Microsoft Acquires Activision Blizzard in 69 Billion Dollar Deal
Microsoft just announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion dollars in an “all-cash transaction”, with Activision valued at $95 a share. The deal is expected to close in fiscal year 2023, making Microsoft the third largest video game company in the world, by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony.
The IP Microsoft is about to have under its belt is insane. When this deal closes, Microsoft will own World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Overwatch, Starcraft, Diablo, Candy Crush (yeah, I know), in addition to what they already own: Halo, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, Wolfenstein, Gears of War, Minecraft, and dozens more.
Apparently, Microsoft is fully committed to the metaverse, whatever that is supposed to be. In a bit of a strange statement by current chairman and CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella said the following:
“Gaming is the most dynamic and exciting category in entertainment across all platforms today and will play a key role in the development of metaverse platforms. We’re investing deeply in world-class content, community and the cloud to usher in a new era of gaming that puts players and creators first and makes gaming safe, inclusive and accessible to all.”
Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft
I’m always confused with companies pushing the term “metaverse”, when the origins of that term are from the novel “Snow Crash”, which features a bleak, dystopian future where everything is controlled by single wealthy individuals and a virtual reality is the escape for the common person. Oh. never mind then, let’s just move along here and ignore the nine companies owning about two-thirds of the video game industry and Google, Facebook, and Amazon making up about half of the internet.
With that bit of irony aside, this is a huge deal for the video game industry. Hopefully cross-platforming between PC and Xbox gets even stronger and maybe we’ll see World of Warcraft and other PC-only titles show up on Xbox.
Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard for $95.00 per share, in an all-cash transaction valued at $68.7 billion, inclusive of Activision Blizzard’s net cash. When the transaction closes, Microsoft will become the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. The planned acquisition includes iconic franchises from the Activision, Blizzard and King studios like “Warcraft,” “Diablo,” “Overwatch,” “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush,” in addition to global eSports activities through Major League Gaming. The company has studios around the word with nearly 10,000 employees.
Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone, across every device – Stories
Sources:
https://news.microsoft.com/features/microsoft-to-acquire-activision-blizzard-to-bring-the-joy-and-community-of-gaming-to-everyone-across-every-device/
https://news.microsoft.com/2022/01/18/microsoft-to-acquire-activision-blizzard-to-bring-the-joy-and-community-of-gaming-to-everyone-across-every-device/
