World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Classic players will soon be able to confront iconic Warcraft villain Illidan Stormrage himself, with the game’s latest content update adding two new raids in the form of Black Temple and the Battle For Mount Hyjal.

The new raids are the star of the patch, but the two endgame encounters aren’t live just yet. As detailed by Blizzard, the new raids will actually unlock on January 27 alongside the Netherwing daily quest hub. The Netherwing quests eventually award one of the game’s cooler mounts–the Netherdrake–but the grind to reach exalted reputation is a long one.

Players will need to complete the necessary attunement questlines to access each new raid, which includes completing previous raids like Tempest Keep and Serpentshrine Cavern. Bosses from previous raids will now drop additional loot, which should make gearing up for the new content a little easier.

This new patch also ushers in the start of a PvP Arena season 3, and unlike the raids, it’s live now. New Arena gear will now be on sale, while gear from older seasons will be available at a discount.

Warlock players can take part in an optional new quest to unlock the Incubus pet, a male version of the game’s Succubus pet. The introduction of the Incubus comes as part of a wider initiative by the WoW development team to make Azeroth a more welcoming and inclusive place, with Blizzard having recently changed potentially problematic achievement names, dialogue, and other in-game content in the wake of multiple sexual harassment and lawsuit investigations at Activision Blizzard.

Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard in a nearly $70 billion deal. You can check out the full Burning Crusade patch notes below.

Burning Crusade Classic Patch 2.5.3 Notes

Content

The Black Temple

Defeat the Betrayer himself—Illidan Stormrage—atop the Black Temple.

Raid bosses: 9 (High Warlord Naj’entus, Supremus, Shade of Akama, Teron Gorefiend, Gurtogg Bloodboil, Reliquary of Souls, Mother Shahraz, The Illidari Council, Illidan Stormrage)Level: 70Location: The Black Temple, Shadowmoon Valley

Improve your standing with the Ashtongue Deathsworn to earn rewards from Okuno inside the Black Temple.

The Battle for Mount Hyjal

Preserve the outcome of the pivotal Battle for Mount Hyjal and ensure the demon Archimonde meets his fate.

Raid bosses: 5 (Rage Winterchill, Anetheron, Kaz’rogal, Azgalor, Archimonde)Level: 70Location: Caverns of Time, Tanaris

Improve your standing with the Scale of the Sands to earn rewards from Indormi in the Caverns of time.

Raid Attunements

Those who wish to brave the two new raid instances must complete the required attunement quests first. The required quests must be completed once per character. All new raid content will unlock at 3:00 p.m. PST on Thursday, January 27.

Epic Gems

Epic gem Jewelcrating Designs will be available from Indormi in the Caverns of Time. Epic gems can be obtained from Battle for Mount Hyjal through mining (requires 375 mining skill), and as rare drops from Black Temple.

Netherwing Daily Quests

Earn Netherwing reputation through daily quests in Shadowmoon Valley. Collect Netherwing eggs to speed up reputation gains. Epic Netherdrake mounts will be available to players that reach Exalted reputation (requires Artisan Riding skill).

Burning Crusade Arena Season 3

The week of January 18, with the weekly reset in each region, Arena Season 3 has begun. The matchmaker has been adjusted to increase the range of possible opponents. This will help match players of different matchmaking levels more quickly. As before, teams with similar ratings who queue at the same will be prioritized to match against each other.

Updates

Bosses in Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep now drop one additional class set token for a total of 3.Bosses in Magtheridon’s Lair and Gruul’s Lair now drop an additional loot token for a total of 3.The Lurker Below, Morogrim Tidewalker, A’lar, and High Astromancer Solarian have had their loot tables updated to their final state, which includes additional drops for each boss, and in some cases, new items.All dungeon bosses now have a chance to drop epic gems in Heroic difficulty.New Darkmoon cards now have a chance to drop.Warlocks can now learn to summon an Incubus by completing a new questline: In Undercity, speak to Carendin Halgar.In Orgrimmar, speak to Gan’rul Bloodeye.In Stormwind, speak to Gakin the Darkbinder.The Consortium vendor now sells: Formula: Enchant Weapon – Major Striking.The Honor Hold and Thrallmar vendor now sells: Pattern: Netherscale Ammo Pouch.The Lower City vendor now sells: Enchant Ring – Stats and Pattern: Quiver of a Thousand Feathers.Mind Quickening Gem is no longer usable in Arenas. The trinket is unchanged in all other areas of play.The following items are no longer usable inside Arenas: Nigh-Invulnerability BeltNet-o-Matic ProjectorDazzling LongswordSilent FangSkull of Impending Doom

