Numerous game franchises will be brought under the Xbox Game Studios banner now that Microsoft has begun acquiring Activision Blizzard. Once this deal is complete, the Xbox brand will have enough franchises and characters to put together its own Super Smash Bros. clone. The Super Smash Bros. series consists of crossover fighting games, whose formula has been copied by the likes of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, and the upcoming MultiVersus from Warner Bros.
If Microsoft had attempted a Super Smash Bros. clone based only on its own homegrown franchises, then poor Master Chief and Marcus Fenix would have struggled to carry the game. In recent years, Microsoft acquired Mojang, Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, Playground Games, inXile Entertainment, Obsidian Entertainment, and Double Fine Productions. When Microsoft acquired Zenimax Media in 2021, it added Arkane Studios, Bethesda Softworks, and id Software to the Xbox Game Studios lineup. All of these companies combined have brought a number of massive video game franchises under Microsoft's control, including Minecraft, Doom, Fallout, and The Elder Scrolls franchise.
To make a Super Smash Bros.-style game, a company needs recognizable characters with different fighting styles and plenty of stages that can contain fanservice-laden references. Once Microsoft has acquired Activision Blizzard, it will have more than enough characters to create its own Super Smash Bros. clone, and for it to be exciting to the gaming public at large.
The Roster For The Xbox Super Smash Bros. From Microsoft
These are potential characters who could appear in a Microsoft Super Smash Bros. clone -
- Master Chief (Halo)
- Thel' Vadam (Halo)
- Marcus Fenix (Gears of War)
- Captain Price (Call of Duty)
- Sylvanas Windrunner (Warcraft)
- Arthas Menethil (Warcraft)
- Tracer (Overwatch)
- D.Va (Overwatch)
- Diablo
- Tyrael (Diablo)
- Kerrigan (Starcraft)
- Crash Bandicoot
- Spyro
- Conker
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Steve (Minecraft)
- The Doomslayer (Doom)
- William "B.J." Blazkowicz (Wolfenstein)
- Corvo Attano (Dishonored)
- Morgan Yu (Prey)
- The Dragonborn (The Elder Scrolls Skyrim)
- Jago (Killer Instinct)
- Joanna Dark (Perfect Dark)
- The Vault Dweller (Fallout)
- Ori
- Rash & Zitz (Battletoads)
- Senua (Hellblade)
- Raz (Psychonauts)
Even with a maximum of two representatives per franchise, there's a staggering amount of characters on offer, with way more waiting on the sidelines. If Tony Hawk wants in, then there could also be a skateboarding character in the mix. Once the Activision Blizzard acquisition goes through, Microsoft will have hundreds of new games and countless characters to choose from. If Microsoft wanted to create an Xbox version of Super Smash Bros., then it will soon have more than enough characters to pull it off.