Microsoft To Acquire Activision Blizzard In $68.7B Video Game Blockbuster

Microsoft is acquiring rival Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion deal that will reshape the video game sector.

The all-cash transaction, the largest in Microsoft’s history, will vault the company to the No. 3 spot among all global video game companies by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. At $95 per share, the deal represents a 45% premium on last Friday’s closing price of Activision Blizzard stock.

Activision Blizzard’s various divisions make games like Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Call of Duty and Candy Crush, in addition to eSports ventures via Major League Gaming. The company has studios around the word with nearly 10,000 employees.

Gaming has surged during the coronavirus pandemic, and the deal is just the latest combination of significant players. Last week, Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive said it would acquire Zynga, which makes mobile games, in a deal worth $12.7 billion.

Activision Blizzard has been contending with a massive internal disruption as a company, with numerous reports of sexual harassment involving senior executives. California regulators sued the company last year over its workplace culture and gender pay disparity.

Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard who has been under scrutiny due to the harassment claims, will continue in his current role. The deal announcement said and he and his team will “maintain their focus on driving efforts to further strengthen the company’s culture and accelerate business growth.” After the deal closes, Activision Blizzard will report to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer.

“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.”

Kotick noted Activision Blizzard’s 30-year run as a company. “The combination of Activision Blizzard’s world-class talent and extraordinary franchises with Microsoft’s technology, distribution, access to talent, ambitious vision and shared commitment to gaming and inclusion will help ensure our continued success in an increasingly competitive industry,” he said.

Rusty wrote:Not I. Still waiting to get my hands on a PS5.

Rusty wrote:I don't know what the fuck is going on at Sony. Stores here no longer sell them in store. If/when they get stock, it's online sales only, so they go instantly. Then end up on eBay for at least 150% of retail price.

Every celebrity that ever wanted one got given one for free though. I remember seeing the day they were released NBA players were posting photo's of their locker room with every single player having a PS5 waiting for them.

Not just PS5's though. I had to replace my PS4 controller last week, and had to go to three stores before I could find one, and the one I got was the last in stock there.

Tyger wrote:Yeah, but at the same time I don’t necessarily feel like I’m missing anything with the current game lineup. I’m not a big gamer though. I play Call of Duty socially, I love(d) the Arkham games, so I’ll play those new DC games eventually and I I hope Quantic Dream makes another great emotionally complex game for PS.

Tyger wrote:Those things aren’t standard. I think Advanced Warfare was the only title to have them and it didn’t especially feel like COD. However, that game did let you go in water deeper than a puddle without dying and that was nice.