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The Tower awaits: Activision Blizzard confirms ‘Destiny 2’ will release in 2017

destiny 2 confirmed 2017 rise of iron 008
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The sequel to Destiny will release later this year, Activision Blizzard confirmed in its 2016 fourth-quarter earnings report. An official title was not revealed, but the prevailing assumption is that it will be called Destiny 2. We do know, however, that the sequel will receive post-launch content like its predecessor, as the brief mention of the sequel on page nine of the document identifies “follow-on content plans.”

Destiny 2 was first revealed in early 2016 just prior to last year’s Activision Blizzard earnings call, with an expected 2017 release. After the final Destiny expansion, Rise of Iron, launched in September 2016, many wondered when we would receive an update on the sequel’s progress. When the franchise came to fruition, Bungie announced that new content would arrive annually for ten years, with full installments being released every other year. Although large expansions have been released each year since Destiny launched, Destiny 2, by Bungie’s planned schedule, missed its 2016 mark. Some have even been skeptical of Destiny 2 releasing in 2017.

Now that we know that the sequel will in fact release in 2017, we’re just waiting on solid information. Destiny 2 rumors have been trickling in since 2014, including some that suggest that the experience will undergo a radical makeover. Until we hear specifics from Bungie, though, we don’t really know what to expect.

The franchise has only grown in popularity since its original release in 2014, largely thanks to its four expansions, making it one of the rare console games that keeps its player base engaged through multiple years. Expectations for the sequel, it’s safe to say, are high for players who have stuck with the game for two-plus years.

In 2017, Destiny 2 will seek to help Activision Blizzard captivate even more players after a record setting year for the company in 2016. According to the earnings report, Activision games, led by the Call of Duty franchise, were played by an average of 50 million users per month throughout 2016. Blizzard titles, with much thanks to Overwatch and the resurgence of World of Warcraft, reached an average of 36 million users per month. In all, users reportedly spent approximately 43 billion hours playing and spectating games under the Activision Blizzard umbrella in 2016, including titles from King, its mobile division.

We can add to that outrageous number when Destiny 2 releases later this year. It’s expected to be available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and possibly PC, if the goal really is to “broaden the franchise’s global reach,” as the earnings report stated.

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Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition is about to clear its final hurdle
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Microsoft has had a tough time getting its acquisition of Call of Duty-maker Activision Blizzard approved, but it just cleared a major hurdle. The U.K.'s CMA, which previously blocked the acquisition over concerns about its impact on the cloud gaming market, says that it has "provisionally concluded" that Microsoft has addressed its biggest issues with the acquisition.

Namely, it likes that Microsoft will give the cloud gaming rights for Activision Blizzard games to Ubisoft. "The prior sale of the cloud gaming rights will establish Ubisoft as a key supplier of content to cloud gaming services, replicating the role that Activision would have played in the market as an independent player," the CMA explained in a press release. "In contrast to the original deal, Microsoft will no longer control cloud gaming rights for Activision’s content, so would not be in a position to limit access to Activision’s key content to its own cloud gaming service or to withhold those games from rivals."
Its press release also reveals that Ubisoft will have the ability to make "Microsoft to port Activision games to operating systems other than Windows and support game emulators when requested." Essentially, it's pleased that Microsoft no longer has an iron grip on Activision Blizzard games outside of the Xbox ecosystem and is closer to supporting the deal because of it. Of course, both Microsoft and Activision Blizzard are pretty happy about this.
"We are encouraged by this positive development in the CMA’s review process," Microsoft president Brad Smith tweeted. "We presented solutions that we believe fully address the CMA’s remaining concerns related to cloud game streaming, and we will continue to work toward earning approval to close prior to the October 18 deadline."
Meanwhile, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson provided Digital Trends with the following statement: "The CMA’s preliminary approval is great news for our future with Microsoft. We’re pleased the CMA has responded positively to the solutions Microsoft has proposed, and we look forward to working with Microsoft toward completing the regulatory review process."
A final decision from the CMA is expected to be made by October 6. As Smith mentioned, Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition is expected to close by October 18.

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Microsoft gives Activision Blizzard cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft
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Microsoft announced its intention to grant Ubisoft, the publisher behind series like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry, the cloud streaming rights for Activision Blizzard titles if Microsoft's acquisition of the Call of Duty publisher goes through.
This deal was made in order to appease the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Microsoft has not had an easy time trying to acquire Activision Blizzard as it has run into heavy resistance from regulatory bodies like the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.K.'s CMA. The CMA's complaints centered around the potential monopoly Microsoft could have on cloud gaming if the deal were to go through. There was speculation that Microsoft would divest its U.K. cloud gaming efforts to appease the CMA, but it has now presented this new plan that would technically make it give up control of Activision Blizzard game-streaming rights worldwide for the next 15 years.
In a blog post, Microsoft President Brad Smith explainsed that if the Activision Blizzard acquisition happens, Microsoft will give "cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years" in perpetuity following a one-off payment.
Essentially, Ubisoft will be the one deciding which cloud gaming platforms and services to put Activision Blizzard games on, not Microsoft. Smith claims that this means "Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service -- Xbox Cloud Gaming -- or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services," and that Ubisoft will allow them to honor existing agreements with companies like Nvidia. 

Ubisoft has been cloud gaming friendly over the past several years, eagerly putting its games on services like Google Stadia and Amazon Luna. With this deal, Ubisoft says it plans to bring Activision Blizzard games to its Ubisoft+ subscription service. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick also commented on the deal, saying that he approves of the deal, but that "nothing substantially changes with the addition of this divestiture" for Activision Blizzard and its investors.
The current deadline for Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition is October 18.

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Overwatch 2 is coming to Steam, and more Blizzard games may soon be on the way
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Blizzard Entertainment confirmed that Overwatch 2 will make its way to Steam on August 10, the same day its next season, titled Invasion, begins.

Overwatch 2 has been available on PC since its October 4, 2022, early access launch, but until now players had to download Blizzard's proprietary launcher, Battle.net, in order to play it. Although players will still need a Battle.net account that they can connect to Steam to play the game online, Overwatch 2 will be fully integrated into Valve's popular launcher, with support for things like achievements, compatibility with Steam friends lists, and Steam game invites. This launch is also timed to happen alongside the start of Season 6: Invasion, which will introduce the first batch of PvE story missions to the game.

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