Microsoft Acquiring EA: 8 Major Things That Could Happen

2. No More Texture-Based Remasters

Another consequence of EA's catalogue merging with Microsoft's - it immediately opens up scores of classic titles, negating the idea of remaking them from the ground up.

Now, especially this generation we've seen two types of "remaster": Either the "texture pack" version (like Prototype, Bulletstorm and Assassin's Creed), or the full-on remake: Shadow of the Colossus, Ratchet & Clank or the upcoming Dark Souls.

Point being: The former editions only come to being as a way to get older titles on newer hardware - opting to charge a price at retail to recoup the development costs of remastering it in the first place. By making everything accessible on the hardware end, it means the likes of EA need only put out advertisements about which of their older games are "Now playable on Xbox One!" and they can watch the cash roll in.

After all, Call of Duty: Black Ops shot back up to no.1 in the charts after being made backwards compatible, proving the "just make it accessible" model can work when applied to the right games.