User Interface

You can now select multiple activities when searching for groups in the Looking for More UI.After listing your group in the Looking for Group UI, the UI will now automatically search for other groups interested in the same activities.In the Looking for Group UI, the entire dropdown body can now be clicked to open the dropdown.You may now report players searched via /who using the right-click menu.Added a more descriptive error message when attempting to transfer a character who is an Arena team captain from one realm to another.Fixed an issue that caused Duels to end after 15 minutes.Added a “have materials” filter in the Profession UI.Fixed an issue that caused interface errors to appear when using the character Unstuck service.Fixed a bug where the player model in the character sheet could get stuck rotating when the player moves the mouse.

Bug Fixes

Made some improvements to player pathing during fear to reduce situations where players end up outside or under terrain.Fixed a bug that caused certain flight paths to incorrectly take players through mountains and other terrain.Fixed an issue where Alliance players who died in Ogri’la were teleported to the incorrect graveyard after releasing.Fixed a bug preventing dialogue options from working correctly in several quests that offer replacement quest items from the quest giver, such as “The Hawk’s Essence”.Fixed an issue that caused mounted footstep/hoof sounds to play at incorrect speeds for certain mounts.Fixed an incorrect tooltip for the Spell Reflection ability that the Coilfang Serpentguard in Serpentshrine Cavern cast on themselves that indicates that it reflects 4 spells when it actually reflects all spells for its duration.Resolved an issue where Renataki of the Thousand Blades’ Thousand Blades ability could register an unintentionally huge number of hits and cause performance issues. It’s meant to be a figurative Thousand Blades, not a literal thousand. Relax, Renataki.Fixed multiple issues with Succubus creature animations.Fixed multiple issues with Worgen creature animations.Fixed an issue that caused belts to sometimes vanish when equipping an unequipping items.Resolved an issue that caused human models to use the incorrect animations when slowed.Some tamable pets, such as Rip-Blade Ravager, will now correctly change colors randomly when they are resummoned by the Hunter. Developers’ note: This will only affect pets tamed after the launch of this patch.Fixed an issue where the Paladin Trainer Noellene in Eversong Woods doesn’t show up when tracking Class Trainers.The Gladiator’s Spellblade now displays the appropriate textures.Fixed an issue that caused Shaman weapon enhancements displayed their visual effects twice on player weapons.The Aurora Cowl item is no longer missing its model.Fixed an issue where Shadow Word: Death could damage the caster when a low-level target is killed by the spell.Fixed an issue where certain channeled auras, such as Mind Flay from Fel Eye Stalks, were not stacking correctly.Effects that increase damage taken from spells by a flat amount, such as Shadow Resonance, will now work correctly with stacking damage-over-time auras.Snakes created by Snake Trap will now correctly not trigger most “On Kill” procs. Developers’ note: Some “On Kill” effects, such as Spirit Tap, will still correctly be triggered by slaying the snakes.Fixed an issue that caused loot sparkles to not properly scale up in size for larger creatures. Now please – loot the hounds.Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

Developer Eastshade Studios–the studio behind Eastshade–has announced its next game: Songs of Glimmerwick. An announcement trailer for Songs of Glimmerwick reveals the game to be a narrative-driven RPG where you play as a student at a university of magic where you cast spells through music.

Also seen in the trailer, Songs of Glimmerwick will feature character customization and progression, allowing you to craft your ideal wizard or witch and grow their magic as you see fit. The game will also see you go to classes, tend to the university’s garden, and sign up for extra curricular activities. Songs of Glimmerwick will feature voice acting as well.

In a press release, Eastshade Studios writes that Songs of Glimmerwick will follow the developer’s mission of “creating a sense of place.” Songs of Glimmerwick is scheduled to launch in 2023. You can wishlist Songs of Glimmerwick on Steam.

Eastshade Studios’ last game, Eastshade, is superb, so we’re excited to see what the studio manages to accomplish with this next title. In GameSpot’s Eastshade review, David Wildgoose gave the game 9/10, writing, “By giving you a paintbrush (and a kettle) instead of a sword, Eastshade is a rare first-person open world game that’s not about killing but rather about doing good deeds, helping people see the error of their ways, and bringing communities together all through the power of art. It’s a breath of fresh Eastshadian air and a genuine, unironic feel-good game.”

