Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard! No, it's not a joke, it's official!
Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard! No
After the purchase of Bethesda and Zenimax a few years ago, many thought that Microsoft would be satisfied and would not add anything else to its already important portfolio of studios and IP. However, this is not the case, and with a whirlwind completely unexpected by anyone, even the most positive and visionary among you, now comes the announcement that makes the videogame universe tremble. Yes, the Redmond giant also bought Activision Blizzard.The news came a few moments ago, when a press release was published on Microsoft's official website notifying us how the US company has now bought Activision Blizzard together to all the studies that are part of it. An operation worth over 68 billion dollars that makes us relive again the period in which the same company went to buy another entertainment giant like Bethesda.
“As a team, our mission is to extend the joy and the gaming community to everyone on the planet. As we pursue this mission, it is incredibly exciting to announce that Microsoft has agreed to acquire Activision Blizzard ”, this is what can be read in the opening lines of the release.
if (jQuery (" # crm_srl-th_gamedivision_d_mh2_1 "). Is (": visible")) {console.log ("Edinet ADV adding zone: tag crm_srl-th_gamedivision_d_mh2_1 slot id: th_gamedivision_d_mh2"); } The historic Activision Blizzard franchises will accelerate Microsoft's plans for Cloud Gaming, enabling more people in more places around the world to join the Xbox community using phones, tablets, laptops and other devices. Activision Blizzard games will also be available on a variety of different platforms, with the Redmond company declaring its intentions to support the large communities of popular Activision Blizzard brands.
"As a company, Microsoft is on a journey of inclusion in every aspect of the game, both among employees and gamers. We deeply appreciate the individual cultures that exist in a studio. We also believe that creative success and autonomy go hand in hand with treating every person with dignity and respect. We look forward to extending our culture of inclusion to the great Activision Blizzard teams, "the release concludes.
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Microsoft Is Buying Activision Blizzard For $70 Billion, A Colossal Purchase For Xbox
Warzone
IWIn what is easily the biggest gaming industry deal of all time, Microsoft, recently on a publisher and developer purchasing spree for the Xbox brand, has announced a deal to buy beleaguered games publisher Activision Blizzard.
This is a breaking story so details are still coming out as we speak. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, but just minutes later, was confirmed by Microsoft itself. Activision Blizzard has long been one of the largest publishers in the video game industry, the home of series like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch and Candy Crush through its King mobile arm. But the company has been rocked by lawsuits alleging discrimination and mistreatment of women, firing dozens of employees in the wake of investigations and still facing potential consequences in court.
Activision Blizzard stock has dropped 30% in the past year, which may make it a more attractive target. And yet it still has a $50 billion market cap, and such a purchase will no doubt raise antitrust concerns, given the scale of the deal. According to Bloomberg the deal is valued at around $70 billion in total. Microsoft recently paid $7.5 billion for Zenimax-Bethesda, and that was thought to be a huge deal at the time. This is several orders of magnitude larger and again, that raises a whole lot of questions.
Overwatch 2
BlizzardThis is such a massive deal it’s hard to know where to even start with the news, but one question gamers will immediately have is whether this means all Activision Blizzard games are going to become Xbox/Game Pass/Microsoft ecosystem exclusive including the best-selling series of the year, every year, Call of Duty, which would be an industry sea-change, if so. It stands to reason PC-focused games will stay on PC like World of Warcraft and mobile games will stay on mobile, as nothing needs to change there. The question is mainly about Call of Duty, and a few others like Overwatch on console or a potential future console version of Diablo 4, as to whether they become Xbox exclusive or not. Here’s what Microsoft had to say in that realm, without hard confirming anything one way or another:
“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. We also announced today that Game Pass now has more than 25 million subscribers. As always, we look forward to continuing to add more value and more great games to Game Pass.
The fantastic franchises across Activision Blizzard will also accelerate our plans for Cloud Gaming, allowing more people in more places around the world to participate in the Xbox community using phones, tablets, laptops and other devices you already own. Activision Blizzard games are enjoyed on a variety of platforms and we plan to continue to support those communities moving forward.”
Activision Blizzard
MSFTThat would seem to imply that games like Call of Duty and Overwatch would continue to be supported on PlayStation, and the main difference may just be that they are day one on Game Pass on the Xbox ecosystem. It may be the case that Microsoft, now the publisher of Call of Duty, would not want to miss out on tens of millions of sales of Call of Duty games on PlayStation. But again, we have to confirm this is actually the plan.
Even as someone who has been impressed by Microsoft’s recent moves in the space and the turnaround of the Xbox brand, this almost feels like too much. A $70 billion deal for one of the biggest publishers in gaming history seems like consolidation to the point of concern. We’ll see if antitrust regulators may agree. More details to follow, as this story is breaking.
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