Microsoft just announced that it is going to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in an all-cash transaction to play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms. This follows Microsoft’s massive purchase of Bethesda before. This deal means Microsoft owns Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush, Tony Hawk, Diablo, Overwatch, Spyro, Hearthstone, Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, StarCraft and many more franchises. This is easily the biggest gaming industry purchase in recent years if not ever. This move welcomes Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, Beenox, Demonware, Digital Legends, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Major League Gaming, Radical Entertainment, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, Toys for Bob, Treyarch and every team across Activision Blizzard.
King is also a part of this deal as expected which means Candy Crush is now a Microsoft game. With this purchase, Microsoft announced that many Activision Blizzard games will be added to Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass. This purchase is a huge blow to Sony for sure given how much Sony markets Call of Duty through its deals in recent years. It is going to be interesting to see if Microsoft uses King to bring its own properties to mobile in the future. As of now, I’m still pretty shocked by this news and it is a huge deal for anyone on Xbox and the industry in general. It remains to be seen how projects already in the pipeline come out and how Microsoft integrates Activision Blizzard into its own projects and upcoming ones. What do you think of this purchase and how do you think it will affect gaming in the next few years?