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With only a few more weeks to go before it arrives, Sony has released a new trailer for Horizon Forbidden West. Unlike the other trailers that focused on tribes, hostile mechanical wildlife, and robots with impressive swimming skills, the latest trailer focuses on just what spurs Aloy to embark on a new adventure and the dangers that lie hidden in the sinister landscape of Forbidden West.

As detailed in the trailer above, a strange blight has begun sweeping across the world and killing off all life. Machines have begun to grow more aggressive towards humans, and the key to saving the world lies in the Forbidden West. Aloy will have to explore this unknown region, and in the process, she’ll encounter Regalla. Described as a warrior who “seeks to slaughter all those who have wronged her” and “will kill anyone who gets in her way,” Regalla is voiced by Angela Bassett and will battle Aloy throughout the course of the game.

Horizon Forbidden West

The real twist in the trailer though is that Horizon Zero Dawn’s nomadic researcher Sylens has returned, and is pulling several strings behind the scenes. Aloy won’t be alone in her quest though, as her allies Erend and Varl will lend her a hand from time to time. Other new faces include Tenakth tribe warrior Kotallo, the curious explorer Alva who hails from an unknown tribe, and the Utaru tribe’s Zo. Lastly, the trailer confirms that artificial intelligence GAIA will also return, while another new character by the name of Tilda will be brought to life by The Matrix’s Carrie-Anne Moss.

Horizon Forbidden West launches on PS5 and PS4 on February 18, and even though an early and almost complete build of the game has leaked, Sony has managed to squash most spoilers so far that have cropped up on social media websites. Beyond the sequel, virtual reality fans can also look forward to Horizon Call of the Mountain when it eventually arrives on PlayStation VR2.

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Despite a string of issues at launch, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition did “just great” for the company, according to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick.

He told CNBC that, while the compilation package had “a glitch in the beginning,” the teams resolved the issues and now “the title has done just great for the company.”

The GTA Trilogy was released in November in a state that fans were generally not happy about. Rockstar responded to the issues and released multiple patches, one of which included more than 100 fixes to improve performance and take aim at bugs.

Rockstar has not announced a specific sales number for the GTA Trilogy, but it was previously reported that if the game sold well, Rockstar might release a remaster of the original Red Dead Redemption.

Zelnick also spoke briefly about how Take-Two is making changes to its model to have steadier results when it comes to revenue. In the past, Take-Two’s revenue would spike around the launch of a big new game and then come back down to earth. But thanks in part to GTA Online and other titles that make up Take-Two’s “recurring revenue,” that’s less of an issue. And Take-Two is now even further diversified thanks to its planned acquisition of mobile game giant Zynga.

“Unquestionably, we expect our earnings to be less episodic,” Zelnick said. “This will give us a larger, more diversified financial and creative footprint. And we think that’ll benefit shareholders. We have an amazing pipeline going forward. Zynga has an incredible pipeline going forward. And together, we think we can do a whole lot more than what’s already been announced.”

Take-Two has said there is a “clear path” for releasing its console and PC games on mobile going forward thanks to its partnership with Zynga, but no new games have been announced yet.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

Nintendo’s latest Pokemon game officially arrives on January 28, but with a few days left to go, it appears that some copies of Pokemon Legends: Arceus have broken the street date. Social media websites such as Reddit, Twitter, and YouTube have played host to gameplay content from the upcoming title, with Nintendo scrambling to plug any leaks.

According to Eurogamer, a seller based in New Jersey managed to get their hands on a cache of the games and auctioned them off on eBay for $75 each. Elsewhere, images of people holding boxed copies of the game have been posted online. If you’re trying to avoid spoilers, now might be a good time to start muting several keywords when you’re online.

The only leek that Nintendo approves of.

As for how physical editions of the game are managing to find their way out into the wild, the main culprits appear to be regular shops that are selling Pokemon Legends: Arceus early. Almost every major Pokemon game has been leaked early ahead of release over the years, although Nintendo and the Pokemon Company have become experienced in removing that content from the Internet with takedown notices. It’s super effective surveillance.

