At this point, all signs are pointing towards Activision Blizzard merging with Microsoft by next week. Another sign that this is indeed happening comes via Activision, as the company held an internal meeting this week to discuss the future of the company under Microsoft. 

According to sources speaking with Windows Central, Activision held a townhall meeting with its employees, with CEO, Bobby Kotick, and even actor and host/presenter, James Corden, who is apparently a friend of Kotick. During this meeting, while the status of the deal was not addressed, Activision bosses are keen to have access to Microsoft's resources, particularly the company's R&D department.

Kotick envisions a future where headsets (like Microsoft's Hololens), or technology like Elon Musk's Neuralink can be utilised to control gameplay experiences and deliver a more hands-on experience to gamers. Under Microsoft, there is also interest in bringing back Guitar Hero, although music licenses are indeed expensive, so we'll have to wait and see how viable that really is.

It is still unclear exactly how involved Kotick will be once Activision changes hands. While changes at the top may not be immediate, we anticipate to see some changes over the next year. Activision expects this in certain areas too, with the company putting out a public statement this week to address Game Pass, confirming that new and recent releases like Diablo IV and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 won't make it to the service this year, but likely will in 2024.

While those major 2023 titles may not arrive on Game Pass straight away, other sources claim that Microsoft does indeed have plans to bring certain Activision titles to Game Pass shortly after closing the deal. In all likelihood, we'll see some classic fan-favourite COD games joining the service. On the PC side, Microsoft will be keen to boost PC Game Pass with additions like StarCraft.

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KitGuru Says: A Guitar Hero revival would make my nostalgic side happy, but I do worry about such a game in the DLC and microtransaction era. 

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