far you travel when swinging from a web line or how fast you boost off an object. There’s a new skill you can use to web-slingshot yourself into motion, which is great to use when you’re on the ground and want to get moving quickly. But the web wings are the biggest change to how you get around NYC, and they’re a delight to use. Tapping X deploys the wings, and you can search for wind tunnels and updrafts to keep you moving quickly and well above street level.

Web-swinging is still my favorite move, but the wings come in extremely handy for some specific missions, including the wild on-the-river chase that Sony showed off a few months ago. Using the wings almost makes piloting the Spider-Men feel like you’re driving a race car, as you can turn corners a lot quicker and with more precision than I anticipated. It’s a totally different experience than web-swinging, and eventually I found myself switching between both techniques to build up speed or tackle certain geographical challenges as I explored the map.

Probably my biggest complaint with the gameplay is something I remember noticing in the first game: There are more than a few moments where the big climax of an action sequence takes place only in a cutscene, where the player has no control or input into what’s on the screen. I get that there are some sequences that are so far outside of the move set players have that they need to be cutscenes, but the game is otherwise so good at immersing you in large-scale conflicts that it’s jarring to be completely pulled out of the action.

Unlike the previous two games, Spider-Man 2 is exclusive to the PS5;the original was built for the PS4 while Miles Morales had a simultaneous release on both consoles. Insomniac didn’t waste any of the horsepower it had to play with here: the game looks incredible. As with many AAA games, you can pick a “fidelity” mode that runs at 30 fps with full 4K graphics and effects like ray tracing, or scale things down a bit for a higher frame rate (up to 120 fps, if your TV supports it) in “performance” mode. As usual, I went for high frame rates, but spent time in both. Rest assured that, whatever your preference, this game is a graphical stunner, with intricately detailed character models — massive bad guys like the Lizard are particularly stunning.

Sony / Insomniac Games

The city, meanwhile, looks gorgeous whether it’s at sunset or in the train, whether the streets are filled with tourists and pedestrians or deserted from the latest calamity. Local landmarks like Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden and Avengers Tower are rendered lovingly, and the new boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn have their own distinct identities in the game just as they do in real life. I’m looking forward to spending more time just exploring the cities and taking in all the detail Insomniac included, probably while using the expansive Photo Mode for some virtual photography.

Insomniac also took advantage of the DualSense controller’s features like adaptive triggers and impressive haptic feedback. There’s a pleasing amount of tension when using the triggers to swing around the city, as well as a number of times when you’ll need to perfectly balance the amount of pressure you’re putting on the triggers to execute a move. As with most games, the DualSense features don’t radically change the experience, but they enhance it in ways that you might not immediately realize but would notice if they went away.

Sony / Insomniac Games

In the last few years, I’ve had an increasingly hard time coming up with original ways to describe Sony’s first-party games. In the PS4 generation, games like Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War and Spider-Man all combined excellent storytelling with huge worlds and outstanding gameplay. As such, the recent sequels have all felt like they had to up the stakes and make longer, more complicated games. While I love God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West, I also occasionally felt they were just trying to do too much.

That’s not the case with Spider-Man 2. It’s a perfectly balanced game with gorgeous graphics, delightful combat and traversal systems, a compelling storyline and characters, plenty of challenge and a huge map to explore. Perhaps most importantly, though, it’s just fun. In a year where I’ve struggled to connect with games that I expected I’d love, it was a relief to play Spider-Man 2 and immediately get sucked into the world. Whether or not you’ve played Insomniac’s earlier Spider-Man games, anyone should be able to jump into Spider-Man 2 and immediately feel like a superhero.

Minecraft is turning 15 next year and we've been given insight into how popular it still is in the lead up: the game has now sold more than 300 million copies. To put that in perspective, Grand Theft Auto V is not even a close second, with over 185 million copies sold. Even its slightly later release (2013) doesn't do much to make up for the gap — especially considering Minecraft surpassed the 200 million mark in 2020. 

Mojang Studios announced the achievement during a Minecraft Live event that shared new features coming to the game, like a trial chamber that has traps and mobs coming at you along a series of rooms and corridors. A new Star Wars: Path of the Jedi DLC and Planet Earth DLC are also in development and will be available on November 7 and early next year, respectively. 

"As we approach the 15th anniversary, Minecraft remains one of the best-selling games of all time with over 300 million copies sold," said Helen Chiang, head of Mojang Studios. "[Its] a milestone no one could have dreamed of when we were all placing our first blocks."

The exact launch date of Minecraft is a bit confusing. Game developer Markus Persson, commonly known as Notch, first made Minecraft available to the public in 2009 (the anniversary being celebrated), but the game wasn't officially released until late 2011. Persson used the initial launch as an opportunity to better the game, keeping track of feedback and releasing alpha and beta updates in 2010 under his new company, Mojang. Jens Bergesten took over as lead designer at the end of that year, and in November 2011, the official Minecraft game launched on iOS.