If you’re content to wait a few more days, then there’s plenty of content lined up ahead of the game’s launch. The last couple of weeks have seen several new videos for the game released, such as a deep dive on gameplay, a tour of the game’s Hisui region locale, and an introduction to the Diamond and Pearl clans that you’ll interact with.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

DICE has outlined several key updates and changes coming to Battlefield 2042, which was just recently announced as one of 2021’s best-selling games overall.

Update 3.2 is coming January 20, and it will include “a handful of small fixes and improvements” focused on improving overall stability. The full patch notes will be released later today.

Update 3.3 is coming in “mid to late” February, DICE said. This is seemingly a bigger update that includes a “refreshed” scoreboard–something that fans have been asking for. It will also include “further changes” that have been in the pipeline since the team returned from the holiday break.

The Scoreboard change is a big one. It changes the UI to include a new panel that shows how players are ranking mid-match against everyone on the server. Here is an early, non-final look at the new Scoreboard:

The new Battlefield 2042 Scoreboard UI

DICE said it will continue to update the Scoreboard in the future. “This isn’t a one and done deal for us Expect to see us iterate on this further once it’s live in game, and we look forward to your feedback once this new Scoreboard goes live in February,” DICE said.

Additionally, DICE said it continues to be aware that players are looking for expanded matchmaking preference options in All-Out Warfare and All Platform VOIP. “No updates on these two today but we wanted to reassure you all that these are still front of mind and we’ll have more to show and share on these topics further down the line,” DICE said.

And overall, DICE said it is looking to continue to improve Battlefield 2042’s game performance. Its teams are looking over data and making additional optimizations to help make Battlefield 2042 run more smoothly.

“Happy New Year! We’re hard at work now that we’re back. We hope you’re all well, safe, and healthy,” DICE said.

Battlefield 2042 was 2021’s fifth best-selling game in the US, though EA has not announced a specific sales number for the futuristic military shooter.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

Rainbow Six Extraction reimagines the tight, team-focused world of Rainbow Six Siege as an unforgiving PvE experience where teams of three take on an alien threat known as the Archaeans. In Extraction, it’s team up or die, but the finer details go far beyond that: Simply surviving is only the beginning. In time, you’ll want to thrive, because the best Operators will walk away bathed in XP, rather than crawling for the exit. In this beginner’s guide, we walk you through 15 tips for not only making it out alive, but doing it efficiently too.

Get on the mic

The first and arguably most important tip we can provide is to get on the mic. In Rainbow Six Extraction, team communication is critical. This is a game that demands a close-knit group and isn’t really going to turn out well for lone wolves who don’t communicate with their squad. Get your headset on and work together. The Archaeans are absolutely fatal, even in small numbers, so talking with your allies is the foremost way to stay on your feet and completing objectives.

Choose your Operator wisely

Every round of Extraction is called an Incursion, and every Incursion is broken into three sub-zones, each with randomly-generated objectives. You’ll always be able to see those objectives in each area before you embark on an Incursion, so use that intel when choosing your Operator. If you need to quickly locate tech objects, IQ is your best bet. Meanwhile, sneaking up and stealth-killing particular Archaeans can be done easily with Vigil thanks to his cloaking ability. Rounding out your three-Operator team is key, so choose wisely and make sure your teammates do too.

Complete Studies to level-up fast

While the game’s difficulty ramp will reward improved XP rewards at every new milestone, your best bet to level up your overall career and individual Operators will be Studies. These are Extraction’s map-specific in-game challenges. Each map has several pages of challenges, and each page features three Studies. You’ll need to complete an active page before unlocking a map’s subsequent page until eventually you’ve completed them all. When trying to level quickly, it’s sometimes a better idea to complete Studies at more manageable difficulties than playing a harder map where you may not have any challenges available.

Eliminate nests quickly and quietly

Another key to a successful Extraction is good nest management. Nests are the glowing spores from which virtually all of a sub-zone’s Archaeans spring, and each sub-zone begins with these nests lying dormant. The trick is to keep them that way. By taking out nests quietly, you’ll avoid stirring them into spawning many more Archaeans. Remember that when an Archaean spots you, it’ll perform a shrieking scream that alerts nearby nests, so not only should you take out nests, but you’ll want to stealth-kill roaming Archaeans too.

Some objectives can be completed without ever alerting Archaeans.

