Microsoft today announced that it will acquire Activision Blizzard, Inc. for $68.7 billion. Activision Blizzard is a leader in game development and interactive entertainment content publisher with legendary games including Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and Hearthstone. This acquisition will accelerate the growth in Microsoft´s gaming business across mobile, PC, console, and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse.
Today, Microsoft announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard, Inc., a leader in game development and interactive entertainment content publisher. This acquisition will accelerate the growth in Microsoft´s gaming business across mobile, PC, console, and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse.
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 world with nearly 10,000 employees.
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.
Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard, and he and his team will maintain their focus on driving efforts to further strengthen the company´s culture and accelerate business growth. Once the deal closes, the Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming.
When the transaction closes, Microsoft will become the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. The acquisition bolsters Microsoft’s Game Pass portfolio with plans to launch Activision Blizzard games into Game Pass. Game Pass has reached a new milestone of over 25 million subscribers.
With Activision Blizzard’s nearly 400 million monthly active players in 190 countries and billion-dollar franchises, this acquisition will make Game Pass one of the most compelling and diverse line-ups of gaming content in the industry.
Upon close, Microsoft will have 30 internal game development studios, along with additional publishing and esports production capabilities.
