Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard will certainly have a significant impact on the gaming industry. The transaction is valued at $68.7 billion, making it Microsoft’s largest transaction in company history. Microsoft will also take over several of Activision’s publishing studios, acquiring the video game publisher behind hit franchises such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Candy Crush.
“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,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “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…Players everywhere love Activision Blizzard games, and we believe the creative teams have their best work in front of them, and Together we will build a future where people can play the games they want, virtually anywhere they want.”
The Activision tech deal is the largest in modern memory, eclipsing that of Amazon’s and Facebook’s largest acquisitions of Whole Foods Market and WhatsApp, with that Activision’s aspect of mobile gaming. It is the most popular, accounting for roughly 95 percent of all gaming worldwide. Microsoft and Activision Blizzard say they will enable gamers to experience their most immersive titles, such as “Halo” and “World of Warcraft,” almost everywhere thanks to great teams and improving technology. Activision Blizzard’s mobile business, with games like “Candy Crush,” provides a substantial position in the competition and an opportunity for Microsoft to excel in this fast-growing market.
The acquisition also strengthens Microsoft’s Game Pass catalog, with ambitions to integrate Activision Blizzard titles into the Xbox Game Pass. Which recently has hit a milestone of more than 25 million users. This deal will provide Game Pass with one of the most engaging and diversified gaming rosters in the industry, because of Activision Blizzard’s roughly 400 million active players per month in 190 countries, and through their three billion-dollar franchises. When the transaction is made, Microsoft will have access to 30 internal game developers as well as several additional publishing and esports production teams.
The merger comes at a time when the video gaming industry has achieved substantial progress and reached a multitude of communities, both financially and culturally. With individuals throughout the world self-isolating and resorting to games in the midst of the pandemic, the gaming industry saw double and even triple-digit increases in connection in terms of revenue and time spent online in these past two years.
With this, Microsoft is once again building itself to be one of the kingpins of the gaming industry and one day may be able to reign supreme.