Use silencers whenever possible

Going hand in hand with the last tip is this one: Be quiet! It’s almost never necessary to use guns without silencers attached, and if you can perform a melee takedown stealthily, then you’re even better off. Some Operators start with guns that don’t have silencers, but most guns offer the option. Like in Siege, all attachments for a particular gun are unlocked with the gun itself, so customize those loadouts to stay quiet. The minor damage dropoff from a muzzle brake to a silencer is not worth stirring the alien horde.

Use your environment

Though Extraction rewrites many of the rules of Siege, it also retains a lot of the core DNA of that hardcore shooter. Among those commonalities is the ability to creatively use your environment. This is best exemplified by things like shooting through walls or barricading doors when you need to hunker down and defend an area. Note that all guns in Extraction include a special flashlight affixed to the front that can identify alien threats on the other side of breakable walls. Use this tactic to take out Arcahaeans easily and without ever putting yourself in their sight lines.

Know when to cut and run

As we mentioned earlier, each Incursion is broken into three parts–except for the endgame Maelstrom Protocol, which takes a whopping nine sub-zones to fully complete. Ideally, you’d always complete all objectives on all sub-zones. Realistically, however, that just won’t be the case. Sometimes you’ll find yourself limping to the end of an earlier sub-zone, and in those moments, it’s worth considering an early exit. When you survive an Incursion (even if you leave early), you’ll take all banked XP with you, as opposed to when you’re captured and that XP will be left in limbo until you return to the area for a rescue attempt that isn’t guaranteed to work. It’s humbling, but sometimes it’s the best-case scenario to make it out alive with a lesser bundle of XP.

Share supplies

Resources are scattered and in short supply in each Incursion, so it’s important not to hoard them all for yourself. When you bring up the map menu, you’ll see a live tracker of how many resource caches are left in your active sub-zone. These can be things like health kits, ammo boxes, React Tech refills, and ability recharges. The upper limit for carrying most of these things is higher than you’ll probably ever need if you took them all yourself, so share the wealth! Don’t grab ammo if you’re looking good in that department. Likewise, if you an ally needs health and you don’t, let them know you’ve found it rather than take it for yourself. A greedy player won’t make it to the end without two well-equipped allies by their side anyway.

It’s team-up or die in Rainbow Six Extraction.

Ping everything

Extraction, like most modern shooters, features a handy ping system, and you should use it liberally. Pinging threats puts them on the UI for your whole team, and if you hold the ping button (up on the D-pad by default), you’ll bring up a communication wheel that is a bit more robust. Though this deeper level of on-screen chatter is a great supplementary tool for teams, it’s also no replacement for voice comms, so don’t take this tip to mean you can skip that first one. Still, it’s always nice when teammates are calling out aliens, nests, supplies, and more around every corner.

Speed things up in the safe rooms and extraction zones

While most of these tips focus on things like staying alive and prepared for what’s ahead, this one is more along the lines of a quality-of-life consideration. Whenever you need to vote on something as a group, be it calling for Extraction or opening the next sub-zone, a full team vote speeds up the process. You’ll always need a majority vote to initiate any such actions, but that merely starts a 25-second timer. If things are getting dicey, or you just want to move things along more quickly, make sure everyone on your team is voting for an action, because doing so makes it happen almost instantly.

Destroy the Archaean Tree’s roots to stop the spread of Cells

Some Incursions are bound to get ugly, and the worst of them will result in your Operators being claimed by the Archaean Tree if they’re defeated in a zone. You’ll have a few chances to rescue them by returning to their last location and freeing them from the tree. While one person works on pulling them out of the tree, the other two players will need to destroy nodes moving from the tree’s roots, or else the rescue will fail. The best way to one-up the Archaean Tree is not to simply shoot these nodes as they come down the veiny roots, but to destroy those roots themselves. When the bioluminescent roots light up, they’ll be vulnerable for a few seconds. Shoot them to slow the spread of these nodes entirely.

Scout, then execute

Extraction is as much about preparation as it is execution. Even the best shooters will be close to helpless without planning ahead, so treat every sub-zone like a renewed opportunity to get a lay of the land. Seek out any especially hazardous areas, destroy nests whenever you can, and find certain objectives, like on a Triangulation mission, before you kick things off. A lot of missions start in this static space where you can give yourself a better chance of surviving if you know what’s around every corner and which route you’ll take to get out when your objective is completed.