The world of ants is a mysterious one, as we’re still learning new stuff about the most populous insect on Earth. Soon we’ll be able to get a more hands-on approach with everyone’s favorite picnic-ruiners, thanks to the forthcoming insect sim Empire of the Ants. The game’s based on the hit sci-fi book series and has you controlling a heroic ant to protect your massive colony.

Publisher Microids and developer Tower Five just dropped a trailer and these are perhaps the most photorealistic ants ever seen in a video game. As a matter of fact, the whole trailer’s teeming with eye candy, which makes sense given the title was built using Epic Games’ powerful Unreal Engine 5. Plus it’s not just one or two ants on screen, as in-game footage shows hundreds of the little buggers doing their thing, complete with a photorealistic forest down to the pebbles and dirt on the floor.

As for gameplay, the devs liken it to a real-time strategy title, with some 3rd-person adventuring peppered throughout. The makers say that “strategy planning, exploration, combat skills, but most of all, setting up local wildlife alliances will be necessary to survive the many challenges awaiting.”

The developers tout scalable difficulty levels to suit players of varying skill, a day-night cycle and gameplay that changes depending on the season. Each season will present players with different attributes, adding some light RPG elements, impacting “speed, resistance, buffs and more,” according to an email sent to Engadget.

There’s no release date yet, other than sometime in 2024, but the game’s coming to both PC and unnamed consoles (likely PS5 and Xbox S/X.) Publisher Microids previously released a smaller-scale adaptation of Empire of the Ants, back in 2000. Developers Tower Five previously worked on the strategy game Lornsword Winter Chronicles and the ill-fated 2020 remake of XIII.

One of the biggest unanswered questions regarding Microsoft's $67.8 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard concerned the role of Bobby Kotick at the company. Now that the deal is finally complete and the publisher is officially a part of Microsoft, the future of the Activision Blizzard CEO is a little clearer.

In a memo to employees, Kotick wrote that he is "fully committed to helping with the transition." He'll remain at the helm "through the end of 2023" and he'll report to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. "We both look forward to working together on a smooth integration for our teams and players," Kotick wrote.

Kotick is widely expected to step down from the role he has held for over three decades as soon as January 1, though Activision Blizzard has declined to confirm an exact date for his departure. In any case, his contract runs until April.

Other changes are expected at the top of Activision Blizzard. In his own memo to the publisher's staff, Spencer wrote that "we will share more updates on our new organizational structure in the coming months."

Kotick shaped his company into a financially successful enterprise after leading a group of investors to buy Mediagenic for a bargain-basement price in 1991. He restructured the company and restored its previous name of Activision. In 2008, following a string of successful games, acquisitions and investments, Kotick engineered a merger with the games division of Vivendi, which owned Blizzard.

However, Kotick's stewardship of the company has long been a controversial one. As far back as 2010, Kotaku called him "the most hated man in video games," partly because of the perception that Kotick places a heavy focus on monetizing Activision Blizzard's games as much as possible. That's not to mention his reported treatment of employees at his various companies.

Over the last few years, observers have been paying more attention to Activision Blizzard's culture under Kotick. In 2021, the California Civil Rights Department, sued the company, alleging that it fostered a culture where discrimination and widespread harassment were rife. Later that year, a report by The Wall Street Journal indicated that Kotick had long been aware of sexual misconduct and assault allegations at Activision Blizzard, and that he neglected to share some of those (or details about settlements that were agreed with alleged victims) with the board.

The report led to many Activision Blizzard workers walking out and demanding Kotick's resignation. The following year, months after Microsoft made its blockbuster bid for Activision Blizzard, the publisher's shareholders voted to let Kotick keep his board seat.

In fact, the turmoil over Activision Blizzard's toxic workplace culture (and resulting pressure on the company that sent its stock tumbling) was what prompted Microsoft to buy the company. Kotick had claimed that Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV delays resulted in a fall of the stock price. But workers pushed back on those assertions.

Overwatch producer Tracy Kennedy claimed in early 2022 that Kotick pushed "random projects" onto the development team. Kennedy said the team worked overtime only to see those projects canceled and that "entire teams are turning over" and blaming Kotick.

It's not only at Activision where Kotick has spurred controversy. In 2007, the flight attendant of a private jet he was co-owner of sued him. The attendant alleged that, after she informed the plane's other owner that the pilot had sexually harassed her, Kotick fired her. The case resulted in a $200,000 settlement for the flight attendant.

Kotick has long been one of the highest-paid CEOs in North America and he's not exactly going to be retiring with only a nice watch to show for his time at Activision Blizzard. A report last year suggested that he stood to make $375.3 million from the sale to Microsoft. He's also expected to receive a golden parachute payment of $14.6 million when he departs.

