Tech giant Microsoft on Tuesday announced plans to buy Activision Blizzard Inc in a deal worth a whopping $68.7 billion.
Activision Blizzard is a massive game publisher, known worldwide for games like Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Crash Bandicoot, Overwatch, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and more.
This acquisition by Microsoft will now bring multiple big-time studios under Xbox, such as the actual Blizzard Entertainment, Beenox, Treyarch, Infinity Ward, Radical Entertainment, King, MLG, and many more. This makes it the biggest acquisition in gaming history, with many comparing the deal to the Disney-21st Century Fox acquisition.
An interesting statement came from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, who said, “Players everywhere love Activision Blizzard games, and we believe the creative teams have their best work in front of them. Together we will build a future where people can play the games they want, virtually anywhere they want.”
This statement has led many to believe that this is Microsoft’s move to proceed a step further in the Gaming industry, as well as the ‘Metaverse’.
Xbox revealed in a statement that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will remain in the position. This is an interesting development as many had called for Bobby Kotick to resign from his position as CEO after recent lawsuits and allegations against Activision Blizzard for workplace issues.
However, according to the Wall Street Journal, Bobby Kotick is expected to step down as the CEO after the deal is finalised. Reportedly, after Kotick leaves, the Activision Blizzard business will directly report to the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer.
Spencer said, “We deeply value individual studio cultures. We also believe that creative success and autonomy go hand-in-hand with treating every person with dignity and respect. We hold all teams, and all leaders, to this commitment.”
It was seen after Microsoft’s earlier acquisition of Bethesda, that all of Bethesda’s game titles were made exclusive for Xbox and PC, which has led to many fans questioning whether widely popular titles like Call of Duty will be no longer available on the PlayStation. However, according to a report by Bloomberg, Microsoft does plan to keep making some of Activision’s games for PlayStation consoles, with some content being kept only exclusive to Xbox.
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