Some Archaeans only spawn on higher difficulties

Sometimes your Studies will call for killing particular types of Archaens, like Tormentors, Spikers, and Breakers. You may have a hard time finding them if you’re on the wrong difficulty. The game’s four difficulty modes include different pools of enemies, with the harder difficulties opening up more and more enemy types to players. Be sure that you’re raising that difficulty if you need to locate specific types of enemies. A good cheat sheet to consider is that when an area, such as Alaska, includes a challenge to take out a specific kind of alien, such as Tormentors, it’s best to play that Incursion on its recommended difficulty level, which you can see on the level select screen.

Sometimes simply surviving is the best-case scenario.

Archaeans don’t leave Sprawl when killed with weak spots

The Sprawl is soon to be your worst enemy in Rainbow Six Extraction. Every type of enemy can be dealt with, but the Sprawl–the movement-slowing black sludge found all over the world–can turn any effective Operator into a punching bag. There are two great ways to deal with the Sprawl. The first is to kill enemies in their weak spots. When killed that way, the Archaeans don’t leave Sprawl behind, meaning you can clear the area of aliens and prevent the appearance of their restrictive goo in sometimes just a single shot. Archaean weak spots will glow a pinkish hue when you’re aiming at them, so target those spots to more cleanly dispatch the invaders.

Destroy Sprawl to move faster

Inevitably, you’ll have to deal with some Sprawl though, either because it was there before you arrived or because your spraying and praying resulted in quite a clean-up job. To reverse the creeping Sprawl, you can melee it or shoot it, giving you back your mobility. Oftentimes, you’ll even want to remove Sprawl along an objective’s planned route before you begin that objective–remember: Scout, then execute! If you take out the Sprawl when things aren’t so chaotic, you’ll give yourself a much better chance of escaping with your life and all of your XP.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

EA has now announced the EA Play member freebies for January 2022, which include rewards for FIFA 22, NHL 22, Madden NFL 22, Battlefield 2042, and Apex Legends. To redeem their bonus items, EA Play subscribers simply have to log into the game in question before the end of the reward period.

The bonus for Apex Legends is the Apex RIG Helmet Weapon Charm, which can be claimed from now until February 1. The item features the helmet from the Dead Space series’ RIG armor, in the form of a charm that can be attached to a weapon. Battlefield 2042 players will also be able to redeem a weapon charm this month, called the Cap’em Weapon Charm. This item will be available to members until January 30.

New #Madden22 gear awaits you with the Hephaestus Vanity Set 🔥! Unlock Joggers, a Visor, and a Helmet for The Yard! Available now through February 3. pic.twitter.com/dDAiqlqfSU

— EA Play (@EAPlay) January 15, 2022

A number of EA’s biggest sporting titles also have freebies this month. Madden NFL 22 players can redeem the Hephaestus Vanity Set, as pictured above. The set features joggers, a visor, and a helmet, and can be redeemed until February 16. EA Play members will also be able to earn a Ultimate Team Pack including new players.

In FIFA 22, members will get a new FUT Hero Tim Cahill Tifo Set, which can be redeemed until January 31. Members will also have until February 3 to claim their WWWesh Studio Apparel, 4500 Volta Coins, and an XP boost for FUT Season 3.

NHL 22 players also get free cosmetic items this month, with the Chel Heritage Set, including gloves, skates, a brand new stick, and more.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News

With the announcement of its intention to buy Activision Blizzard for almost $70 billion, Microsoft has rearranged its gaming arm, creating a Microsoft Gaming division with Phil Spencer at its head. In emails to staff reproduced by The Verge, both Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and newly-minted Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer have further detailed what this acquisition will mean for Microsoft employees.

Nadella’s message can be read in full below, addressing the role Activision Blizzard will play in furthering Microsoft’s gaming ambitions–specifically singling out metaverse platforms, cloud gaming, and game subscriptions as initiatives that may benefit from the acquisition.

“Team,

I’m thrilled to share that this morning we announced an agreement to acquire Activision Blizzard in an all-cash transaction valued at $68.7 billion. Activision Blizzard is one of the largest game publishers worldwide across console, PC and mobile, and it’s home to nearly 400 million monthly active players, along with iconic games including Call of Duty, Candy Crush, World of Warcraft and Diablo.

Gaming has been key to Microsoft since our earliest days as a company. Today, it’s the largest and fastest-growing form of entertainment, and as the digital and physical worlds come together, it will play a critical role in the development of metaverse platforms.