The biggest acquisition in gaming history and one of the largest in the tech industry is in the books. Twenty months after the deal was announced, Microsoft has bought Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, the largest acquisition in the company's history. CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer has asked Activision CEO Bobby Kotick to stay on until the end of 2023, at which point he'll be leaving the company. It's been a long road filled with plenty of twists and turns to get to this point.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) initially blocked the deal in April, though it and the companies agreed to pause Microsoft's appeal to try and resolve the regulator's reservations over the merger's impact on the cloud gaming industry. An appeal tribunal approved a request to delay the proceedings. 

In an attempt to win over the UK regulator, Microsoft agreed to sell the cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard titles to Ubisoft. That means that not only should Activision Blizzard's games be on Xbox Game Pass, but they'll land on Ubisoft+ and any other game-streaming service Ubisoft decides to work with. Concerns about competition in the cloud gaming market was the CMA's reasoning for initially blocking Microsoft's takeover of Activision, but the watchdog said in September that the Ubisoft concession "opens the door to the deal being cleared." A few weeks later, the CMA has rubberstamped the merger.

Microsoft also signed 10-year agreements with Nintendo and several cloud-gaming companies to offer its titles on their platforms. Those moves led to the European Union giving the merger the green light. The bloc's competition officials reportedly didn't see anything in the amended merger agreement (with the Ubisoft plan factored in) that would prompt a fresh antitrust investigation. 

The Federal Trade Commission's attempts to stop the deal over competition concerns haven't panned out. The agency sued to block it in December and an evidentiary hearing in that case was slated to take place on August 2nd. The FTC tried to temporarily block the merger with a preliminary injunction ahead of its administrative trial, but a judge denied that effort. 

The FTC still plans to challenge the merger. If that effort is successful, Microsoft could be forced to divest some or all of Activision Blizzard.

But for now, the deal is done. It means, among other things, that Activision Blizzard titles will be available on cloud gaming platforms for the first time since the publisher pulled its titles from GeForce Now in early 2020. Its games will surely join Game Pass in the very near future, including on Xbox Cloud Gaming, and they'll pop up on Ubisoft+ and other platforms Ubisoft works with.

Those waiting for Activision Blizzard's two biggest games of 2023 to hit Game Pass will certainly need to remain patient, though. The publisher has said Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Diablo IV won't hit the service until next year.

Meanwhile, Blizzard games are already coming to Steam rather than being siloed on the Battle.net launcher. We'll probably see them appearing on Xbox's PC app too. For what it's worth, in court filings, Microsoft called Activision's strategy of releasing PC versions of Call of Duty titles exclusively on Battle.net in a bid to grow the platform a "resounding failure."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

One of the key reasons Microsoft gave for pursuing the deal was to accelerate its aim of becoming a major player in the mobile gaming market. With Activision Blizzard pulling in $1.9 billion in mobile revenue in the first six months of 2023 alone, it will achieve that goal practically overnight. 

King, which is behind the hugely successful Candy Crush franchise, generated more revenue ($1.49 billion) than Activision ($1.15 billion) in the first half of this year. Thanks largely to the massive success of Diablo IV, Blizzard brought in the most of the three units during that period with a hair over $1.5 billion. Still, King had 238 million monthly active users as of June 30th, just over twice as many as Activision and Blizzard combined. It recently emerged that Candy Crush Saga has generated over $20 billion in lifetime revenue.

Blizzard has also been making a push into mobile gaming with the likes of Diablo Immortal. Activision, meanwhile, has Call of Duty Mobile in its portfolio and Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile is on the way. The company said in its most recent earnings report Call of Duty has around 90 million monthly players, "with over half of all engagement on the mobile platform."

As for exclusivity of future projects, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has promised to "do whatever it takes" to keep shipping Call of Duty games on PlayStation. After months of refusing to do so, Sony eventually signed a 10-year pact just before the initial merger deadline of July 18th to keep that particular franchise on PlayStation, conceding defeat in its efforts to halt the acquisition. However, Microsoft will likely opt to keep other Activision Blizzard games off of PlayStation platforms, as it has done with ZeniMax/Bethesda titles Redfall and Starfield, as well as MachineGames' upcoming Indiana Jones project.

Meanwhile, many observers hope that Microsoft will help stamp out the alleged toxic workplace culture at Activision Blizzard. Earlier this year, Activision Blizzard paid $35 million to settle SEC charges related to how it handled employees' workplace misconduct complaints.

In 2021, the California Civil Rights Department (formerly the Department of Fair Employment and Housing) sued the company and accused it of fostering a "frat boy" culture in which female employees were harassed and discriminated against. Activision Blizzard countersued the CRD in December. The case hasn't been resolved. In fact, the CRD's lawsuit (which, along with other events, sent Activision's stock tumbling) set the ball rolling on Microsoft's acquisition of the company in the first place.