Washington, US: Microsoft has announced a deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, Inc., an American video game holding company, based in Santa Monica, California. The deal size has been revealed to be USD 68.7 billion. It would be Microsoft’s biggest-ever acquisition if the deal goes through.
Some of the major intellectual properties produced by Activision Blizzard are: Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk’s, Skylanders, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch and Candy Crush Saga.
The deal is Microsoft’s biggest push into the gaming world, and it will become the third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. Microsoft plans to add many of Activision’s games to Xbox Game Pass once the deal closes.
“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 catalogue,” said Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s CEO of gaming. “As a company, Microsoft is committed to our journey for inclusion in every aspect of gaming, among both employees and players,” he further added.
“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. We are looking forward to extending our culture of proactive inclusion to the great teams across Activision Blizzard,” added Spencer.
Currently, Xbox Pass has 25 million subscribers, as Microsoft continues to acquire studios to boost the subscription services.
