On Tuesday, January 18, Microsoft announced that it has acquired Activision Blizzard, a game development leader and interactive entertainment content publisher, for $68.7 billion. The acquisition means Microsoft enjoy access to the Metaverse, accelerating Microsoft’s gaming business in mobile, PC, consoles and the cloud.
The acquisition will be in the form of a stock purchase, with Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard for $95.00 per share in an all-cash deal valued at $68.7 billion.
The acquisition, which is expected to complete in fiscal 2023, will make Microsoft the third largest gaming company in the world after Tencent and Sony.
The acquisition enables the tech giant to own iconic franchises from Video Vision, Blizzard and King Studios such as Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Call of Duty and Candy Crush Legends, and global esports events through Major League Baseball.
The chairman and CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, said that:
“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.”
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has been appointed as the CTO of Microsoft, leading his team to continue steering the company’s operations until the deal closes and will then report to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer.
“Players everywhere love Activision Blizzard games, and we believe the creative teams have their best work in front of them,” said Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming.
With nearly 95% of the world’s gamers playing mobile games, there is a very significant opportunity in this market. Following the acquisition, there are plans to integrate Activision Blizzard games into Game Pass. It is reported that more than 25 million users worldwide have subscribed to Game Pass.
In 2020, Lition, an enterprise blockchain, was integrated into the Microsoft Azure cloud marketplace to provide blockchain as a service (BaaS) solutions.
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