The video game industry has just gotten a little smaller, as it was announced today that Microsoft has purchased Activision Blizzard. The merger was announced in a press release from Microsoft, which detailed its hopes for this new gaming mega-conglomerate.
The deal reportedly cost Microsoft a cool $68.7 billion. For perspective, Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012 only cost $4.05 billion. Moreover, rival game company Nintendo’s net worth as of January 17, 2022 is an estimated $59.39 billion. So this mammoth deal is the equivalent of Microsoft spending a Nintendo and two Lucasfilms, with a little over a billion to spare. Nothing to sneeze at.
Far more interesting than the dollar amount are the implications of this move. In 2021 Microsoft also purchased Bethesda Softworks, the developer of popular titles like Skyrim and Fallout. This has locked in Bethesda’s slate of highly anticipated upcoming games, such as Starfield, as exclusives to Microsoft’s Xbox systems and PC. Now Microsoft is in control of Activision Blizzard, the company behind Call of Duty, Crash Bandicoot, Candy Crush, Starcraft, World of Warcraft, Diablo. Will all of those also be exclusives?
Time will tell. For now it’s enough to know that this move officially makes Microsoft the third-largest game studio in the world by revenue.
Activision Blizzard’s leadership will remain unchanged through the merger
Activision Blizzard has recently come under a lot of fire for sexual misconduct and harassment allegations in the workplace. The claims — and the company’s lackluster response to them — have shaken the organization, with walkouts and strikes occurring several times over the past few months. While there is an obvious question lingering here of how Activision Blizzard might have to change as a result of this merger, one thing that will not be changing is the company’s CEO, Bobby Kotick, who will remain in charge of Activision Blizzard after the acquisition despite many employees calling for his resignation.
“For more than 30 years our incredibly talented teams have created some of the most successful games,” Kotick said of the merger. “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.”
Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, also weighed in on his hopes for Activision Blizzard now that it’s under the greater Microsoft umbrella. “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.”
So there you have it: Microsoft is well on its way to becoming the Disney of gaming, with a bajillion subsidiaries and eggs in too many baskets to comfortably count. We’ll just have to wait to see how this one plays out.
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