Together with Activision Blizzard, we believe we have an incredible opportunity to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet, and we will invest and innovate to create the best content, community and cloud for gamers. We want to make it easier for people to connect and play great games wherever, whenever and however they want.

This agreement is a testament to the impact our gaming team has delivered, and I am deeply grateful for their hard work and commitment. Over the past few years, we’ve expanded our content pipeline and have become leaders in game subscriptions, as well as cloud gaming. And this holiday it was especially gratifying to see the response from fans and read the great reviews of our new first-party titles.

Effective today, Phil Spencer will become CEO, Microsoft Gaming. When the acquisition closes, the Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil. We look forward to extending our journey to create a more diverse and inclusive culture to our new colleagues at Activision Blizzard, and ensuring all our employees can do what they love, while thriving in a safe and welcoming environment — one where everyone feels empowered to do their best work.

I will be hosting a webcast with investors at 6 a.m. PT with Phil and Amy, as well as Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, to share more details on our big ambitions for gaming. Please join if you can.

Satya”

In the investor webcast mentioned by Nadella, he elaborated on the decision to purchase Activision Blizzard, including more details on Microsoft’s metaverse ambitions, and extending the company’s reach in the mobile gaming space. Nadella also addressed ongoing controversy about Activision Blizzard’s toxic company culture more directly, saying “we also recognize that after close, we will have significant work to do in order to continue to build a culture where everyone can do their best work.”

Phil Spencer also sent out an email to employees, addressing his new role as CEO of Microsoft Gaming and elaborating on the extended timeline of the acquisition. Spencer’s email also invites Microsoft employees to submit anonymous questions about the deal, while also including a timely reminder for staff to be mindful of the company’s social media guidelines.

“Welcome back from the holidays. To start, I’d like to thank everyone for all of the hard work and dedication that have built this business and this community. Obviously, today’s agreement to acquire Activision Blizzard is incredibly exciting. In fact it’s a milestone for our company, our business and our industry. I and the entire Gaming Leadership Team are deeply enthusiastic about this opportunity. We also announced this morning that we have surpassed 25 million Game Pass subscribers across console, cloud and PC, a great achievement for all of Team Xbox.

As players and partners, we all know how talented and dedicated the teams and studios are across Activision Blizzard. The legendary games and franchises across that company have delighted millions of people for decades. Coming together, we can accelerate our mission to extend the joy and community of gaming to everyone. We have the capability and opportunity to build simply the best, most engaging, most fun entertainment ecosystem anywhere.

Microsoft is committed to our journey for inclusion in every aspect of gaming, among both employees and players. We deeply value individual studio cultures. We also believe that creative success and autonomy go hand-in-hand with treating every person with dignity and respect. We hold all teams, and all leaders, to this commitment. We’re looking forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams across Activision Blizzard.

We expect this acquisition to close in FY23, pending regulatory approvals. Once the acquisition is completed, the Activision Blizzard business will report to me. In the meantime, we know you will have a lot of questions. The Gaming Leadership Team and I look forward to answering as many as we can at our next Monthly Gaming Update on Jan. 26. You can submit your questions now anonymously, or post them on our Team Xbox Yammer. Please also refresh on our corporate social media guidelines.

As Satya mentioned, I am now CEO, Microsoft Gaming. This change is a reflection of the incredible work each of you are doing to create the best entertainment ecosystem anywhere. As a leadership team, we know how much exciting but difficult work we have ahead of us, so it’s crucial that we operate as a single, unified team. To that end, I’m excited to announce effective today that Jerret West, CMO of Gaming, and his marketing team will move from Chris Capossela’s organization to report directly to me. Jerret will continue to be a member of Chris’ leadership team and leverage critical parts of Microsoft’s marketing muscle including Communications, Media, and Consumer Sales.

We will have a webcast for investors and media at 6 a.m. PT to discuss the Activision Blizzard transaction and our plans as Microsoft Gaming. Please join if you can.

Phil”

While both executives alluded to Activision Blizzard’s culture of abuse, which has led to an investigation and lawsuit from the state of California, neither openly addressed the controversy that has seen employees at the company organizing to push for change.

In November last year, Phil Spencer stated that Xbox was “evaluating all aspects of our relationship with Activision Blizzard and making ongoing proactive adjustments.” As recently as January 11, Spencer stated that Xbox had “changed how we do certain things with [Activision Blizzard], and they’re aware of that.”

