Betting on the future of video games, Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard
Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard, the company behind Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, and many other gaming franchises in a $68.7 billion dollar blockbuster deal. Making it their biggest deal ever, the American tech company is counting on people to spend more time in the digital realm in the near future.
The purchase is expected to finalize “sometime in Microsoft’s fiscal 2023 year ending June 30, 2023,” according to Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. When Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard, Xbox will soon be the owner of games such as Diablo, Call of Duty, Overwatch, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and World of Warcraft. After the deal is closed, Phil Spencer, the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, stated that all Activision Blizzard companies will report to him.
There hasn’t been any word of turning the big-franchises into Xbox exclusives, but after the Bethesda acquisition in March 2021, Bethesda’s Starfield became a first-party exclusive to Xbox. This raises the possibility that Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty franchise’s multi-platform accessibility will be phased off soon, but Microsoft will almost certainly continue to sell the game on other platforms due to their large markets.
It’s safe to expect that Microsoft offers Activision Blizzard’s franchises in their successful Xbox Game Pass subscription sometime in 2023. Spencer stated, “Upon close, we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog. With over 25 million subscribers, there is no question why Microsoft wouldn’t provide these additions after the acquisition.
According to Microsoft PR, Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard in a deal worth far more than the $7.5 billion it spent for ZeniMax Media in 2020. As a point of comparison, Take-Two just paid $12.7 billion for mobile behemoth Zynga, making it the largest game acquisition ever. This $68.7 billion agreement has easily surpassed that. The new year just started and money moves are being made. After Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard, a company that was on the decline, they will have more tools to keep up with companies such as Google, Apple, Amazon, and Tencent in the digital and gaming realm.