Microsoft has announced that they’ve bought Activision-Blizzard-King, the company known for publishing games like Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft for $68.7 billion , but what could this really mean for the company?
This is considered the largest acquisition deal in gaming history to come from the company since buying Bethesda in 2021 for $7.5 billion. With Take-Two Interactive coming in second place after acquiring Zynga for $12.7 billion in a mix of cash and stock with shares of Zynga set at $9.86 a piece.
Activision-Blizzard-King known for making games like Crash Bandicoot, Diablo, and Candy Crush was now purchased by Microsoft image from videogame.si.com
What’s Next?
Microsoft does plan to add a large number of Activision Blizzard games to the Xbox Game Pass next year. However, the company has made it clear that two games Modern Warfare 3 and Diablo IV won’t be part of that. Microsoft has also announced that they will be adding more than nine studios to its Xbox Game Studio from Blizzard and 11 more studios from King. Since the acquisition there has been 8500 new employees that have been added from Activision to the company.
In a recent article from Xbox Wire Phil Spencer spoke on the acquisition deal. “Today we start the work to bring beloved Activision, Blizzard, and King franchises to Game Pass and other platforms. We’ll share more about when you can expect to play in the coming months.”
Since sealing the deal with Microsoft, Bobby Kotick the infamous CEO of Activision Blizzard has announced that he will depart from the company at the beginning of next year. According to Activision newsroom Kotick speaks on the new chapter for the company. “Phil has asked me to stay on as CEO of ABK, reporting to him, and we have agreed that I will do that through the end of 2023.”
A post From Jason Schreier X (formally known as twitter)
Thoughts
While there some positive things to come out of the biggest deal in gaming history. There has been a share of mixed reviews to come from fans over on X (formally known as Twitter). With some congratulating the company and Phil Spencer. “Historic! Congrats to you and your team” one Xbox enthusiast shares. While another fan says “Microsoft is simply buying all their competition out, and that it’s a “win” in the short term but everyone loses in the long.”
What are y’all’s thoughts on the recent acquisition. For more coverage on all things video game related be sure to follow GNN on Facebook, twitter, and YouTube. Thanks for reading and as always stay geeky!
