Microsoft has reportedly acquired the services of gaming giant Activision Blizard for around $69 billion as part of a move that would increase its plans for the metaverse. Activision Blizzard has always been the home to a long list of iconic gaming franchises such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. After the deal, the games will be added to the Game Pass service provided by Microsoft Xbox, which currently has around 25 million subscribers.
Microsoft Has Taken a Major Step In The Gaming Industry
According to an announcement made on Tuesday from Microsoft, the firm will be purchasing Activision Blizzard for around $95 per share which would bring its valuation at a rate of $68.7 billion. The deal will be closed in the fiscal year of 2023 which would see the company becoming the third-largest gaming company in the world in terms of revenue behind Tencent, the owner of Riot Games, and Sony, the developer of PlayStation.
Microsoft has also outlined that the acquisition will be supporting the growth of all of its services across PC, mobile, console, and cloud gaming and has also stated that it would mostly be the building blocks for the Metaverse. Satya Nadella, the CEO and Chairman of the company, recently stated that gaming is currently the most exciting and dynamic category throughout entertainment across all platforms today, and will definitely play quite a key role in the development of metaverse platforms.
As a part of the acquisition, Microsoft has stated that Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, will remain at the helm until the deal is closed- with the reins then sent over to Phil Spencer, the Gaming CEO of Microsoft.