The Microsoft executives aren’t the only ones who are hopeful that the acquisition will lead to positive change for employees at Activision Blizzard, even if it comes with a hefty payout for CEO Bobby Kotick, who has been accused of helping to cover up instances of abuse and harassment.

Read more on Microsoft’s intended acquisition of Activision Blizzard here:

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Earlier today, Microsoft announced its intended acquisition of Activision Blizzard for a total of almost $70 billion, making it the biggest acquisition in gaming history if the sale goes through. The surprise announcement comes after months of controversy for Activision Blizzard, which began with a lawsuit from the state of California over the company’s alleged culture of harassment.

The official announcement of the acquisition said that “Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard,” though insider reports have suggested Kotick will leave the company once the deal goes through.

For now, Kotick is still the head of Activision Blizzard, and has sent out a message to all staff about the upcoming acquisition, as reported by The Verge:

“Team,

Today is an incredibly exciting day. As we continue our journey to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment, we will eventually do so as part of Microsoft. I am certain that our incredible talent and extraordinary games combined with our shared commitment to the very best workplace will enable us to grow in an increasingly more competitive race for leadership as gaming through the metaverse evolves.

How we got here and where we’re going

When you reflect on what we’ve built together, we have so much to be proud of. For the last 31 years, we’ve continuously shaped gaming through our commitment to deliver joy, fun, and the thrill of accomplishment.

We’ve transformed games into social experiences and enabled players to find purpose and meaning through the most engaging form of entertainment – our games. By doing so, we’ve created and entertained communities of hundreds of millions of players.

Connecting these communities together is the next step. Facebook, Google, Tencent, NetEase, Amazon, Apple, Sony, Disney – and many more – have ambitions for their own gaming and metaverse initiatives. Established and emerging competitors see opportunity for virtual worlds filled with professionally produced content, user generated content and rich social connections.

Our talent and our games are important components of the construction of a rich metaverse. We have always attracted the very best game makers and built the very best games, seizing opportunity with passion, inspiration, focus, and determination.

A partnership to define the future

As investments in cloud computing, AI and machine learning, data analytics, and user interface and experience capabilities are becoming more competitive, we believe this partnership will better enable our ambitions.

In considering possible partners, all roads ultimately lead to Microsoft. Like us, they have been making games for a long time. Microsoft has already distributed games to hundreds of millions of the world’s computers and computing devices and has technologies and innovation that will support the next generation of games.

Microsoft also will support our journey to further strengthen our culture. Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, has been a passionate advocate for caring as the currency of leadership. Inspiring people through empathy is a powerful motivator, and one we embrace as we renew our resolve – and in the work we are now doing – to set a new standard for a welcoming and inclusive workplace culture.

Importantly, Microsoft wants you – your talent, your creativity, and your dedication to each other. Activision Blizzard’s success throughout the years can be directly attributed to each of you. Microsoft recognizes the commitment to excellence and creative independence that sets us apart, and we anticipate minimal changes for our workforce following the close of the transaction. Microsoft’s diverse operations will give us access to valuable expertise, technology, and tools and provide even greater opportunities for learning and development.

No organization’s culture, including ours, is without need for improvement, and thanks to your input, we are making strides in improving ours. My commitment is to continue evolving our culture so that come closing, Microsoft is acquiring an exemplary workplace.

What’s next

Transactions like these can take a long time to complete. Until we receive all the necessary regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions are satisfied, which we expect to be sometime in Microsoft’s fiscal 2023 year ending June 30, 2023, we will continue to operate completely autonomously. I will continue as our CEO with the same passion and enthusiasm I had when I began this amazing journey in 1991.

Of course, this announcement will give rise to so many questions. We will host numerous forums and events to make certain we address your concerns.

I am incredibly proud of this company, you, and the work we have done together. Now it’s on to our next chapter and the endless possibilities this transaction represents for us. I couldn’t be more appreciative of your efforts, focus, and the dedication to connecting the world through joy and fun.

With gratitude,

Bobby”

In November last year, hundreds of Activision Blizzard staff signed a petition calling for Kotick to be removed as CEO, following reports that he helped cover up instances of harassment and misconduct at the company.

The Microsoft acquisition isn’t set in stone, with regulatory hurdles still to pass, including approval from Activision Blizzard shareholders. The deal isn’t expected to be finalised until fiscal year 2023, a period that spans from July 2022 to June 2023.

Read MoreGameSpot – Game News